After all, nearly two hundred of the horses, which were going crazy with pain, crashed into the Southern Huns cavalry formation.
Although they all fell to the ground after only advancing a few dozen steps, the pursuit formation was inevitably disrupted.
For example, Fei Yao's troops in the back row and other cavalrymen who had time to buffer turned their horses to the side to avoid the situation when they saw something bad happened, making the originally well-dense pursuit formation become a mess.
This was also the opportunity Li Tang Mang, who was guarding behind two hundred Xiliang cavalry, expected.
The commotion caused by hundreds of war horses alone cannot delay the pursuing troops for too long!
At least, Zhang Bao and others cannot be allowed to cross the river.
Jiang Wei on the other side had already set up a strong crossbow array and simple rafts, but there were too many cavalry against Wei. They could snipe the Han army crossing the river with bows and arrows outside the range of the strong crossbow array.
Counting the thousands of Xiongnu soldiers in the south, the Han army that crossed would have no way to escape without shields and oars to protect them, and only twenty or three out of ten would return to the other side.
In this way, Li Tang Mang could only take advantage of the chaos in the opponent's formation to charge and delay for a while, buying more time for Zhang Bao's tribe and allowing more Paoze to cross the river and return.
Although he knew that this move was like a moth flying into the fire.
Yes, even if he defeated the enemy, he would not be able to return.
Thousands of Wei's cavalry had already gathered together, and the huge advantage in force gave him no chance to stand up and fight back again.
And we don’t need to think too much to know that the Wushui River Valley in the south merges into the mouth of the river and the gap between Mingsha Mountain and Helan Mountain in the north will also be guarded by Wei troops. They have no way back.
But Tang Mang didn't have time to think about this, and there was no need to think so far.
He knew that "a scholar will die for a confidant."
Although he could not write these Chinese characters and was born in Lushuihu, he was a leader of horse thieves.
But he is also a Hexi man.
A man from Hexi who receives favor from others should pay it back regardless of life or death.
In the past, his father-in-law Yi Jian's prostitute and concubine came to Manyin City to surrender to the Han army with the indignation of the tribe being exploited by the Wei Dynasty. Zheng Pu did not consider that he was of vulgar origin and did not consider that he was a notorious horse thief, so he took him under his wing.
As a retinue, he was asked to follow him with a sword and spear at his side.
Yes, if he had evil intentions, he would have countless opportunities to take Zheng Pu's head and become a prince in Wei.
This kind of trust at the cost of his life was deeply felt in his heart and he would never forget it.
Moreover, Ma Dai promoted him to the rank of captain and granted him the right to supervise more than a thousand Xiliang cavalry. This was partly because Zheng Pu believed in him.
After all, according to the old Han system, the Qiang and Hu in the border areas were not allowed to grant heavy troops.
Don’t you see, Hu Bo, the leader of the Xiongnu security guard in the Wei Dynasty, and Liang Yuanbi, a branch of the Xiongnu, only supervised two hundred cavalry as scouts for the army after entering the Han Dynasty?
Zhang Bao is Zheng Pu's brother-in-law.
Allowing Zhang Bao to return to Hexi was also a way for him to repay Zheng Pu's kindness.
"Woo~ho!"
Loosening his horse's reins and holding a spear in both hands, he shouted the whistle for the charge of the Liangzhou Qiang and Hu, and took the lead in crashing into the Wei cavalry formation.
And the two hundred Xiliang cavalry who had been following him silently, also showed the courage of life and death, and burst out with the heroic spirit of fighting to the death.
"Oh~~ha!"
We met the Southern Huns cavalry head-on, and just after they had relaxed their fear of being trampled by the impact of the horses, they were greeted by the Xiliang cavalry. For a moment, the soldiers were out of control, and they could not organize a resistance at all.
Therefore, Li Tang Mang broke in at one stroke, and the already chaotic Wei formation became even more chaotic.
The scoldings of the generals at all levels, the wails of soldiers being killed by spears, the frightened sounds of being pushed away by robes, and the frightened neighing of war horses rippled through the entire Wei cavalry formation like ripples.
Only the Guanzhong Jingqi led by Fei Yao remained calm and composed.
But he could not send troops to block Li Tang Mang's breakthrough, or continue to pursue Zhang Bao's tribe.
Under the commotion of those Southern Huns cavalry, many of them rushed towards the Guanzhong Jingqi in panic, blocking Fei Yao's tribe's path of advance and retreat, causing his eyes to be torn apart and unable to move.
There was no other way. If he ordered to kill these Southern Huns cavalry who were walking randomly in accordance with the military laws before the war, it would only cause more chaos.
After all, they came to help in the war, and they did not recognize Wei's laws.
However, the number of people from Li Tang Mang was really too small.
When he took advantage of the chaos and penetrated the Wei cavalry formation, only about a hundred Xiliang cavalry were left behind him, and they were more or less slightly injured, but their morale was still high.
Li Tang Mang was also slashed on his arm, with blood stains on his clothes.
"Woo~ho!"
With the excitement of killing through the enemy's formation, he shouted loudly and led the remaining cavalry to the east without slowing down.
When he turned around and saw that the Wei State had not sent light cavalry to pursue them in time, he slowed down his horse and said with a smile to his subordinates, "We have penetrated deep into Wei territory and the way back has been cut off. Please follow me and become bandits for the time being!"
Hearing this, more than a hundred riders fell silent for a while.
But after a while, everyone agreed and laughed heartily.
Without him, with the treatment of the military households by the Han Dynasty, their children will definitely be treated kindly and there is no need to worry about it. The Xiliang man who cares about life and death has a sword and spear in his hand and a war horse at his hip. How can he be afraid of the vastness of the world!
It is inevitable that when the horse's hooves are pointing eastward, people will look westward, with a hint of reluctance in their eyes.
When Li Tang Mang looked back, there was still a ray of relief in his heart: At this moment, General Zhang has crossed the river, right?
In mid-winter, the river has not yet frozen.
In addition, the water level in the dry season has dropped significantly, which greatly reduces the distance between the two banks and makes the water flow no longer turbulent, which makes raft crossing a lot more convenient.
I saw many Shaodang tribesmen leading their horses across the pontoon bridge by the riverside of Yiquwu Mountain Camp, or abandoning their horses and riding back on rafts.
However, Zhang Bao, who was protected by dozens of personal guards, was still stationed on the other side of the river. From time to time, he used his horse's spear to deflect the sparse arrows, and from time to time he made a sound to urge his men to cross the river.
In the past, Zhang Fei respected gentlemen but did not care about soldiers.
The late Emperor Liu Bei often warned him by saying, "You have done too much in punishing and killing, and you also whipped healthy children every day while keeping orders around. This is the way to bring disaster." However, he did not change his behavior, so he lost his life.
As a son of man, Zhang Bao took this as a warning.
Since he led the army, he has always been very considerate to the soldiers, and now he also allows the Shaodang tribe to cross the river first.
These people moved from the West Sea to the Han territory to serve as soldiers in just a few months, but more than half of them were lost. This made him feel guilty as the governor, so he let them cross the river first.
Furthermore, because Li Tang Mang's charge delayed the Wei army's pursuit, they had enough time to cross the river.
But sometimes, things are not always absolute.
After most of the Shaodang people crossed the river, Zhang Bao, who had been persuaded many times by his guards, was about to drive his horse onto the pontoon bridge when something unexpected happened.
I saw more than ten fire boats going down the river in the upper reaches of the river. Not only did they knock over three or five rafts filled with people from the Shaodang tribe, but they also directly attached themselves to the pontoon bridge. Thanks to the midwinter wind, the fire on the fire boats was fierce.
It was so prosperous that the pontoon bridge built with boats and wooden planks was burned down in a matter of seconds...
At this time, the Guanzhong Jingqi and the Southern Xiongnu cavalry were already close at hand, and an infantry figure also appeared on the side of Quwu Mountain.
