Chapter 87 Chen Zigui ties up his hair and abandons his robe
In early July of the sixth year of Zhongping, Gushan was more than fifty miles northwest of Yecheng in Wei County.
At two moments after sunrise, the sky was gray and the early morning fog had not completely dissipated. The mountains in the distance were shrouded in a vague white mist, as if a wisp of gauze was coiled around the mountains.
After finally resting for two hours, the soldiers of the Southern Army and the Xiliang cavalry who had barely recovered their energy began to quietly get up and put on their armor.
There were constant rustling sounds in the military camp. Gushan was still several kilometers away from Longfeng Mountain. All of Xu Rong's military command operations were carried out secretly in the middle of the night. He did not believe that Chen Mu could detect him like this.
When the order to raid was conveyed to every Confederate soldier, even though he barely rested on the carriage yesterday and slept for two hours before that, the bumpy journey was really uncomfortable.
However, it was still the elite of the Confederate army, and the morale of the army was not yet in a slump. The five thousand soldiers worked together and started preparations in silence and in full swing.
The morning mist surrounds the valley, and the morning sun has not yet risen, but the brilliant red light of morning glow has already risen in the eastern sky.
Rows of soldiers slowly walked out of the military camp. Under the command of the lower-level and middle-level officers, they lined up neatly. They held spears in their hands and wore ring-headed knives on their waists. On the flat ground on the west side, two thousand Xiliang Qingqi
It's also ready.
The Xiliang Qingqi did not wear small armor made of iron sheets like the infantry. They wore leather armor, so that the weight of the horses was very low and they could exert the mobility of the light cavalry at full speed.
And their main weapons have changed from the sword to a small hammer. They carry bows and arrows on their backs, and have quivers hanging on the sides of their horses, which can be used for long-range or close combat.
Many people think that the cavalry of the Han Dynasty only had the ability to mount and shoot, but did not have the ability to charge into battle.
Because the Han Dynasty did not have double stirrups, it was impossible to control the horses when charging into battle.
This is actually a misunderstanding.
Various historical data have proven that the light cavalry of the Han Dynasty were supplemented by bows and arrows and focused on charging. Before attacking the infantry, they fired a volley and then charged forward to fight at close range.
It's just that the ancient light cavalry did not charge frontally, but from the side.
Such as the war against the Xiongnu during the period of Emperor Wu of the Han Dynasty, the Youzhou cavalry during the Emperor Guangwu's period, and even the cavalry of the Tang Dynasty and the Roman cavalry in the Roman era.
The strategy is for the infantry to press in from the front and the cavalry to make a side attack to disrupt the enemy's formation and defeat the enemy.
Just like when Dong Zhuo was defeated, Dong Zhuo's Xiliang cavalry did not rush in from the front camp gate. Instead, Dian Wei led the dead soldiers to defend the camp gate, and then the cavalry led by Guan Yu and Xu Rong attacked the Yellow Turban soldiers from both sides.
, this is the principle.
Xu Rong had already asked Pang Bo and knew that there were only two entrances and exits to Baihu Valley. The terrain on the east side was wider and the road was about four to five feet wide, so the cavalry could barely fight, so he chose to enter the valley from the east.
In fact, no matter how he entered the valley, it was all part of Chen Mu's plan.
Because Xu Rong did not have enough troops and could only concentrate his troops to attack one place, he could only come in from the east.
Even if Xu Rong is bold and wants to make a surprise attack from the north, don't forget that Chen Mu still has Pang Bo, a spy inside who can tip him off.
Therefore, Xu Rong's deployment is normally a very powerful tactic, but in front of an old monster like Chen Mu, it is still not enough.
When Xu Rong's army was gathered together, the large army of county soldiers came out of the camp in twos and threes in a very disorganized manner. They were all yawning and listless.
Some people may wonder, didn’t the Han Dynasty have a military service system?
All the people are soldiers.
Why is there such a big gap in combat effectiveness and mental state between the regular army and county soldiers?
This is because the military service system is also very different. The military service system at that time was actually a corvee system. Two years of military service for adult men was actually two years of corvee service.
Not to mention that the two-year corvee service can be waived by paying money. Even if you don't spend money to waive it, you can still enlist in the army normally, but you are not really a soldier.
Those who were better served served as soldiers in various counties and counties, watching the city gates and wandering around. Those who were worse served as auxiliary soldiers, digging holes, building canals, transporting food, and doing manual labor.
Therefore, the real main force of the fighting soldiers came from the conscription system and received military pay as wages. However, these corvee soldiers only received military rations and were not given military pay. Accordingly, they would not go to the battlefield.
Of course, this is not necessarily the case when encountering a ruthless general.
For example, Lu Zhi had more than 30,000 soldiers under his command at the beginning, but he also had tens of thousands of auxiliary soldiers, who were doing corvee service.
During the Battle of Guangping City, Lu Zhi had just arrived at Guangping City and Zhang Jiao sent troops to attack. Lu Zhi used these auxiliary soldiers as bait to lure the enemy deep and defeated Zhang Jiao in one fell swoop.
But this time, it was Xu Rong who did it again.
As the saying goes, kindness cannot control troops. Xu Rong, like Lu Zhi, is a qualified commander who knows how to win a battle with partial losses.
At that moment, Xu Rong ordered Pang Bo to lead the county soldiers to formally set off towards the Baihu Valley.
If there was a real war, Pangbo would definitely be unwilling to do so. Let alone the casualties of his county soldiers, even if he didn't care about the lives and deaths of the soldiers, he still had to lead the troops, and accidents might happen.
But since it was acting, that was a different matter. Anyway, Chen Mu had already promised him that he would not kill him when the time came. At most, he would just scare him with the sound of gongs and drums.
So Pang Bo rode on his horse, drew his sword, shouted to march, and led more than 4,000 county soldiers towards the valley in a mighty manner.
After walking several kilometers from Gushan to Longfeng Mountain for more than half an hour, we finally arrived at our destination.
The valley was filled with mist and the sky was gray, so I couldn't see very far.
Pangbo gave an order: "March!"
Under the urging of officers at all levels, the county soldiers reluctantly and slowly began to march into the valley.
The valleys on both sides are not 90-degree cliffs, but 40- to 50-degree slopes. The mountains are densely forested and overgrown with weeds. At least you don't have to worry about rolling stones and trees falling down. At most, you can protect yourself against arrows.
As for setting a fire, don’t worry. The dew in the summer morning is too heavy, making it difficult to light a fire. In addition, the road is quite wide, so it is easy to escape...
This chapter is not finished yet, please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Xu Rong led the southern army to follow the county soldiers, but they did not enter the valley, but hid in the mountains on both sides.
That's right.
Like Chen Mu, he wanted to lure the enemy deep into an ambush.
In fact, even if he didn't want to set up an ambush, it wouldn't work, because if the county soldiers were defeated by the heavy cavalry, the rout would break their formation, so it was better to just let the county soldiers die and lay an ambush by themselves.
The county soldiers slowly walked into the valley and walked about a mile to the hinterland of the valley. At this moment, gongs and drums rang in the sky, shouts of killing filled the ground, and people and horses rushed out of the woods on both sides.
Horses cannot charge in the forest, but they can hide. When they rush to a wide road, they can naturally launch an attack.
"kill!"
Zhang Fei, the leader, roared furiously.
Behind him there was thunder, and the whole mountain was shaking.
Pang Bo was startled, thinking it was just acting, is it so real?
But seeing the enemy coming, and his aura was completely unpretentious, he quickly shouted: "There is an ambush, retreat!"
In fact, he didn't need to shout. The county soldiers immediately rolled away and ran away. They only wished that their parents had lost two legs.
People were obviously full of limits when escaping, although the four to five thousand county soldiers were quite confused due to their numbers.
But first, the cavalry had just emerged from the woods, and they formed a formation to charge. Second, Zhang Fei released the water, and the thunder was loud and the rain was light, but he did not give the order to advance at full speed.
Therefore, there were actually no casualties to Pang Bo, and he managed to reach the valley entrance without any danger.
"Run quickly, the cavalry is coming."
"Don't leave me, my legs are weak."
"Someone come and give him a hand."
"Help, help."
The county soldiers ran out of the valley crying for their fathers and mothers, as if they had lost the battle.
This is because Pang Bo did not tell them that this was an act, so the county soldiers thought that it was really a heavy cavalry chasing them, which seemed more real.
When Xu Rong saw this scene, he had no doubt that it existed, and said to the herald beside him: "Get ready for the first round of bows and arrows!"
The herald immediately split up to issue the order, and the archers set up their bows and drew their arrows!
Almost as soon as the heavy cavalry came out, thousands of arrows were fired.
Ding ding ding ding ding!
The bow and arrow hit the armor with a clanking sound.
This round of arrows didn't hurt anyone.
The only parts of the black armor heavy cavalry that are exposed are the face, feet, and the horse's buttocks.
So when the arrow hits you, you just need to protect your face.
But Xu Rong didn't care, because he originally planned to try his luck.
It's better if he shoots and hurts someone, but it doesn't matter if he doesn't. His main battle plan does not rely on bows and arrows.
"There's an ambush, retreat!"
This time it was Zhang Fei who ordered the retreat.
"kill!"
Xu Rong had no time to shoot the second round of arrows and ordered the pursuit.
Hua Xiong's light cavalry charged out boldly. Its purpose was to catch up with the heavy cavalry in front, entangle them, and wait for the infantry to come up and fight at close range.
Dust was flying, and the light cavalry charged at Zhang Fei's heavy cavalry at extremely fast speeds, twice as fast.
Xuan Jia's heavy cavalry could only urge the horses with all their strength and run wildly into the valley.
While Xu Rong ordered the Confederate soldiers to follow him, he also mounted his horse and ran over quickly.
Far away in the mist, I saw a man who looked like a scholar galloping on horseback in front of him, protected by knights, so he shouted: "The person wearing the Jinxian crown in front is Chen Mu and Chen Zigui who are wanted by the court, catch the thief Chen!"
"Catch Thief Chen!"
The Xiliang cavalry shouted loudly.
"Chen Mu" in front quickly threw down the Jinxian crown on his head, and his hair was disheveled.
"The one with disheveled hair is Chen Zigui, catch the thief Chen!"
Xu Rong shouted again.
"Catch Thief Chen!"
The soldiers continued to shout.
Since "Chen Mu" has no weapons in his hands and has stirrups, he can move freely with both hands while riding a horse.
"Chen Mu" tied up his hair and tied it with a wooden hairpin to prevent it from falling loose.
But Xu Rong obviously had no intention of letting him go, and shouted again: "The person in front wearing silk and white scholar's robe is Chen Zigui, catch the thief Chen!"
"Catch Thief Chen!"
The soldiers shouted again, and the two sides were getting closer and closer.
"Chen Mu" took off his robe and threw it away, crawling on the horse's back, his figure looming in the mist, looking very embarrassed.
Seeing this scene, Xu Rong's smile gradually brightened and his expression gradually changed.
Aren’t you, Chen Zigui, a first-rate wise man in the world?
Why did it fall into my hands today?
It seems that this world-famous Shangshu Ling is nothing more than that!