Chapter 102 Help Gongsun Zan achieve strategic victory
The howling spring wind blew wantonly, and under the night, the camps in Xianbei were in chaos.
The thunderous sound of horse hooves awakened the Xianbei sentries who were on alert. After discovering a large number of fires in the direction of Gongsun Zan's camp in the distance and the sound of horse hooves coming from that side, they immediately blew their horns.
The cavalry couldn't hide if they wanted to attack at night. As long as there was the sound of horse hooves, the barbarians who were extremely sensitive to the sound of horse hooves could often detect it from a long distance away.
Although there were instances in history where Gan Ning's Hundreds of Riders robbed a camp without being discovered by Cao Jun in advance.
But Gan Ning only had a hundred men, and like Gongsun Zan, he first sent people to investigate the situation at the gate of Cao's camp, and then used bows and arrows to shoot to death the soldiers on guard tower in advance, then moved away the horses at the gate of the camp, and finally took the title.
The horse picked up the bell and launched a sudden attack after approaching Cao's camp.
Gongsun Zan had a large number of cavalry. In the previous battle at Hutuo River, nearly half of them were lost. After returning to Youzhou, they replenished a lot. Now they still number between five and six thousand. Such a huge team wants to be silent.
almost impossible.
Therefore, after investigating the intelligence of the Xianbei military camp, he decided to use a quick battle. The vanguard quickly approached the Xianbei camp in the east, lit a fire with incendiary bottles, and threw five or six thousand torches into the enemy camp, even if
The enemy has already reacted, and the fire will definitely start.
Ordinary water may be effective against torches, firewood, etc., but it is much less effective against fish paste, grease, and alcohol burning bottles. In addition to the cavalry who throws burning bottles, other cavalry splash grease and torches and oil, at least to ensure flames.
Can be expanded quickly.
Setting fires at night was actually not easy to do in the past, because it was not easy to get close to the enemy's camp quietly, not to mention setting fire to the enemy's tent and making the fire reach a point where it could not be extinguished by humans.
But with the Molotov cocktail, setting fire is really easy. Light the linen strips at the mouth of the bottle, throw it into the enemy's camp, and smash it out, immediately creating a sea of fire that is difficult to extinguish.
The cavalry roared away, and the infantry left the camp first, but at this time they could only follow closely behind. Officers at all levels quickly ambush on various roads outside according to Gongsun Zan's previous deployment. The various tribes of the Hu people had the advantage of living in dispersed areas, but they also had the disadvantage of being dispersed.
The disadvantage of living there is that the camps are not very close together, so there are a lot of criss-crossing roads in the middle to travel on.
If it is a Han army, it will form a whole, with at most three large camps in the front, middle and back. The camp is divided into several small camps. Each camp is surrounded by wooden fences. There are school grounds and camps between the camps.
There is a protective network at the gate, and then there is a large fence surrounding the entire perimeter to surround the front, middle and rear camps.
This will ensure that no matter which layer the enemy breaks through, there will still be a defensible area inside.
The Hu people's camps were very rough. There were no small camps and no overall fence protection. Each tribe was responsible for its own affairs.
For example, a small tribe sent out five hundred cavalry, and these soldiers and horses also formed a camp with more than twenty tents. Then these five hundred people cut down some trees and made some low fences like sheepfolds.
Some tribes even have no protection at all and directly set up tents like yurts in the wild, which can almost be described as perfunctory.
There was no way, the Han Dynasty was not like the later Five Hus, like the Song, Yuan and Qing Dynasties, when the Hu people could go south and trample on the Han people at will. At this time, even during the powerful Tanshihuai period, the Hu people only repeatedly defeated the Han Dynasty.
He was defeated on the grassland, but he dared not say that he could ride his horse south and occupy the Central Plains.
Therefore, the Hu people still do not know enough about the culture of the Han people. Maybe some Han families who have taken refuge in the past have taught the Hu people something at the top, but how can it be so easy for the Hu people at the bottom to popularize what the ancestors of the Han people have learned over thousands of years?
What's more, there is a lack of trees on the grassland. Apart from making pens for cattle, sheep and horses, the Hu people don't even have the habit of building fences to protect their yurt groups, let alone marching and fighting outside.
The result was that although the Xianbei people had heard the noise and ran towards the stables in the rear, roaring, Gongsun Zan's cavalry had arrived near the Xianbei camp like rolling thunder. The guards in various camps, large and small, were very lax. After surrounding them from the outside, they entered
, many yurt tents inside were completely naked in front of the soldiers.
"ignition!"
Gongsun Zan shouted loudly and raised the Molotov cocktail in his hand.
The coverage range of a Molotov cocktail is about 3-5 meters, which is more than enough to light a yurt.
Although the entire battlefield added up to tens of thousands of tents, densely packed and dotted for more than ten miles, Gongsun Zan did not need to burn down all the tents. What he needed was to concentrate his efforts on attacking the Xianbei tribe, the most powerful enemy.
The one who attacked this time was the leader with the largest number of people. The leader's tents were relatively dense. With an order, a large number of Molotov cocktails were thrown out, and soon the flames burst out.
The tents of the grassland people are all made of cow and sheep skin, and they will catch fire if touched by a Molotov cocktail. In addition, March is the season when the grass grows and the orioles fly, and the ground is covered with weeds. The Molotov cocktail is just an auxiliary function to start a fire, which is faster.
The fire was lit on the ground, and what was even more deadly was that the cavalry in the rear had their weapons on their waists, and had a lot of grease and dry firewood in their hands.
In the past, it was not that easy to light a fire quickly. Seasons, weather, and timing are all indispensable. With the incendiary bottle, everything is much simpler. This is not a great invention, but for military applications
, it has indeed had a terrible effect in this era.
After Gongsun Zan's cavalry roared past, a large number of yurts and tents on the east side burst into flames, the temperature rose rapidly, and thick smoke was rising. At this time, there were no Xianbei people in many yurts, and they all ran to the rear camp in the north.
Get the horses.
This chapter is not finished yet. Please click on the next page to continue reading the exciting content! Seeing the fire in the sleeping camp in front of him, the leader was anxious and angry. It was unrealistic to let the cavalry rush into the fire now. Bone whistles were fired one after another.
After the sound was played and the army was in chaos, he asked the soldiers to go east.
The two sides faced each other on the banks of the Laishui River, with Zhuoxian County dozens of miles to the east. However, he did not want to run to Zhuoxian County, but bypassed the fire scene and prepared to intercept Gongsun Zan's cavalry.
Even if he really couldn't find Gongsun Zan's cavalry, he would be ready to summon Fuluohan Budugen and others to directly attack Gongsun Zan's camp.
However, based on experience, Leader felt that Gongsun Zan's cavalry should not be able to run very far.
However, what the leader didn't know was that Tian Yu and hundreds of guards were hiding behind a thick bush of basil on the roadside, carefully observing the enemy's actions almost face to face.
This place was only a hundred feet away from the Xianbei front camp. The Xianbei cavalry arrived in an instant. He held his breath and watched the enemy pass by thirty or forty rows. Then he saw a rolled-up military flag coming from the queue. He glanced around and immediately
I found a Xianbei general wearing a leather helmet and iron armor.
It’s him!
Tian Yu waved his hand behind him, and with the light of the fire in the camp not far away, clusters of silvery arrows quietly poked out from the grass, aiming at this soldier who was better dressed than ordinary soldiers.
general......
The leader was fully focused on repelling the invading Gongsun Zan cavalry. He never thought that he would be ambushed at the gate of the camp behind him. He suddenly heard the sound of countless buzzing bowstrings and saw countless people from the corner of his eyes.
A black shadow suddenly appeared from the side of the road. When he tried to dodge, but before he had time, he felt pain all over his body and his breath was suffocated. In an instant, he lost consciousness.
The nominal leader of Xianbei was actually shot into a hedgehog on the battlefield.
"kill!"
Following this blast like spring thunder, the Xianbei people heard a series of dense and urgent trembling sounds of bow strings and crossbow arms from far and near, and hundreds of arrows and crossbows smashed towards their heads, followed by the trees on both sides of the road.
Countless Gongsun Zan's infantrymen jumped out from the ravine in the grass under the shadow, shouting and killing them, shooting with arrows, slashing with spears, and in the blink of an eye the Xianbei people fell to the ground.
The Xianbei soldiers were bewildered and were chopped down by dozens of soldiers. Only then did they remember to form a formation to resist. A few small officers shouted desperately to gather the troops, but there were enemies everywhere. Where could they leave a chance?
But at this time, their general had already lost his life. In the chaos, the military flag was also snatched away by the enemy. In the darkness, the enemy did not know how many people were coming. They could only hear the shouts of killing from behind and behind, and the shadows of swords and guns on the left and right.
, I don’t know who screamed in despair, and the situation exploded immediately.
Gongsun Zan had been on the battlefield for a long time, and arranged a complete night attack plan with Tian Yu and Guan Jing. He used a small amount of Molotov cocktails to create chaos and forced the enemy's generals to detour from the side, while the infantry team ambushed them on the only way they could pass.
Under the coordination of Tian Yu, Guan Jing and others, these Youzhou troops were extremely brave. They shouted and responded, cutting forward and intercepting, and immediately cut the Xianbei troops into several sections, without looking at each other.
For a time, the road that was several hundred feet long was filled with the sounds of horses neighing, shouts of killing, scoldings, greetings, screams, and the sound of iron weapons clashing when weapons clashed. The Xianbei people wearing brown leather armor heard this along the way
There are flip-flop hats everywhere, rolling around on the ground...
Here, the leader's head was attacked by an enemy. The flames were blazing, and the sound of fighting was heard. Bu Dugen and Fuluohan, who were the closest, immediately reacted and knew that the eldest brother had been ambushed by the enemy, so they led their troops to rescue him.
The Qianman tribe, Ke Zui tribe, and Queju tribe were eager to lose the lead, so they concentrated their forces and sat back and watched. As for the Wuhuan and Huns who were farther away, they did not dare to do anything in the short term because they were not clear about the situation here.
The action was to send scouts over to investigate the situation, which gave Gongsun Zan the ability to retreat calmly in a short period of time.
After setting fires everywhere and creating chaos, no one came to arrest him. With a roar, Gongsun Zan led the cavalry back, killing each other through each camp. By the time he ran back to the east camp exit, the surroundings were covered in flames.
To the east of Taotian, Tian Yu, Shanjing and others were ambushing Kuitou.
"You lead a team to outflank us from the left."
Gongsun Zan immediately said to the cavalry deputy general Tian Kai who was following him.
Tian Kai nodded: "Understood."
After saying that, he turned his horse's head and led a group of people around.
The Xianbei people had many cavalry, and Tian Yu's side had already ambushed the crossbowmen. Several waves of arrows were fired at them, causing huge chaos to the Xianbei people.
At this time, Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai clashed, breaking their formation again. Coupled with the death of Kuai Tou, their morale plummeted. Due to the large number of Kuai Tou, the tribe was quite scattered. The first wave of Kui Tou was just
They brought out thousands of cavalry.
There was a steady stream of troops from the rear coming to support from the rear camp. The people in the front were ambushed and wanted to retreat, while the people in the back didn't know what was going on in the front and wanted to go forward to support. They were squeezing and jostling, losing ground at the front and rear, and there was chaos.
The Xianbei people were panicking like tens of thousands of ants on a hot pot. The camp to the west was still burning, and people were fleeing everywhere in the wilderness to the east.
Tian Yu, who was ambushing near Penghao and Yelinzi, saw this situation and immediately said to Shan Jing: "General Shan, the whole army can attack."
"good."
Shan Jing followed his advice and immediately ordered all the infantry to press forward.
It happened that Gongsun Zan and Tian Kai also launched a surprise attack at this time, and the Xianbei people became even more panicked. But Bu Dugen and Fu Luohan, who came to support from a distance, saw the chaos, and the defeated Kuitou soldiers turned toward them.
They came swarming, fearing that their formation would be disrupted, so they did not dare to come up to support them.
The entire battlefield was in chaos, with shouts of killing everywhere. The killing lasted for more than half an hour. Thousands of Xianbei people stayed here forever. Bu Dugen and Fulohan took care of the remaining leaders, and that was the end.
this battle.
This chapter is not over yet, please click on the next page to continue reading! After Gongsun Zan defeated the enemy, he quickly evacuated back. Because the Wuhuan and Huns in the distance had almost figured out the situation, and a large number of cavalry were moving closer.
There was a commotion until dawn, when no one knew what had happened.
The death of Kuitou was a huge blow to the Xianbei people. Qianman was smiling from ear to ear, while Bu Dugen and Fu Luohan were full of sadness. It was not that they had a good relationship as brothers, but that Xianbei was already torn apart.
There are also many internal conflicts in Xianbei in the central region, and various departments are at odds with each other. Only by holding together for warmth can the three brothers occupy the position of Xianbei Chanyu.
Now that the boss Kuitou is dead, their strength has been severely dispersed. Even if they absorb Kuitou's tribe into their own, their strength will still be much smaller than before. If Qianman comes back as the son of He Lian at this time,
It will be another major blow to Xianbei in central China.
But no matter what, the situation has now reached a very serious point. Fulohan and Budugen had no time to grieve over the death of their brother. They must now absorb the leader's troops and ethnic groups as soon as possible, otherwise Qianman will not let him go.
This opportunity.
Tadun, on the other hand, was furious. His mortal enemy Gongsun Zan had another great victory, but their strength had declined significantly.
But now that the leader was dead, the morale of the Xianbei people was severely damaged. They withdrew their troops for more than ten miles, and the strength of the Hu people was greatly reduced. He did not dare to underestimate the enemy and rush forward. He could only wait and see the situation where he was, and guard Gongsun Zan's camp closely.
However, it was not completely without good news. Yuan Shao's troops also arrived the next day. They surrounded Yi Jing. At the same time, they learned that Gongsun Zan was trapped by the Laishui River. They immediately divided their troops and headed north, trying to cooperate with Tadun Kuitou and others.
He is destroyed here.
The tens of thousands of Yuan Shao's troops, plus 70,000 to 80,000 Hu people, totaling more than 100,000 troops, will become a fatal threat to Gongsun Zan.
The reason why he won this battle was because he held the Molotov cocktail to create chaos, and then used the infantry to ambush the cavalry, focusing on the head of the leader. But now Yuan Shao's infantry arrived and cooperated with the Hu's cavalry, both in terms of equipment and attack
They all have rich experience in building cities and villages, and Gongsun Zan's situation is very bad.
Fortunately, taking advantage of the remaining power of the victory, the Xianbei people retreated and a large area was vacated by the Laishui River. The problem of water collection for Gongsun Zan's camp was completely solved. The soldiers and horses moved forward and occupied the upper reaches of the river that originally belonged to the Xianbei people.
Plenty of drinking water.
However, even if Gongsun Zan achieved a tactical victory, he was already trapped by the Laishui River in terms of overall strategy. Once Yuan Shao's army cooperated with the Hu people to launch a general offensive, he would still be in a very dangerous situation.
This is a typical example of tactics winning and strategy failing.
Because Gongsun Zan did not complete the strategic goal of defeating the entire Hu tribe, and then moved south to join Gongsun Yue in Yijing.
But fortunately, thousands of miles away, someone had already helped him achieve strategic victory.
In the Qingzhou Plain, Chen Mu has completely ignored Youzhou. The war in Youzhou is coming to an end, and the war between Qingzhou and Jizhou has just begun.
In Guangyang, Youzhou, Xian Yufu, the newly appointed general of Huan Zhonglang who was protecting Wu, traveled through mountains and rivers and finally arrived in Changping County.