It was a matter of course that Xuan Jia's heavy cavalry defeated the Yin Kui tribe placed at the front of the formation by Yuan Shang.
It was even smoother than Huang Zhong's charge of five formations in a row. If the horse's physical strength was sufficient, Xu Chu would dare to charge even fifty formations, let alone five formations, given the huge equipment gap.
But the disadvantage of heavy cavalry is also here. The horse's load cannot exceed 20% of its own body weight. Once it exceeds, it will cause serious damage to its knee joints.
The combined load of heavy cavalry, harness, cavalry and armor often causes the horse to bear about 30%-40% of its own body weight.
Therefore, under normal circumstances, heavy cavalry cannot fight for a long time, let alone pursue the enemy for a long time.
Historically, Emperor Taizong Wokuotai of the Yuan Dynasty ordered Subutai to attack Europe. When attacking Hungary, he encountered European heavy cavalry. As soon as the two sides started fighting, the Mongolian cavalry began to flee, and the European Teutonic knights began to pursue them.
The heavy cavalry chased the light cavalry who were good at riding and shooting. As you can imagine, one hundred thousand Teutonic knights were dragged to death like flying kites. In the end, only more than 10,000 people were left to escape.
Therefore, with the current physical strength of the Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry, he would have to go back to rest after charging for two more battles at most. If he continued to attack, the horses would be exhausted.
Although Liu Bei continued to pursue, he was sure to completely defeat Yuan Shang's army, but after all, he only had 2,000 men, so his lethality was limited. And if he continued to pursue, he would kill 1,000 enemies and lose 800 to himself, which would cause too much damage to the horses, so he
Also ordered to ring gold.
After Yuan Shang's troops withdrew, the defenders in Dongwu City had just come out not long ago. Because Liu Bei ordered the attack immediately after arriving, the defenders in Dongwu City had time to open the city gate and go out to prepare for formation.
As a result, Xuanjia's heavy cavalry destroyed Yuan Shang's Yin Kui troops in the front formation like a mammoth force. Guo Zhao, Zhang Kai, Lu Xiang and other troops in the middle also retreated immediately, giving the defenders no chance to attack.
The army commander hurriedly rode over. When he saw Liu Bei at the foot of the slope, he immediately got off his horse and said, "Guan Zhong, please bow to Duke Ming!"
"Prepare to retreat!"
Liu Bei shouted orders to him.
The military commander named Guan Zhong was the younger brother of the captain Guan Cheng. When he heard this, he asked in surprise: "Ming Gong, our army has won a great victory, why don't we continue to pursue it?"
Liu Bei shook his head and said: "The enemy is outnumbered and we are only temporarily repelling them. The Xuanjia heavy cavalry is not strong enough to annihilate them all. When the Xuanjia heavy cavalry is exhausted, our army will be in danger and we must take this opportunity to abandon it."
The city is moving south, do you understand?"
"only!"
Guan Zhong took the order and left.
There are not many supplies in the city, only tens of thousands of stones of food and grass. If they are burned with fire, there will be nothing left for Yuan Jun.
The army soon set off and moved to the south.
Two days later, Yuan Shang launched another attack and successfully captured an empty city. The granary in the city had been burned down, and they could not capture even a grain of grain.
At the beginning of April in the third year of Yonghan, Guo Tu's troops went south for the curtain. After seizing the city, they rested for two days and set off again to prepare for E County.
The mighty iron hooves galloped like thunder, Zhang Fei led eight thousand Qingzhou Qingqi to go north to stop Guo Tu's army.
The two sides fought in Beixiang, west of the plain and north of the Xiaoshui River. Beixiang was established as Beizhou in the Northern Zhou Dynasty, and was changed to Encheng in the Song Dynasty. The terrain was flat and there were many acres of land, making it a fertile land.
At the end of the Han Dynasty, there was turmoil everywhere, and people were displaced. The people of Beixiang had long been either relocated or suffered all casualties in several battles between Qingzhou and Jizhou. The place had long been turned into ruins, with desolate fields and graves everywhere.
It speaks of desolation.
The breeze blew the weeds in the field. The mulberry trees in the mulberry field were originally untrimmed and grew luxuriantly. However, in addition to the mulberry trees, the mulberry field that was supposed to be clean was densely packed and could not be cut down.
wild grass basil.
There was a light rain yesterday, but not too heavy. Today, after the scorching sun shines brightly, the traces of rain have long since disappeared. It’s just that the rammed earth road has become a little muddy, and people stepping on it stain the soles of their shoes with mud.
Rows of flags of the Jizhou Army were raised high, and rows of soldiers walked slowly on a six-foot-wide road in the countryside. There were many dilapidated houses around them, and there were countless solitary graves on the hills not far away.
After passing Beixiang, you will see the Xiaoshui River ahead. The Xiaoshui River flows from west to east. It is located in the north of Qian County and the east of the plain. This river is not a big river. It has long disappeared in history in later generations. The river water is a trickle.
, even though it is spring and summer flood tide, you can still walk through the shallow water downstream.
"Hold on harder, we are in front of the county. The walls of the county are low and thin, and we only need a ladder to conquer it. After taking the county, we can surround Ganling and Jieqiao with Duke Ming and Prince Shang on three sides, and defeat Liu Bei in one fell swoop.
When the time comes, you will naturally have a great achievement, and you will be rewarded."
Guo Tu sat on horseback and urged the soldiers around him to move forward. Behind him he could not see the end of the road. In front of him, more than 4,000 people led by Cui Juye were opening the way. They were already four to five miles ahead of the Chinese army. Only Cui Juye could be seen in the distance.
The back view of a few soldiers in the rear.
At this moment, a low sound suddenly came from the distance. This sound seemed like the "cuckoo" sound made when a giant object fell into the water, or like the "dong-dong" sound made when a war drum was beaten. It was dull and fascinating.
Heartstrings.
"Did you hear anything?"
Guo Tu asked Ma Yan, the general who had been following him.
"heard it."
Ma Yan looked around and saw that the sky was cloudless in the distance and the hills and slopes were densely covered with vegetation and weeds, and he couldn't see anything.
"Do you know what that sound is?"
Guo Tu asked again.
Ma Yan hesitated for a moment and shook his head: "The voice is too quiet."
"Could it be a large group of cavalry?"
Someone will tell you the guess.
Guo Tu's face suddenly became calm. He recalled the memory of being surrounded by Zhang Fei's cavalry in the Battle of Linxi. He hesitated for a moment and said to Ma Yan: "Quick, gather all the archers and immediately go to the hill in front to ambush."
Ma Yan was surprised and said: "Jiang Jun, we have to cross the river later. If it weren't for the enemy's cavalry, this would delay our march. I'm afraid we won't be able to reach the county today."
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Guo Tu was rarely smart for once, or in other words, he had finally accumulated some experience after being repeatedly killed by the Qingzhou Army.
Since the Chinese army was some distance away from the vanguard army, Guo Tu and the others only heard the sound.
But at this time, Cui Juye, who was in the front army, opened his eyes wide and was at a loss.
After Beixiang, there is Xiaoshui. The terrain of Beixiang is relatively complex, with a large number of fields, hills, forests, and small rivers. However, there is a large plain area near the Xiaoshui River. The river beach looks like a grassland, and the terrain is very open, suitable for cavalry charges.
He had just arrived at Xiaoshui and was about to find a place to cross the river for the army behind him. Suddenly he heard the deafening sound of horse hooves in the distance. When he looked at it again, he felt that he was out of his mind.
They saw that on the plain to the west, the entire horizon was filled with countless black shadows, and large groups of cavalry were rushing toward them like groups of ferocious wolves.
Cui Juye's front army only has more than 4,000 people. Let alone resistance, even if the formation is not completed, there is no desire to resist.
Almost as soon as they noticed the enemy cavalry coming, they immediately fled.
"Don't run, don't run! Form a formation, form a formation!"
Cui Juye once followed Gao Lan and Zhang He in a confrontation with Gongsun Zan's cavalry in the river. He knew that racing against the cavalry on the plain would be a dead end, so after a brief moment of astonishment, he immediately shouted and tried to get the soldiers to regroup.
However, his shouting was doomed to be in vain. The soldiers were discouraged. They all cried for their fathers and mothers, only regretting the loss of two legs. They scattered like birds and beasts. The entire river beach was full of Jizhou soldiers fleeing in all directions.
The roaring cavalry arrived in an instant, and two feet were nothing compared to four legs. Soon a large number of Jizhou soldiers were overtaken, their bodies pierced by sharp spears, and the river bank was dyed red with blood.
Cui Juye rode on horseback towards the road coming from the north, but there was a black shadow chasing after him. Dark clouds and ghostly figures on the snow shuttled around the battlefield. Everywhere they passed, there were blood stains on the snake spears.
Just one more point, Zhang Fei was like a god of war, killing everyone in the crowd.
Suddenly he caught a glimpse of the enemy general's fluttering flag and fleeing north, so he immediately urged the dark clouds and snow to chase him. Because the horse was fast, Cui Juye was overtaken in less than two or three minutes, and the god of death quietly came behind him.
, a spear pierced his body.
"Keep chasing!"
Zhang Fei was eager to kill and gave an order to wipe out Guo Tu's tribe today.
However, when the cavalry gathered again and began to charge towards the official road in Beixiang to the north, countless archers suddenly appeared on the hilly slopes ahead. A burst of arrows fell like raindrops, killing hundreds of cavalry.
"Withdraw, withdraw, withdraw!"
The cavalry officers shouted one after another, Zhang Fei danced the spear in his hand like a fan, opened the incoming arrow, and then turned his horse back to escape.
Dust and smoke billowed as the cavalry came in force and left in force, leaving only corpses on the ground and horse hoof prints on the road that was muddy due to light rain yesterday.
"snort!"
Seeing Zhang Fei being repulsed from a distance, Guo Tu couldn't catch up. He snorted coldly and waved his hand: "Gather the soldiers and retreat to Yimu to rest first!"
In the Battle of Beixiang, Zhang Fei faced Guo Tu's attack head-on. He killed Yuan Shao's general Cui Juye and forced Guo Tu to retreat to Yimu. It was not until a few days later that the defenders and grain and grass of Qian County completed the transfer, and Zhang Fei chose
Evacuated to Ganling for backup.
In the following period, several troops of Yuan Shao and Liu Bei moved around on the small battlefield of Qinghe Kingdom. After several battles, neither the enemy nor we gained much advantage.
Although Yuan Shang was repelled, including the Xuanjia heavy cavalry, dozens of soldiers accidentally fell off their horses during the charge and were killed in the chaos.
Zhang Fei's losses were even greater. Although he defeated Guo Tu's former army Cui Juye first and killed more than a thousand enemies, he encountered an ambush in advance. Guo Tu's arrows were fired at him as if they were free.
As a result, 8,000 Qingzhou cavalrymen lost 400 to 500 casualties in the Battle of Beixiang.
You must know that a cavalryman is much more valuable than an infantryman. Although Zhang Fei slaughtered nearly half of Cui Juye's troops, more than a thousand infantrymen were exchanged for four to five hundred cavalrymen. Obviously, the loss of the cavalrymen was greater.
Therefore, it is hard to say who will win and who will lose in this battle.
It's just that Zhang Fei played a certain strategic role, covering the smooth transfer of the Yexian defenders and grain and grass. In a sense, although some cavalry were lost, the grain and grass were saved.
By April 6, Yuan Shao also started the boundary bridge offensive. Tens of thousands of troops set off from the boundary bridge and launched a fierce attack on Liu Beijun's camp in the east of the bridge. Groups of Yuan's troops slowly crossed the boundary bridge and arrived at
Qiaodong, and then began to assemble in Qiaodong, preparing to attack Liu Bei's military camp.
On the western slope of the bridge, Yuan Shao stood on a hill, overlooking the other side of the bridge.
I saw that Liu Bei's army camp on the other side of the bridge, about two miles away from the river beach, was fully armed at this time. All the high oars, watchtowers, and arrow towers were ready, and countless crossbow racks were aligned on the slope.
At the bridgehead, rows of archers were ready to attack, and the mountains and plains were full of enemies, as if they had been waiting for them to attack.
"This is all Liu Bei's troops."
Yuan Shao turned to Liu Hui and said: "Yesterday Meng Dai and Jiao Chu said that the people over at Weiqiao were preparing to break up their camp and march north to support Liu Bei. Is there any news from there today? Have they followed my arrangements? They must be held back.
Reinforcements coming?"
Liu Hui smiled and said: "Ming Gong, I have some good news."
"oh?"
Yuan Shao became interested and asked with a smile: "It must be good news if you can hear it from Zi Hui's mouth."
Liu Hui smiled and said: "Ming Gong, there was a sudden heavy rain in Wei County and Yuancheng yesterday, and the tide in Gudu, a big river, filled up some rivers connecting Qingshui and Gudu, and many villages along the coast were submerged. Zhang Liao's troops
, Zang Ba's tribe, and Dian Wei's tribe were dragged into Wei County and couldn't get over."
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Yuan Shao's eyes widened, and then he laughed loudly and said: "God is really helping me. God is helping me. Our army will win this battle. Send the order, deploy according to the plan, and prepare to attack. We must defeat Liu Bei's army."
Take it!”
"only!"
Many soldiers around him shouted, and the morale of Yuan's army was unprecedentedly high.
And at this moment.
In Liu Bei's military camp, Liu Bei, Chen Mu, Xun Youju, Zhang Liaodian, Wei Gaoshun, Qianzhao and others were sitting around the table, looking at the previously drawn map around the boundary bridge.
"God helps me, God is helping us."
Chen Mu pointed to the bridgehead and Chengu Township in the northwest and said: "It rained heavily yesterday in Wei County. It was difficult for the main force disguised by Huang Zhong, Taishi Ci and others to go north. Yuan Shao will definitely take advantage of this time to attack our camp. This is the bridgehead, a defensive fortification.
At most, we can first lure Yuan's army into an ambush and annihilate it. Yuan Shang will station his troops in Chen Gu. Our army should take the initiative to attack and defeat Yuan Shang's troops first!"
Liu Bei nodded and said, "Fourth brother, what do you want to do?"
Chen Mu said: "The eldest brother immediately sent a message to the third brother. After recuperating in Ganling, tonight, let the soldiers take a day's dry food and go north to Guangchuan to make a surprise attack here!"
Everyone looked where he pointed, which was Changle Township, about twenty miles away from Guangzong City.
Through the intelligence of Zhou Tao, it can be determined that Yuan Shao has nearly 20 million stones of grain and grass stored here. If this place can be captured, the battle will be won.
"Then what?"
Liu Bei asked again.
Chen Mu continued: "Eldest brother can ask Gao Shun to lead the troops to stay in the camp, and then ask Zhang Liao Dianwei to raid Chen Gu, annihilate Yuan Shang's tribe first, and then attack Yimu Guo Tu's tribe in Yi County to the east to relieve our worries. If we can
If these two Yuan armies are completely defeated, even if Third Brother's side has no gains, they will definitely be able to defeat Yuan Shao."
"good!"
Liu Bei nodded, looked around at everyone and said, "Have you all heard this? Just do as my fourth brother said!"
"Yes, Ming Gong!"
All the soldiers shouted loudly, and their morale was even higher than that of Yuan Jun!