Chapter 18 A decisive battle between iron and blood
Duan Yuntian personally led the pursuing army, all of which were mounted infantry. At this time, the infantry's full set of equipment had been put on. Except for the crossbowmen, who were lightly armored, the rest of the soldiers had heavy armor and the horses did not run very fast. The crossbowmen were on horses. They used pedals to wind up the crossbow, and then stepped forward to throw it with a roar. Then the defeated Tocharian soldiers running behind suddenly screamed and fell off their horses. From time to time, some Tocharian cavalry lost their fighting spirit and dismounted and knelt on the roadside to surrender. . "" Win phone bill)
Duan Yuntian's soldiers did not pay attention to these surrendered troops. They just took the horses away and continued to pursue them. The cavalry behind them would come up soon. There would be soldiers to take in these prisoners of war. As for whether they would escape, the Zhou army did not care at all. Even better, these prisoners of war would not have to be guarded by special personnel. However, the Tocharian soldiers who dismounted and asked to surrender had a look of fear and exhaustion on their faces. They knelt numbly on the side of the road. Few wanted to escape. Their fighting spirit and morale had already been reduced. Destroyed, this is already a collapsed warrior.
The infantry and cavalry could not run fast, but the Tocharian cavalry wanted to defeat the enemy. The two sides chased each other as if they had a tacit understanding. Duan Yuntian's war horse was a three-year-old Shule horse. This is a good horse that can be chosen among ten thousand. It runs fast and Steady, the soldiers around him are Duan Yuntian's confidants. They are all selected by the most elite warriors in the frontier army in recent years. The two thousand soldiers are cavalry who are skilled in cavalry combat. Even if they are slowed down, they will gradually rush forward. Arrive at the front of the pursuit team.
Suddenly the Zhou army in front started making noises. Duan Yuntian was startled and said to the soldiers beside him: "Go and see what's going on?" The soldier took the order and rode the horse, and after a while he turned back to Duan Yuntian with a face on his face. He said with a smile: "The brothers in front surrounded a cavalry, about a thousand people, and actually caught a big fish under the banner of the Tocharian coach."
Duan Yuntian was stunned for a moment, then smiled and said, "Coach? The guards around you may be elites. You sent a thousand people to defeat them. I captured the Tocharo coach alive."
Duan Yuntian's general is a fellow Yi nationality who has followed Duan Yuntian for eleven years. His name is Ding Haiming. Hearing this, the whole group of horses shouted: "Okay! The general is waiting. I will go and capture the Tocharian commander immediately. The 1st, 2nd and 3rd brigades follow me, and the rest protect the general."
As Ding Haiming shouted, three teams of personal cavalry turned out. Each team had 300 people. They followed Ding Haiming and rushed out. The left front of the pursuing team formed a group. Everyone knew that there was a big fish inside. Zhou Jun wanted to Although most of the soldiers surrounding Rosali and his party were crossbowmen, despite the desperate resistance of a thousand palace guards, they were able to break out of a gap.
Rosali's face was almost as dark as night at this time. Unexpectedly, he was caught up by the pursuers. Originally, his escort generals saw that the situation was not good and had already turned aside, preparing to avoid the pursuit of both parties. , waited for the pursuers to pass and then detoured back to the capital of Tochara. The result was too late, and it was clear on the grassland. The biggest mistake was to still use the banner of the Tocharian coach. If the Zhou army did not pursue them, who would they pursue?
Crossbows kept firing around. The armor of the Forbidden Army was much better than that of ordinary Tocharian cavalry, but they suffered a lot of losses under such powerful crossbows. The Forbidden Army tried their best to break out, but the close combat of the Zhou Army's cavalry was actually not very good. It was so powerful that Rosali and his party rushed out through a gap. Rosali was ecstatic and loudly ordered to leave quickly. The Imperial Army also knew that the opportunity was rare, so they tried their best to break out of the encirclement.
At this time, there was a sudden sound of horse hoofbeats from the side, and a black-armored cavalry rushed out from the diagonal thorn. With such fast speed and strong assault force, it easily rushed into the Forbidden Army cavalry guarding Rosali. Two pieces, this cavalry is not many in number, almost the same as Rosari's imperial guard, but its combat effectiveness is extremely strong, and the formation can be easily changed. When it is rolled back, the back part of the cut off Tocharian cavalry is rolled in. , and then there was a violent storm of killing.
Because Rosali was riding on the same horse as the commander of the Forbidden Army, he was in the encircled rear group, which meant that the breakout failed. The Imperial Army cavalry around Rosali had no choice but to fight hard at this time. All their families were in the capital of Tochara. , if something happened to the prince here, then their whole family would be dead. So the Imperial Guard cavalry all showed their sharp swords, held the horse reins with their left hands, and held a shield, and began to fight with Zhou who had already rushed into their queue. The army cavalry fought.
After this confrontation, Tocharo's most elite imperial guards discovered that the Zhou cavalry they faced was so powerful. Not only did they cooperate with each other in small-scale cavalry battles, but their personal combat capabilities were also very powerful. , slashing swords at close range, switching weapons very fast, with almost no flaws, and all of them are skilled in martial arts. When a brave Tocharian Forbidden Army is fighting to the death with the Zhou Army cavalry in front of him, there will suddenly be a dangerous attack from the side. After stabbing a spear and killing it easily, the cavalryman would choose the Tocharian cavalry next to him to attack.
Every battle was fought with more and less, and the local cooperation with the Zhou army's cavalry was almostIt was the Tocharian cavalry who could not catch up. One by one, the Tocharian imperial cavalry was cut off from their horses. Nearly two hundred Tocharian cavalry were killed in a short period of combat. Seeing that their cavalry was so powerful, the crossbows on the horses were all around. The soldiers cheered, and there were fewer and fewer cavalry around Rosali. Although the more than a hundred cavalry who rushed out desperately returned to support, they were unable to shake the Zhou army's formation. Instead, they were involved in the same strangulation.
It seemed that Rosali and his party could not escape. At this time, Rosali suddenly shouted crazily: "Don't fight, I am Rosali, Prince of Tochar. Don't fight, I surrender."
With this shout, all the Forbidden Army around Rosali stopped attacking. Before the peripheral Zhou army had time to stop, dozens of Forbidden Army cavalry were cut off from their horses. At this time, only the soldiers around Rosali were left. There were more than five hundred people. The personal cavalry led by Ding Haiming formed a circle outside, surrounding Rosali and the others in the center. On the outside was a circle of about 3,000 Zhou army infantry. Rosali was unable to fly.
Rosali anxiously shouted again: "What are you still doing? Drop your weapons and dismount." Then he raised his voice again and shouted: "Don't do it, we are surrendering. I am the Prince of Tochara, and my brother is Tochara." King, he will pay a ransom to redeem me.¡±
Ding Haiming separated the cavalry and walked to the front. He watched these Tocharian cavalry begin to drop their weapons, with helplessness and exhaustion on their faces. Ding Haiming curled his lips. These Tocharian cavalry were full of fighting spirit, but the leader was a greedy man. Ding Haiming, who was afraid of death, could only sigh secretly and ordered his soldiers to go up and accept the surrender.
At this time, Rosali rode a war horse alone and was brought to Duan Yuntian. Duan Yuntian looked at the battlefield with the Tocharian princes dressed in silk and satin. He was speechless. The Tocharian country was in dilapidated state. Okay, but the upper-class nobles are still so unreliable. How can they not be weak?
Duan Yuntian organized an infantry brigade of 300 people, escorted Rosali and his party back, and ordered Rosali to be thrown into a prisoner-of-war camp when they arrived at the Tocharian camp, waiting to be dealt with after returning to the division in victory. This Tocharian prince was simply forgotten. The hundreds of Tocharian soldiers who lost their horses and their prince could not stand up in front of the three hundred Zhou army. Duan Yuntian simply looked down on this incompetent and fearful of death. The prince.
The pursuing troops did not waste too long to clean up Rosali. They took the opportunity to change their horses and continued the pursuit. After increasing their speed, less than half an hour later, they saw the tail of Tocharo's defeated army again. Duan Yuntian was impatient at this time. , I have been chasing for eighty miles, and I haven¡¯t seen any ambush at all. Could it be that I am overthinking it? Duan Yuntian directly pulled out the horizontal sword from his waist and ordered loudly: "Speed ??up the whole army and catch up with the enemy."
Suddenly the entire Zhou army increased their speed, and the distance between the two sides became closer and closer.
At this time, Fang Chi led his brigade to the front. Fang Chi gathered all the soldiers in his hands together, and did not send lightly armored crossbowmen to the front to kill like other brigade commanders. The enemy soldiers kept running at a steady pace, and also paid attention to the rotation of their horses. By now, the other brigades, whose horsepower had obviously dropped, slowed down. Fang Chi's brigade rushed to the front, and Fang Chi's hands Holding a horizontal sword, the long step cannot be performed on horseback, so it is carried on the back.
Duan Yuntian's military order came with the messenger, and Fang Chi was refreshed. He knew that if there was no ambush yet, it would be the final pursuit. He pointed his sword forward and shouted: "Come forward, the military merits of our 12th Brigade will be over." In front." The morale of his soldiers was also greatly boosted, so they changed their horses and their speed immediately increased. The tail of the defeated Tocharian soldiers who were originally far away felt very close.
When the pursuit reached this point, the terrain was no longer a vast grassland, but undulating hills appeared. The defeated Tocharian soldiers in front suddenly rushed into a very wide valley. The mountains on both sides of the valley were tall and straight, with trees and square pools. The brigade rushed into the valley. The woods on both sides looked like countless warriors in the darkness. Fang Chi suddenly became alert. After advancing for a while, Fang Chi suddenly felt cold all over.
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It was already dark at this time. Fangchi's soldiers held wooden short sticks in their hands and lit a few torches. These short sticks were special torches made of ironwood soaked in tung oil and could burn for about an hour. , each soldier carries three such torches. The orange fire makes the side of the soldiers bright and illuminates the way forward. However, due to the difference in light and darkness a little further away, it is impossible to see clearly. Fang Chi instinctively Feeling bad, he ordered the soldiers to dismount and set up defenses.
Fang Chi's soldiers showed that they were well-trained at this time. After hearing the general's order, no one questioned them. They all dismounted, gathered the horses behind, and formed a half-moon formation, with the spearmen in front and swordsmen in front. With the shield soldiers in the middle and the crossbowmen at the rear, the time from receiving the order to dismounting and setting up the formation was very short for the 300 men.The situation was laid out in the wide valley.
Fang Chi ordered again: "Throw everyone's torches to the outside. Lao Hei, you go back and stop the brothers behind, and report to the general that the terrain here is unfavorable, beware of ambushes."
Lao Hei is a Turkic soldier, and he has the best riding skills among the entire brigade. At this time, Fang Chi's 12th Brigade broke away from the main group and rushed forward for about a mile. Lao Hei responded and mounted his horse and galloped back. The soldiers rushed Throwing the torch in his hand around the formation, a semicircular fire belt was immediately formed. In this way, if an enemy approached in the dark, he would be exposed immediately, while Fang Chi's soldiers were in the dark.
In the dense forests on both sides, countless large food cavalry were all under their horses. Everyone had a piece of cloth in their mouths. The mouths of the war horses were also tied to prevent any sound from being made. The reflective parts of the armor were covered with mud, spitting fire. Luo Baibing rushed through the valley and all the Dashi soldiers saw it. Immediately afterwards they saw the Zhou army's cavalry rushing into the valley. All the Dashi soldiers who saw it couldn't help but feel excited. The fish took the bait and a great victory was right in front of them.
The Zhou army's cavalry, which consisted of hundreds of people, suddenly stopped when they rushed to the middle of the valley. As if they had discovered something, all the cavalry dismounted and ignored the defeated Tocharian soldiers not far away, and then deployed After a month and a half of formation, the torches were also thrown out. The formation of several hundred people in the wide valley seemed very small, but it made every Dashi soldier feel nervous. Could it be that they had been discovered? The eyes of the Dashi soldiers were looking forward. Even if they couldn't see, every Dashi soldier knew that their general, the most devout Muslim, and the god of war in Dashi, Abu Muslim, was in the woods on the left.
Abu Muslim's face darkened. He couldn't believe the vigilance of the Zhou army. They actually stopped advancing when they were about to catch up with the defeated Tocharian troops. At this time, there was only this Zhou army of several hundred people in the ambush circle. Army, Abu Muslim could not have ordered the attack, was it really discovered? Abu Muslim feels that he has never felt so uncomfortable. If the Zhou army behind him is alert, then an ambush will truly turn into a head-on confrontation. Such a battle is something Abu Muslim, who has planned for a long time, is unwilling to accept. .
The sound of horse hooves sounded, and a large torch at the entrance of the valley burned in. The figure of the cavalry group was obvious. They did not stop at the entrance of the valley and rushed directly into the valley. They seemed to be crowded with people. I am afraid there were more than 20,000 cavalrymen. Abu Muslim Song He breathed a sigh of relief, and there were almost more than 20,000 Zhou troops in pursuit. However, the hundreds of Zhou troops deployed in front made Abu Muslim frown again.
Fang Chi was in a panic at this time. Why didn't Lao Hei spread his warning? Why did the big team come in anyway? When Fang Chi turned around, he saw the figures of Zhou Jun behind him. The first general who was riding on a war horse was like a bear on a donkey. Who was Duan Yaoming?
Fang Chi turned around and walked over, saying with an angry tone: "Old Duan, what's going on? Didn't I send Lao Hei to see the general? This place is conducive to an ambush. It's easy for a large group of people to ambush. We have to search the woods on both sides. Only in this way can we ensure safety. Although the valley is wide, if there are ambushes on both sides and attack from both sides, we will suffer a loss."
Duan Yaoming jumped off his horse with a bang. The poor horse was already sweating profusely. Duan Yaoming took off his mace from the horse and said: "The general already knows, and only sent twenty infantry brigades in, but each person All they brought were three horses.¡±
Fang Chi looked behind Duan Yaoming, and sure enough, the war horses were all empty. Three crossbow arrows were propped on the empty horses. The arrows penetrated the saddle, forming a triangular bracket. On top was the Zhou army's soldier cloak, and on top was a A special torch was glowing. From a distance, it looked like soldiers holding torches. Each of the 6,000 men and three horses led to 18,000 horses, just like the entire Zhou army entering the valley.
Fang Chi immediately understood that Duan Yuntian already knew his information, and actually came up with this method in a short period of time. The commander of the Jingu Infantry Army was Captain Zhang Xiaoyong. Zhang Xiaoyong was in his early forties and was not tall. He was usually kind-hearted. It looks like, but the generals under him all know that Zhang Xiaoyong is just a facade. Zhang Xiaoyong has the strictest requirements for soldiers, and his demands for military regulations are completely abnormal. The brigade commander under Zhang Xiaoyong has never eaten Zhang Xiaoyong. Army stick? Duan Yaoming probably ate the most.
Zhang Xiaoyong separated his soldiers and walked to Fangchi. The infantry of the Zhou army behind him had all dismounted and began to form a formation. The horses were concentrated behind and began to drive out of the valley. The infantry formations were formed one by one, and each torch began to fire. Throwing it around, a bright ring of light that was ten times larger than the ring of fire from Fang Chinong was quickly formed. Zhang Xiaoyong patted Fang Chi on the shoulder and said, "You are good, you are very alert."
Fang Chi was a little embarrassed, because Duan Yaoming and other brigade commanders had unhappy faces. They were about to catch up with the defeated Tocharian army, but they stopped pursuing because of Fang Chi's warning. It was hard for the infantry to catch up and kill them. A battle, but the result was that the Tocharians were let go.But if there was no ambush during the reconnaissance, then the infantry would find nothing when they came out this time. Fang Chi's behavior would be more hateful than those officers who were eager to kill the enemy.
Zhang Xiaoyong looked at Fang Chi's face and didn't know what this kid was thinking. He turned around and glared at Duan Yaoming and others, and cursed: "If you don't go to your own army, it is absolutely right to be cautious. If there is really an ambush, Fang Chi saved your lives, and the infantrymen are just riding on horses to beat the crap out of you."
Zhang Xiaoyong's prestige was so fierce that Duan Yaoming and other brigade commanders did not dare to say anything. They turned and walked towards their own military formation. Zhang Xiaoyong said: "Now send people to check the woods on both sides. If there is no ambush, we will go back. Today's victory is enough." Well, if there is an ambush, are you afraid that we won¡¯t be able to fight?¡±
When Duan Yaoming and other frustrated officers heard this, they immediately quickened their pace. Duan Yaoming's soldiers were on the left side of Fangchi, close to each other. Everyone heard Duan Yaoming's loud voice shouting: "Brothers, get over here. Cheer up, you might be able to make a big profit later."
Abu Muslim's eyes narrowed. The Zhou army seemed to be aware of it, and all the cavalry dismounted and formed an infantry formation. Abu Muslim was a little confused, but now the Zhou army was surrounded by torches. In the circle, the Zhou army could not see clearly. Abu Muslim secretly calculated in his mind. Most of the Zhou army's more than 20,000 horses had come in. Even if there were still troops outside the valley, they must not be many. Zhou Jun's long-range The shooting force was too powerful, and fighting at night was also beneficial. At least the threat of crossbows was reduced to a minimum. Abu Muslim waved his hand, and more than fifty messengers gathered around him.
Abu Muslim ordered: "The cavalry on both sides will dispatch fifteen thousand men each. Do not mount your horse to attack, but approach quietly. When you reach 150 steps, mount your horse and charge. You will eat up the Zhou army's pursuers. God bless you."
The messengers went down quickly, and soon the Muslim legions on Abu Muslim's side were divided into 15,000 people. They quietly left the dense forest in the dark night, walked down the hillside, and headed towards the center of the valley where the Zhou army was. The place was moved, and the screams of night owls echoed in the empty valley. This was the way of sending orders arranged by Abu Muslim. This was a backup method of sending orders. Originally, the Zhou army group entered the ambush circle, and the attack of Abu Muslim was Although he raised fire as a signal, Abu Muslim, who was cautious by nature, still prescribed a backup method of using the night owl's cry to convey orders. Now it seems that it was indeed used. The cavalry of the Lightning Legion also densely walked out of the dense forest opposite.
The cavalry on both sides led their horses forward as quietly as possible. Today was a cloudy day. In the dark valley, only the orange light emitted by the torches thrown by Zhou Jun could be seen. There was a faint sound coming from Zhou Jun's side. Horses neighed and people made a noise, the distance between the two sides was getting closer, the fire ring was like the Santu River between Yin and Yang, emitting a yellow light that harvested souls, and the war was about to break out.