Little did the Mongol heavy cavalry know that they would one day be surrounded by infantry, as they had always been known for their striking power. What they especially didn't expect was that this group of infantry not only had good armor, but it was difficult for them to inflict fatal injuries on their scimitars without horsepower, and almost all of them could continue to fight, but their bayonets would pose a huge threat to themselves.

Although sitting on horses made the upper body of the heavy cavalry far away from the Ming army, and it was usually difficult to kill and injure directly, the war horses under the crotch and their own legs were all excellent targets for the Ming army's bayonets.

The Mongol heavy cavalry suddenly had a ridiculous feeling at this time, that is, they would rather stab their legs than stab their horses. It is true that stabbing one's legs is bleeding and painful, but after all, people are human beings, and they can think, judge, and measure the situation.

But once the bayonet stabbed the war horse, no matter where it stabbed, the war horse would definitely go crazy in pain. At this moment, no matter how good you are at riding, you will not be able to compete with the beasts, and once you fall off the horse, it will be all over - at least three or four bayonets will definitely follow you, and there will be no way to survive.

Fortunately, at this time, the light cavalry behind them also joined the battlefield, attracting a large number of Ming army's "Little Mandarin Duck Formation" to meet the enemy, giving them a sigh of relief for these heavy cavalry.

However, because the width of the battlefield was not enough, the light cavalry could not use the usual oblique attack tactics, so they could only rush straight in. Although there were no musketeers to give them a head to drink at this time, the Mongolian light cavalry, which lacked horse equipment and also used scimitars, had worse protection capabilities than heavy cavalry.

The battlefield along the river, which was not wide enough, had now become a talisman for the Mongols, so that they could not open the situation when the cavalry was superior, but were dragged down by the numerically inferior Ming infantry.

In normal times, the Mongol cavalry would have retreated in the face of this situation, and they had enough reasons not to fight such a dull battle. Just like the Mongol cavalry did during their first expedition to the west three hundred years ago.

At the Battle of the Khalkha River (May 1223) at the end of the First Western Expedition, Jebe and Subutai led less than 30,000 Mongol cavalry against a combined army of 100,000 from the Rus and Kipchaks. The Mongol army retreated for nine days to a favorable location - on the banks of the Khalkha River. After nine days of pursuit, the allied forces were in disarray, and the Mongol cavalry launched a surprise attack, and the flanks were quickly outflanked and routed in one fell swoop.

A total of 70 nobles were killed and six Zaras princes were executed, and the subsequent siege resulted in a loss of about 50,000 men, while the Mongol casualties were negligible.

Retreat was definitely not a shame for the Mongol cavalry, it was always just a tactical action, no different from stabbing, picking, chopping, and slashing by soldiers on the battlefield.

Unfortunately, this normal tactical move is no longer allowed.

Before the war, Buzhhatu and Huang Taiji had issued strict orders three times and five times, and unless there was an order from the rear, they would only be allowed to advance and not retreat this time in this attack.

Although the glory of the Mongol Empire is long gone, Genghis Khan's military rules are still valid. The Mongol warriors were disciplined, no one would abandon the pursuit and fight for the sake of looting property, and those who disobeyed the order and did not attack were beheaded.

Genghis Khan's punishment for deserters was particularly severe, and those who retreated without permission were considered deserters and faced the punishment of consecutive sitting: "If one of the ten people escapes and the others do not stop it on the spot, the whole team will be executed; If all of the 10 escapes, all of the 100 members of the 100 will be executed. ”

In other words, flight or retreat can only be decided by the superior, and the soldier has no choice on his own. There are only two options for a soldier: obey his fate, or die.

Since this is the case, it is natural that he would rather die in battle than escape. The clan and the family are under the rule of the Great Khan, so what's the point of fleeing? What's more, stealing a life is not in line with the warrior mentality that the Mongols have been instilled in for many years.

The heavy cavalry and light cavalry had no choice but to grit their teeth and fight hard, hoping that the Ming army would collapse on its own in the face of their bravery, just like the Ming army in the past twenty or thirty years.

However, Cao Yan obviously did not agree and would not allow this situation to occur, he had seen the Ming army twenty or thirty years ago, although Zhang Wanbang's department in front of him could not see that kind of sign at all, but the cautious Cao Yan still planned to take precautions. He immediately ordered the Chinese army to send 2,000 men to reinforce the southern front.

It's not that Cao Yan is reluctant to use troops, or that he doesn't know how bad his tactics of adding fuel to, but ...... He faced the same dilemma as the Mongols: the width of the battlefield was insufficient, and even if all the Chinese troops rushed to reinforcements, they could not really join the battlefield, and at most 1,000 people could actually play a role in reinforcements.

Cao Yan dispatched 2,000, in fact, even the second wave of reinforcements was prepared.

There is no choice in the tactics of adding fuel, the other party can only do this, he can only do this, and now the real competition is actually who can't bear the casualties and chooses to retreat.

Of course, a bunch of infantry retreating in front of the Mongol cavalry was no different from stretching out his neck and waiting to cut off his head, Cao Yan knew that he had no choice, and the only one who could retreat was the Mongols.

As a result, the battlefield along the river became a meat grinder, and the elites of both sides made a pot of porridge on this ground that was not open enough.

The Mongol cavalry lost most of their shock and mobility, but they had at least a condescending advantage on horseback; The Ming infantry lost what they believed to be a strong firepower, but fortunately, the advantages of squad and platoon tactics could still be brought into play, and the equipment was significantly better than that of the Mongols.

Casualties on both sides began to increase, and the majority of those killed in the battle must have been the Mongol army; But in terms of the number of wounded, that is the Ming army is more.

Zhang Wanbang is still the consistent style of the past, I led a group of pro-soldiers to go around to make up for the shortage, the "cold iron armor" on the body was cut off some, and the cold iron scales on the left arm were cut off partially, but they did not fall off, just hung outside the leather armor inside, as if it had become an ornament.

His confidant was probably also slashed, but fortunately, he failed to break the armor, but only left a deep mark on the iron piece, but it was also shocking. If this knife had been cut from a running warhorse, something terrible might have happened.

There was also a lot of blood on his face, which had long since dried up and turned black, making his already somewhat fanatical face even more hideous and terrifying.

Maybe it was the high-intensity hand-to-hand contact that made him a little out of strength, or maybe the muddy ground was too slippery, at this time Zhang Wanbang suddenly stumbled under his feet and almost fell forward.

Seeing this, a Mongolian light cavalry who forcibly beat his horse from his side subconsciously swung a knife at him, but because Zhang Wanbang happened to stabilize his body again, the knife that was originally wiped on his neck turned into a diagonal upward slash on his helmet, knocking his helmet away.

Another Mongolian light cavalryman who was close to the helmet that flew out subconsciously stretched out his scimitar and happened to pick the helmet on the tip of the knife.

The Mongolian cavalry was stunned at first, then overjoyed, and shouted in a somewhat out-of-tune Chinese dialect: "Zhang Wanbang is dead, don't you still beg to surrender!" ”

This routine is not only played by generals, when the Mongols fought against the Ming Dynasty in the early years, there were often cases of killing low-level generals, so many people in the Mongolian army would use this trick to scare people: whether you die or not, Lao Tzu shouted first, and then said, deceiving one is one, which can always hit your morale.

Sure enough, his shout also attracted the attention of the nearby Ming army, and they all subconsciously turned their heads to check, and they were stunned when they found Zhang Wanbang's helmet.

However, although Zhang Wanbang is not yet thirty years old, he joined the army at the age of thirteen, and he has a lot of experience in battle formations. Immediately raised his knife and shouted: "Dog Tartar play this set for the master, Lao Tzu lives well, you are a wild man!" ”

The Mongolian soldier could understand Chinese, and when he heard this angry scolding, his face turned green with anger, and he was about to throw Zhang Wanbang's helmet to find him desperately.

Unexpectedly, a heavy cavalry commander in full armor suddenly rushed out next to him, snatched the helmet away with a knife, and shouted: "Our army has won, the whole army retreats!" ”

Even Zhang Wanbang was a little surprised at this time, the Mongols fought to the death for so long with huge casualties, just to grab Lao Tzu's helmet?

However, the family members around him had already surrounded him to avoid the danger of his own major general just now. The Mongol soldiers began to withdraw from the battlefield and slowly retreated.

The rear of the Mongolian army also seemed to have discovered something and began to sing gold. Zhang Wanbang glanced left and right and found that the casualties of his army were not small. However, he took a closer look, but felt that the casualties of the headquarters were not as large as the main formation of the Chinese army that supported later, so he shouted: "Limit the astringency of the ground, continue to kill!" ”

This is Zhang Wanbang's personal style, although it can be regarded as accepting it when it is good, but it has to strive for the maximum benefit. The "land is limited" is about twenty or thirty steps in front of his position, and this order is equivalent to "recovering the entire position" and then driving the Mongols away.

However, the Mongol cavalry was very obedient to orders, and once they decided to retreat, they did not hesitate, and soon withdrew in pairs and threes. At this time, the Ming army also had a big battle, and its energy was not as abundant as Fang Cai, and it was only by relying on squad platoon tactics that thirty or forty unlucky men were left.

The retreat of the Mongolian cavalry was quite a set, some of the cavalry who had fallen off the horse "died" stretched out a hand at this time, and the retreating cavalry would take the initiative to "pass by" when they saw it, control the horse with only two legs, lean to the side, stretch out their hands to pull the fallen man up and pull him back to the horse, and then withdraw together.

Don't underestimate this hand, Zhang Wanbang knew that they had this habit, and he could only watch the Mongolian cavalry bring back more than 200 wounded pretending to be dead.

Cao Yan of the Chinese army breathed a sigh of relief and ordered Zhang Wanbang to count the battlefield and count the casualties. Qi Jin on the east side and Gao Yimin on the northern front also sent people to ask for instructions, saying that the military doctors in their department were ready and could go to the southern line to help at any time, and Cao Yan agreed on the spot.

At this time, there was some disharmony on the side of the Mongolian Chinese army's main formation, Buzhihatu's face sank like water and he didn't say a word, and the faces of the Tumen were also quite ugly, staring at the few Mongolian generals who had just withdrawn, and asked with anger: "Who was the first to give the order to retreat?" ”

A general in full armor stepped forward with Zhang Wanbang's helmet and said, "Great Khan, it's my order." ”

"Tatar, are you starting to fear blood?" Tumen seemed to be a little surprised, but he still kept his face calm: "As one of the six major battels of Chahar, do you plan to give up this honor?" ”

Battle means hero, warrior, and it has a more familiar transliteration called "Batu". There is even another variant of the Manchu language called Baturu.

It is not easy to obtain such a title, and the commander of the heavy cavalry of the Mongolian army, named Tatar, shook his head and said: "Great Khan, Tatar has never been afraid of battle, and the reason why he ordered to retreat is because we have basically achieved the combat goal of Buri Hatu Huang Taiji, and at the same time, we have no strength to continue to expand the results of the battle, and it is useless to continue to fight except to increase casualties." ”

Tumen frowned slightly, glanced at Burihatu, and asked Tatar: "The southern front of the Ming army has not collapsed, and you haven't even seen Cao Yan's face, so can you say that you have achieved the purpose of the war?" ”

Tatar was not afraid, and said: "Great Khan, the order of you and Burihatu Huang Taiji did not say that Cao Yan's head should be taken, Huang Taiji's order was to break through the bayonet array and find out their depth—we have already done this. ”

If you want to break through the bayonet formation, if you kill the word "breakthrough", then the Mongol cavalry has indeed achieved its tactical purpose, and even before the light cavalry has arrived, the heavy cavalry has accomplished this goal.

However, the subsequent situation is obvious to all, and the significance of this breakthrough is not too great. The bayonet array, which seemed to be broken, actually turned into a quagmire, so that the Mongol cavalry was deeply trapped in it, and almost couldn't extricate themselves.

This is something that no one expected in advance, once the Ming army in the past was broken by the cavalry charge, it basically could only wait to be chopped and chopped vegetables by the Mongolian warriors, how could there be such a magical scene today?

Tumen was also a little speechless, and after a pause, he asked rhetorically: "Although the bayonet array is broken, it is not completely broken, and what depth do you know about them?" ”

"Great Khan, please look." Tatar gently threw Zhang Wanbang's helmet at Tumen, waited for Tumen to catch it, and explained: "This helmet is Zhang Wanbang's." ”

Tumen was first taken aback, and then a little suspicious: "Zhang Wanbang is dead?" ”

If the main generals are all dead, and the Ming army is not in the slightest mess until the last moment, then it will be impossible to say.

Tatar shook his head and said, "Not dead, but probably wounded - there is still blood on this helmet." ”

Of course, the figures can't tell whether the blood stains on the helmet are Zhang Wanbang's, but since Zhang Wanbang's helmet is here, Tatar said that he has found out the depth of the Ming army, but it can't be said to be nonsense.

The Great Khan of Tumen could not find anything to criticize him for a while, so he had to groan. Buzhihatu next to him suddenly said: "Since our army has won and we already know the details of the bayonet array, then this battle will be meaningful, and the dead warriors will naturally be able to return to the immortal heaven and be blessed by the Buddhas." ”

Tumen turned his head to look at him, wondering why he had changed his attitude faster than he had been. But Burihatu didn't explain, just nodded at the Great Khan: "Great Khan, it's time to go back to Chahanhot." ”

Tumen frowned and said, "What about Xicheng?" Don't want the Beiguan Trade Road? ”

Buzhhatu shook his head and said: "There is still chaos in Beiguan, we don't have to rush to make a move, wait until the others have made enough trouble." He paused for a moment and explained: "To stir up the storm, you don't have to be in the eye of the storm. ”

Tumen nodded and sighed: "You're right, let's not be busy for now, and wait until those who have their own plans have enough." ”

This is actually a helpless thing, Tumen knows very well in his heart that if he is as strong as Daming, he doesn't have to wait at all.

As soon as he waved his hand, the Mongol army immediately turned on the spot and began to slowly retreat south, and a bloody battle came to an end.

Afterwards, both the Ming and Mongolian sides claimed to have won a great victory in the battle of the Yehe River. The Mongols claimed that they had broken the bayonet formation that the Ming army had relied on in recent years, while the Ming army claimed that they had easily repelled the Mongol cavalry attack and beheaded more than 1,600 ranks.

Who will win and who will lose, the two sides and even the surrounding forces will have their own judgments.

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