Nine War Elephants 6

When Jiaozhi's reinforcements arrived in Dali City, Gao Jianming finally completely relieved himself. Although he Yijing concentrated fifty or sixty thousand horses in Dali City, he also knew in his heart that most of his elite men and horses had lost most of them in the previous two battles, and now most of these people were temporarily recruited, without any experience of recruits, although the number seems to be a lot, but in fact they are of no great use, if this is a war with the Song army, it will definitely not be able to stop the Song army's iron cavalry.

What's more, Gao Jianming also knew that during this period of time, many tribes had taken refuge in Duan Di, and Dali had also added a lot of people, so although the Song army was stationed on the riverside of Lishe, he did not dare to take half a step out of Dali City.

However, as soon as Li Quancheng and Li Xuande led the Jiaozhi people, Gao Jianming suddenly became energetic again, and the two armies together had a total of 70,000 troops, and the soldiers of Dali in the past were only 40,000 or 50,000, and they were more than twice as large as the Song army. What made Gao Jianming even happier was that this time Jiaozhi also brought 200 war elephants, plus the elephant army in Gao Jianming's hands, there were more than 500 war elephants in total, so although Dali also increased a lot of troops, Gao Jianming still felt much more confident.

Gao Jianming took Li Quancheng and his entourage into the city, and immediately set up a feast, Gao Jianming and Gao Jianxun personally doubled and entertained Jiaozhi and his party.

During the drinking and sprinkling banquet, he naturally talked about Song Jun's affairs. Listening to Gao Jianming and Gao Jianxun talk about how powerful the cavalry of the Song Army was and how cunning Yang Yan, the chief general of the Song Army, Li Quancheng couldn't help laughing and said: "Master Gao, I think you are frightened by the Song Army, is the cavalry of the Song Army as powerful as my elephant army?" ”

Gao Jianming listened to Li Quancheng's words, although he was unhappy, but at this time, he was counting on Jiaozhi to help, and he didn't dare to express his dissatisfaction, and he was also quite confident in the strength of the army, and said with a smile: "That's natural, what else can compare to the elephant army?" ”

Li Xuande also laughed and said: "Master Gaohou, you can rest assured, there is nothing to fear in the Song army, Prince Quancheng is also proficient in the art of war and good at using soldiers. You just wait for us to defeat the Song army, capture the Shanyan Mansion, and capture Duan Zhixing's child. ”

Several other generals Han Yi, Zhang Dianchen, Jiao Zhijuan and others also echoed, boasting about themselves, as if they could win a big victory as soon as they got out. Only Chief Ruan, who had suffered hardships, did not say a word.

Gao Jianxun listened to them on the side, the more unsound they became, and his heart was not happy, and said: "Prince Quancheng, generals, don't underestimate Yang Yan, this person is very cunning and treacherous, the Song army is also well-trained and well-equipped, and now Duan Zhixing's men have also increased a lot of people, you can't underestimate the enemy." ”

Li Quancheng snorted and said disapprerovingly: "The Song army is only more than 30,000 people, and the other departments are all rabble. Tomorrow, we will directly send troops, use war elephants as the vanguard, to attack the Song army, see how the Song army copes, and then go straight to Shicheng County, go to capture Duan Zhixing, and see what tricks Yang Yan can have. ”

At this time, Chief Ruan also said: "What General Gao said is not wrong, the prince, General Li, everyone, the so-called arrogant army will be defeated, this Yang Yan is out of luck with his soldiers, we must not underestimate the enemy." ”

Li Quancheng said: "You can rest assured, I have also studied the two battles won by the Song army, in fact, the Song army is not remarkable, the reason why the first two times were able to win was actually because we didn't pay attention and sneaked up on our rear." When fighting the Song army again, we only need to pay attention to protecting our rear, and if it is a head-to-head battle, see what tricks Yang Yan uses to deal with the elephant army. ”

Gao Jianxun opened his mouth, as if he wanted to say something, Gao Jianming hurriedly raised his glass and said: "This is a banquet, not a place to talk about official affairs, now it is for Prince Quancheng to catch the wind, so I won't talk about military affairs, I won't talk about military affairs." ”

The next day, Li Quancheng wanted to immediately raise troops and go to the Lishe River to fight a decisive battle with the Song army, Gao Jianming thought about it and felt that he couldn't always guard in Dali City now. These 70,000 or 80,000 soldiers have to eat, more than 500 elephants have to be fed, and several of the main generals of Jiaozhi have to be well supplied, and they can't afford to consume it themselves. And now it should be almost prepared, the troops are sufficient, and there are 500 war elephants, there is no reason to hide in Dali City, it is better to go to war as soon as possible and defeat the Song army.

However, the last time the Song army's toughness left a deep impression on Gao Jianming, so he didn't dare to be careless at all, and took all the horses in Dali City and drove to the Lishe River together.

In fact, Yang Yan had already known that the Jiaozhi people had arrived in Dali, he was waiting for the Jiaozhi people to arrive before starting the war, and was about to raise troops to take Dali City, but he didn't expect that the Jiaozhi and Gao's coalition forces would take the initiative to attack, and they were in Yang Yan's arms, and immediately recruited the generals of Dali and the patriarchs of the tribes to discuss together.

"Seventy thousand troops, five hundred war elephants."

This number may not be anything in Yang Yan's opinion, but the patriarchs of the various tribes couldn't help but change their colors after hearing it, and they were secretly calculating in their hearts that the Song army's chances of winning were a few percent, and they were like preserving their strength. And Liu Jianhe, Liu Renxian, father and son, and the generals of Dali were also surprised, they didn't expect that the combined forces of Jiaozhi and Gao would send such a huge military appearance, and they were all silent, and none of them dared to shout to fight.

Yang Yan laughed in his heart and said: "Although you can rest assured, although the number of enemy troops is large, I have my own way to deal with it, and the main thing to deal with the enemy is our Song army, and I will not let you participate in the war." ”

When the chiefs of the tribes heard this, they all breathed a sigh of relief. But the Liu family and his son became nervous, could they deal with the Jiaozhi and Gao coalition forces with only the Song army? Is Yang Yan so sure? In case the Song army fails, Yang Yan can leave, but Dali is finished. However, Liu Jianhe also knew that these patriarchs were also unreliable, and now he had more than 8,000 Dali troops, so he immediately said: "Lord Yang, our Dali army is willing to listen to the dispatch of the Dali army and fight to the death with the enemy." ”

Yang Yan smiled slightly, knowing that Liu Jianhe had few people in his heart, and he was afraid that the enemy would not be able to defeat the Jiaozhi and Gao clan coalition forces, and said: "Old General Liu, please rest assured, I have my own arrangements for the Dali army, everyone will go back and get ready, and listen to my dispatch at any time." ”

After the combined forces of Jiaozhi and Gao arrived at Dazhai on the riverside of Lishe. For three days, the Song army did not move and did not fight. Li Quancheng couldn't bear it anymore, and on the fourth day, he immediately led his men and horses to challenge in front of the Song army's Dazhai.

As soon as he saw that the combined forces of Jiaozhi and the Gao clan came out to challenge, the Song army also came out of Dazhai, lined up in formation, and prepared to face the battle, Liu Renxian had been in Yang Yan's camp and also fought with the Song army. Although the patriarchs of each tribe were on the east bank, they all ran to this side at this time, hiding in the dog village of the Song army to watch the battle, looking at the huge lineup of the enemy stretched out to both sides three hundred steps away, and the tall war elephants, these patriarchs opened their hearts and made up their minds, and when they saw that the situation was not good, they immediately led the men and horses to withdraw.

At this time, I saw the Jiaozhi army rushing out and riding and stopped at a distance of fifty steps away from the Song army's Dazhai, Yang Yan saw that he was alone, and did not let the soldiers release arrows.

I saw the general raise the big knife in his hand and said: "Listen to Song Jun, I am Han Yi, the general of Jiaozhi, do any of you dare to come out and fight me to the death?" ”

Yang Yan thought it was very funny, the generals of the two armies came out to fight alone, only in dramas or storytellers, of course, in the melee, the commanders of the two armies would not meet, but there are almost no people like this who will take the initiative to challenge on the real battlefield.

At this time, Han Yi said again: "Could it be that the Song army is full of cowards?" Do you dare to come out and fight me to the death? ”

There was a commotion in the Song army's array, and Ling Xiang said, "My lord, let me go to the battle." ”

Yang Yan nodded, Ling Xiang's martial arts were not under him, and after more than a year of fighting, Ling Xiang's riding skills were also very proficient, so it was only appropriate for him to fight, and said, "You go." ”

Ling Xiang clamped the war horse between his legs and rushed out. Han Yi laughed, learned what he performed on the stage, with a big knife, and shouted: "Come and get famous, Lao Tzu will not kill the unknown people under the knife." ”

Over the past year or so, Ling Xiang has also experienced a lot of battlefields, but he has never seen such a battle, so he said angrily: "Don't bother to talk, you have to fight more." ”

Seeing this, Han Yi immediately urged the war horse away, raised the big sword, and rushed towards Ling Xiang. When the two horses intersected, the long sword in Ling Xiang's hand waved, and Han Yi suddenly felt dazzled, full of sword shadows, and he didn't know how to parry. When the two horses staggered by, Han Yi spurted blood from his mouth and fell down from his warhorse.

Ling Xiang rode his horse back to the formation, and there was a cheer in the Song army. Li Quancheng had a gloomy face, Han Yi was a fierce general in the Jiaozhi army, and he actually died in battle without a round in front of General Song, which really surprised Li Quancheng.

At this time, Li Xuande said: "Prince, don't entangle with the Song army, just let the elephant army go to battle." ”

Li Quancheng nodded and said, "The elephant army is going to war." ”

With Li Quancheng's order, Li Xuande waved the order flag in his hand, and the five hundred war elephants of the Jiaozhi and Gao clan coalition forces were dispatched together. Countless behemoths began to spread their four legs and rushed towards the array of the Song army. The thick legs of the elephant stumbled on the ground, raising a thick fog of smoke and dust, making a sound like thunder. The ground beneath his feet began to shake unpleasantly.