Chapter 10 Winning the Central Plains Section 31

Han Sui led an army of 90,000 and quickly approached Wannian City.

The low sound of war drums, the sound of loud trumpets, the sound of neat steps, the rapid sound of horses' hooves, the crisp sound of gold and iron, and the hoarse shouts of the heralds were accompanied by the rolling dust and fog that covered the sky and the sun, and they rushed out of the horizon with great momentum and roared towards the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army.

The colorful battle flags flew in the air, hunting sounded, and from a distance, it looked like a thousand waves rolled up in the sea, surging and surging, and the momentum was amazing.

Han Sui was surrounded by a team of guards and walked at the front of the army. Behind him, the towering giant rolled up and down, roaring in unison, like a fierce beast trapped in a cage opening its bloody mouth, more like a fettered dragon ready to soar into the sky. Han Sui raised his head, looked at the blue sky, looked at the faint white clouds on the deep sky, and his thoughts couldn't help but fly back to the distant western frontier, back to the land he loved so much. As long as this battle is won, the sky of Western Xinjiang will be more beautiful, and the mountains and rivers of Western Xinjiang will be immersed in joy and happiness. I'm going to win this battle.

Han Sui slowly raised his hands and raised his arms and roared.

"Knock knock knock ......" The war drums were like thunder, and they suddenly exploded.

The marching army gradually stopped, column by column, row by row, battle formation after battle, stretching for several miles, a sea of people, boundless.

The overwhelming smoke and dust suddenly straightened up, stretched out his thick arms, raised his huge head, and let out an earth-shattering roar at the white sun, the sky and the earth changed color in an instant, and half of the sky fell into darkness.

"Kill ......"

Ninety thousand allied soldiers raised their weapons and shouted with all their strength. The huge roar rolled up layers of high waves like a tsunami, roared over the battle array, and then smashed fiercely into the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army.

The camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army stood quietly on the bank of the White Canal, like a round of crescent moon in the night sky, silent.

The tall gate was tightly closed. Behind the long fence, tens of thousands of soldiers were waiting for them, and their sharp weapons shone brightly in the sunlight.

Countless battle flags fluttered in horror in the center of the wind, as if they were frightened by the howling sound that resounded through the heavens, and the whimpering sound from their mouths was drowned out by the roar of the tide in an instant.

On the upper floor of Wannian City, Xu Rong, Liyi, Yang Feng, Zhang Baiqi, Xian Yuyin, Zhang He, Pang De and other generals of Northern Xinjiang lined up, looking at the enemy battle formation in the distance with solemn expressions.

"Zilie, drumming, drumming......" Ko Yi turned around abruptly and waved at Xu Rong, "Suppress their momentum, press down ......"

Xu Rong shook his head, narrowed his eyes and smiled indifferently, "It's not a bad thing to show weakness to the enemy. Then he looked at the crowd, "Your Excellency, estimate how many men and horses Han Sui brought to fight us?" ”

"At least 100,000 people, which is a big surprise to us." Yang Feng smiled bitterly, "At first, we estimated that they would be able to gather about 70,000 horses, but now it seems that both Han Sui and Yuan Shao have gambled their fate on this battle. At present, we have only 120,000 troops, and we only have a slight advantage in troops, and the slightest carelessness will lead to unimaginable consequences. He looked at Xu Rong and said solemnly, "The imperial court hopes that we can save the Xiliang army as much as possible, but now it seems that it is simply impossible. If we want to defeat the enemy, we can only break the cauldron and fight to the death. ”

Xu Rong nodded, and said helplessly: "Give up the idea of preserving the Xiliang Army, kill and injure the enemy to the greatest extent, kill as many as you want, otherwise this battle will definitely be lost." ”

In the battle formation of the coalition forces, the drums rose to the sky again, and with a deafening roar, the coalition forces began to advance slowly.

"What does Han Sui want to do? Want to attack? Zhang Baiqi asked suspiciously, "He came all the way in a hurry, the soldiers did not rest, the camp tent was not established, and the hasty attack would only lead to greater casualties, is he crazy?" ”

"He might want to find out what we're doing." Zhang He said, "He must have felt very uneasy when he was showing off his might and constantly provoking us, but we were hiding in the camp tent." ”

"Order all the departments to prepare for battle." Xu Rong waved his hand, "Order the archers of all departments to shoot three rounds in a salvo." ”

......With a loud bang, a black cloud suddenly flew out of the camp of the Northern Frontier Army, and it roared angrily like a monster with teeth and claws, and pounced fiercely against the enemy.

Nearly 10,000 sharp arrows were nailed to the ground almost at the same time, and the earth trembled violently at this moment, and everyone on the battlefield seemed to hear a terrible moan.

The coalition forces suddenly stopped, and the sound of drums and trumpets ceased in an instant, and the battlefield suddenly fell into a dead silence.

"Buzzing ......" was another loud bang, and another bloody and roaring black cloud rose from the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army.

This black cloud was still flying in the air, and the third loud bang came again, and the dazzling sunlight immediately dimmed, and a chill enveloped the entire battlefield in an instant.

Yan Xing returned with a team of iron horsemen. After three volleys, the Northern Frontier Army left a dense array of arrows on the battlefield. Judging from these arrows nailed to the ground, the strength of the two wings of the Northern Xinjiang Army battalion is almost the same, while the strength of the Chinese army is a little thin. In addition, judging from the number of arrows, there are not many archers in the Northern Frontier Army. Based on the approximate number of these archers, Yan Xing estimated that the total strength of the Northern Xinjiang Army was between 40,000 and 50,000. This is basically consistent with Han Sui's judgment before sending troops, and the difference is not very big.

Han Sui thought thoughtfully for a while, and suddenly asked, "Why hasn't the Northern Frontier Army beaten drums all this time?" ”

Yan Xing was stunned for a moment and did not speak. The Northern Xinjiang Army has always been strong and imposing, and even if it sees that the opponent's troops are significantly more than its own, it will not take the initiative to show weakness. Today this situation is indeed a bit abnormal.

"Is it a sign of weakness?" Han Sui asked again.

"What do you suspect?"

Han Sui looked up at the big dragon flying in the air on the city tower in the distance, and waved his hand, "Order, retreat ten miles back and set up camp." ”

In the evening, the Central Army of the Allied Forces was in the Great Tent.

Han Sui stood in front of a makeshift sketched map of the battlefield situation and personally deployed the attack strategy.

"Judging from today's temptation, the strength of the two wings of the Northern Xinjiang Army is equal, and the strength of the middle is weak. However, because the middle army is in the city, and the middle road is divided into two armies, the front and rear armies, there must be troops in the city who can support the middle road at any time. This is a decent goose arrangement, which is in line with Xu Rong's steady and cautious use of troops. ”

Han Sui pointed to the Wannian City on the map and continued, "The Northern Xinjiang Army is deployed according to the city, and the biggest advantage is that it effectively protects the Chinese army. Even if it is defeated, it can still command the defeated troops to quickly withdraw into the city, thus ensuring that its own army does not collapse. ”

"Since we can't use the advantage of the iron cavalry to destroy its Chinese army, and we can't give the Northern Frontier Army a fatal blow after gaining absolute superiority on the battlefield, we can only take the maximum annihilation of the Northern Frontier Army's strength as the ultimate goal."

"According to this goal, our first task is to destroy the middle of the Northern Frontier Army, completely divide the left and right wings of the Northern Frontier Army, and then cut off the route for the left and right wings of the Northern Frontier Army to withdraw to the city, and use the advantage of strength to completely annihilate all the forces on its left and right wings, forcing Xu Rong to flee back to Hedong with the remnants of the city."

The Northern Xinjiang Army held out in the camp and forcibly attacked us, and suffered heavy losses.

Although the big camp of Wannian City has just been established, many of the defense facilities are not complete. However, the sharp weapons of the Northern Xinjiang Army, especially the many heavy weapons in their hands, will bring great trouble to our attack.

"In order to quickly break through the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army, quickly enter a head-on attack with the Northern Xinjiang Army, and give full play to our advantages, I plan to carry out a surprise attack tonight."

There was silence in the big tent, and the atmosphere was suddenly tense.

"Meng Qi (Ma Chao), you take five thousand iron cavalry, launch an attack on the eve of dawn, take the lead in tearing through the middle defense of the Northern Xinjiang Army, and lead the army to kill all the way to the bottom of Wannian City, cutting off the connection between the left and right wings of the Northern Xinjiang Army." Han Sui said, "Once the middle of the Northern Frontier Army is threatened, the troops in its city will inevitably be reinforced, so that its left and right flanks will lose reinforcements, and we can immediately block their retreat before they retreat." ”

"Five thousand?" Ma Chao hesitated for a moment, bowed down and asked, "What if there are more reinforcements in the city and I can't stop them?" ”

"I took 5,000 iron horsemen and 5,000 foot soldiers in the center. As long as the middle lane is critical, you can get reinforcements right away. ”

Ma Chao bowed down to receive the order.

"The reaction of the Northern Xinjiang Army today is somewhat abnormal." Han Sui looked at the generals and frowned slightly, "If my prediction is correct, the enemy cavalry heading south from the direction of Xiaoguan may exceed our estimate. The Huns Liu Bao and Liu Ming were very loyal to Li Hong, and it is highly likely that they had secretly rushed to Guanzhong. ”

"The Huns suffered great losses in the Central Plains last year, and even if they go south this year, there will not be too many people." Liang Xing said disappreciatively.

"Whether our guesses are accurate or not, we have to prepare early so as not to be caught off guard." Han Sui said, "After the left and right flank infantry armies took the lead in breaking through the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army at dawn, the two flanks of the Iron Cavalry immediately rushed up and lured out all the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry to respond to the attack of the infantry army. ”

Yang Qiu and Cheng Yi commanded 8,000 iron cavalry, and Li Kan and Zhang Hengtong led 15,000 infantry to live on the left flank of the coalition army.

Liang Xing and Ma Wan commanded 12,000 iron cavalry, and Gao Gan and Xin Bi commanded 40,000 foot soldiers to live on the right flank of the coalition army.

"At the beginning of the attack, the purpose of the left-wing army was mainly to contain the right-wing army of the Northern Frontier Army." Han Sui explained, "Our right-wing army is the main force of attack in this battle. After 52,000 men rushed forward, they should encircle and completely annihilate the left wing army of the Northern Xinjiang Army as quickly as possible, and then quickly move to the right flank battlefield in an effort to annihilate all the left wing troops of the Northern Xinjiang Army. ”

Han Sui then explained in detail some details of the attack, especially the cooperation between the infantry and cavalry armies, and instructed the generals of all departments to obey the military orders and work together on the battlefield.

"Okay, let's disperse, let's go back and prepare immediately." Han Sui waved his hand lightly at the generals, "Before dawn tomorrow, we will enter the camp of the Northern Xinjiang Army." ”

At night, the city of ten thousand years.

Since the enemy's strength greatly exceeded expectations, Xu Rong urgently revised the attack strategy and summoned the generals to redeploy.

"Under the current circumstances, it is impossible to talk about what Bao Han Sui beats Yuan Shao." Xu Rong smiled bitterly, "This is a bloody battle. Whoever loses loses Guanzhong. Han Sui had already made a desperate bet, and even risked losing the western frontier to fight us to the death, which we did not expect in advance. The imperial court, including myself, underestimated Han Sui's determination to occupy Guanzhong. ”

"The Great War in Guanzhong is a matter of Zhongxing's great cause, a matter of life and death, we can't lose, and we can't afford to lose, so you must win this battle at all costs, even if you suffer heavy losses."

"Our superiority in strength is too small, and in order to be able to hit with one blow, we can only show weakness to lure the enemy first, and let the rebels attack in full force first. After the enemy's attack intention is revealed, we will launch a fatal blow against the enemy's vital points. Chen Wei pointed to the map and drew a circle in front of Wannian City, "Let's deploy 55,000 people in the south of Baiqu first. ”

Directly in front of the middle lane was the 10,000-strong army of Lord He Feng. In the Ten Thousand Years City behind the middle road, there are five thousand elites of Lord Duan Xuan.

On the left flank, an army of 20,000 infantry was deployed. Yang Feng, Hua Xiong, and Liang Baiwu commanded 15,000 foot soldiers. Lord Liu Ming commanded five thousand iron horsemen.

The right flank was also an army of 20,000 cavalry. Zhang Baiqi, Yu Yigen, and Li Yao commanded 15,000 foot soldiers. Lord Yang Ming commanded five thousand iron horsemen.

On the north bank of Baiqu, the 30,000 infantry troops of Xian Yuyin, Zhang He, and Gao Lan, and the 35,000 iron cavalry troops of Liyi, Yan Rou, Pang De, and Liu Bao will enter the battlefield at any time.

Chen Wei briefly explained the principles of the battle, and then said: "Today we shot three rounds of long arrows on the battlefield, the purpose of which is to tell the rebels that our formation is in order, and there are no flaws. Although the rebels feel that they are outnumbered by us, their advantage is limited, and in order to defeat us, they can only gather twice or even triple their forces on the local battlefield to attack one of our wings, otherwise they will most likely return in vain. ”

"If this is true of the rebels' attack strategy, then we can break through the enemy's formation by gathering the main force and annihilating the enemy's pinning wing. Once the rebel formation is broken, the morale will inevitably be weakened, and the morale of the army will inevitably be greatly disturbed. At that time, our small advantage in strength can be brought into full play, and the large army can take the opportunity to cover up and defeat the rebels. ”

"However, there is a key problem to be solved here, and that is the Xiliang Iron Ride. There are a lot of Xiliang Iron Horsemen, at least between 30,000 and 40,000. With such a large army of iron cavalry assisting the attack on the flanks of its large army, it will be very difficult for us to defeat the enemy's pinning wing. But if we can't quickly solve the enemy's pinning wing, our army attacked by the enemy's main force may suffer heavy losses or be completely defeated, so ......" Chen Wei pointed to Liu Ming, the right sage king, and Yang Ming, the general of Duliao, "After the attack begins, the two adults must try to lure the Xiliang Iron Cavalry away from the battlefield on both flanks, so that our main force of the Iron Cavalry can give them a head-on attack, so that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry will lose its combat effectiveness or at least partially lose its combat effectiveness, so that we can defeat the rebels in the fastest time at the lowest cost." ”

Liu Ming and Yang Ming looked at each other, their faces embarrassed. On the battlefield, the generals of the unified army on either side will strictly obey the commander's command, and will not lead the army out of the battlefield without authorization because of the pursuit and escape of the enemy. If the generals of the unified army do not listen to the command, the consequence is likely to be the defeat of the war, and this truth is clear to ordinary soldiers, let alone those generals of the unified army.

"Among the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, a large part of them are Qiang people." Xu Rong said calmly, "Those Qiang commanders and marshals may not obey Han Sui's words, and once the war starts, the battlefields on both wings will be commanded by the temporary commanders to attack, and those Qiang leaders will be even more lawless." Therefore, as long as you keep an eye on the Qiang, you will definitely have a chance to provoke them and lure them away from the battlefield. ”

Liu Ming and Yang Ming bowed down to receive the order.

"When you go back, you will order the soldiers to keep their clothes and armor off, and their swords to be ready for battle at any time."

"Are you worried that the Xiliang people will attack the camp at night?" He Feng smiled, "Han Sui won't be in such a hurry to seek death, right?" ”

"Be careful." Koji Yi glared at him, "When we were fighting in Xiliang back then, we were repeatedly attacked by him at night. We were almost killed by him during the Battle of the Orangery. If you don't want to die, keep your eyes open at night. ”

"I must sleep with my eyes open at night, haha......"

A crescent moon in the sky shuttles through the thick clouds, bright or dark.

Ma Chao closed his eyes and rode his horse. Five thousand soldiers followed him, slowly walking on the breezy plain.

"Big brother, where are we going?"

Ma Chao opened his eyes, turned his head to look at the excited Ma Dai beside him, and laughed softly: "Let's go and attack the enemy's camp." Are you scared? ”

"I'm not afraid." Ma Dai shook his head, but there was still a hint of timidity in his eyes. Ma Dai is Ma Chao's cousin and is seventeen years old this year. In this battle, Ma Chao took him with him. This is his only relative.

"Big brother, will Brother Dang be here too?"

Ma Chao's smile gradually narrowed, and he said in a low voice: "He is in the Heavenly Dome Desert, not here." ”

After Pang De arrived in the Tianqiong Desert, he met with Ma Chao several times, and Ma Dai was also present at that time. Pang De was quite critical of Han Sui's approach, thinking that if Han Sui continued to secretly associate with Yuan Shao, there was a chance that something would happen. Sure enough, when he was ordered to return to Guanzhong, Han Sui was going to join forces with Yuan Shao to fight against Hebei. In Ma Chao's view, although Hebei's approach is a bit aggressive, from the long-term interests of Western Xinjiang, it is natural that the Son of Heaven and the imperial court of Jinyang should be respected.

Yuan Shao is a man-eating wolf and is not trustworthy at all. How his father died, Mr. seems to have forgotten everything. Does he want to repeat his father's mistakes?

I don't want to fight this battle. In a war with the Northern Xinjiang Army, even if it is won, how much will the Xiliang Army be left? Yuan Shao came to support because Luoyang was going to lose, he was purely for himself, but why did the people of Xiliang fight this battle? Xiliang people must first have strength, and then they can stand with Hebei and Luoyang. Maintaining strength is the only way for the Xiliang people to survive, but Mr. is unusual, and even uses the full strength of the Xiliang people to fight a decisive battle with Hebei. It's incredible.

He wanted to use Yuan Tan's presence here as an excuse to leave Guanzhong with the army, but Yuan Tan left early, and it was Gao Gan and Xin Bi who entered the customs this time. I can't find a reason for it.

"Big brother, if Brother Dang is also here, shall we fight him?" Ma Dai asked again.

Ma Chao was very depressed, he was silent for a while, and said in a slightly fluke tone: "He is in the Heavenly Dome Desert." ”

"I think Brother Dang is there." Ma Dai pointed to the dark sky in front of him and said seriously, "We left Xiliang, what is Brother Dang still doing in the Heavenly Dome Desert?" He only had to leave a few thousand men to threaten the Qiang. Think about it, we are fighting the Northern Frontier Army here, but he is helping us fight the Xiqiang people in the Tianqiong Desert, is he so stupid? You don't think Hebei people are stupid, right? ”

Ma Chao's vest was cold, and he involuntarily looked up at the night sky. The dim moon winked playfully at him, as if mocking his stupidity. No, Pound would never know that he had quietly returned to Guanzhong, and he must still be in the Heavenly Dome Desert.

"Give the order to go down and speed up the march."

A chirping hammer pierced the night sky, sending out a scream of "......". The silence of the night was torn apart in an instant.

Almost at the same time, a flame suddenly lit up the night sky, and then the flames on the plain became more and more intense, and in the blink of an eye, most of the night sky was illuminated.

"We've been discovered." Scouts rushed to us, "The enemy scouts found us, exposed, we exposed ......"

"Blow the trumpet, blow the trumpet......" Ma Chao did not hesitate, raised his gun and roared, "Rush up, let's rush up......"

"Woo woo ......" The mournful sound of the horn resounded in the night sky in the blink of an eye.

Five thousand iron cavalry soldiers beat their horses and galloped wildly, and the sound of horses' hooves and killing became louder and louder, gradually converging into a huge wave of sound that shook the four fields, and shot towards the flaming northern Xinjiang camp in the distance.

"Knock knock knock ......" war drums are like thunder, earth-shattering.

The people in the camp shouted and neighed, and the voices of the people were loud. The officers and men of all departments were in danger, and under the command of the superiors, they quickly lined up and waited for the moment when the fierce battle came.

He Feng held a water bladder in one hand and a black jerky in the other, slowly walking in the battle formation, and shouted indistinctly, "Eat dry food, hurry up, don't go hungry and fight." ”

Many of the veterans looked relaxed, with weapons in their hands, eating in their mouths, and whispering curses from time to time. One of the shield soldiers was half-kneeling on the ground, very nervous, and seemed to use all the strength of the milk, and beads of sweat ran down his cheeks. He Feng walked up to him, beckoned at him, and motioned for him to stand up.

"You're new here?"

The soldier nodded red-faced.

"What's your name?"

"Liar."

"Liar?" He Feng looked at him in surprise, and wanted to tease him, but when he saw that he was so nervous that he began to tremble, he swallowed the words back.

"First war?"

"Yes." The new pawn squeezed out two words.

"Have you eaten?"

"Nope."

"If you don't eat, you don't have strength, and if you don't have strength, you'll be pierced by an enemy with a spear. When you die, your shield falls, and the spearmen, axes, and archers behind your shield lose their protection, and they become targets for the enemy and die with you. He Feng handed the jerky in his hand to the liar, "So you have to hurry up and stuff the food into your mouth and replenish your strength, not only to protect your life, but also to protect your companions." ”

The liar blinked his little eyes and looked at He Feng in panic, helpless.

"There's your day's ration there." He Feng pointed to the leather bag on the liar's waist and said with a smile, "If this battle is going to be fought for a day, if you don't have time to withdraw to replenish food, then you have to distribute the rations reasonably, and you can't eat them all at once." ”

The crook kept nodding, shoved the jerky in his hand, and gobbled it up.

"And ......" He Feng kicked the shield in the liar's hand, "The enemy is still more than a mile away from here, and you don't see the shadow, but you use all your strength to hold the shield." Then when the enemy comes, will you still have the strength? Look at them......" He Feng pointed to the veterans standing around the liar, "They don't even have a bead of sweat on their faces, but you are even soaking wet clothes, is your strength in vain?" ”

"Remember, if you want to survive on the battlefield, you must first conserve your physical strength, and never waste it when you don't have to. Secondly, you have to seize all the time to recover your strength, eat some food and drink saliva. If there is no food and no water, then you have to drink the blood of the enemy. ”

The liar was startled, his little eyes suddenly widened, he looked at He Feng in fear, and asked a very stupid word, "Have you ever drunk it?" ”

"Haha......" The surrounding soldiers couldn't help but laugh in unison.

He Feng patted him on the shoulder hard, "Live well." ”

Han Sui looked at the blazing fire in the distance, and regretfully shook the horsewhip in his hand.

"In the past, we fought with Xu Rong in Western Xinjiang for many years, and he suffered a lot from us." Ling Ru shook his head and said, "Now that he has learned well, he has already taken precautions. Do you want to give Meng Qi more troops? ”

"Don't increase your troops just yet." Han Sui said, "I want to know how many people Xu Rong has. ”

"Order Li Kan on the left flank and Gao Gan on the right flank to advance rapidly, and when the middle road is fiercely fighting, break through the left and right roads of the Northern Xinjiang Army, let the iron cavalry rush up quickly, and lead out all the enemy's cavalry."

Xu Rong, Chen Wei, Huangfu Li, and Duan Xuan hurriedly walked up to the city tower.

Piles of flames lit up the battlefield for miles, and tens of thousands of soldiers were rapidly arrayed, and the various flags and flames were intertwined, making people dazzled.

Farther in the night sky, countless torches adorn the night like brilliant stars, and this beautiful and huge fiery red nebula is flying rapidly from all directions.

The roar of the iron cavalry came from far and near, and the sound of bloody killing became more and more intense, and the tall city tower began to tremble slightly.

"The iron cavalry of the Xiliang people will rush to kill our middle road." Duan Xuan asked in surprise, "My lord, do you want to increase the troops in the middle lane?" ”

Xu Rong shook his head, "No matter how bold Han Sui is, he doesn't dare to put all the iron horses in the middle lane. Now charge him, I want to know where his main attack is. Then he looked at Huangfu Li and asked with a smile, "Shall we play a game of chess?" ”

"Okay." Huangfu Li said happily, "It's better to have some wine." "Jump to