Chapter 995: Don't take your ambition

From last night to this morning, for more than seven hours, the Gao family army led by Zheng Ziyu was attacking with an indomitable momentum, but when the elite cavalry of the Black Flag Army pierced the back of the Gao family army, the roles of the offensive and defensive sides immediately changed. Xiahou Baichuan, who had been closely watching the battle situation, knew that the opportunity had come, and immediately ordered the drums to be beaten, and the Black Flag Army changed from defense to all-out counterattack in an instant.

The fine rider was like two knives, one left and one right poked into Zheng Ziyu's ribs.

The pain was worse than actually being stabbed in the ribs with a knife.

Zheng Ziyu knew that the Black Flag Army had a very powerful cavalry, as a general who had led the army for many years, he did not have a certain understanding of the enemy, so he was undoubtedly a failed general, he just didn't expect that the light cavalry of the Black Flag Army was so sharp, and the defensive formation he laid on the flanks and rear team was broken by an offensive like a wolf pack tearing apart.

Zheng Ziyu watched as a black flag army's elite cavalry pounced from the flank, and the archers formed a formation and began to prepare to meet the onslaught of cavalry with a rain of arrows. However, when the cavalry came into range, it suddenly turned, and after making a beautiful huge arc, it turned from facing the infantry directly to passing by.

The feather arrows of the archers of the Gao family army were sent out, and the lethality of the cavalry was immediately reduced too much.

The elite cavalry, who had changed direction, swept past the infantry phalanx and returned fire with their crossbows. The archers, who were also weak in defense but far inferior to the cavalry, suffered heavy casualties, and the first two rows of archers were barely left after the cavalry swept by, falling down like weeds dropped by a scythe.

According to the habit of the Great Sui soldiers to deal with cavalry, the cavalry rushed over, first by the archers to strike at the opponent, and then the archers quickly retreated, and the pikemen went up to the front phalanx, and completely blocked the enemy's cavalry with dense spears. Once caught in the gun, the light cavalry became a living target and everyone was slaughtered.

But the elite cavalry of the Black Flag Army did not do that, and the generals who had already raised the command flag to give the order to change the formation stopped stiffly. The enemy didn't rush at all, and if it did, it would be tantamount to sending the pikemen to their deaths. The enemy swept past in this way, and the pikemen did not have the strength to fight back at all, and they were not as good as the arrow array.

It was just such a trance, and the defense of the Gao family army was immediately breached.

No one thought that behind the elite cavalry that swept by the phalanx, there was also a cavalry. The first cavalry was completely to confuse the Gao family's army's feint, and the moment they swept sideways, a cavalry suddenly rushed out of the smoke and dust, and poked into the Gao family's army's arrow array like a wedge.

Archers, a class with almost zero defense.

No melee weapons, no defensive armor.

The moment the cavalry stepped in, they had nothing to do but turn around and run. However, what the Black Flag Army's elite horsemen wanted was for them to turn around and run. The Gao family army has tens of thousands of horses, and the formation has enough thickness. If it is a heavy cavalry charge, this thickness can be ignored, but not the light cavalry.

They had to force the archers of Gao's army to flee backwards, relying on the enemy to disrupt their formation.

"Blow the horn, don't be too fast, drive the enemy archers backwards!"

The cavalry commander commanded loudly, and the herald immediately blew the horn. After hearing the sound of the horn, the light cavalry began to change formations, from the initial cone formation quickly dispersed, and turned into a small team composed of more than 100 cavalry. The squads dispersed and spread the line wide enough to drive the enemy archers behind them with their sabers like sheep.

Zheng Ziyu's eyes were bloodshot.

At this moment, he actually knew that the defeat of Lu Dao could not be stopped. If he could still muster some archers and block the fleeing archers with feathered arrows, tearing a vacuum, the pikemen behind him would have time to form a phalanx. Once the gun formation was formed, those light cavalry with only leather armor would never dare to rush again.

But no

The continuous offensive allowed him to use his forces to the limit.

Now, he finally understood that the other party's main general, Xiahou Baichuan, had not used the light cavalry until this time. Xiahou Baichuan is waiting for him, and when he basically mobilizes his forces, and then counterattacks, the power of the light cavalry will be exerted to the extreme. At this time, he has more than half of his team attacking in front, and the men and horses left in the rear team are doing their own duties, and mobilizing any of them to make up for the past is equivalent to leaving a bigger hole for the enemy.

"Xiahou Baichuan!"

Zheng Ziyu roared, and a large mouthful of blood spurted out with a whoop.

There is no doubt that he lost in this fight. It seems that he has forced Xiahou Baichuan to a point where there is no strategy available, and he can only fight with real guns. In such a fight, Zheng Ziyu knew that his team was elite enough and was not afraid of any opponent.

But it was this point that was used by Xiahou Baichuan.

Xiahou Baichuan has been allowing him to attack, and even does not hesitate to compress the defensive line to create the illusion that it is about to collapse, thus forcing Zheng Ziyu to invest more troops in the attack. This is a risk, once the shrinking formation is not controlled, there is a possibility that it will really be broken through by the enemy.

Xiahou Baichuan defeated him in a way that he leaned against the cliff.

Zheng Ziyu's body shook a few times, and his eyes turned black for a while.

He had not experienced such a fiasco since he led the troops.

The rear team was breached, and the team attacking in front was pressed back by the counterattack of the Black Flag Army, and it didn't take long for the Black Flag Army to form a trap, and Zheng Ziyu lost the battle completely. It was not until the last moment that Zheng Ziyu knew where Xiahou Baichuan put his killer weapon, and he lost, from the very beginning, Xiahou Baichuan knew where his killer weapon was.

……

……

The soldiers who cleaned up the battlefield carefully inspected and did not let go of any of the wounded. One by one, their eyes widened, rummaging through the pile of dead people for their companions who might survive. From the very beginning, the soldiers of the Black Flag Army were instilled with a spirit of not giving up on their comrades.

There were so many wounded that Fang Xie dropped almost all the military doctors in each battalion.

The tragedy of this battle made people's hearts palpitate even more than the battle against Liyin City. It was a tough one, of course, but it was a siege battle, and people knew from the beginning that it would be very difficult. This was a field battle on the plains, and it was the first time in many years that the Black Flag Army fought with an army on the plains.

The other side relied entirely on the will of a qualified soldier to fight, and with the Black Flag Army having artillery and cavalry, regardless of casualties, it launched offensives that bordered on suicide again and again. Especially in order to send the heavy infantry to the front of the Black Flag Army front, at least five or six thousand Gao Jiajun infantry were killed. Use their corpses as a barrier to keep the artillery at bay for the hoplites.

In fact, if you continue to fight like this, it is Zheng Ziyu who loses.

Xiahou Baichuan took off the blood-stained iron helmet and threw it to his own soldiers, and strode into the place where the wounded soldiers were treated to visit the wounded. This battle is not a normal enemy at all, and even now Xiahou Baichuan can't understand why Zheng Ziyu wants to fight a decisive battle in such a way regardless of the cost.

The Gao family army attacked desperately when the weapons were backward and the quality of the soldiers was almost the same, and the number of soldiers killed and wounded was far more than that of the Black Flag Army, but as a general who had led the soldiers for many years and experienced a hundred battles, Zheng Ziyu had no intention of stopping at all. It was he who pushed his soldiers to death with both hands, and even if he did not succeed in the surprise attack of the Black Flag Army's elite cavalry, he would have been defeated, but the losses of the Black Flag Army would be greater.

"Zheng Ziyu, this madman."

Xiahou Baichuan scolded, he could only use Zheng Ziyu to explain the emergence of this kind of war by saying that Zheng Ziyu was already crazy.

Because a person who is still sane will not use soldiers like this.

"General!"

A personal soldier ran over quickly, panting and said, "The cavalry has besieged Zheng Ziyu in a small village, and Zheng Ziyu has no more than four hundred people around him. ”

"Good!"

Xiahou Baichuan's spirit was shocked, put on his iron helmet again, got on his horse, and followed the personal soldiers to the place where Zheng Ziyu was besieged. This is a small village that has been separated from the main battlefield for four or five miles, and the people in the village have long since fled. After years of war, such abandoned villages abound in the north.

In the village, Zheng Ziyu and the few soldiers were still making the most difficult resistance.

When Xiahou Baichuan arrived, the Black Flag Army had already invaded the village, and there were corpses on every street. Those Zheng Ziyu's own soldiers who were not afraid of death used their flesh and blood to be the commander in exchange for even one more minute of survival. Not only that, but they also used such determination to defend the dignity of their soldiers.

Zheng Ziyu and the few dozen remaining soldiers were trapped in a large courtyard, and the outside was already surrounded by the Black Flag Army.

Xiahou Baichuan dismounted outside the courtyard, and looked at the soldiers on the courtyard wall who looked haggard and tired, but still did not appear in fear, and had to have some respect in his heart.

Such an opponent is indeed respectable.

"General Zheng is here, I'm Xiahou Baichuan, can you say a few words!"

Xiahou Baichuan stood outside and shouted loudly.

There was a squeak, and the courtyard door was pulled open from the inside. Zheng Ziyu, who was dressed in bloody iron armor, walked out slowly with a horizontal knife that had collapsed into countless gaps, and stood at the door looking at Xiahou Baichuan.

"General Xiahou, at this moment, do you still want to persuade you to surrender?"

Zheng Ziyu asked with his chin raised slightly.

"General Gaojie, Xiahou doesn't dare to persuade him to surrender."

Xiahou Baichuan clenched his fists and said.

Zheng Ziyu's face changed slightly, and he suddenly threw the knife aside and hugged his fists: "Thank you General Xiahou, there can be an opponent like you in life, even if you die, there will be no regrets." ”

Xiahou Baichuan said: "I just don't understand, why is the general so decisive?" If the general is in the army, it will not be easy for me to win. ”

Zheng Ziyu laughed, and his laughter was full of desolation.

"Your father-in-law sent a lot of letters to Gao Kaitai, all of which were written to him by the generals of the Gao family's army. One of them was a begging letter I had written, and the humble words were despicable. I didn't write the letter, but Gao Kaitai sent someone to send it to me to show that he believed me, or to tell me what he already knew...... The Lord died in doubt, and such a thing happened to me...... I've been with him for many years, but I can't compare to your lord's tricks. ”

"I will not surrender or betray Gao Kaitai, even if he suspects me, I always regard him as the lord. But what is the point of living? Since I have to die, I have to die cleanly and happily, let my foolish lord see who I am Zheng Ziyu! ”

Xiahou Baichuan sighed: "General...... On the battlefield, there are so many conspiracies and conspiracy experiences, why can't you think about it, and you have to pull tens of thousands of troops to die together. ”

"They are all my soldiers, and I will take them with me when I die."

Zheng Ziyu shook his head: "You can say that I am selfish, but this is not my ambition alone, but the ambition of tens of thousands of sons under my command Zheng Ziyu." I can die, and my subordinates can die, but don't lose this ambition! ”

After saying this, Zheng Ziyu bent down and picked up the horizontal knife on the ground.

"General Xiahou, you are luckier than me. You're following the right person...... I didn't. ”

He looked up to the sky and smiled, and poked the horizontal knife into his lower abdomen and twisted it hard.

In the courtyard, the remaining dozens of pro-soldiers also committed suicide.