Chapter 222: Decisive Battle on the Western Front
Chapter 222: Decisive Battle on the Western Front (Part )
The western part of the West Sea is a high-altitude hilly area with snow-capped mountains in the distance. Xiao Xia led five thousand cavalrymen and galloped rapidly among the uninhabited low hills. From time to time, they saw groups of Tibetan antelopes fleeing in panic and escaping into the dark forest.
Although there are green grass and swaying flowers everywhere, there is still danger lurking underground. Under the large grassland lies a life-devouring swamp. Fortunately, it is spring now and the ice in the swamp has not completely melted, allowing many Sui cavalrymen who stepped into the swamp to escape by chance.
A cavalryman and his horse were stuck in a swamp, unable to move forward or backward. The soldiers threw a rope to the cavalryman, who tied the rope around himself and his horse. Everyone worked together to drag the cavalryman and his horse ashore.
The five thousand cavalrymen marched for a whole day. When night fell, they stopped marching and rested for the night in a forest.
Since they were not allowed to light a fire, the soldiers could only drink water and eat dry food to fill their stomachs. It was still very cold at night, and all the soldiers wrapped themselves in wool blankets and slept huddled together.
A temporary marching tent was built deep in the woods. A candle was lit inside the tent, and the light was dim. Xiao Xia, Yin Shishi, and Xue Wanjun sat around a large rock that served as a temporary table, looking at the map.
“We are probably at this location now!”
Yin Shishi pointed at the map with a wooden stick and said, "This location is exactly northwest of the West Sea. We walked about 120 miles today."
Xiao Xia nodded, "This position is about right. If we go further south, we will probably miss the main force of the enemy!"
Xue Wanjun smiled and said, "Take a rest tomorrow! Wait for good news from the scouts."
Just as he finished speaking, a soldier outside the tent reported, "The scout is back!"
Xiao Xia was overjoyed and hurriedly said, "Bring him in quickly!"
After a while, a soldier came in with a scout. The scout knelt on one knee and saluted, saying, "Your Excellency, we have discovered the main force of the enemy thirty miles to the east!"
This news was so exciting that Xiao Xia asked again, "How far is it from the lake?"
"They are camped by the lake!" the scout handed over the sketch.
Master Yin Shi quickly took the sketch and compared it with their map. Everyone was shocked to find that the Tuyuhun army's camp was so close to them. If they had not stopped to rest, they would have missed it.
"Where is General Xu?" Xiao Xia asked again.
"General Xu and his brothers are still exploring the lakeside. He also sent a few brothers to explore the south to see if there are any enemy reinforcements behind."
Xiao Xia nodded secretly. Xu Min had indeed considered the problem very carefully, even taking into account the enemy's reinforcements, which was indeed crucial to them.
Xiao Xia hesitated for a moment and asked, "Is there any news about General Xue's army?"
The scout shook his head. "We don't know at this point. We can only say that they haven't entered within fifty miles."
The next morning, the Tuyuhun army set out, and Xiao Xia also led 5,000 cavalrymen to follow from a distance of 30 miles away.
In the afternoon, Xue Shixiong's 20,000 troops finally appeared, about ten miles away from the Tuyu army. The two sides set up the battlefield in the open space.
Xue Shixiong stroked his long beard and said to the generals: "We must go all out in this battle and defeat the opponent in the shortest possible time, otherwise the brothers' physical strength will not be able to keep up. Don't worry, I have arranged a surprise force that will rush out at the critical moment!"
"Woo——"
The enemy blew the antler horn, and their troops began to advance slowly. Xue Shixiong shouted, "Beat the drums and move forward!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" The drums of the Sui army were beating, and the drums boosted morale, and the army slowly moved forward. About five miles away, the enemy cavalry sped up, and their intention to attack the Sui army was very obvious.
Xue Shixiong waved his hand, and the Sui army slowly stopped. Xue Shixiong shouted, "Deploy the formation!"
Deputy General Li Jing immediately deployed the troops. He sent 5,000 archers at the front, followed by 5,000 spearmen, and then 10,000 cavalrymen to guard the spearmen on the left and right, forming a formation with cavalry on the two wings and spearmen in the middle.
The five thousand archers are actually also spearmen. Once the enemy approaches, they will quickly transform into spearmen, so a spear is placed next to each person.
At present, the Tuyuhun army on the western front is not the main force. The main force of Tuyuhun is on the central and eastern fronts. The elite troops on the western front have been wiped out in the previous battle of Hexi. The current 30,000 troops are 20,000 troops swept out by Tuyuhun from the seven tribes in the north, plus 10,000 cavalry sent from the capital, to form an army.
Only 10,000 cavalrymen were considered elite troops, while the other 20,000 were herdsmen who had never been to the battlefield. Murong Ni Luozhou also knew that it would be dangerous to let them fight and they would easily collapse. So he decided to let the 10,000 elite cavalrymen first wear down the Sui army's physical strength. After the Sui army's physical strength was greatly consumed, he would send 20,000 herdsmen cavalrymen into battle. The threats they faced would be much smaller, and they would be able to hold on.
Ten thousand cavalrymen were galloping on their horses, their hooves flying across the fields, the earth was shaking, the thunderous sound of the hooves was deafening, ten thousand Tuyuhun cavalrymen were sweeping in, full of murderous aura, getting closer and closer to the Sui army.
Faced with such a devastating force that could cause mountains to collapse and the earth to split, if one did not have a bit of self-control, one would easily be frightened to the point of having trembling legs or even turning around and running away.
"Archers, get ready!" a general shouted loudly.
Five thousand archers suddenly raised their crossbows. Their crossbows were all light crossbows, also called arm-drawn crossbows, which could be thrown about two hundred and fifty steps. There were leather belts on the crossbows, so they could be carried on the back, making them relatively light and not affecting the soldiers' use of spears in combat.
Five thousand crossbows were arranged at a forty-five-degree angle. They were well-trained and could quickly draw the crossbows and load arrows. Compared with the later gunpowder guns, the crossbows had a longer range and greater power. So why were crossbows and arrows quickly replaced by gunpowder guns?
This is mainly because the gunpowder gun has too great an advantage. A bow or crossbow must be used by young and strong soldiers with enough strength to pull the string, while women, children and the elderly cannot do so. But a gun does not require strength and can be used by women, children and the elderly. With a gun, everyone can be a soldier.
The effect of a ten-year-old boy shooting a gun is exactly the same as that of a thirty-year-old strong man shooting a gun.
The cavalry was getting closer and closer, and had already entered two hundred and fifty steps. "Shoot!" The gong sounded, and five thousand arrows were fired at the same time, shooting towards the enemy cavalry with powerful force.
The cavalrymen all had rich experience in dodging arrows, and they all lay on their horses to avoid the arrows. However, because the arrows were blocked by the horses' heads and necks, the cavalrymen's bodies could hardly be hit, and could only hit their thighs. However, once a warhorse was hit, both the horse and the rider would fall down, and in the dense trampling, they would have almost no chance of survival.
War horses kept falling down, and both the men and horses were instantly swallowed up by the cavalry group.
The five thousand archers fired the second and third rounds of arrows, firing fifteen thousand arrows. About one thousand six hundred cavalrymen were shot and fell to the ground. Basically, it took ten arrows to hit one person. This was also because the war horses were good at dodging arrows while running at high speed.
The enemy cavalry was already fifty steps away. Five thousand archers picked up their spears and retreated. Suddenly, a row of carts three miles long appeared behind them, which had just been blocked by their bodies.
This was of course the traditional tactic of the Central Plains army against the grassland cavalry, using carts transporting food as obstacles to block the cavalry's charge. If one was familiar with the Sui army's tactics, one would know that there must be obstacles hidden in the army.
Unfortunately, the Tuyuhun army did not know this. When they rushed to thirty steps away, they suddenly found a row of carts in front of them. The cavalry running in the front screamed in fear.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" Countless cavalrymen slammed into the carts. The powerful impact force broke their bones and tendons. Amid screams, hundreds of soldiers and horses were killed on the spot.
The carts were knocked over and rolled over, and even smashed into pieces. The cavalry finally broke through the cart obstacle and rushed straight to the Sui army fifty steps away. Their strong impact force had been unloaded by the carts. Now the second round of attack was obviously weaker in intensity. This was also the biggest role of the carts, which mitigated the impact force of the cavalry.
The Sui army spearmen in the front row raised their spears in a flash, forming a dense forest of spears to meet the second round of cavalry attack.
At this moment, a horn sounded from behind the Tuyuhun army.
(End of this chapter)