Chapter 345: Decisive Attack

Chapter 345: Decisive Attack

Chapter 345: Decisive Attack
As soon as Han Sengshou led his army to retreat to Zheng County, they were intercepted by Yuwen Shu's army of 100,000. Ten miles ahead, the 100,000 Han King's army were with flags flying, neat military appearance, and murderous aura. They were divided into ten large formations. If you look closely, you can see that the ten large formations are divided into countless small formations.

Although Yuwen Shu had a bad character, his military ability was unquestionable. He stood out among the many famous generals in the Sui Dynasty. Almost all of his troops were new soldiers who had been recruited only a few months ago. In a very short time, Yuwen Shu trained them into a large formation.

Of course, this kind of formation is only shiny on the surface, and the soldiers' personal military quality and combat capability are still far from enough. But if you don't know the details, this kind of formation can indeed scare people.

Han Sengshou was indeed frightened and was hesitant to make up his mind to fight to the death. He only had 40,000 troops, while the enemy had an army of 100,000 and ten large square formations. Once the battle started, he would undoubtedly be defeated.

The weak defeating the strong and the few defeating the many only occur under special circumstances, such as terrain, sneak attacks, etc.

Another example is that there is a huge disparity in strength between the two sides. Although one side has a large number of people, its strength is weak and they are all a mob, while the other side is composed entirely of cavalry and has the support of firearms, so they can win with fewer troops. During the Northern Song Dynasty, the million-strong Song army was often defeated by the Liao and Jin armies, which were much smaller in number.

But under normal circumstances, it is inevitable that the minority will fail when facing a larger force.

Especially when the army is facing each other, even if the number of people is only different by 10%, it is very dangerous. Why do I say that? Because the army is facing each other head-on, and its weaknesses are on the sides and back. Therefore, generally there must be flank guards on both sides of the army, and there must also be military protection behind it.

Once the sides and the back are breached by the enemy, the army formation is basically finished. Han Sengshou has four phalanxes of 10,000 people, but the enemy has ten phalanxes of 10,000 people. The enemy only needs to take out four phalanxes to fight against you, and the remaining six phalanxes can concentrate on attacking the flanks and the back. Han Sengshou will undoubtedly be defeated, and even the gods cannot save him.

Therefore, if the difference in numbers between the two armies is too great, the side with fewer people will either retreat or defend the camp without fighting. Only when they are left with no other options will they fight to the death.

At present, Han Sengshou's 40,000 troops are surrounded by Cao River in the north, Shaohua Mountain in the south, and Yang Liang's army behind them. They can only force their way across the Cao River and retreat, but they will suffer the loss of at least half of their troops.

Yuwen Shu was not in a hurry to attack. He received an order from Yang Liang that if he wanted to force the other side to surrender, he had to use force to suppress them, just like putting a noose around the other side's neck and then slowly tightening it. With no other choice, the other side would inevitably surrender. This is called conquering the enemy without fighting.

"Quickly inform His Royal Highness the King of Han that I have successfully intercepted the enemy. Both sides can join forces to surround the other side!"

Several messenger cavalrymen rushed across the pontoon bridge and galloped eastward along the north bank. The King of Han's 150,000 troops were just eight miles away to the east, about four or five miles away from the Sui army.

The two armies need to coordinate and act synchronously, and the next step is to completely surround each other.

At this moment, Yuwen Shu suddenly heard a low horn sound behind him. He turned around and his eyes widened. He saw a large army of as many as 70,000 to 80,000 people appearing several miles behind them.

Yuwen Shu's army also discovered the army behind them, and the 100,000-man army suddenly became chaotic. Yuwen Shu immediately made a decision: "Order the army to retreat north and line up along the Cao River instead."

With two armies facing each other, he could not leave his back to the enemy. The order was passed down, and the phalanxes began to move rapidly northward.

The Sui army was in a dilemma at this time, when Yuwen Shu's army suddenly moved. The army's trumpets sounded continuously and the army retreated to the north.

Zhang Xutuo was surprised and asked Han Sengshou, "General, could it be that reinforcements from the imperial court have arrived?"

Qu Tutong also rode up and shouted, "General, a large army has appeared behind the enemy, at least 70,000 or 80,000!"

Han Sengshou was greatly encouraged. It was indeed the imperial army that was coming to attack. However, under such circumstances, he did not dare to attack rashly. After all, there were more than 100,000 troops led by King of Han Yang Liang behind him.

Yuwen Shu did not expect a large army to appear behind him, which was a taboo in a battle between two armies. Being attacked from both sides, Yuwen Shu had no time to intercept Han Sengshou's army and immediately ordered the army to retreat north, changing from the original east-west formation to a north-south formation, leaving their backs to Caohe River. However, it was not a fight to the death, as there were ten pontoon bridges on the Caohe River behind them, which were enough for them to retreat to the north bank in time in case of crisis.

Han Sengshou saw that there were no enemy troops in the south, so he immediately ordered: "The army marches to the southeast!"

"Woo——"

The horns of the Sui army blew, and the 40,000 troops quickly ran southward. After running for several miles, they turned west and, as expected, ten miles to the west, there stood a large army. Han Sengshou could never have imagined that this army was not the imperial army, but the 80,000 Jin army from Shangluo County. They had originally come to seize Tongguan, but unexpectedly encountered Yang Liang's army encircling and suppressing the 40,000 Sui army.

Prince of Jin Yang Guang immediately ordered: "Meet the opposing army and prepare to guard against a sudden attack by Yuwen Shu's army!"

Yang Guang then said to Yang Su, "Please go and see who the other side's commander is?"

Yang Su agreed and immediately led several hundred cavalrymen to the opposite side.
At this time, Han Sengshou had already discovered that the army that came to rescue him was not the imperial reinforcements, but the army of Prince Jin. This really caught him off guard, but now was not the time to consider the relationship between the enemy and us. If he hesitated for a moment, Yuwen Shu would seize the opportunity.

At this time, Yang Su ran forward and shouted, "Who is the other side's commander?"

Someone recognized Yang Su and hurried to report to Han Sengshou. Han Sengshou did not dare to neglect him and rode forward, clasped his fists and said, "I, Han Sengshou, pay my respects to Prime Minister Yang!"

"It turns out to be General Han. Please reorganize the army and join forces with us to fight the enemy!"

"I humbly obey my orders!"

Han Sengshou shouted, "Order the troops to form a battle line!"

"Woo——"

When the horn sounded, the 40,000-strong army stopped running and quickly formed a battle line. They also formed a north-south battle line, facing the enemy, while the 80,000-strong army of the King of Jin formed an east-west battle line two miles away.

This formation was disadvantageous to Yuwen Shu, as he could easily be attacked from both sides.

When Yuwen Shu was hesitating, a hurried horn sounded from the east, "Woo-woo-woo-"

This was a signal from Yang Liang's army to ask for help. Yuwen Shu was shocked and shouted, "The army retreats to the north bank of Caohe River!"

His ten great formations were just a showpiece with a gleaming appearance but rotten interior. Almost all the soldiers were new recruits with little training, and their flaws would be revealed as soon as they started running.

Yuwen Shu did not dare to lead his troops directly to flee, so he had to withdraw to the north bank of Cao River first. Ten phalanxes retreated northward quickly with the help of ten pontoon bridges, and the speed was very fast.

At this time, Yang Liang's army was attacked from behind by Xiao Xia's army. Xiao Xia personally led 10,000 cavalry to attack the central army where the yellow umbrella was located, which was where the commander Yang Liang was located, and killed the enemy accurately.

Xiao Xia led his army to fight their way through a bloody path and charged straight at Yang Liang, who was hundreds of steps away. Yang Liang's personal guards fought desperately, but they could not withstand the impact of the elite cavalry. Thousands of personal guards were killed and blood flowed like a river.

Xiao Xia rode a Red Hare, wore fish-scale armor, an iron helmet on his head, wielded a Heaven-shaking Spear, and wore a bronze ghost mask on his face. He looked particularly ferocious, which frightened the enemy soldiers.

He killed hundreds of people in one breath, broke through the wall of his personal guards, rushed forward on his horse, and was followed closely by hundreds of cavalrymen.

While running quickly, Xiao Xia took off his strong bow, drew the bow and put an arrow on it, and shot an arrow at the commander in the golden helmet under the yellow silk umbrella. Seeing that the arrow was about to hit Yang Liang's forehead, his personal eighth-rank guard suddenly pushed Yang Liang's back. Yang Liang instinctively lowered his head to avoid the forehead. The arrow hit his helmet, and the golden helmet was shot away. The tip of the arrow grazed Yang Liang's scalp, leaving a blood mark.

Yang Liang only felt a burning pain on the top of his head. He was so scared that he turned around and fled. Thousands of guards followed him. The fleeing of the commander caused the morale of Yang Liang's army to collapse. The defeat was like a landslide. Hundreds of thousands of troops rushed towards Caohe River like a landslide. Xiao Xia led the army to chase after them. Countless soldiers knelt down and surrendered.

The Cao River was not wide, only about twenty feet wide, and the water was not deep either. One could walk in the water with one's mouth and nose exposed. Despite this, countless soldiers still drowned in the river. Thousands of corpses even filled the river. The fleeing army behind them simply trampled on the corpses to escape across the Cao River.

(End of this chapter)