Chapter 383: The decisive moment

Chapter 383: The decisive moment

Chapter 383: The decisive moment (Part )

The 70,000-strong Tuyuhun army appeared ten miles away.

Almost all of them were cavalry, and each tribe contributed its own war horses and young and strong herdsmen.

All the generals were Xianbei people, and the soldiers were Qiang people. The main general was Fuyun, the king of Tuyuhun. At this critical moment of life and death, Fuyun personally led the army into battle.

"Forward!" Fu Yun waved his sword and shouted.

The Tuyuhun army advanced slowly, with 70,000 cavalrymen lined up in a row, densely packed for ten miles. Opposite them were 50,000 Sui troops, four neat Sui army formations, and 10,000 cavalrymen cooperating.

Pig iron was extremely scarce in Tuyuhun and the level of metallurgy was low. Each of them was equipped with a short sword and a bow and arrow, and wore leather armor. The leather armor was roughly made and could withstand ordinary arrows, but could not withstand the crossbows of the Sui army.

But the Tuyuhun army also had advantages, namely, their superb riding skills and powerful archery skills.

The team began to trot, and the speed became faster and faster. The cavalry that had been gathered in groups slowly spread out, just like slowly pulling open a curtain, and the 70,000 cavalry became overwhelming.

The Tuyuhun army basically had no tactics, they just put all their efforts into the attack. They could never beat the Han army with tactics, so they simply didn't use tactics, and just relied on their strength to fight the enemy. If they were strong enough, they would defeat the enemy, and if they were not strong enough, the army would retreat.

Anyway, they attack at high speed and retreat at high speed, so basically the losses will not be too great.

The 70,000 troops led by Xiao Xia came from two sources, 30,000 recruited soldiers and 40,000 soldiers from Guanzhong Prefecture.

The 30,000 recruited soldiers were all cavalry, and the infantry was composed of soldiers from Guanzhong Prefecture.

In addition to Pei Xingyan and Luo Shixin, who each led 10,000 cavalry, another 10,000 cavalry were responsible for the safety of the infantry wings. Once the infantry changed their formation, they no longer needed cavalry protection. At this time, the cavalry would retreat to Xiao Xia to protect the commander-in-chief.

The infantry were experienced. They had fought against the Turks before, and many of them had participated in the first attack on Tuyuhun. They had rich combat experience and were equipped with spears as long as five meters.

In addition, they were equipped with two short weapons, some soldiers were equipped with swords, and the others were equipped with flails.

This flail is no longer the farmer's earthen flail, but a military flail, exquisitely crafted and durable, with a sturdy solid wooden pole and two iron chains tied to an iron plate on the top. Once the enemy soldiers are hit by the flail, they will basically lose their combat effectiveness.

In addition, there are 8,000 crossbow troops with an effective killing range of 150 steps. After rigorous training, each crossbow soldier can fire three to four times within 150 steps.

In addition, many Sui soldiers were equipped with bows and arrows, which were suitable for short-range shooting. Secondly, they were equipped with sturdy armor, which could withstand the arrows of nomadic cavalry.

Only their faces were not hit. Basically, the enemy's arrows could not penetrate their armor, and the eight thousand crossbowmen were all wearing face armor, which was specifically designed to deal with nomadic cavalry archers.

Although many Sui troops were fighting against the Tuyuhun people for the first time, their rich combat experience enabled them to see the strengths and weaknesses of the Tuyuhun army at a glance.

Firstly, there was no training at all. There was no formation at all when they were running. It was obvious at first glance that they were herdsmen who had not received any training.

The strong murderous aura unique to nomadic cavalry is not seen in them, and they are far inferior to the Turkic cavalry. Obviously, they do not have the confidence of the northern nomadic people in their daily lives. Instead, they are in a position of being exploited and oppressed for generations. They are docile and good citizens, so naturally there is no murderous aura in them.

From this point alone, we can conclude that this is a weak brigade. Secondly, they have no long weapons. Each person only has a short sword and an ordinary bow. From this, we can infer that the range of their bows and arrows is relatively short, and will never exceed a hundred steps. Once the impact is ineffective and they engage in close combat, their short swords are no match for the Sui army's spears. How can a fifty-centimeter short sword compete with a five-meter-long spear?
In front of a powerful army, no matter how skilled they were in horsemanship, they could only use it to escape. The Tuyuhun army was called the invincible cockroach in history, which has two meanings. First, their combat effectiveness was poor and they could be easily trampled to death. The reason for their poor combat effectiveness was also very simple. The ruling Xianbei people were too few in number to support the battlefield, and the oppressed Qiang people were unwilling to work for the Xianbei people.

The second meaning is that Tuyuhun has a vast territory, and when the Tuyuhun nobles cannot win the battle, they run away and hide far away so that the enemy cannot find them. After the enemy withdraws, they fight back. This trick has been tried and tested, giving people a feeling that they are invincible.

The enemy had already rushed to a position one mile away, Xiao Xia immediately ordered: "Arm the crossbows and set up the formation!"

The Sui army waved their flags and began to quickly adjust their formation. Two thousand spearmen rushed out of each of the four large square formations. They put their spears on the ground, took the crossbows on their backs, pulled the strings to load arrows, half-knelt on the ground, and held the crossbows at a right angle. This was an order that had been given in advance.

At this time, the Tuyuhun cavalry were also galloping forward, holding bows and arrows in their hands, controlling their horses with their legs, waiting for the opportunity to shoot. The two armies were getting closer and closer, and the Tuyuhun soldiers' shouts and curses were intertwined. The rumbling drums in the rear boosted the morale of the Tuyuhun cavalry.

But the Sui army was extremely quiet, so quiet that it was frightening.

Three hundred steps... Two hundred steps... One hundred and fifty steps, they had entered the killing range of the Sui army's crossbows. The Tuyuhun cavalry shouted excitedly, but Xiao Xia did not order them to shoot. He stared at the Tuyuhun cavalry's horses with sharp eyes, as if he saw through the enemy's trump card. The reason why he became the commander-in-chief was that he had his own unique ideas.

After 120 steps, Xiao Xia still did not give the order. Many Sui generals' palms were soaked with cold sweat. This was something they had never experienced in all their years of fighting. They had not even fired an arrow after 120 steps.

At this time, the Tuyuhun army suddenly accelerated, the horses galloped, and the cavalry shouted and rushed towards the Sui army. A hundred steps away, Xiao Xia pointed his sword and shouted: "Shoot!"

The four thousand arrows in the first row were shot out horizontally. This was the advantage of Baibu. There was no need to shoot in a parabola, but to shoot directly horizontally. The arrows were like heavy rain, whistling towards the Tuyuhun cavalry. The powerful crossbow arrows pierced the bodies of Tuyuhun horses, pierced through the leather armor, and went straight through the bodies.

The war horses fell to the ground, and the cavalrymen screamed and fell from their horses. In an instant, people and horses were thrown to the ground. More than a thousand people were shot down. The momentum of Tuyuhun's attack was frustrated, and then the second round of 4,000 arrows was shot. Within a hundred steps, the Tuyuhun army lost more than 2,000 people.

What’s even more terrible is that more than 2,000 soldiers and horses formed a wall of resistance, which affected the speed of the cavalry behind them.

This was Xiao Xia's combat idea, using flat shooting at the enemy to form an obstacle, thereby reducing the enemy's running speed, while also reducing the impact of the cavalry.

Xiao Xia continued to give orders, "Continue to shoot horizontally"

Eighty steps away, the Sui army fired the second round of crossbow arrows. Eight thousand powerful crossbow arrows shot into the crowd like raindrops. The war horses were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, throwing the cavalry out as well.

Most of the war horses were trampled to death, but many cavalrymen had learned their lessons from the first round. They quickly turned over and got up, leaped onto their companions' horses, and drew the daggers at their waists.

At the same time, the Tuyuhun cavalry also entered the range of the bows and arrows. The Tuyuhun cavalry drew their bows and arrows one after another. Tens of thousands of arrows intertwined into a dense rain, flying in the air. Although the sound was terrifying, the effect was not ideal.

Only the front cavalry came into range, while most of the cavalry behind were shooting arrows from a hundred steps away. Despite their best efforts, most of the arrows failed to reach the Sui army's position. Only the first few thousand arrows hit the Sui army's crossbow position.

But the Sui soldiers' armor withstood the enemy's arrows, and they fired a third round of flat shots.

Arrows rained down like rain, densely shooting at the enemy. The sharp arrows pierced their leather armor with great force. Nearly a thousand Tuyuhun cavalrymen screamed and fell down with their horses. Three times in a row, a wall of people and horses was formed, like a speed brake, which seriously affected the impact force of the cavalry.

The enemy was already fifty steps away. Xiao Xia gave the order: "The crossbowmen retreat, and the spearmen engage!"

(End of this chapter)