Chapter 656: Sutada Suppresses Bandits
Chapter 656: Sutada Suppresses Bandits
Three days later, the Turkic army built a large floating bridge with sheepskin rafts at the narrow part of the Yellow River in the north. Thirty thousand cavalry crossed the Yellow River and galloped south along the foothills of the Helan Mountains. They arrived at the Helan Pass the next day. Liang Shidu immediately ordered the city to be opened and surrendered.
Thirty thousand cavalrymen rushed through the Helan Pass, headed straight south, and began to build a pontoon bridge in the south.
At this time, Wang Zhao, the captain of the military farm on the Yellow River, learned that Helan Pass had been lost, so he rowed across the Yellow River with several of his men and rushed to the camp to report the news.
When Yang Gongren learned that Helan Pass had fallen, he was horrified. He no longer cared about the people and led his troops to retreat south overnight. If he was a step later, not only would his retreat be cut off, but Xiaoguan would also be lost.
The next morning, the city gates were opened and the magistrate of Hongjing County, Lu Jilan, led hundreds of local soldiers to surrender to the Turks. The Turkish army crossed the Great Wall and joined the army in the south.
Shibi Khan ordered the Shuofang Army's warehouses to be looted of all their food and supplies, and ordered the people to offer money. He then looted all of the property of tens of thousands of people, and abducted more than 2,000 girls.
The army then split into two groups, one heading towards Xiaoguan, while Shibi Khan personally led an army of 100,000 to attack Hexi.
At this time, there were only two months left before the arrival of winter, and Shibi Khan had no plans to attack Chang'an. His strategic goal was simple: to occupy Lingwu Road, Hexi Road and Longyou Road, plunder food and wealth, and establish a puppet regime.
At this time, Luoyang was also in chaos. The sudden southward advance of the Turkic army caught the imperial court off guard. At this time, the imperial court was preparing to encircle and suppress bandits in various places. The Turkic invasion to the south disrupted the imperial court's anti-bandit plan.
Emperor Yang Guang had to quickly recall 300,000 troops from various places to suppress bandits. He left 100,000 troops to guard Luoyang and personally led 200,000 troops to rush to Guanzhong.
That afternoon, the imperial army entered Tongguan, and Qu Tutong, the governor of Chang'an, came to pay homage to the emperor.
In the royal tent, Qu Tutong said to Emperor Yang Guang: "The latest news I have received is that Yang Gongren led 15,000 troops to defend Xiaoguan, 50,000 to 60,000 Turkic troops set up camp below Xiaoguan, and the Turkic Khan led more than 100,000 troops to attack Hexi Road. The current situation is unclear."
Yang Guang was startled and asked, "Isn't the enemy an army of 400,000?"
Qu Tutong shook his head and smiled bitterly: "It should be the Turks' bluffing. I estimate that the other side does not even have 200,000 people."
Yang Guang nodded slowly and felt a little relieved. He really thought that there were 400,000 troops marching south.
"Will sending troops to provide support be effective?"
"Your Majesty, I am sending my generals Tang Jing and Zhang Shilong to lead 10,000 troops each to the north. Tang Jing will support Xiaoguan, and Zhang Shilong will lead his troops to guard Diaoyin County. I am worried that the enemy will break through Diaoyin County and march south."
Yang Guang praised: "This is very good. I don't have to worry about the Guannei Road. Now I am worried about Longyou and Longxi. The population there is dense. If they are conquered by the Turks, the consequences will be disastrous."
After the fall of Tuyuhun, the troops stationed in Longyou have dropped sharply from a maximum of 80,000 to the current 30,000. Although 30,000 troops sounds like a lot, the garrison area is too vast, from Longyou, Xihai to Ruoqiang and Yutian. The actual number of troops stationed in Longyou is probably only 10,000, so Yang Guang was extremely worried.
Qu Tutong understood the emperor's intention and immediately clasped his fists and said, "I am willing to be the vanguard and lead the army to rush to Jincheng County for rescue!"
Yang Guang was overjoyed and immediately appointed Qu Tutong as the vanguard and led an army of 30,000 to Jincheng County, now known as Lanzhou. As long as they defended Jincheng County, the Turks would not be able to advance into Longyou.
Yang Guang also sent someone to issue an edict to Yuwen Chengdu, the governor of Longyou Road, ordering him to concentrate all his forces to guard the Dadouba Valley and strictly prevent the Turkic army from entering Hehuang from the Dadouba Valley.
That night, Qu Tutong led an army of 30,000 to Jincheng County. Three days later, Yang Guang led his army to Chang'an. He personally stayed in Chang'an and dispatched troops to resist the invasion of the Turks.
Zhang Xutuo was stationed in Liangzhou as the Central Route Recruiting Envoy with nearly 100,000 troops. He originally wanted to wipe out the Wagang Army, but unexpectedly the Wagang Army adopted Li Mi's suggestion and adopted a policy of keeping a low profile, and the 50,000 troops withdrew to the Wagang Stronghold.
Xu Shiji promptly bribed Yu Shiji with 10,000 strings of money. Yu Shiji immediately suggested to the emperor not to give Prince of Jin the opportunity to go north to suppress the bandits. Yang Guang adopted the suggestion and adjusted the strategic goal of the Central Army. He decided not to attack the Wagang Army for the time being, but to attack Li Zitong and Du Ruhui with all his strength. The Wagang Army thus escaped a disaster.
Zhang Xutuo won three battles and three victories, and defeated Li Zitong. He recovered Pengcheng, Xiapi, Qiao and Ruyin counties. Li Zitong led the remaining troops to escape to Runan County, which still had Wu Yunzhao's 20,000 troops, so that Li Zitong's troops were restored to 30,000. But Zhang Xutuo refused to let them go, and immediately gathered troops to continue westward. Just as Zhang Xutuo concentrated his troops to attack Runan County and prepare to wipe out Li Zitong in one fell swoop, the Turks invaded, and the court urgently transferred back 80,000 troops from the central route. Zhang Xutuo was left with only more than 10,000 men.
Zhang Xutuo had only 12,000 troops stationed in Xincai County, while the enemy had 30,000 troops stationed in Ruyang County, a hundred miles away. However, Zhang Xutuo did not show weakness and continued to lead 12,000 troops to attack Ruyang.
Li Zitong also urgently needed a big victory to restore morale, so he immediately led 30,000 troops out of the city to fight. The two sides met on the east bank of the Ru River about 30 miles east of Ruyang County and set up a battlefield.
Li Zitong had been holding back his anger for a long time. He raised his sword and shouted, "We have three times more troops than the enemy. Today is our battlefield. The moment of revenge has come. Brothers, take back our wealth. Kill—"
"Kill--"
The 30,000 soldiers shouted in unison and ran towards Zhang Xutuo's army.
Zhang Xutuo had long seen through the mob nature of this army. They rebelled for money. Such soldiers valued their lives the most and valued their lives more than anything else.
Zhang Xutuo gave a cold order: "Prepare the bows and crossbows, and the cavalry will support the battle!"
Zhang Xutuo had 5,000 cavalrymen, which was the reason why he dared to confront Li Zitong's 30,000 troops. His formation was very simple, consisting of crossbowmen and cavalrymen.
Seven thousand infantrymen lined up in three rows, holding their spears together, waiting for the 30,000 enemy troops to come charging at them. Five thousand elite cavalrymen lined up in neat formations on both sides, holding spears, also patiently waiting for the enemy to come forward.
This was a typical all-out attack and all-out defense strategy. They first used deception tactics, seemingly preparing to use their spear army to fight a decisive battle with the enemy. When the 30,000-man army reached 200 steps, Zhang Xutuo shouted, "Change formation!"
"Boom! Boom! Boom! Boom!"
As the war drums sounded, seven thousand infantrymen put down their spears, picked up the crossbows on the ground, knelt on one knee, raised their crossbows at an angle to the sky, and the spear army instantly turned into a crossbow army. The cavalry behind them did the same, also raising their crossbows.
"Fire arrows!"
The command flag was waved, the war drums sounded again, and 12,000 crossbow arrows flew into the air and shot at the 30,000 troops who were charging at them.
Arrows shot into the crowd like raindrops, large numbers of soldiers were shot and fell to the ground, screams and wails resounded throughout the earth, and the originally high morale dropped by five points in an instant.
Immediately afterwards, the second round of crossbow arrows came, as dense as heavy rain, and soon the third round was fired. The continuous rapid shooting from strong bows and crossbows caused heavy casualties to the enemy. The key was that the armor was too simple and could not withstand the sharp crossbow arrows.
In a blink of an eye, more than 6,000 soldiers were shot and fell, and the casualty rate reached 20%. The remaining soldiers saw their companions being shot down and killed, and fear began to spread, and their morale was completely destroyed.
Zhang Xutuo saw that the time had come and blew the horn himself, "Woo-woo-woo!"
A low horn sounded, and the five thousand cavalrymen replaced their crossbows with spears. The cavalry commander Liu Changgong raised his spear and shouted, "Cavalry, attack!"
He was the first to charge out, followed closely by five thousand cavalrymen, sweeping towards Li Zitong like a sword of salary.
Li Zitong's army collapsed in an instant, and the 25,000-strong army turned around and fled, throwing away their weapons and armor, scrambling to save their lives.
Zhang Xutuo led a large army in pursuit and killing, leaving corpses strewn across a hundred miles and countless surrenders. In this battle, Li Zitong's army was almost completely wiped out.
(End of this chapter)