Chapter 1146 Our army was defeated!

Chapter 1146 Our army was defeated!

Chapter 1146 Our army was defeated!

Now the terrain where both sides are located is clear at a glance.

The encounter took place in a valley, with the enemy army inside the valley and the Liang army at the entrance of the valley.

The valley is not big and can only accommodate three or four thousand people.

There should be nearly 10,000 people in the fog behind the valley - this was obtained through interrogation of prisoners and may not be accurate.

Huan Wen thought of attacking with fire, but it was difficult in the wet environment after the fog, and the wind direction was not favorable. Now he should worry about the enemy burning firewood and using smoke to fumigate them.

Of course, this is not an easy task. Fire attack, water attack, and even smoke attack all require very harsh conditions, otherwise they would be conventional tactics that are often used, rather than clever or ingenious strategies.

If fire attack doesn't work, then we can set up fences at the entrance of the valley to block the enemy's way forward. At the same time, send people to line up all the flags, and also have people carry large and small cowhide drums to various places to beat them, artificially creating the illusion that a large group of troops are coming to help.

This crude trick would certainly be discovered, but Huan Wen did not intend to keep it secret for long; one day would be enough.

On the last day of the twelfth lunar month, three thousand soldiers from Feilongshan Town arrived at the front line.

This time they really brought a large number of flags, drums and horns, and the number of people also increased significantly.

At dusk that day, Xu Yaozu led the Badong Qiang people to the entrance of the valley and brought some arrows, medicine and food - the latter were obtained by him from nearby tribes. Although there were not many, they were enough to allow the army to hold out for another half a month.

Therefore, when the first rays of light in the morning of the sixth year of Kaiping (332) shone from the east, the number of Liang troops gathered at the entrance of the valley had reached more than .

In the afternoon, lead-gray clouds blocked the sun, and the forest suddenly became dark. A moment later, a drizzle of freezing rain began to fall, adding a bit of chill to the entire battlefield.

The enemy finally started to move.

The Zan clan, one of the seven clans of Dangqu, took on the task of this round of attack.

Although they carried more food than the Liang people, after all, they had ox carts and horse carts, and it was easier for them to raise food and fodder along the way, but it was still not enough and it was impossible for them to delay indefinitely.

After hesitating for a while, Zan Yan received an order from Shangshu You Pushe Luo Yan: defeat the Liang army blocking the valley entrance and open a way forward.

And so the battle began.

In the dense rain, Zan Yan swung his knife, as if cutting off the dense rain threads between heaven and earth, and rushed out first.

The warriors who followed him quickened their pace and came to guard him.

Twelve yak horns exploded in the mountains.

After drinking the farewell wine, a total of two thousand shield soldiers with red faces divided into three parts: front, middle and rear, and launched a swift attack.

Hundreds of soldiers in the front army raised their large shields and formed a dense formation. Their pace became faster and faster, and their faces became more and more ferocious.

Behind them, the solid central army numbered over a thousand men, most of whom were armed with spears. They formed small formations of a hundred men each, closely packed together and followed closely behind.

Finally, there were several hundred crossbowmen, carrying various single-soldier crossbows, medicine crossbows, blowpipes, etc., and they were marching at a leisurely pace. Suddenly, following an order from an officer, these several hundred people suddenly broke up into more than ten groups, like centipedes running close to the ground, and scattered to the high places on both sides.

Huan Wen stood under a big tree halfway up the mountain, overlooking the entire scene.

To be honest, these two thousand enemy troops don't seem as powerful as the Bandun Barbarian Vanguard we encountered before.

The steps were not consistent enough and the formation was not tight enough. Of course, this might be related to the rainy day.

Although there was a pre-war mobilization and farewell wine was poured from a bamboo tube, the morale was still not high enough, perhaps because they had come into contact with the defeated soldiers who had fled back.

Their equipment was not sophisticated enough and they had little iron armor, so they could only rely on various shields to block arrows. Fortunately, their quality was good and their protective power was strong, but the lack of armor was a fatal flaw in close combat. This was related to their relatively low level of civilization. The only equipment and armor they had were mostly issued by the Chengguo court.

The only thing worth mentioning is that their crossbowmen are pretty good.

The shooting is accurate, powerful, the tactics are diverse, and there are all kinds of strange cooperation. Poisoned crossbows are extremely rare in the north, but there are many of them here. In the previous battle, many soldiers were not shot to death, but were killed or disabled by the poison.

In addition, they are very flexible in mountainous terrain and sometimes use unexpected tactics.

For example, before this battle began, dozens of bandits sneaked through the mountains and forests and then climbed down the rocks. Fortunately, they were discovered by the woodcutters and expelled, otherwise it would have been a troublesome matter.

Simply put, the Bandunman are excellent mountain infantry. They can move very fast in mountainous areas, climb rocks and jump. They are good at using swords and shields to repel enemies, shooting with crossbows, and making roundabout moves.

There is still a lot of room for improvement for such troops. If they are recruited to Luoyang and trained well for a few years, they will definitely surprise you.

While they were watching, the Liang army's crossbows at the entrance of the valley had already started firing.

They were set up on various high ground behind the fence, and were commanded by flags, drums and horns, with the assistance of messengers.

When the first round of crossbow arrows tore through the rain, the enemy troops put up shields and tried to take cover.

Surprisingly, some of the crossbow arrows actually penetrated the shield and pierced into the chests of the barbarians in the rear. In a short time, countless people fell to the ground, which looked very spectacular from above.

That's not a shield!
Huan Wen quickly realized that the Bandun barbarians were also divided into rich and poor groups, and their weapons and equipment varied greatly.

The sound of the mechanism of the crossbow on the high platform was like the flapping of locusts' wings, and even the drizzling rain could not cover it up.

The Xiangyang transport troops were wearing armor and holding weapons, standing under the crossbow platforms, with their halberd blades forming cold mist in the rain.

"Woo!" The horn sounded.

The crossbows were fired one after another, and after flying dozens of steps in the air, they disappeared among the crowd of shield-armed soldiers.

Looking from a high place, the front row of human wall that the enemy had just filled up collapsed again on a large scale.

The shield soldier who fell to the ground was not dead yet, and kept groaning. The rain slid down his dark face, mixing with tears.

Countless straw sandals passed by them, and the shield soldiers crossed a distance of dozens of steps and rushed to the fence before the third round of crossbows was fired.

“Kill!” The roar did not come from the shield soldiers, but from the Feilongshan garrison soldiers behind the fence.

Long spears pierced out from the gaps in the fence and bit like poisonous snakes.

Zan Yan roared, tilted his head to avoid the spear tip, grabbed the spear that was about to be pulled back, and picked up the axe to chop it down.

The followers held shields and protected Zan Yan tightly, shielding him from the spears that occasionally emerged from the gaps.

"Bang, bang, bang!" After three consecutive attempts failed to cut off the gun barrel, Zan Yan became annoyed and tried his best to pull it out.

The garrison soldiers were unable to hold him back, and immediately let go, causing Zan Yan to fall to the ground. A crossbow arrow flew over his head, piercing the chest of a follower who was trying to help him up, and before it had weakened, it pierced the shoulder of the person behind him.

Screams rang out one after another, and blood gathered into streams, flowing down the slope and slowly seeping into the grass and gravel.

Huan Wen had already put his hands behind his back.

The fighting inside and outside the fence was very fierce, and the corpses kept piling up, fewer inside the fence and more outside the fence.

The main casualties on our side were caused by the enemy's crossbow arrows, especially those small hand crossbows, medicine crossbows, and blowguns fired at close range. They were extremely tricky and very accurate, and knocked down many Feilongshan garrison soldiers behind the fences.

The enemy's main casualties came from crossbow arrows fired from the crossbow platform and stabbings from spears behind the fence.

The combat effectiveness of the Feilongshan garrison troops is average. If they have not received formal training as veterans of the Qihuo Army, they may not necessarily win if they fight against the Bandun barbarians in the mountainous area, and they are more likely to lose.

Now that there is a fence blocking the enemy's charge, we can almost stand still and compete with the enemy in fighting will, which is not a big problem.

Huan Wen then turned his gaze to the various crossbow platforms.

Hundreds of people were sent out from the enemy's rear formation and divided into dozens of groups. A few of them were armed with swords and shields, and most of them were armed with crossbows. They launched an attack on the crossbow platform, intending to eliminate this huge threat.

The transport soldiers stood under the crossbow platform and fought with the attacking enemies. Although they could not use bows, they were in a dominant position and fought very smoothly. Even though people were constantly shot to the ground by crossbow arrows, their position was still stable and the enemy's plan was crushed.

"Boom!" On the front battlefield, a fence collapsed.

The shield soldiers cheered loudly and rushed in, stepping on the bodies of their comrades.

On either side of them, more shield soldiers used their shields to block the thrusts and chopped the leather ropes that bound the wood with their swords, trying to widen the gap and completely break down the wooden fence.

The crossbow arrows flew over again, causing horrific casualties among the crowd.

Huan Wen ordered another flag to be raised...

Holding a shield in one hand and an axe in the other, Zan Yan rushed in through the gap.

The Feilongshan garrison soldiers in front of them were directly dispersed by them, but they did not dare to retreat and remained where they were, stabbing with their spears and shouting loudly.

Zan Yan almost repeated Feng Bachi's skillful movements outside Xiandu Temple. He used his shield to hold down the spear shaft that was thrusting at him, and after getting close, he used his axe to hit the garrison soldier's shoulder heavily.

The sound of bones breaking almost filled his eardrums, and the garrison soldier fell to the ground with a scream. The last image in his mind was the bulging belly of his newlywed wife before he went to the battle.

After killing one person, Zan Yan continued to charge forward.

He seemed to be able to predict the enemy's movements. He took more than ten steps forward and had killed two people. One of the young soldiers had a light fuzz on his mouth. He looked at the axe with horror as it smashed his head.

The followers beside him fell one after another, and Zan Yan was unaware of it, or he felt it, but he didn't care. The killing was already intense now, and he just wanted to kill to his heart's content.

"Puff!" After knocking down a garrison soldier in his forties for the third time, Zan Yan felt that there was nothing in front of him.

He subconsciously raised his head, and what he saw was a dense forest of spears, and shields and rattan shields that were almost identical to those of their tribe. This was -

"Boom boom boom..." The sound of drums suddenly rang out.

Xu Yaozu led a thousand Qiang soldiers and advanced in formation.

They were not very skilled and their march was not very orderly, but for a dense formation against scattered soldiers, nothing else mattered.

"Kill!" He stabbed with his spears.

No matter whether they were Feilongshan garrison soldiers or Bantun soldiers, all of them were stabbed to the ground.

The large formation continued to move forward, and the spears continued to stab.

When the Feilongshan soldiers who were lined up behind the Qiang soldiers saw this, they were furious and filled with resentment.

At the same time, some smart people also understood why Huan Wen arranged the battle array in this way. This was because the Qiang people would not distinguish between friend and foe, and would stab to the ground anyone who ran around and did not follow the pre-planned detour from the two sides to the rear to be taken in.

If they were in the same situation, would they be able to be so resolute in the face of their comrades who had been with them day and night? In the melee, if they hesitated for a moment, their formation would be broken up and they would be drawn into a new melee.

These officials are all evil-hearted!
Huan Wen was still standing under the big tree, half of his body was soaked by the rain, but he didn't care and just looked at the battlefield.

A forest of spears consisting of a thousand Qiang soldiers quickly pushed back the scattered shield soldiers.

They strode forward, their fighting became more and more adept, and soon they reached the fence.

The wooden fences had been almost completely dismantled by the Bantun barbarians. They stepped on the corpses lying all over the place and staggered forward. When they met the Badong Qiang soldiers, they were smashed into pieces like waves hitting rocks.

Behind the one thousand Qiang soldiers, there were fifteen hundred Feilongshan soldiers. They had already formed their battle array and followed closely behind them, rushing towards the wooden fence.

The Qiang soldiers quickly crossed the fence.

They even temporarily reorganized their formation according to the flags and drums, and then followed the slope, chasing the retreating shield soldiers and killing them into the valley.

The soldiers from Feilongshan Town quickly crossed the fence and rushed into the valley.

Looking down from Huan Wen's perspective.

The influx of fresh troops caused the Bantun barbarians to be routed. The battlefield extended from the valley mouth to the hillside, and then to the bottom of the valley. And it did not stop there. A full 3,500 infantrymen were like hammers, smashing the Bantun soldiers in the valley to pieces, and chasing them to the north, until a cry of "General Zan is dead" was heard, and more than 3,000 Bantun barbarians completely collapsed and scattered everywhere.

Huan Wen decisively deployed the last troop: 500 Xiangyang transport troops, 800 Feilongshan garrison troops and 1,000 Qiang troops, and ordered them to follow closely and pursue and defeat the enemy.

In this battle, the Liang army defeated the Bandun barbarians, captured two valleys in succession, beheaded more than 700 people, and captured 1,000 people.

When the news reached Luo Yan, he suddenly became a little panicked: he had lost both battles and lost four to five thousand men. How could he continue the war?
Just as he was planning to mobilize elite troops, cut wood and set up fences, and switch from an offensive state to a defensive position, a sudden commotion broke out in a river valley three miles behind him, and the cry of "Our army is defeated" spread like a plague.

If you look closely, you will see countless soldiers in the valley packing up their bags and equipment, preparing to retreat.

They were also very considerate and sent messengers to various places to inform the tribes with which they had good relations to run together.

For a moment, the chiefs of various surnames in the Bandun Barbarians were confused and didn't know what to do.

But people tend to scare themselves. For example, someone might just shout “our army is defeated”, but after it spreads around and comes back, it might become an outrageous rumor like “Luo Pushe is dead”.

A major rout is inevitable.

(End of this chapter)