Chapter 1155 Damage
Chapter 1155 Damage
The full moon disappeared into the dark clouds, and the night owls in the pine forest suddenly fell silent.
The Liao soldier who was on night patrol opened his eyes wide and looked into the distance suspiciously.
It was too dark to see anything, but the incessant sound of horse hooves told him that the enemy had been roaming nearby, waiting for him to show signs of fatigue, and then suddenly attack him and deliver a fatal blow.
No one dares to take a nap, and no one dares to joke with their own life.
They were ready for battle, with bows strung, swords unsheathed, and spears pointed outward, quietly waiting for the Hun cavalry to arrive.
The Huns never came.
Just when everyone had been waiting nervously for a long time and were beginning to relax, a dull drum sound suddenly came from the front, and the "boom, boom, boom" sound spread far away in the night.
Immediately afterwards, the sound of horse hooves suddenly became rapid and the shaking of the earth became more violent.
"Here they come!" Someone couldn't bear the pressure and shouted hoarsely.
"Hua La La!" The Liao soldiers who were sleeping on mats with their clothes on jumped up. For a while, the sounds of armor, swords and guns were heard continuously.
The officers shouted orders and the soldiers were running around like headless flies. It took a while for them to calm down.
Li Yu got up from an ox cart with red eyes.
The attendant was busy putting armor on him while reporting in a low voice.
A moment later, he came to the front of the battle array wearing a helmet and armor and holding a spear.
There was a pine forest ahead, with hills extending slowly on both sides of the forest. The drum sounds came from there.
Li Yu rubbed his eyes and looked into the distance tiredly, but he saw shadows of people in the night and faint sounds of killing coming along the night wind, but this situation lasted for a long time and no one approached.
"This is a strategy to confuse the enemy." After a moment, he said firmly.
Everyone agreed, but what could they do? The Xiongnu cavalry could take turns sleeping and harassing, could they?
Theoretically it is possible, but the people in front of us can't do it.
Li Yu quickly dispersed most of the soldiers, ordered them to return to their camps and sleep in their clothes, but after the soldiers dispersed, they kept tossing and turning on the straw mats and could not fall asleep.
Even after Li Yu went back and lay down, he couldn't fall asleep. It was the feeling that he was obviously very sleepy and tired, but just couldn't fall asleep.
There is no other reason, just thinking too much and having too much psychological pressure.
This is the difference between a seasoned veteran and a rookie.
Veterans know how to rest, how to allocate physical strength, fully trust their comrades, and understand the limits of both sides. When everyone shares the burden, the pressure is much less.
The recruits were thinking about what to do if the enemy rushed over? They would definitely flee, right? They wouldn't be able to hold on, right? No one told me to stand up, right? And so on.
He was awakened suddenly by the sound of horse hooves, and could not sleep at all when the war drums were beaten.
When arrows fell nearby, the veterans would wait for military orders, and if they didn't receive any, they would continue to sleep, but the new recruits would have already stood up with their eyes wide open, and the officers would not be able to stop them from beating and scolding them.
The harassment just now was the third time tonight.
Once at the foot of the mountain and twice on the hill, the more than 3,000 people in the entire camp had red eyes and were nervous.
To be fair, if this group of soldiers can get through this time, they will be greatly improved psychologically and will be much calmer next time they deal with it. The question is, will there really be a next time?
no one knows.
The sound of drums gradually died down and the sound of horse hooves gradually faded away.
Everyone breathed a sigh of relief.
Some people closed their eyes and began to rest. They were really too tired, there was no other way, even if they couldn't fall asleep, it would be good to close their eyes and take a nap.
Just when some people were confused, a blood-curdling scream was heard again from a few hundred steps to the north.
This scream caused a chain reaction. Some people could not bear the pressure and started shouting and running around. Fortunately, the officers could not sleep either and responded in time. They immediately led their men to use swords and guns to suppress the soldiers who had blown up the camp.
But this made them even more unable to sleep. Everyone was breathing heavily, staring at each other, and holding their swords and guns tightly in their hands, as if they were ready to rush out and kill if anything went wrong.
The risk of camp bombing is even greater...
After receiving the news, Zan Jian stood up, put on a bear fur coat, and then began to patrol the camp with three hundred soldiers.
He didn't sleep well either.
It's not that he's afraid, but he's worried that his subordinates can't handle it.
The quality of these people is so poor, they can't be compared with what they were in the past.
I still remember that when Duke Wen of Zhuang (Li Dang) was alive, he followed Emperor Jing (Li Te) to fight against Zhang Zheng, the governor of Guanghan, who was sent to Sichuan to reinforce Sima Yong, the King of Hejian.
Zhang Zheng's army consisted of many elite soldiers from Guanxi, who were extremely brave and defended the dangerous place. Emperor Jing was not able to win the battle, and the army of Zhang Zheng pursued and killed him. At that time, Duke Zhuang Wen came to help, but the mountain road was narrow and only one or two people could pass through. Seeing that the rescue was in time, Duke Zhuang Wen was furious. He put on heavy armor, held a spear, and led the troops to kill more than ten people in a row. Anyone who blocked his way would die. In the end, the soldiers fought bravely and defeated Zhang Zheng.
Of Duke Zhuangwen's five sons, Li Han and Li Zhi were ambushed in Wudu and died on the battlefield. The rest of his sons had no talent, and even their martial arts were mediocre - yes, Zan Jian also looked down on Li Ban, the son of Li Dang and the crown prince, because he was too weak.
As for Li Yu, there is nothing to say. His martial arts skills are OK, but his mind is not strong enough. He panics when encountering difficulties and lacks experience. But now it is a life-and-death battle. Zan Jian has no choice but to take on more responsibilities at the age of fifty.
When he inspected the North Camp, Zan Jian looked around and ordered the soldiers to return to their camps. Then he selected two hundred crossbowmen and asked them to stand behind fences and vehicles to defend both the outside and the inside. Anyone who walked without the order of the officers would be shot, regardless of friend or foe.
After giving such a harsh order, he went to the west camp located at the highest point of the hill and ordered the soldiers who did not need to be on duty to lie down and sleep. Anyone who dared to stick his head out again would be whipped five times.
The officers blushed.
Although they knew the military orders and had even memorized them, they had never been on a battlefield before and in their panic, they could not remember many things.
To put it bluntly, you still have to practice and endure the high-intensity training of war!
After a complete circle, Zan Jian returned to his tent, took off his armor, lay down in his clothes, and soon began to snore. The night became quieter, and the moon gradually moved to the west.
At the beginning of the Yin hour, the sound of drums and horns with passionate rhythm suddenly rang out from the gentle slope of the hill.
Cheng Jun felt dizzy and got up in a hurry.
In the dark night, the sound of horse hooves was more rapid than any other time that night.
After walking more than a hundred steps, the sound of hooves gradually slowed down.
Just when Cheng Jun thought that this was another attack and was cursing in his heart, commands came one after another from the invading enemy. A moment later, rows of Hun knights dismounted, holding swords and shields, spears, and horn bows, and rushed over shouting.
Your mother! This time I'm serious!
Cheng Jun was a little slow to react, allowing the Huns to rush close to the chariot formation and climb up.
Hand-to-hand combat ensued immediately.
The Huns looked ferocious, and relying on the psychological advantage of surprise, they shouted loudly for a fierce battle.
The Cheng army was caught off guard, and some soldiers on the ox carts and horse carts were killed and fell to the ground. The Huns jumped off the ox carts shouting, stabbing with spears, swinging with swords and axes, and some of them held kerosene and poured it on the Cheng army's baggage to ignite it.
The raging fire was particularly conspicuous in the night sky.
Cheng Jun retreated step by step, crying for his parents.
Some people simply dropped their equipment and ran away.
Some people were already furious due to the torture, and now they fought to the death with their bravery, thinking of dying together with the Liang people.
More people were at a loss and just resisted mechanically, but it was completely unsystematic and they were killed and fled in all directions by hundreds of Hun soldiers.
The sounds of drums and horns rose one after another.
This time it was not the Huns, but an entire army, with all sorts of noise interspersed throughout.
When Li Yu, who was dozing off against a wheel, was awakened by his personal attendant, he was unable to react for a moment until he saw a blazing fire and slowly came back to his senses.
Almost subconsciously, he reached for the lance at his feet, then called on his followers to follow him.
The attendants were stunned. Shouldn't they gather the troops and stabilize the situation at this time? Why would a deputy governor like you rush in? However, since the lord was like this, they, as guests, couldn't say anything. They could only pick up their swords and shields and follow Li Yu.
Zan Jian also stood up.
He first observed the battlefield situation to determine how many enemies there were and where they were fighting. After figuring this out, he led the assembled hundreds of reserve troops in formation and headed down the mountain.
When they encountered large groups of people running around in a disorderly manner along the way, the crossbowmen would simply rush forward and shoot at them in a volley to disperse them.
When encountering small groups, they were taken in on the spot and incorporated into the army.
In this way, when they rushed down the mountain, the team had reached thousands of people.
At this time, the fire had already illuminated half the sky red.
Zan Jian ordered the crossbowmen to cross the chariot formation and attack from the flank and rear of the attacking Huns. He led 800 infantrymen, with sword and shield soldiers in the front and spearmen in the back, and advanced in a wall formation to clear all resistance encountered in front of them - regardless of friend or foe.
With the addition of such a stable force, the chaotic battle situation gradually became clear.
When the Huns saw the reinforcements coming, they knew they were in trouble, so they set a few more fires and fled into the darkness, shouting and screaming.
Under the cover of night, the sound of crossbows firing and occasional loud screams were heard. A moment later, a chaotic sound of horse hooves was heard.
The crossbowmen of the Cheng army who had attacked retreated in a hurry.
Zan Jian did not order a pursuit, but instead sent people to put out the fire and clean up the camp.
The sound of horse hooves stopped in the darkness.
Zan Jian looked quietly at the dark night.
He couldn't see anything, yet it seemed like he saw everything. It was a silent confrontation.
After a long time, the sounds of people shouting and horses neighing began again, and then gradually faded away until they disappeared completely.
"Governor." Someone brought over a stretcher.
Zan Jian's eyes fixed, it turned out that Li Yu was lying on it.
During the night battle, he was hit by a stray arrow, which happened to hit him in the neck, and blood gushed out.
The doctors tried everything, but could not stop the gushing blood.
Zan Jian squatted down and looked at Li Yu's distracted eyes, silent for a long time.
That night, they lost more than half of their troops, and had at most 1,200 to 1,300 infantrymen and 700 to 800 cavalrymen available. The troops were in a panic and their morale dropped sharply.
In addition, perhaps after dawn, a great general from the royal family will be killed.
It is less than ten miles away from Guanghan County City, but these ten miles seem like an insurmountable chasm. Every step forward comes at the cost of blood.
On the morning of February 15th, Li Xiong, who received the news, personally led thousands of infantry and cavalry to the front army, displayed the emperor's umbrella, and led the way.
(End of this chapter)