Chapter 1186 Disaster

Chapter 1186 Disaster
How long will it take to chase from the northern foothills of Yinshan Mountain to the Bababu Ranch?
In less than three days, they caught up with their rear guard.

On the vast and flat battlefield, flags stood in rows and war horses neighed.

The soldiers searched for a long time before they found a small mound of earth that was only a few feet high. Shao Xun immediately set up the big flag on it and looked far into the distance to observe the enemy situation.

Huan Wen, the Imperial Censor, stood beside him, looking at the vast battlefield with great passion.

Yellow Gate Minister Yin Yuan looked helpless.

This kind of battle can be left to his subordinates. He deeply suspects that the emperor's warlike nature has come out and he must have a good time.

Of course, the reason given by the emperor was that the 10,000 new troops needed to be led again, otherwise the effect would be greatly reduced.

No one could persuade the emperor. Yin Yuan even just said one sentence and was glared back by the emperor.

Under the mound, knights were galloping back and forth, and people kept reporting where the Baba tribe had gone.

These were all Xianbei tribesmen grazing nearby. They even sent troops to harass and contain the enemy. Some of them failed, while others captured a group of the elderly, the weak, women and children.

To Shao Xun, the movements of the Baba tribe were completely transparent. This was the difference between having someone leading the way and having no one leading the way.

The former can pursue accurately and even obtain supplies on the spot, but the latter can only play hide-and-seek, and may be led into the desert and cut off from food and water.

If you don't get deeply involved in grassland politics, it will be difficult to find someone to lead the way for you, or even to provide you with supplies of cattle and sheep or send men to accompany you on your expedition.

General Zhenbei Da Xi Heruo went to Dongmugen Mountain to gather the herdsmen. The one who stayed with Shao Xun to explain was the son of Su Zhongshun, the prime minister of Dai State, and Su Shuyan, the Wuhuan.

"The Baba division was divided into three groups. The front group left first, mostly composed of able-bodied men and women, and was led by their sons."

"The central army was mostly composed of the elderly, the weak, women and children, with some young men as guards. They left on the seventh day of the seventh month."

"Baba Rui led several thousand soldiers from the rear, obviously intending to cut off the rear."

Shao Xun pondered for a while and said, "Baba Rui is courting his own death. If we were in the other place, I would secretly submit to him, and after the Liang army returns south, it would be much easier for me to escape or rebel. But he is unwilling to even surrender on the surface, he is a real man. There is no need for any tricks in this battle, just charge."

Baba was divided into three parts and even took three routes, so the pursuing troops certainly could not gather in one place.

It was not just to pursue the enemy, but grassland warfare had its own characteristics. Water and pasture were limited. Sixty thousand cavalrymen gathered in one place, and the grassland had been eaten by the livestock of the Baba tribe, so it was difficult to obtain supplies.

The troops carried no more than ten days' worth of food with them. If they wanted to pursue the enemy for a longer period of time, they had to obtain supplies on the grassland as much as possible, mainly grass.

Now, there are only 3,000 personal soldiers, 2,000 Youzhou cavalry commanders, 5,000 Luoyan soldiers, and 10,000 new soldiers following Shao Xun, a total of 20,000 cavalry.

The southern army was mainly composed of 15,000 soldiers from Wuzhou and Gaoliu towns, plus some tribal soldiers, totaling over 20,000.

The Northern Army was composed mainly of 10,000 Yicong troops, 2,000 Liangcheng national troops, 6,000 Pingcheng guards and a small number of tribal soldiers, also totaling over 20,000.

The three groups are advancing simultaneously, whoever catches the first one gets it. Shao Xun has caught one of them now, but he doesn't know if Baba Rui is among them.

He quickly gave the order.

Looking down from the air, two thousand Youzhou cavalrymen were lined up behind a mound and sitting on the ground.

Auxiliary soldiers stood by, ready to help them mount their horses at any time.

The armored cavalry were very cumbersome, and they needed auxiliary soldiers' help in putting on the armor and getting on and off the horses. Even their lances were longer, as thick as small trees, and incredibly heavy, so they needed auxiliary soldiers to hand them to them after they got on the horses.

Shao Xun once inspected the training of the Youzhou cavalry.

Some military officers who are born with extraordinary strength can sink their lances very deep into the soft soil, making it impossible for those with less strength to pull them out.

The purpose of holding the spear is not to show off, but to free up your hands to draw the bow and arrow.

At this time, the armored cavalry usually stopped and shot arrows on the spot while riding on horseback, which was very funny. Therefore, many horse lance cavalry did not carry bows and arrows at all. In history, Gao Huan was able to escape the disaster thanks to this characteristic of horse lance cavalry: Heba Sheng held a long lance but no bow and arrow!

In front of the hill were three thousand personal soldiers, already in armor and mounted on horses, ready for battle.

The first to attack were the Condor Heroes Camp.

As the war drums sounded, thousands of cavalrymen rushed out together, like a large plate of oval-shaped "black dots" scattered on the ground, surging forward.

When we reached the stream, the black spots in front of us slowly shrank and turned into a fan shape.

The majestic white horse, with its head held high and its chest puffed out, rushes to the front without hesitation.

Having undergone rigorous training, it immediately found a small flag on the stream, stepped into it, and waded across.

The other horses followed closely behind, like a well-trained army, passing through the shallows and reaching the other side of the river one after another.

Looking at the scene of splashing water and galloping horses, Huan Wen felt his heart and mind being excited.

When he was young, he discussed military affairs with others and specialized in the tactics of using infantry to resist cavalry, and thought of many ways. Now it seems that with the help of a large number of cavalry, why bother to study such tactics? Can't he just charge with infantry to shake the enemy's position, and then the cavalry will rush in through the gap?

"Buzz!" The sound of dense arrows breaking through the air was heard from the other side of the stream.

Huan Wen withdrew his thoughts and looked forward.

Shao Xun was also observing.

The Archery Camp that crossed the river had slowly changed from a fan to a sharp arrowhead. The overall formation change was not very natural and a little messy, which was caused by their lack of familiarity with each other. However, they all had a good foundation, and their riding and archery skills were first-class. Many of them also had the most basic sense of position, and sometimes controlled the horses, slightly adjusted the direction, and sometimes slowed down or sped up the horses, all adjusting spontaneously.

The number of people from the Baba tribe who came to meet them was slightly larger. Perhaps it was because they wanted to protect their families, so their morale was relatively high, or perhaps it was because of a sense of despair and tragedy.

The distance between the two sides keeps getting closer.

Looking down from the air, the arrowhead of the Shooting Eagle Camp suddenly accelerated, stood out from the crowd, and formed a long horizontal line, heading towards the flank of the Baba light cavalry.

The arrow masters controlled the speed of the horses firmly, and the bowstrings in their hands kept ringing. When they were about a hundred steps away, they drew out their short weapons from their sheaths, held a shield in one hand and a weapon in the other, and accelerated to meet them.

Arrows were flying everywhere and the sound of breaking through the air rang out. Balie held a few arrows in his broad hands and shot them with dazzling movements, one after another. Every time the bowstring sounded, someone would fall down.

The dozens of light cavalrymen who followed them also skillfully drew their bows and arrows. Some of them lay on the horse's back and shot, while others hid in the stirrups like a juggler to avoid the oncoming arrows. The light cavalrymen of the Baba tribe who crossed paths with them were constantly thrown to the ground and fell into the smoke and dust.

The difference in the quality of the soldiers was vividly reflected at this moment.

When the two sides broke contact, half of the more than 100 cavalrymen of the Baba tribe were empty-handed.

Balie led the soldiers to the rear.

The light cavalry were spread out widely, keeping their distance tightly controlled; the formations of both sides were somewhat disorganized, and gradually became mixed, as they began to compete in riding skills, archery skills, and the ability to unite man and horse.

On the other side of the stream, a thousand cavalrymen from the Hengchong Camp passed through the shallows cautiously.

During this period, some unlucky people accidentally fell into the water, and some horses' hooves were stuck in the mud and could not move. Except for a few people who stayed to rescue them, most people continued to move forward, and after forming a battle line on the other side of the river, they started to charge directly.

The forest of horse hooves trampled the ground, making a dull sound.

Dust and grass debris were flying everywhere, and horse lances were all laid flat. Hundreds of people aimed at the most densely populated areas of the enemy and took advantage of the opportunity when they were fighting with the Shooting Eagle Camp to rush in.

The spear blade easily pierced through the fur coat and lifted the shepherd's thin body high up.

The war horses neighed as they broke into the formation, and their companions fled in panic, falling into complete chaos.

"It was so easy to win." On the hill, Huan Wen sighed secretly.

In his view, the Hengchong Battalion that crossed the river really used a brutal attitude to directly defeat the light cavalry on the opposite side.

It was like a sledgehammer hitting a solid block of mud. Under the huge impact, the mud broke into pieces and scattered into pieces.

After dispersing this group of people, they continued to move forward, raising a cloud of dust and charging directly towards another group of Baba cavalry coming towards them.

The north wind blew hard, and a large number of empty horses emerged from the smoke and dust. The riders on their backs had disappeared, and the horses ran aimlessly for a while, then subconsciously stopped.

Huan Wen's eyes followed the movements of the Hengchong Camp.

The smoke and dust were still moving towards the heart of the Baba tribe. They kept encountering small groups of smoke and dust coming from the gathering enemy forces. When they collided, people shouted and horses neighed, and the smoke and dust seemed to explode, covering the entire sky and earth.

When the dust settles, there is often a mess.

The Hengchong Battalion was still on the move. After defeating several groups of enemies in succession and staining their armor with blood, they rushed directly to the vicinity of the enemy's chariots.

The old, weak, women and children of the Baba tribe cried and screamed, and subconsciously began to flee.

It was also at this time that three thousand cavalrymen crossed the river one after another near another shallow ford, and attacked from two directions with the Shooting Eagle Camp and the Hengchong Camp, one in the south and one in the north.

The Baba tribe gathered a group of men to block the way, but after the women and children in the camp were attacked, their morale plummeted and they were dispersed.

Five thousand cavalry were deployed in the north and south directions, and thousands of people from the Baba tribe who were left behind were directly defeated.

The old, the weak, women and children scrambled for horses and fled in all directions, leaving behind even their belongings.

Thousands of new troops followed behind without any slackening.

Regardless of gender, age or status, anyone who was caught up by them would scream and fall off their horses.

Arrows flew through the air, and countless corpses were lying in the carriages, beside the wheels, by the stream, and on the grass, stacked up in layers, it was a horrible sight.

It was the first time that Counselor Shao Qiu saw such a bloody scene and he was dumbfounded.

This battle was very different from what he had imagined.

There are none of the various strategies and tricks mentioned in military books. It is shockingly simple and cruel: first chase the enemy, then rush forward and attack them fiercely to defeat them, and then there will be an unstoppable massacre.

"Go down the mountain." Shao Xun's voice sounded beside him.

Shao Qiu hurriedly followed.

When everyone arrived under the mound, they saw the messenger running westward quickly.

A part of Luoyan's army crossed the river and headed west to clean up the battlefield. Whenever they found a living prisoner, they would torture him directly, forcing him to reveal where his livestock was grazing, and then send people to rob them of their livestock.

Although the massacre was severe, there were actually quite a few prisoners. The Luoyan Army gathered the people in one place and assigned people to guard them.

As the sun was setting, the pursuing troops, such as the Hengchong Camp and the Shooting Eagle Camp, returned one after another.

Shao Xun stood by the stream, holding a lance in his hand.

"Your Majesty." Military officers from various camps dismounted and knelt.

"What are you waiting for?" Shao Xun pointed his lance at the terrified Baba captives and said with a smile, "Go pick up your women, your slaves, and your treasures."

Cheers echoed across the grassland.

Shao Xun held his horse lance high.

The cheering stopped immediately.

"You..." Shao Xun swept his lance around, including everyone in it, and said: "You will be nobles of the grassland for generations, and be granted official titles and nobles. The foundation of the family will be established from now on. Follow me and accumulate your wealth bit by bit."

Su Zhongshun glanced at Shao Xun and saw that he had nothing else to say, so he translated loudly: "You, the masters of the ten battalions of warriors, are my natural servants. In the future, you will rule the vast land from the sea in the east to the Jinwei Mountain in the west and from the forest in the north. As my servants, the people in the land where the sun rises in the east and the land where the moon sets in the west will all sing praises and spread your name. Your family is established here. Now go and select your slaves and treat them well."

The cheers started again.

On July 18, Shao Xun went to Dongmugen Mountain City, and the troops under his command took turns pursuing and continuously sweeping away the remnants of the Baba tribe and some nearby tribes that did not go to Pingcheng Queshuang.

For a time, there was constant bloody storm, the grassland faced its disaster, and the power structure was also undergoing profound changes.

(End of this chapter)