Chapter 1332 Invitation
Chapter 1332 Invitation
Taking advantage of the fact that the enemy has traveled a long distance, is weak in physical strength, has not yet set up camp, and has not yet established a firm foothold, launch a sudden attack to boost your own morale and weaken the enemy's momentum. This is an old tactic in the art of war. Both sides understand it and are prepared for it.
Therefore, this was an expected battle and there was no surprise.
In fact, the moment the enemy's south gate opened and slowly lowered the drawbridge, Shao Yu knew that the battle was about to begin.
The first to receive the order were the palace guards. The lieutenant immediately gathered the cavalry of the Prince of Yan's palace who were sitting on the ground and recuperating, and began to put on armor and check their equipment.
This part consisted of 500 cavalrymen, half of whom were wearing armor and holding spears, and were heavy cavalry; the other half were wearing leather armor and served as light cavalry - but they carried long spears, and were close combat light cavalry.
Another three hundred people began to put on armor urgently. Not only did the people wear heavy armor, but the horses also had to wear armor - the latter was the most troublesome and could not be done in advance because it consumed too much horsepower, and you didn't know when the enemy cavalry would arrive.
More than a thousand knights from Feilongshan and Shangbai towns also rode out, led by Bo Guanzhi himself, and went out from behind the formation.
They wore little armor, carried no horse lances, and mostly carried light lances and horn bows.
As for the knights from Bingzhou, they had already dismounted and were working, and there was no plan to let them attack in this battle. Under Shao Yu's order, these people hurriedly moved away the antlers and chevaux de frise that blocked the cavalry's advance, released the knights from the two towns, and then quickly closed the antlers, each looking for an officer and receiving equipment.
The enemy cavalry had bypassed the trench in front, made a long circle, and attacked from the flank.
More than a thousand infantrymen from the Heiliang Left Camp boarded the side carriages and baggage carts.
There were people holding bows in the side carriages, and some holding spears beside the carriages, while there were more infantrymen holding swords and shields on the baggage carts.
The main force was ordered to move forward and formed a spear formation to the north of the camp. Deer horns were scattered on both sides of the formation, and the front was facing the south gate of Jicheng, in an attempt to block the reinforcements in the city.
It was not until this time that Shao Yu discovered that the resting places for the soldiers of the Heilang Left Camp were carefully selected.
While sitting on the ground, they ate some food and drank some water to replenish their energy. After eating, they closed their eyes and took a nap to conserve their energy. There was no noise during the period, making it difficult for Shao Yu, who had been busy working, to notice them. When the order was given, the soldiers of the Heilang Left Camp jumped up, received the order, and entered combat status very quickly.
This is what a soldier is!
Shao Yu had already put on his armor, holding a strong bow in his hand, and climbed onto a wooden platform surrounded by his followers.
His followers wished they could put up seventeen or eighteen shields around him, covering his entire body tightly and leaving only a narrow gap for him to observe the entire battlefield.
The Prince of Yan's Palace has a total of three thousand cavalrymen, but only the initial one thousand have strong combat effectiveness. After years of fighting, they are well-equipped and have skilled coordination. Now there are only more than eight hundred left, and at this moment, five hundred of them are the first to charge forward.
However, when they encountered 200 armored cavalry of the enemy, they did not dare to confront them head-on, but dispersed far away.
The enemy cavalry became more motivated upon seeing this. Although their number was only over 600, they were able to kill with the momentum of several thousand cavalry.
The cavalry of the Prince of Yan's Palace flew away, and the Xianbei cavalry followed closely behind, constantly urging their horses to increase their speed, killing the Liang cavalry that fell behind one by one.
The cavalry from Feilongshan and Shangbai towns soon joined the battlefield. The armored Xianbei cavalry turned around and charged at the cavalry from the two towns, directly destroying them.
The cavalry from the two towns knew that they were powerful, so they quickly dispersed, trying their best to avoid the armored cavalry. After slightly gathering their troops, they entangled the more than 400 Xianbei cavalry in the rear.
But the armored cavalry were still there, often breaking their formation and creating opportunities for the armored cavalry and light cavalry behind them. For a time, the soldiers of the two towns quickly lost their momentum and showed signs of collapse.
The cavalry of the Prince of Yan's Palace rushed back, and when the opportunity arose, they engaged in a head-on attack on the Xianbei armored cavalry.
The knights on both sides were wearing iron armor, but the Xianbei side was wearing horse armor, which had a stronger impact and defeated the cavalry of Prince Yan's Palace on the spot. This desperate resistance was considered a failure. The only benefit was that it gave the soldiers of the two towns a chance to regroup and avoid being chased and beaten.
At this moment, the Xianbei armored cavalry became the stars on the battlefield, invincible and unmatched.
"Boom boom boom..." The drums sounded again.
Dozens of infantrymen moved the deer horns and chevaux de frise aside for the second time. The 300 armored cavalrymen from the Prince of Yan's Palace, who had been urgently equipped, left the camp one by one. After forming a battle array in the southwest, they began to accelerate slowly, and the Korean cavalry pressed forward.
When General Lan Bo discovered the existence of this enemy, he immediately gave up chasing the light and heavy cavalry of the Prince of Yan's Palace, turned his horse around, and rushed towards the armored cavalry of the Prince of Yan's Palace.
Inside and outside the city, soldiers on both sides shouted loudly and drums beat passionately.
The sunset dyed the entire battlefield an eerie blood-red color. The earth was shaking, horses' hooves were flying, and the armored cavalry on both sides almost raised their lances at the same time. From the appearance, equipment and tactics, there was no difference between them. It was almost like two parts of the same army were charging at each other.
The distance was getting closer and closer, one hundred steps, seventy steps, fifty steps, thirty steps...
The warhorse was panting, and the knight's eyes were wide open, determined to die.
Almost at the moment when the last rays of sunset fell in the west, the two sides suddenly collided with each other.
In an instant, the long spears stabbed at the opponent's face, chest, and lower abdomen. The man with infinite strength raised his spear and swept it across, vowing to knock the opponent off his horse.
Hou Mochen Can narrowly avoided the long spear that was piercing his chest. He then raised the heavy horse spear with one hand and used the momentum of his galloping horse to strike the enemy cavalry diagonally opposite him, causing them to lose their balance and fall off their horses with a scream.
He did not have time to see what was happening to the enemy, because another spear was coming towards him. He subconsciously moved aside and stabbed based on his feeling. The enemy horses that were crossing the enemy line were frightened and dodged to the side in panic. Then there was another series of collisions.
Houmo Chencan quickly turned his body around. He had thrown away his horse lance at the moment of stabbing the enemy. He drew out an iron hammer, sped up his horse, and hit an enemy rider in the chest.
"Whoosh!" The long-lost evening breeze blew on his face, and he had already broken through the siege.
The horse's neck was covered with fine beads of sweat, and there were streaks of water inside the armor, flowing down the body and soaking the silk lining inside.
"Charge again!" He shouted in a muffled voice, not caring whether others could hear him or not. He turned his horse around and rushed towards the Korean armored cavalry again.
The light and heavy cavalry of the Prince of Yan's Palace led by Dao Hua circled back from a distance at the moment when the armored cavalry of both sides passed each other, seized the opportunity, and launched a round of attack from the side and rear.
The enemy cavalry had just turned around and were hastily unable to speed up their horses. In a head-on confrontation, neither the armored cavalry, the heavy cavalry, nor the lightly armed lancers could gain any advantage. Dozens of them fell off their horses at once and lay on the ground for a long time, unable to get up, and no one knew whether they were dead or alive.
The cavalry from Feilongshan and Shangbai towns had already abandoned their lances and took out horn bows, which they passed diagonally from the outside of the Xianbei cavalry. The sounds of arrows breaking through the air were heard continuously and the arrows were as dense as rain.
The Xianbei cavalry subconsciously waved their lances to block the arrows and sped away from them.
The armored cavalry was slightly better, with their armor and horse armor full of trembling arrows, and only a few unlucky ones fell off their horses. But the heavy cavalry and light cavalry were in a miserable state. Even if the people were fine, the horses could not bear it. While marching, there were often war horses that knelt down with their front hooves and fell to the ground, throwing the knights on their backs far away. There were also war horses that directly fell sideways or stood up and neighed in pain, disrupting the entire formation.
Houmochencan launched a second charge. The less than 270 armored cavalrymen took advantage of the enemy's disordered formation and rushed out from the side, wedged deeply into the enemy's formation, cut it in half, and smashed it into pieces.
Dao Hua had just gathered the light and heavy cavalry of the Prince of Yan's Palace, and there were only more than 300 cavalry left. Both the men and horses were a little tired, but they summoned up their remaining courage and gritted their teeth to catch up.
At one point, three Liang cavalry units launched attacks in turn, using their three times greater strength to hold on to this group of Xianbei people.
After the armored cavalry charged, the light and heavy lancers came up. After they finished, the mounted archers from the two towns came next. Without anyone to command - it was difficult to command effectively in such an extremely chaotic battlefield - they relied entirely on instinct, setting the rhythm and showing tacit understanding.
Houmochen Can launched the third round of charge, completely crushing the Xianbei people's attempt to approach Jicheng and forcing them towards the Liang army's infantry camp.
The light cavalry from the two towns would come out on horseback and shoot from time to time, with people shouting and horses neighing constantly. There were already many dazed Xianbei knights on the ground. They had lost their horses and were at a loss as to what to do.
The sound of bowstrings came one after another from the side carriage. The archers pulled their bows almost to full moon, killing the Xianbei people who had fallen off their horses but were not dead one by one from a distance.
General Lan Bo had just climbed up from the grass. It was still dark in front of his eyes and he could not tell east from west, south from north. At this moment, two arrows shot towards him. Fortunately, they were blocked by his armor and did not penetrate his flesh, but the strong force still knocked him to the ground before he could stand steadily.
He stood up again unwilling to admit defeat, but unexpectedly a rider rode past him. The iron hammer hit his chest so hard that the breastplate deflated and he spat out blood unconsciously.
"Boom!" He could no longer stand and fell heavily to the ground, splashing a cloud of dust.
Prince Shao Yu of Yan on the high platform withdrew his gaze.
The Xianbei cavalry, which once numbered over 600, had been reduced to less than 300, and were now confined to a small area. After multiple attacks, they were exhausted, and many of their horses were foaming at the mouth. The Liang army's light and heavy cavalry were everywhere around them, leaving them almost no chance to break out.
The infantry of the Heiliang Left Camp set out.
They beat the war drums, lined up in neat rows, opened the chariot formation, filed out from the gaps, and rushed forward with the Korean cavalry armed with long spears, axes, and hook-and-sickle spears.
As they got closer, there was a volley of bows and arrows. At a distance of thirty steps, powerful arrows came pouring in. Even though they were wearing iron armor, the Xianbei knights still groaned continuously.
The sound of horse hooves in the distance sounded again.
The light and heavy cavalry of the Liang army surrounding the outside moved away one after another, and the armored cavalry led by Houmochen Can rushed straight forward and completely dispersed the last group of Xianbei people.
The Heiliang Left Camp roared and rushed forward, wielding swords and clubs, beheading the enemies in chaos one by one.
The battle was completely over when it became completely dark.
The head of General Lambo was cut off and placed on a spear. A knight was carrying him, whipping his horse and showing off his military power.
The people on the city wall saw this and became disheartened.
When the soldiers besieging the city saw this, their morale was high.
These six hundred men were extremely brave. Even among the Liang army, they were top-notch fighters. In order to eliminate them, the Liang army paid a huge price, and its casualties were not much less than theirs.
However, under the encirclement and suppression of Liang cavalry three times their number and the cooperation of Heiliang Zuoying, the Xianbei people could not hold out for long and were soon destroyed.
This is not a lack of combat quality, but a huge gap in overall strength.
After this battle, it is unknown whether the Xianbei people still have the courage to come out of the city and challenge others for another fight.
That night, the construction of the fortifications in the west and south of the city did not stop, and construction continued overnight without any pause.
They even took advantage of the Xianbei people's frustration to dig trenches and build low walls with the excavated soil, further reducing the space for the Xianbei cavalry to charge out of the city.
Without their cavalry, the Murong clan's combat effectiveness was greatly reduced.
(End of this chapter)