My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 639 Li Zheng Breaks the Formation
Although the various departments were surprised and suspicious, they still obeyed the orders.

After about the time it takes to eat another meal, the reinforcements arrived and successfully joined forces with He Qi.

At this moment, He Qi smiled for the first time, while Li Zheng, two miles away, had a resolute face and a solemn expression.

Because the number of reinforcements far exceeded what the two had expected.

This place not only includes the troops under He Qi, Han Yan and Yuan Yu, but also Zhou Bin's troops under Zhou Yu, totaling ten thousand men.

In this way, He Qi's forces suddenly expanded to more than 15,000 men, giving him a four- to five-fold advantage over Li Zheng's three to four thousand troops.

In short, He Qi now possessed the strength to withstand Cao Cao's cavalry reinforcements and directly confront Li Zheng.

"All troops, don your armor!"

He Qi immediately gave the order, and the Yue soldiers of Hong Ming and Hong Jin's troops were overjoyed at the prospect of battle, and cheers erupted instantly.

Soon, Zhou Bin, Han Yan, and Yuan Yu rushed into the army camp to meet He Qi.

He Qi's status was now no lower than Zhou Yu's. Zhou Bin was just a Lieutenant General, and Han Yan and Yuan Yu were even Colonels of their own troops, so naturally they were not qualified to take on higher positions.

Upon meeting He Qi, Zhou Bin bowed respectfully and informed him of Zhou Yu's arrangements.

Upon hearing that Zhou Yu intended to send Zhou Bin's troops to reinforce their side in order to contain Cao Cao's army north of the city, while he himself would not come to the rescue, but instead take the opportunity to attack the city in order to quickly capture Fucheng.

At this time, only Yan Pu remained in charge of Fucheng, with only two thousand of Li Zheng's troops, several thousand Hanzhong County soldiers, and more than two thousand instructors.

Zhou Yu wanted to take advantage of the situation to attack the city. If he could capture the city, that would be ideal. If not, he could force Cao Cao's army to look south and distract them from Fucheng, thus creating an opportunity for He Qi in the north.

This is far more sophisticated than simply sending reinforcements from the north.

Upon hearing this, He Qi also showed a look of surprise and delight.

Zhou Yu's arrangement was a pleasant surprise and also relieved He Qi of any worries.

So, He Qi began to issue orders.

The troops of the Hong brothers, Hong Ming and Hong Jin, had rested for more than half an hour. The soldiers had recovered most of their strength and were in high spirits. It was the perfect time to put their troops to use, so they were arranged to be the vanguard.

Zhou Bin's troops were newly arrived, especially Zhou Bin's troops, who had come from the south of the city to provide reinforcements and had traveled the longest distance. They were given a rest.

Although Zhou Bin and his men came from afar from the rear, they were not armored along the way and were transported by carts and horses. Therefore, although the soldiers were tired, they still maintained considerable combat strength and could actually be put into battle directly.

However, some rest is better than no rest at all, and all the generals present appreciated it, understanding that it was He Qi's good intention. Moreover, the reason they were able to maintain some physical strength was actually thanks to He Qi.

This was entirely because He Qi was there to keep them at bay and provide early warning, giving them the opportunity to follow up at their leisure. Otherwise, marching without armor in the face of Cao Cao's cavalry would have been tantamount to suicide.

Therefore, Zhou Bin and the others had no objections whatsoever, nor did they suspect that He Qi was greedy for credit and wanted to exclude them.

While Zhou Bin and his troops rested on the spot, He Qi's troops began to move.

With the cover of friendly forces, He Qi began to launch a full-scale attack. He drew 500 men from each of Hong Ming's and Hong Jin's units and assigned them to the central army. He then positioned Hong Ming on the left wing, Hong Jin on the right wing, and himself in the center, and began to press towards Li Zheng's troops.

He Qi's attack was not particularly skillful. Both sides were fighting on the plains in formation, so trying to use any tricks would only make them look ridiculous.

At this moment, only the clash of blood and iron remains.

He Qi's gaze swept over his four thousand elite troops.

The vanguard of the Yue warriors were now clad in full leather armor, but their weapons were no longer the usual short spears and halberds; instead, they had been wielding long spears, which gleamed like a forest in the sunlight. Their leather armor was adorned with strange totems. These totems should have been painted on the skin, but since joining the Left Guard Army, their equipment and weaponry had become extremely sophisticated, and each person was equipped with a full set of leather armor, completely covering them.

Left with no other choice, these Yue warriors could only paint totems on their leather armor to intimidate the enemy and pray for divine blessings. The Yue soldiers' faces were filled with fervor, and their eyes gleamed with a bloodthirsty light, eager to drink the blood of their enemies.

Between the two mountain Yue armies were He Qi's central guards and crossbowmen.

At this moment, three hundred crossbows were already nocked, and another six hundred Yue archers were also ready to unleash a deadly rain of arrows at He Qi's command.

"Pass the order."

He Qi gave a deep order: "The crossbowmen in the center and the archers on both flanks shall fire three volleys first, and then launch free-firing attacks towards the enemy's rear. Hong Ming shall lead the left wing to attack the enemy's right wing, Hong Jin shall flank the enemy's left wing, and I shall personally lead the center to press forward."

The war drums suddenly sounded, shaking the earth like thunder.

Within Cao Cao's army ranks, Li Zheng also issued orders. This renowned general from outside the Cao Wei clan had a resolute expression, his brows exuding a heroic air.

At this moment, Li Zheng put aside all other thoughts and focused all his energy on dealing with He Qi's offensive.

"Order the shield bearers to raise their shields to defend against arrows. When the enemy is within fifty paces, the crossbowmen in the center should fire their arrows to break their momentum."

Li Zheng said to his deputy, "Send someone to inform Generals Zihe and Wenlie that reinforcements from the Left Guard have arrived, numbering over eight thousand. Please be careful."

The next moment, drums and gongs resounded from the Left Army's ranks.

The first volley of arrows rose into the air from the left flank of the army, nearly a thousand arrows raining down on Cao Cao's troops with a deathly whistle. Cao Cao's shield bearers immediately raised their large shields, the arrows striking the shields with a dense "thud," occasionally punctuated by screams of agony as arrows pierced through the gaps in the shields.

"Second round, release!"

He Qi raised his sword high, and the crossbowmen mechanically loaded, aimed, and fired.

The archers reloaded quickly, but to maintain a volley, they did not continue firing, instead waiting for the crossbowmen to finish reloading before firing together.

At this moment, a faint smell of blood had already filled the battlefield. Although Li Zheng's troops had shields for cover, more than twenty people had been killed or wounded.

Li Zheng's troops were experienced soldiers who quickly dragged the wounded into the battle lines for treatment, while new soldiers filled the ranks.

As the third volley of arrows rained down, Hong Jin led the Yue warriors in a charge.

These warriors from the mountains roared like wild beasts, wielding their spears, and charged swiftly towards the right flank of Cao Cao's army. Their charge, though not as disciplined as the Han army's, possessed a chilling ferocity. "Hold your ground! Shield bearers, crouch! Spearmen, raise your spears!"

Cao Jun's right-wing commander, Li Mu, shouted loudly.

Under his command, the outermost shield bearers of Cao's army suddenly crouched down, their shields lowering to reveal the menacing array of spears behind them.

Li Mu was using a "stacked shield" defense. The shield bearers in the front row knelt on the ground, the spearmen in the second row rested their spears on their shields, and the spearmen in the third row rested their spears on the shoulders of their comrades in the front row, forming a stepped shield and spear wall.

Soon, the two sides' guns clashed, producing a tremendous sound. In the ensuing battle, the spearmen pushed and shoved each other, the clanging of gun barrels like a torrential downpour, the sound echoing for miles around.

Contrary to what ordinary people imagine gunfights to be, the main fighting method between gun formations at this time is not actually stabbing.

The spears held by these spearmen were mostly three to four meters long, which made thrusting more difficult and made it hard to keep the aim straight. What was even more troublesome was that the opponents had shields to block, which greatly reduced the lethality of the thrusts.

Therefore, in this era, the main combat method between gun formations was not thrusting, but rather striking, supplemented by thrusting and charging into enemy lines.

Gao Shun's elite Trapped Camp was renowned throughout the land for its skill in breaking enemy formations; they were extremely elite and valiant soldiers. Breaking through enemy lines at crucial moments was a key to securing victory.

The purpose of striking is to disrupt the organization of the enemy's gun formation and deplete their strength, creating opportunities for thrusting and charging.

It was this striking tactic that caused the spears of both sides to clash repeatedly, producing a deafening sound.

After successfully striking and disrupting the opponent's rhythm and coordination, the spearmen would immediately switch to thrusting to kill the enemy.

The casualties between the gun formations mainly occurred in the first rank. After the front rank was killed or wounded by stabbing, the soldiers in the back rank would continuously move forward to replace them, maintaining the neatness and stability of the line, which eventually resulted in a "meat grinder" style of attrition.

He Qi, observing the situation clearly from the central command, frowned slightly.

The bravery of the Yue army was undeniable, but Cao Cao's defenses were equally formidable. The two sides' spear formations remained stationary after the initial engagement.

He Qi's gun emplacements kept pushing forward, but Li Zheng's soldiers defended flawlessly, not allowing the Shanyue army to gain any advantage.

He turned to the captain of his personal guard and said, "Send fifty crossbowmen and fifty armored soldiers to Hong Ming, and have him break through Cao Cao's lines. If he can break through, he should be credited with the greatest merit."

Upon receiving He Qi's orders and reinforcements, Hong Ming immediately began preparations.

Hong Ming positioned the crossbowmen behind the spear formation, while the armored soldiers inserted themselves into the spear formation.

Subsequently, Hong Ming suddenly ordered the gun formation to retreat. Since the Shanyue army was the attacking force and the two sides were engaged in a gunfight, the defending troops dared not pursue, fearing that pursuing would disrupt the order and coordination of the formation and fall into the trap of the Zuo Mu army.

Therefore, Hong Ming successfully withdrew his guns, allowing both sides to disengage.

Before the other side could figure it out, Hong Ming's spear formation suddenly parted to both sides, giving up a width of about ten meters in the middle.

On this stretch of land, three teams of fifteen crossbowmen stood in formation, their cold crossbow bolts gleaming, aimed directly at the spear formation under Li Mu's command.

"Shield up!"

Li Mu realized what was happening and immediately screamed.

Li's entire unit was considered elite; the shield bearers in the first row had already begun to raise their shields with all their might before Li Mu could even shout.

Unfortunately, in the rush, even though the shields were raised, they couldn't be completely sealed, not to mention that not everyone could raise their shields in time.

A flash of cold light, and screams erupted from Li Mu's army. In an instant, not only were spearmen and arrows falling on Li Mu's side, but several shield bearers also fell.

Before Li Mu could adjust his formation, dozens of fierce warriors clad in iron armor suddenly emerged from behind the crossbowmen, forming small groups of three or five and rushing towards Li Mu's position.

These armored soldiers pounced on sheep like tigers, as if they were in an empty field.

Li Mu's spearmen could only rely on their short blades to fight, and were no match for the armored soldiers.

Seeing his men dead and wounded, he realized that in just a few dozen breaths since Hong Ming's retreat, his own men had already suffered dozens of casualties, almost matching all the casualties in the previous battle.

Hong Ming tore a seven- or eight-meter-wide gap in Li Mu's army formation, and a steady stream of Shanyue soldiers poured in through the gap, followed by the armored soldiers hacking their way in. At the same time, some of their forces were diverted to expand to the flanks and attack the sides of Li Mu's spear formation.

"Hold them off!"

Although Li Mu was sweating profusely with anxiety, he still managed to quickly mobilize his troops.

A large group of short-armored shield bearers rushed out from the rear to block the armored soldiers on the other side. Before attacking, these short-armored shield bearers had specially changed into armor-piercing weapons. In addition, due to the urgency of the military situation, they were all fearless and managed to stop the armored soldiers' offensive.

Even so, Li Mu's army formation had been somewhat deformed by the blows, bending deeply inwards. The two sides' elite troops engaged in a fierce, close-quarters battle on this salient. Li Mu's forces wanted to drive the Zuo Mu army back out of their lines, while the Zuo Mu army sought to further expand their gains and completely tear apart the enemy's formation.

Just when everyone thought the situation was beginning to turn in favor of the Left Army, a series of urgent gong sounds suddenly rang out from Li Zheng's central army.

The next moment, a cavalry force of two hundred men charged out from the north of Hongming. The general in charge was a mighty and imposing figure, none other than Li Zheng himself. Like a sharp knife, he led his cavalry straight into the flank of the Left Army.

At what time did the thunderous sound of horses' hooves startle the earth?

The Yue army had no time to turn around. Although they had set up defenses on their rear and flanks, these agile short-range elites were meant to counter spearmen, and were no match for the cavalry.
Although these elite short-range soldiers charged forward fearlessly, trying to use their bodies to block the cavalry's attack, Li Zheng completely ignored their attempts to entangle him. Instead, he easily bypassed them using his superior mobility.

"Crossbowmen, turn around and aim at the cavalry!"

Cold sweat poured down Hong Ming's forehead. He quickly adjusted his formation, attempting to use the large crossbows to stop the enemy from advancing. Although the crossbowmen turned immediately, the cavalry was simply too fast. In the end, only a few cavalrymen were shot off their horses, while most of them charged into the left flank of the army and crashed heavily into Hong Ming's side.

This cavalry charge not only caused dozens of casualties to Hong Ming's troops and disrupted their formation, but also directly affected the morale of the soldiers who had broken into Li Mu's formation, slowing down their offensive.

It can be described as a very successful example of using offense as a form of defense.

"Don't stop! Don't stop!"

As Li Zheng charged recklessly, he shouted, "Men, follow me and break through the formation!"

(End of this chapter)