Han Khan

Chapter 48, Cavalry Charge

With a sudden swing of the sharp saber, an arrow shot through the rider in front and then gushed out.

The rider screamed and fell off his horse. He hit the ground hard, twitched twice on the grass, and then he was dead.

Yan Zhi urged his horse to gallop and caught up with a group of Sai people who were fleeing with wooden spears in their hands. These people were ragged and had no armor. The wooden spears in their hands were more like crutches to support themselves when they were trembling with fear than weapons.

"Puff!" Two Sai people waved their wooden spears in panic, and were suddenly pierced in the chest by an arrow. Yan only saw a guard scout wearing chain mail waving at him.

Yan nodded slightly, holding the saber in his hand, and using the momentum of his horse, he quickly caught up with the two Sai people. With a powerful swing of the saber, he almost split the chest of the one on the left in half, then he turned around and swung it again, killing the Sai person on the right.

"There are no survivors. Let's go and chase the others." Yan Zhi said to the scouts around him, then he dismounted, cut off the heads of the Sai people, and hung them under the saddle. The other scouts did the same.

This Sai village was surrounded by a scout group of more than 400 people led by Yan Zhi, more than 20 miles northeast of Yizhou City.

This place is almost right under the city of Yizhou. The village is very large, with about two hundred households and a total of more than a thousand people. It is said that a large number of men were sent to Yizhou to help defend the city, and they were all brave warriors in the village.

The remaining people were farming and grazing nearby. When they saw the Jinhan cavalry rushing towards them, they did not dare to resist at all. Realizing that something was wrong, they began to flee.

But how could it be so easy to escape at this time?
As a result, they were just being chased by the scout group led by Yan Zhi. They fought a battle and were defeated, with more than 300 casualties. Then, more than 400 cavalrymen rushed into the village and killed people wantonly. Now all the men were dead, 300 to 400 women and children were captured, and more than 4,000 cattle, sheep, horses and camels became their spoils of war.

"Captain, His Majesty has ordered us to abandon these women, children, cattle and sheep and go around to attack the rear of the Yizhou garrison." A horseman came galloping and reported. There were two human heads hanging under his saddle. Judging from the situation, this Sai village was probably destroyed.

And here in Zhang Sheng, the scene he saw was a thrilling chase! The Yizhou defenders rushed out like a tiger out of a cage, chasing after the unscrupulous looting teams of the Jin Han people.

The troops pretending to be in a defeated state were seen throwing away tempting spoils and shooting arrows backwards, as if they were deliberately luring the Yizhou defenders into a trap, because their heavy infantry had been left behind.

Looking at the Uighur cavalry getting closer and closer, Zhang Sheng decisively waved his hand to signal the flag bearer beside him to wave the flag and gave orders to the centurions.

After receiving the signal, the centurions quickly led the cavalry troops to disperse to both sides, turned their horses around, and formed a tight encirclement.

Then, Zhang Sheng turned to the four generals beside him, Zhang Xibao, Koza, Yin Shanxiong and Boniek, and said, "The enemy has fallen into our trap. Now everyone, mount your horses immediately and prepare to shoot arrows!
When I gave the order to charge, everyone immediately changed their weapons and followed me, moving forward bravely.

No one can stop unless I give the order!" His voice was firm and powerful, revealing an indestructible determination.

At this time, the Uighur heavy infantry, who were left behind by the Uighur cavalry, encountered the Jinhan scouts of more than 400 people. The scouts successfully blocked their way forward, and the Jinhan cavalry surrounded them, constantly spinning and shooting deadly arrows and javelins.

Although it failed to kill a large number of the enemy, it effectively slowed down its advance.

The Guards were in an excellent position, on slightly higher ground, and could overlook the entire battlefield.

At this time, the ground began to shake, the enemy approached, and the centurions had successfully turned their horses around, circled to the sides of the enemy, and continued to shoot arrows at the enemy! They could not fight the enemy in close combat, because the weapons of the centurions were mainly bows and spears, and knives were rarely used.

"Everyone listen up, don't shoot anyone, aim at the enemy's horses, follow my command!"

Seeing that his soldiers had successfully avoided the enemy's pursuit, Zhang Sheng immediately waved his hand and said, "First round, shoot!!"

The guards on war horses immediately shot dense and deadly arrows at the Yizhou cavalry a hundred steps away.

The enemy's horses suddenly neighed and screamed! Dozens of people fell heavily to the ground because their horses fell.

When Anpula saw an elite cavalry on the hillside, he knew that the enemy was trying to surround and divide his army.

Moreover, Anpolla had already seen that the army in front of him was not the Uighurs. He clearly saw that many of the armor worn by the cavalry in front of him were of Tang style. This was a Tang army, and he knew that he had been fooled.

It was very difficult to fight against the Tang people, because they possessed superb martial arts and siege techniques. Whether it was siege or field battles, the Tang people from Hexi and the Western Regions were more powerful than the Uighurs.

But now there were Tang troops in front and behind him, and there was no way to escape.

Moreover, the enemy's main general must be among the cavalry on the slope. To win this battle, the cavalry in front must be eliminated. He signaled the flag bearer to wave the flag, signaling the heavy infantry behind him to charge towards the hillside.

But at this time, the advance of the Uighur heavy infantry was very difficult. They held shields and formed a circle to block the arrows and heavy spears shot by the Jin Han people, and then moved forward with difficulty.

When Anpolat saw this, and the heavy infantry being besieged and shot with arrows by the Jinhan people, he became furious and terrified.

He knew that with only a thousand cavalrymen under his command, there was no way they could defeat the armored cavalry on the slope that numbered nearly twice their own, so he immediately gave the order: "Retreat, retreat quickly! Retreat as you go! Do not turn around and flee, otherwise you will surely die! Retreat quickly and go back to support the infantry."

Before he finished speaking, a large number of arrows flew towards Zhang Sheng.

At this time, Zhang Sheng, who noticed that the enemy wanted to retreat, immediately ordered his riders to signal the scout regiment that surrounded the enemy's heavy infantry to retreat, and then quickly gave the order: "Second round, shoot..." As a result, another hundred or so Uighur cavalry fell off their horses, and several cavalrymen on Zhang Sheng's side were also hit by arrows. Although they were wearing iron armor, Zhang Sheng still heard the muffled groans of the guards blocking him!
Seeing that the enemy was more than a hundred steps away from them, Zhang Sheng ordered, "Everyone hold spears and prepare for battle!!" He also held a horse lance in his right hand.

A shout rang out, "Jin Han Guards, follow me and charge!!!" Zhang Sheng swung his spear forward and roared loudly.

Everyone rode their horses forward. The sound of horse hooves started out slow and orderly, but as the horses picked up speed, it gradually became deafening.

Zhang Sheng put down his face guard, held his lance flat under his armpit, aimed at the retreating Uighurs in front of him, and drove his horse at full speed.

All Jinhan guards were divided into three rows, with more than 600 people in each row, and charged towards the enemy at a rapid speed!

The cavalry charged with great momentum, the earth trembled, and dust flew. What people saw was not the charging horses and knights, but the devil looming in the dust.

The military organization of the Uighurs was the same as that of the Turks and Khitans and had not changed!

It was also based on the decimal system, with personnel drawn from various tribes to form teams of ten, one hundred and one thousand men, with the leaders and warriors of the tribes serving as officers to command operations.

Their advantage is their proficiency in archery and horse riding, but their disadvantage is also quite obvious. Once they suffer losses, the elite soldiers who are damaged are all members of their own tribe, and only members of their own tribe can be equipped with sophisticated armor and weapons, so they dare not fight hard battles easily.

The rest of the soldiers had a lower armor rate, and many soldiers did not even have armor. They only had bows and arrows, spears or swords. Their discipline was not as good as that of the Jin Han people, and they were particularly chaotic.

This situation is somewhat similar to hunting, but the Jinhan people today are also quite familiar with this hunting technique.

They were unable to organize complex battle formations.

Their tactics were to first observe the enemy, then launch long-range attacks with bows and arrows, trying to eliminate the opponent from a distance, and lure the opponent to pursue, so that it would leave the battle formation or the main force, and then encircle and annihilate it separately.

Such tactics have not changed much over the past few hundred years because they are indeed practical.

On the other hand, the guards under Zhang Sheng were also skilled in archery and horse riding and had strict discipline. Most of the soldiers had received military training and had experience in fighting against the Uighurs, and they dared to fight the enemy at close range.

They were able to understand the commander's battle orders and respond accordingly. The armor-wearing rate of the entire army was high, and nearly two-thirds of the soldiers were wearing iron armor.

Therefore, Zhang Sheng and his guards were confident in launching a charge against the Uighur cavalry in front of them.

"Bang, bang, bang!" Huge crashes were heard, and the Jin Han guards, armed with lances, broke through the defense line of the Uighur cavalry.

At this moment, bursts of miserable screams suddenly rang out.

Zhang Sheng held the lance in his hand and swung it with all his might. The head of the Uighur cavalryman in front of him shattered, and brain matter and blood splattered everywhere. The scene was horrific, like a smashed watermelon.

Around him, many Jinhan guards rushed into the enemy camp with him.

These guards held sharp lances and either pierced or knocked the enemies off their horses.

However, Jin Han's guards were not confused by the slaughter before their eyes, nor did they stop fighting.

On the contrary, they continued to charge forward resolutely without stopping.

This was because behind them, there were two other rows of Jinhan guards who were constantly rushing towards the enemy like a torrent, launching continuous attacks on the enemy.

This powerful force was irresistible to the enemy. Many Uighurs fell off their horses and fled in panic on the ground. The clever ones immediately left the formation and ran to the left and right, but everyone thought so and did so, so the formation became chaotic in an instant. Before people could run out, the terrifying lances in the hands of the Tang cavalry rushed and trampled the Uighurs like plowing land, and then again.

Many of the fallen soldiers were trampled to death by Jin Han's heavy cavalry, and the ground was littered with broken limbs, shattered skin, and blood-red sand.

At this time, Anpolla's eyes were red and he was extremely angry. He felt heartbroken when he saw so many of his tribesmen and warriors being defeated and killed by the Tang people.

What frightened him even more at this moment was that, although many of the Tang cavalry fell after the charge, most of them gathered more than a hundred meters away.

I saw many Tang cavalrymen discarding their broken lances and drawing out their shiny sabers. The sharp sabers flashed with a cold light, so dazzling and frightening.

He knew that the Tang people’s second attack was about to begin!

"finished"

(End of this chapter)