Datang: Rebirth of Li Chengqian, the beginning of the treason interrogation

Chapter 213: Su Dingfang's surprise attack turns the tide
Soon, the rest of the Xueyantuo army also surrounded them from all directions, and an encirclement was about to be formed.

It was obvious that he intended to completely engulf the army led by Zhishisili.

At this moment, this elite army of the Tang Dynasty was already in a desperate situation, being pursued from behind and surrounded from the front.

Zhi Shishili was extremely anxious, with beads of sweat rolling down his forehead. He widened his eyes, various thoughts racing through his mind, racking his brains to think of a strategy that could break through the current predicament.

However, the situation became increasingly critical, and the enemy's attacks and pace showed no signs of stopping.

"Ding! Ding!"

Only a dense and crisp sound was heard, and countless arrows flew towards them like raindrops, hitting the soldiers' armor one after another.

Looking closely, most of these arrows are not the usual iron arrows, but are made of rough stones or hard animal bones that have been carefully polished.

As we all know, this is a major defect that nomadic peoples have long found difficult to overcome.

Although they have been good at riding and archery since childhood, and each of them can be said to be skilled in archery and horse riding, they know almost nothing about the mining and utilization of mineral resources.

Daily necessities such as ironware and salt could often only be obtained through trade with the Central Plains dynasties.

It is particularly worth mentioning that the sale of ironware has always been subject to strict bans and restrictions by the Central Plains dynasties. After all, agricultural civilization and nomadic civilization have always been in confrontation.

Even during times of very friendly relations, there were restrictions on the sale of ironware.

Most of the ironware currently equipped by the Xueyantuo Army was looted in previous battles, and only a very small part was obtained through illegal smuggling channels.

Therefore, whenever they marched south to plunder, their goal was by no means limited to food.

More importantly, it is for strategic materials that are related to the lifeblood of the country, such as precious ironware and a large population.

"All troops, listen up! Dismount immediately and fight on foot!"

Zhishisili stared at the falling arrow with a sharp gaze. A light bulb suddenly lit up in his mind and he finally thought of a plan to defeat the enemy.

The Xueyantuo army on the opposite side fired thousands of arrows at the Turkic army like rain, and the war horses, which were originally the advantage of the Turkic cavalry, now became a burden.

Not only are they unable to dodge dense arrow attacks, but because they have no armor to protect them, the soldiers will also be affected by injuries and deaths.

On the other hand, the Xueyantuo side had limited military strength, and their bows and arrows were relatively weak and could not penetrate the sturdy armor of the Turkic army.

Therefore, despite the continuous rain of arrows, the actual damage caused to the Turkic army was very limited.

After the Turkic cavalry abandoned their horses, the advance became smooth and they were able to sprint at full speed towards Duomi Khan's tent.

They ignored the flying arrows and just charged forward.

Although a few people were unfortunately hit in the face by stray arrows along the way, this did not affect the charging momentum of the entire army at all.

From a big picture perspective, if Xueyantuo's infantry formation was used to deal with pure Turkic cavalry, it would undoubtedly have an absolute crushing advantage.

It is no wonder that the Eastern Turks were repeatedly defeated in previous battles with the Xueyantuo.

However, the Turkic cavalry before them was not an ordinary Turkic army, but was part of the powerful Tang army.

Equipped with sophisticated Tang army equipment, their combat effectiveness is far beyond what it used to be.

Because of this, Xueyantuo's usual tactics did not produce the expected huge advantages this time.

There is an effect, but it cannot determine the outcome of the battle.

"Stop shooting, fight!"

I saw Mu Ke Na standing on a high slope in the distance, giving orders loudly and calmly.

At this time, the Turkic cavalry had already lost their horses, and in Mukena's eyes, these enemies no longer posed any substantial threat.

After all, without their war horses, the mobility of the Turkic cavalry was greatly reduced, while our side had the advantage of large numbers.

In his eyes, these thousands of soldiers and horses were just lambs to be slaughtered.

However, what happened next once again exceeded the expectations of the Xueyantuo leaders.

When the two sides came into close combat, the effect of the armor worn by the Turks was instantly magnified several times.

Those extremely sturdy iron armors seemed to have infused these soldiers with magical powers, making the Turkic soldiers like possessed by the god of war in the chaos. Facing the rain of guns and arrows that came like a tide, they were able to be invulnerable to swords and spears, and shuttled through them unscathed, and wantonly slashed and killed the soldiers of the Xueyantuo side with their swords.

On the other hand, due to the long-term lack of iron resources, the Xueyantuo was unable to forge heavy weapons that could counter the Turkic armor.

Therefore, in this close combat, the Xueyantuo side was completely at a disadvantage and could only allow themselves to be ruthlessly slaughtered and killed by the Turks.

The battlefield suddenly became a river of blood and there was wailing everywhere. Seeing this, Mu Kena, who was originally full of confidence, suddenly fell into an inexplicable uneasiness.

At the beginning, Li Ji was able to defeat the 80,000-strong Xueyantuo army with only 6,000 men because the Tang army's armor and equipment were superior.

The Xueyantuo were also unwilling to bear the brunt of the blow and even dared to engage in close combat with the Tang army.

"Khan, the Turks have obtained the weapons and equipment of the Tang army. They are extremely difficult to deal with. I think we need to send a large number of troops to fight them. We must not let these thousands of Turkic soldiers escape. These are all Tang-made weapons."

"As long as our soldiers are well prepared, we will no longer be afraid of a direct fight with the Tang army."

Although Mu Ke Na was wary, he was also extremely greedy.

How could you not want to have such sophisticated equipment for yourself?
"Okay, continue to increase the number of troops. The Tang army has come a long way to send us war equipment. This Khan will gladly accept it!"

Duomi Khan nodded, his eyes flashing with ferocity.

Under the joint encirclement and suppression of the major Xueyantuo legions, Zhishisili was also put in a passive position.

People get tired.

In such a life-and-death fight, physical strength is consumed very quickly.

Don’t be fooled by the fact that the Turkic cavalry can kill at will, as if it is an overwhelming victory.

But this is only limited to the front row.

He was facing the soldiers from behind and had not even encountered the enemy yet.

When the legions fight each other, a group of people die in the front and then they take over from the back.

Before the battle line was drawn, the number of kills was not large.

This is why when a legion of hundreds of thousands of people are confronting each other, the number of people killed in a day is only a few thousand.

Not really, hundreds of thousands of people lined up in a row, fighting one-on-one.

There were probably only a few hundred people in the front formation who were directly facing each other with swords.

As the battle line opens up, the number of people engaging in combat will increase.

This is why, in history, there are always battles where the few win over the many.

The ratio of people may even reach one to ten, or even more.

That was because of the battle line issue, which allowed the smaller side to make up for some of the gap.

Because they are on the larger side, the rest can only watch from behind and are useless.

If ten people really surrounded one person to kill him, how could they possibly counterattack? However, this would also cause the battle to last for several hours or even several days.

The consumption of physical energy is very great.

He was not beaten to death, but may have died of exhaustion during exercise.

"Pass on my order. All soldiers dismount immediately, slow down your march, and go around behind the enemy. Once you are close to the enemy, you can mount your horses again and charge into battle!"

Su Dingfang's troops, who arrived later, were lurking quietly not far away, witnessing the Xueyantuo army's every move. They had a full view of every offensive deployment and every tactical arrangement.

Su Dingfang stared at the battlefield ahead of him, and already had a plan to defeat the enemy in his mind.

All the knights lowered their horses' heads, carefully led their horses, and quietly bypassed the low-lying areas.

Their movements were light and swift, and they approached the rear of Xueyantuo silently like a group of ghosts.

At this moment, the Xueyantuo army was sending troops to Lingzhou City, engaging in a fierce offensive and defensive battle with the Tang army defending the city.

At the same time, they also allocated part of their forces to fight against the Zhishisili tribe that came to reinforce.

The battlefield was filled with deafening cries of killing and thick smoke, and no one paid any attention to the situation in the rear.

"All soldiers, listen up! Get on your horses immediately and follow this general to charge!"

When they were only a few hundred meters away from the Xueyantuo army, Su Dingfang suddenly turned over and jumped onto his horse, holding a long spear in his hand and raising his arms and shouting.

Seeing this, the other soldiers followed suit without hesitation, quickly jumped on their horses and drew out the sharp blades at their waists.

At this moment, the sound of horse hooves was like thunder, deafening and resounding throughout the sky.

As the war horses galloped past, the dust was raised wildly under the trampling of their powerful iron hooves, as if a huge sandstorm rushed straight into the sky, covering the sky and the sun.

Amid the billowing smoke and dust, there were constant and chaotic shouts of killing, which came one after another and were creepy.

However, the enemy situation at this time was still unclear, which made people feel an inexplicable panic.

What's worse is that the distance between the Tang army and their side is too close.

Before the Xueyantuo could take any effective countermeasures, the elite cavalry led by Su Dingfang broke into the formation like lightning and was unstoppable.

They brandished their extremely sharp swords and slashed fiercely at the unsuspecting and unprepared Xueyantuo soldiers.

In an instant, blood splattered everywhere and screams were heard.

The advantages of the cavalry were fully demonstrated, and no one could stop them wherever they went.

They rushed forward as if they were in an empty space, and smashed the Xueyantuo army into pieces.

"Capture Duomi Khan alive!"

Suddenly, a roar sounded and echoed across the battlefield.

Duomi Khan's tent was exposed to the cavalry's attack.

Facing this sudden attack, Duomi Khan was terrified. He shouted at the top of his lungs:
"Stop it for this Khan! Stop it now!"

But at this moment, the Xueyantuo army was already in chaos, with the soldiers fleeing everywhere and unable to take care of themselves.

They had no idea how many Tang cavalrymen were there that attacked from behind. They just felt that they were surrounded by enemies and could not organize an effective defense at all.

Everyone is in danger, so no one has time to care about the Khan's tent.

How is it possible to convey orders and defend against the enemy in such a chaotic situation?
Seeing that the army in the rear suddenly fell into chaos, Duomi Khan was filled with extreme resentment and anger.

He glared fiercely at Lingzhou City in the distance, as if he wanted to pierce through the city.

However, the situation was stronger than the man. After a brief hesitation, he gritted his teeth, turned around, jumped on his horse nimbly, raised the whip, and galloped towards the north.

As there was almost no effective resistance at the front, the Tang cavalry advanced at a rapid speed like a torrent and attacked the central military tent where Duomi Khan was.

It all happened so fast, in just a blink of an eye.

With Duomi Khan's hasty escape, the central army lost its backbone and morale collapsed instantly.

Not long after, the Tang army's cavalry broke through the defense line of the yazhang like a hot knife through butter and occupied this symbolic command place in one fell swoop.

As the saying goes, a single move can affect the entire body. At this time, the entire Xueyantuo army had no idea what was going on.

They only saw flames rising into the sky and shouts of killing in the direction of the tent, and knew that the Tang army had already broken through this core area.

In an instant, panic spread through the army like a plague, and the soldiers began to retreat in panic.

The originally favorable battle situation vanished in an instant.

Faced with such a disastrous defeat, even the battle-hardened General Mukena was powerless to turn the tide.

But unlike others, Mu Ke Na still kept a relatively cool head.

He knew very well that if he could not keep his footing at this moment and allowed the situation to deteriorate further, the consequences would be disastrous.

"Order the entire army to retreat northward."

Therefore, Mu Ke Na immediately issued an order for the entire army to retreat.

With the flag of retreat order flying high, the Xueyantuo army rushed madly towards the north like a flood breaking through a dam.

Such a large-scale and orderly retreat is much better than the soldiers escaping individually.

At least everyone can gather together and form a more concentrated force, thereby maintaining combat effectiveness to a certain extent and reducing unnecessary casualties.

"The Xueyantuo army has retreated!"

This news was like a spring breeze blowing across the top of Lingzhou City, instantly igniting the long-suppressed fire of hope in the hearts of the soldiers and civilians in the city.

Cheers and applause rang out one after another, and people were fully releasing their joy of surviving the disaster.

At this moment, Cui Dunli and Zhang Liang also rushed to the top of the city wall as soon as possible.

When they looked around, they saw that the Xueyantuo army in the distance was in chaos.

The two Tang army teams were like two sharp swords, charging and killing wantonly in the enemy camp, causing the originally well-organized Xueyantuo army to become scattered and showing a clear trend of defeat.

Zhang Jian stood among the generals. Although he was not a well-known person, as the re-elected commander-in-chief of the state troops, the knowledge and abilities accumulated from years of fighting enabled him to quickly understand the situation on the battlefield.

He looked ahead and decisively said to Cui Dunli beside him: "Minister Cui, you are now responsible for guarding Lingzhou City. I will lead the army out of the city to hunt down the enemy and pursue them. We must kill the main force of Xueyantuo in one fell swoop!"

Upon hearing this, Cui Dunli nodded slightly in agreement. He also knew that this was the perfect time to strike hard at the downed dog. If they failed to seize the opportunity to further expand their victory, once the Xueyantuo army regrouped, they would fall into a passive position again.

"General Zhang, you can attack without any worries. This is the time when Xueyantuo is defeated. We must make a concerted effort and not give the enemy any chance to breathe."

As the two reached a consensus, the heavy gate of Lingzhou City was slowly pushed open from the inside out.

The soldiers defending the city pushed the pile of corpses aside, making way for a wide passage.

Then, an elite cavalry rushed out of the city like an arrow shot from a bow, with the sound of horse hooves and a large amount of dust raised.

(End of this chapter)