Wait, please don't call me Emperor Zhaolie

Chapter 271: Outpost Battle Between the Two Armies

Unlike the mutiny in the camp of Yuan soldiers in Du County at night, in which Xu You died tragically, Gao Gan broke out at night and fell into a horse trap and was captured. When he was tied up, he looked up to the sky and sighed: "If the reinforcements had arrived earlier, how could I have ended up like this?!"

Gao Gan and Xu You didn't know that several hours ago, Chunyu Qiong and the scout cavalry of Wuhuan Tadun had already approached within thirteen or fourteen miles outside the outskirts of Yu County and had a head-on collision with the Huben light cavalry that were patrolling the surrounding area.

The Wuhuan scouts on the opposite side thought that the Huben cavalry were also scouts. Although they wondered in their hearts why the scouts from the Central Plains were so arrogant, even the sentinels who were gathering information were equipped with one man and three horses, which was even more outrageous than the one man and two horses in their tribe, they would not let them go easily if they met them.

Outpost battles have always been about destroying the enemy's eyes and ears. If we don't eliminate the enemy cavalry that have discovered the tracks, how can the large number of cavalry behind launch a surprise attack?

The Wuhuan cavalry did not flee, but even blew the horn immediately to summon nearby scouts. Then a group of Hu people wearing round pointed hats, light leather armor, and with fierce eyes, came over with bows drawn and lay low to kill them.

The soldiers of the Huben Cavalry originally thought that the enemy would escape, and were about to spur their horses to chase and kill them, but they did not expect that the enemy was still gathering men and horses. Instead of being surprised, they were delighted. Unlike the heavy cavalry which was only equipped with long spears, their light cavalry, in addition to armor, also had ring-handled long swords and horn bows, and even the arrowheads were divided into long-range and close-range ones.

If the Hu people were determined to escape, they were also worried that this was a strategy to lure the enemy and would lure them into the group of Wuhuan people behind them.

But he didn't expect that the other side was so courageous that they dared to charge at the Huben Cavalry. He immediately loosened the reins, stepped on the stirrups, squeezed the horse's belly, drew the bow, took the long, pointed, barbed arrowhead with rust spots, and shot at the same angle as the horse.

Although the Han army was half as many in number, the murderous aura and majestic momentum brought by their charge on horseback were overwhelming.

"kill!"

"Go! Go! Go!!"

"Put away your bow and draw your sword in twenty steps. Be quick!"

The leader of the Huben cavalry with red flying feathers on his helmet shouted angrily.

Nearly three hundred cavalrymen were fighting in the field. No one was willing to admit defeat. In an instant, the drums of war urged the horses to fight, and the sound of killing filled the ears.

People from both sides were shot by arrows and fell to the ground, but it was obvious that more Wuhuan people were shot off their horses. After all, except for a few scout leaders who could wear iron armor, the rest were wearing leather armor. The horn bows and arrowheads of the Huben cavalry were specially made by many craftsmen in Qingzhou for the purpose of armor-piercing and killing. Ordinary Han soldiers could not defend against them even with their armor at close range, let alone the Wuhuan people's leather armor. It would be abnormal if they could defend against them.

The Wuhuan scouts planned to shoot two rounds of arrows and then move away to continue drawing their bows. Unexpectedly, the Huben cavalry were able to not only free their hands on horseback, but also squeezed their horses' bellies and continued to charge forward under the rain of arrows.

The Wuhuan scout leader couldn't help but reveal a bewildered expression. You are just Han army sentinels and scouts who are good at shooting. How can you fight like the regular Han army cavalry? You have to draw your swords and engage in hand-to-hand combat as soon as you come up? The swords hanging on the horse's back are so long. Don't scouts all carry short swords?
The scout leader was hesitating between advancing and retreating, while the Han soldiers had already arrived. They rushed into the Wuhuan and chopped them down, with screams ringing in the ears.

It was divided into three parts in a cone shape, with a maximum of forty cavalry in the front and thirty cavalry on each of the left and right wings. When they got closer, the front cavalry suddenly rushed forward, and the left and right wings took advantage of the situation to attack on both sides, instantly cutting through the scattered Wuhuan cavalry. Wherever the Han soldiers passed, soldiers were broken, armor was pierced, and debris and limbs were broken, with blood and flesh flying everywhere.

The Wuhuan scouts were defeated at the first blow and fled on horseback.

The Huben Cavalry left a few men behind to rescue the wounded, and sent three more to report the arrival of the enemy cavalry, and then took the quiver off the horse's back and tied it up.

At the exact moment, the remaining cavalry immediately changed to military horses and rode in pursuit. The dull sound of horse hooves gradually faded away, and the once fierce fighting sounds also gradually dissipated into the horizon.

All that remains here is the Han banner fluttering in the wind, the army’s horns blasting, the setting sun stained with blood, and the wind and sand melted the bones. …

The Wuhuan scout leader looked back while running, cursing in Wuhuan language how the Han army was so weird. Not only were they better at riding and shooting than them, they were also extremely skilled in charging into battle and fighting hand-to-hand. If all the scouts and sentinels of the Han army were like this, then there would be no point in gathering any information.

As soon as they went up, they were slaughtered by the enemy. Not to mention anything else, the Han people were more stable in riding than them, and could perform difficult moves on horseback.

The configuration of three horses and one rider is outrageous. Isn’t it said that there are few horses in the Central Plains?
It was also because of the consistent impression of the Han army that the Wuhuan scout leader never thought that what he encountered was not scout cavalry, but the main cavalry of the Han people.

This cannot be blamed on him. After all, no one expected that Liu Bei would do the opposite. He was not afraid of the loss of cavalry, but instead released all the main cavalry of the Huben Cavalry to kill the enemy scouts. Their armor and attire were too similar to those of the sentinels, with three horses and one rider. It was normal for the Wuhuan people to make a mistake.

As for why the Han army had so many good horses, they had to thank the Huns for their risking their lives.

"Hoo ho ho..."

The Hu people are in front and the Han army is behind, you run and I chase.

The fleeing scout tried to shake off the trap but failed, he was stuck to it and the sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer.

The Wuhuan scouts galloped on their horses while drawing their bows and shooting back, trying their best to prevent the Han cavalry from approaching. At the same time, they blew horns to call for more cavalry to come to the rescue.

Even when the Huben cavalry commander was chasing the enemy at full speed, he was still secretly counting the distance. Once the cavalry went too far, he would immediately rein in his horses and retreat to Dian County.

They had a lot of dealings with the Hu people, and the Hu cavalry were very good at pretending to retreat and then gathering superior forces to counterattack.

The reason why the Wuhuan cavalry was defeated at the first blow and scattered like birds and beasts and collapsed at the sight of the enemy was not only because their weapons were far inferior to those of the Han army, but also because of their strict military discipline and tolerance for casualties, which were also impossible to achieve due to the loose tribal system.

Many northern Hu people were usually only satisfied with going south to plunder women and supplies to enrich their families.

I want to build a cavalry that is disciplined, does not pursue victories, does not panic when defeated, keeps the army together at the rear, advances and retreats repeatedly, is persevering, and can tolerate high casualties.

At this moment, let alone the Wuhuan, even if the Xiongnu, Xianbei, and Qiang were added together, they would not be able to find such a "hard army" cavalry.

"Stop walking, stop chasing, and return to the camp!"

The dark-skinned captain saw that there were deep woods and lush weeds on both sides of the front, and the terrain became narrower and narrower. He was afraid that if he continued to chase, he would be ambushed by the Hu people, so he immediately ordered the reins to be gradually tightened, and watched the backs of more than 200 Wuhuan scouts disappear into the horizon.

All the Han cavalry looked at them unwillingly, then turned around and rode back to the camp.

Sure enough, not long after, after more than a hundred Huben cavalrymen left, a deafening sound of horse hooves suddenly rang out from the north. A large number of Hu people stirred up a cloud of dust, and came riding their horses, whipping their horses, drawing their arrows and drawing their bows. At a rough glance, at least two thousand cavalrymen arrived here at the same time, but unfortunately they all came back empty-handed.

(End of this chapter)