My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 291: Zhang Liao in front and Zhao Yun behind, Jiangning sends people to their deaths

The layman looks at the excitement and the insider looks at the doorway.

After Zhang Liao killed Zhou Tai's Jiangdong Army vanguard, he almost escaped unscathed. All this seemed unremarkable, just an exchange of lives and consumption of minced meat in a series of bloody battles. The number of enemy soldiers killed directly was less than a thousand, and more were injured or fled.

However, Zhang Liao, who was experienced in the battlefield, tested the enemy's strength and undermined their morale, causing the Jiangdong army, which had a numerical advantage of nearly twenty times, to lose the belief that they would win.

These gains are far more valuable than directly killing hundreds of enemies and forcing thousands of enemies to flee.

"Sun Ce really doesn't understand the essence of fighting with cavalry in the cold winter and snow, nor does he know how to deal with cavalry in such weather. These Jiangdong generals have never experienced such a battlefield environment!
Their soldiers' shoes would slip on the thin ice that had melted and re-frozen! Han Dang's cavalry didn't even wrap their horses' hooves with straw! In this way, our army is already invincible. As long as I don't want Sun Ce to catch up with me, he will definitely not catch up! Even if both sides are cavalry, I have a speed advantage over Han Dang!"

While Zhang Liao pretended to retreat in an orderly manner, he was calculating firmly in his mind.

Soon, Zhang Liao successfully met up with Cao Xing, and then gave Cao Xing a few instructions. He then continued to lead the retreating "defeated soldiers" to the rear of the battlefield to further increase the distance.

The Qinhuai River just has a bend in this area. There is a small hill on the north bank of the river, which is probably the Fangshan Scenic Area in Jiangning District of Nanjing City in later generations. The Qinhuai River made a bend here because of the obstruction of this hill.

The south bank of the river, due to the erosion of the river water at the bend for hundreds of years, has formed some silt-filled areas. Usually it is muddy and covered with tall white grass and reeds, which are taller than the height of short infantrymen but cannot block the view of war horses.

It is winter now, and the mud has long been frozen, but it does not hinder walking. The white grass and reeds have long been completely withered and have no leaves, but the yellow-white dry stems are still standing there, densely packed and stacked, still enough to block people's sight.

Zhang Liao had already observed the terrain of this battlefield long ago and had tested the degree of hardness of the ice on the Qinhuai River several hours in advance. In addition, he had just tested the Jiangdong Army's preparedness and response capabilities for fighting in an ice and snow environment, so he became more confident in the subsequent combat plan.

……

In the opposite Jiangdong army formation, Han Dang, who was in charge of the cavalry unit, saw that Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin were chasing slowly because of the slippery ice and snow, so he did not dare to chase them alone and fight Zhang Liao to death.

However, Han Dang finally mustered up the courage when he saw that Zhang Liao retreated all the way without any courage and had no intention of stopping even after he had defeated Cao Xing's army. He bypassed the beach covered with dry stems of white grass and reeds by the Qinhuai River and continued to flee eastward.

Zhang Liao was completely defeated! With only Cao Xing and his few hundred cavalrymen guarding the rear, it would be easy to capture him!
Han Dang has at least 1,500 cavalrymen under his command. He might not dare to fight an all-out fight with more than 1,000 northern cavalrymen, but the enemy has only 400 cavalrymen left, so of course he has to expand the results of the battle!

So Han Dang immediately sped up, leading Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin, and attacked Cao Xing. Behind them, Sun Ce led the main force to continue chasing.

It's just that the ground is more trampled by the friendly troops in front during the march and charge, and the thin ice formed by melted snow and then frozen is more slippery, so the infantry in the back run slower.

Although the Jiangdong army was said to have more than 20,000 soldiers, their marching formation was getting longer and longer, closer and closer to a long snake formation. However, Sun Ce and Han Dang did not see the potential danger because of the enemy's apparent retreat.

"Turn around and shoot! Slow down Han Dang's pursuit! Don't fight with him!" Cao Xing on the opposite side saw Han Dang rushing towards him in a domineering manner, and he also strictly implemented the tactics that General Zhang had just instructed, meticulously, and did not dare to fight at all.

The Bingzhou cavalry was capable of both charging and killing as well as riding and shooting, and Cao Xing's cavalry was particularly good at riding and shooting.

Although there were no double-side stirrups and high-bridge saddles in this era, cavalry could not shoot arrows in a high-speed and bumpy environment. However, the difference in horsemanship and archery between Cao Xing's troops and Han Dang's Jiangnan cavalry was still very obvious.

Without double stirrups, the output efficiency would be a little lower at most, but he would definitely not be caught up by Han Dang.

Han Dang was immediately very angry after being beaten, and he felt like he had strength but nowhere to use it. Dozens of crooked arrows flew over from the opposite side from time to time. They couldn't kill a few of his own cavalry, but they could make you take the beating without being able to fight back, which was very damaging to morale.

Han Dang was further provoked by this harassment and continued to pursue regardless of whether he was out of touch with the rear army. Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin also became impatient and had no place to put their energy.

Unconsciously, the Jiangdong Army had been chased by the kite-flying fishing gang for half an incense stick of time, and the battlefield was moved forward five or six miles upstream of the Qinhuai River.

At this moment, something strange happened suddenly.

……

Zhang Liao's two cavalrymen had lost one or two hundred cavalrymen in the previous battle with Zhou Tai and Jiang Qin. When he retreated just now, he left the wounded to Cao Xing's troops and fought while retreating.

He only brought 600 cavalrymen with him in good fighting condition. When retreating, he bypassed the area where there were dense dry white grass and reeds on the bank of the Qinhuai River. He then quietly changed direction and hid his troops on the river surface behind the white grass and dry reeds.

That’s right, on the river!

The weather at the end of the Han Dynasty was colder than in later times. There were continuous snowfalls in the twelfth lunar month, and even the Qinhuai River was frozen.

Before this battle, Zhang Liao, who had the advantage of being at home, relied on his ability to actively choose the battlefield and verify the battlefield environment in advance to test the thickness of the ice. It was almost frozen to the bottom, so there was no problem running a horse on it.

The biggest problem is that the ice is slippery and the horses are prone to falling, rather than the ice breaking and causing the cavalry to sink. However, the slipping problem can be solved by wrapping straw around the horses' hooves, and Zhang Liao has already made preparations for this. If the enemy is not prepared, that is the enemy's problem.

Who made Sun Ce unable to leave the city a few days in advance to survey the battlefield environment and failed to investigate in advance whether the Qinhuai River was frozen enough to walk across it!

As the role of "covering the retreat of friendly forces", Cao Xing delayed Han Dang's pursuit, bought time for Zhang Liao and attracted the enemy's attention. Han Dang did not notice at the first time that Zhang Liao had turned a corner and left the battlefield while running.

Han Dang thought that Zhang Liao had escaped too fast and had already disappeared! As the half-incense stick period was up, the front army of the Jiangdong Army had already rushed through the turning point of the Qinhuai River, and then the weakest waist of the Jiangdong Army was exposed, and they just marched to the river bank covered with white grass and reeds.

The soldiers here happened to be all young men newly recruited from Moling City arranged by Sun Ce. Sun Ce knew that these troops were unreliable and could not withstand flank attacks, so he deliberately placed their flanks on the river bank to make their flanks absolutely safe.

Suddenly, there was a loud sound of horse hooves on the ice of the Qinhuai River. Zhang Liao's cavalry, hidden behind the reeds, suddenly rushed out from the most unlikely position and attacked Sun Ce's army's left waist from the river.

Moreover, Zhang Liao was very thoughtful and had his troops raise a few extra flags. When charging, there were not only flags with the word "Zhang" on them, but also flags with the word "Zhao" on them.

The purpose was to pretend that Zhao Yun’s reinforcements had arrived early!

For Zhang Liao, this move was a lesson learned.

When he was captured by Zhao Yun in Xia Pi City last year, Zhao Yun sneaked to Xia Pi from Ling County, and used various flags to deceive people along the way. Among them, the flag with the word "Xiahou" deceived Zhang Liao, making Zhang Liao mistakenly believe that it was Cao's army and Xiahou Yuan's troops who came to rescue Chen Deng. Only then did he bravely want to rush forward and kill the general to save the situation.

It turned out that the enemy general under the Xiahou banner was Zhao Yun! Zhang Liao, whose martial arts had not yet fully recovered, ran directly into the muzzle of the gun and was subdued in a few moves.

This was Zhang Liao's biggest loss in his life, how could he not review and learn from it? So this time he put all his efforts into preparing Zhao Yun's banner in advance!
"General Zhao's reinforcements have arrived! You Wu dogs have fallen into a trap! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

Six hundred cavalrymen, carrying various flags, came out from behind the reed marsh and charged forward. For a moment, due to their limited vision, the Jiangdong army had no idea how many cavalrymen were lying in ambush behind them and were caught off guard.

Thousands of new recruits from Moling were directly defeated by Zhang Liao. They never expected that the enemy would appear from the most unlikely direction.

Moreover, judging from the enemy's posture, it means that there are thousands of troops behind them. Even those new recruits from Moling who have never seen the world will believe it!

Countless new recruits from Moling served as free vanguards for Zhang Liao. They ran around and trampled on each other, disrupting the core and right wing of Sun Ce's central army.

He even broke through his own formation and fled uncontrollably to the southwest, trying his best to stay away from Zhang Liao's cavalry.

Sun Ce's army had lost speed and their formation had been stretched out due to the previous pursuit on slippery ice and snow - this now helped Zhang Liao.

Sun Ce's army formation was not very deep horizontally, with only a few dozen men from left to right, and no more than a hundred men at the widest point. Zhang Liao attacked at the weakest points, and he actually cut off Sun Ce's central army in the middle.

Sun Ce himself was actually a little further forward than Zhang Liao's interception point. As a brave general, Sun Ce was also the first to lead the troops, always at the forefront of the central army.

So when he heard something strange behind him, he turned around to look, only to see that Zhang Liao had appeared behind him, cutting off his central army.

Sun Ce felt a rush of blood to his head: "This is impossible! Absolutely impossible! How could Zhang Liao appear behind our army! How could he rush over from the river? Why didn't anyone try to see if horses can run on the river ice? Why didn't his horse slip when running on the ice!"

He helplessly and angrily blamed the generals and advisers around him, but it was of no avail.

Sun Ce took a deep breath and quickly ordered the front army to turn back and not be lured by Cao Xing, and to quickly surround Zhang Liao.

Unfortunately, the main force of Sun Ce's army had been completely disrupted by this surprise attack by the unknown enemy force. Thousands of soldiers simply fled all over the mountains and plains. Zhang Liao led the fleeing soldiers to kill everywhere, completely cutting off the possibility of Sun Ce withdrawing the main force back to Jurong.

Unless Sun Ce was willing to abandon all the rear troops and most of the central army and escape with only the vanguard. But if he did that, he would not be Sun Ce.

The entire battlefield was in chaos, with the number of casualties from trampling on each other being several times greater than those killed by a direct charge by Zhang Liao's army.

Sun Ce tried to rally his troops again, but all his efforts were in vain.

After being delayed by Zhang Liao for just over half an hour, more horse hoof sounds were heard from the northwest direction of the lower reaches of the Qinhuai River - obviously, this time it was Zhao Yun's main cavalry coming to reinforce.

Zhao Yun arrived faster than Sun Ce had expected. It seemed that his plan of concealing the truth was not very effective. On the opposite side was Zhuge Jin, who saw through Sun Ce's attempt to break out in the shortest time and then sent Zhao Yun to chase him.

Zhang Liao only delayed for a little more than an hour, and the main force of Sun Ce's army could no longer escape.

Zhao Yun's troops shouted and charged forward with overwhelming force. The rear army of Sun Ce's army was the first to be wiped out. Huang Gai, who was in charge of leading the rear army, was also injured and captured in the chaos.

Then it was the turn of the central army. The troops of Xu Sheng and Lu Meng, who were still middle and low-level officers, were also destroyed one after another.

"Don't run away, Sun Ce! Whoever kills Sun Ce will be granted the title of Tinghou! Whoever captures Sun Ce will be granted the title of Xianghou!" Zhang Liao intercepted Sun Ce from the flank, while Zhao Yun chased him relentlessly and closed the distance.

Sun Ce's eyes were blazing with anger, but Han Dang and Zhou Tai were protecting him. Han Dang shouted anxiously, "My lord, please run! Now that things have come to this, we can only abandon all the infantry. I will lead the cavalry to protect you and escape! My lord, please take off your cloak, red cap and golden helmet!"

-

PS: I’m going out on Sunday afternoon, so I’ll update at noon.

(End of this chapter)