My younger brother Zhuge Liang

Chapter 450 A little cold light comes first

After listening to the comments of his military commanders and Qu Chang, Zhang Zhao thought they made sense, so he immediately dispatched a team of light cavalry to gallop downstream to inform Zhao Yun who was lying in ambush there.

However, what Zhang Zhuo did was, after all, more of sincerity than practical value. It can only be regarded as filling in the gaps and adding icing on the cake, but it cannot be regarded as providing timely assistance or changing the situation of the war.

Because Zhao Yun's military experience and strategic caution were obviously much higher than those of his deputy generals and subordinates. The intelligence that Zhang Zhuo was able to intercept, Zhao Yun also intercepted through other channels.

Soon after Zhang Zhuo attacked the camp and destroyed the Su Pu Liang Terrace, the Wuhuan soldiers in the camp fled in all directions. Because some of the defeated soldiers chose to flee downstream along the Wu Liao River, wanting to give a tip-off.

The first batch of these fleeing soldiers were naturally completely surrounded and wiped out by the Han cavalry that came out from all directions when they hurriedly passed through the defense zone set up by Zhao Yun, and not a single one escaped.

Of course, since the fleeing soldiers were called fleeing soldiers, they would fight on their own, and it was impossible for all the fleeing soldiers to gather together and escape. So even if Zhao Yun completely killed the first group, there would be a second group and a third group, and sooner or later there would be fish that slipped through the net.

Zhao Yun was also very aware of this, so he took the situation very seriously. When he intercepted the first batch of fleeing soldiers he encountered on the road, he personally took action to ensure that at least this group could be completely wiped out.

In addition, he was more measured in his actions since he personally took action.

When he saw that the enemy was about to be annihilated, he used his spear with ease to knock the last few enemy riders off their horses.
Then he waved his hand with ease and ordered, "Tie them all up! Interrogate them carefully to find out the details of the enemy troops in this camp and where Su Puyan is!"

After that, everything was similar to the interrogation of Zhang Zhao. Zhao Yun easily learned from the captives that they were attacking Su Puyan's outer secondary camp, but it was a cousin of Su Puyan who was in charge, and Su Puyan's main camp was still 30 or 40 miles downstream.

Zhao Yun had been in battle for a long time, and now he often had the opportunity to learn from the Zhuge family, so he naturally reacted quickly to military tactics. He didn't need anyone to remind him, and immediately thought of how to stop fighting and show weakness to lure the enemy to come to the rescue, thus expanding the results of the siege.

Zhao Yun only thought about it for a few moments before he immediately ordered: "The entire army should retreat southwards! Get out of the way along the Wuliao River! Find a hilltop with tall grass and dismount to hide.

If we encounter the defeated soldiers passing by again, as long as they are heading east along the Wuliao River, we must not intercept them! Let them all go downstream to report the situation! This will prevent the enemy from being alerted and ambushed!
However, if we encounter a fleeing army that does not take the main road along the Wuliao River but instead comes straight for our ambush position, we should attack them all at once and be sure to annihilate them all quickly and accurately! No enemy that sees our ambush should leave alive!"

The officers of each unit responded in a low voice with a calm and firm tone, and immediately adjusted their deployment according to the military order.

However, after two cups of tea, more defeated soldiers passed by one after another. Zhao Yun ordered his troops to clear the main road and set up an ambush far away. These defeated soldiers successfully escaped to the main camp of Subuyan to report the emergency.

There were more than a hundred people, of all kinds. There were too many fleeing soldiers and they were too chaotic. There were indeed a few scattered groups that ran straight into the muzzle of the gun. As for these people, Zhao Yun let them get closer before fighting.

It was only the fourth watch of the night, and the Wuhuan defeated soldiers had poor vision, so Zhao Yun used the strategy of stillness to overcome movement, and did not make any noise in advance.

By the time the Wuhuan people discovered that the enemy's ambushes had all come out, the two sides were often less than a hundred steps apart, and they were in a pocket formation with ambushes on the left, right and front sides. These small groups of defeated soldiers could be completely wiped out without any surprise.

Moreover, after the Han army's ambush troops had fired the first round of arrows and killed a dozen to dozens of Wuhuan fleeing soldiers, the remaining fleeing soldiers would see that there were enemies on at least three sides and would simply dismount and kneel to surrender and beg for their lives.

As a result, the defeated Wuhuan soldiers who successfully escaped the encirclement did not notice the existence of Zhao Yun's ambush. They thought that only Zhang Yun's troops were attacking.

All those who noticed Zhao Yun's presence were killed, and no one escaped alive. At least no one could warn Su Puyan downstream in time. Even if someone could warn him later, it would be several hours later, and the opportunity would be gone.

……

Dozens of miles downstream, in Su Puyan’s main camp, only half an hour later, that is, halfway through the fourth watch.

The defeated soldiers who came from upstream for help arrived here one after another, causing quite a stir in the main camp.

Su Puyan, who had exerted a lot of strength on the woman's belly last night, was also woken up by his subordinates due to low blood pressure and irritability - but no matter what, he was lucky that Zhao Yun did not kick him directly to his main camp and kill him in his sleep.

"What's going on? Why is it so noisy!" Su Puyan put on his fur coat hastily, stared at the general who broke into the central army's tent with a cold face, and subconsciously pressed the hilt of the knife with his hand.

"Sir, the deputy camp upstream was ambushed by the Han cavalry and has now been scattered. The lives of the generals in the camp are unknown!"

Su Puyan felt dazed for a moment, and quickly held onto the railing of the bed to calm down the dizziness caused by the fluctuation of blood pressure: "How is it possible! How could Zhao Yun's cavalry come from that direction? Where is their food supply? How many soldiers and horses are there?"

"About two or three... five or six thousand people. Anyway, more than the combat troops in our deputy battalion."

In order to cover up the guilt of their own commander's defeat, the defeated soldiers who came to report the emergency would often falsify the number of enemies.

So Zhao Yun only gave Zhang Zhuo 2,000 men to carry out the surprise attack, but after several rounds of price inflation, the number finally reached Su Puyan's ears and became 5,000 to 6,000. This really offset Zhao Yun's painstaking efforts to hide his strength and divide his troops to ambush.

Fortunately, Su Puyan also understood the situation. When he saw that his subordinates were lying in a hurry and their expressions and tones revealed flaws everywhere, he knew that his subordinates must have falsely reported the enemy.

Therefore, the actual number of Han cavalry who attacked the camp should be at most three to four thousand, or even less.

This is easy to explain. The smaller the size of the troops, the less pressure on logistics. Maybe it is just a pure cavalry team, carrying more dried meat, killing people and stealing some cattle and sheep when they encounter tribesmen’s settlements along the way, and they will only get here.

If the army were larger, this method of logistical supply would definitely not be able to sustain it.

In this case, how could Su Puyan let those small groups of Han cavalrymen who came to attack and establish their authority escape? That would destroy his prestige as the leader of the Wuhuan in western Liao. "Quickly gather the cavalry from all units in the main camp and follow me to repel and kill the enemy!" Su Puyan made a prompt decision and ordered the troops to put on armor and mount horses and rush out of the camp to pursue.

Su Puyan thought to himself, "The enemy's number is small, and I haven't heard from the defeated soldiers that they encountered Zhao Yun. It is obvious that it is impossible for Zhao Yun to take the risk in person to launch a surprise attack of this scale to establish his authority.

The Han people must know that they are not strong enough, so they just want to kill one or two of our groups, and then leave quickly before our army can retaliate.

Although I chased them hastily, the enemy would inevitably flee as soon as they saw me. At that time, even if I couldn't kill many people, I had repelled the enemy and saved the defeat, and my prestige could be preserved.

Moreover, the Han people came from afar, so they must have eaten almost all the dry food and meat. After they broke into our secondary camp, they might have to urgently raise food and grass for the return trip. Now they are probably slaughtering cattle and sheep in the camp and rushing to transport meat. When our army arrived, the enemy was still looting property, so they must have no desire to fight. It is God's will that I take revenge!"

With this in mind, Su Puyan marched faster, not sparing any horsepower and letting his troops gallop all the way.

Even because the troops prepared for the attack at different times, Su Puyan should have waited for the rear army to gather and form a battle array before pursuing. However, he did not wait for the rear army to form a solid cavalry wedge formation, but instead let the formation drag on longer than normal, almost approaching a long snake formation, and just galloped and meandered forward.

……

"Su Puyan really underestimated the enemy. He thought we were just a small group of cavalry coming to harass and attack to show off our power."

The cavalry of Su Puyan had traveled more than thirty miles, and it was already past five o'clock in the morning. Even though it was early winter and the nights were long, the sky was already slightly bright.

Zhao Yun led thousands of cavalrymen to ambush more than ten miles away from the south bank of the Wuliao River, with only a few reconnaissance scouts rushing forward to search for the enemy. After seeing Su Puyan finally coming, Zhao Yun could not help but sneer and clenched the steel spear in his hand.

"General, can you guarantee that it is Su Puyan himself who is leading the troops?" Several of Zhao Yun's trusted confidants couldn't help but ask.

Zhao Yun's expression was calm: "I can't guarantee it, but it's probably true. The Hu people always value warriors, and we haven't revealed our full strength this time.

If Subuyan could resist the humiliation of personally taking revenge when his deputy battalion was trampled by a small group of harassing enemies, how could he convince his subordinates in the future? Wouldn't his subordinates think that he was as afraid of the enemy as a tiger?"

Zhao Yun knew very well that if he appeared very powerful and displayed all his strength, it would be understandable if Su Puyan did not come to rescue and avenge him immediately.

But he only let Zhang Zhuo throw a stone to test the water, which was only his fighting power. How could the Hu people who were not familiar with military tactics tolerate such a provocation?
After enduring for a while, he saw that the distance between the two sides had shortened to less than ten miles, and the earthen slope where Zhao Yun's troops were hiding would no longer be able to hide anyone. Zhao Yun finally gave an order for his cavalry to mount their horses and line up to attack.

The Supuyan tribe was galloping along the Wuliao River from east to west, and soon they could see a line of figures appearing behind the horizon on the southern slope. However, within a few breaths, the figures became taller and taller, and the horses they rode gradually appeared on the horizon.

This scene is very familiar to people living on the grassland.

"The Han people have an ambush?! Quickly change the formation to meet the enemy!" Su Puyan's pupils shrank several times and he let out a mournful roar.

Upon hearing the order, the Wuhuan cavalry under his command quickly gathered and prepared to form a battle formation.

Unfortunately, the troops had been stretched into a long snake formation before, and the depth and thickness were too thin, so how could they be turned around in an instant?
Zhao Yun took the lead and led the cavalry in several wedge formations to attack Su Puyan directly, trying to cut Su Puyan's troops in half.

Zhao Yun himself also shot arrows steadily towards the front using the split-mane style.

The double stirrups allowed him to control the horse more steadily, and his body could be slightly suspended in the air without his buttocks sitting on the saddle.

The ups and downs of the horse's back did not affect the height of Zhao Yun's body at all. He only needed to control the degree of bending of his legs to keep his upper body and the ground relatively still.

This is considered the highest level of horse stance.

With such a stable shooting platform, Zhao Yun's archery skills naturally became more and more proficient. Before the two armies engaged in battle, he had already fired several arrows in succession, never missing a target, and killed or injured several of Su Puyan's guards.

The cavalrymen around him, with the help of the stirrups on both sides, shot arrows continuously in the direction straight ahead in a split-mane style. Before charging to close combat distance, they had already torn several holes in the enemy's formation and created considerable chaos.

As a result, when the two armies collided head-on in hand-to-hand combat, the advantage of the Han cavalry became even more obvious.

"Death, my enemy!" Zhao Yun had long been eyeing Su Puyan's flag formation. The enemy had formed a long snake formation that stretched for miles from front to back and had no horizontal depth at all. If he didn't break into the formation and kill the general now, when would he do that?

It is true that Zhao Yun has a noble status, but he has not attempted to break into a battle line and kill a general in several years.

But when the opportunity comes to him, he will not be pretentious.

Seeing that the general was approaching with unstoppable force like a flying dragon, Su Puyan was terrified and quickly waved his saber to block.

But a flash of cold light arrived first, and Su Puyan had already been drained of all his strength. His neck tilted and he was stabbed and fell off his horse.

(End of this chapter)