Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 243 How to defeat the enemy? Using cavalry

After years of summarizing war experience, Zhang Yu has developed his own set of war logic.

If you want to defeat a large force with a small force, you must not fight blindly and then win by luck in the fight. Therefore, if you want to defeat a large force with a small force, Zhang Yu believes that you must grasp the battlefield situation as much as possible.

If you want to control the battlefield situation, in addition to knowing how to use the battlefield terrain, you also need to use the troops under your command to create momentum and then win.

Elite soldiers and brave generals are only part of the factors for victory. An outstanding general often does not pin his hopes on winning a hard battle, but rather takes advantage of and creates a favorable situation to defeat the enemy.

Why is Han Xin called the God of War? His strength lies in his ability to create favorable situations to defeat the enemy. For example, in the Battle of Zhao, Han Xin's attack on the empty camp and the disruption of the army's morale was a key step. The basis of his victory was to withstand the attack of the Zhao army and to subsequently attack the Zhao army from both sides.

Zhang Yu had more than 20,000 soldiers and horses, and if he wanted to defeat Li Jue, who had a strong army, he had to learn to be patient and use his infantry to withstand the attack of the Guanzhong army. If he couldn't withstand the attack, all tactics would be out of the question. Therefore, Zhang Yu arranged his troops in Puling and took advantage of the terrain to wear down the fighting spirit and energy of the Guanxi army.

But it was not so easy to withstand the charge of the troops from Guanzhong. Li Jue hoped to make a breakthrough from the right army stationed in a low hill. Li Ying and his sons and nephews led the troops to attack Xu Huang's troops.

The combined forces of Xu Huang and Zhang Yang formed the Right Army phalanx, and the person in charge of the Right Army was Guo Huai, who led his own elite thousand men to consolidate the position. Facing Li Ying's strong attack, Guo Huai's troops were under great pressure.

After the Bingzhou Army withstood the first wave of attacks, the Guanxi Army retreated slightly to reorganize and then launched another strong attack.

While the Guanxi army was marching forward, Guo Huai had already been on high alert. Seeing the Guanxi soldiers marching forward in unison, the Bingzhou soldiers first fired hundreds of arrows from their longbows and powerful crossbows at the Guanxi soldiers.

The Guanxi army's front row of soldiers advanced with shields, which blocked a large number of arrows. Only the arrows that flew over their heads could barely cause casualties to the soldiers behind their shields.

"Get on the saddle!"

Seeing that the Guanxi army was getting closer and closer to the military formation, and the arrows could not do anything to the shield formation, Guo Huai shouted loudly and ordered his shieldmen to take out the short spears that had been equipped in advance.

"鋋" means to reach, and it means to go from here to there.

The Han Dynasty and the Roman Empire at the same time also had javelins in their infantry. The functions of javelins were similar, in addition to the basic killing function, they could also break armor and shields.

As the infantry of each army is for the most part equipped with pack-horses and camels, the weapons which can be carried on an expedition are more numerous than those of ordinary infantry.

"Whoosh!"

Hundreds of short spears were held in the hands of warriors with outstanding arm strength, and then thrown fiercely at the shield formation of the Kansai army.

At a distance of twenty steps, hundreds of short spears broke through the air, either smashing the shields or embedding into the shields; the javelins that flew over the front row pierced the infantrymen marching behind, blood splattered, and the infantrymen died on the spot, frightening the surrounding soldiers.

After a wave of short spears were thrown, a gap appeared in the dense shield formation, and arrows followed closely. Dozens of infantrymen were hit by arrows, but because they were wearing armor, there were not many casualties from arrows.

"kill!"

The officers of the Guansai Army shouted excitedly and led the infantry to charge forward.

"Get on the saddle!"

Without caring whether his soldiers could hear him, Guo Huai shouted at the top of his lungs, signaling his soldiers to throw javelins together, and to use javelins to cause as much damage as possible to the Guanxi infantry before the fight.

As Guo Huai shouted, hundreds of short spears, accompanied by a whistling sound, suddenly stabbed towards the Guanxi soldiers.

In the blink of an eye, the charging Guanxi soldiers were either killed by spears or groaned from being stabbed by short spears. Even though the big shields could resist the throwing of short spears, the weight of the short spears embedded in the shields made it difficult for the shield-bearing infantry to move forward.

At the same time, taking advantage of the confusion caused by the attacks of short spears on the infantry of the Guanxi Army, Guo Huai seized the opportunity and led his troops to launch a fierce attack in order to curb the momentum of the Guanxi Army's charge.

"kill!"

At a distance of several steps, armored warriors charged with spears in hand in an instant, and the spear formation with flashing cold light approached the chaotic Guanxi infantry, and the Guanxi army barely responded with an uneven spear formation.

A Bingzhou warrior seized the opportunity, stepped forward quickly and thrust his spear forward, knocking down a wounded Guanxi infantryman with one spear. Then spears crossed, and infantrymen holding broadswords rushed in and engaged in a desperate hand-to-hand fight with the Guanxi army.

With their boats burned and their retreat cut off, the Bingzhou warriors fought to survive, showing far greater tenacity than the Guanxi soldiers. Under the attack of the Bingzhou warriors, the Guanxi soldiers not only failed to break the square formation, but were even beaten.

After fighting for a while, the Guanxi army formation began to become chaotic. Li Ying swore to defeat the enemy, so how could he allow such a situation to happen? He immediately ordered the military judge to kill several people in the hope of stabilizing the situation.

However, the impact of the Bingzhou warriors' charge could not be stopped by the military judges, and soon the formation became increasingly chaotic.

Li Ying looked grim, and it was obvious that he and everyone else underestimated the Bingzhou Army. Although the Bingzhou Army had few soldiers and horses, they were very tenacious, and had sufficient armor and weapons, and could withstand the attack of the elite troops from Guanxi.

However, Li Ying believed that Zhang Yu's troops could hold out for a while, but not forever. With a hundred thousand troops charging in turns, it might only be a matter of time before the formation was broken.

"Uncle, our infantry has fought twice, and the enemy is probably exhausted. It would be better for us to withdraw the infantry and rest, and I will lead the elite cavalry to charge and see if we can defeat the enemy." Li Li said eagerly.

Hearing this, Li Ying considered for a moment and said, "We can give it a try today. If the enemy formation does not move, we must withdraw in time!"

"promise!"

Under Li Ying's order, the infantry retreated slowly. Xu Huang saw that the flags were not in disarray, so he knew that the enemy army was retreating and reorganizing, so he immediately ordered all troops to regroup.

In order to restore the formation as quickly as possible, Guo Huai rode out on horseback to inspect the battlefield and assist the officers in adjusting the formation.

During Guo Huai's inspection, the troops in the formation changed their order, replacing the tired and injured soldiers with a new batch of high-spirited soldiers.

"The enemy cavalry is coming!"

The cavalryman saw the Guanxi cavalrymen approaching from the flank and immediately shouted to Guo Huai.

Guo Huai looked in the direction of the voice and his expression suddenly became solemn. Needless to say, the Guanxi infantry had failed to break through the formation twice, and now they sent cavalry forward, they must want to take the opportunity to attack the army formation.

The most vulnerable part of the army is the foot of the formation. The elite cavalry will attack the foot of the formation in turns like peeling potatoes, and eventually defeat the soldiers in the foot of the formation. After that, the trapped cavalry will break into the formation and lead the defeated army to break through the square formation.

Guo Huai immediately calmed down and ordered his cavalry, "Report the enemy situation to the general!"

"promise!"

After the followers left, Guo Huai immediately made adjustments and said, "Put up spears outside and hide bows and crossbows inside. When the followers arrive at the battle, shoot them with bows and crossbows."

As he spoke, Guo Huai shouted at the soldiers standing in line, "Our army's retreat is cut off. We have no way to retreat. This time, we can only win by defeating the strong enemy."

"kill!"

The soldiers were in high spirits and responded enthusiastically.

Seeing that people's hearts were willing to serve, Guo Huai took advantage of the time when the enemy cavalry were adjusting and returned to the square formation.

Zhang Yu soon learned that the Right Army was about to be defeated by the enemy cavalry. He rode his horse to the low hill where the Right Army was stationed and looked at the battle situation of the Right Army.

In order not to give the right army too much time to adjust, Li Li quickly led the cavalry to launch an attack, targeting the troops led by Guo Huai.

However, Li Li led his cavalry to shoot from a distance, while Guo Huai's troops hid behind large shields and did not move, allowing Li Li to shoot. After three rounds of shooting, seeing that Guo Huai's troops were still not moving, Li Li plucked up his courage and led his cavalry to shoot from close range. However, when Li Li's cavalry entered the range of 40 steps, Guo Huai's troops fired thousands of bows and crossbows at the same time, with a sound like thunder, and all who were hit felled.

Under the barrage of arrows, Li Li left behind hundreds of corpses and led his cavalry to retreat. However, Xu Huang would not let Li Li go easily. After being shot by Guo Huai's crossbow, Xu Huang ordered his cavalry to go out and kill him.

Faced with the sudden appearance of thousands of cavalrymen, Li Li's cavalrymen fell into chaos and fled directly. The cavalrymen in the river chased and killed Li Li, forcing him to flee, without any trace of the imposing manner he had before the battle.

The cavalrymen in the river chased and killed them for a while until Hu Feng led his cavalry to stop them, and then they stopped while they saw an advantage.

Zhang Yu looked at the changes on the battlefield, pointed his whip at the battle line, and asked, "Who is the commander of the battle line who has the courage to confront the cavalry and attack the battle line?"

"My lord, it's Captain Guo Huai and Captain Guo Boji!" the people around him replied.

"Have courage!"

Zhang Yu nodded in praise, saying: "You already have the potential to be a famous general. If you continue to hone your skills, you will surely become a capable general!"

Zhang Yu originally transferred Guo Huai to Xu Huang's camp with the intention of training Guo Huai and helping Xu Huang command troops. Now Guo Huai has taken on the responsibility of leading his troops and repelling three waves of fierce attacks from Guanxi troops. He is indeed a famous general who can leave his name in history.

"Don't worry, the right army will be invincible!" said Zhang Yu.

"Sir, is it time to defeat the bandits now?" Zhao Yun asked.

Zhang Yu turned to look at the left army and saw that the left army's flag had not changed. He then looked at the Guanxi army and said, "If the enemy does not move, then I will not move and wait for the enemy to change!"

"promise!"

Upon learning that Li Li's rash attack on the square formation had led to his defeat, Li Jue immediately sent someone to summon Li Li.

Li Jue looked at Li Li, who looked ashamed, and scolded him, "Zhang Yu wanted to take your head, how dare you do that? If you are defeated, don't blame me for beheading you to enforce military law."

Li Li said ashamedly: "Li's estimation of the enemy was wrong. Now I am willing to make up for my crime and make meritorious service."

Hearing this, Li Jue's tone slowed down and he said, "Organize the cavalry and guard the flanks!"

"promise!"

Li Li hesitated for a moment and said, "General, I'm afraid that our army alone cannot quickly defeat the enemy. It would be better to dispatch other troops to attack the enemy's right army from both sides."

Li Jue hesitated for a moment and said, "The enemy knows that the right army is the key, so they deployed heavy troops and attacked in turns. Not only are the enemy tired, but our army is also tired."

"Come here, tell Li Meng to lead his troops into battle!"

"promise!"

When Li Meng received Li Jue's order to dispatch troops, he could not help but complain to his subordinates, saying, "Since the fall of Chang'an, Li Jue has led his elite troops. Now that he wants me to dispatch troops, I am afraid he wants me to fight with Zhang Yu and waste my troops."

When Dong Zhuo was alive, Li Jue was the same official as the others, either General of the Central Army or Colonel, and his status was only one level higher than others. After Li Jue led his troops into Chang'an, in order to elevate his status, Li Jue first appointed himself a high-ranking official, and then recruited the elite soldiers left by Dong Zhuo, making him the general with the most troops among all the generals.

Li Meng had a mediocre relationship with Li Jue. When Li Meng attacked Chang'an, he stationed troops in the north of Wei River to prevent Zhang Yu from crossing the river, so he didn't even have a sip of soup, which made Li Meng complain. Now Li Jue asked him to fight Zhang Yu, so Li Meng thought that Li Jue deliberately asked him to send troops to weaken his army with Bingzhou troops.

Li Meng had no intention of fighting for Li Jue, so he was slow in sending troops, intending to deal with Li Jue first.

Zhang Yu stopped at the hill and looked in. He saw that Li Meng was hesitant in using his troops, which was different from the soldiers led by Li Ying who were fighting desperately. He realized that the problem of the disunity among the soldiers in Guanxi was now exposed.

Zhang Yu glanced at the direction of the left army and ordered, "Raise the blue and red flags to signal Wenyuan that the enemy is tired and can act according to the strategy."

"promise!"

Seeing the red and blue flags raised in the central army, Liu Bei was the first to see it and said, "Wenyuan, General Zhang has raised the flag!"

Zhang Liao said hoarsely, "Lao Xuande ordered Yunchang and Yide to lead the cavalry to charge at the enemy formation to see if they can defeat them."

"it is good!"

Liu Bei looked at Wang Long beside him and said, "Let Yunchang and Yide attack and do their best to break through the enemy's formation for our army!"

"promise!"

By the water, Guan Yu and Zhang Fei, who received the military order, put on their helmets and covered their iron armor with cloth face armor.

Guan Yu held the spear and shook it lightly. The spear shaft, which was several feet long, began to tremble like a living snake, and the spear blade cut through the air, making a sharp sound.

"Yide, our army is outnumbered and the enemy is large. Whether we can defeat the enemy now depends on you and me." Guan Yu held the saddle, turned over and said, "Whether the Han Dynasty can be revived may depend on this battle today."

Zhang Fei laughed loudly and said, "Don't worry, I want to compete with you to see who kills more people!"

"go!"

"Bah!"

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei rode ahead, followed closely by more than thirty riders.

Because the left army was close to the water, the large-scale cavalry could not be deployed, so Zhang Yu knew that Li Jue would focus on the right army. Therefore, Zhang Yu arranged the three brothers from Taoyuan, who had the strongest individual combat ability, in the left army to see if they could cooperate with the Gaoping army led by Zhang Liao to defeat the enemy.

There were many generals with strong individual combat capabilities, such as Zhao Yun, Zhang Liao, Xu Huang and other generals who were all capable of doing the job, but Zhang Yu was reluctant to let his own generals take risks, and Zhang Liao and Xu Huang needed to stay in command, so he let the three brothers of Taoyuan break into the battle.

Suddenly, drums sounded in the left army, and two burly generals wearing double armor led dozens of cavalrymen and galloped out along the water. Although their soldiers were small, their momentum was astonishing.

Guan Yu led the charge, spear in hand, and galloped forward, quickly passing Fan Chou's troops from the flank.

The first row of soldiers were fighting, and the army formation was orderly and difficult to charge. From the fifth row onwards, Guan Yu discovered loopholes in the Guanxi army formation.

"Pfft!"

Seeing that the enemy soldiers were slack and had no spears to cover their flanks, Guan Yu took advantage of his horse's speed and threw his short spear. With a whistling sound, he stabbed the spear-wielding enemy soldier to death with the short spear.

Immediately afterwards, dozens of riders behind Guan Yu threw the short spears in their hands in the direction he threw, and soon a wailing sound was heard.

Seeing that the enemy's flank was in chaos due to the sudden attack of javelins, Zhang Fei seized the opportunity, rode his horse with spear in hand, and cut into the army formation.

"kill!"

After Zhang Fei killed a Guanxi infantryman with a spear, he led dozens of cavalrymen to charge fiercely, knocking the infantrymen in the formation into a panic. Guan Yu adjusted his direction and cut into the formation diagonally in the direction Zhang Fei broke through the formation.

The cavalry led by Guan and Zhang arrived too quickly and too fiercely, and the two of them were skilled in martial arts. In just a few breaths, they killed more than ten people and turned the enemy's formation upside down.

(End of this chapter)