Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 445 Breaking Sun
The Tangluo Road is the shortest of all the roads, only about 600 li from Hanzhong to Chang'an, while the roads in the Qinling Mountains are only about 500 li.

If it were a flat plain, cavalry could reach their destination in two days and nights. However, since it was a mountain road, and considering the need for concealment during the march, Xu Huang spent eleven days and led ten thousand laborers to transport supplies for the troops.

After all, Xu Huang had a large army, and unlike Shi Yi, he couldn't rely on the counties and prefectures along the way for supplies. Before rescuing Hanzhong, he replenished his supplies in Chencang, and afterwards, he relied solely on supplies carried by his warhorses.

It should be understood that the extremely high-intensity march of the Shiyi Army, which covered nearly 3,000 li in just over half a month, was essentially a way to transport military personnel to their destination at the cost of exhausting the horses' vitality. Therefore, by the time they reached Hanzhong, the Shiyi Army had lost almost all of its horses, with only 600 horses belonging to the Zhongtiao Army that joined them along the way remaining intact.

Xu Huang's current situation is a normal but slightly fast march. There are farmers specifically transporting grain from the rear, and the army carries several days' worth of rations to reach the destination first.

Last night, Xu Huang occupied Tangkou, anticipating that Sun Ce would send troops to attack him today. After all, if he didn't defeat Sun Ce, Cheng Pu's 5,000 troops would follow. When Zhang Yu arrived in Luoyang, worried that he wouldn't be able to repel Sun Ce, he sent someone with a letter from Sun Ce, ordering Huchuquan to lead the Xiongnu troops south.

Therefore, if Zhang Yu's troops arrive all at once, there will be 20,000 to 30,000 Shanxi soldiers in Hanzhong, as well as 10,000 to 20,000 miscellaneous soldiers from Hanzhong, which is something Sun Ce does not want to see.

The weather was clear and sunny that day, with a gentle autumn breeze.

To scout Sun Ce's troops, Xu Huang assigned Hu cavalry under Ke Bi's command to conduct reconnaissance. Because Xu Huang preferred a cautious approach to warfare and was unwilling to fight battles he was not confident of winning, the scouts' reconnaissance range was much wider, about thirty or forty li, second only to the Shi Yi in the army in terms of special skills.

Baokou is less than 100 li from Tangkou. Xu Huang led his army westward, while Sun Ce led his army eastward.

As afternoon approached, the scouts of both sides soon encountered each other on the plains north of the Han River. Compared to the Hu cavalry, who were accustomed to mounted archery, the Shu cavalry were no match for them. After several skirmishes, many Shu scouts were killed or wounded and fled back to their main force. Meanwhile, the Hu cavalry, following the movements of the main force, found Sun Ce's troops.

Upon seeing Sun Ce's troops, the Hu cavalry quickly reported the situation to Xu Huang, informing him that Sun Ce was only about thirty li away from them.

"General Xu, according to scouts, the Shu army is about forty li away, and judging from the banners, it is Sun Ce personally leading the troops!"

Kirby approached Xu Huang and said, "According to the observations of our scouts, Sun Ce's army is well-equipped, with orderly formations, stretching as far as the eye can see. They outnumber our troops and are the elite of the Shu army!"

Xu Huang pondered for a moment and said, "Since Sun Ce is leading the army, this battle should not be underestimated. The enemy has a large number of soldiers, while our army has the advantage of well-trained soldiers and more cavalry. Therefore, General Lao Ke should lead the cavalry ahead to scout out the number of Sun Ce's troops and see if there is any opportunity to take advantage of the situation."

"promise!"

"Wait a minute"

Seeing that Kirby had accepted the order and was about to leave, Xu Huang called Kirby back and said patiently, "Although Sun Ce is young, according to your words, his military strategy is no less than that of Sun Jian. Therefore, we should not rush into an attack, but proceed with caution!"

“The Hanbei region is vast and suitable for cavalry to gallop, so I would never rashly use cavalry,” Kirby said with a smile.

As the former overlord of the grasslands, Kebi's military skills were naturally outstanding, especially his ability to command cavalry, which was second to none in the army. If it weren't for Zhang Yu's suspicion about his identity and his intentional suppression of him, Kebi's status would probably be no less than that of Generals Xu Huang and Man Chong.

Now, with Ke Bian's cavalry rushing westward, the Shu army's scouts' space for movement has been compressed to the extreme. They can only stay beside the infantry and are unable to patrol and search for enemy traces.

Unfortunately, Xu Huang's infantry and cavalry numbered only about 6,000, but his cavalry was no less than 2,500 cavalrymen from three different schools. Sun Ce, on the other hand, had 10,000 troops, but even with his best efforts, he only had about 1,000 cavalrymen. Not to mention, the difference in combat strength between the two was significant.

Therefore, it was normal that Ke led 2,000 cavalry to operate around the area, rendering the Shu army's scouts ineffective.

Although Sun Ce did not know how far Xu Huang was from him, he had already arranged his infantry into formation before Ke Bi's cavalry arrived, in order to facilitate engaging Xu Huang in battle.

The Shu army's nine thousand infantrymen were divided into three square formations, arranged in a triangular pattern. The well-trained infantrymen positioned their chariots on the left and right to prevent cavalry from attacking their flanks, while the infantrymen with spears led the way in front of the formation, followed by archers and crossbowmen.

When Kirby arrived at the battlefield, he first observed the area, then divided his two thousand cavalry into five formations of four hundred each. They searched for weak points and launched mounted archery drills to test the enemy's strength.

As they approached firing range, horns sounded from within the ranks, and the archers fired almost simultaneously.

Seeing the arrows hurtling through the air, the cavalry, halfway through their charge, quickly scattered. Many were hit, but only a few unlucky ones died. With the left flank unable to break through, Kirby looked to the right. However, the right flank was in the same predicament; the cavalry were also being pushed back by the arrows.

Having ascertained the strength of the Shu army, Kirby had no intention of continuing to probe, and instead sent someone to report back to Xu Huang.

Soon after receiving the news, Xu Huang took advantage of the moment when his troops were arrayed to personally go to the cavalry to observe Sun Ce's army formation.

Sun Ce came prepared, knowing his cavalry was inferior to Xu Huang's, and deliberately left his supply wagons on both sides. If the northern cavalry charged, they would be attacked by crossbows at long range, and blocked by spears at close range, leaving the cavalry with almost no room to maneuver.

With spears and crossbows at the front, even cavalry charges would likely fail to break through the formation. Only soldiers willing to risk their lives could possibly breach it.

Sun Ce's purpose in deploying his troops in this way is precisely to restrict the northern cavalry and allow his own infantry to defeat Xu Huang's infantry.

If the stalemate drags on, it might make the Shu army complacent, but the problem is that Sun Ce can call in other troops, so the longer it drags on, the more disadvantageous it will be for Xu Huang.

What method should be used?

As Xu Huang pondered this, he saw the Shu army sound a drumbeat. Under the watchful eyes of the Shanxi cavalry, the army slowly moved forward, pressing towards the four thousand Shanxi infantrymen who were gradually arriving on the battlefield. However, due to the presence of vehicles on both sides, the Shanxi cavalry could not find any openings and found it difficult to harass them from the flanks.

Seeing that Xu Huang's observation of the formation was fruitless, Kirby approached Xu Huang instead.

"General, I have a plan that may be able to break the Shu army's formation," Kirby said.

Xu Huang stared intently at Kirby and asked, "General, what is your plan?"

Kirby pointed to the seemingly endless Shu army and said, "Since the enemy cavalry is weak, and their flanks intend to use chariots for defense while engaging our infantry with their vanguard, we should go along with it and have our infantry engage them while we defeat the enemy cavalry first. When the enemy cavalry is routed, I can gather my thousand horses and charge into their formation. With our elite cavalry charging into the fray, the Shu army's flanks will collapse, and their entire army will surely be defeated!"

Before rescuing Hanzhong, Zhang Yu, during his eastern campaign against Yuan Shao, devised various methods to break the phalanx formations of the Hebei infantry. One such method was using warhorses to break the formation. However, Zhang Yu's surprise attack on Xindu led to the collapse of Yuan Shao's army, rendering this tactic useless. Now that Sun Ce is responding with a tight military formation, Kirby wouldn't mind using this method against the Shu army.

Xu Huang pondered for a moment and said, "Although charging with horses can defeat Sun Ce, without horses, our cavalry will be reduced to infantry, making it difficult to defeat Sun Ce again."

Kirby said, "That's true, but if we can defeat Sun Ce, our army will be able to establish a foothold in Hanzhong, preventing Sun Ce from capturing Nanzheng and demoralizing the enemy. Once reinforcements arrive, Sun Ce will have to retreat!"

"it is good!"

Xu Huang nodded and said, "In that case, let us follow your advice, General, and charge into the Shu formation to break Sun Ce's army."

"promise!"

Besides their different roles on the battlefield, the biggest difference between cavalry and infantry lies in their battlefield deployment capabilities. Infantry need to travel to the battlefield on foot, while cavalry rely on horses for transportation, and therefore can sacrifice their horses in exchange for battlefield deployment capabilities when necessary.

A typical example is the Shiyi, which covered nearly 3,000 li in half a month, essentially by sacrificing the lives of its warhorses to achieve its goal of reaching the battlefield. Or, for the same distance, if cavalry and infantry arrive at the battlefield at the same time, the infantry will be exhausted, but the cavalry will be able to fight immediately. This is the biggest difference between the two in terms of mobility and deployment capability.

Charging a cavalry charge into enemy lines sacrifices the mobility and delivery capabilities of the cavalry in exchange for the opportunity to defeat the enemy. The premise for implementing this tactic is that defeating the enemy will achieve the objective of the campaign.

For example, in the Battle of Sarhu, after the Tartars defeated the other two Ming armies, when they were besieging the last allied forces of Korea and the Ming Dynasty, the Tartars, seeing that they could not break through the stalemate, used a cavalry tactic and relied on horses to overwhelm the allied forces, thus achieving the final victory in the battle.

Although Xu Huang could not guarantee the retreat of the Shu army after defeating Sun Ce's forces, he could at least deprive Sun Ce of the strategic initiative in controlling Hanzhong, thus buying time for the Shanxi army, which desperately needed it. Therefore, after some discussion, Xu Huang and Ke Bi decided to use the cavalry tactic.

(End of this chapter)