Tiger Guards

Chapter 535 Dividing the Army with One Arrow

"Wow!"

As Zhao Ji's chariot rushed into the camp, the infantrymen stationed on both sides and the Xiongnu volunteers raised their arms and shouted.

Zhao Ji responded by raising his warbow horizontally with his left hand. Before he could stop, his chariot sped into the open space inside the camp.

He jumped off the carriage, and Han Shu quickly ran over: "Grand Marshal, Zhang Wenyuan's messenger has arrived!"

Following Han Shu's direction, Zhao Ji saw Zhang Liao's envoy, Ge Ping, also jogging to catch up, bowing deeply, and holding a stack of military documents in both hands: "Grand Marshal, the military documents of General Pacifying Bandits are here."

Han Shu took the books and handed them to Zhao Ji, who picked them up and handed them to Zhang Hong, who was also walking quickly towards him: "Very good, I'll wait for him here."

Responding to the messenger, Zhao Ji then looked at the personal guards who had followed him out of the carriage: "Bring me the command token."

The guards were puzzled, but they still brought out a command arrow, and a clerk took out a writing brush from the pen holder, pinched the brush, dipped it in his tongue to moisten the brush.

Each high-ranking command arrow has a numbered sequence. Zhao Ji took the command arrow, took out his seal, and randomly stamped it on the writing surface of the command arrow.

After collecting the seal, he took the pen from the clerk and wrote a large character "准" (approved).

He then tossed the command token to Zhang Liao's messenger: "Send this to General Pacifying the Bandits; let him do as he pleases in this battle."

"Here."

The messenger, Ge Ping, was somewhat puzzled, but he still took out a roll of cloth from his bosom, wrapped the command arrow around it, quickly tied it to his chest, and bowed to Zhao Ji, saying, "This humble servant takes his leave."

Zhao Ji nodded and glanced at Han Shu. Han Shu understood and led Ge Ping away. He naturally wanted to equip Ge Ping with some guard knights from the central army.

Meanwhile, the pursuing Xianbei vanguard cavalry were weaving through the low ice cones that slowed them down.

These improved defensive fortifications have simpler structures and are no longer primarily designed for defense, but rather for speed limiting, diversion, and convergence.

These ice spikes are easy to spot, and the riders will slow down to avoid them. During the avoidance process, their charging trajectories will be diverted.

After passing through the ice cone deceleration zone, they will naturally flow out from the designed opening... and this is the concentrated fire point for the powerful crossbows and bows in the camp!

The Xianbei knights were skilled riders and had excellent teamwork.

The deceleration effect of ice cone speed bumps is not obvious, but the diversion and merging of traffic are an inevitable result.

As they approached within fifty paces, the defenders behind the camp concentrated their fire, and in an instant, the Xianbei knights who had surged out were hit by arrows one after another.

Because the outlet of the confluence is fixed, some archers can stand behind walls and obstacles to fire blind shots and projectiles!
The powerful crossbows were used in a concentrated manner, firing in a fan-shaped pattern. The bolts converged at the outlet, and even if they missed, they would be redistributed in a fan shape.

While the Xianbei knights were indeed elite, Zhao Ji's army had followed him in numerous battles, making them seasoned veterans of the chaotic era. Now, with high morale, they performed steadily and methodically, leveraging the advantages of their bows and crossbows.

Even the most elite cavalry archers cannot outshoot infantry archers; twice the number of cavalry archers still cannot outshoot infantry archers with fortifications.

As Zhao Ji was speaking, the pursuing Xianbei vanguard cavalry were hit by several volleys of fire. The first few rows of cavalrymen who rushed out were shot off their horses before they even reached the edge of the camp.

Winter clothes are thick, so I didn't see any bloodstains.

Frozen bloodstains are probably only left on the spot when the body is being moved.

Of course, the Xianbei people wore several layers of leather clothing, which provided them with a certain degree of resistance to crossbows.

However, Zhao Ji's army had no light bows or fast arrows; all they could bring were powerful crossbows and strong bows with great force.

Even if it doesn't hit a vital spot, as long as it does, it can still injure the torso or limbs.

When Zhao Ji looked back, the Xianbei people abandoned four or five hundred corpses and turned their horses around to retreat.

Meanwhile, the defending archers did not stop. In addition to the crossbowmen firing in an orderly manner, the archers also broke away from the cover of the fortifications to carry out relatively accurate horizontal shots.

This caused a surge in Xianbei casualties, exacerbated the chaos, and accelerated the evacuation.

As for the injured soldier who fell from his horse... he's already a dead man.

The subsequent Xianbei attacks wouldn't trample over them; without cover, these wounded soldiers would be sniped if they dared to get up. Watching more Xianbei cavalry flee, a commanding officer quickly approached Zhao Ji: "Grand Marshal, should we capture and kill the enemy?"

"Hold firm at your fortifications. The Xianbei have already been defeated. Don't rush to claim credit."

"Here."

The captain turned and strode away, shouting loudly, and pulled back some of the spear and halberd infantrymen who were trying to cross the ramparts.

Zhao Ji also ascended the three-story command platform, where three large banners and chariots were parked in front of it, demonstrating their presence to the Xianbei people.

The command platform was built of logs, with a door panel nailed to the outside, which could effectively block arrows.

Zhao Ji squinted through the observation hole to observe, but out of caution, he still put the mask on his face.

With the mask covering his face, his expression was devoid of any smile; his eyes were icy, and even his tone changed: "Our army's advantage lies in its crossbows, and our fortifications are not particularly strong. It will take a few more days to build and reinforce them before they can be considered impregnable. Even now, the Xianbei knights cannot easily break through."

Zhang Hong, observing from the side, asked Kong, "Does the Grand Marshal mean that the Xianbei will abandon their horses and fight us on foot?"

"Not entirely. When the Xianbei vanguard arrives and sees that the vanguard cavalry has suffered a defeat, they will order their troops to dismount and fight on foot. After opening a breach, they will then use their elite cavalry to ram and charge into our camp."

Zhao Ji turned to look at Han Shu: "Wenbai, the daredevils should immediately advance two hundred paces, take all kinds of supplies from the camp, and build obstacles to repel the Xianbei cavalry."

The outer fortifications were hastily constructed overnight. When the situation became urgent, the frontline defenders would naturally consolidate their forces, forming battle groups of several hundred men, who would gather in one place to use the crescent formation to repel the enemy and engage in battle.

"Here!"

Han Shu let out a strange yell and quickly went down the stairs to return to his unit of daredevils.

Zhao Ji then wandered around, observing the left and right wings through the observation holes. The two wings were mainly led by Liu Qubei and Xiutu Dada, who commanded the Xiongnu volunteers.

After the Battle of Fushi, the Xiongnu Yicong (a group of soldiers) had a rich harvest and now wore two layers of leather armor, so they were not afraid of shooting at each other or fighting in melee with the Xianbei.

As long as the formation is stable, they can be pinned down in the crescent-shaped formations.

The weakness of the Crescent Moon Formation was its rear, but when the Xianbei attacked its rear, the Xianbei's rear was exposed to the suicide soldiers.

The rear of the Crescent Moon Formation also had obstacles formed by piles of vehicles, which the Xianbei cavalry could not easily break through, nor could the Xianbei infantry climb over at will.

On such a flat battlefield, anyone in a high position would be subjected to concentrated fire from the enemy... or even be hit by stray arrows from their own side.

At this moment, Zhao Ji did not believe that many Xianbei people would risk their lives to charge into the camp and dare to counterattack the relatively low back of the Crescent Moon Formation.

While he was observing, Pei Bao also went up to the third floor and brought over the food box.

Seeing the food box steaming, Zhao Ji said to his men, "Eat first. It will take the Xianbei people two to three quarters of an hour to complete the dispatch."

With everyone's emotions running high or filled with anxiety, how could they possibly eat?
Zhao Ji went to the middle position, sat cross-legged on several layers of animal hides, took off his deerskin steel armor gloves, then his face mask, pulled off his face towel, and reached out to grab the sliced ​​braised beef shank.

Pei Bao, kneeling to one side, arranged minced garlic, vinegar, and chive blossom sauce in that order. Zhao Ji grabbed a piece of meat, dipped it in, and then chewed it heartily to replenish his depleted strength.

There was also warm milk tea, which Zhao Ji would occasionally pick up the wooden cup and drink in one gulp, and Pei Bao would quickly refill it for him.

Seeing Zhao Ji eating and drinking as if nothing was wrong, Zhang Hong exclaimed, "The Grand Marshal is truly a divine man!"

A bodyguard eating dried meat nearby laughed and said, "Chief Secretary, you don't know yet, just now the Grand Marshal drew his bow to shoot, and the Xianbei pursuers were so frightened that they split in two. This arrow that split the army is truly miraculous!"

"Oh? Please tell me in detail."

Zhang Hong was very interested. His personal guards chewed on dried meat and drank hot milk tea, recounting their experiences with great enthusiasm.

The other officers were filled with admiration upon hearing this. After listening, Zhang Hong immediately stood up and urged them, "Quickly go everywhere and spread the word about the Grand Marshal's crushing victory!"

"Here!"

The military officers, disregarding food and drink, all left.

(End of this chapter)