sweeping the world

Chapter 491
The battle of the Han army's southern invasion was a war of confidence, and we should not be too opportunistic. It was to let those people in the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty understand the gap between the two sides in all aspects, destroy their self-confidence, and cause them to disintegrate internally. The will to resist.

Similar strategies have appeared in many wars. Destroying the enemy's self-confidence is the best goal of engagement, rather than making the enemy confidently resist at all times and turning the war into a war of attrition.Once the war is a war of attrition, even if it can be won every time, it should be hurt.This is part of what the book of war calls "the strategy of attacking above".

Xie Shi's shogunate troops repelled the Han army in one game, and their momentum was aroused because of the smooth opening.

For the part led by Xie Wan, they first repelled about [-] Han troops, and faced the Han army's formation of arrows to block them, they slowed down the speed of advancement, but did not cause them to retreat.

After the Han army showed their sharp arrow array, the Jin army seized tools that could block arrows, such as shield carts and shields, and they were brought with them when the shogunate troops went into battle.

There was such a scene on the battlefield. The attacking Jin army used shielded chariots as a cover in front of the array, accompanied by soldiers carrying shields. Under a dense rain of arrows that seemed to be raining, they advanced slowly but did not stop advancing.

Xie Wan was no longer at the forefront. He was temporarily staying at the rear with about two thousand cavalry, watching the arrows falling from the sky as dense as when it rained. Even if his own soldiers had shield cars and shields, they still There were major casualties.

"How is the survey of the terrain?" Xie Wan was wearing a set of pierced armor, similar armor was the mainstream in the small imperial court of the Eastern Jin Dynasty.He said in a hurry: "Let the scouts hurry up!"

Although the terrain on the north bank of the Huai River is relatively open, there are still a lot of small hills. The frontal advance route of the Jin army is not straight forward, and the line of sight in some places is actually blocked by the raised hills.

The Jin army, which was advancing against the rain of arrows from the Han army, originally had about [-] soldiers, but only less than [-] steps left, and there were less than [-] left. It can be seen how dense the Han army's arrow array is arranged, resulting in shields. Cars and shields also suffered such casualties.

The soldiers of the Jin army who followed the shield chariot tried their best to hide behind the wooden boards of the shield chariot. There were basically no less than 20 people behind each shield chariot. As a result, some soldiers walked out of the shield chariot and were shot to the left and right. , and ultimately some were killed by vertical arrows penetrating from the head to the body.

The soldiers of the Jin army who held the shield lifted the shield sideways and leaned on the shoulder. The upper body could protect it, but the lower body had a gap. Often some soldiers fell down first after being hit by arrows in their legs. After the shield was opened, they were hit several times. The arrow died.

Slowly, the advancing Jin army stopped. The soldiers watching the shield chariots were lining up the shield chariots in a straight line, and the soldiers holding the shields were putting the shields on the wall to support them upwards.

"Push up the Eight Horse Crossbow!"

The Jin army's eight-horse crossbow is very large in size, divided into single-shot and three-shot styles. At least 16 people are required to lift it manually, and two horses or eight people are required to pull it in a carriage.

The eight-horse crossbow has a range of up to 220 five steps, and you don’t even think about the aim. It can fire standard crossbow bolts and long spears. It takes about half a quarter of an hour to rewind a round of firing.

"Create a tunnel on the spot?" Dou'a was standing on a small hill, his troops were not on the front line, and beside him was Zhong Xing, who was participating in the battle.He raised his finger as if he found something: "Bed crossbow?"

The Han army's arrow array offensive did not stop. The Jin army built shield walls and tunnels on the spot. The Han army used the range advantage of their own crossbows to cross those fortifications and attack the Jin army's rear.

Zhong Xing looked in the direction of Dou Azhi, and he could see some vehicles pulled by manpower or animal power among the Jin army, and they were covered with cloth.He ordered to the standard bearer next to him: "Report to the rear that the Jin army has dispatched bed crossbows."

The Han army has long had semaphores that can be used to report or exchange information remotely.

The arrow array that received the information quickly adjusted its coverage position, and then the cart crossbow and bed crossbow also joined the ranks of diffusion.

It is not the first time that the bed crossbow and chariot crossbow of the Han army have been dispatched. It can only be said that there are relatively few opportunities to use them.Such as bed crossbows and car crossbows used to shoot enemy troops into skirmish lines are actually very wasteful. They are generally used to target densely arranged enemy phalanxes, or to use them during sieges.

The strong crossbow arrow array was shot at the rear of the Jin army, and the bed crossbow and cart crossbow were shot at the fortifications built by the Jin army. As the side being shot, people fell down all the time.

First, the thundering sound of war drums was sounded, causing the soldiers of the Han army on the battlefield to look at the position of the general flag involuntarily, and found that there were no new orders issued, and they felt confused.

The sound of the drums was covering the dispatch of the cavalry. It was difficult for people far away to distinguish the sound of horse hooves from the drums. Zhong Hui and Doua, who were closer, were attracted by a dense roar. They took advantage of the sound. From the geographical height, I turned my head and looked back. I saw a sea of ​​cavalry gathering behind the mountain. It looked like the number would definitely not be less than five thousand.

Braving the rain of arrows, the Jin army lifted the eight-horse crossbow to a suitable distance. They lifted the cover, and what was revealed was a huge machine. Braving the cold light.

"shoot!"

Amidst the sound of the huge bowstring booming, the chariot carrying the eight-horse crossbow shook. The chariot was still vibrating after the crossbow was off the string, and the surrounding Jin army was shouted by the officers to quickly re-string.

The soldiers of the Jin Army who manipulated the eight-horse crossbow did not work in a safe environment. What happened was that some people were hit by crossbow arrows from the Han army from time to time during the stringing process, causing the bowstring that was pulled together to suddenly lose one person, and all previous efforts were wasted. A situation in which a person is thrown by a bowstring.

The crossbow arrows fired by the eight horse crossbows were scattered. Their target was the Han army lined up in a straight line two hundred paces away. But the rod can bring up a scream.

Why didn't the Han army hide when they knew that a crossbow shot was coming?The obvious truth is that after entering the battle, soldiers are restricted in how they should move. Many times, even though they know they will die, they still have to stay still. Only a few people will die if they don't move. Moving around will cause chaos and death in the military formation. more people.Popular saying is that once you become a soldier, you have to go through it even if there are mountains of swords and seas of fire ahead. It is no longer up to the soldiers themselves to decide which path to take.

Not only for the Han army, they have to be tough even if they are shot, but for the Jin army, they may be shot at any time and have to stay on the battlefield. Being on the battlefield is always involuntary. Suddenly, one after another chubby things appeared in the sky and smashed down with the sound of howling wind. After it hit the ground, it smashed the human body into a pulp, and then rolled and swept the person's legs. Such a scene is very abnormal Horrible.

The sudden use of catapults by the Han army was a great horror to the Jin army, but the coordinates of the Han army launching the rolling stones were wrong. What should be shot was the fortification organized with shield vehicles and shields.

The Jin army, which was attacked by stone bombs, was not only hit by people, but also some of the eight horse crossbows were smashed to pieces. The screams and terrified shouts did not stop, causing the Jin army to be in chaos for the first time.

"Have you not found a route for the cavalry to make a detour?!" Xie Wan looked at the miserable situation in front of him, and he was tearful: "A quarter of an hour, if you haven't found it after a quarter of an hour, all the scouts will be killed!"

The arrow array of the Han army is too sharp, and they have arranged crossbows, bed crossbows, and catapults. The cavalry of the Jin army has no way to charge directly. If they really charge Xie Wan's [-] cavalry, they can charge [-]. It is considered lucky to be in front of the Han army.

After the readjustment, the catapults of the Han army reloaded and fired again. The round stone bullets fell after a mid-air leap, and the stone bullets that hit the Jin army's fortifications smashed a splash of sawdust.After the sawdust splashed out, there was bound to be screams. I don’t know how many Jin soldiers fell to the ground bleeding profusely at that moment. It would be a relief to die instantly. Tortured to bleed to death.

Xie Shi, who was further back, could only vaguely see what was happening in front of him, and he didn't know why an unpleasant feeling arose.

"The Han army suddenly beat the thundering war drum..." Sun Chuo said in confusion: "Is it related to the use of many instruments?"

A hint of inspiration appeared in Xie Shi's mind, and his face changed drastically as he roared: "Tell Xie Wan to be careful of the Han cavalry!"

The Jin army did not have semaphore, and could only use the sound of drums to warn the front, but the battle drums had long been resounding on the battlefield, and the sounds of people and horses were also full.

Xie Shi warned Xie Wan that it was the drum horn and the dispatched manpower. If the drum horn is useless, the dispatched people will definitely not be able to notify in place for a while.

Xie Wan, who was commanding at the front line, of course felt something was wrong. The bed crossbows, cart crossbows, and catapults of the Han army were very targeted, as if to create conditions for a counterattack.He has already ordered some troops to be on high alert, beware of the Han army going out to recoil, but there are no new orders for the troops in front of them who are being shot.

Without too much observation, the Jin army at the front of the battle line had already broken down and ran backwards.These routs fled, and the rear supervisors first issued arrow warnings. The warnings were invalid and they shot to death directly.

It's not that Xie Wan didn't notice the collapse of morale, but he couldn't withdraw the troops whose morale was about to collapse.The terrain of this area is very similar to a valley. The difference is that the mountains on both sides are just small hills. If the front troops are retreated before the battle, it is not known whether it will turn into a collapse. However, there is no possibility of impacting the rear friendly troops. It's what he needs to stop.

A desolate horn sounded suddenly on the battlefield, and a cloud of smoke and dust was swept up into the sky by the wind. The No.1 Han cavalry appeared in Xie Wan's sight, and then a large group of Han cavalry emerged from the billowing smoke and dust. Appear.

At the moment when the desolate horn sounded, the long-range attack weapons of the Han army had stopped firing. The Jin army who had been stunned by the shooting had not yet had time to feel relieved. Entering the field amidst the shock, the soldiers of the Jin army who saw the cavalry of the Han army were stunned and immediately yelled in horror. people, become an unmanageable rout.

"It can be regarded as a firm will." Zhong Hui smacked his lips and commented simply: "They have more than [-]% casualties and can persist until the cavalry enters the field before retreating."

Dou'a nodded approvingly: "If you can persist until [-]% of the casualties, you can be regarded as an elite army."

Being in a place where you could die at any time and not being scared to the point of becoming weak is considered very courageous.I can see familiar or unfamiliar people all the time. One moment they were alive and kicking, but the next moment they become a corpse. It is a strong impact on the vision and the mind again and again. I did not follow the instinct to escape to the feeling. In a safe place, you can actually be considered a brave person.

Whether valiant in the slaying of an enemy, or in a state of enduring fear, a man is a man who dares to go to war.The army assembled by many people found that Paoze died in a large number of battles and could not be defeated. I can really praise the elite.After all, the elite in the army does not refer to how high or how good martial arts are, but refers to collective cooperation and tolerance to casualties.

"Archery!" Xie Wan yelled, "Whether you are the enemy or yourself, the rain of arrows will cover you!"

The front troops of the Jin army who have been subjected to various shootings for a long time are about seven or eight hundred who can run backwards. They are running hard with absolute panic on their faces, and their minds are full of rushing back to the friendly army, running The arrows of the friendly army shot at him while running, and he still had the desire to live before he died.

The roaring horseshoes continued to roll forward. Not only was there billowing smoke and dust behind them, but they also stepped on a muddy blood path. The flesh, flesh and blood of at least 2000 people were trampled into mud mixed with the mud by the horseshoes.

When Xie Wan discovered that the Han army dispatched cavalry, he had already brought about [-] cavalry from his headquarters into action. Xie Shi's warning from the rear had not yet arrived at this time, and even if it did, it would actually be of no use.

The cavalry of the Han army had already accelerated to the fastest speed, riding their horses and galloping towards the frontmost cavalry. They saw that they should be cavalry in plate armor. The eyes hidden behind the visor were staring at the front. There were archers of the Jin army there. Arrows are constantly being released, and behind them are improvised spears or long spear arrays.

A burst of horns sounded amidst the sound of roaring horseshoes, which was an order to diffuse.

It wasn't the long-range troops behind the Han army who wanted to shoot, but the Han cavalry who were charging picked up the crossbow hanging on the side of the horse while galloping, pulled the trigger the moment the horn sounded, and threw it away directly after shooting. He raised the lance with one hand, and protected his vitals with a small round shield with the other.

The crossbowmen on the Jin army's side shot arrows in a panic, and then ran to the sides.

If you can listen carefully, you will find that heavy panting has become the mainstream of waiting for the Jin army. The Han cavalry in their sight is getting closer... getting closer...

(End of this chapter)