Fenghou

Zhou Honglie led thirty scouts to hide in a pine forest halfway up the mountain. At the foot of the mountain was a relatively flat official road. The snow on the official road had already melted away. If there were cavalry, they would definitely walk along this official road.

The fields on both sides are full of dangers, such as field mouse holes, snake holes, depressions and deep pits where the land is corroded by ice and snow, covered by a thin layer of snow, no one knows what is hidden under the ice and snow?War horses are extremely vulnerable to injury.

Unless there is no choice in war, the cavalry will definitely choose to take the smooth official path.

A dozen or so nomadic cavalry came rushing from a distance, the size of ants at the foot of the mountain, and a soldier in the tree shouted: "It's an enemy spy!"

Zhou Honglie understood the spying rules of the enemy's spies, generally about [-] to [-] miles away from the main force, mainly to see if there was an ambush ahead.

Half an hour later, a black river appeared more than ten miles away, winding towards this side without seeing its end. Zhou Honglie roughly estimated in his mind that there were at least seven to eighty thousand troops.

"let's go!"

Zhou Honglie led his men down the mountain by another path, and hurried back to the west to report.

Walking halfway, they met the scouts sent by Liu Qiong. Liu Qiong ordered them to go south and report directly to King Yong.

……

Chen Qing's main army was about a hundred miles away from Liu Qiong's army. In the afternoon, he received a fast letter from Liu Qiong's subordinates. Liu Qiong had discovered the signs of the enemy army and had turned to the north, preparing to bypass the enemy army. behind.

After reading the letter, Chen Qing smiled and said to Yang Zaixing: "Do you think the enemy knows our existence?"

Yang Zaixing shook his head, "I probably don't know. Li Muqing has also deployed a lot of outposts. If the enemy's spies come down, they will definitely be found. What's more, the ice and snow haven't melted a while ago, making it difficult to move, and it's impossible for spies to go south. But Lingwu County It is not clear whether there are regular spies inside or not."

Chen Qing thought about it, and it was really possible. The enemy had occupied Fengzhou for more than a year, and there was enough time for them to set up an intelligence station in Lingzhou.

"Anyway, there is nothing wrong with marching cautiously!" Chen Qing immediately ordered the whole army to slow down the marching speed, and sent several teams of scouts to investigate the enemy's situation.

Chen Qing made a mistake of habitual thinking here. He took it for granted that the enemy army should set up an intelligence point in Lingwu County. In fact, these nomadic troops have very little intelligence awareness. They live on the vast grasslands and have always His whereabouts are uncertain, and he may send spies to look for the enemy's traces, but he has no sense of sending regular intelligence spies.

The [-] nomadic cavalry didn't even know that the Western Army had massively increased its troops in Lingzhou, let alone that Yong Wang Chen Qing went out in person. Their goal was still the [-] defenders in Lingzhou, and at the same time they looted Lingzhou.

Soon, Chen Qing received information from Zhou Honglie and learned about the enemy's army. A nomadic cavalry army consisting of 8 to [-] people was marching towards Lingzhou. It is estimated that the army was already hundreds of miles away.

Chen Qing immediately sent scouts to the north to find Liu Qiong's [-] troops, and asked him to cooperate with him to attack the enemy back and forth.

In the evening, the intelligence scouts rushed back and found the main force of the enemy army, about 8 people, sixty miles away. They also found the Western Army and had slowed down their marching speed.

This is an encounter, without a prelude, it is a battle between the two armies.

Chen Qing ordered the camel team to retreat fifty li. His 12 troops did not continue to go north, and the opponent's 20 troops did not go south either. , It is very likely that there will be a situation of cannibalism in the dark night.

Both sides waited patiently for daybreak, soldiers wrapped in blankets sleeping on the ground beside their horses, and in the distance patrolling sentries with torches watching every move of the north with vigilance.

There is a big tent in the middle of the team, and the lights in the big tent are brightly lit. Chen Qing and a dozen soldiers are surrounded by a sand table. Chen Qing points to a red flag on the sand table and said: "Our position is here now, the black flag in the north It's the enemy's position, about fifty miles away, depending on the terrain, there's only one place where we can fight, and that's here!"

Chen Qing pointed to an open land thirty miles to the north, "There are no forests here, and it is dominated by desert and grassland, with a width of twenty miles, enough to open up a battlefield. Unless the opponent withdraws to Fengzhou, they will definitely fight here tomorrow. "

Yang Zaixing asked: "How much does Your Highness know about the enemy army?"

Chen Qing said slowly: "The opponent is an army composed of more than a dozen tribes, mainly composed of the three tribes of Tata, Kelie and Mengwu. The battle will also be divided into three parts. According to the practice of the grassland, they also fight separately. , there will be no cooperation, and their initial impact is very strong, and it will become weaker and weaker in the future, so as long as we withstand the first few rounds of the enemy's impact, we will win in the future."

Liu Cui also asked: "Tomorrow will we attack first or the other party will attack first?"

"The opponent's bows and arrows are weak, and they lack shields. Their biggest advantage is their superb riding skills and strong impact. I think the enemy will definitely attack first, and they will attack across the board. Our tactics are to deal with the Iron Buddha Tu's square-circle iron barrel formation. Fighting against each other, the iron barrel formation is divided into three iron barrel formations, which can be separated and integrated. There are 12 troops. I am the central army, General Yang Zaixing is the right army, and Liu Cui is the left army. Have a good taste of the power of our iron bucket array!"

All the generals bowed together, "I am willing to listen to your Highness!"

……

Before dawn the next day, the 12 western army marched northward, and at the same time, the 12 nomadic army also went south. At dawn, the [-] western army arrived at the scheduled battlefield.

Dark clouds hung low, the north wind howled, and the coldness of early spring shrouded the land, surrounded by deserts, and the world was bleak.

At this time, a low and dull drum sound came from a distance, 'Boom!Boom!Boom! The main force of the enemy army also appeared, and a black line appeared in the wilderness ten miles away. It had already formed a formation and was slowly advancing.

Both sides were advancing and stopped when they were three miles apart. This was a typical encounter. They encountered each other unexpectedly during their respective marches. Both sides could not retreat and could only fight with their backs.

The Western Army set up three phalanxes, all of the same size, with no distinction between the main formation and the wings. This was obviously prepared for the three tribes, and it was also in the hands of the nomadic coalition forces.

Last night, the leaders of the various tribes were arguing over the sky. Why did they deploy troops to fight, and no one obeyed the other?In the end, Hu Shahu made a final decision and fought on their own.

Seeing that the western army had set up three large formations, Hu Shahu immediately sent people to order the three generals, Erhan's Tata Army to deal with the middle formation, Limuhe's Kelie army to deal with the right formation, Guishan's Mengwu Army against the left.

Although this is a bit unfair to the Mughal Army, after all, they only have [-] troops, and they have to deal with [-] Western troops, which is more dangerous than good, but there is no fairness on the battlefield, and we can only rely on strength to speak.

Hu Shahu gave the Western Army a cold look, waved his saber, and shouted, "Beat the drum, attack!"

The first thousand and 360 chapters of the massacre

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The earth-shattering sound of skin drums sounded, and [-] nomadic cavalry launched, tens of thousands of horses galloped, the earth trembled, and the sky was filled with dust, like a landslide and a tsunami. Come.

This is the most powerful advantage of the nomadic cavalry. It attacks the enemy with a force that seems to shake the sky, and puts strong psychological pressure on the enemy. Once the enemy cannot withstand such a powerful impact, it will be completely defeated.

If they encounter the decadent Northern Song army, the scene they are looking forward to will likely appear, just like the battle of Fuping, when the 20 Song army collapsed, they would scramble to escape for their lives, and suffered a crushing defeat.

It's a pity that what they encountered was the experienced Western Army, the most elite team among the 60 Western Army, and they were also the most powerful Han army in the world. The bows and crossbows stepped forward together, raising the god arm crossbow. Behind them were 3 spear infantry and only [-] cavalry. Of course, Liu Qiong also led [-] cavalry to lie in ambush behind the enemy, waiting for an opportunity to attack.

The overwhelming cavalry was getting closer and closer, and the sky was covered with dust. The army was only three hundred steps away from the Western Army. Suddenly, the Western Army burst into drums, and the first round of [-] crossbow arrows flew into the air, shooting towards the enemy like a storm. Galloping cavalry.

Although the cavalry had no shields, they were skilled in riding and hid sideways under the horses one after another. However, the crossbows of the Western Army were too dense, and countless horses and soldiers were still shot by the crossbows, rolled on the ground, and were trampled into flesh by the horses behind. mud.

Immediately after the second row of crossbow bolts and the third row of crossbow bolts of the Western Army were fired, the second round began again. In just two hundred steps, the Western Army fired [-] crossbow arrows, and the nomadic cavalry also paid a heavy price. Eight thousand cavalrymen were shot by crossbow bolts and died on the ground.

At this time, the enemy army had already killed eighty paces away, and the [-] Western Army crossbowmen quickly retreated and hid themselves in the large formation.

Behind the crossbowmen are [-] heavy armored infantry. They wear heavy armor and hold three-pointed two-edged swords made of fine steel. On the ground, the handle of the knife is against the ground, and the tip of the knife is at a [-]-degree angle. Their task is to withstand the first wave of the enemy's impact.

An army of more than [-] came rushing forward, getting closer and closer, and they were already fifty steps away. They also saw the forest of swords ahead, and without thinking about it, they shot arrows while running, and the arrows shot at the heavy armored infantry like raindrops. But they couldn't penetrate the armor, and the arrows fell to the ground one after another.

The armor of the heavy infantry came from the Jurchen Tiefutu cavalry. Chen Qing abandoned the heavy vest and changed the heavy armor of the cavalry to the heavy armor of the infantry. Ordinary bows and crossbows cannot penetrate it. Only the heavy crossbow of the Western Army can penetrate within a hundred steps. Penetration, this is also the main reason why Jinbing Tiefutu killed Song Jun to death.

The [-] heavy armored infantry remained motionless, and none of them were shot down by the arrows. The nomadic cavalry had already run twenty paces away, and their faces distorted by extreme fear could be clearly seen. At this moment, they couldn't help themselves and couldn't stop Once the war horse stops, it will be knocked over and trampled by the powerful impact force behind it.

Amidst the screams, the nomadic cavalry rushed into the formation of the Western Army. The sharp three-pointed and two-edged blades pierced through the bodies of the horses and cavalry. The sharp double-edged sword slashed at the enemy cavalry rushing up, and behind them appeared 1 throwers, that is, the crossbowmen just now. Except for 2 of the [-] crossbowmen, the remaining [-] turned into spearmen and soldiers. Thrower.

The thrower threw [-] pieces of fine steel into the crowd of enemy troops, which was extremely powerful. Numerous cavalry and horses were pierced by the sharp short spears, and then the second and third rounds of fine steel short spears were thrown, The more than [-] cavalry rushing to the front encountered continuous blows, and almost the entire army was wiped out. A large number of meat barriers were piled up in front of the Western Army, and the powerful cavalry shock wave finally eased.

"Woo--" The horn sounded in the Western Army's camp. This was an order to change formation. The soldiers changed formation while running. Thirty thousand cavalry rushed out to block the enemy troops coming from behind. The three Western Army phalanx quickly It became a circular formation, the outermost circle was heavy armored infantry, the second and third layers were spear infantry, and behind them were crossbowmen, throwers and chariots.

The heavy armored infantry is not always on the outer layer, and will rotate with the spearmen inside at any time to maintain the physical strength of the soldiers.

This kind of iron barrel formation has three advantages. The first is to slow down the sharp killing of the enemy and give the enemy room to gather and disperse, so that they will not retreat easily. When the enemy finally realizes that they are retreating, they often have suffered heavy casualties , belongs to a tactic of boiling frogs in warm water.

The second advantage is that it can greatly reduce the number of casualties of the Western Army. The iron barrel protects the crossbowmen and throwers, as well as the chariot inside. This is a set that the Western Army has gradually figured out after countless actual battles. Effective tactics against cavalry.

The third advantage is that the infantry can collectively deal with the cavalry. This is the summary of the actual combat of the infantry after a thousand years. There is only one way for the infantry to deal with the cavalry. this principle.

However, the iron barrel formation of the Western Army still has many features, especially the use of chariots is a huge innovation. 45 chariots are hidden in the formation, and they have lifted the cover to reveal the heavy trebuchets inside. Throw the barrel fire thunder weighing eight catties a hundred steps away.

"Woo--" the horn blew again, and the cavalry of the Western Army retreated like a tide, revealing three giant iron barrel formations. Decompose into their own small tribal armies, regardless of the division of the central army and the left and right armies, and decompose into thirteen armies to attack the western army formation.

This is also inevitable. The iron barrel formation is a large defensive formation, which is very easy for the attacker, but just like the strongest defense is an offense, sometimes the sharpest offense is also a defense.

Thirteen cavalry surrounded the three iron barrel formations and continued to attack, trying to tear through the Western Army's defense line, but what greeted them was an iron fist counterattack.

'Boom!Bang!Bang! '

The trebuchet made a loud noise, and threw wooden barrels of fire mines at the enemy crowd. The fire mines exploded in the enemy crowd. Although the impact power was not great, thousands of poisoned iron nails splashed everywhere, covering a radius of more than ten feet. None of the cavalry was spared, especially the horses. The iron nails were shot into the horses. This move was very vicious. There would be no symptoms for the time being when the poisonous nails entered the body. The ground, unable to run anymore, the cavalry who lost their horses could only be slaughtered with their hands tied.

The sound of the barrel fire and thunder was loud, but the damage was not great. The real threat to the enemy cavalry was the crossbow bolts. The crossbow bolts were shot from the large formation with great precision, making the enemy cavalry hard to guard against.

At the same time, there is also the fine steel short spear of the throwing hand. Hundreds of people are killed in one round of short spear throwing, which makes the nomadic cavalry frightened.

The two sides fought fiercely for an hour, and more than half of the nomadic cavalry had been killed. Erhan finally realized that something was wrong, and the casualties were more than half unknowingly.

Erhan found Hu Shahu and shouted: "My lord, our casualties have exceeded half, we can't fight anymore, we must retreat!"

At this time, Guishan also rushed over and said: "The casualties of the Mengwu tribe have exceeded [-]%, I implore the prince to order a retreat!"

Hu Shahu also saw that the Western Army had hidden needles in the cotton. If this continued, they would lose all their casualties. He immediately ordered: "Order the whole army to retreat!"

"Woo-woo-"

The horn of withdrawing troops finally sounded, and the exhausted nomadic cavalry retreated like a tide. They all used three-axes tactics, and the front was destructive and unstoppable. It faded quickly and morale started to drop.

At this moment, their fighting spirit was completely exhausted. Hearing the sound of retreating horns, everyone turned their horses and fled. Chen Qing was waiting for this moment, and he immediately ordered: "Cavalry attack!"

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The drums of the attack sounded, and the [-] cavalry who had been recharging their energy behind galloped out. The nomadic cavalry had no intention of fighting, and fled in defeat. Less than three miles away, Liu Qiong's [-] cavalry rushed out in front. The two cavalry attacked back and forth.

Tens of thousands of nomadic cavalry completely collapsed and fled in all directions. They were killed crying for their fathers and mothers, corpses lay everywhere, and blood flowed like rivers. Many cavalry horses were poisoned with poisonous nails. The cavalry was beheaded by the western army running past.

In this battle, of the [-] cavalry, fewer than [-] escaped in the end, and [-] nomadic cavalry died tragically on the Toyosu battlefield.

Chen Qing immediately ordered Liu Qiong's [-] cavalry to enter Fengzhou and wipe out Fengzhou's logistics tribes.

The Jurchen [-] cavalry who got the news fled in a hurry, leaving tens of thousands of herdsmen and tens of millions of sheep unprotected, and fell into the pockets of the Western Army.

The first thousand and 360 chapters are not finished

Chen Qing led the army to Wuyuan County. After hundreds of years of vicissitudes, only ruins remained of the former county town. Groups of captured herdsmen came dejectedly, followed by their women and children.

At this time, several old men were brought to Chen Qing, knelt down and kowtowed, clasped their palms together and begged bitterly. The soldier next to him translated: "They said that they are all ordinary herdsmen, belonging to the Bai Dadan tribe and the Basimu tribe. Living in the Yinshan area in the north, they were conquered by the Tata and Kelie tribes and became slaves. The Tata and Kelie tribes forcibly moved them here. They were forced to raise sheep and serve as soldiers. Their men were enslaved, and their women They will be humiliated, have no property of their own, and all the hard-working sheep will be eaten by the army, please forgive them, Your Highness."

Chen Qing looked at him for a while and asked, "Are they the leaders?"

After hearing the translation, several elders quickly explained, and the soldier translated: "They said that the chief has been killed, and they are the elders."

"Let them swear to Changshengtian that everything they say is the truth."

The soldier translated it, and several old men knelt down to swear to Changshengtian. The soldier said to Chen Qing, "They swore all poisonous oaths, and they promised Changshengtian that everything they said was true."

At this time, Tang Qian came over and said to Chen Qing: "The humble officials interrogated the herdsmen. They said that they were herdsmen from the Bai Dadan tribe. After being conquered by the Tata tribe, they became military slaves and raised sheep for the army. They were exploited and bullied."

"Have you seen their property?" Chen Qing asked again.

Tang Qian nodded, "I've seen it from a lowly position. The tent is impoverished, and the children's clothes are shabby."

Several old men finished their oath and said to Chen Qing: "This land does not belong to us, please Your Highness to let us return to our homeland."

"How many herders do you have?"

The soldiers translated it, and the elder at the head said: "There are 1 households in total."

Chen Qing nodded, "Each household will give them a hundred sheep, and allow them to pack up their belongings and return to their homeland."

After listening to the translation, several elderly people embraced each other and burst into tears. They knelt down and kowtowed to Chen Qing, expressing their thanks again and again.

Chen Qing said slowly: "The Western Army will not bully the kind people. In the future, if you are bullied by other powerful tribes, you can also go south and join us. I will treat you as my people and buy your sheep so that you can be like other people." Just as well-fed."

Several old men thanked them and went, Tang Qian said in a low voice: "Actually, it's better to keep them. The Helan Mountain Ranch has been empty for now."

"It depends on their willingness! Maybe they are more willing to return to their hometown."

Chen Qing urged his horse to go to the camp.

The Western Army seized tens of thousands of large tents, built their own barracks, and built more than a dozen huge sheep and horse pens. There were 1000 to 200 million sheep. The number was really huge. The soldiers sent most of the sheep back to Lingzhou, leaving only [-] million sheep as rations for more than [-] troops.

The main tent covering an area of ​​three acres has also become Chen Qing's king's tent. In the big tent, Chen Qing said to the generals: "I made two plans before dispatching troops. The first plan is after defeating the nomadic cavalry. Go north to destroy the remnants of the Tata and Kret tribes, but now I have changed my mind. If these two tribes are weakened too much, it will only lead to the resurgence of the Mughal tribes. I think it is better to let them fight each other, at least this After World War I, they dared not go south for ten years."

There was no sound in the big tent, and everyone was looking forward to King Yong's second plan.

Chen Qing said slowly again: "My second plan is to continue eastward to Datong Mansion and seize Yanshan Mansion in one fell swoop!"

There was a burst of cheers in the big tent, this is the good news they have been waiting for for a long time!

……

The generals dispersed, and the soldiers rushed to find Chen Qingyu and reported: "His Royal Highness, those old men are here again, please see Your Highness!"

Chen Qing nodded, "Let them in!"

Not long after, the soldiers led the five old men into the big tent, and the translation sergeant also arrived. The four old men knelt down and kowtowed, and the old man at the head said: "Your Highness's magnanimity has given us hope for life, and we are all willing to stay as Your Highness." My subjects, please Your Highness include it!"

After listening to the translation, Chen Qing asked lightly, "Why don't you want to go back to your hometown?"

"Reporting to Your Highness, the pasture in our hometown has been taken over by a tribe from the Tata tribe. If we go back, there will inevitably be conflicts. We have no power to protect ourselves and will be reduced to slaves again. We would rather submit to Your Highness and become His Highness's people."

Chen Qing nodded, "Being my people is conditional, you must accept it!"

"Your Highness, please tell me!"

The soldiers translated very smoothly, and there were almost no communication barriers between the two sides. Chen Qingwei smiled and said: "I have two conditions. First, you must accept the jurisdiction of the government like other ethnic groups in my territory, such as Qiang people and Uyghurs." , Of course, the government does not want to enslave you, but to put you in the household registration, and you have to pay taxes every year."

"Excuse me, how much tax do we have to pay every year?" Several elderly people asked nervously.

"Not much. For every [-] newborn sheep, you pay the tax of five sheep. It's the same for other ethnic groups, and it's the same for you."

The crowd breathed a long sigh of relief. Compared with the Tata Department requiring them to pay half of the sheep, the sheep tax is very low, and they can completely accept it.