Chapter 407 – Horse Refusal
North Liang Road in Liuzhou territory to build two new post roads are horizontal, respectively, to Liangling two states, far less than the three states in Guanzhou system meticulous, this is also a helpless move, the vast territory of Liuzhou only three military towns as a dependency, but with the North Mang military strength of the majority of Gusai state border, so the construction of the vertical post road in the territory of Liuzhou can only be convenient for the grassland cavalry to drive south, this is the initiative of the self-destruction of border defenses, a thousand steps back, even if That young feudal king is inexplicably overwhelmed and unselfconsciously militaristic, building a large stage road in Liuzhou, I believe that Qingcang City’s Assassin’s Office, Huaiyang Pass’s Protectorate, and Qingliang Mountain are all going to revolt at the same time. The plains to the right of Crone Mountain is the most suitable terrain for cavalry to fight in, outside of Qingcang City’s downtown.
Kou Jianghuai two great successes after the third blockade battle to choose the location, is more than two hundred miles north of the Crone Mountain, a yellow sandy flat, that and the crone mountain plains terrain, there is a huge corridor north-south, largely presenting a woman’s waist of the tightening of the situation, the prairie cavalry, if the north-south advancement, this place is not the way to go to the Crone Mountain battlefield, but compared to the detour, can be shortened by more than sixty miles! Journey, and this corridor is not narrow and steep, never counted as a sheep’s intestine path, can not set up ambushes on both sides, on the contrary, the corridor on both sides of the mountain terrain is gentle, the entire corridor is always roughly the same width, are about one and a half miles, the large team of cavalry riding, can be said to be unhindered. The so-called corridor is shaped like a woman’s waist, but it is compared to the entire Liuzhou map, so from the first Liangmang battle of Liu Gui’s cavalry south, to the second battle of Kou Jianghuai three interceptions, both sides did not look at this was named “grasshopper legs” of the people of the place.
But in the vast gallop to support the crone mountain battlefield of 50,000 south dynasty border rider, when almost everyone can see the corridor of the northern mouth, on the contrary, there has been a branch of the flow of state soldiers and horses in the corridor in the middle of the position, out of nowhere, waiting for a long time!
When the horse fence hurriedly reported back to the military situation, the 50,000 cavalry army of several North Mang generals are caught in an embarrassing dilemma, the clear color of the Liuzhou infantry set out to defend the corridor, the number of people in the fourteen thousand or so, the main force is the western region of the Ruoduo Mountain monks, also mixed with two or three thousand Liuzhou native soldiers. The bad news is that the corridor as a battlefield, the cavalry can not be swayed left and right to thin its formation, the good news is that the formation of the infantry to wait, and does not carry any large-scale horse-repelling equipment, the strength of the cavalry is absolutely dominant in the infantry formation, forcing them to retreat, not to mention seventeen thousand or eighteen thousand infantry, or force the strength of the force doubled, is not enough for this cavalry to swing the sword to kill.
North Mang South Dynasty cavalry for the Northern Liang cavalry strength, or Yan Wenluan under the command of the strength of the foot soldiers of Youzhou, twenty years of border fighting, have not dared to have a small mind, but to say that other soldiers and horses, really do not take it seriously, this is not blind conceit, but since the end of the Dafeng four hundred years, the grassland iron horsemen rely on countless times to knock off the border to loot the Central Plains, and continue to accumulate out of the great self-confidence. In addition, the real reason for the South Dynasty cavalry captains to feel difficult, is that from the time they left the residence across the border to enter the crone mountain battlefield, whether it is the northern court king’s tent, or close to the western capital of the temple, or the south of the battle is in full swing commander Huang Song Pu, are strictly ordered to ensure that on time to participate in the battle, in the critical moment of the entire battle to hammer, completely eliminate the flow of state all the main force of the battlefield, so the 50,000 cavalry can not be delayed! Therefore, the 50,000 cavalry must not miss a single moment! Now in the south dynasty before the military generals who hold the power of the military, not only whether to bypass the road far, because the monks located in the corridor in the middle of the step of the formation of refusal of the horse, the same can be a rapid retreat south, perhaps changing the battlefield, the north mang cavalry can be quicker to break through the formation, but the consumption of the fast horse gallop sixty extra miles, is by no means the size of these south dynasty military town pass generals can afford the cost, and then again, more than 10,000 monks of the western region of the military achievements, especially The leading general will most likely be a head can be exchanged for the feudal lord of war Xie Xijian, too tempting!
Are we going to fight?
Of course!
For both public and private reasons, the cavalry of North Mang and South Dynasty feel the need to fight in this corridor to make a big score. The eighteen jade belts that His Majesty the Emperor has given to the Wanyan family are the best example of this!
The 50,000 cavalry who are at the peak of their physical and mental strength with great achievements ahead of them, can’t they break through the formation of 10,000+ infantry?
On the other side of the corridor formation, Xie Xijian, who was wearing iron armor and a sword, sat on his horse and raised his eyes to the north.
The wind was blowing, and it seemed as if he could already smell the bloodstained air.
This Lieutenant General of Liuzhou, who was known as one of the Great Chu Twins, had firm eyes and a calm face at this moment.
Cao Changqing once and western chu empress Jiang Si private assessment of a dynasty of military generals and ministers, most of them are mediocre, but only when it comes to Xie Xijian this favorite disciple, unprecedentedly, without stinting on the beautiful words, especially to “sand field with soldiers, turning stones into gold” eight words of the most important, but finally added a seemingly off-topic evaluation: Xie Xijian’s resilience, especially better than Kou Jianghuai. The last comment was added as if it was just a digression: Xie Xijian’s resilience is better than Kou Jianghuai’s.
Xie Xijian slowly closed his eyes, this even the young emperor of Liyang hate to recruit into the city of Tai’an young man, now is the dead people of Chu, but for the northern Liang will.
Da Chu in the past invincible in the spring and autumn two hundred years, break the enemy relied on three, firm armor strong bow, long lance halberd, military order system. In chu ginger room national strength is the most prosperous time, used to beat the border of the north of liyang dongyue two countries have no temper, like a strong man punching a child. Even if the military power of chu is in decline, is located in the northern corner of the nine states of spring and autumn, liyang began to pay attention to the cultivation of the cavalry, but in the battle of jinghe 120,000 halberdiers before the destruction of the whole army, the whole of the central plains is still convinced that the formation of a certain size of the liyang cavalry strength, against the history of this was known as the most powerful heavily armored foot soldier, absolutely can not take advantage of the slightest advantage, but the successive three wars of the battle of jinghe, the facts have proved as long as it is in the proper On the battlefield, the heavily armored foot soldiers without enough cavalry to support them on the side, even if their number is large, they can only wait to be killed, and they may not lose, but they definitely won’t get a big victory. The history books highly inferior to the western base wall of the classic battle of the cavalry and foot, has been Liyang historians and soldiers intentionally or unintentionally underestimated and belittled, for one thing, three battles, the two sides of the real battle deaths is not much, only 30,000, and secondly, the combination of cavalry and foot of the Xu family army, in order to prevent the key battle in the aftermath of the mistakes, choose to kill more than eighty thousand surrendered pawns in a tragic and horrific pit, coupled with the Liyang old emperor Zhao Li had sent a meritorious In addition, Zhao Li, the old emperor of Liyang at that time, had sent a meritorious veteran general to participate in a coordinated battle with two of Zhao’s clansmen. But that scene of the battle of the river, on the winning side of the Xu family had a great impact, Xu Snap then when visiting the battlefield with his subordinates, squatted down and gazed at the excellent iron armor of a halberdiers of Da Chu, long swords chopping, spears stabbing, but still roughly undamaged, sighed a sigh of relief, “people have died armor is still intact, if I have this kind of iron armor, how many people can die? We can’t go on being so poor.”
Since then, no matter how grueling the deadly hard battle afterwards as long as the military do not want silver Xu family, every time the camp breaks the city, began to large private deduction of equipment gold and silver, away from the sun countless magistrates slammed in the private pockets, is by no means wrong, of course, the people massacre Xu primrose also never denied that, especially at the end of the battle of the western bastion wall, Xu primrose to make a treacherous move, but also it is this matter, so that Xu and Zhao two families of the incense and fire love used to most of the Xu primrose to the Under the banner of the cavalry general Xu Pu and two sons Chen Zhi Bao and Yuan Zuozong gave a secret order, the three joined forces, successfully making the Xu family secretly gathered 10,000 troops, than the established candidate Li Yang earlier than the first night to break the capital of Western Chu, and after that it is a massive search for all the treasures that can be moved away in boxes of gold and silver, Xu Snap’s that popular and much criticized “shit is good to shit does not taste good”, this famous saying out of the blue, the first time I have ever heard of it. Xu Snap’s popular and much criticized saying “shit is good but not delicious”, this famous saying originated from, right after that raid, Liyang military sent a messenger with soldiers to ask for punishment, Xu Crippled said right to the point, “the thing has already reached my stomach, want to can only shit for you, do you want to eat?” It is said that the old emperor Zhao Li heard the report to the angry crying, and finally Xu Snapdragon just symbolic deductions to the imperial army spit out some of the spoils of war, not to be settled.
After sealing the king on the northwestern border, Xu Snapdragon’s obsession with equipment can be described as intensified, rather than the Northern Liang iron horsemen A world, rather than the superiority of the soldiers and horses A world.
In these twenty years, the smuggling of iron to the North Mang grasslands, away from the long Yang border line repeatedly prohibited, enjoy the half of the country’s tax tilt of the two Liao Liao border army small movements, extremely difficult to block, until Chen Zhi Bao briefly old Ministry of War and Gu Jiantang left the capital to personally sit down in the north, the two military power of the most important military big brother in this matter in close cooperation, which is only successful. Even if the military law is strict northern Liang border army, there are still a number of real power lieutenant therefore be beheaded on the spot, the wide range of implicated, from the pass will be kind of gateway to the pass outside the real power of the generals to the pass lieutenant finally to the size of the beacon flint, often an incident will fall nearly a hundred heads.
Grassland cavalry has never lacked horses but lack of armor, North Mang in the old woman after the throne has been greatly improved, taking advantage of the Hong Jia north run east wind, the whole country, from iron smelting technology to the army issued, are so. But the nomadic people some deep-rooted things, even twenty years of influence, still difficult to change, just like the previous destruction of the flow of state in the northwest of the South Raiders light cavalry, Qiang horsemen of the North Mang South Dynasty, and Hong Jingyan into the master of the Zojiran Iron Rangers and known as the “border cavalry light and heavy the most,” to the old woman’s vision and the importance of the South West Beijing temple, would not be With the vision of the old woman and the importance of the temple in the Western capital of the Southern Dynasty, would she not even have the courage to equip 10,000 Qiang horsemen with good equipment? However, the Qiang cavalry always maintain the leather armor fast horse short sword short spear light riding route, thunder and lightning, this can not be simply regarded as the North Mang cavalry gateway view, more is the trend of heroes make it.
North Mang cavalry’s hoof beats are getting heavier and heavier, coupled with the natural echoes of the corridor, coupled with the whistling sound of the North Mang after they thought they had won the battle, just like the flat earth exploding thunder, the sound force is majestic to the extreme.
Xie Xijian snapped his eyes open, drew out the cool sword at his waist, and angrily shouted, “Formation! Reject the horses!”
This time with the foot formation to block 50,000 northern mang cavalry, xie xiyi frontier in addition to flow state governor residence will be qualified to allocate down five thousand hard bow crossbow, also with the Liangzhou border army side to ask for eight hundred horse long lance, one thousand stranger sword!
Stranger sword rise in the spring and autumn of the southern tang dynasty, weighing more than fifty pounds, cast iron, non-military first-class sharp soldiers may not hold, when the southern tang dynasty border sixteen towns, more than seventy thousand soldiers and horses, strangers pawns, but more than two thousand people, the strength of the battle force, was the southern tang dynasty all the country are hailed as the king of the white blade, that if you can gather ten thousand strangers sword formation guarding the national gate, can block the 100,000 southern invasion of the iron cavalry. The old South Tang first general Gu Dazu followed the then son of Beiliang Xu Fengyin into Beiliang, in addition to breaking the qualification as a deputy commander of the infantry, in the young king of the clan’s strong support, pleaded with Gu Dazu to help Mojia momentary to build a new type of sword, so that in the future to be allocated to the border army of Beiliang, compared to the history of the South Tang soldiers of the fifty pounds of the sword, due to the Beiliang men are more robust, brawn is greater, Beiliang, such a well-deserved chopping saber is more heavy! The name of the sword is “Sixty Swords”, which has been humorously named by the Mozi master Song Chang Sui. Unfortunately, from the first LiangMang war has not yet begun to build, so far only try to cast more than a thousand, and in LiangZhou outside the battlefield is also very difficult to use, and then XieXiJian will all want to go over.
In addition, there is that one thousand long long lance, these step long lance than stranger sword more expensive, rare degree, enough to be staggering. Non-rong horse family son no to use horse lance, this is the horse lance since the birth of an iron law, one is no matter the horse lance step lance are extremely long, use extremely difficult, unusual cavalry use up will only be a snake to add feet. The second is the time-consuming extremely long, the workmanship of the fine, unimaginable, said at least three years to make a long lance, has always been the successive generations of the central plains riding will not be able to find the first class heart good, than the value of a thousand dollars of a good horse is also difficult to find.
Eight hundred poles step long spear, is the young feudal king personally ordered, almost equal to pull out the Xu family family background before gathering up a number, if not the northern Liang military law is not allowed to ride the general self-reliance status with long spear, coupled with the habitual hard life is also poor afraid of Xu Snapdragon in the Spring and Autumn Warfare late, intends to in the arsenal of folk big collection of long long long spear, otherwise it is simply delusional.
In the corridor, this rotten mountain monks and soldiers composed of flow state infantry, strict formation refuses horse.
The foremost is save long lance outward, cold light like snow!
Three hundred people for horizontal line, row three columns.
The first team holds the long lance kneeling, long lance diagonally raised forward. The second team flat end long long lance forward pointing, the third team set up the long lance in the front team soldier shoulder, the same forward tilt.
Three columns of long lance tip into forest cover under the front, in fact, there are hands and shoulders dead against the huge shield two rows of robust monk soldiers.
After the horse lance rejecting the horse, is each row of two hundred people divided into four rows of tall monk soldiers, holding chopping eight hundred horse stranger sword.
The big battle is coming, eight hundred people sitting on the ground rest, even the north mang cavalry blowing the charge horn, in the absence of the main general’s order, eight hundred strangers still may not hold the knife to get up, be sure to maximize the storage of physical strength.
Once the long lance rejects the horse monk soldier all die, will want this eight hundred stranger sword monk soldier column wall forward.
Gu Da Zu once boasted that before my South Tang Stranger Sword, people and horses are broken!
After this, there are 2,000 monks and monks with the flow of state border troops, plus 3,000 Rotten Mountain monks, equipped with 5,000 hard bow and crossbow.
The infantry formation against the enemy cavalry, the real first to block the cavalry charge, in fact, or these five thousand although the formation backward crossbowmen.
After Xie Xijian ordered the horses to form a formation, he did not continue to stop his horse at the end of the infantry formation.
Instead, he dismounted and walked to the back of the crossbowmen, took off the shield hanging on the side of the saddle, and then he stood at the front of the remaining monks’ formation with a sword in one hand and a shield in the other.
The North Mang cavalry that roared like thunder, the Liuzhou infantry formation that was as silent as a mountain.
In this unknown corridor, life and death are divided.
Later history books, whether it is a heavy ink and heavy pen rendering, or lightly written over, without exception, will be “six battles six but” for this battle for the coffin finalization.
The tragic battle, just four words, has been beyond reproach!