Ashina Sheer chose the northward reinforcements as the breakthrough point. On the one hand, he wanted to show his weight, and on the other hand, because these infantry were not covered by chariots and antlers, once they broke the formation, they would be defeated.
The sound of horse hooves is getting louder and louder. Ashina She'er, who is leading the army to confront Ma Sanbao, is a little nervous. Whether he can defeat the enemy in one fell swoop is at this moment... He does not take the Dai County reinforcements in his eyes. If he can repel the reinforcements from the north, , the Tang Army, which was about to collapse half an hour ago, would be hard-pressed to stop it from going north. After all, the Tang Army's cavalry had already lost most of its cavalry.
Getting closer and closer, a slight buzzing sound came, and the sky above the Tang army's rear formation was like dark clouds. In the blink of an eye, the dark clouds quickly rushed towards the approaching Turkic cavalry, and the neighing and wailing of the war horses immediately sounded, and they were shot The Turks who fell or were knocked down by their companions had almost no chance of survival under the hooves of thousands of horses.
Ashina She'er tightly grasped the mane of her mount, and her heart thumped. It's a crossbow arrow, it's a crossbow arrow!
After fighting with the Tang army for so many years, how could Ashina Sheer not know that Tang crossbows were only available to elites?
It seems that the elite of the Tang army are really here to help... It may be Li Jing, the general manager of Daizhou, or it may be Li Daozong, the general manager of Bingzhou.
The Turkic cavalry has never been known for charging into battle, but rather for riding and shooting. It stands to reason that when a crossbow strikes, they should immediately move their horses and move around, because they have no means of counterattack... The range of the cavalry bow is short, and it is not as good as the arrows. The upper-stepping bow, let alone compared with the Tang Nu.
But this time, the Turks did not drive their horses away, but kept moving forward despite the huge lethality brought by the crossbow arrows.
Ashina Sheer squinted his eyes and saw that the Tang army did not hold on, but continued to advance westward. A loud roar like a thunderbolt sounded. In the front line of the Jianghuai army, a short and stocky man dragged a long sword. After running out of the formation, the sword, which was longer than a man, bounced in the air and struck like lightning.
The cavalrymen who accompanied Ashina Sheer to invade Hedong this time were all Turkic elites and warriors on the grasslands. Although they were short of men and horses, they still had courage.
The Turkic cavalry at the front was preparing to charge forward, with the saber in his hand on the side, ready to chop down the short man who didn't know the height of the sky.
Unexpectedly, after a loud shout, a lightning-like sword flash passed by, and the majestic prairie warrior and the horse at his hip were chopped in half.
Huge noises resounded throughout the battlefield. Facing the Turkic cavalry for the first time, the Jianghuai soldiers excitedly charged back with shields or dragging their swords.
Hundreds of kilograms of war horses knocked down the first batch of Jianghuai soldiers, but then the sparse cavalry caused by Tang Nu was mixed into the Jianghuai soldiers, and a bloody hand-to-hand battle began.
Ashina She'er on the north side didn't move, and Li Jing on the bow deck didn't move either. They all stared silently at the bloody battlefield.
The crossbows were still being thrown at the Turkic rear army in batches. The Turks could no longer withstand such pressure, and the horses that were shot down or knocked down also blocked the path of the charge. The Turkic rear army had to stop or stop. , or run left and right.
The light of the swords flashed in the formation, and Kan Leng, who was holding the Mo Dao and slashing horizontally and vertically, under the cover of his shield, knocked down the cavalry he encountered with one strike.
Whenever you encounter Kan Leng, everyone will be torn apart.
Ashina She'er sighed and looked depressed, while Niu Bin and Guo Ziheng not far behind him... seemed to have lost their wives, rebelled against the Tang Dynasty but failed to achieve great victory, and failed to capture Yanmen Pass. They knew very well what this meant to them.
By the Hutuo River, more than a thousand Turkic cavalry charged into battle with a thousand Jianghuai infantry. Although they had the help of crossbows and arrows, the Turkic cavalry was so defeated that it was still jaw-dropping.
Li Jing, who was on the bow of the boat, breathed a sigh of relief and said with a smile: "Everyone in the world knows that brave men come from the north, but there are also brave men in the south of the Yangtze River."
Li Kai said: "I heard that Wu King Du Fuwei defeated the enemy on the battlefield and reviewed after the war. Those who were wounded behind were all bowed down. Therefore, the Jianghuai soldiers charged into the battle without fear of death."
Li Yiyan shook his head, "The land south of the Yangtze River has many mountains and rivers, but few plains. We can fight at close quarters, but today we are facing Turkic cavalry..."
The Turks had withdrawn their troops, and Ashina She'er also led his troops to retreat south. Li Jing, who was watching the battle, thought that the overall situation had been decided, and then turned around and said: "The Turks were defeated in this battle, first and foremost, with a rock-solid determination. These thousand Jianghuai soldiers were all the guards of King Wu back then." , and later returned to the command of Hou Kanleng of Linji County."
Li Kai nodded and said: "Huairen showed kindness to King Wu and Kan Leng, so he died in his service."
"Secondly, crossbows, armor, and swords are all sharp weapons, and I have to thank King Rencheng for the gift." Li Jing stroked his beard and said with a smile, "The Marquis of Linji County is a powerful general in the world, and there is no way he can stand in front of his horse."
"Last year, Yuan Junzhang led the Turks to defeat Li Gaoqian, the Duke of Jiangxia County, and the Turks rushed to Yanmen Pass." Li Yiyan recalled: "Huairen took over the defeated army, so he used the Linji County Marquis to lead the infantry to fight and defeated the Turks."
Li Jing nodded slightly and did not continue to explain... In fact, the advantage of cavalry against infantry was too great. A large part of the reason for today's victory was that these Turkic cavalry had been fighting for many days. They were tired of men and horses, and their combat power was weakened. They had to rush to defeat the enemy. However, Encountered elite heavy-armored infantry armed with crossbows, armor, and swords.
If the battle is on the plains, more than a thousand Turkic soldiers will use up their crossbows and can easily surround and kill thousands of infantry with mounted fire.
A low and rhythmic horn sound suddenly sounded. Kan Leng led hundreds of Jianghuai soldiers to march westward without mercy. Ma Sanbao and Guo Pu led the cavalry to protect the flanks. Knowing that there was no hope anymore, Ashina Sheer looked to the north. After a long time, the troops retreated to the southwest.
Although Li Jing was from the Li family in Longxi, he was born in Jingzhao, Guannei. He later lived in Hedong for a long time and served as the magistrate of Mayi County. He was very familiar with the geography of Hedong. When he saw the Turkic cavalry retreating to the southwest, he knew that there was no danger anymore. .
The southwest direction is towards the junction of Lingzhou and Lanzhou. The geography of Lingzhou is similar to the Hedong Road. There are high mountains and ridges on both sides of the east and west, with a basin in the middle and a large river connecting the north and south.
The Tang army was blocked in the south of Guoxian County. It was impossible for the Turkic cavalry to go north from other directions. After losing nearly half of their troops, it was impossible for them to go south from Lingzhou to attack Taiyuan Prefecture, which was ready to be armed as a hedgehog. The most likely option was to go west to Lanzhou. , fled back to Shuozhou from Loufanguan.
"Order to withdraw troops."
Li Kai and Li Yiyan were a little surprised. Since they had won a great victory, why didn't they pursue them fiercely but let the Turks escape?
Without waiting for the junior to ask questions, Li Jing moved his body slightly and whispered to the guards. Not long after, a small boat approached, and standing on it was a person who surprised both Li Kai and Li Yiyan.
"Zhang Gongjin!" Li Kai whispered, "How could it be him!"
Li Yiyan suddenly woke up, turned around and scanned the mighty ships on the river, as well as the soldiers who had landed, "No wonder we have to withdraw our troops..."
Li Jing was a little surprised, and glanced out of the corner of his eye, thinking that this Guzang's younger brother was better than Demou... Of course, Li Yiyan served as Prime Minister during the reign of Emperor Gaozong.
"Don't drive Zhang Gongjin on behalf of the state to pay homage to the manager."
"Hurry up, Hongshen. I haven't seen you for many years." Li Jing smiled and said, "Today's success, Hongshen has indeed made great achievements."
Zhang Gongjin said sternly: "Defeating the Turks and protecting Yanmen is really the merit of the county prince. My subordinates dare not take it rashly."
Li Jing laughed again and again, holding Zhang Gongjin's arm and walking into the cabin.
Li Kai hadn't figured out what was going on, but Li Yiyan had fully understood it. He glanced at the hundreds of Jianghuai soldiers who could no longer see clearly... No wonder Li Jing deployed a thousand Jianghuai soldiers on the river, and then headed towards Marching westward to face more than a thousand Turkic cavalry, Li Jing must have only these thousand Jianghuai troops to use.
Thinking of this, Li Yiyan felt the river breeze blowing coldly on his sweaty back.
