September 22nd.
Sunny, no wind, slightly cold.
After several days of fierce fighting, and after the Wang Zhang soldiers were forced to retreat with heavy casualties, the Turks no longer stared at the long eastern defense line and took action. The main force of the Turks stayed outside the range of the Tang soldiers' bows and arrows, and faced off from a distance.
In fact, Zhang Zhongjian was also greatly relieved. Although he knew that such heavy casualties for a long time would be absolutely unacceptable to Dubu Khan, he was also afraid that the opponent would not retreat.
The Tang Army has suffered more than 5,000 casualties so far. Although there are no injuries, the defense of Mingsha Camp requires a large number of soldiers. This is impossible because Zhang Zhongjian stored a large amount of grain, grass and ordnance here in advance. They all need space.
The scale of the camp cannot be modified, which means that the defensive area will not change. Once the casualties are too heavy, the defensive strength and thickness will be weakened.
The main Turkic force faced off from a distance, but it was not without any action. After testing, Dub Khan chose the south side. Although the terrain here is slightly higher, the defense seems to be much worse than the east defense line. There is no sheep and horse wall. There are no trenches or even low walls, which means that as long as you fight up against the rain of arrows, you can face the camp directly.
Standing high up, Zhang Zhongjian looked south in the distance, thinking in his mind that Dub Khan had slowed down the intensity and pace of his attacks. Was it because he couldn't bear such heavy casualties, or was there some other reason?
If you want to disrupt the opponent's rhythm, you must attack once, but choosing the time to attack and the target of the attack are very particular.
Zhang Zhongjian planned to place this bargaining chip on the south side. To this end, he had already transferred Hou Hongtao and a thousand heavy cavalry to the south.
"It's coming up over there." Hou Hongtao reminded.
Duan Zhixuan looked at it for a few times, smiled and gave some instructions. Hundreds of Tang soldiers from behind joined in and fought with the Turkic infantry who climbed up. The Tang army did not rely on the fence of the camp to defend, but went straight to fight the Turks face to face. .
The gap in equipment and ordnance was fully exposed in the fight. The shield in the hand of a sword-and-shield soldier was knocked off. He was hit by two swords and one shot with his cotton armor. The long knife in his hand flew up and down, and blood was sprayed. In a flash, three or four Turkic soldiers were cut down.
After a moment of stalemate, the Turkic soldiers slowly withdrew back. The Tang army hesitated for a moment. The leading colonel looked at Duan Zhixuan's flag from afar and ordered the troops to withdraw angrily, without pursuing them.
"It's almost done, right?" Duan Zhixuan looked at the Turkic cavalry walking horizontally down the hillside.
"Zhang Sanlang... uh, the Duke of Guangling County has an order and personally ordered the cavalry to go out." Hou Hongtao reminded: "You should be careful!"
Duan Zhixuan was expelled by Li Shan in Dai County and lost a lot of face. Later, in the battle of Jingzhou, he pursued Dubu Khan and seized the Khan's flag, but was punished. He was a restless guy.
Hou Hongtao only followed Li Shan after the Daizhou War. He saved Duan Zhixuan's life in a dangerous battle in Tiantai Mountain. The two had a close friendship, so he kindly reminded him.
Duan Zhixuan chuckled and said nothing more, just watching the battle. The Turks had launched three attacks, but the thunder was loud and the rain was light. However, there were more and more Turkic cavalry under the hillside.
The hillside is not too steep, and war horses can gallop, but the speed will not be very fast, and they will inevitably be covered by arrows. Moreover, once the war horse is shot, it will not continue forward, but will fall backwards due to the angle, causing It is very difficult for cavalry to charge into battle, which is why the Turks have always chosen the eastern defense line.
"Here we go again." Duan Zhixuan licked his lips, "This time we're going to do it for real!"
At the foot of the hillside, a large number of Turkic soldiers dismounted, holding iron spears, long knives, and wooden shields, and slowly climbed up. Duan Zhixuan glanced at them, and there were about a thousand people.
The Turkic cavalry were also gathering at the foot of the hillside. There were about two to three thousand cavalry. Once the infantry in front could stand their ground, the Turkic cavalry in the rear would rush up quickly without them having to break through the wooden fence.
As long as they can break into the camp, they can create chaos. They may not be able to break through the camp, but maybe the Tang army will be in chaos.
Duan Zhixuan's eyes were filled with excitement, bloodlust, and hope. He turned around and ordered his bodyguard to bring his mount, and he personally held a long horse pole.
"Don't worry." Hou Hongtao whispered, "Zhang Sanlang is right behind."
"Um."
Hou Hongtao was a little helpless. This general of the Tiance Mansion was too out-of-touch. Zhang Zhongjian gave him instructions twice. On the one hand, he had to get his permission before he could go out. On the other hand, he asked Duan Zhixuan to stick to the defense line and tire the Turks. Depends on the situation of the war.
But Duan Zhixuan didn't seem to think so.
This time the Turkic attack seemed to be quite organized. They no longer rushed forward in a chaotic manner, but slowly moved forward holding a shield made of wood. This kind of shield was of little use in a battle formation, let alone encountering Ma Shan. , a spear, even a long knife may split it, but it is no problem to deal with the arrow rain.
Three consecutive arrows rained down. The bow power of the infantry bow was stronger than that of the cavalry bow. This time it was condescending, but it failed to achieve any good results. Hou Hongtao thought in his heart that King Ashina's tent soldiers also had many leaders the day before yesterday. Wearing shields to resist the rain of arrows, it seems that there should be tribes in the Turkic camp that make simple weapons. They may be the Xi tribe. The siege equipment used to attack Yanmen Pass and Guji Town was made by this tribe.
Seeing that there was no effect, Duan Zhixuan ordered the archers to stop firing arrows. Although there were enough weapons in the Mingsha camp, and there were mountains of arrows alone, no one knew how long this war would last, so it was better to be sparing. use.
Two quarters of an hour later, the Turkic infantry finally approached. The dozens of shields at the front moved away, and only the sound of bow strings was heard. Nearly a hundred long arrows were shot out, but they hit the shields that the Tang army had prepared.
Both sides were ready, but the bows and arrows had no effect. The next moment, a general of the Tang army held an iron spear, shouted for peace, and led more than a hundred Tang soldiers under his command to serve as the vanguard and kill the generals.
On the flat ground less than fifty steps away from the camp gate, the Turks no longer attacked from their backs. Although they still suffered a slight loss due to their weapons, armor and other equipment, they moved forward bravely and refused to retreat.
The infantry of both sides were entangled on the ground, and the screams were almost continuous. There were Turkic soldiers and Tang soldiers... Unlike the eastern defense line, there were no trenches, no sheep and horse walls, and no low walls. Relying on this, Tang soldiers were fighting face to face with enemy soldiers.
Duan Zhixuan looked at this scene with a cold face and murmured in a low voice. Hou Hongtao on the side listened attentively...wait, wait.
The Turkic cavalry who had gathered at the foot of the hillside were waiting quietly, and did not rush towards them at any speed. The Tang army in the camp was also waiting quietly, and did not come out of camp to help. Both sides seemed to be waiting for something.
After a moment, Duan Zhixuan no longer hesitated and said, "Thirty steps back."
"What?!" Hou Hongtao grabbed Duan Zhixuan's arm, "What do you want to do?!"
The battlefield is already very close to the camp gate. If you retreat thirty steps, you will almost be fighting outside the camp gate. If someone is not killed by the Turks, even if you can counterattack and drive the Turks away, you will definitely suffer heavy losses... What's more important is that , Retreating during a fierce battle is a taboo in military affairs and can easily lead to a wavering of military morale.
Duan Zhixuan did not answer, but threw away Hou Hongtao's hand and shouted loudly. The latter was stunned to see hundreds of big men pouring out from behind, led by Kan Ling, who was holding a Mo Dao as tall as one person.
(End of chapter)
