At this time, Cao Zhang, with less than a thousand soldiers left around him, had gradually retreated to the center of the camp.
All their grain and grass were piled here, and Xu Shu led 500 people to guard it.
The terrain here is a gentle slope at the top, only a few feet high, with a slight slope, but not very steep.
All the grain, grass and materials have been transferred to the vehicles and horses and transported to the slope.
Although Xu Shu knew that Cao Zhang's arrangement was to win the trust of the Xiliang army and continuously lead them into the ambush circle, the enemy's strength, large number, and killing shouts from all directions still made Xu Shu feel nervous!
Cao Zhang led his soldiers back up the slope quickly and stood on the edge of the slope.
Cao Zhang realized that he had reached the limit of retreat and could no longer retreat, so he calmly issued the command: "Ring formation, protect!"
The soldiers around Cao Zhang were elite soldiers carefully trained by Xu Huang, but they were said to be the most elite among Cao Zhang's troops on this expedition.
Cao Zhang also knew that it would be very dangerous for him to serve as a bait, so he allotted the best armor and equipment to these thousand soldiers.
Xu Huang usually trains these soldiers extremely rigorously. In addition to practicing various combat techniques on the battlefield, he also often practices various formation tactics, so they are very fast and proficient in operation.
Now there are enemies attacking from all directions. Taking advantage of the terrain of the slope, forming a circular formation, protecting Cao Zhang and the grain and grass camp in the middle, and blocking the enemy from a high position, is the best defensive formation.
When the soldiers heard Cao Zhang's order, they acted quickly. Some of them overlapped the round shields, and some stretched out the spears in their hands from the gaps in the round shields. They interlaced with each other and quickly tightened them to form a circular defensive array.
Cao Zhang led dozens of soldiers to stand in the ring formation. As a second layer of defense, they could be mobilized at any time to supplement the destroyed outer ring defense.
This circular defensive formation protected Cao Zhang, Xu Shu and the grain and grass carts in the middle.
As soon as the circular formation was arranged, Li Shi's troops had already arrived. He looked at Cao Zhang's army who was on the defensive in front of him. He became ferocious and pointed his sword at Cao Zhang's army: "Fire arrows for me, kill all Cao Zhang's troops, and behead Cao Zhang." !”
The enemy army only has less than a thousand men. According to Li Shi's concept, it only takes a moment to kill them all, capture Cao Zhang, and take revenge!
Following Li Shi's instructions, the Xiliang army first launched an attack with bows and arrows.
The circular formation effectively protected Cao Zhang and others in the center of the slope as well as the soldiers hiding behind the round shields, without causing too many casualties.
Li Shi outside the ring formation couldn't help but frowned, and immediately gave the command to charge: "Charge!"
Under Li Shi's instructions, the soldiers of the Xiliang Army brandished their spears and launched a fierce attack on the ring formation of Cao Zhang's army.
Xu Shu stood in the middle of the ring formation. Although the first round of enemy bow and arrow attacks were tightly defended, it still made him feel a little panicked.
Although Cao Zhang's army was elite, they faced an elite Xiliang army that was several times their number. He was really unsure whether they could withstand the second round of attacks.
The soldiers of the Xiliang Army attacked the ring formation one after another, but the defense effect of the ring formation was very good. Cao Zhang's army's heavy armor and weapons were extremely sophisticated.
They also had the advantage of terrain and condescending defense. The Xiliang army's attack could not break through at all. Instead, Cao Zhang's army killed a group of soldiers with spears thrust out from the gaps.
Li Shi was anxious when he saw this. He didn't expect that a defense composed of just a thousand people would be so difficult to break through.
"Cavalry charge!" Li Shi issued an almost crazy order!
On the battlefield, spearmen have always been able to cause a certain amount of damage to cavalry, so it is not easy for cavalry to attack spearmen head-on, because this will cause increased casualties to cavalry.
But now Li Shi had completely lost his cool. Since the infantry could not break through the defense of the ring formation, he decided to use the powerful impact of the Xiliang cavalry to break through the ring formation and open a breakthrough.
Anyway, his current military strength is far superior to that of Cao Zhang. Even if he sacrifices some horses and cavalry, he will not hesitate to kill Cao Zhang at any cost!
Several Xiliang cavalry lined up in a row, opened a certain distance, and launched a charge towards the circular formation on the slope.
This impact mode uses the speed and inertia of the horse to create a powerful impact.
Li Shi hoped to use this impact force to break through the defense of the ring formation.
Boom!
After the war horses collided with the round shield formation, Cao's soldiers behind the round shields received the impact and fell backwards.
Although the war horses and the knights on them were also stabbed by the spears protruding from the gaps during the impact, the simultaneous impact from all directions still knocked open countless gaps in the ring formation.
Although Cao Zhang immediately ordered the soldiers around him to replenish, the number of Xiliang troops was too great. The war horses were like rising waves, attacking wave after wave. The circular formation gradually became unable to withstand it and was in danger of being washed away. !
Seeing that the situation was critical, Xu Shu quickly rushed to Cao Zhang, who was commanding the battle, and whispered: "Sir, the enemy army is strong. Can you send a signal for General Duan and Gongming to attack?!"
Cao Zhang was at a high place, looking up into the distance and assessing the situation of the Xiliang army.
The entire camp was filled with the light of torches, allowing him to clearly see the enemy's situation. Nearly half of the 30,000 Xiliang troops were charging into the camp and had not fully entered.
What Cao Zhang wanted was to completely annihilate the main force of the Xiliang Army, so he said firmly: "No rush, wait until all the Xiliang Army enters the camp!"
"Then let my five hundred soldiers join the defense, and now they will be unable to withstand it soon?" Xu Shu suggested to Cao Zhang.
"Okay!" Cao Zhang knew that delaying for a little longer would allow more Xiliang troops to enter the ambush circle, so he decisively agreed to Xu Shu's suggestion.
Xu Shu quickly waved his hand, and the five hundred soldiers he was responsible for guarding the food were quickly replenished and joined the defense of the ring formation.
It's just that the Xiliang Army has too many people. The addition of these 500 people is just a drop in the bucket and has no effect at all. The gaps in the circular formation are still increasing.
Li Huan also rushed in at this time and came to Li Shi's side.
When he saw Li Shi ordering the cavalry to attack the ring formation in a suicidal manner regardless of the cost, he cried out distressedly: "Shi'er, what are you doing!?"
The Xiliang army is famous for its ferocious cavalry. In this period of scarce resources, the training of a war horse and a knight requires a lot of financial resources and energy.
But Li Shi spent so much, how could Li Huan not feel sad! ?
Li Shi pointed his finger at Cao Zhangjun who was in the ring formation on the slope, and loudly responded to Li Huan: "Uncle, take a good look. Cao Zhangjun's grain and grass supplies are all here. He has mobilized all the last troops to guard the grain and grass. Now! As long as we break away from his formation, we can kill Cao Zhang, so what does it mean to sacrifice a few horses and knights!?"
After listening to Li Shi's explanation, Li Huan turned his head and looked into the ring formation. Sure enough, he saw that the situation was just as Li Shi said, and Cao Zhangjun was in a desperate situation.
Li Huan no longer hesitated. After all, he killed Cao Zhang, defeated Cao's army, and robbed the grain, grass and baggage, which was enough to make up for the current losses.
"Kill!" Li Huan waved his sword and gave the command to attack loudly.
The two generals who commanded the army issued an attack order together. The Xiliang army was like crazy, wielding spears and swords, and attacked the ring formation from various gaps.
At this time, the circular formation had been completely dispersed, and Cao Zhangjun's soldiers had lost their formation and fell into a final bitter battle.
"Master, give the order!" Xu Shu urged Cao Zhang. The situation at this time was already quite critical.
Cao Zhang looked up and looked around. They were surrounded by the heads of the Xiliang Army soldiers. The number of enemy troops entering Cao Zhang's army camp had definitely reached its peak.
"Give the signal!" Cao Zhang no longer hesitated and decisively issued the order to launch an attack!
