The strong wind was like a knife, cutting through the gaps in the armor, making people feel cold all over.
Meng Longfu galloped at the front of the queue. As the sharpest point in the cone-shaped battle formation, he felt his blood boiling all over and couldn't help but want to roar loudly.
Yang Anxuan's instructions before the formation rang out in his mind, "Change direction at 200 steps, switch to the left side and attack the light cavalry, penetrate through, don't let the battle linger."
He raised his head and glanced at the dense forest of guns 200 paces away. Meng Longfu took the reins and the war horse galloped to the left. The Qingqi followed him like a shadow, galloping to the left behind him.
Feng Gaiyi frowned. It seemed that his opponent did not intend to fight head-on and wanted to break through from both wings. If the distance is too far, the bow and arrow will not be lethal enough, and the crossbow will not be effective.
"Move out both wings, and the central army will advance forward," Feng Gai ordered.
The flag was waved, and the Qingqi on Feng Gai's left side shot out towards Meng Longfu, while the Qingqi on the right side rushed towards the middle of Yongzhou Qingqi.
Yang Anxuan was hidden in the queue. When he saw the light cavalry on the right approaching within fifty steps, he raised his horse high and shouted: "Meet the enemy."
It had been explained in advance which of the Yongzhou Qingqi would follow Meng Longfu and which would turn right with Yang Anxuan.
The flood-like array was divided into two, and Yang Anxuan rode his horse to the front. The strong wind was cut by the front, making a low whistle.
The Star Chasing Horse wears a veil and a chicken neck, but does not wear a breastplate, body armor, back and parasitism (1). The weight of the horse armor is reduced by more than half, and the Star Chasing Horse walks lightly and leads the way.
The four hundred horses behind Yang Anxuan were all wearing face curtains and chicken necks. The rest of the horses were not wearing armor, which greatly reduced the load on the horses. These war horses are all good horses, and when they run, they "whir" and carry the wind.
Feng Gai saw a section of Yongzhou Qingqi separated, and then he saw that those war horses were actually equipped with face curtains and chicken necks. Yang Anxuan disassembled the armor and riding equipment and used it, which made him make a mistake in judgment again.
"Bang the drum, hurry up and move forward." Feng Gai ordered calmly.
Fighters change rapidly, and accidents are inevitable. As a veteran on the battlefield, Feng should know how to adapt to changes.
As long as one's own Qingqi entangles Yongzhou's Qingqi, and when the infantry come forward to encircle them, those unarmored horses will be penetrated by spears.
Hu Yanbing looked forward, staring at the Yongzhou general at the front. The fast horse, the long horse, and the black leather armor on his body could be Yang Anxuan, the governor of Yongzhou.
My heart became hot. Hu Yanbing was from Xianbei and was a general of the Yan State. After Yan was defeated by the Wei army, he fled to the Eastern Jin Dynasty and later joined Huanxuan's army in Jingzhou.
Because he was skilled in pommel and horse riding and was good at riding and shooting, he was favored by Feng Gai and appointed as a captain of the cavalry army. Following Feng Gai, he made meritorious service in attacking Liyang City and was promoted to the general of raiding the captives.
During this expedition, Feng Gai had a message first. Who could capture Yang Anxuan and be promoted to the third level? Hu Yanbing waved the iron whip in his hand, preparing to knock the opponent off his horse with one whip.
Only five steps away, Ma Shan stabbed at Hu Yanbing with his sharp whistle. Hu Yanbing took his left foot off the stirrup, turned away from the horse's back, raised the iron whip high, and hit Yang Anxuan's head with all his strength.
Yang Anxuan held the horse with both hands and thrust it horizontally outward. The iron whip hit the body of the horse, causing the horse to bend downwards.
Heat surged in Qi Lun Dantian's arms. Yang Anxuan shouted loudly and jumped outwards, raising the iron whip several feet.
The two horses intertwined, Yang Anxuan spun his body, and the tip of his horse drew an arc of light and cut towards Hu Yanbing's waist.
At this time, the iron whip was still in the air. Hu Yanbing could not parry, so he had to roll to the outside and fell off the horse to the ground.
Yang Anxuan ignored him and Ma Shan stabbed left and right, carving out a path of blood like the tip of an arrow. Countless horse hooves trampled over Hu Yanbing's body, leaving a bloody corpse on the ice-hard ground.
On the other side, Meng Longfu also engaged Feng Gai Qingqi, his sword raised, and the sound of killing became loud.
Feng Gai watched the Qingqi engage in the battle, and saw that it was his own Qingqi who fell from his horse with blood splattering. Yongzhou Qingqi easily broke through his own army like a sharp blade cutting wood.
Feng Gai's eyes widened. He saw two swords colliding together. The sword in the hands of his own soldiers was actually split into two pieces. The sword in the hands of the Yongzhou army fell on Erlang, bringing a rain of blood.
Where did the Yongzhou army get the sharp blades? How could everyone have swords and sharp weapons in their hands? Feng Gai was horrified.
Eye
Seeing that Yongzhou's Qingqi easily penetrated into his own camp and tore the formation apart, his own soldiers subconsciously gave way. Feng Gai secretly thought something was wrong. At this time, the infantry were still fifty steps apart and could not catch up.
Feng Gai immediately ordered: "Blow the trumpet and the infantry will stop advancing and form a defensive formation."
Looking at the scattered Qingqi, Feng Gai was heartbroken and said in a deep voice: "Order the Qingqi to gather up and move back, behind the formation."
Soon, Yang Anxuan killed the enemy, turned around and saw that Feng Gai's Qingqi did not turn around, but walked backwards.
Feng Gai's infantry quickly formed a circular formation, with the shield wall outside and spears like a forest, like a big hedgehog.
Feng Gai stood in the formation and shouted loudly: "The enemy is eighty paces away, and the archers are spreading."
There were 800 archers among the three thousand infantry. Feng Gai believed that Yongzhou's heavy and light cavalry, wearing only face curtains and chicken necks, would not dare to collide with the circular formation formed by spears and shields.
Yang Anxuan met Meng Longfu again, looked at Feng Gai's army forming a circular formation, and said with a smile: "Yu Fei, let me see the power of the Shenshe Battalion."
There are thousands of people in the Marksman Battalion, 400 of whom are mounted archers. This time all the mounted archers went south with the army.
Yu Fei responded in a deep voice, raising the bow in his hand in place of a military order, and the three hundred cavalry shooting water behind him rushed out like a torrent.
"Archers prepare," a roar rang out, and the archers in the circle were waiting with their bows bent, heading towards the rushing Yongzhou Qingqi.
However, Yongzhou Qingqi began to circle around the circular formation at eighty paces, and Yu Fei shot the first arrow towards the circular formation.
The arrow tore through the void and let out a scream of death. It fell from the top of the shield into the circular formation. There was a groan of pain. A soldier holding a gun was hit by an arrow in the shoulder.
Immediately afterwards, Yongzhou Qingqi bent their bows and shot arrows into the formation. The shields on the outer edge made a continuous "click" sound, and half of the arrows only crossed the shield wall and flew towards the formation.
A wooden shield wall was quickly built diagonally in the circular formation. The arrow fell on the shield and penetrated straight into it. His hand was penetrated by the sharp arrow, and the shield holder screamed and fell to the ground.
Some arrows only squeezed in through the gaps in the shield, and people kept falling to the ground after being hit by arrows. The shield wall in the formation quickly became in pieces.
The archers under Feng Gai's command fought back, and the black arrows only dyed the gloomy sky even colder, but most of the arrows fell into the air.
Compared to Yongzhou Qingqi, who is nearly ten feet taller on horseback and can also rely on horse power, the range of the arrows shot by the archers in the circular formation is inevitably inferior.
Feng Gai was surrounded by personal guards, holding round shields to block random arrows for him. Seeing that the Yongzhou army's arrows could only penetrate the shield, Feng Gai's heart became heavier and he said, "Bring a shield with arrows here."
A soldier presented a bloody shield with five sharp arrows stuck on it, three of which penetrated the shield and penetrated more than half a foot.
Feng Gai reached out and pulled out an arrow, tested the sharpness of the arrow with his hand, and then stabbed the shield with all his strength.
There are several types of shields used in the army. The outermost layer is a long shield, which is oblong in shape, as tall as a person, and can stand on the ground. It is made of iron or wood. The wooden shield is covered with leather. It is very strong and can be used. Defend only a volley of arrows.
The shields in the inner circle are mostly round shields or small shields, made of wood, bamboo, or rattan, and are covered with cowhide on the outside. They are about two feet in diameter and are more lightweight.
The round shield in Feng Gai's hand was made of pine wood. It was about an inch thick and covered with cowhide. It was very strong. The arrowhead stabbed forward, easily piercing the cowhide, and penetrated three points into the wood.
The guard next to him exclaimed: "What a profitable arrow."
Feng Gai asked his bodyguard to pull out an arrow of his own, and pierced the shield with the same force, leaving only a shallow mark on the cowhide.
Miserable screams came one after another, and the rain of arrows was like a dark cloud, which made Feng Gai breathless. He had been fighting for decades and had never seen such sharp swords and arrows.
Seeing his subordinates being devoured by the Yongzhou cavalry and archery army, Feng Gai felt that he had no choice but to wait until the Yongzhou army ran out of bows and arrows.
A cold arrow flew towards him, and the guards beside him quickly raised their shields to protect Feng Gai. With a "click" sound, the arrow just passed through the shield and almost hurt the hand holding the shield.
"General Feng, the enemy is fierce and trapping is not an option. Let's retreat to the camp temporarily." Marching Sima Wang Fei huddled behind his shield and suggested.
Feng Gai looked at the Yongzhou Qingqi who was showing off his power more than a hundred paces away and thought for a moment.
: "Let the camp send reinforcements."
Setting off from Dangyang, Feng Gai led four thousand light cavalry and six thousand infantry, leaving two thousand soldiers and horses to garrison Dangyang. There were 2,000 light cavalry and 3,000 infantry on the battlefield this time, and half of them were left in the camp.
Feng Gai judged that the Yongzhou army was just a test, because Yang Anxuan only led 2,000 light cavalry in the battle, and he must not have thought that all of them would be accomplished in one battle.
Looking at the sons who were suppressed and beaten, Feng Gai was not discouraged. He had fought more than a hundred battles in his life, with wins and losses, as long as he had the last laugh.
The sharp swords and sharp arrows of the Yongzhou Army are difficult to resist. Instead of facing a disadvantage in the attack, they have to adjust their deployment, defend according to the camp, and even retreat to Dangyang.
Yang Anxuan was surrounded by enemies on all sides and used a state to fight against the imperial court. The longer the delay lasted, the more disadvantageous it would be for him.
The horn sounded across the sky. When the camp guard heard the general calling for help, he immediately sent out all 2,000 light cavalry, and 1,500 infantry filed out from the camp gate.
When Yang Anxuan heard the enemy's horn sound, he laughed and said: "Feng Gai wants to withdraw. All the soldiers bypassed Feng Gai's circular formation and attacked the reinforcements who came out of the camp with all their strength."
The battlefield is nearly three miles away from Feng Gai's military camp. The soldiers in the camp will understand the battle situation through signals such as horn sounds and flag waving. But after all, they are separated by a distance and they are not very clear about the battle situation.
Yongzhou Qingqi split into two, bypassed the circular formation deployed by Feng Gai from the left and right, and attacked towards the camp.
Feng Gai did not expect that Yang Anxuan would dare to risk an attack, and immediately ordered: "The circular formation moves towards the camp to flank the Yongzhou Army."
Yang Anxuan galloped on his horse, the wind howling in his ears. He knew that the victory of this battle depended on whether he could defeat the reinforcements before Feng Gai's army encircled him.
The four hundred mounted archers were divided into two, and they were the first to show off their power. The sound of arrows "chichi" crackled through the air, and the light cavalry that left the camp immediately fell over and became a mess.
The horses that had lost their masters fled in all directions, rushing the infantry who were arrayed out of the camp, and the scene was chaotic.
Feng Gai was very worried and ordered: "Let Qingqi intercept Yongzhou Qingqi, no matter the cost."
The low horn conveyed the military order, and the remaining Qingqi rushed toward Yongzhou Qingqi in chaos.
Yang Anxuan used the horse spear in his hand to knock down a knight, stepped sideways to get out of the way of the incoming steel knife, and then stabbed him with his long spear. The opponent hurriedly rode out of the way, clearing the way forward.
Yang Anxuan rode his horse and waved his sword, fighting all the way. Not far away, Meng Longfu came on horseback. Two teams of Yongzhou's light cavalry passed by and cut Feng Gai's army in two when they left the camp.
Yang Anxuan waved his hand and pointed at the camp that had not been closed, and shouted: "A team of two hundred people, rush in and set the camp on fire."
The sound of hoofbeats rolled, and Yang Anxuan rushed into the camp covered in blood as he rushed through the chaotic infantry.
The soldiers in the camp did not expect that the Yongzhou army could rush into the camp. The soldiers on the archery tower watched the soldiers from both sides mixed together and did not dare to release arrows easily.
Yu Fei followed closely at Yang Anxuan's side, his bow firing like a thunderbolt and the arrows fired without missing a beat. The soldiers on the archery tower fell down one after another at the sound of the bow.
The weather was cold and damp, and a brazier was burning in the hollow of the camp. Yang Anxuan pierced the brazier, picked it up, and flew all the way to sprinkle the brazier onto the tent.
The soldiers around him followed suit, and within a moment, thick smoke billowed out of Feng Gai's camp, merging with the dark clouds under the sky, like the black bottom of a pot.
Feng Gai led his army to the camp gate. The ground was littered with corpses. The injured and fallen horses were neighing miserably. The strong smell of blood could not be dispersed by the whistling north wind.
Seeing the fire in the camp, Feng should know that even if he rushed into the camp, it would be difficult to save the food, grass and baggage. The Yongzhou army was all light cavalry, mobile and sharp, and when the county Yongzhou army arrived, the situation would only get worse.
"Sound the horn and withdraw."
A raging fire burned in Feng Gai's military camp, and the granary on the southeast side exuded the smell of burnt corn. Yang Anxuan stationed his horse half a mile away, watching Feng Gai's army form a formation and evacuate south.
Meng Longfu patted his mount and said with a smile, "My lord, why don't you catch up?"
Yang Anxuan said: "The men and horses are exhausted, and the arrows are all used up. Feng Gai is a veteran on the battlefield. He must be on strict guard when withdrawing and not to lose the soldiers. Order the officers and soldiers in the city to go out of the city and clean the battlefield."
