The terrain around Kaifeng is flat, with a few highlands occasionally, such as Shoushan Genyue and Chigang in the northeast, and Tuomugang in the northwest. The terrain is actually gentle, and is at most one or two feet higher than the surrounding plains. As for the long east-west moraine created by the sedimentation of mud and sand after the Yellow River burst, it was not enough to hinder the march of soldiers and horses.
However, these terrains are enough to obscure the view.
Monk Wanyan Chen led his five hundred cavalrymen and galloped between two long moraine.
He and his men were the first to rush out of Lincai Pass after Wanyan Congtan ordered the dispatch of troops. Because Ding Haijun was already approaching Guancheng, and the distance between the soldiers and horses of both sides was very close, they should have been the first vanguard to collide with Ding Haijun.
But they didn't just rush straight through.
Although Monk Wanyan Chen himself is passionate, he has also experienced a lot of tempering and is quite capable of battlefield strategy. While galloping, he shouted into the wind and said to his companions behind him:
"Just now we saw that the Ding Navy set up a horizontal formation in front of Guancheng to act as the vanguard of our army, and also set up two crooks on the left and right to outflank and intercept. If we forcefully attack its horizontal formation, the losses will be huge! "
His closest lieutenant, the Naiman who was missing half of his tongue, said "Ahhh" twice.
Monk Wanyan Chen added: "So, we won't fight this kind of battle, let He Shilie Qier and others charge! We will go straight in from the gap between the horizontal formation and the kidnapping formation on the right!"
His shouts faded quickly in the fierce wind. Another deputy general urged his horse to catch up from the side, and shouted close to him: "Put straight in, what's there?"
"I just saw it clearly from the watchtower. Behind the horizontal formation, there was a group of baggage vehicles. The vehicles carried a lot of supplies and were covered with tarpaulins. They should be carrying arrows and replacement armor and stomach equipment needed for combat! We were caught by surprise. Kill them, burn those supplies, and use fire to cut off the connection between the enemy's horizontal formation and the central army's main force in the rear! In this way, the enemy's front line will be in chaos. Marshal Congtan and several captains will not be able to break the horizontal formation. Disaster!"
This strategy seems simple, but it is actually very risky. The location of the baggage convoy was preceded by Ding Haijun's frontal formation, flanked by Ding Hai Hai's left and right winged cavalry, and behind were heavy Chinese troops, as well as the cavalry of the team led by Guo Ning, watching eagerly.
Inserting it directly like this is like pulling out a tooth from a tiger's mouth, and it requires a lot of fanfare. While blocking the enemy forces, they will be under the attention of enemy forces from all directions. It may be extremely difficult to escape.
But Monk Wanyan Chen’s subordinates were all desperadoes, and everyone said: “Captain’s brilliant plan!”
At this time, in front of the queue, a cavalryman running along the edge of the long moraine shouted: "Captain, Captain He Shilie, and Captain Jiagu's soldiers are all rushing forward! We are about to collide! Collide. It’s on!”
Monk Wanyan Chen waved his hand, indicating to his men to speed up, and he rode his horse close to Changqi.
This kind of long moraine was formed by the overflow of the Yellow River. It is covered with small gravels. It makes a rattling sound when horses step on it. If you keep galloping on it, it is easy to sprain your feet. Therefore, even the elite cavalrymen under Monk Wanyan Chen were running on the dirt road below and could not easily go to high places. This was not entirely to hide their figures.
Monk Wanyan Chen was born in Fengzhou and had excellent riding skills. When he was reduced to the grasslands, even the Mongolian cavalry admired his skills. He didn't care about the slight danger under the horse's hooves. He rode the horse on the gravel and easily climbed to the halfway point of the high slope, exposing his head and looking far away.
The Jin army charged with a desperate belief, and the momentum was extremely fierce. When they collided head-on with Ding Haijun, the sound of the armor, shields, and swords and guns colliding violently was like dozens of siege hammers hitting the door at the same time. From south to north, along the contact line that is dozens of feet long, dust rises like a cloud wall rising from the ground.
In the diffuse dust, it was difficult to see the details of the battle, but the roars of men and horses could be heard, and the sound of the collision of gold and iron was so dense that it seemed as if the steel had turned into molten iron, and then boiled again.
The Thirteen Captains of Kaifeng were indeed the elites who had been trained hard by King Sui for two years. When they went south before, the Song Dynasty often used two, three or even more troops, but they could not overwhelm them and could only try their best to entangle them. At this moment, they were all fighting to the death, and they unleashed an unprecedented impact.
For a moment, the Dinghai navy's horizontal formation was slightly frustrated, and the generals at the rear shouted repeatedly. They were constantly arranging their own formations to push the new troops to the front.
Such a response is naturally correct. When you listen to the order, you will know that the generals of the navy have rich battlefield experience, and their subordinates are well-trained, and they can follow the generals' shouts and queue up from the front in groups. Move freely between gaps.
However, using troops like this is still a bit sluggish.
The characteristic of the horizontal formation is that it retreats and comes back, becomes heavier and tougher, and does not need to be as stationary as the square formation. The horizontal formation in front of them was facing a frontal attack by the soldiers of the Thirteen Captains, but there was no intention of advancing or retreating.
Are you planning to win purely by relying on human lives? Or are you counting on the interception of the two-winged kidnappers?
It is said that when Guo Ning went into battle, he used his elite soldiers to attack hard and defeat the enemy head-on with violent force to win. But we have invested so much strength. Behind He Shilieqier and Jia Guze, there are two captains' subordinates and Wanyan Congtan's subordinates. With Wanyan Congtan's vision, he will definitely be able to find the enemy. of omissions, and then launch an attack...
Even if they can't be found, 30,000 gold troops stacked up layer by layer, just like the wave getting higher and higher, will definitely be able to overwhelm the opponent!
The Jin Army at this moment came here to fight for their lives. Anyway, we are in a desperate situation and we no longer care about human life. Even if we exchange one for one, will we still suffer a loss? After all, if the navy forces a strong force and fortifies the city, they cannot afford to kill anyone!
Monk Wanyan Chen was vaguely happy when he saw this.
I will definitely be able to suppress the enemy from the front. When I am able to outflank and volley in place, I will destroy their supplies, cut off their retreat, demoralize them, and make their array collapse!
Thinking of this, he shook the reins vigorously, intending to speed up and rush to the front of his own cavalry.
At this moment, he saw several small black dots flying out from the direction of the convoy that looked like a baggage train.
The small black dot drew an arc in the air and landed diagonally thirty or forty steps in front of the Dingjun horizontal formation, in the crowd of people rushing forward like a tide of Jin troops.
The dense queue is like the water surface, and the small black spots are like falling stones, making splashes. The next moment, Monk Wanyan Chen heard the roar.
It turned out that it was not a splash, but an explosion where the small black dot landed. Blood splashed all around, broken limbs and organs flew high, and screams and wails rang out from the crowd.
The companions who were following Monk Wanyan Chen suddenly exclaimed when they saw this horrific scene.
"Don't panic, this is iron fire?!"
Monk Wanyan Chen suddenly remembered the rumors in Zhongdu. It was said that when the Ding navy confronted Genghis Khan's timid Xue army that day, the strong men threw iron fire to clear the way, regardless of their lives, killing many Mongolian warriors one after another. were able to repel the Mongolian offensive.
However, the rumors mostly describe Guo Ning's strict military management, ruthless military orders, and even the heroic sacrifice of the warriors who threw iron fire?
As for the iron fire itself, most experienced soldiers have seen it and know that it is difficult to produce and carry, and there are many restrictions on its use. It is not something that will be encountered at any time on the battlefield.
But now, Ding Haijun used it again?
The landing positions of the five iron fires were almost evenly distributed along the horizontal array. Five streaks of gunpowder smoke rose immediately, and their power was so powerful that at least thirty or forty people of the attacking Jin army fell, and their death was very tragic. The soldiers at the front who were charging into the formation and the soldiers at the back who were about to press forward were almost stagnant, and the original momentum faded away in an instant.
The power of this iron fire when used on the battlefield is truly terrifying.
However, the key is not the power of Iron Fire itself...
The point is, how could they throw iron fire so far? From the direction of the convoy, beyond the front line, the distance is at least two hundred steps, right?
Is it a stone machine?
Are you kidding? How is that possible? When he was in Fengzhou in his early years, Monk Wanyan Chen once saw the deputy leader of the Zuoyuan envoy under the recruitment department practicing Shi?. But even the largest seven-shooter can throw fifty kilograms of stone, and its range is only a hundred steps. The instrument is huge and complicated, with 125 ropes alone and 250 pullers required! How can there be a stone-throwing machine in this world that can throw two hundred steps?
Even if there is, there are secrets to how the hand of the stone machine should stand in line, when to exert force, and how to retreat. Even so, the throwing distance deviation is often huge. How could it be possible like this moment, with five missiles falling at the same time, with the same range?
Monk Wanyan Chen's thoughts were racing, he whipped his whip repeatedly and pushed his horse forward.
I can't figure it out, I really can't figure it out, but it's obvious that the team that looks like a baggage convoy actually has a stone-throwing machine specially made by the navy hidden in it! No wonder Guo Ning met the enemy with a horizontal formation, in order to resist his own army and force them to be bombed all the time!
Then you have to go all out and disperse them immediately!
If these five stone-shooting machines were allowed to continue bombarding them, thirty or forty lives would be lost in each round. The blow to the morale of the soldiers would be really huge.
This threat of death is far more terrifying than the loss of a sword or a bow. If the iron fire continues to exert its power, no army in the world can hold on. Genghis Khan's cowardly army could not do it. The Thirteen Capitals Wei Zhibing can't do it even more!
Thinking of this, the knight next to him shouted again: "Captain, look!"
His shout was broken, it was too miserable.
Monk Wanyan Chen raised his head and prepared to scold this person a few words, but when he looked up, he could not scold anyone. What he saw in front of him made his heart almost beat out of his chest.
The next moment, because he subconsciously reined in his horse too abruptly, the horse stumbled and fell to the ground with a whine.
