The war horses are moaning.
The long poles on the front line of the Lion Camp were all broken, and the soldiers resisted desperately, but they could only stop them briefly.
Soon, the left sentry commander Gao Xian, who was on the front line, smashed a war horse with his pumpkin, and was knocked aside by the horsemen behind him. Before he could get up, he was dragged away by his subordinates, and the gap widened.
Guan Ning's cavalry raised their reins and crossed over the horse corpses, and ran into the formation. They continued to kill, expanding their victory on the side, until they hit the second wall hard.
The second wall is composed of soldiers led by the Han brothers.
Cao Wenzhao, who was charging forward, was hit by a volley of strong bows, and his horse fell to death. Later, the cavalry soldiers were worried about trampling on the general, so the charging speed slowed down slightly.
At this time, Liu Chengzong had already raised his sword and mounted his horse, and the flags of Tushan were fluttering in the hollow formation, causing the sergeants on the left and right wings of the Lion Battalion to take advantage of this opportunity and turn the whole team inward, forming a pincer attack on him.
When Cao Wenzhao changed his horse and rode again, seeing that his offensive was frustrated, he urged his horse and pointed his spear directly at Liu Chengzong, hoping to break the formation by galloping with elite troops to seize his head.
However, Han Shipan and others held their bows at the side and fired arrows again. In desperation, they knocked down several arrows with their spears, but they could only protect the horses. Several arrows penetrated the armor and hurt their flesh. .
When Cao Bianjiao saw that his uncle had been hit by an arrow, he hurriedly rushed to the front and said to him urgently: "General, if you can't hit the middle army, it's better to cut!"
The so-called cutting is also a tactic of cavalry attack. It also passes through the military formation, but does not penetrate through the middle, but from a corner of the flank. Depending on the strength of the combat force, it protrudes from the flank to separate it from the main force.
It's like cutting a corner off of tofu.
The divided troops will collapse quickly, and when encountering strong resistance, it is much easier to complete tactical actions than crossing the enemy's lines.
Cao Wenzhao followed Shan Ruliu, and with Cao Bianjiao as the vanguard, he led the cavalry to the left with shouts and shouts.
Liu Chengzong put his sword on the ground and shouted to the Tushan flag bearer: "The right-wing cavalry intercept!"
Inside and outside the formation, everything has been disrupted.
Although Guan Ning's army broke through the front line, they were unable to expand their results. The Chinese army was still blocked by elite troops, so that the sergeants of the Lion Battalion who had earlier avoided the horse cavalry were reunited by the officers.
However, the flag of the front line fell to the ground, the officers were injured, and chaos in command was inevitable, leaving the lower-level officers to their own devices.
Although this is the strength of the Lion Battalion, anyway, there are no qualified generals in the entire Lion Battalion. Instead, they are all junior officers with ridiculous initiative.
How can you be a rebel if you don’t have any initiative?
For a time, the two sides fought together in the gap in the military formation, and the groups of Lion Battalion combat auxiliaries without the command of superior officers gradually shrank.
A clear gap appeared between each team first. Guan Ning cavalry kept galloping and attacking in the gap. People screamed and horses neighed, and spears flew. There were many dismounted Guan Ning soldiers forming formations with each other to protect the galloping channel.
On the outside of the military formation, there were also horse soldiers who had not yet rushed into the formation, attacking and squeezing the surroundings, and dismounting and firing. They constantly put pressure on the military formation from the outside, making the Lion Battalion soldiers in the gap vulnerable to attacks from the front and back.
Zuo Shao Captain Lian Daqi's helmet had flown to nowhere, and only the iron piece inlaid with his hair scarf was left on his head. He led his men in the formation to withstand the attack of Guan Ning's army.
He started to have a headache again.
The piece of iron on his forehead was Liu Chengzong's reward for his bravery in the battle at Huanglong Mountain.
In that battle, he was ordered to follow Gao Xian to attack the mountain. He was shot in the forehead by a Ningxia soldier.
The artillery sentry captain Huang Shengxiao, nicknamed the Clay Man, was also on the front line of the battlefield. Cao Wenzhao broke the formation from his team and beat his soldiers in half. More than a dozen of them were divided to the other side of the battlefield.
More than 20 gunners under his command still defended the front line, protecting the last lion cannon in their hands and launching rounds of fire at the galloping cavalry.
The remaining three artillery pieces are still there, but the position of the artillery positions no longer poses a threat to Guan Ning's army. But the artillery is not good, but the artillery is okay.
Several artillerymen carried cannonballs wrapped in fabric and threw them at the galloping horses' heads whenever they had the chance.
If the battle is fruitless, they have to do something anyway.
But fighting bravely on a small scale cannot make up for the self-preservation mood after losing organization on a large scale.
The gap in the frontline military formation slowly opened in all directions like a spider web.
For Guan Ningbing, who is deeply involved in the war, this means that they are seeing more and more familiar faces around them.
This was a sign that the enemy army was about to be defeated, and everyone was excited.
From time to time, some people dismounted, pulled out short soldiers from their horses and engaged in close combat, moving forward step by step, trying to clear a path for more cavalry to pass.
Liu Chengzong's military formation has been completely deformed. The left and right wings of the hollow square formation are squeezed toward the center, and the rear troops are added to the center. They rush from his side towards Guan Ning's army who is trying to pass through, blocking the enemy's cavalry from passing through the formation.
On the bridge farther away, Zhong Hu was leading his men forward for reinforcements.
Han Shi drew his full bow, pierced the chest of an enemy knight with an armor-piercing arrow, drew out his Yanling Saber, turned around and shouted: "Commander, I have no arrows!"
"The support is coming, let the rear formations go up first."
Liu Chengzong also had no arrows left. He thought he was the ceiling of the Lion Camp. He originally wanted to go up and fight, but his subordinates didn't give him a chance, so he could only shoot arrows from behind.
But against such an opponent with complete armor and a heavy emphasis, his record was not ideal.
There was a bang, and a burst of smoke floated in the ears.
On the contrary, it was Fan Sanlang who was beside him. This little guy brought five or six soldiers. He stood in the safest place, each holding a musket, and even commanded: "If you don't hit, don't let go!"
The foot-long pipe was no shorter than the three-eyed gun. Even though she had only fired the five-gun until now, it had already knocked the three cavalrymen off their horses.
He injured more people than Liu Chengzong. He only shot one person in the face, causing him to fall off his horse. However, if he hit other positions, the arrow cluster would often get stuck after breaking through the armor, preventing him from causing fatal injuries.
Several times in a row, the enemy ran away with his arrows.
Firearms are different. At a suitable distance, a hit may not be enough to kill a person, but it is enough to make a person lose their fighting ability and fall off their horse.
At this time, Liu Chengzong saw the commotion in the enemy's rear line, and his subordinates on the flanks also cheered up.
Outside the formation, horseshoes were like rain.
Yang Yao led the outpost cavalry to attack the enemy's rear. Liu Chengzong climbed up and looked over, and he couldn't help but be delighted - the outpost cavalry actually drove away a group of more than 400 Guan Ning troops.
Those people were fleeing eastward with their tails between their legs, gradually moving away from the battlefield.
Yang Yao then surrounded hundreds of Guan Ning's troops who had not yet had time to attack the formation, and fought with them.
For a time, the morale of Guan Ning's army, which had been inspired earlier, was greatly reduced. The dismounted sergeants did not dare to attack everywhere, and instead contracted their formation.
However, on the other side, the Lion Battalion's change of formation created favorable conditions for Cao Bianjiao to come out through the formation, allowing him to use his bravery to shout and rush out of the way, attracting hundreds of horsemen to file out.
But others were not so lucky. Gao Yingden was almost as brave as last time.
Last time it was He Huchen.
It was not easy for the cavalry to move through the formation. Guan Ning's army still had a path for Cao Bianjiao to rush out. Gao Yingden shouted to drive away the infantry team, but was unable to complete the interception as ordered. In the end, he simply changed direction and ran directly to the center of the team.
But in this way, he was faster than others, and before his subordinates could catch up, he almost hit the enemy cavalry's face.
He thought to himself that if he rushed up and fought, he would definitely not be able to defeat him, and he might even be captured.
He then rode over, and just when the enemy cavalry was about to fight him, this guy shouted "Catch me!" to the infantry team next to him, and then he jumped on his horse.
Who will answer? It weighs more than 200 kilograms, even with armor on hand. Who can handle it? All scattered.
As a result, Gao Yingdeng made a fierce stab in the friendly formation and fell to pieces.
However, Gao Yingdeng's horse was much more powerful than his. It collided with the mount of a young general from Guan Ning's army and blocked the galloping cavalry.
Cao Wenzhao was among the stopped team.
Seeing that the cavalry was separated by the surrounding lion camp, he was anxious in his heart. He swung his spear and poked several spearheads in front of him. Looking around the battlefield, he once again saw Liu Chengzong dispatching troops under the mountain.
Cao Wenzhao immediately turned around and led Guan Ning's cavalry to rush through the formation, thrusting their spears towards the Chinese army.
Cao Bianjiao had just reached the outside of the formation. He originally wanted to run around the formation to attack Yang Yao and rescue more Guan Ning troops. However, he unexpectedly turned around and found that only more than 200 riders rushed out of the formation. The enemy's line was gradually closing. .
He was so anxious that he stood up on horseback, only to see his uncle leading an army to attack the central army of thieves. He felt anxious for a moment and urged his horse to lead the troops into the formation again.
Unexpectedly, a cannon shot suddenly fired from the outside of the military formation, which startled his horse and led him to run away. The horse team also dispersed to the surrounding area.
Liu Chengzong didn't pay attention to Cao Wenzhao at all. He was busy asking the frontline soldiers to cooperate with Yang Yao to defeat the surrounding enemy troops. Some people had already laid down their weapons and began to surrender.
Suddenly I heard Fan Sanlang report: "Commander, someone is coming!"
Turning around, he saw the horsemen of Guan Ning's army lying across the formation like a long snake, being twisted back by the snake's head. At the front of the team was a middle-aged military general, running towards his direction with a spear.
Liu Shizihu twisted his neck with a sullen expression, raised his knife and walked towards him: "Do you think I'm powerless? Twice!"
He had seen this man before. As soon as he broke the formation, he wanted to charge at him with his cavalry. His armor was thick and he took several arrows before charging away. However, he was blocked by Gao Yingdeng's team, who then led his cavalry to charge at him.
When Liu Chengzong left, Han Shipan and others each carried weapons to protect him. Zhong Bao shouted to his brother's subordinates from around him: "Protect the general, form a formation!"
I heard the Guan Ning soldiers around the charging man shouting "general" in Liaoyang dialect, and turned around to charge.
Liu Chengzong was happy, raised his arm and pointed: "Sanlang, just hit him."
He shouted again: "Cao Wenzhao is there!"
As he shouted, there was a heartbreaking sound of bows being drawn all around, and a hail of arrows shot towards the galloping cavalry.
Cao Wenzhao had several arrows stuck in his chest at this moment, and he had already pulled out a few of them during the charge.
There are two cavalry beside him, three cavalry abreast, blocking the enemy troops on his left and right.
When he saw the enemy drawing his bow, he lowered his head and relied on his armor. He did not dodge or dodge the incoming arrows. His spear moved like the wind. He just pushed aside the weapon in front of him to stab the horse and stabbed the enemy in the way. .
There are only forty steps left, and with another forty steps, he can take the thief's head directly!
At this moment, the fire flickered directly in front of him, which made him feel alarmed, and he quickly tightened the reins.
For a moment, the war horse was in pain and raised its front hooves, but its hind hooves were still pushing forward due to inertia. Seeing that the war horse was about to fall, only a few puffs were heard, and the war horse suddenly jumped forward and fell to the ground crookedly, carrying dust. Slide two steps forward.
There were several bloody holes in the chest and neck of the war horse. It struggled to get up. Its hooves were kicking on the ground. It struggled to raise its neck and could not get up. It could only make a loud hiss.
Cao Wenzhao jumped down instinctively the moment his horse was hit. The horse did not crush his leg, but he only lost his long pole. The horse soldiers beside him couldn't stop and trampled past him. For a moment, he only focused on avoiding the horse's hoof. .
The galloping cavalry was blocked again. In the blink of an eye, the surrounding soldiers surrounded him and fought repeatedly with the cavalry soldiers protecting him.
At this moment, his general Xiao Pingping threw away his spear, dismounted while galloping, jumped and ran with the saddle, controlled the horse to run towards him, and shouted: "General, get on the horse quickly!"
After saying that, he let go of the saddle and rolled in the army to release his strength. Just as he stabilized his body, he looked up and saw that he had rolled into the enemy's army. He had just withdrawn the sword from his waist half an inch when he was hit hard on the alms bowl with a golden melon. His vision went dark and he fell into unconsciousness.
Liu Chengzong saw this scene not far away. Seeing that he had killed a horse, his subordinates actually sent another one to Cao Wenzhao, and he became angry!
He grabbed a spear from his subordinates, raised his leg on the ground and kicked it in half. He held the broken spear behind his back and ran forward shouting: "Get out of my way!"
After saying that, the man ran seven or eight steps, and ran a few more steps until the soldiers in front of him had no time to get out of the way. Then he suppressed his face and turned red, exerted all his strength, and threw the broken spear towards Cao Wenzhao.
After more than ten steps, in an instant, the broken spear crossed the horse's neck, and the other end even stabbed the leg of Cao Wenzhao, who was on his horse. Unfortunately, it was blocked by the armor skirt.
But the broken spear that went straight was no better than the lead bullet that rolled and deformed. The war horse was not dead, and actually ran forward like crazy with Cao Wenzhao.
Liu Chengzong was startled by the momentum of constantly tilting his head and vomiting blood. He wondered if this horse wanted revenge or something?
It wasn't until it crashed into the crowd that the war horse lost its strength and fell to the ground.
Cao Wenzhao was almost sent into the military formation by Crazy Horse. Even so, he still refused to surrender. He picked up a severed hand with a knife from somewhere and relied on his strong armor to resist.
It wasn't until the Han brothers and others swarmed forward that they captured him.
I don’t know who shouted first: "Cao Wenzhao has been captured!", and the words immediately resounded throughout the battlefield, but within a few breaths, it was changed to: "Cao Wenzhao has been captured, let's spare you." Immortal!"
After a while, a large number of Guan Ning's troops put down their weapons, but there were still many people who wanted to resist to the end. There were even dozens of people who still formed a group to fight out after the general was captured.
The battle was coming to an end, and Liu Chengzong ignored the dozens of people who ran out.
In his opinion, this was the "benefit" of Cao Wenzhao leading his troops to kill and surrender. It was a shame that these people did not dare to surrender even after losing the battle.
But for a moment, Cao Wenzhao was tied up and escorted forward to the sound of the mountain shouting "Long Live the Mountain". Later, his subordinates brought Ping An, who was still in a coma. Han Shipan said that he was also a general.
"Cao Wenzhao, I heard that you directly killed the hungry captives in Shanxi. Is this true?"
Cao Wenzhao glanced at him and said nothing.
"You old man from Datong, why are you pretending to be from Liaodong and don't understand Shaanxi dialect?"
Cao Wenzhao took a deep breath and gritted his teeth: "You have recruited me, why did you attack me?"
"Why did I hit you?" Liu Chengzong snorted, "You shouldn't be here!"
"I'm out of food."
"Now you know that there is nothing you can do if you don't have food? Those hungry people and border soldiers who were killed by you, none of them are without food and there is nothing they can do. I'm not talking about coming to Pingliang."
Liu Chengzong walked half a circle under the mountain. The battle was basically over. The surrendered Guan Ning soldiers were stripped of their weapons and armor and were escorted to the back to watch. The heavy baggage soldiers had already moved forward to transport the wounded soldiers.
There is still a group of more than 200 Guan Ning soldiers hanging in the east, neither daring to step forward nor wanting to leave.
Yang Yaozheng led his men to guard against their surprise attack from a distance.
Liu Chengzong stopped several of his subordinates who were escorting the prisoners and said to the prisoners: "Go and tell the generals outside, either get out of here now. If you want Cao Wenzhao, you can bring all the weapons, armor, and horses yourself."
Guan Ning's army is very difficult to deal with. If another army does the same thing as Cao Wenzhao, Liu Chengzong can bleed them and dye the Jing River red.
In particular, all his own money was spent on them. Seeing Cao Wenzhao, Liu Chengzong couldn't help but think of being starved to death in Yuhe Fort.
But with thousands of people injured now, Liu Chengzong couldn't help but think of these people waiting in the narrow corridor outside Shanhaiguan every night.
Moreover, it was wrong for the imperial court to misappropriate their military pay, but the ability and courage of these people did not disgrace the military pay they received in Liu Chengzong's eyes.
Even though horses are inferior to people and cannons are inferior to people, they can still fight like this.
After saying that, Liu Chengzong took a deep breath, turned around and said to Cao Wen: "I said you should not enter Shanxi. When you enter Shaanxi, you fight against the Eastern captives outside the pass. I respect you heroes. You will do everything after entering the pass." What is it?"
"The Guan Ning army fought under the emperor's orders. Cao only fought for the emperor, fighting against the Eastern captives and fighting against the rogue bandits. How could I be wrong?"
"What's wrong with people asking for a living? They don't want to serve the country? Do they have money to support their parents, wives and children? They all hang themselves!"
Liu Chengzong was so angry that he raised his palm and put it down again. He could only curse bitterly: "I've wanted to beat you up for a long time. Shanshan and Shaanxi are outside the pass? Are the hungry people Donglu?"
Cao Wenzhao really thought carefully about Liu Chengzong's words.
After thinking for a moment, even though he was tied up, he kowtowed to the east, stretched out his head and said: "Kill them all. I am defeated because I am not as skilled as others. Cao has known this since he joined the army. Please kill me."
Liu Chengzong was so angry that he scratched his head, pointed at Cao Wenzhao and said to Fan Sanlang: "You should kill him with one blow."
Fan Sanlang thought, if he wanted to kill him, wasn't he blocked by the war horse?
At this moment, a notice came from the front, and a general from the Guan Ning army outside called himself Cao Bianjiao and came over.
Liu Chengzong saw a young general who entered the camp wearing only a single coat except for his armor. He still maintained his military integrity. He strode forward with his head held high and raised his chin and said, "General Cao Bianjiao, who is commanding Qian Shi guerrillas, is here. Let my uncle go."
Liu Chengzong glanced at him again and again. He looked mighty and lovable, but he also looked like he had a bullish temperament that was not afraid of death. He had obviously lost the battle, yet he was still so awesome.
He glanced at me and said angrily: "I can't hear you. My rank is higher than yours. Please bow first and then speak."
It was originally an angry remark that made Cao Bianjiao embarrassed. Unexpectedly, Cao Bianjiao was stunned for a moment, and he bowed down and gave a military salute. It was very natural: "Guerrilla Cao Bianjiao, I pay homage to the commander, and I asked the commander to let my uncle go."
Liu Chengzong said: "It's too late, your uncle is really begging me to die."
After hearing this, Cao Bianjiao changed his expression and said in a voiceless voice: "General?"
He was calling his uncle.
Cao Wenzhao did not explain, and only said: "The responsibility for the defeat has nothing to do with you. You go back and serve His Majesty faithfully, and don't disgrace your family."
"yes!"
Cao Bianjiao's eyes turned red, he responded seriously, kowtowed to his uncle's luggage, stood up, gritted his teeth and pointed at Liu Chengzong, turned around and was about to leave.
Don't say Liu Chengzong was stupid, all the officers and soldiers of the Lion Battalion around him were stupid.
The uncle came from such a family, and his uncle could clearly tell that the commander felt sorry for them and wanted to die. The nephew was not sad when he saw that his uncle was about to die, but he turned around and left.
"Come back!" Liu Chengzong stopped him and said: "I beat you because you killed the hungry people and deserved it. But in Liaodong, you have contributed to the world. I will not kill you, but I will pay back the money we spent on soldiers. I will give you the armor." Hand over all the horses."
Cao Bianjiao was overjoyed when he heard this. He turned around and looked at his uncle. Although he tried his best to keep his face expressionless, he couldn't help but smile. He took a few deep breaths, then lowered his head slightly and said to Liu Chengzong: "Thank you, sir."
"Thank me? Ha, I won't let go of those who surrendered. The matter between Shaanxi and Shanshan cannot be solved by massacre. It can only make others hate you and the court even more."
"Leave a way for others to live, and others will leave a way for you to live. Otherwise, if I don't kill you, someone else will kill you in the future. You can keep yourself useful and go to fight against the Donglu outside the pass."
After saying that, Liu Chengzong waved his hand: "Hand over the soldiers and horses, and take your uncle away."
Not long after, Cao Bianjiao brought soldiers and horses, and Liu Chengzong released Cao Wenzhao.
He held his horse and stood at the edge of the battlefield, watching more than two hundred people leaving lightly. He smelled the smell of blood in his nose, looked around the battlefield, and let out a long sigh.
Fan Sanlang asked: "Why doesn't the commander kill them?"
"Kill or release, there are two choices." Liu Chengzong glanced at her: "My goal has been achieved."
Fan Sanlang looked at Guan Ningjun who was being surrendered not far away: "Does the commander want to recruit them? They are really powerful."
Unexpectedly, Liu Chengzong shook his head: "It's not about surrendering. Those who haven't been killed must be taken away. This is my responsibility."
"responsibility?"
"I have the most capable border troops in Shaanxi. We went to Qinghai. No one can stop Guan Ning. They are cruel to prisoners. How many more people are going to die?"
Liu Chengzong looked at his military formation with unspeakable sadness in his eyes: "Their uncles and nephews are full of loyalty to the emperor and the country, so they may not be able to listen to the truth I said, so they can only let the knife speak."
"My purpose is to cripple this Guan Ning army. They ran away, surrendered, were wounded, and died. The remaining few hundred people, if they can be equipped with all the soldiers and horses, although they still have some fighting strength, they will not be able to fight against those who stayed in Shaanxi Mountain. Wang and Gao are not an absolute threat."
After saying that, Liu Chengzong set his sights in the distance: "We entered Qinghai to accumulate strength in order to compete for the world. There must be friendly forces between Shaanxi and Shanshan. Only I... can do this."
The soldiers came to report: "Commander, everything is packed."
"Let's set off, I'll catch up with you soon."
The setting sun in the west was like blood. On the bank of the Jiangou River, Liu Chengzong led his horse on a messy battlefield and stood quietly with his head bowed for a moment.
No soul spoke to him, making this land even more silent.
After a while, he got on his horse, raised his whip and pointed to the west: "Let's go, I want to ask the King of Han for a piece of land to bury the heroic spirits!"
