After the smoke cleared, the noisy battlefield suddenly became much quieter. Only the mess in front of them proved the brutal fighting just now, or the unilateral massacre of the cavalry by artillery. It was almost noon, and the screams of the wounded soldiers lying on the ground were much lower under the scorching sun, but the smell of blood and gunpowder smoke became more and more pungent. Just as the two sides were still recalling the fierce battle just now, a light cavalry rushed towards the battlefield from the Mongolian camp. In full view of everyone, this man rushed straight to the center of the battlefield, grabbed a person from the ground, put him on his horse, and then quickly left. This man was a personal soldier of Yerümaizhu, and the person he rescued from the battlefield was also the seriously injured Yerümaizhu.
After Yelvmaizhu was rescued, dozens of Mongolian cavalry rushed to the battlefield, trying to rescue the wounded Mongolian soldiers on the ground, but at this time the artillery of the Perak Army rang again. Although they were still far away and only defeated a few people, they still stopped the Mongolian army from trying to rescue them. The light cavalry just came forward single-handedly. The Perak Army didn't know what he meant. When he left to save people, there was no time to fire. The reason why the cannon was not fired was due to the concept of economy. To hit a running cavalry, the hit rate was too low, which was a waste of ammunition. If Cao Ergou knew that the rescued person was Yelu Maizhu, he would definitely order a concentrated fire and would never let him go.
The summer in western Sichuan is very hot, but Liu Heima was cold all over at this time. In this half hour, he had lost 1,500 elite cavalry. Among the remaining 500 cavalry, most of them are the more than 300 Mongolian cavalry from Hudu. There are only more than 100 Mongolian and Han cavalry under his own command. As for the heavy cavalry that he regards as his heart, all of them are The military shoes are gone. Judging from the number of people alone, 1,500 people are not many compared to the 5,000 soldiers and horses of the Mongolian army in this battle, but both sides of the battle understand that the outcome of this battle has been determined. The Mongolian army, which had lost 1,500 cavalry, seemed to have its back broken, and had lost most of its combat effectiveness. At this moment, Liu Heima was thinking about how to take the remaining people back, while Cao Ergou was thinking about how to pursue the victory.
A desolate horn sounded, and the Mongolian infantry changed from the rear team to the front team, and began to slowly retreat towards Chengdu. The Mongolian cavalry was left to confront the Perak Army. The Mongolian cavalry of the Kudu tribe were all composed of one person and two horses. They left their empty horses behind when charging. After losing hundreds of cavalry in the artillery fire, Liu Heima used these empty horses to quickly reorganize hundreds of cavalry. Many of the Mongolian and Han troops under his command were Khitan, Jin, Xixia, Tubo and other nomads, and many of the northern Han people among them were able to ride horses. They became infantry because cavalry was expensive and lacked horses. Although the combat effectiveness of these temporarily formed cavalry is not as good as that of cavalry that cannot be lost, it is not much worse than the cavalry of the Perak Army. In view of Yelu Maizhu's serious injury, and in order to appease Hudu, Liu Heima also handed over the command of the remaining Mongolian and Han cavalry and these newly formed cavalry to Hudu.
The Mongolian army suddenly had more than a thousand cavalry, which made Cao Ergou suddenly confused. He did not notice the arrival of Mongolian reinforcements. He also saw from the telescope that the total number of Mongolian troops did not change much. Although he could vaguely guess that the new cavalry came from infantry, he did not know what their combat power was. , and immediately sent a small group of cavalry to test. As soon as the small groups of cavalry from both sides fought against each other, Cao Ergou could see that although these new cavalry were unfamiliar with their tactical coordination, their riding skills were not weak. Compared with this, the cavalry of the Perak Army not only had no advantage in individual combat capabilities, but also had far fewer numbers than their opponents. Not only does it have little chance of winning if you rush forward rashly, but it is also easy for the opponent to bite you back.
The Perak Army's cavalry brigade suffered heavy casualties in previous battles with the Mongolian cavalry. The three cavalry battalions lost more than 100 cavalry, and the largest lost more than 200 cavalry. The entire brigade lost a total of more than 600 cavalry, with only more than 800 cavalry. The cavalry still has combat capabilities. Although the Perak Army cavalry also had one person and two horses, and there were many empty horses at this time, they lacked soldiers who were familiar with riding skills and could not quickly replenish the cavalry like Liu Heima. What's even more terrible is that the officers of the cavalry brigade suffered serious losses in this battle, and one of the three battalion commanders was also killed. Since the Perak Army has always had the tradition of leading the charge, the Cavalry Brigade is no exception. During the blocking battle, low-level officers such as company commanders and platoon commanders not only rushed to the front, but also stayed behind to provide cover during the retreat. As a result, more than half of the combat personnel were lost, and squad leaders and combat backbones were also severely damaged.
Seeing that the opponent's cavalry was not weak, Cao Ergou had to order the cavalry to protect both sides, while the infantry slowly advanced forward. However, under the watchful eyes of more than a thousand mounted enemies, the Perak Army did not dare to rush forward at all. Instead, one infantry brigade moved forward, and the other infantry brigade defended on the spot and provided fire support, thus advancing in a cycle. Such speed could not help the Mongolian cavalry at all. Even the enemy infantry lost sight of them after chasing them for more than ten miles. Although Cao Ergou was regretful and even anxious about losing the opportunity to expand his victory, he was helpless.
The sun was shining brightly at this time. After the march and fierce fighting in the morning, the Pili Army was already exhausted, especially the horses, which were dripping with sweat. In order to prevent heatstroke and to conserve strength for the next battle, Cao Ergou had no choice but to order him to the woods and bamboo forests on both sides of the road. In order to prevent the Mongolian cavalry from suddenly returning with their carbines, he ordered the soldiers to take turns to rest. He sent people back ten miles away to clean up the battlefield. The scattered baggage materials, especially the solid artillery shells, need to be recovered, and the wounded Mongolian soldiers also need to be disposed of. More importantly, the corpses need to be buried in time to prevent the spread of disease. The more than 2,000 dead and injured horses on the battlefield were what Cao Ergou was even more concerned about. They were precious meat! On this hot day, we have to quickly separate and clean up and use fumes.
While the Pili army was smoking horse meat, Liu Heima was leading his army back desperately. In fact, just an hour ago, he didn't want to withdraw. When the infantrymen got on their horses, it was as if the cavalrymen who died in the battle were resurrected. At this moment, Liu Heima suddenly had the ambition to fight the Perak Army again. Of course, this time he will definitely not forcefully rush into the formation, but will use the advantage of riding and shooting to deal with it, slowly weakening and eventually defeating the Perak Army. However, this idea was lost in a flash. Not to mention whether the hundreds of newly formed cavalry had this ability. Even if they did, I am afraid they would not be willing to face the artillery of the Thunderbolt Army. Looking around, all Liu Heima saw was the fear in the eyes of his subordinates. He even saw the fear of invincible power in Hudu's eyes.
A messenger from Chengdu gave him a hasty order to retreat. The messenger was sent by his son Liu Yuanzhen. He told Liu Heima a shocking news: Yunding City fell into the hands of the Perak Army yesterday. The messenger also told Liu Heima that the number of Perak troops who occupied Yunding City was not large, and Liu Yuanzhen had sent troops to retake Yunding City. Yunding City, known as the Eight Pillars of Sichuan, is the gateway from central and eastern Sichuan to the western Sichuan plain, and is also the barrier of Chengdu. Without Yunding City, there would be no danger to defend Chengdu and the western Sichuan Plain. Yunding City is as important to Chengdu as Guankou Village and Sandu Water Fortress are to Chongqing Prefecture. Without fortresses such as Hengyuan Fort, Guankou Village, Xinjin City, and Sandu Water as fulcrums, the Pili Army would not be able to defend Chongqing Prefecture, Qiongzhou and its subordinate counties with only artillery and naval forces.
