To shoot a man, shoot a horse first; to capture a thief, capture the king first.
As early as looking down from the mountains, Cao Wenzhao discovered that among the 140,000 bandits arriving from Pingliang Mansion, although there were many horse teams, there were only about 4,000 elite cavalry among them.
Among the more than ten returns that were made at night, only four large banners were found, namely the Yizi Wang Tuo Xianling, Chuangtantian Liu Guoneng, Chuangtian Wang Gao Yingdeng, and Gao Yingen.
The four of them each led a fine cavalry, and their number was only about a thousand.
Each of the more than 4,000 elite cavalry has its own fixed position. One group presses behind and is at the rear of the 140,000 army to prevent possible threats.
The other three troops are all in the front line, two on the left and right sides, and the last one is in the middle of the front line.
On the outside are the cavalry army, and on the outside are the troops and hungry soldiers, which unfold in sequence.
It is said that there are 140,000 people, but the actual combat power is only the more than 4,000 elite cavalry.
The remaining tens of thousands of horse troops cannot be considered as combat effectiveness at all. Many of them can't even fight with their bows and swords on horseback.
Not to mention those troops and hungry soldiers, there are 50,000 to 60,000 old and weak people among them. Not only will these people not form any combat power during the war, but they will only be a burden.
Number of people can be an advantage most of the time. Human sea tactics and wheel battles are all tactics that can be adopted when there are many people.
The party with a small number of people will soon be exhausted under the attack of these tactics. They will lose sight of one thing and lose the other, and they will eventually be defeated.
But sometimes numbers can become a disadvantage.
Under the repeated blows of cannons and artillery, the entire charging army array collapsed.
Cao Bianjiao suddenly stood out with his armored cavalry. Facing the charge of the cavalry, the infantry who lost their formation were completely like lambs to be slaughtered.
Even the elite old soldiers were helpless in the face of the swarming cavalry after the army formation was broken, let alone many hungry soldiers who had just set foot on the battlefield for the first time.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
A huge roar suddenly resounded in the wilderness outside Pizhou City. This roar was even louder than the previous roar when the Ming army's large array of guns and artillery fired in unison.
Eight balls of fire suddenly flashed out from the Ming army's formation.
That's the roar of cannon!
There was no need to aim at all, because there was a dense crowd of rogues ahead.
Few of the artillery shells missed, and the moment they hit the formation, they brought up countless stumps and broken arms.
The tragic wails spread across the entire battlefield in just an instant.
What was even more disastrous was that someone recognized Cao Bianjiao's flag.
Cao Bianjiao's general flag remained unchanged and was extremely arrogant, after continuously cutting through the mixed military formations of the first two waves of hungry soldiers and troops.
"Big and small Cao!"
Most of the people in the front line had already learned that the leader of the Ming cavalry that came to kill the general was actually Cao Bianjiao.
For a time, the entire front line of the army fell into panic. Many hungry soldiers and troops were Shaanxi people who had recently joined the rogue bandits. They were not yet aware of the terror of Cao Bianjiao, but most of them were soldiers and hungry soldiers. How could they dare to stop them? The cavalry of the Ming Army.
"The big and small Cao are here, it's Cao turning into a dragon!!!"
But among the cavalry army, all the older people had heard of Cao Bianjiao's name, and had even been chased by him.
Then an extremely strange scene appeared on the battlefield.
Cao Bianjiao led the cavalry forward and rushed straight to Gao Yingen's position. The cavalry troops along the way fled one after another. Those who could not escape were all swallowed up by the Ming army's cavalry.
Seeing that those old soldiers and cavalry soldiers were all avoiding the Ming Army cavalry like the plague, all the troops and hungry soldiers were also frightened.
Although they didn't know who the "big and small Cao", "Cao Bianjiao" and "Cao Wenzhao" those Ma Jun were talking about, they were all terrified when they saw everyone fleeing towards the rear.
"Failed, defeated!"
"Run for your life!"
Panic and fear spread quickly. Cao Bianjiao and his cavalry did not actually kill many people, nor did they cause much chaos.
However, those cavalry troops fled first, and then the turmoil caused by the defeat of the infantry and hungry soldiers was extremely terrifying.
Those who were desperate pushed each other, the thin and weak ones fell to the ground desperately asking for help, and those who had no hope of escape cursed crazily, and their cries shook the sky.
The people who were most affected by the panic and fear were actually not the cavalry, infantry, and hungry soldiers, but the elite cavalry in the army.
There were more than 4,000 elite cavalry, and almost all of them had the experience of being hunted down by Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao.
The names of Cao Wenzhao and Cao Bianjiao are shadows in many hearts.
There was nothing wrong with the military order issued by Gao Yingen. He sent a team of hungry people to test first, and the cavalry to press behind and on both wings as a cover to prevent the enemy from pursuing them.
The Ming army's physical strength and ordnance were constantly consumed by human sea tactics and wheel warfare.
In the era of cold weapons, a suit of armor weighed more than ten kilograms or even dozens of kilograms, and the weapons in hand were also heavy.
Melee combat will consume your physical strength violently, and firearms and crossbows can be fired non-stop.
Carrying gunpowder and arrows will eventually run out. If the firearm is fired too much, it will overheat and explode. The archer's strength and endurance are also limited and cannot keep firing continuously.
What he made wrong was that he misjudged the enemy's strength and was too confident.
He was so confident that shortly after he led his troops to arrive, while many troops behind him were still marching, he sent an offensive force to attack the Ming army outside Pizhou City.
There was a steady stream of troops and hungry soldiers coming from behind, the noise never stopped, and smoke and dust slowly rose up, like haze.
They are still ignorant of the war ahead.
He was so confident that he didn't even send out exploration horses to check whether there were any ambush hidden in the woods and mountains on both sides.
"Bang!" "Bang!" "Bang!"
Another huge roar sounded, but this time the sound did not come from the front.
Gao Yingen's expression suddenly changed and he suddenly looked back.
The huge roar came from the direction of the mountains behind him to his right.
Even though he had gone through countless fierce battles, Gao Yingen's heart still beat unsatisfactorily.
When Gao Yingen turned his head, the first thing that caught his eye was a burst of white gunpowder smoke.
Immediately afterwards, Gao Yingen saw the crowded cavalry column behind him explode into several clouds of blood mist.
Just on a hill on the right, more than 600 Ming army cavalry with bright armor and red tassels on their heads were already arranged in a neat attack formation.
Gao Yingen's face turned pale and he stared blankly at the top of the mountain.
He opened his mouth, but no words came out.
"General! General!"
Gao Yingen subconsciously turned his head and followed the direction of the sound.
He saw that the messenger cavalry he had just sent out was now rushing towards his direction.
The messenger cavalry cried out with fear on his face.
"The king of collision and the king of one word have both run away!"
"History of the Ming Dynasty·Biography·Volume 156":
"The transformed dragon bravely conquers the three armies. When the thieves hear the name of General Cao, they are all frightened!"
