On the night when Chen Chong held a military meeting, Liu Fan was also discussing with the generals his thoughts on today's battle against the Han army.
After a day of testing, the generals of the Shu army who had come into contact with the Han army were all deeply impressed. They said that the Han soldiers were good at fighting, and thought that neither Lu Bu nor Liu Biao could compare with them. Zhang Song, who was in charge of the left wing, concluded: "It is not the enemy general. Good at fighting, but experienced soldiers, don't talk too much about the enemy generals, have all kinds of plans to fight, and are not afraid of the sword, fight to the death, our soldiers are far different. If the number is equal, our army is definitely no match." Between words. , actually showing a bit of timidity.
All the generals believed this, but Huang Quan did not agree. He said: "In any case, we are outnumbered, and I am the one defending and attacking. It can be said that I have the right location and people, so there is no need to panic." . The reason why we are at a disadvantage in today's battle is probably because we are not familiar with the thieves when we are fighting for the first time. Please inform each team of the thieves' tactics and ask them to be more careful."
Huang Quan spoke clearly and spoke calmly, appearing extremely confident. When the generals saw this, they thought it was reasonable, and their courage increased sharply.
Huang Quan then asked a question: "What I am thinking about now is another matter. Chen Chong has used troops before, and he is especially good at using cavalry to charge into battle. But why did he not see the enemy using horses in the first battle today? Jiangzhou Captain (Gan Ning) ) Waiting for the enemy in the middle army is waiting for the thieves' cavalry, but no one comes to fight, it is really strange."
After saying that, he took a few steps back and forth and said decisively to Liu Fan: "Sir, I thought that the rebel army was dormant in Chencang before and then hurriedly raised troops. It is not easy to gather a crowd, but it is absolutely impossible to conquer horses. The rebel army must be short of horses!" At least not more than me."
After saying that, Liu Fan, who had been silent as the chairman, nodded slightly, crossed his hands, and said slowly: "I understand what Gong Heng means. Since the enemy is short of horses, there is no need to dig trenches. Instead, when the two wings are engaged, let them Xingba surrounds its flanks, and as long as one wing can be destroyed, the enemy army will be defeated."
Liu Fan was a little tempted by this plan, but also hesitant. After all, after allowing Gan Ning to surround and attack, the Chinese army did not have cavalry cover, so it seemed a bit weak. If Chen Chong saw the flaw, the Chinese army might not be without the risk of being intercepted.
Zhang Ren also realized this critical point. He suggested: "Our left and right wings are on high ground, only the central army is at the bottom of the slope. You can move the central army back and spread out the crane's wings. In this way, If the enemy attacks the central army, the two wings can be guarded by bows and can be rushed to the rescue at any time without causing serious damage."
When Liu Fan heard this, his eyes suddenly filled with food, he quickly made up his mind and told Gan Ning: "I think the enemy's left army, although brave, is also more reckless and not as orderly as the right army. We will fight tomorrow. When you hear the march, When the trumpet sounds, we will start from the left army and make sure to achieve success with one blow."
After the discussion, everyone took an early rest. Soon, the dawn of the second day came as promised with the sound of trumpets. The two sides sent out troops again and were still arrayed on the ground where yesterday's battle took place.
The Shu army still arranged its formation generally according to yesterday's formation. The right army was deployed on the hill to the north, led by Huang Quan, and consisted of the following units: Captain Jingyi of Cavalry, Lieutenant Xisu of Badong, Lieutenant Pingdi Deng Xian, Lieutenant Lengbao of Guanghan, and Lieutenant Jiameng. Xiangcun. The five generals of the Zuo Army also formed an array on the gentle slope to the south under the command of Zhang Song. After learning the lessons from the first battle, they stretched the line slightly to make the soldiers less dense so that they could fight the enemy more flexibly. They are: Fu Jin, the governor of Jianwei, Pang Le, the commander of Mianzhu, Li Yi, the commander of Langzhong, Sun Zhao, the commander of cavalry, and Wang Lei, the commander of Yulei.
The rest of the army formed in the center and moved back as planned, stretching the originally long battle line like reeds in autumn. Liu Fan was sitting here, accompanied by the Guard Colonel Zhang Ren and the Zhenjun Colonel Gao Pei. His subordinates are all good warriors in the Shu army. As for Jiangzhou Captain Gan Ning's troops, they have moved to the rear formation to hide their whereabouts, waiting for Liu Fan's order.
After the Han army in the west was in position as yesterday, Liu Fan said to the generals: "I suffered a small loss in yesterday's battle. Now that I know that the dragon-headed cavalry is insufficient, I still wait for him to attack. It seems too much. I'm so discouraged. Today you should take the initiative to attack to boost the morale of the army!" After saying that, Liu Fan immediately ordered Huang Quan to play the marching drum and challenge westward with 6,000 men from the right army.
Dozens of black cowhide war drums were beating, like a rolling thunder exploding along the sky and the earth. The flags of the right army were raised one after another, and the sergeants lifted up their long halberds leaning on the ground and slowly moved forward.
In the first few rows of the right army were veterans from Shu who were specially selected by Jing Yi. They had gone through various rebellions in Shu and were famous, so they fought as the vanguard against the Han army. Although the shape of the armor and stomach is not exactly the same, they all carry iron stomachs, with necks and basin collars made of armor pieces covering their faces and necks, two pieces of iron armor, with shoulders extending to the back of their hands, armor covering their knees, and cowhide under their feet. Or buckskin boots. They did not carry shields in their hands, but the small flags on their robes and the boots on their feet showed their unique identity. In normal times, they were mostly corps commanders or commanders who commanded the new soldiers to fight, but at this moment, they were just soldiers who shouldered the important task of breaking through the front line of the Han army.
The sergeants in the next few rows are mostly composed of generals and selected young sergeants. Their armor is even more chaotic. There are few iron armors but mostly leather armors. For protection, many people put shields on their left arms, so You can only hold one weapon in your right hand, either a sword or a sword.
The soldiers in the last row were almost all infantrymen with a shield in one hand and a long sword in the other. There was no small flag of honor on the sword tip, and many of them were actually spears with hooks. They wear military uniforms without armor, or they just wear round collars and knee-length civilian clothes. The more sophisticated ones tie their waists with a belt, but more people tie them casually with ropes. On their feet are shoes made of cloth or leather, or even straw sandals. Although these people do not wear armor, most of them carry bows, with arrows wrapped in leather bags hanging on their waists. Most of the infantry's bows are very long, so they put the bows through their heads and carry them on their shoulders. From a distance, they seem to have wings.
Leading the troops in the front formation was Cavalry Commander Jing Yi, while Huang Quan was supervising the formation on the hill. When the two of them parted, Huang Quan said to Jing Yi: "Most of what Young Master Yin Yin wants is above Jing Jun. I hope you will not betray the Lord's trust!" Jing Yi replied: "I and other warriors are roaming the battlefield for this purpose. Today is the day, why should Gong Heng say more?" After turning his head and entering the battle, he shouted to his own soldiers: "When a man has made great contributions, he should go straight forward and join the battle! If he stabs straight, his bones and flesh will fly, and his soul will fly. Jiuquan, don't frown at all!" After saying that, he covered his face with his visor, and only his bloodshot eyes were exposed, like an iron-clad tiger.
At this time, the Han army's formation on the opposite side also began to move forward to fight. Since both sides were moving forward, the approach was rapid. The soldiers in the front row of the Han army were carrying gleaming long swords and knives, and their iron armor and stomachs emitted a dazzling cold light, which captured the hearts and souls. Soon the Liang army was only an arrow away, and the shouts of the Han army's commanders could be clearly heard. They were shouting: "Our soldiers are not afraid of death. The brave will win!" This attracted a response from the Han army soldiers, and the iron weapons The sound of the armor and stomach crashing together. Among them, Hu Zhen was riding a big horse, holding his knife high and shouting: "If you die fighting the chaos, you will be able to live in the sky!"
At the same moment, the Han army and the Shu army encountered each other in the Changshan Forest amid earth-shattering cries of killing. There is almost no pause or slowdown during the encounter. In fact, once the battle begins, it is no longer under the general's control. The huge metal forests on both sides, with blood boiling in the shouts, prompted them to collide with each other at this moment. The moment after the collision, the roar of people quickly died down, and the sound of the impact of iron tools rose into the sky. rise.
After the two armies fought together head-on, the contact lines basically remained neat and did not become distorted or broken quickly. Along this contact line from north to south, the sounds of iron weapons clashing, pole collisions, and cutting knives echoed together, as if they were in a vast ocean and a sea of boiling molten iron. Every wave carries the sound of metal tearing that makes your heart beat.
But strangely, the clearly audible shout just now disappeared, as if the human shout had been submerged in the depths of the metal ocean. Of course, this is also because of the consciousness of veterans. They found that when they couldn't scare the other party by shouting, they would tire themselves out and disturb their companions fighting alongside them. Therefore, when killing people and being killed, they gradually stopped screaming blindly.
The battle at the beginning was relatively orderly, with hand-to-hand combat still taking place in the front row, and the back row almost never directly participating in the fight. But as the battle continued, the Han army began to consciously loosen its line, luring the Shu soldiers to rush into the gaps to fight, creating a seemingly chaotic situation. But in fact, after these Shu soldiers were pushed into the Han army's line by the rear formation, they soon fell into a situation of fighting alone. However, the Han army was loose and not chaotic. Instead, they used more familiar cooperation to tear the Shu army's front line into pieces. , and soon, the front line between the two armies turned into a winding earthworm, and then it was quickly burst like a bubble. But a new curve was formed again, but it was developing more and more in the direction favorable to the Han army.
At the same time, the left army of the Shu army also began to engage in battle with the Han army. Fei Shi and the sword surface looked particularly dazzling in the sun. The two wings of both sides are entangled together, like a spray blooming in the waves, constantly gathering and changing. But what is different from real waves is that one party must overwhelm the other in order to achieve the final victory.
Liu Fan looked at the battlefield situation from the high platform of the Chinese army and found that there was no progress in the battle on both wings, and he couldn't help but be a little disappointed. If he had to, he still wanted to win the battlefield directly without using Gan Ning. But Liu Fan also knows that no war can be without risks. In addition to strategy, what is important is determination and perseverance.
When the sun was slightly in the middle, the physical strength of both armies was close to being exhausted. It was supposed to be a change of formations. When the soldiers in the front formation retreated to eat, a loud trumpet sounded from the Shu army, followed closely by the Shu army. With fanatical cheers, just as the Han troops were in shock and confusion, thousands of Qingqi suddenly appeared on the front line of the Shu army in the north. The one running at the front was the Jinfan thief. When the Han army was uncertain about changing formations, they inserted themselves directly into the Han army's left army.
