That night, Chunyu Qiong, who was lucky enough to cross the river, rode back to Xiapi alone.
Shen Pei was shocked when he heard that the Westerners' vanguard had arrived in Xiangxian County. Before dawn, he immediately ordered the entire army to break camp and leave at night to relieve the siege.
In order to confuse the defenders of Xiapi City, the Easterners beat drums all night and shot arrows into the city in an attempt to attack the city. Arrows fell on the city wall like raindrops, flying in from between the towering wooden buildings and through the gaps in the fences.
It wasn't until the sky turned white that the attacks gradually stopped. The Wu people who were mostly under the city wall came to the city to take a look. Except for a few Dongren cavalry, they were shuttled among the ruins of the camp in front of Xiapi City. Unexpectedly, looking far into the distance, the Dongren's military camp and flags were completely missing.
Liu Bei's former army arrived at Suishui last night. After receiving Yuan Shang's head, he ordered the entire army to cross the Suishui River and attack the Wei and Han troops in Xiapi without waiting for Chen Chong's baggage. There are about 40,000 war horses in the vanguard, accounting for almost two-thirds of the entire army. Although it is far less powerful than before the Battle of Bohai Sea, the noise of tens of thousands of war horses rushing to cross the Suishui River can be heard within ten miles. heard.
In the early morning, Liu Bei led the Chinese army to Xiapi City.
Zhou Yu led more than a hundred horses out of the city, and together with Liu Bei and his generals, including Zhang Fei, Taishi Ci, Wei Yan, Fazheng, Zhang Ji and others, reined in the reins and bridles, they were eating and drinking on their horses while discussing the war strategy.
Zhou Yu said to everyone: "Our army has been fighting hard for more than a month, and our troops and horses are exhausted. I'm afraid it's impossible to join the general in defeating the enemy. But there is no problem in guarding the cities and protecting the supplies for the general."
After going through a great battle, Zhou Yu showed no signs of fatigue between his brows and eyes. Instead, his hands and feet were steady and his conversation was extraordinary. He was as radiant as a orchid and jade tree among everyone. Everyone who saw it couldn't help but sigh in their hearts: This is probably the so-called general in Yushan, famous. The flower of the clan, even the dark clouds in the sky can't cover up his dazzling brilliance.
Fazheng said: "We are also prepared for this, but the dragon's head has not arrived yet. Should we continue to pursue it, or should we wait here?"
Zhou Yu then said: "Shen Pei retreated just before dawn, so he will not be able to retreat far at this time. If the general attacks with his light cavalry, he should be able to catch up in front of Mopan Mountain."
After Wei Yan heard this, he immediately said to Liu Bei: "General, your troops must be fast. If you wait for the Dragon Head to arrive, I'm afraid Cao Cao's army will also arrive from Linzi. It's better to take advantage of our army's new victory and defeat the judge first, then The bandit army is gone!"
Everyone also holds this opinion. Liu Bei ordered the cavalry captains Xue Yong, Wang Gai and other battalions to set off immediately. The knights each rode one horse and one of the slaves to carry quivers, armor, swords and other items. They also took water bags and cheese with them as food for the day. Most of the soldiers added water when they were crossing the Suishui River. At this time, the water bags were still full.
So they set off, first heading east from Yishui River until they reached the junction of Yishui River and Zu River, then turned north along Zu River. Looking up at the sky, the rising sun has long disappeared, the clouds in the sky have gathered into overcast clouds, and the air is also gloomy and solemn. While we were crossing the Ancestor River at Wangmu Mountain, rain and mist filled the air, and fine raindrops fell from the sky, moistening the sleeves of the riders' uniforms.
After the army crossed the Zu River, they regrouped for a while. Some scouts took the opportunity to climb Yuwang Mountain. From then on, they looked northeast and saw a forest of halberd flags in the east, stretching from the northeast end of the foot of the mountain to the foot of Wuyuan City. Seeing this, the scout quickly rode back and reported: "The thieves have taken up positions in the city and are waiting for the battle."
The Western cavalry gradually poured out of the mountain pass and formed an array along the Zushui River, extending from north to west to east and ten miles to the north.
Taishi Ci and Zhang Fei led the right army at the foot of the mountain; Wei Yan, Zhang Ji, and Gongsun Zan led the left army by a tributary. Liu Bei led Huang Zhong, Qianzhao, Yuan Tan, Qu Yi, Tuoba Liwei, and Liu Xuan as the central army. He was also accompanied by counselors such as Fazheng, Chen Gong, Meng Da, Huangfu Jianshou, and Fu Qian.
Because the battle line was extremely long and they were all cavalry, the center army was arranged into four rows and the left army was arranged into three groups, which was perfect for charging one after another. The right army has the least number of soldiers, with only two rows.
The Western Army was in formation, but the Eastern Army remained motionless.
Chen Gong led Cangtou on horseback to observe the Eastern Army. When he came back, he told Liu Bei: "Shen Pei and other generals should be in the middle army. The left wing has always been a weak point for thieves. Looking at it today, it seems that Qingzhou soldiers are the main force. Thieves have always been Focus on the right wing, Bohai ordered Cao Ren to fight out from the right wing, but now that Cao Cao has not arrived, Cao Ren should not be here either, so the leader can only be Youzhou Governor Xia Houyuan!"
Liu Bei then discussed with General Zuo and said: "Our elite troops are all in the center. We should charge directly at the enemy's center and cut the enemy's formation in two. Then outflank the enemy's right army and drive them into the mountains. The enemy's left wing is not enough. If you think about it, great things will happen!”
Everyone nodded in agreement and ordered the officers and soldiers of the Chinese army to prepare their horses and armor for the charge. Also accompanying him was an old man with high moral standards like Tao Qiuhong, who personally rode horseback to inspect each camp to encourage the soldiers.
He said to everyone: "Gentlemen, after the Battle of the Bohai Sea, our army lost troops and generals, which made the world laugh at them, thinking that Guanxi has a false reputation and is not worth mentioning. How can I, a hot-blooded man, tolerate humiliation because of my reputation? Now I have come thousands of miles away alone to enter. If you create unparalleled achievements, if you retreat, you will die without a burial place. Today, the only option is to fight to the death!"
After that, the knights in the front row roared with encouragement, rode forward and rushed out of the formation. Their horses' hooves were flying, and the dust and mist were flying like yarn. In the soft autumn rain, the Mingguang armor at the front still bloomed with unobstructed brilliance, like an ice cone passing through the snow, thrusting forward without any hindrance.
The Chinese cavalry of the Easterners finally came out to meet the enemy. Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves hitting the ground was like the beating of hundreds of large drums, and red dust rose in the eastern sky.
Different from the Westerners, the Easterners sent out light cavalry wearing leather armor. They distanced themselves in the rain curtain, actively surrounded the Westerners' cavalry, and kept firing their bows, trying to use this method to defeat the Westerners. Weakened the sharp offensive of the cavalry, but the Westerners didn't even look at it, and allowed their comrades around him to fall one by one in the rain of arrows, while he quickly approached the Easterners' main formation.
The distance between the two sides was very close, so in two moments, the Western forward was close to hitting the Eastern formation. As usual, in order to facilitate the cavalry attack, there was a large gap between the Western cavalry, but even so, the gloomy Changshan still looked like a forest of death, with angry horses on their backs, rushing towards the opposite side. Also ushered in was the denser Changshan Tielin.
At this time, the leader from the front was Yuan Tan. He saw the knights in the front row leaning down, clamping their long spears with their arms and stabbing them. It was indeed very effective. Many Dongren were almost carried away under this group. Lives were taken away by the thrusts of charging horses. But correspondingly, many war horses were also injured during the collision. Those were injuries caused by stabs from the tips of the spears or cuts by sharp blades on both sides of the spears. Especially for those unarmored war horses, in addition to being pierced through the chest by the long spear, even if the sharp edge of the spear was scratched through the horse's belly, it still caused terrible injuries.
After Yuan Tan led his army into the Dongren army's formation, his horse obviously began to slow down. He lowered his head and discovered that a bloody mouth stretched backward from the right front belly of the mount until it stopped at the mud barrier where the saddle was drawn. Blood gurgled out, completely soaking the horse's belly and legs. He jumped down before his horse fell, and his lieutenant, Guan Tong, saw him and quickly rode over to let him climb back on his horse.
As the head coach of the front formation, Yuan Tan was like this, not to mention the other cavalrymen. During this first charge, many people were stabbed to death by their horses and fell to the ground. As soon as the Westerners saw Rome, the Easterners immediately gathered to accumulate thorns. Because they were so scattered, it was difficult for the Westerners to take risks to rescue them at close range, so they were left to fend for themselves.
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But even so, the Western cavalry brigade did not stop. They continued to rush northeast and penetrated the Eastern infantry formation in the first round, completing Liu Bei's plan. After the formation collapsed, Yuan Tan led his army to run a large arc of maneuver, and then turned around, this time from east to west, aiming to completely outflank the Eastern right wing. However, only at this time did they see the complete arrangement of the judges for this battle.
Chen Gong said that Dongren's right wing was strong, and his judgment was indeed correct. However, Shen Ping's arrangement was also beyond ordinary people's expectations. He did not just pile up heavy troops on the right wing as ordinary people thought, but ordered Yu Jin to use the rear formation on the right wing. A diagonal line was spread out in the southeast direction, and three thousand cavalry were deployed at the southernmost end of the diagonal line.
These cavalrymen had obviously been prepared for a long time. When they saw Yuan Tan's troops outflanking to the southeast, they immediately charged back in the opposite direction, accompanied by a rain of arrows designed to cover them.
When Yuan Tan saw these enemy cavalry rushing towards him, he immediately turned around and looked at his own front. At this time, the original straight rows were no longer there. The cavalry under his command were all gathered in the middle, while the Dongren separated into two long columns, like two long blind fires, curved and rapid. The ground was cut from both sides of the Western cavalry group. This situation made Yuan Tan's heart feel cold.
If Liu Bei's design is to use the central army as a hammer and the left army as an anvil, he intends to use this to defeat the enemy. Obviously, the judge had guessed Liu Bei's arrangement. He did not stop the Chinese army. Instead, he chose to deploy a tight giant net behind the right wing when the hammer fell, intending to trap him before he could exert any force. live. Even if they can't resist it in the end, they can still buy enough time to make the Western Army's offensive intentions fail.
But he didn't have time to think more, the cavalry of the two armies were already intertwined. At this time, the Westerners were shocked to find that many Eastern cavalrymen put a shield between themselves and the horse's belly. They leaned on the horse's neck, stretched out a long sword from the top of the shield with their other hand, and stabbed at the horse. The oncoming Westerners kept their horses alive. Once he succeeds, he raises his arm to release the long spear and escapes from the battle with his galloping mount.
Westerners often wore iron armor, so they did not carry shields. However, in such contact, the advantage of iron armor was offset. The cavalry on the periphery kept falling off their horses or fell to the ground along with the seriously injured horses. The Eastern cavalry were like two whips dipped in water, whipping out splashes of blood on their crowded outside.
The Westerners in the middle were not hindered. At this time, there was no room for regret or hesitation. They continued to implement the original plan and quickly passed through the Eastern columns. They also separated two curved lines and fought together. Kill, while rushing towards Dongren in the diagonal line.
