,!
After the failure of the Xiang soldiers, the Shu army rested for about ten days, and in the blink of an eye, even the Mid-Autumn Festival was over. The maple leaves in the dense forest on the West Bank have been dyed like red clouds, and yellow or white chrysanthemums have begun to bloom on the bloody battlefields in the past. For a moment, the wind blows across both sides of the Strait, full of refreshing fragrance. If the military camps on both sides of the Strait were not still busy mobilizing supplies to the front line, It doesn't remind anyone of war at all.
Because the camps of the two armies were too close to each other, a large number of hidden sentries were placed around them. The scouts had no room to perform. As a result, even though they were very close, the two armies were unable to inquire about the other's movements and thus guess the other's intentions. Under this situation, the generals of the Han army were extremely solemn. They knew that in the silence, a new round of Shu army's attack was brewing. The longer it brewed, the more terrifying the enemy's power was.
Finally one morning, a hazy mist rose between the sky and the earth. There was no wind around and it was extremely quiet, just like snowflakes filling the sky and the earth. Probably because of the sudden drop in temperature, the Han soldiers and horses stationed on the east coast were constantly sneezing and panting due to the air conditioning. As far as the eye can see, white mist covers the sky and the earth, and the distance that the eye can reach is less than half a mile.
The Han army relied on the buzzing arrows fired from the surrounding secret sentries to convey the enemy's situation. Not long after the mist rose, the sound of sharp arrows piercing the air was heard from the southeast. Soon another knight reported to Yang Fu: "Discovery found in the south." Soldiers of the Shu Army!"
Yang Fu was shocked. He didn't expect that the Shu army sent troops not from the east, but from the south! Busy asking the other party about their number and formation. The scouts said they were too far away to see clearly. There might be hundreds of riders, and they were probably just the vanguard. Although they couldn't spy on the large army behind them, they could hear the tremors in the ground, and there should be tens of thousands of them. And from the sound of the river, there might be more. The navy is dispatched!
After hearing this, Yang Fu pondered for a while and thought: It seems that Liu Fan has become anxious after suffering successive setbacks and plans to hold a large-scale battle with the Han army. The current situation is no longer something that the Han army on the east coast can handle alone. Yes. He raised his head and said: "In about half an hour, as soon as the sun rises, the mist will dissipate. Most of them are infantry. If they move slowly in formation, they should have just arrived. Now order the entire army to assemble, and then you go and report this to the prime minister. !”
The messenger accepted the promise and quickly rode on the pontoon bridge towards the west bank camp. Yang Fu once again took inventory of the weapons and equipment. At this time, he and Jiang Xu had more than 7,000 knights, more than 13,000 horses, and thousands of heavy armors. If they just wanted the knights to spread out on the sandbank, I'm afraid It is impossible. In the previous battles, no matter whether the two armies won or lost, it was difficult to carry out large-scale detours and pursuits. This is why.
After Yang Fu gathered the army, he arranged it from north to south. He placed the knights on the flanks, and basically handed over the heavy armor to the forward infantry, and then guarded around the pontoon bridge, which is currently the Han camp on the east coast. lifeline. If the pontoon bridge is destroyed and the enemy navy cuts off the river, the entire Han army on the east bank will fall into a situation of being slaughtered by the Shu people. However, Yang Fu still couldn't let go. He checked the formations of each song one by one, and discussed with Jiang Xu the possible formations of the Shu army.
However, at this time, the envoy sent ran back from the other side and hurriedly sent an order to Yang Fu: "The Prime Minister said that he has set up an ambush upstream. If the general resists for a while, he can defeat the enemy and release the pontoon bridge to Shu. People." Jiang Xu was overjoyed when he heard this: "It seems that the prime minister has made perfect arrangements, and this battle will be won!" Yang Fu knew that Chen Chong had a backup plan, but he had kept it secret until now. At this time, he was confused and asked Jiang Xu, Jiang Xu didn't answer and said with a smile, "Just wait and see."
After half an hour, the mist dissipated, the sun gradually emerged from the southeast, and the blue sky above our heads gradually became clear and clear. And soon, they also felt a faint sound under their feet, and at the same time saw the outline of a tall building ship in the distance.
When the Shu people emerged from the dense forest, they were almost like ants. The Han army saw them filling all the gaps on the east bank in a mighty manner. Although they moved very slowly, the people and horses were so crowded that they were almost leaning on each other, but the scene was Extremely spectacular. The sharp-eyed soldiers in front could see that they were wearing cyan turbans and autumn clothes, and most of them were carrying bows and arrows. The tall building boats on the side are lined up in a long snake against the east bank, and the dewdrops on the boat's canvas shine green in the sun. The sterns and gondolas were scattered around, watching for the presence of stone carts on the west bank.
As the navy's forward continued to approach, the Shu people also began to change their formation. They stand side by side, forming a long semicircle formation, with the semicircle shrinking inward. This is called the Queyue Formation in ancient formations. It is named because it resembles a curved crescent. The Queyue Formation is like a half-missed crescent moon, and depending on different terrains, it can be retracted inward or convex outward. The left side of the Shu army is connected to the river bank. The original forward line should be a straight line, but now it is retracted into discontinuous arcs. This is a moon-quenching strategy. Once the enemy approaches the central area, they will be hit by bows from the front, left and right, which are specially used to restrain the cavalry.
However, the sun was shining down, and I didn't know what order I got. The Han army forwards who had covered themselves with cloaks to keep out the cold successively took off their cloaks, revealing the neatly worn iron armor underneath. Under the sun, they instantly issued a A dazzling light! This made the Shu people, who originally thought that defeating the Han army on the east coast would be as easy as hunting, a little uneasy, then became a little hesitant, and finally stayed at a distance and did not approach easily.
After a while, a horse squeezed out of the crowd, and sitting on it was a middle-aged scholar. He entered the Han army's firing range without fear. He immediately stood still and shouted to the opposite side: "We are waiting for the navy here. You Waiting for stubborn resistance is like a worm shaking a tree. But His Highness said that you are quite capable of fighting hard and can be regarded as good Chinese men. It is a pity that you died here." This man wore a silk scarf on his head, but his speech did not have the accent of Sichuan. He looks oddly thin, but has a good temperament. He continued: "Your Highness has an order. If you put down your bow and leave this place voluntarily, you will have a way out!"
After saying that, he stood there for a while, waiting for the Han army's response. Of course, Yang Fu and others had no reaction. He just discussed with Jiang Xu: "The Prime Minister said that if the sheep are defeated, they have to fight for a while before retreating."
Jiang Xu nodded and responded: "I'm going to charge the formation, and when I retreat, you retreat first and set up defenses at the rear. Then when I retreat, you can take the lead, so that I won't be defeated."
Just as he said this, he felt the ground beneath his feet shaking, and a thunderous sound accompanied by the pungent smell of dust came over him. It turned out that the envoy had returned to the formation when he saw no response, and the Shu army took the lead in launching the first round of advancement.
The Shu army walked very slowly at first, moving their legs step by step like a hammer hitting them. But as the distance between the two armies got closer and closer, their steps gradually became smaller and smaller, and gradually turned into a torrent, slowly but inexorably. They rushed towards the Han army in a blocking posture.
At this time, Jiang Xu only sent a few hundred cavalry front troops to deal with the Shu people. They rushed forward, and after entering the shooting range, the knight immediately grabbed the light horse bow and quickly shot the first batch of arrows. The Shu people in front lowered their heads one after another. Those with heavy armor used their iron pockets to block the arrows, while those with only green scarves were shot to the ground. But they wanted to fight back at the same time. The Shu people in front raised a row of crossbows and fired hail-like crossbow arrows, targeting the Han army's mounts. Suddenly there was a shrill neighing and screaming of the horses. Many unprotected horses were hit by crossbows. Their bodies were either pierced in the stomach or their limbs were broken. They fell to the ground one after another. The knights on the horses also fell heavily to the ground.
However, the power of the infantry fighting crossbow was only in the first wave. It was extremely time-consuming to string up and could not form a continuous strike. The Han army seized the opportunity and continued to move forward, and soon started a hand-to-hand fight with the Shu army in Queyue Formation. Although they were numerically superior Although they were at a disadvantage, the Han cavalry's attitude of rushing into the encirclement risking their lives with crossbows still shocked the Shu army and caused a moment of lag in their offensive. Jiang Xu personally led the team and brought the follow-up cavalry forward to support, specializing in attacking the shortcomings between the Shu people's small formations, and actually made a small breakthrough.
But this was not enough to stop the Shu people's attack, especially when there were ships and sterns beside the roaring river.
At this time, Gan Ning led a fighting ship to the forefront of the Shu army's navy. He ordered his men to keep rowing the oars. When the ship rowed directly to the left front of the Shu army's line, he led more than 30 people to jump off the ship and directly Appearing on Jiang Xu's flank, he raised his sword and rushed towards the Han soldiers. Probably because he lost to Ma Chao in the previous challenge, this time he charged into the battle with hatred, blocking others and cutting horses, but there was no one enemy he could defeat. The situation on the battlefield also reversed and soon tilted towards the Shu army.
At this time, Liu Fan was sitting on a boat in the river, observing the movements of the Han troops on both sides of the river. The Han army on the east bank was gradually overwhelmed and had a tendency to flee northward. However, the Han army on the west bank did not dare to directly step on the bridge in front of the Shu navy to support them. When they were young, they set up stone carts along the coast. However, the stone carts The range was limited and could not shoot down the buildings and ships on the east coast. This left thousands of Han troops on the east coast in an isolated and helpless situation.
Huang Quan on the side asked Liu Fandao: "Your Highness, after we capture the pontoon bridge, should we take advantage of the victory and attack the west camp, or stay on the east bank."
Liu Fan replied: "It is too fanciful to expect to win all the battles. You will win first and then. Who should you tell if you take the risk and suffer a loss?" After that, he sighed, obviously because of the previous few times. He was very upset about the failure of the attack, and then said: "You pass on my order. After seizing the pontoon bridge, destroy it on the spot. As for the future arrangements, it will not be too late for us to inquire about the situation in the north of Qing Dynasty before we make plans."
As they were talking, the Han army on the east bank had begun a large-scale retreat to the north, apparently abandoning the pontoon bridge and the fort. Seeing that the navy was approaching the pontoon bridge, the Shu people on the front line had no worries, so they boldly pursued forward, and the formation gradually Towards dispersion.
And just when the first stern ship approached the pontoon bridge, the Han army on the west bank finally made new changes.
