"The Huns retreat!"
In the car formation, Qin soldiers cheered.
They saw the Hun cavalry outside the car formation, under the shouts of waves, leaving the corpses on the ground, turning around and running away.
In addition to the Qin army's crossbowmen, they fired the last wave of arrows at the fleeing Huns.
All other Qin soldiers, under the orders of General Wang Li, strictly guarded the formation and prohibited pursuit to prevent the Huns from suddenly killing someone with a carbine.
However, no one actually had the strength to pursue them. After seeing the Huns retreating, most of the Qin soldiers sat down on the ground covered with blood and corpses.
"Damn it, these Xiongnu barbarians finally retreated, but they are dead from exhaustion."
Wang Ling threw away the spear in his hand, slumped to the ground, and let out a long breath.
The two armies fought for a long time. Although the Qin army caused thousands of casualties to the Xiongnu cavalry, its own casualties were also not light. Many Qin soldiers had exhausted their energy. During the battle, they could still rely on their blood to fight the Huns. After the battle, they breathed a sigh of relief. Naturally, they were exhausted and could not bear to fight anymore.
However, although the battle was dangerous and many people died, the survivors reaped huge rewards.
Xi Juan, whose face was stained with blood, sat in front of Wang Ling and said excitedly: "Brother, we killed a lot of Huns this time. We are afraid we will be promoted to two levels in a row!"
"Upgrade two levels in a row!"
Wang Ling and many robes beside him became excited.
They had the experience of the last battle. It was much easier to use the car formation to fight the Huns this time. Everyone took a lot of heads. When the time comes to divide the work, everyone will definitely be indispensable.
Thinking of the benefits and glory of upgrading the title, every Qin soldier had a smile on his face.
Xi Juan was even more excited and said: "After defeating the Huns this time, as long as I can go back alive, I will at least have the title of hairpin. Then I can be a rural official in my hometown. My home is in Sishui Pavilion. If I can be a local Sishui Pavilion, Elder, I will be satisfied if I marry another bride to support my mother."
The former Chu knights were gradually assimilated into the Qin military merit system.
After the battle, everyone was counting their own merits and imagining the beauty of being promoted.
At this moment, compared to the excitement of the Qin soldiers on the north bank, the top brass of the Qin army on the south bank were full of regret.
"This Man is so timid. He retreated after just one round. He is not as good as the Kushan Jihou from before."
Everyone felt a little sorry.
They originally wanted to repeat the previous battle example of using a chariot formation to defeat the Yuezhi cavalry, so they deliberately delayed the reinforcement time to avoid scaring Touman Chanyu away due to the increase in the Qin army's strength.
Unexpectedly, the prairie wolf king still saw that the situation was not good and evacuated decisively, causing their plan to fail.
Li Shiqi shook his head and said: "After all, he is the great Chanyu who can unify the Huns. He has a very smart mind. Moreover, he was dealt with by the general twice before. It is normal for him to be aware of it this time."
Chen Ping said with a smile: "In this way, Touman is still afraid of our general's wisdom, and he withdrew because he was afraid of being tricked."
Everyone laughed.
Zhao Tuo shook his head and said: "The old wolf is still cunning and can detect the smell of traps. But if you run away, just run away. I didn't expect that the Xiongnu could be captured in a battle across the river. The real battle still needs to be done." Let's fight under the Yin Mountain. Chen Sheng, let the boat master build a pontoon bridge!"
"only!"
Chen Ping immediately took the order and went down.
The Beihe River was flowing rapidly, and the Qin army's boat division began to line up in the river under the command, using boats to build a pontoon bridge for the army to cross the river.
An hour later, Zhao Tuo's general's banner was already floating on the north bank of the river.
At the same time, the approximate casualties in the Queyue Formation battle were also counted by Qin officials.
"There are more than 3,000 Huns corpses, and there should be thousands of wounded people fleeing. Our army killed 427 people and injured 3,650 people."
Such results made Zhao Tuo very satisfied.
In this battle across the river, the Qin army annihilated 3,000 enemy troops and only suffered losses of more than 400 troops. No matter where this ratio is placed, it is a very impressive record.
The reason is that the Queyue Formation was properly arranged. With the help of the geographical conditions along the river and the cover of Wugang chariots, the Qin army took advantage of it.
Of course, the gap in weapons and equipment between the two sides is also an important reason.
The Qin army's powerful crossbows, short spears and large arrows were far more powerful than the Huns' small short bows, and they had an advantage in the exchange of fire between the two sides. The combination of long spears and Wugang chariots can also ensure that the Qin people are not easily injured by the Huns' short swords and spears when they hurt the Huns.
What's more important is that every Qin soldier wore a thick suit of armor, and most of the Huns' arrows were made of bone and stone clusters, which allowed the Qin people to resist the Huns' arrows and continue to attack. In mounted shooting, having 20,000 arrows falling down is still terrifying.
This is the reason why the Qin army died less in battle but suffered more injuries. Some people, wearing thick armor, took dozens of arrows from the Huns and still screamed.
Zhao Tuo made a brief calculation and found that the Huns suffered thousands of casualties in this battle. Including the right general's troops who had been attacked by the Qin army at night, it was equivalent to the Qin army destroying the Xiongnu's combat strength of 10,000 people in two battles.
And for Zhao Tuo, the biggest benefit of this battle is not simple killing, but a deeper strategic significance.
One is that Zhao Tuo used "half-crossing attack" as bait to trap the Xiongnu army here, causing them to lose the opportunity to escape and retreat in advance.
After the Qin army crossed the Beihe River and threatened the foot of Yin Mountain, the cavalry could reach Touman City in one day and night. At this time, it was difficult for the Huns to withdraw quickly because they had a large number of livestock and tribesmen. Unless they abandoned a large number of livestock, they would have to fight the Qin army to the death.
As long as the Qin army defeated the main force of the Xiongnu head-on, there would be no suspense in the Northern Expedition, and Zhao Tuo would be able to end this campaign before the cold winter comes.
Another significance of this battle is that Zhao Tuo used Queyue Formation to severely damage the morale of the Huns.
The Xiongnu army rushed towards them in a furious manner, intending to stop the Qin army from moving northward with a "half-crossing attack".
As a result, 20,000 cavalry besieged thousands of Qin people, but suffered heavy losses.
Touman Shanyu even left the corpses on the ground and fled in despair with his men.
Such a move was enough to severely damage the Huns' fighting spirit.
As the saying goes, the brave will win when they meet on a narrow road. Morale and courage are very important to an army. Now that the Huns were defeated in the first battle, plus the 5,000 people of the right general who were killed before, morale may have dropped to a low point.
"With my army's morale as high as a rainbow, I will fight against you Xiongnu."
"Touman, how should you respond!"
…
At the foot of Yinshan Mountain, there are vast grasslands with numerous felt tents and livestock grazing in the wilderness.
"Chanyu, why do you want to withdraw! As long as we send 10,000 more people, we can break the car formation and slaughter those Qin people!"
Xu Budang's eyes were red, and he yelled dissatisfied at Touman Shanyu in the felt tent.
Wu Luxu on the side was also staring at Da Chanyu with dissatisfaction on his face. His previous submission and respect for Touman Chanyu had long been thrown aside.
In this siege by the river, the two of them killed more than 3,000 people and injured 2,000 to 3,000 people. It can be said that they suffered heavy losses. If they could break through the Qin army's chariot formation and kill the Qin people inside, they would seize the opportunity. It would be fine if they lost their armor and weapons, at least there would be some comfort.
But the problem was that when they saw that they had suffered huge casualties and the Qin army's chariot formation was on the verge of collapse, Touman Shanyu did not send reinforcements and ordered them to retreat. This naturally made the two kings of Guli unhappy.
At this moment, not only Wuluxu and Xubutang were dissatisfied, but all the Huns nobles in the tent also looked at Touman Chanyu with doubts on their faces, somewhat doubting his leadership level.
Touman Shanyu said coldly: "Have you forgotten the Qin army's boat division on the river and Zhao Tuo's main force on the other side? Attack halfway across the river. When part of the opponent's people cross the river, they will be swallowed up with a fierce attack. Of course it's a good strategy. But if you can't swallow it in a short time, you should retreat immediately, otherwise the enemies on the opposite side will continue to come to support, and there will be no possibility of defeating it. "
Xu Butang was dissatisfied and said: "But we fought for a long time, and the Qin army on the other side didn't come to support us!"
Touman Shanyu snorted coldly: "Yes, we have been fighting for so long, and the Qin army on the other side didn't come to support us. Don't you think it's strange?"
Everyone was stunned.
Everyone is not a fool. After being prompted like this by Touman Chanyu, he naturally thought of something.
Wu Luxu gritted his teeth and said: "Could it be that the Great Shanyu said this was a treacherous plot of the Qin people? Specifically to induce us to besiege their chariot formation? But how did they know that we would attack?"
"Yeah, I don't know that either."
Touman Chanyu spoke calmly and glanced at Hu Yanzi and Yi Hanxie.
Yi Hanxie was excited and immediately shouted: "Da Shanyu, I offer this strategy entirely for us Huns. I don't know anything about the Qin people! I attacked halfway across the river because I heard what Taifu Ju and King Lao Yan had to say. Yes!"
Hu Yanzi also shouted: "Yes, Shanyu, these words were indeed taught by two Yan people, and they have nothing to do with us!"
"Um."
Touman nodded noncommittally and glanced across their faces again, but didn't see anything.
In fact, he was not sure.
After all, these two people were both Xiongnu nobles, and Hu Yanzi was his confidant, so it was absolutely impossible for him to defect to the Qin people.
The general on the right was attacked by the Qin army at night, and all five thousand of his men were defeated by the Qin army. He had a big feud with the Qin people, and he was emotionally unlikely to be a member of the Qin army.
Moreover, the strategy of "attacking halfway across the border" is indeed a good strategy in his opinion. If used well, it will definitely lead to a big victory.
But why was their half-crossing attack so brutal?
"It's probably because Zhao Tuo, that little treacherous boy, has been prepared for this trick a long time ago and created such a difficult car formation."
Touman Chanyu cursed bitterly and pushed the matter to Qin general Zhao Tuo.
As soon as these words came out, other Xiongnu nobles also nodded.
Judging from the previous performance of Qin general Zhao Tuo, he was indeed an extremely cunning person. It would indeed make sense to say that he had taken precautions and arranged a car formation to protect him. Seeing that the Huns really came to attack, the Qin army just used the chariot formation to consume the Xiongnu's power.
"Insidious Zhao Tuo!"
"Cunning Zhao Tuo!"
"I bother!"
There was a sound of insults in the tent.
After the scolding, you nobles returned to a practical issue.
Now that the Qin army has crossed Beihe and is approaching Yinshan, there is no longer a barrier between them and them. How will they choose?
"We still have a hundred thousand cavalry to fight with the Qin people. They are no match for us on the grassland!"
Xubu, the king of Youguli, spoke in anger. His people and livestock were grazing under the Yin Mountain. Now that the Qin army was attacking, he was naturally the most determined resistance faction.
Many tribal leaders living on the Yinshan grasslands all agreed.
Touman Chanyu did not speak, but lowered his head and calculated silently in his heart.
He had 90,000 Huns cavalry before him, and the right general lost about 4,000. He attacked halfway and more than 3,000 people died in this battle. Plus a group of people who were seriously injured and could not go to the battlefield, it was almost a loss of 10,000 people. Combat strength.
After this calculation, he still had 80,000 Huns cavalry available.
"There are also Sugatha's 20,000 cavalry, and I have 100,000 cavalry!"
One hundred thousand cavalry is definitely a huge force on the grassland.
If it were placed in the past, Touman Chanyu would have had the confidence to confront the Qin people head-on and defeat them.
But now, he was being plotted by Zhao Tuo one after another, and he was already feeling a little scared.
Zhao Tuo's name has almost become a shadow in his heart.
"I should do something unexpected. Zhao Tuo can use tricks. Why can't I, the king of the grassland, use tricks? Even if Zhao Tuo is cunning and cunning, can he still guess what I am thinking?"
Touman Shanyu thought of all the harm Zhao Tuo had brought to him, and he was inspired on the spot and came up with a clever plan.
He raised his head, stared at the Hun nobleman in the tent, and spoke excitedly.
"Zhao Tuo is a thief who is cunning and insidious. He once defrauded our trust in Dai, and then took advantage of our unpreparedness to launch a night attack. If he can do this, so can we!"
"I decided to send an envoy to pretend to sue for peace to the Qin army, and then take advantage of the Qin army's unpreparedness to attack the Qin camp at night!"
"I will use Zhao Tuo's strategy to deal with the Qin army!"
(End of chapter)
