Generally speaking, as long as the distance between the enemy and ourselves is less than ten miles, it means that a war is about to break out. The arrival of the Sui army swept away the relaxed atmosphere of the Tuyuhun army, and the whole camp was filled with a solemn atmosphere of an impending war.
The military camp in Tuyuhun has been continuously improved during the confrontation over several years, and its strength is even better than that of the Sui Army's Jinshan Military Fortress. Ten thousand soldiers responsible for defense stood on top of the strong and tall city. Everyone was watching the Sui army camp in the distance with vigilance.
The Sui army's camp was less than half the size of the Tuyuhun camp, and it was not as tall and solid as the Tuyuhun camp. However, it was compactly and solidly arranged, like a clenched iron fist, full of power and momentum that could not be ignored.
Coach Murong Yong is only 37 years old this year. He is the youngest brother of Murong Kualu and the uncle of Murong Fuyun. He is a very important figure in Tuyuhun. He was named the Prince-like Tianzhu King by Murong Fuyun.
Murong Yong was proficient in Chinese studies and was relatively modest and cautious. He knew very well that Yang Ji was powerful in the world, and Tuguhun soldiers were generally afraid of him. More importantly, Yang Ji knew Tuguhun, a veteran of a nomadic country, very well. He could always seize the weak points and deliver a fatal blow to the enemy.
After hearing that the head coach of the Sui Dynasty's West Route Army was Yang Ji himself, Murong Yong became more cautious. Therefore, when the Sui army was encamped, he did not dare to launch an attack rashly, but waited for the Sui army to attack the fortified camp.
Not long after returning to the Chinese army's tent, a general stepped inside, presented a letter to Murong Yong, and said, "Commander, a famous Sui sergeant just shot a letter."
Murong Yong took the letter and looked at it, and saw that it was written in Chinese on the envelope "Sui Liangzhou Mu Yang Ji to Tianzhu King Murong Yong".
This line of text made Murong Yong frown: Everyone is a prince. Yang Ji regards himself as an official, but he calls him "Tianzhu King" instead of Tianjun Marching Marshal. This is clearly looking down on him and saying that he He is a waste with no title and no talent.
Although he knew that the other party was deliberately irritating him, Murong Yong still felt very uncomfortable. He took out the letter and looked at it, only to find that it was a letter of challenge: Yang Ji hoped that each side would send 10,000 soldiers to fight to the death before dark today. , if Tuyuhun doesn’t send troops, it doesn’t matter.
This duel method is also a unique traditional fighting method of nomadic peoples such as Tuyuhun. The two sides agree on the number of people, location, and time, and then fight. Regardless of the victory or defeat, no troops can be sent to support, but this duel method is often conducted internally. , but such a duel with the Sui Dynasty was unprecedented.
Yang Ji's arrogance angered Murong Yong; after all, the Sui army galloped for dozens of miles in the heavy snow. Even if they really wanted to fight, they should rest for a night, but Yang Ji directly set the time for the duel. How arrogant is this today? However, facing Yang Ji's ignorant arrogance and tired Sui army, Murong Yong was not afraid.
He sneered and shouted loudly: "Murong Yan!"
A majestic captain of ten thousand men came in and saluted, "The general is here!"
Murong Yong raised the letter in his hand and said: "The Sui army gave us a letter of war. It was agreed that each side would send out ten thousand people to fight in front of the two armies. You will lead your troops to fight immediately."
"Today? Now?" Murong Yan was stunned for a moment and looked at Murong Yong in disbelief.
He was one of Murong Fuyun's 20,000 direct army generals, and he had a high IQ. Naturally, he knew that the Sui Army's top priority today was rest, not fighting. However, Murong Yong actually said that the Sui Army would fight today?
This made him suspect that Murong Yong had been fooled by the Sui army.
"It's today, it's now!" Murong Yong saw him staring at him like a fool, and said displeasedly: "Yang Ji is arrogant, but his army must be the most powerful. An elite victorious army, so I asked you to lead the most elite warriors to fight this battle. You must defeat the Sui army, severely weaken the enemy's spirit, and increase the prestige of our army."
"General, I obey!" Murong Yan was convinced that this was true, and immediately saluted, rushed out of the tent, summoned his troops, and ordered everyone to wrap the horses' hooves in layers of coarse cloth to prevent the horses from falling on the ice.
Not long after, the city gate opened; Murong Yan led his soldiers slowly out of the west gate and ran towards the vast snowfield. As he was preparing, Murong Yong quickly summoned Murong Xiaojun.
Hundreds of generals, big and small, stood on top of the city to watch the battle.
"Woooooooooo..." At the same time, the horns of the Sui Army's camp were loudly sounded, and then, the east gate of the Sui Camp opened wide, and groups of Sui Army soldiers lined up from the camp.
The soldiers of the Sui army were neatly dressed, with bright armor and spears like a forest. Their steps followed the sound of trumpets, and a loud "kill, kill, kill" sound broke out from time to time in the battle formations.
The murderous momentum and neat lineup are extremely oppressive, shocking and intimidating, which also makes the expressions of the Tuyuhun soldiers on the city slowly become serious.
Even Murong Yong and Murong Xiaojun were no exception; although they had great confidence in the elite division led by Murong Yan, they couldn't help but feel anxious when faced with this Sui army that was afraid of heat and looked at them with disdain.
. . . . .
Amidst the blasts of desolate horns, groups of Sui troops filed out and walked towards the Tuguhun Cavalry on the opposite side without stopping. Yang Ji did not go back on his promise. The army he sent was also ten thousand strong. This army It was not the victorious army that Murong Yong expected, but Xue Shixiong's main battle army. This army had been stationed in Dangjin Mountain for many years and had already adapted to the climate and environment here.
Under such special climate conditions and terrain, the combat effectiveness and endurance of the Victory Army may not be higher than this army. This is why Yang Ji sent this army.
This army consisted of 3,000 heavy armored infantry, 3,000 crossbowmen, and 4,000 cavalry. As the deputy general manager, Xue Shixiong was personally responsible for commanding the battle: the infantry was in the vanguard, led by his second son Xue Wanshu; the crossbowmen were in the rear, led by Li Jing's son Li Shimo; the cavalry was divided into two, with guards on the left and right of the infantry. The main generals are A Chi and Yang Shidao.
After Yang Ji handed over the camp to Qian Shixiong, he walked out of the camp with Yang Shanhui and Hao Yuan. Under the escort of a group of soldiers, the three of them boarded the Jinglan chariot that served as an observation tower to watch the battle from a high place. .
Their purpose for this battle was threefold: first, to undermine the enemy's morale; second, to test the Modao Formation taught to him by Yang Su in actual combat, so that the Modao Formation could be run-in in actual combat; third, to let the enemy's and our war horses, The soldiers stepped on this piece of ice and snow, so that the tunnel they were about to dig would not collapse, so that the Blood Knife Ancestor's tactics could be carried out successfully.
There are many ways to fight on the battlefield, but Yang Ji's best tactics are the use of cavalry and light cavalry. He often first lets the cavalry use powerful and long-range crossbows to defeat the enemy, and then lets the light cavalry follow them. Attack from the left and right sides. He had basically never used this combination of foot and cavalry tactics. Even if he used it, it would only be used in small-scale conflicts. This is the first time that an infantry and cavalry phalanx with more than ten thousand people appears in Yang Ji's "History of War."
This time, the Mo Dao Army was the vanguard. There were three rows for every thousand people. However, the Mo Dao Army soldiers who were covered in heavy armor moved very slowly. Their sides were the most convenient weak points, so Each side was guarded by two thousand light cavalry; and the mission of the crossbowmen behind the Modao Army was to expand the Modao Army's results and provide "long-range firepower" support to the Modao Army.
Under the watchful eyes of Yang Ji, Yang Shanhui, and Hao Yuan, three thousand Mo Daomen slowly followed the cavalry. When the army was about two miles away from Tuyuhun, Xue Shixiong waved the flag in his hand, and the cavalry on the left and right stopped immediately. , the Modao Army and the Crossbow Army continued to move forward, and the "flying geese-shaped formation" that spread out their wings immediately turned into a forward-facing arrow formation.
Murong Yan stared at the Sui army's lineup from afar, feeling suspicious and frowning.
The sharp arrow formation points directly at the enemy in the front in the shape of an arrow. This is also the most classic offensive formation. They are often used by Tuyuhun on the battlefield, but the sharp arrow formation also has various ways of deploying troops.
According to military records, the Sui army's front arrow formation usually had crossbowmen in front, infantry such as sword and shield soldiers and spearmen in the back, and cavalry guards on both sides of the infantry square formation. However, this time the Sui army actually used The melee heavy infantry is in front, the crossbowmen are in the back, and there are no sword and shield soldiers at all. Therefore, this unexpected infantry and cavalry formation also shocked Murong Yan, who was familiar with the Sui army's tactics.
However, no matter how shocked he was, there was no time for him to think carefully, because the Sui soldiers on the opposite side had already entered the attack range of the cavalry; and the greatest advantage of the cavalry was the overwhelming and indestructible impact and collision force; if it were allowed If the enemy troops come close to fight, it will not be conducive to the charge of the cavalry. The battle of the cavalry
Strength will also be greatly reduced.
"Send the order to attack!" As Murong Yan waved the order flag in his hand, the attack drums on Tuyuhun City sounded loudly.
"Dong dong, dong dong dong!" The drums of the attack soared into the sky. Ten thousand Tuyuhun cavalry shouted and launched a fierce offensive. The ten thousand cavalry raised their spears high and charged towards the Sui army at a speed as fast as the wind. . The momentum of the galloping horses was so majestic that they looked like a surging tide.
In this case, it is very difficult for the infantry to block the cavalry attack. Even if it can be blocked, the soldiers in the first few rows will be sacrificed. However, the Central Plains military formation has never been fought by a single unit of arms. All arms are interlocked and indispensable. The arms complement each other's strengths and cooperate with each other, and finally achieve a perfect enemy-killing effect.
Mo Dao Formation is naturally no exception.
Just when the Tuyuhun cavalry was about to enter the 150-step firing range, three rows of Mo Dao troops ambush, revealing the crossbowmen behind them loaded with crossbows and arrows!
Crossbow arrows filled the sky in an instant and soared into the sky!
The Tuyuhun soldiers in front were dumbfounded and at a loss, but at this time the distance between the two armies was less than 200 steps. Even if the Tuyuhun cavalry were faster and more responsive, it would take a lot of time to transform from a dense formation to a dispersed formation, and it would also take a lot of time. The entire lineup was in chaos.
Since there is no way to hide or escape, we can only rush forward.
In an instant, iron crossbow arrows pierced through people and horses, causing the troops and horses in the Tuyuhun army to neigh and the front of the array was in chaos.
"Second row, shoot!" Li Shimo, the commander of the crossbowmen, roared with a burning light in his eyes.
In fact, there was no need for Li Shimo to order at all. The Sui soldiers were well-trained, and every soldier in each branch knew their role. The Mo Dao Formation just changed the positions of the branches, so the crossbow soldiers who had been practiced for a long time Spontaneously firing in layers, one after another, it would be better for the arrows to have sparse feathers, but not to miss the arrow rain.
The powerful firepower network composed of three thousand crossbowmen forcibly stopped the Tuyuhun soldiers one hundred and fifty steps away, unable to get close to Mo Daoshou.
Murong Yan, who was standing on the command chariot, watched the brave and skilled soldiers being shot and killed by crossbow arrows falling from the sky. His heart was bleeding uncontrollably, and he roared loudly: "Come on, get on top of me..."
The Central Plains strong crossbow has always been the first weapon to deal with the nomads. Therefore, Tuyuhun conducted in-depth research on the Central Plains crossbows. In the Sui Dynasty, the Fuyuan crossbow had a range of up to 300 steps. However, the range and power of its own crossbow were not as good as others. Next, the best way is to use cavalry to charge into the formation and tear apart the Sui army's front army with a powerful impact, otherwise they will be shot by the opponent's endless arrows.
It is precisely because of this that when Murong Yan saw that the enemy's front troops were heavily armored, he decisively gave up the ineffective bows and arrows and directly ordered the Tuyuhun soldiers to rush over, hoping to fill the gap between the two armies with some of their lives.
Before the battle, the soldiers of Tuyuhun army lost six to seven hundred people. Of course, these battle losses were not caused by crossbows. The main reason was that after the cavalry horses were hit by arrows, they either stopped, fell down, or ran to both sides. In this way, the cavalry in front became an obstacle to the soldiers behind, and the two sides They collided with each other, causing the man to flip over, then tripped over the horse behind him, and was trampled to death by the horse behind him. However, this situation only aroused the blood of the Tuyuhun soldiers. They ignored the incoming crossbows and roared to build a path forward with their flesh and blood.
Xue Shixiong gave an order and waved the flag. The four thousand cavalry separated to both sides and assumed an offensive posture. The crossbowmen also quickly retreated and continued to cover and support Mo Dao's soldiers from a safe distance. Countless arrows shot past Mo Dao's soldiers. Towards the soldiers of the Tuyuhun Army, sharp arrows pierced the bodies of the cavalry and horses, causing blood to splash like a fountain!
However, without the suppression of crossbows, the Tuyuhun cavalry finally accelerated.
The Mo Dao army in heavy armor seemed to be an isolated and helpless army at this moment, but the soldiers were as steady as a mountain. The Mo Dao hands in the first row suddenly knelt down and slammed the handle of the Mo Dao in their hands. On the ice, both hands and a bent leg stabilized the handle of the knife. The two rows of soldiers behind held the Mo Dao tightly and made a posture to attack alternately at any time.
Yang Ji, Yang Shanhui, and Hao Yuan stood on the Jinglan Car. Although his eyes were very indifferent, but from his tight grasp
From the guardrails and his hands with protruding veins, it could be seen that Yang Ji was very nervous at the moment.
Using the Mo Dao Formation to deal with the Tuyuhun cavalry was completely a matter of rote learning, and many details were not taken into account. Although every conceivable loophole was filled during the training process, it is still unknown whether it can withstand the test of actual combat. number.
