At this point, the scholar pulled out a Japanese paper fan from somewhere and shook it gently. It looked a bit like a nylon feather fan. It's a pity that the words he said were deadly words: "As for the two thousand guards in Pingliang Mansion, their courage has long been frightened. We are already thankful that we don't attack Pingliang, who dares to take the initiative to come out?" Want to fight?"
"If they just want to get some snacks, they dare to come out and patrol a few times. How can our five thousand elite cavalry easily infiltrate through their defense area? The overall situation is not generally favorable to us at the moment. If there is a fight, these thousand I'm afraid the officers and soldiers don't even have a place to ask for help. We currently have a one to five advantage in terms of military strength. It depends on whether you dare to take a gamble."
"Sir, there is a saying among the Han people: to catch the thief first, capture the king. As long as we can capture or get rid of the King of England, we will be in a more advantageous position in the confrontation with the court. This Although the King of England has a grudge against me, he has to admit that he is the most talented among the sons of that dog emperor. He is a good hand in governing the country and leading troops. "
"Compared with the other sons of the dog emperor who has not yet reached the point of being comatose, he is the only one who can truly inherit the throne. It can even be said that it is precisely because of this ruthless, yet extremely talented son. The British King is now in charge, and now the court is slightly more stable. This British King, at least for now, is absolutely irreplaceable in the court, or no one can replace him."
"If the British king makes a mistake, it will be the most fatal for the court. Not only did the dog emperor, who spent all his efforts to suppress the fight for the right to inherit the throne last year, will be in trouble again, but the government will also be in trouble again. Not to mention that it fell into chaos once, and the Great Qi Dynasty also lost its last hope. As for you, the more chaotic the world of the Great Qi Dynasty is, the more conducive it is to your development."
"It would be better if this person could be captured alive. Not only can your Excellency be able to repel the imperial court's purge without a single blow, but your strength can be preserved to the maximum extent. At the worst, it can also give you the capital to negotiate with the Imperial Court. With this person, it is not impossible even if the price is sky-high. By then, it may not be impossible that Longyou and Shaanxi Road 2 will be within easy reach."
"Taking a step back, even if the Dog Emperor abandons the King of England, he is still a prince of the day no matter what. According to all their ancestral customs, if an official falls into the trap of his vassal, he will be severely held accountable. As long as we capture the King of England and use him as a hostage, we can march towards Longyou and Shaanxi. I don’t believe it. Who among the officials of the Qi Dynasty would dare to shoot at the King of England?"
"Isn't it possible to take him hostage to conquer the city? This is your opportunity, sir. If we can seize this opportunity and win the bet, no one in the Qi Dynasty will be able to stop your rise from now on. Although it may not be possible to take over the world, but this There is no problem in segregating a corner of the northwest. Although our army took some risks by going deep alone, the risk was still worth taking."
The scholar's words made Tuoba Jiqian extremely moved. If the one thousand cavalry escorting was really the King of England, he would have taken a big advantage. Whether it is to deal with this British king or capture this British king, it will not only boost his reputation, but also revive the somewhat sluggish morale in the army after the defeat of Qingyang Mansion. It was also a fatal blow to the imperial court.
By then, it is certain that the head of the commander-in-chief will not be saved. The defeat of the general before the battle, coupled with the change of generals before the battle, had a serious impact on the morale of the officers and soldiers. He may not have the chance to defeat the 20,000 elites of the imperial court in one fell swoop. In addition, if the imperial court really changes the generals who command the army, this exchange will give them enough time to attack the hinterland of Longyou and even Shaanxi Road.
Although this Tuoba Jiqian was from the Dangxiang tribe, he dared to rebel against the imperial court, and he was enough to be called a temporary hero. After roughly calculating the gains and losses, he immediately decided not to care who the thousand officers and soldiers were escorting. Regardless of whether they are here to reinforce Huanzhou or to do other things, they must take advantage of their current absolute advantage in strength to eat them all in one go.
Although in the recent battle of Qingyang, his 30,000-strong army was defeated by 7,000 official troops and was even chased all the way to Huanzhou. But Tuoba Jiqian still had confidence in the five thousand tribesmen he led. I am confident that these five thousand fine cavalry can eat up these one thousand cavalry in the shortest time. Even though these five thousand fine cavalry are his foundation, in his opinion, this risk is definitely worth taking.
After making up his mind, he did not hesitate at all. He led the five thousand cavalry and surrounded them on two wings with three thousand men. He personally commanded the remaining two thousand men and killed them directly from the valley. These five thousand elite cavalrymen of the party started to move at the same time. The dust raised in the sky was discovered from a distance by the reconnaissance cavalry sent by the Qi army general who also escorted Huang Qiong to Huanzhou, and the news was immediately passed back to the team.
After receiving the news that the party's cavalry had been discovered, they led the team to escort Huang Qiong's left wing of the Xijing camp. Situ Shan, the capital of the cavalry army, Yuhou, immediately looked at the British king. What he was most worried about first and foremost was that the British king himself would fall into chaos first. At that time, this man will only give orders randomly in order to protect himself, which will only mess up his own position. Hulao Pass is Hulao Pass, and Qingyang Mansion is Qingyang Mansion.
What he didn't expect was that after hearing the news, the British king's expression remained unchanged, and there was no trace of panic in his expression. Facing his eyes, he said calmly: "You are the commander of these thousand cavalry. Faced with the changes in the battle situation, how to deploy troops and generals and how to make this determination is what you, a military attache, should do. Look at what I am doing. What?"
The British king's expression remained unchanged, and he did not show any signs of being frightened at all. Situ Shan calmed down, hesitated for a moment and then said: "General, I want to ask the King of England for instructions. This group of party cavalry who came to attack is far more numerous than us. Should we fight against it, or should we avoid it for the time being? General's My duty is to escort the King of England to Huanzhou, not to tangle with the enemy here."
It can be seen that although this guy said that his duty is to escort the King of England to Huanzhou. In fact, after he heard the report of the rebel attack, he had a slightly eager look on his face, which made it clear to Huang Qiong that he wanted to fight this battle. He set out from Chang'an with Huang Qiong, not Feng Zhoushan's advance guard. He didn't catch it in the battle of Qingyang Mansion, and now his hands are itchy.
Even though he was currently tasked with escorting the King of England, he still had some thoughts. Regarding this guy's performance, Huang Qiong, who happened to want to touch the so-called elite strength of the party, just smiled lightly and said: "Just do whatever you want, just let it go, don't worry too much about me. Although I don't say How can I fight, but I have also been on the battlefield, so I am confident that I am qualified to be a swordsman."
In fact, Huang Qiong can see it clearly now. The thousand cavalry he brought with him followed him all the way from Chang'an. After passing Gyeongju, it was even faster. The horse power has never been rested, and I'm afraid it won't be able to run very far before it can run too far. The rebels in front of him have been recuperating here for who knows how long. In terms of horsepower, they are naturally not as powerful as the thousand men under his command.
The thousand cavalry he brought with him all used the best party horses, which were indeed superb compared to other horses. But after a long march and galloping, the horses were already a little tired. Horses are animals like humans. Once they are overworked, their condition will drop significantly and they need to rest. The rebels in front, except for the Dangxiang rebels in Ningxia Prefecture, naturally have no second choice.
Since they are party rebels, the horse they ride on is naturally a party horse. And I have read information that the entire Ningxia Prefecture is also an important place for the imperial court to recruit horses. There are about 20,000 to 30,000 private horses. Except for a very small number of Khitan horses and Qinghai horses, most of them are high-quality party horses. Now that the party members are in rebellion, there is no need to ask about the whereabouts of these hidden horses among the people.
In other words, the horses used by these rebels were the same horses as the thousand cavalry he led. The war horses are the same, but one side has been recuperating for a certain period of time, while the other side has traveled a long distance. The comparison of horsepower is very unfavorable to itself. If we really retreat, we will most likely face the embarrassing situation of being unable to defeat, let alone escape. Yu Mingyuan once said that the most fearful thing for an army in battle is to retreat and encounter the enemy.
Especially with a large group of cavalry behind them, the threat is the greatest. Once the enemy's marching order is broken, the army will be in chaos. Both wings and behind are extremely easy to become the focus of enemy attacks. Moreover, retreating blindly can easily cause confusion in the morale of the military. Therefore, in his opinion, when a large army is marching and fighting, once it encounters enemy cavalry following and pursuing them, the most taboo thing is to retreat blindly.
Rather than being passive and being blindly followed and attacked by the rebels, it is better to take advantage of the high morale of the entire army after the battle in Qingyang Mansion to fight against the enemy. As an ambassador of the establishment, I can better understand the combat effectiveness of these so-called party rebels. Although this approach puts him in a more dangerous situation, the closer he observes, the better he can discover the enemy's weaknesses.
After making up his mind, Huang Qiong fully delegated his power to Situ Shan. And this Situ Shan, at first glance, was an experienced veteran, and he did not have any fear in the face of superior and powerful enemies. Even with the troops on hand plus what Huang Qiong gave him, the accompanying 300 soldiers were only 1,100. Taking advantage of the last moment before the enemy forces came forward, the troops were arranged in an orderly manner.
When Tuoba Jiqian led 5,000 party cavalry and launched a full-line attack on him with the tactics of two-wing assault and frontal pressure, he had already surrounded a low-rise building with the 1,100 troops in his hands. But there is a small hill with water source, which is arranged into an iron barrel position. They ignored the rebel cavalry rushing towards them from both sides and always focused their forces on the front.
As for the two wings, no matter how many enemy cavalry came, the two hundred horse archers in his hands would only use bows and arrows to meet the enemy. Moreover, his defensive formation was a bit large and scattered. Huang Qiong was a little confused by this guy at first. The cavalry on the opposite side has a strong impact. Why did he make the entire defense line so wide? Isn't he afraid that the enemy will use the gap he opened to break in?
But as time went by, some tricks were gradually discovered. This guy always keeps two hundred people in his hands, and these two hundred people are desperately digging trenches while others are fighting bloody battles. When the rebels attacked for the third time and failed to open a defensive gap, and had no choice but to retreat, the two hundred men had already dug a trench two feet wide and one person deep along the front and sides.
This trench was neither deep nor wide. It was barely enough to prevent horses from crossing, leaving only two passages one foot wide each in the middle. After the trench was dug, Situ Shan directed the more than a thousand cavalry to use the passage, and the horse archers retreated first, and immediately launched cover after crossing the trench. Then, in the order of spearmen, sabermen, and finally shieldmen, they withdrew behind the trench one by one.
