The sound of winter drums could be heard in the distance, and occasionally the sound of shouting and the sound of horse hooves could be heard.
Zhang Gao rode his horse in the middle of the army, feeling proud under the banner that covered the sky and the sun.
"The Eight Divisions of Dilie are somewhat brave, but do they regard my invincible son-in-law as a pseudo-Jin cavalry lacking war horses? They actually want to use light cavalry to delay the advancement of my army!"
There was a burst of laughter. On the second day of October, Zhang Gao's troops arrived less than sixty miles away from Kedun City. The light cavalry of the enemy's Eight Divisions immediately began to harass them.
In units of hundreds or even two or three thousand riders, they constantly tried to intimidate, outflank or even cross the Zhou army's forward and the main force of the Chinese army to attack the grain and grass and baggage teams behind.
However, the Eight Divisions of Dilie soon suffered a bloody blow in the face of reality.
Not to mention that Zhang Yan himself had 15,000 cavalry retinues from various grassland tribes. Even his more than 20,000 Helong levy cavalry were definitely not easy to mess with.
If these Helong athletes who have been recruited really want to fight in a formation, it can only be said that they have very rich training experience, but they still lack combat experience.
But if it's a chase battle involving hundreds to thousands of people, it's a struggle! They often play like this in the Helong area.
So once the fight started, the enemy's cavalry did not take any advantage at all.
Although both sides are athletes who grew up on horses, Zhang Yan's Helong athletes are basically semi-standing armies that can be trained on a semi-full-time basis, which the herdsmen on the grasslands cannot do.
In terms of equipment, the herdsmen of the Eight Tribes of Dilie basically use animal bones sharpened as arrowheads. It would be nice to have a piece of leather armor, but most of their bows are crudely made.
However, Helong Jian'er's arrowheads are all made of fine steel, and the arrow shafts are carefully crafted by him who spend a lot of time on weekdays.
A piece of ring-lock armor is the basic standard, and the other hard bows, iron stomachs, horse spears, etc. are also extremely sophisticated.
Most of the herdsmen's war horses in the Eight Divisions of Dilie are good at enduring hardship and hard work, but they can hardly be called divine horses.
Helong Jian'er's war horses are basically very powerful Helong horses.
Even if they are not Pegasus and Ryoma, they are still very outstanding, the kind that can make a man unable to take his eyes off the grassland.
Therefore, when the two sides collided, the light cavalry of the Eight Divisions of Dilie suffered a big loss. Even though their riding and archery skills were no worse than those of Helong Jian'er, the equipment gap between the two sides was too big.
Often four or five enemy cavalrymen from eight groups would surround a Helong athlete and shoot at him. After shooting for a long time, the Helong athlete could still run and fight back.
But on the other hand, several, no! It doesn't take more than a few, even if a Helong Jian'er catches up with an enemy cavalryman, as long as he shoots an arrow, he will at least lose his combat effectiveness.
The two drum sounds of "Dongdong" signaled that someone was coming towards Zhang Gao. Chen Huo'er, the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Golden Spear Squadron, personally held a large shield to protect Zhang Gao, while Zhang Gao gently pushed him away.
There was a burst of smoke and dust, and a captain held a strong man with blood all over his head in one hand, and circled Zhang Hao in a showy manner, and then with a Dong Dong sound, he threw the strong man on the ground in front of Zhang Hao.
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"Saint! The bows and arrows of the Zhaoyi Inspection Department of Didao County, Lanzhou Prefecture were all drawn, and one of the enemy's most powerful troops, Mei Lu, was captured!"
Meilu is a Uighur word. It originally meant the elite guards of the Uyghur kings or governors. Later, it referred to the brave and low-level officers on the grassland, about fifty people in length.
"Haha, good!" Zhang Gao clapped his hands and laughed, "Zhang Dutou captured the enemy's commander, gave him five pieces of brocade, and was promoted to a military officer!"
Zhang Sheng was so excited that he bowed his head in the air on his horse, then roared and returned to join the battle.
After a while, smoke and dust rose again, this time mixed with a lot of cheers, so Zhang Hao reined in his horse and stopped to wait.
I saw a general with an iron stomach on his head and a different attire from Helong Jian'er, galloping in from a distance.
This general didn't throw the person over as carelessly as Zhang Sheng just now, but shouted from forty or fifty steps away.
"Your Majesty, Chai Kehong, the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Longwu Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty, has captured a young prince from the Wei tribe in Beishan, and he has come to the imperial court to praise his achievements!"
Chai Kehong! Zhang Yan was refreshed. In the last battle in Huainan, didn't this boy do something loyal and righteous and refused to surrender? He also called Zhang Yan a Hexi thief, which almost made me, Zhang Shengren, angry. Why are you here now?
However, with Zhang Zhi's magnanimity, he would definitely not get angry with Chai Kehong. He laughed and rode forward.
"When did Chai Dalang arrive? You are so late!"
With such a simple sentence, Chai Kehong almost shed tears. He rode his horse a few steps and threw that little prince from Shiwei to the ground. He also slipped directly from the horse to the ground and knelt down on one knee. shouted.
"My minister, Chai Kehong, has a narrow vision. He did not know the Lord in the past, but now he knows how broad-minded the saint is and how full of benevolence he is.
If Your Majesty can pardon me for the serious crime of resisting the imperial court in the past, I am willing to make meritorious service and be loyal to Holy Week! "
Zhang Hao also got off his horse and helped Chai Kehong up with his own hands, "He is indeed a good son of our clan. If there were a few more Chai Dalangs, the land in the south of the Yangtze River would be returned to the country as soon as possible, and the people's suffering from weapons and weapons would be relieved!" "
Chai Kehong immediately fell to the ground and cried, swearing and swearing that he would die for Zhang Shengren.
On the sixty-mile journey, the Zhou army was like a determined giant. No matter how harassed the Eight Divisions of Enemy Lie, Shiwei, and Tieli Cavalry were, they still moved forward slowly according to their own plan and pressed towards Kedun City.
The closer they got to Kedun City, the fiercer the battle became. Zhang Gao even released Zhang Cheng and others to fight.
On the battlefield that was more than ten miles wide, the war drums kept ringing. Helong, who had never fought much, recruited athletes and finally had a happy fight.
From dogfights between dozens of people, to hundreds of people attacking each other, to thousands of people digging through, flanking, detouring, cutting tactics, and harassing each other's supplies and baggage.
Zhou Jun walked the sixty-mile road for two days. During these two days, the athletes recruited by Helong were growing rapidly.
Objectively speaking, the enemy's eight cavalrymen were a qualified opponent. If it weren't for the equipment crushing level of the Zhou army's cavalry, Zhang Yan's eastern expedition would have been a bit risky.
Because even with such a gap in equipment, the Eight Divisions of Enemy Lie faced the Zhou Army's elite cavalry and still achieved a victory result of about twelve to one.
It seems terrible to see that only twelve men can replace one person in Zhou's army, but in fact, with such inferior equipment, they faced none of the most elite cavalry in Zhang Zhou.
Even the cavalry under Murong Nobunaga, some of the Zuoyu Lin Guards cavalry that Murong Nobunaga took away after Qu Yanqing returned with the Fenghuo Cavalry Battalion, could not compare with the ten thousand cavalry around Zhang Yan.
It is indeed a strong army to be able to fight such a powerful enemy twelve to one without collapsing. Thinking back to the Opium War, as long as half of the Qing army had this fighting capacity and fighting will, how could the British army fight from south to north.
The savage bear Zhang Zhaozhong stood next to Zhang Yan and said angrily: "Sage, the quality of the cavalry of the Eight Divisions of Enemy Lie should be higher than that of the Karakhan cavalry in Polu Prefecture back then!
They are the most elite light cavalry besides the Khitan Pishi Army Tie Yao and Tielin. "
Zhang Hao nodded in agreement. It seems that the rise of the Mongols in history has a certain foundation.
Compared with the grassland tribes here on Langjuxu Mountain, the cavalrymen from Jinshan (Altai Mountain), Suiye, Hezhong, and Persia are inferior to each other.
"So, our son's sacrifice is worth it. Although their casualties are not small, after defeating such an opponent, there will be no enemy in the world that cannot be conquered."
Zhang Yan was speaking through gritted teeth. In the past two days, the Helong athletes under his command had lost more than a hundred.
Of course, the cavalrymen of the Eight Divisions of Dilie lost one or two thousand cavalry. The damage was so great that when they approached the city of Ketun today, the cavalry of the Eight Divisions of Dilie no longer dared to take the initiative to challenge.
Ketun City is built on the mountain. It was first built by the Uighurs. After the Khitans took over, they ran it into a fortress city.
It is not only the Oruduo of the eight enemy tribes, but also an important border defense town for the Khitan people on the grassland.
This city, built with rammed earth walls, is backed by hills and faces the Luqu River (Klulen River), making the most of the dangers of the mountains and rivers it can exploit.
At this time, the colorful flags of Kedun City were flying, and Bali Yi and others tried their best to summon about 30,000 cavalry.
In addition to them, Shuluping also had two thousand Khitan armors, including fifteen hundred armored cavalry and five hundred armored soldiers.
At the same time, Shulu Ping's natal family's Baoli and other tribes also dispatched four thousand cavalry, and there were also three or four thousand cavalry from Shiwei, Tieli, Wugu and other tribes.
These people total about 40,000 people, and they can be considered the last resistance force in this land.
On Zhang's side, there were 10,000 main infantry and cavalry, 20,000 warriors recruited by Helong, and 15,000 light cavalry from each department. The total number was about 45,000, which was several thousand more than Shuluping on the opposite side.
But the Eight Divisions of Enemy Lie are fighting at home, to protect their wives, children, children and property, so their combat effectiveness should be good.
As for the Khitans, Zhang Gao doubted how much fighting power they had left after Yelu Deguang, Yelu Ruan, and Yelu Lihu were killed in succession.
"Blast the drum! Gather the generals!" As soon as the men had finished a bowl of extremely rare soup cakes, Zhang Hao couldn't wait to start attacking.
Hearing the sound of the big drum played by the commander of the Chinese army, more than one thousand generals from each military camp commander immediately began to gather towards Zhang Gao.
Zhang Xianyu took the long list and started chanting loudly.
"Youyu Linwei Zhonglang General, Su Guogong Li Cunhui!"
Upon hearing the chant, Li Cunhui immediately galloped forward. At the same time, the Chinese army's drum beat rapidly five times. The battle flag symbolizing the right feather Lin Wei and Li Cunhui's own silver-white and black flag with the character "Li" were immediately erected behind Zhang Yan.
Then the war drum of the right feather Lin Wei in the distance also began to beat in response. The right feather Lin Wei called Yu Lin three times, and the sound shook the roof tiles.
"The Commander-in-Chief of the Front Wing of Hanshan Capital, Zhang Jiazhong!"
"Qu Yanqing, commander of Zuoyu Linwei Fenghuo Cavalry Battalion!"
As the generals arrived one by one, the battle flags were erected, the drums were beaten, and the cheers of the crowd immediately raised the fighting mood to the highest level.
At this time, Shuluping in the distance saw the Zhou army beating drums and gathering generals, and immediately ordered the enemy's troops to dispatch two thousand cavalry to start harassing them.
Cao Bin and Pan Mei, who were not qualified to enjoy the glory of beating drums, looked back at the Chinese army with envy, and then began to lead their arranged cavalry teams to fight with the enemy's light cavalry.
At the headquarter of the Chinese Army, the gathering of generals is still going on. Zhang Xianyu's voice was hoarse from shouting, but he was still extremely excited.
"The commander-in-chief of Jintian Town, Haifu, West Sichuan, is Lun Boren!"
"Kangding Prefecture's ambassador of comfort, military supervisor Su Shangzhi!"
"Songpan Mansion's military envoy Lang returns!"
Although the total number of Tubo cavalry that followed this time was only about two hundred, Zhang Gao still counted them.
Lun Boren, Su Shangzhi, and Langgui (son of Langjie Jiangcuo) were extremely excited, and a group of Tibetan and Qiang soldiers and generals also cheered.
Chai Kehong was on the outermost side and looked at Zhang Xianyu anxiously.
"Chai Kehong, the Marquis of Yu, the capital of the Longwu Army of the Southern Tang Dynasty!"
Chai Kehong jumped directly out of the horse and took the flag from the flag-bearing general to symbolize their thirty-odd Southern Tang Imperial Army. Although there were only a few Southern Tang Army generals, they all cheered in unison, "Yu Lin!" '
"Wu Yue Nei Ya's army is all dizzy!"
Shen Huzi led two cavalrymen and rode forward, looking both embarrassed and proud, because these were the only two Wuyue Neiya soldiers who came with him.
Zhang Gao personally rode forward, looked at the two Wuyue knights behind Shen Huzi and asked, "Where are these two warriors from?"
The two Wu Yue Nei Ya soldiers were trembling with excitement.
The tall man replied loudly: "Wang Sheng of Huzhou!"
The short man replied in a trembling voice: "Yuezhou Hu Zhao!"
Zhang Yan saw that the two men might have come to the court without armor and stomach, so they could only wear single clothes to go into battle, and immediately shouted to the secretary behind him.
"Bring two sets of the soft gold silk armor made by my people. The life of my son is much more valuable than the Khitan people."
Wang Sheng and Hu Zhao quickly got off their horses, took over two pieces of chain mail made of thick iron wires, and cried so hard that their whole bodies shook.
It is estimated that Zhang Yan will ask him to ride alone and charge into the formation, and they will dare to do so.
Er shouted, and a member of the Southern Tang cavalry also rode out. He was a good shooter with long arms.
"Brothers Zhou Fengyi and Zhou Fenquan of a certain Jiangdu are also willing to fight against thieves for the country. Please give me armor."
"Good boy!" Zhang Hao praised, and handed a pair of ring-locked armor to this man who didn't know whether it was Zhou Fengyi or Zhou Fenquan.
The man turned over and dismounted and took the armor. He raised the armor above his head and said, "I will thank you all for giving me armor. Please see the power of the Jianghuai hero!"
Zhang Gao also got on his horse at this time, rode his horse back to the commander's position, suddenly drew out his imperial horse-killing sword, and pointed the blade at Kedun City.
"My lords, destroy this slave and feed it!"
All the generals crossed their hands at the same time and shouted "Here!"
The war drums sounded loudly, and all the military generals immediately returned to their positions. All the armies sang Dunhuang's ancient enchanted general songs together, and prepared for battle according to the established plan.
