Chapter 219
Yuzhou, Liangguo, Kuxian.
Liu Yu led two thousand Qingzhou cavalry troops down the Whirlpool River towards Bucheng.
Because after the spring rain, the water in Guoshui was quite abundant, and ordinary shoals could not be crossed at all. Moreover, Bucheng was the largest city nearby, so Liu Yu could get some supplies and rest there.
After Cao Yi's explanation, Liu Yu knew that the ferry to the nearby Guoshui River was in Bucheng, and the pontoon bridge on the ferry was the only way to pass.
When Liu Yu led the Qingzhou cavalry to the wilderness not far from Bucheng, several scouts from the front suddenly returned in a hurry.
Obviously, there must be a serious emergency. Liu Yu, who was walking at the front, immediately stepped forward to greet them.
"General, a large group of Hulu cavalry was discovered near the pontoon bridge in Bucheng ahead." A scout said breathlessly.
"How many people are there? Under what banner?" Liu Yu frowned slightly.
Weishui is nearly a hundred miles away from Ningping City. If a large group of Hulu cavalry appeared near Weishui, wouldn't it mean that these Hulu cavalry had already solved the 100,000-strong army at the Jin court's platform.
When he thought of this, Liu Yu felt annoyed.
If this is really the case, then many of the clan officials in the Jin Dynasty are really worse than pigs. They can't survive a day. Even if they kill 100,000 pigs, they can't kill them all in one day. ah.
However, Liu Yu thought about it again and felt that this situation should not happen. After all, the Jin court's Xingtai army still had Ningping City to rely on. Even if the Xingtai Chinese army was weak, the Hulu cavalry would still be weak. It is impossible to conquer Ninh Binh City in one day.
"There are about three thousand. Looking at the Hulu flag from a distance, it should be Shi Le's headquarters of the Huns in Bingzhou." The scout immediately replied.
"Did the Hulu destroy the pontoon bridge?" Liu Yu was most concerned about the pontoon bridge at this time.
"When we saw the Hulu, they did not destroy the pontoon bridge." The scout continued, "The wall of Kucheng was very dilapidated. From what I saw, the Hulu seemed to be planning to attack Kucheng, so they did not destroy the pontoon bridge. Instead, they sent We have some Hu cavalry to guard us."
Hearing what the scout said, Liu Yu felt relieved for the time being.
Because, if you want to cross the Whistle River, the nearest road is the pontoon bridge next to Kucheng. Otherwise, you have to continue forward to Qiao County, where there is another pontoon ferry. In addition, the pontoon crossing along the Whistle River The situation was not suitable for the cavalry to force the crossing, either because the muddy beach was too wide or the river was too fast.
"A mere three thousand barbarians are just enough for my Qingzhou Army to stretch their muscles."
When Liu Yu heard that these Hulu cavalry were actually attacking Kucheng, he felt that these Hulu cavalry were simply too arrogant, and he wanted to give the Qingzhou cavalry some training.
"Send the order, everyone! Get ready, mount your horse, and target Bucheng!"
As Liu Yu gave the order, the surrounding guards jumped out one after another and conveyed the command to the cavalry of each battalion. At the same time, the Qingzhou cavalry's order also sounded.
In order to save the strength of the horses, the Qingzhou cavalry held the horses as much as possible to prevent similar enemy situations from happening.
At this time, this preparation comes in handy.
Soon, two thousand Qingzhou cavalry immediately mounted their horses and rushed towards Bucheng not far away.
When Liu Yu, who was leading his army at the front, could see the walls of Bucheng, he also saw some black cavalry shadows in the distance.
"General, those are Hulu's rangers." Wu Xin, the cavalry battalion general who led the scout army back, immediately reported to Liu Yu.
Behind these Hulu cavalry, Liu Yuneng could vaguely see groups of Hulu cavalry gathering.
Obviously, these Hulu cavalry had already discovered the approach of the Qingzhou Army.
These Hulu cavalry have given up their plan to attack Kucheng and are preparing to deal with the incoming Qingzhou Army.
"What a courage!"
When Liu Yu saw clearly the banners of the Huru cavalry opposite, he couldn't help but blurt out, because Liu Yu saw that the banners of the Huru cavalry were indeed those of Hu Han's foreign general Shi Le.
"This Jienu Shile was defeated twice by our Qingzhou Army. He didn't even turn around and run away. Looking at his posture, it seems that he is going to fight our army."
In Liu Yu's words, he was not worried about the battle he was about to face, but was filled with some happiness.
If these Hulu cavalry knew that the Qingzhou Army was attacking and fled and burned the pontoon bridge on the Whistle River, it would give Liu Yu a headache, because Liu Yu was almost racing against time.
As for the battle with these Hulu cavalry, Liu Yu was not worried at all.
Although the Qingzhou cavalry today is small in number, they are all from good families in the frontier fortresses of Jizhou and Youzhou, as well as good cavalrymen from the Bingzhou beggar army. The cavalry skills of these people are no worse than those of the Huns in Bingzhou.
Moreover, the Qingzhou cavalry is equipped with the best horse armor and armor, and is no problem charging into battle.
At this time, the three thousand Hulu cavalry on the opposite side had already formed their formation.
In the wilderness outside Bucheng, three thousand Hulu cavalry formed a huge fan shape and began to slowly approach the Qingzhou Army.
A gust of wind blew the banners in the Hulu formation.
"General, the barbarians have completed their formation and are beginning to approach our army." Wu Xin, who was beside Liu Yu, saw this and immediately looked at Liu Yu.
"General, I am willing to be the vanguard and go to dampen Hu Qi's arrogance."
At the same time, Cao Yi, the general beside Liu Yu, was the first to ask for battle.
At this time, the Qingzhou cavalry, because they had just arrived, were restoring their power and reorganizing their array. The Hulu cavalry on the opposite side began to approach at this time. They clearly wanted to catch the Qingzhou army by surprise and take advantage of the Qingzhou army's unstable foothold. Some opportunities.
"Okay, Cao Yi, you first command your troops as the vanguard, fight with the Hu Lu, and try to involve the Hu Lu as much as possible."
Liu Yu thought for a moment and agreed to Cao Yi's request to fight.
In this case, the hundreds of light cavalry from Cao Yi's headquarters can harass and delay the Huru's march, buying more time for the entire Qingzhou Army cavalry team.
Soon, Cao Yi took the order and left, and then more than 300 cavalry roared out under the leadership of Cao Yi.
Pounced towards the Hulu cavalry in front.
Liu Yu immediately rode in front of the formation and stared at the three hundred light cavalry led by Cao Yi.
These cavalry are all lightly-armed cavalry and are not the mainstream among today's Qingzhou cavalry. The real mainstream of the Qingzhou Army's cavalry is the formation cavalry, which is heavy cavalry based on horses, spears and spears.
The light cavalry led by Cao Yi used the riding bow as their main weapon, and frequently launched harassing raids in anticipation of the Hulu opposite.
Some brave cavalrymen even rode their horses to a place dozens of steps away from the Hulu, running and shooting back and forth, trying to lure the Hulu cavalry into pursuit.
However, no one in the main formation of the Hulu cavalry took the bait. Instead, the same light cavalry jumped out and started a wandering battle with the Qingzhou cavalry led by Cao Yi with their fast horses and light bows.
Suddenly, the middle area between the Qingzhou Army and the Hu Han Army became a venue for two groups of light cavalry to fight each other and show off their skills.
In a direct fight without charging into the formation, it is often difficult to quickly determine the outcome of this kind of battle between cavalry and cavalry. Riding on erratic horses, it is often difficult for the already weak cavalry bow to have a chance to hit. .
Therefore, the Qingzhou cavalry and the Hu-Han cavalry did not quickly lose too many casualties in the competition with each other.
However, as time went by, the fighting between the Qingzhou cavalry and the Hu and Han cavalry virtually hindered the speed of most of the Hu and Han cavalry.
With several horn blasts, more light cavalry emerged from the Hulu cavalry array and began to drive away and pursue the Qingzhou cavalry.
Obviously, the Qingzhou cavalry under Cao Yi were not strong enough to defeat many enemies with a small number. Under the pursuit of doubled Hulu cavalry, Cao Yi's cavalry began to slowly fall behind.
"General, the formation has been completed." At this time, Ran Long, another warrior of the Qingzhou Army cavalry, came to Liu Yu to report.
"Okay, send the order so that Cao Yi can lead his troops back."
Liu Yu immediately ordered after hearing this.
With the sound of several low trumpets, Cao Yi's troops, who were gradually exhausted, finally completed their role in pulling them away, quickly got rid of the Hulu cavalry, and returned to the flanks of the Qingzhou Army array.
At this time, the Hulu cavalry had slowly advanced not far from the Qingzhou Army.
At this distance, it is most appropriate to launch a charge.
Sure enough, as the horns of the Hulu cavalry army whimpered, thousands of Hulu cavalry began to urge their horses to run quickly.
The "rumble" of the horse's hooves made the earth tremble and bang.
At the same time, the Qingzhou Army's cavalry also began to run towards the Hulu cavalry.
In these short few breaths, whichever side's war horses can reach the highest speed will be able to take advantage of the charge.
As the Qingzhou cavalry roared past, Liu Yu looked at the powerful Hulu cavalry on the opposite side and let out a contemptuous sneer.
Liu Yu had already seen the Hulu cavalry on the opposite side. They were all light cavalry armed with spears and spears. Even the riders were covered in armor of different standards. Among these armors, leather armor and hard linen were the main ones.
In the high-speed and fierce cavalry charge, these weak armors have very limited protection.
However, the Qingzhou cavalry under Liu Yu all wore iron armor under their cloth-covered military uniforms. Even many horses had cloth-covered horse armor embedded in the front chest.
This is basically a confrontation between a simplified version of armored cavalry and light cavalry. Although the Hulu cavalry has a greater numerical advantage, it will not have much impact on the final result.
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On the galloping horses, Shi Hu's ears were filled with the whistling wind, and his eyes were filled with the Qingzhou cavalry getting closer and closer.
Just when they took control of the Whirlpool Floating Bridge, Shi Hu's rangers discovered a group of cavalry circling around.
After Shi Hu led his army to seize the pontoon bridge and cross the vortex, he quickly sent cavalry to catch up.
Soon after, the cavalry sent by Shi Hu reported that these cavalry of unknown origin were the cavalry of the Qingzhou Army.
Moreover, according to the following investigation, the Hu and Han cavalry have determined that there are about 2,000 to 3,000 Qingzhou cavalry not far from Kucheng. It will not take long to reach Kucheng.
When he heard that there were two to three thousand Qingzhou cavalry, Diao Ying, Shi Hu's deputy, immediately persuaded Shi Hu to abandon the north bank of Wushui and return to the south bank of Wushui through the pontoon to defend it. Of course, the safest way was to return to the south bank of Wushui. Finally, burn the pontoon bridge. In this case, it will be impossible for the Qingzhou Army to cross the vortex.
Shi Hu, who originally planned to attack Kucheng with one blow and loot and kill, was angry because the arrival of the Qingzhou Army interrupted his plan.
Now, Shi Hu was even more angry after seeing Diao Ying acting like this.
As soon as Diao Ying heard that the Qingzhou Army was coming, he was so frightened that he retreated back to the south bank of Wushui. He even burned the pontoon and abandoned the north bank of Wushui. This made Shi Hu feel that Diao Ying had lived a long life in vain and was just a timid person. A mixed foodie.
Shi Hu personally led the cavalry to investigate. After Shi Hu watched from a distance, he found that the number of these Qingzhou cavalry was far less than his own, at least a thousand fewer than himself. In other words, Shi Hu's strength was greater than that of the Qingzhou army. Half too much.
Moreover, Shi Hu discovered that these Qingzhou cavalry were just ordinary horses and riders.
