Although the barbarian invasion came suddenly, it was not that unexpected. Because it is almost autumn, barbarian invasions will become more and more frequent.
This is not only due to historical factors and past conflicts and grievances between the two countries, but also a very critical practical issue, that is - food!
The barbarians are different from the Tang people. Although their land is not particularly barren, the barbarians rarely farm. They are better at grazing.
Almost all barbarians can ride horses, and this seems to have become their instinct, something imprinted in their bones. The skill of riding a horse was originally used to facilitate herding.
Their staple food is not ordinary grains, but the meat of cattle, sheep and other livestock. This also makes their people's bodies extremely strong, even their children have strong physiques.
However, grazing is seasonal, and even the most fertile pastures cannot be covered with grass all year round. Except in spring and summer, it is difficult for these barbarians to find suitable pasture for grazing.
This caused their food to become extremely scarce. In order to avoid causing a popular uprising, the ruling class simply led the conflict to the outside.
There is not enough food here, but the rich Tang State has it, and there is a lot of it. And it's not just food, Tang State has everything they yearn for, gold, silver, cloth and women, these can all be snatched!
Once they got used to robbing, they became more and more addicted, and they didn't even think about working. Some people even didn't even care about herding. They just wanted to join the barbarian cavalry and plunder the Tang Dynasty. How fast it happened!
Therefore, every autumn and winter, the Tang State would focus on strengthening defenses to resist the barbarian attacks. This seems to have become a routine.
However, passive defense is only a last resort after all. If these barbarians can be truly subdued and feared so that they never dare to invade the border again, then the people on the border of Tang State can truly gain peace.
But the fact is that the barbarians are extremely ferocious, and their movements are flexible and erratic, making them unpredictable. In recent years, the Tang army has been depleted in this wave of attacks.
It's like you hit the cotton with a full-strength punch, feeling aggrieved but helpless!
When the barbarians invaded, Captain Yang Dayan launched an all-out attack with the intention of severely injuring these barbarians. After all, these barbarians are a bunch of wolf cubs. If you don't let them know the pain, they will bite your throat out when you let down your guard!
Under the leadership of Zhang Wu, more than 40 cavalrymen quickly headed somewhere to the east. The group was huge, and the horses galloped past, leaving only smoke and dust on the ground.
"Speed up, the team is right in front, we have to catch up quickly!" Zhang Wu said loudly.
"Yes!" Everyone responded in unison.
The whip was flying, and the war horse neighed, pushing the speed to the extreme.
On the battlefield, time is life! This is not a nice thing to say, but an unbreakable truth!
They were cavalry and played an important role in fighting the barbarians. Without the forty or so of them, they would probably be at a disadvantage in dealing with the barbarians, thus affecting the layout of the entire battlefield.
In fact, after the two tigers sent out the signal flare before, Wu Qi, the leader of the team, was able to separate Zhang Wu and bring people to help, which was already taking a huge risk!
You must know that after Zhang Wu left with his people, all he could mobilize was a hundred cavalry, while the barbarians had more than two hundred cavalry. The gap was quite obvious.
Although there are more than 750 people in one battalion of Cangzhou Prefecture, most of them are infantry, and their shortcomings are very obvious when dealing with cavalry. If the opponent does not fight you head-on, no matter how many infantry there are, it will be difficult to influence the situation of the battle. This is the advantage of cavalry in the comparison of arms.
If he had been a cold-blooded commander, he might not have divided his troops for rescue at all. On one side is a large group of barbarian cavalry, which poses a huge threat; on the other side is a team of ten people waiting for rescue. It is easy to decide which one is more important.
Fortunately, although Wu Qi is usually like a "boring gourd" and a little unkind, he can't be so indifferent to his subordinates. This is also Lao Ma's "luck"!
While galloping non-stop, Zhang Wu finally led everyone to catch up with a figure, which was the messenger Wu Qi had left behind.
Seeing Zhang Wu and his men coming, the messenger said: "The team is ordering me to wait here for Captain Zhang. The barbarians have been divided into three teams, and they are acting separately. Please lead Captain Zhang to quickly lead the pursuit to the southeast, and be sure to intercept them." !”
Zhang Wu cupped his hands and said, "Yes!"
Of course, this messenger was not qualified for him to salute, but the messenger represented Wu Qi, the leader of the team, so he still had to show enough respect.
After saying that, the messenger handed Zhang Wu a small piece of paper with a simple mark on it, representing a location. He said: "The captain said, after catching up with the barbarians, take them here!"
Zhang Wu had been in the army for many years and knew the terrain of this border very well. He could recognize the place marked on the note at a glance.
There are naturally considerations above, and this is not something he should ask about. However, based on his many years of experience, he guessed that the key to this operation might be here.
He nodded, indicating that he already knew.
After the order was conveyed, the messenger quickly drove away. He needed to pass the news back so that Wu Qi could accurately grasp the situation on the battlefield at this time.
"Brothers, let's go!" Zhang Wu shouted, then turned his horse's head and pursued it toward the southeast, followed closely by the others.
They had just galloped all the way, but at this moment they were not allowed to stop for a moment. If they were delayed for a moment longer, the barbarians might cause greater damage.
The barbarians didn't know why they suddenly divided their troops, which forced their own combat power to be dispersed. I don't know whether it was good or bad!
While the cavalry and the barbarians were chasing each other, Yang Dayan had already directed the rest of the teams to make arrangements. These barbarian cavalry are flexible in movement, and it is difficult for them to intercept a sudden attack.
However, it is impossible for these people to live in the Tang Kingdom after the robbery. They will always go back, and this is the opportunity for these arrangements to work.
The national border at the junction of the two countries is very long, but as far as the area of Cangzhou Prefecture is concerned, there are only a few places suitable for large-scale cavalry travel. Calculating this, it is easy to rule out.
But Yang Dayan only has one battalion under his command, so it is impossible to adopt the strategy of "casting the net widely and catching more fish", because the combat power is too spread out, not only will it not be able to serve as an ambush, but it will become a target for others to slaughter. Not that stupid.
So the key to the matter is whether the cavalry team led by Wu Qi can bring here those barbarians who dare to enter the country to plunder. As for whether to drive him away, lure him away, or take any other method, this is all Wu Qi's freedom.
The process is not important, what he wants is just the result!
The chase between the cavalry teams continued. Among the three scattered teams, one team had already fought against the barbarian cavalry. But the strange thing is that these barbarian cavalry are not eager to fight. Instead, they fight and retreat. Even if they have an advantage, they do not take the initiative to attack. Instead, they try to distance themselves from the Tang army as much as possible.
This is really weird. When did the barbarians become so cowardly? They all dared to enter the border of Tang State to plunder, but they did not dare to fight if they encountered them. Not only had they never encountered such a thing before, but they had never even heard of it.
As the saying goes: "When anything goes wrong, there must be a monster!" There must be some reason for these strange behaviors of the barbarians. They may be secretly planning some unknown conspiracy!
Wu Qi frowned. The information he had in his hands was still too little, and it was not enough for him to make a judgment on the abnormal behavior of these barbarians.
In any case, he could not let these barbarians run wildly within the country's borders. This would be equivalent to slapping all the Tang soldiers in the face.
"Spread left and right, encircle!" Wu Qi said.
At this point, the most important thing is to restrict the movements of these barbarians first, so that they can't be allowed to gallop like this anymore!
The cavalry under his command divided into two teams according to the order, drove their horses forward, and surrounded the barbarian cavalry, quickly stopping the barbarians from continuing to advance.
They were already prepared for a fierce battle, but unexpectedly, even under such circumstances, the barbarian cavalry broke up with them at the first touch and turned away and ran elsewhere.
"Asshole! What do these southern barbarians want to do?" Wu Qi cursed angrily. Even with his character, he was quite aroused by the strange behavior of these barbarians.
What's the meaning? Is this a monkey trick?
At this moment, Wu Qi felt that he was like a fool for chasing them. These barbarians just kept running. After catching up, they would give them a few symbolic blows and sacrifice a few lives before continuing to run, but they would not fight them head-on.
Wu Qi had been fighting for so long, and he had never been so aggrieved. Did these barbarians suddenly change their gender, or did they take the wrong medicine? The intention of this kind of tactics is unclear, but it is so shameless and disgusting!
In fact, it was not only his side that encountered such a situation, but also the other two Tang troops who were ordered to pursue. They were walked around like monkeys by the barbarians.
"This can't go on like this!" Wu Qi thought in his heart.
Now that the initiative on the battlefield is not in his own hands, the next plan will not proceed smoothly. After being led by them for a few more laps, once the war horse's energy is exhausted, the situation may become extremely bad.
Wu Qi ordered the soldiers beside him to set off the signaling fireworks. In an instant, the cavalry who saw the signal quickly gathered towards the place.
Rather than covering everything, it’s better to attack a little bit!
As the other two cavalry teams gathered, they instantly formed an encirclement on the barbarian cavalry here. They reacted and wanted to break out, but all the more than a hundred Tang soldiers gathered here, which was an absolute crushing for them.
However, it was not easy for Tang Bing to deal with these barbarians in a short time. However, Wu Qi didn't think so. He and the other two cavalry teams formed an encirclement on three sides and forcibly drove the barbarian cavalry in a certain direction.
The other two barbarian cavalry who came to support followed closely, trying to attack from both front and back, breaking the Tang army's encirclement. However, the group of barbarian cavalry caught between the Tang army was in the formation and it was impossible to respond.
So there was a situation like this: the Tang Army's cavalry team threatened a group of barbarians and left, followed closely by two barbarian cavalry teams in the rear.
"Come on, everyone, there is a big gift package waiting for you in front!" Wu Qi thought, feeling the biting cold wind whistling by his ears, and said involuntarily: "Qiu Han is so good!"
