When fighting high and low, the troops at the top will always have an advantage. Bows and arrows will shoot farther and stronger. Infantry can wait for work, while horses... will naturally gain faster impact speed and use shorter distances. Pick up the speed.
When Ma Chao led his cavalry to charge towards Xiahou Shang's central army, he had already paid attention to the surrounding terrain.
He even designed every step of the battle in his mind based on his own horse speed, the enemy's horse speed, and the characteristics of the horses on both sides.
This is the sophistication condensed by a middle-aged famous general who has been playing cavalry for half his life.
This is called "professionalism".
If Xiahou Shang was still leading his cavalry in front of him, he might have responded differently when he saw Ma Chao leading his team up the hill.
It's a pity that he has fallen off the horse at this time. Although he failed to kill the enemy with one move as Ma Chao expected, he has completed his tactical intention.
From the moment Xia Houshang fell from his horse, the fate of his cavalry was already doomed...
"kill--!"
Bah da da, bah da da...
The sound of galloping horses gradually became one, and the agile Yunnan horse cavalry, led by Ma Chao, turned collectively and launched a counterattack towards Cao's cavalry down the hillside.
Realizing that something was wrong, Cao Jun's cavalry turned around and tried to escape. In this state of being unable to speed up and sprint, they would only become living targets when confronting the cavalry going downhill.
However, even the northern horses couldn't increase their speed in such a short period of time.
Li Feisha under Ma Chao's crotch took advantage of the slope to charge, as if it had regained the feeling of galloping freely when it was young. At this time, it took the lead and rushed towards Cao Jun fiercely.
"Death to the little thief!"
Ma Chao raised his spear and stabbed, and the lance accurately hit the neck of a cavalryman. The huge momentum tore off the unbroken flesh and blood, and a big head fell off, and blood gushed out...
Ma Chao, who had regained his senses, galloped on his horse and picked off several cavalrymen with his spear. It had been a long time since he had beaten Cao Jun so happily.
Although he was generally victorious in the Battle of Hanzhong, the soldiers under his command were all given by Liu Bei, and they were not easy to use. In addition, his mentality at the time was also very problematic, and the fight was ugly...
The last time he chased Cao Jun so happily was the last time.
The Red Star Cavalry used the help of the hillside to defeat Cao's cavalry in one charge.
For a time, Cao's cavalry fell off their horses one after another, and less than ten of them managed to escape.
The newly formed cavalry team won its first battle under the leadership of Ma Chao!
Although the cavalry of the Red Star Army had not obtained horses for a long time, thanks to Liu Chan's insistence on using draft horses and inferior horses that could not be used on the battlefield for the soldiers of the Red Star Army to train, the riding skills of these veterans were already good.
The 49 cavalry who accompanied Liu Chan in the battle in Jingzhou are now in good shape.
Especially Hu Li, this kid is a quick learner. At this time, he was holding a horse pole and stabbing a Cao Cao cavalryman from behind.
The other cavalrymen are gradually finding the feeling of cavalry fighting in actual combat.
The biggest difficulty for assault cavalry in this era is not how to accurately kill the enemy on horseback.
But how to ensure that you don't fall after killing the enemy...
Because the saddle is not perfect enough and double stirrups do not appear, the rider can only rely on the strength of the waist and legs and the correct posture, otherwise it will be very easy to be pushed down by the reaction force during hedging.
Liu Chan knew this well, but did not start to improve it.
There are no patents or technical protections now. Saddles and stirrups, unlike penicillin, cannot form technical barriers at all.
It is almost inevitable that it will spread and be imitated. Once Cao Wei equips Cao Wei on a large scale, the blow to his side will be devastating...
Xiahou Shang, who not only fell off his horse but also witnessed the "death of his beloved horse", had just been helped onto the horse by his cavalry when he witnessed this scene that made his eyes darken.
The training of a qualified cavalry takes a lot of effort and money.
Just looking at its armor ratio, one can tell that a hundred cavalry is not a lot for him, but it is still a painful number.
"Retreat!" Xia Houshang almost gritted his molar teeth and gave the order, then turned around and walked away, never looking back again.
Although it was far from the rearguard he imagined, it could at least be considered a success in blocking the Shu army's cavalry...
At this time, the main infantry force pushed the two remaining Pili chariots and had successfully evacuated from the city. No other soldiers and horses were seen chasing them for the time being. Xiahou Shang hurriedly caught up with the large army and retreated north.
The purpose of Ma Chao and others was to attract the enemy's attention and cover Liu Chan's rescue.
He didn't know why Xiahou Shang withdrew when he only saw his 100-man pony cavalry... Anyway, the result was unexpectedly good.
Not only did he complete the task well, he also destroyed a cavalry squad of Cao's army and captured many horses and armor.
Xiahou Shang withdrew, but the Shen brothers were not so lucky...
When they first discovered that the Red Star Army was coming from the rear, they did not launch an attack immediately because Shen Dan found that these Shu troops were marching towards them completely undefended.
Even the leading Shu generals seemed to be talking and laughing. He thought that these Hanzhong reinforcements had not yet discovered Cao's army in the north of the city and were still kept in the dark.
While sending people to the north of the city to inform Xiahou Shang, Shen Dan passed down the order and ordered his troops to remain on alert, but not to attack the Shu army behind them yet.
If it were an ordinary army, Shen Dan's actions might trigger a mutiny, and in the end, morale would drop drastically.
At first, he scolded Liu Feng as a traitor outside the city, but his subsequent behavior made it clear that he was the rebel.
That is to say, these private soldiers of the Shen family do not have this level of identity. They only recognize the Shen family, so Shen Dan does not have this worry.
The young men in the front were still supervising the siege of the city, while the Shen brothers led the troops in the rear to face the approaching Shu army. While on alert, they did not make any adjustments to the situation.
"Brother Guan, is it almost done?"
"Brother Li, don't be impatient. Just wait a little longer and get closer."
Li Er and Guan Xing, who were at the front of the team, were talking calmly and did not look like they were about to face a fierce battle.
Guan Xing has been familiar with military books and political classics since he was a child. Influenced by his father, he also has no airs about ordinary soldiers. He was quickly accepted by the officers and soldiers of the Red Star Army, and they get along very harmoniously these days.
The prince was too busy on weekdays and spent less time in the military camp. It was rare for Li Er to find another knowledgeable person who was willing to contact them.
Guan Xing also admired Li Er's tenacity and loyalty. The two talked happily along the way and soon became brothers.
The Shen brothers, who didn't see any clues at all, just let the Red Star Army, all of them wearing armor, including many mysterious armored soldiers, gradually approach.
Two miles, one mile, two hundred steps, more than a hundred steps...
Shen Dan frowned and finally realized that there was a problem. Even if it was reinforcements, how could the general send his troops so close without even talking to each other?
"slow……"
"Exactly now!"
“The entire army changes into formation—killing formation!”
Before Shen Dan could finish his sentence, Guan Xing and Li Er had already issued an attack order.
The Red Star Army was right in front of the Shen family's tribe, and the formation change was completed within a few breaths.
Have any of the Shen family ever seen this? In their eyes, everything that happened before them was simply incomprehensible. How could the formation change so quickly?
Boom boom boom!
Rapid war drums sounded from the Red Star Army.
"kill--!"
Even during the rapid running, the Red Star Army still maintained its formation.
The crossbowmen on both wings had completed a round of shooting, and the crossbow arrows fired at close range took away dozens of lives in one round.
The archers in the formation also fired arrows, and only then did the Shen family members raise their shields and spears in a panic.
"Hurry up and meet the enemy! Meet the enemy!" Seeing that his subordinate Bu Qu was so slow to react, Shen Yi shouted anxiously, and at the same time said to Shen Dan beside him, "Brother, retreat quickly!"
Even if it is a family private army, if the general retreats before the battle, it will damage morale.
Shen Dan understood this and immediately said angrily: "As generals, if we retreat now..."
Puff puff!
Accompanied by three heart-wrenching sounds of skin piercing flesh and flesh rotting, the crossbow arrows fired by the big yellow crossbow penetrated two people in succession, and nailed the third person to the ground not far in front of Shen Dan...
Shen Dan swallowed back what he said immediately, turned his horse and stepped back.
"Come on! Those who kill the enemy and perform meritorious service will be greatly rewarded!" Shen Yi shouted loudly, and started to retreat immediately after him.
However, the Red Star Army came from the west, and behind them was Shangyong City. At this time, the rear army suddenly encountered a surprise attack, and the Qingzhuang who were attacking the city immediately fell into chaos.
The supervising team killed more than ten people in a row before barely stabilizing the situation. The siege was impossible. The supervising team drove the young men to withdraw and began to support the main force in the rear.
Seeing Cao's army withdraw from the north and east gates, the young men who attacked the city naturally withdrew back to the west gate. What they saw was the scene before them...
Although the Red Star Army was small in number, it was as stable as a rock and as fierce as a tiger, killing the Shen family and retreating one after another.
For a time, the morale of the young men plummeted, and people began to take advantage of the chaos to escape. Even the supervising team gradually became unable to control them.
There are more than a hundred horses in the north, thousands of Red Stars in the west, and Shangyong City in the east...
The Shen family's army, which was clearly several times larger than the enemy, felt as if they were surrounded by heavy siege.
The Shen brothers could only order their three thousand troops to retreat southward while fighting. The young men ignored them and could not understand their command flags.
At the same time, Liu Chan rode out from the south gate again on his black horse, and rode alone from south to north towards the Shen family's army at the west gate.
After leaving Liu Feng under the care of the city's defenders and leaving the wound medicine produced by Wang Shuhe Chu, Liu Chan returned to the battlefield again!
Thank you to the boss "luhun0408" for 5000 points, the boss of "Wind Ringing Bells" for 100 points, and the boss of "Book Friends 20200612081843625" for 100 points to invest in the Jihan Armed Group. Your points will be used for the battle of the three counties. Thank you for your support~
(End of chapter)
