Facing the rumbling war elephants from ahead, although the Han army under Zhang Yi began to tremble, they still persisted and did not flee.
"Wait a little longer, the range is not enough." Zhang Yi murmured in a low voice, soothing his horse, which was starting to become restless.
During the previous march, Liu Chan had already discussed with the military generals how to deal with these war elephants.
Throwing spears and powerful crossbows are the only two weapons that can cause damage to war elephants when engaging enemies in field battles.
However, the war horses were not accustomed to the smell emitted by the elephants. They became timid and frightened before they reached the appropriate shooting range, making the gun-throwing tactic impossible.
At the moment, the six-stone yellow crossbow is the only way the Han army can rely on when facing these giant beasts.
Zhang Yi felt that he had a heavy responsibility on his shoulders and made sure that his attack was effective.
The charging speed of the war elephants in front of them is not slow. If you want to fire the second round of arrows before they get close, you may not have a chance.
As the elephants rushed closer and closer, the Han soldiers became more and more nervous, and many of them had sweat on their foreheads.
The raw pressure brought by their body shape was constantly impacting their mental defenses.
Zhang Yi knew this well and couldn't wait any longer.
"Let go!" Following the order, more than a hundred large yellow crossbows were fired, and the lengthened crossbow arrows immediately flew out.
Puff puff!
"Ugh——!"
Zhang Yi looked happy, the result of this salvo was gratifying!
The arrows fired by the big yellow crossbow successfully penetrated the thick skin of these war elephants and penetrated into their bodies.
Some of the front legs were hit by arrows, and some of the big flapping ears were shot directly. Blood flowed out, and the war elephants let out painful screams one after another.
There was also a pair of unlucky elephant cavalry who were accurately hit by a crossbow bolt, and both rolled off the elephants...
But then, the smile on Zhang Yi's face solidified.
Except for the big guy who was hiding behind the other war elephants and wearing elephant armor and was not injured, the other war elephants were indeed injured. One war elephant that happened to be pierced in the nose by a crossbow arrow also looked miserable.
However, they did not stop charging. Instead, they rushed towards me at a high speed even more violently...
Liu Chan, who was watching the battle in the middle, couldn't help but close his eyes: "Ming Jin, withdraw the troops!"
The loss must be stopped in time at this moment, otherwise once the elephants rush in and are followed by the barbarians, the consequences will be disastrous.
After receiving the order to retreat, the army began to retreat in an orderly and rapid manner.
"Retreat, retreat quickly!" Zhang Yi immediately executed the order despite being unwilling to do so.
The crossbowmen on both wings, as well as the Han soldiers who were still standing on the front line facing the pressure, breathed a sigh of relief and immediately turned around and ran back as fast as possible.
This was the first time they had turned around and ran backwards during a battle since they came to Nanzhong. In the hearts of almost every soldier, in addition to panic and fear, there was also a bitter feeling of suffocation.
It was the self-confidence and sense of honor built up by Liu Chan and others who led them to victory all the way and were invincible. When they had to retreat and escape, this feeling was turning into a bitter sense of shame, stinging their hearts.
Some Han soldiers were also affected to some extent by eating, sleeping, and training together with members of the Red Star Army.
Death is certainly terrifying, but this feeling is also uncomfortable for a bloody man.
Sitting on the white elephant, King Pu Citu laughed when he saw the Han army fleeing. He shouted their native language and kept banging the shield in his hand.
The Han army's sophisticated crossbows caused some damage to his war elephants, but this damage was not enough to make the elephants lose their minds.
If it were a wild elephant in the wild, perhaps a few would die after suffering such injuries.
But if they were under the care of their tribe, this would not happen.
"Charge! Crush them! Hahaha!" In the eyes of King Kunming, the Han army was about to collapse at the slightest touch, vulnerable to a single blow, and he danced with excitement.
Liu Chan made arrangements for the retreat, then clamped his legs under the horse's belly, separated from the central army, and ran straight towards the Hu Li cavalry that began to flee on the flanks.
…
Hu Li Youxin led the cavalry to contain the elephants and buy time for his colleagues to retreat. However, his horse was frightened and did not obey the order at all. At this time, he had already begun to flee spontaneously.
But he saw a knight with a black horse and silver armor coming in the opposite direction. He was startled and shouted: "Prince, move quickly! War horses are afraid of elephants and will be frightened if they approach even slightly! Move quickly!"
Liu Chan rode his horse closer and walked beside Hu Li. Perhaps it was the sense of security brought by being the same kind as the divine horse, but Hu Li dismounted and gradually recovered from his fear.
"Throw your spear at me! You go and appease the horses, and then go back to camp directly!"
Hu Li obeyed the order subconsciously, but after handing over the three throwing spears, he couldn't help but said: "Prince, please don't be impulsive! The elephants are invincible by humans, you..."
"Let's go!" Liu Chan took the three throwing spears and clamped them on his left arm. Without any nonsense, he immediately turned his horse and approached the elephants.
Of course he knew that it was not a human being. Even with the body of an overlord, the fourteen-year-old Xiang Yu could not defeat twenty elephants.
Liu Chan just wanted to try to see if he could attract one or two elephants and reduce the casualties of some Han soldiers.
Ordinary war horses would be frightened when approaching a herd of elephants. Others could not complete this task at all. He could only pin his hopes on Wu Zui under his crotch.
Riding the horse forward, although Liu Chan had little practice in this type of fighting method, fortunately he had observed it many times, and with his excellent memory and eyesight, he was not completely ignorant of the distance.
However, as the distance gradually approached, Wu Zui, who had followed him in many battles, became obviously agitated, and his speed tended to decrease.
Liu Chan quickly patted the horse's neck to comfort his comrades.
To his great relief, he found out that his black horse was not extraordinary after all. After being comforted, he started to accelerate forward again!
And Liu Chan, who left the legion and triggered the [Single-gun] and [Fenxun] characteristics, has once again risen to the level of an overlord.
"Hey!"
He threw a spear with great force, and the speed of the spear was faster than that of Ma Chao, who was now over 10 years old!
However, it was accurate... Liu Chan, who threw the spear for the first time, was much stronger than Hu Li and the others. The spear flew about ten feet above the head of the elephant cavalry.
On the contrary, the sound of whizzing through the air frightened the cavalry who was driving the war elephants to charge.
Turning the horse's head and sprinting again, Liu Chan readjusted the distance and angle. In addition, the war elephant was huge and had the bonus of "excellent talent".
This throwing spear accurately hit the war elephant.
puff!
The powerful and heavy spear pierced the elephant's skin and penetrated deeply into the flesh. Unfortunately, it was located on the elephant's buttocks, so it was not a fatal injury to the animal.
However, the pain caused by this blow was far greater than before. The war elephant immediately screamed and slowed down its momentum, trying to use its flexible trunk to pull out the spear on its buttocks... Unfortunately, it couldn't reach it.
The elephant cavalry was startled and immediately began to comfort the elephant by slapping its back, while the two accompanying auxiliary barbarians also beat the ground with long sticks and kept shouting.
However, just when they were about to succeed, another spear flew over, pierced the thigh of an elephant soldier, and then pierced the elephant's back...
"Ugh——!"
The war elephant, which had suffered two consecutive attacks, completely fell into a rage. With a move of its front hooves, it overturned the barbarian soldiers on its body.
Then he waved his trunk and tusks, and knocked the two barbarian soldiers who were still struggling to control fiercely to the ground, breaking their bones and tendons.
Then the furious war elephant finally charged towards the culprit Liu Chan, but even though it charged very fast, it couldn't be faster than the war horse, let alone Wu Zui.
Liu Chan led the war elephant away from the chasing team. High-intensity running was not what the war elephant was good at. Coupled with the constant blood loss, he gave up the pursuit soon.
Liu Chan, who had gone full circle, returned to his main formation safely.
However, with his own strength, this is the limit.
Zhang Yi's former army, whose sprint speed could not match the war elephant, was finally overtaken by the war elephant. Knowing that they could not escape, under the orders of several spear phalanx camp commanders, many Han soldiers turned back and formed a spear formation again. Fight the impact of war elephants with flesh and blood...
"kill--!"
In the end, there were some who fled timidly, but there were also some bloody soldiers who refused to retreat with their spears, roaring and stabbing at the war elephants.
It’s just...the results speak for themselves.
The war elephants crashed into the battle formation one after another, and the spears stabbed into their bodies were broken. Soldiers were constantly lifted into the air by the tusks, and even rolled up by the elephant trunks and fell to the ground... More people were trampled to death and injured.
The battle was brutal, and in comparison, the casualties caused by the barbarians surrounding the war elephants and the cavalry on the elephants' backs were almost negligible.
Seeing this situation, young Zhang Yi gritted his teeth, tightened the weapon in his hand, and banged his head with blood, ready to return to fight.
But after all, he came from a big family, and his rationality finally prevailed. He used the precious time bought by the sacrificed Han army to command a large group of troops and finally got rid of the pursuit.
The war elephant lacked endurance. After the previous sprint, they fought for a while and could only trot at a low speed, finally allowing the Han army to escape.
The Han troops who stayed behind in the camp were shocked when they saw the army returning in a panic. They quickly opened the gate of the camp and welcomed the army into the camp.
Then Liu Chan did not dare to be careless and quickly arranged manpower to defend the camp.
Sure enough, Meng Huo and others were not satisfied with their small victory, and soon drove the war elephants to pursue Liu Chan's camp.
However, the previously deeply dug trench finally came into use at this time. Although the clever war elephant regarded the antlers as nothing and easily dragged it away with its trunk, it was unable to cross the trench full of sharp thorns.
In addition, the Han army in the camp fired bows, arrows and crossbows, and the barbarian army that could not successfully cross over finally had no choice but to retreat...
The Han soldiers all breathed a sigh of relief, but Yu Nanzhong's first defeat also cast a layer of gloom over everyone's hearts.
Liu Chan's face was as dark as water. In this probing battle, the Han army suffered more than a thousand casualties.
Moreover, those who died were those good men of the Han family who dared to turn around and fight to the death in the face of ferocious war elephants to buy time for their comrades. How could he not feel heartbroken?
The trenches are not difficult to deal with. If we don't find a way to deal with these beasts, when the enemy is fully prepared to attack again, it will not be as simple as thousands of casualties.
At this time, without the knowledge of both parties, two more armies entered Yizhou County.
One is Zhuge Liang's army coming from Yuexi in the northwest, and the other... seems to be barbarians, coming from Yongchang County in the southwest where there has been no news.
But the leading general is a white-faced scholar-like Han Chinese. Most of his soldiers are wearing tree-vine armor. It is not known whether they are enemies or friends...
(End of chapter)
