Three Kingdoms

The sudden sound of the horn broke the silence of this world. Ma Chao, who had suffered an inexplicable secret loss, suppressed his anger like a volcano about to erupt, and led his men and horses straight towards Benfei's camp. Five thousand The cavalry pulled out a wide fan, sending up smoke and dust all over the sky, and rushed towards the camp by the Qingni River with a ferocious look.

Because of a farce in the camp yesterday, a total of more than 80 horses were lost or killed, and nearly a hundred personnel were also injured or killed. Although the number was not large, the blow to morale was relatively large. In this In the era when mysticism was rampant, whether they were Xiliang people or Qiang people, there were many people who worshiped a certain god. Therefore, last night, there were some gossips circulating, saying that a certain god was punishing sin and so on...

In order to avoid further decline in morale and to prove that the so-called consecration of a certain god did not exist at all, Ma Chao urged everyone to hurry up early in the morning and traveled more than a hundred miles in one day to reach Xiabian.

Even in the age of hot weapon warfare, morale is still very important. One or two soldiers can chase dozens of soldiers who have lost their fighting spirit, running away like chasing ducks. This is a common sight on the battlefield.

"Ling Ming!" When Ma Chao saw the camp at Qingnihe, the three-color flag was still flying, a smile appeared on his face, he pointed his spear, and without any pause, as soon as he entered the attack range, he immediately ordered, "Take the front men and attack immediately!"

The Qingni River camp was originally set up for the convenience of transportation. Therefore, although it was established at a bend in the water, the front was still relatively open for the convenience of transportation. Therefore, in Ma Chao's eyes, this became its fatal weakness.

Pang De took the order, whistled wildly, and rode forward.

Ma Chao did not expect to take the camp directly in one fell swoop, because in most cases, the first wave of attacks were tentative attacks, used to probe the opponent's strength, just like the fire reconnaissance in later generations, to detect the true and false. , adjusting deployment often determines the direction of subsequent battles.

The sound of horse hooves shook people's hearts like muffled thunder. Pang De led 800 Qiang cavalry and launched a flying geese array. With billowing smoke and dust, they rushed towards the camp by the Qingni River...

Three hundred steps.

The Qiang cavalry roared and looked fierce, waving their sabers with their teeth and claws.

Two hundred steps.

As if an invisible line had been crossed, almost all the Qiang riders immediately shrank back on their horses, hiding their heads, faces, chests, and abdomen behind the horse's neck. They were all kicking the horses violently, as if they had crossed an invisible line. Abdominal, increase horse speed...

One hundred steps.

The sudden blast of war drums was like thunder, instantly breaking the original silent silence of Qingni Camp. Many archers suddenly stood on the wall of the camp. With a "boom", arrows flew across the wall like locusts. Less than a hundred steps away, they flew towards the Qiang cavalry attacking the camp!

Amidst the blood splattering, a group of people suddenly fell on their backs.

People always have certain mindsets. For example, when an existing passage is placed in front of them, most people will choose to walk along the passage unless it is specially emphasized. These Qiang cavalry unknowingly formed a slightly different formation. Transformed, followed an obvious passage trampled by the people and horses in the middle, and headed towards the gate of the Qingni River Camp.

Therefore, after withstanding the covering fire from the archers in the camp, the cavalry and war horses that fell to the ground in front also brought down one or two rows of Qiang cavalry behind...

"Disperse!" Pang De roared, and the Qiang cavalry immediately separated from the two sides. Instead of continuing to attack the gate of the camp, they began to run around the camp, and then hoisted arrows into the camp.

Of course, such an attack does not have much killing effect, it just puts some pressure on the archers at the crenellations of the village wall.

In the process of mutual diffusion, in fact, most of the time, in addition to the training factors of some soldiers, the most important thing is personal luck. Some people expose most of their bodies and the arrows fly past, but they miss; some just stretch their arms. Halfway through his head, he was stabbed between the eyebrows by a flowing arrow...

Amid the arrows in the air, some Qiang horses stumbled and fell to the ground.

Ma Chao, who was in the back formation, couldn't help but frowned when he saw the changes in front of the formation.

It's not because of the bows and arrows in the camp, because it's normal for bows and arrows to counterattack. Didn't the Qiang cavalry prepare for the rain of arrows when they were two hundred steps away?

But the problem is, these archers only number three hundred at most. How could they be so accurate and shoot down so many cavalry?

You must know that the archers in the army are not generals who are good at bows and arrows. There is no such thing as piercing the poplar with a hundred steps. Even ten steps are difficult to pierce the poplar. To be able to hit nine times out of ten with a hundred steps, you only need to hit the target, not the red heart. , for ordinary archers, it is considered qualified, so when the cavalry is running at high speed, what is the hit rate?

Moreover, for cavalry, because of the cover of the war horse, it is not easy to hit directly. In addition, the war horse has rough skin and thick flesh. Generally speaking, unless the shot hits a vital part, or the impact is strong, the war horse will not fall immediately. He fell to the ground, and something seemed wrong with the situation in front of him...

However, the mystery was soon revealed. Pang De led the men and horses to run around the camp for a while, then turned back and returned to Ma Chao's formation.

"Young Commander! Zhengxi dug a lot of holes in front of the camp. Once you fall into them, your horse's hooves will be broken..." Pang De returned to Ma Chao and gestured to Ma Chao while saying, "Such holes , are scattered all around the village gate. If they are not cleared away, no one can enter! In addition to deer antlers to repel horses, Zhengxi also seems to have placed a lot of sharp gravel and iron caltrops in front of the camp and on the tidal flats beside the walls on both sides. …”

"Iron caltrops! This damn little thief from Zhengxi!" Ma Chao nodded, thought for a moment, looked up at the sky, and said in a deep voice, "Since you are on guard, don't give the order quickly... give the order! Move back five miles. Camp, wait for the decisive battle tomorrow!" This little thief from Zhengxi has laid out such a large field of caltrops. How much does it cost...

Clearing a passage is not something that can be done in a short time. It is already approaching dusk, and with the day's galloping, the horse power is also exhausted. The whole army is eager to press on. It may not be a good thing to attack by force. It is better to It would be better to repair it and have enough physical strength to launch it in one fell swoop the next day. Moreover, this camp is located at a bend of the river. As long as the wide side is blocked, where can Zhengxi go?

As for the forty or fifty Qiang cavalry who were injured in front of the Qingnihe camp, neither Ma Chao nor Pang De, nor even the Qiang people, took them seriously.

Undead war?

That's kids playing house, okay?

Being able to detect the movement in the camp and knowing Zhengxi's defense arrangements, the loss of manpower is already worth it...

"Ling Ming, thank you, take the front men and horses to where they are to guard..." Ma Chao pointed in the direction they came from, "If there is a change at night, Ling Ming can attack its flank directly!"

Pang De was stunned for a moment and asked: "Young Commander, should we take people there now or wait until nightfall..."

"Well, let's go now." Ma Chao glanced at Pang De, smiled, and said, "Ling Ming is really smart, and he will be a famous general the next day!" Although going at night can be more concealed, Ma Chao would rather let Zheng Ming go now. When the people in Xiying Village saw his arrangement, they were unwilling to spend another night. He wanted to use his most abundant energy and physical strength to break through the camp in one fell swoop!

"Young Commander, I have received the award." Now that the order was clear, Pound led his men and horses away from the main group and headed to one side...

At the crenellation of the Qingnihe camp wall, Xu Huang looked at the direction in which Ma Chao was retreating, clicked his tongue twice, and said: "The night attack is cancelled...light the smoke and withdraw directly..."

After saying that, Xu Huang walked down the crenel along the wooden piles on the side and headed towards the center of the camp...

…………………………

The Qingni River is surrounded by mountains on one side and flat land on the other. The widest place is fifty steps, and the narrowest place is nearly thirty steps. Of course, compared with the Yangtze River, the Qingni River is not on a high level, although the water flow is a bit turbulent. , but it’s not the speed of rapids and shoals, but what’s interesting is that one of the Qingni River’s features is high-level.

As the name suggests, Qingni River is naturally "mud"...

This river, perhaps because too many forests have been cut down, or perhaps because it flows through high loess slopes, carries a lot of sediment. A pound of water will contain at least three taels of sand. Over time, the river bed and both sides of the river will contain a lot of sand. A lot of sediment has accumulated everywhere. Maybe one day the river bed is raised too high, and the river may change its course or stop flowing.

If there is too much sediment, some tidal flats will inevitably accumulate. On some tidal flats, there are only a lot of reeds and other things, and the weeds are overgrown, almost as high as a person.

At this time, in a tidal flat by the river, a soldier from Zhengxi showed his head among the reeds. Looking at the three wolf smoke rising in the distance, he quickly turned around and greeted, saying: "Everyone, come out! Push the boat out. ! Colonel Xu gave the order, go, go, move faster..."

…………………………

After nightfall, Ma Chao received unexpected news.

"Have the soldiers of the Western Expedition begun to cross the river?"

Ma Chao said he could not understand the behavior of the soldiers in the Western Conquest.

You must know that the side of the Qingni River is almost all mountainous. Although some places are flat tidal flats, most of them are undulating mountains and hills. The most important thing is that there are no people and no roads at all. , crossed the river and climbed the mountain to escape. Isn’t this seeking death?

Even if Zhengxi goes to climb the mountains, he can lead the cavalry to outflank the outside. Unless Zhengxi really decides to go into the mountains and become a savage?

Ma Chao immediately led his men and horses to approach the Qingni River camp. Although it was getting late, under the firelight of the camp, some figures could still be seen, being transported to the other side by small boats in a steady stream...

"Come here!" Ma Chao shouted loudly, "Send out scouts to survey the movements of soldiers and horses upstream and downstream! Report quickly!"

"Brother, these ships must be destroyed!" Ma Tie pointed forward with his spear and said.

Ma Chao looked at the twenty or so small boats going back and forth in the river with a sullen face, and nodded. The ships must be destroyed, otherwise, the soldiers and horses marching west can disembark at any point along the Qingni River coastline!

Even if people and horses are sent to follow the ship, the manpower of the horses is always limited. If the ship runs down the river for two days, why not let the people and horses on the shore die of exhaustion?

Ma Chao gave a high five and looked livid. Why had he never thought that there were ships in Zhengxi? Although they were small ships for transporting grain and grass, they were also ships that could carry people across the river!

In fact, this is a misunderstanding of thinking.

Unlike the southern Han people who cannot live without boats every day, in fact, for the Xiliang people, the word "boat" is not in their dictionary at all.

In Ma Chao's previous plan, he failed to connect Zhengxi with the ship at all, which is normal.

Would a man from Xiliang, who had been dealing with war horses every day and galloping on the loess Gobi grasslands for twenty years, and had never been on a ship, include ships in his strategic thinking?

"Come here! Send the order, assemble the team and attack the camp overnight!" Ma Chao shouted. At this time, he didn't care about the formation of the troops. The fighter planes were about to arrive at a moment's notice. He wouldn't have to wait for Zhengxi to get all the troops across the bank. Let's do it?

Although the water surface of the Qinghe River here is not wide, only about forty steps, the camp is located at a bend in the river, and the water gate of the camp is at the most prominent point of the bend. If you look at it from the banks on both sides of the camp If you shoot at the transport area, the distance will be close to two hundred steps. The so-called strong crossbow cannot penetrate Lu Jian. Ma Chao's soldiers are not equipped with many heavy arrows, and they do not even have the ability to kill and injure transport personnel with a long-range sling.

Therefore, if the camp is not captured, there will naturally be no way to approach the water gate of the camp. Likewise, there will be no way to launch a threatening attack on the Zhengxi soldiers who are crossing the river.

The rapid sound of horns blew, and many Qiang people who had just been lying down were urged to get up, form scattered battle lines, and approach the camp on foot...

The battle to attack the camp was forced to be advanced. These Qiang people who were marching on foot were just to fill in the weird holes in front of the camp and clear out a passage that could provide a way for horses to charge into the camp.

"Spread the flanks! Lob! Suppress!"

Behind these Qiang people, Ma Tie directed the rest of the men and horses to spread out, using bows and arrows to cover, and the arrows roared one after another and rushed towards the camp wall.

In the light of the fire, countless arrows screamed through the air.

"Erect shield!"

Following Xu Yu's order, a shield was immediately erected on top of the camp's crenellations.

The long arrows were like a gust of wind and rain, crackling against the shield and the wall. Some of them were directly pierced on the shield, and some were bounced off by the rivets and iron sheets on the surface of the shield. They jingled like a death bullet. The symphony played.

If they are new soldiers who have just entered the battlefield, they will inevitably be panicked and nervous in the face of such a fierce arrow array attack. But now, those behind the wall are all warriors who have been on the battlefield for a long time. After witnessing bigger and more terrifying scenes, such For these sword and shield players, the arrow rain basically did not feel much pressure.

"Kill!" The squatting Qiang man in the front suddenly shouted when he was close to a stone's throw away, and rushed forward with his sword in hand!

Following these Qiang people who risked their lives to fight were a group of Qiang people with their heads lowered, holding shovels and even knives. Their goal was not to fight, but to take advantage of the Qiang people to fight in front and shoot from the side. Under the cover of people, they filled up the holes where horses were trapped along the way, cleared away the thorns, and sorted out a road through which horses could charge...

Well, I changed the cover... I don’t know when it will be updated, can you see it... There are always people saying that the author sells dog meat with big ears... The original cover was given by the editor... The current cover is The smart cover that Qidian made is actually just DIY...