Three Kingdoms

"General! General!"

From a distance, Guanqiu Xing could hear the scout's voice, which was full of panic and even had some changes in tone.

Guanqiu Xing frowned and said, "Why are you so panicked?!"

"General, general, they are coming, they are coming again..." The soldier acting as a scout said in a panic, pointing to the north and speaking incoherently.

"Who is coming?" As soon as the words came out, Guanqiu Xing suddenly understood, "Are you saying that the Zhengxi Cavalry from before, that army is here again?"

"Yes, yes, it's that cavalry. I saw their flag. They are less than thirty miles away from us! They also sent men to chase us and shot several of us..." The scout nodded repeatedly, obviously I still have lingering fears.

"How many people are here? How many cavalry? Are there infantry? How many infantry are there? Who is leading the army?" Guan Qiu Xing had no intention of appeasing the scouts and asked directly.

The cavalryman who was temporarily captured to act as a scout choked. At that time, he saw a cavalryman appearing from a distance in the north. The first thing that caught his eye was the fluttering tricolor Zhengxi battle flag. He was so frightened that he immediately turned around. , took the men and horses and escaped without even fighting. The so-called battle process was all imagined. Where did you carefully observe these details?

But when Wuqiu Xing asked about it immediately, he had to tell him.

"General, there are, there are thousands of cavalry..." the scout said nonsensically, thinking that since they were the Western Expedition troops and they killed many of their own cavalry yesterday, they must be indispensable.

Guanqiu was shocked. Thousands of cavalry appeared?

For Hongnong and Hedong who did not have horse farms, cavalry was a luxury unit. Not to mention Hongnong Hedong, even Yuan Shao gradually built up a cavalry team after taking Youzhou, many of which were recruited Wuhuan cavalry...

War horses are not something that can be obtained casually. War horses are a scarce resource everywhere.

"Come here, give me the order! The whole army is in formation, ready to meet the enemy!" Guan Qiuxing ordered loudly. Although he was not sure whether Pingyang really had these troops, since they were here, there was no reason to retreat, let alone What's more, if the infantry is fighting against the cavalry, if the formation is a little careless, it may be taken advantage of, leading to a collapse.

"Also, temporarily withdraw all the cavalry and prepare to fight." Hearing that the opponent has thousands of cavalry, if they are all as fierce as yesterday, it will be trouble. Guanqiu Xing knew very well that nearly half of his troops were just civilian warriors. If they fought alone, they would be scattered like birds and beasts if the Zhengxi cavalry charged from the opposite side. They could only gather in one place to fight.

The rumble of war drums sounded, and clusters of figures swayed hurriedly. They began to move under the orders of the grassroots sergeants and stood at the forefront.

According to the military law of the Han Dynasty, normally, auxiliary troops or death battalions are the first troops to engage in battle when the two sides fight in the wild, just like the Roman military formation on the other side of the earth at this time. Also put the light infantry on the front line.

After these auxiliary soldiers experienced the iron-blooded first battle, those who survived could obtain the status of regular soldiers, enjoy double the military salary supply, and no longer have to engage in extra complicated work. This is for many who have just transformed from farmers. Becoming a soldier is already a huge leap.

Because of the lack of basic education and the fact that the ruling class did not care about the lives of these soldiers at all, this kind of battle arrangement is the most normal survival of the fittest. Those who survive on the battlefield, whether it is because of luck or the so-called The explosive seeds on the battlefield don't matter to the ruling class. They are all consumables anyway. They just need to defeat the opponent before their own consumables are used up.

If it weren't for the fact that all the villagers belonging to Bingbei Feiqian were gone along the way, Guanqiu Xing would still have recruited some local laborers to serve as temporary laborers, or even directly add them to the front line...

Regarding this matter, Guanqiu Xing found it a bit strange. After all, he had heard about the prosperity of Bingbei Pingyang more than once before he arrived. From an abandoned city, it became comparable to Luoyang in Chang'an. Cities that are comparable to each other are indeed impressive. However, now they are not far from Pingyang County, but along the way, they can only see empty villages but no people.

Along with the billowing smoke and dust, the sound of horse hooves gradually sounded in the distance.

But Wuqiu Xing frowned, pointed at the smoke and said to Zheng Tai beside him: "Gongye, take a look!"

Zheng Tai looked at it and was a little confused. After hesitating for a moment, he said: "This... number seems a bit..."

After a while, as the three-color war flag appeared in the field of vision, Guan Qiu Xing's face darkened, and he suddenly turned to stare at the captain in charge of the cavalry without saying a word.

The cavalry captain trembled and quickly admitted: "Subordinate, I have neglected my duty... I will deal with that scout..."

"It is unlucky to kill a soldier in battle..." Guanqiu Xing said coldly, "Let's strip him of his status as a soldier and put him in the vanguard camp to atone for his sins!"

"I accept your orders!" The cavalry captain quickly accepted.

"...If there is a next time..." Guanqiu Xing stared at the cavalry captain and said, "You can go to the forward camp without your hat!"

"Ah, Wei! Wei..." The cavalry captain faced Guanqiu Xing's murderous gaze. The sweat on his forehead was flowing down his face, but he didn't dare to wipe it off.

There are thousands of Zhengxi cavalry in front of them, but no more than 300 at most. A general at the front holds a flag with the word "Zhang" and leads more than ten cavalry in front. The rest of the cavalry are slightly behind, following behind. .

Wuqiu Xing's face twitched, feeling somewhat hot and uncomfortable, as if he had been slapped by someone. There were only 300 Zhengxi cavalry in front of me, but they were so frightened that they quickly formed a formation to meet the enemy...

Zheng Tai quickly smoothed things over and said: "The Zhengxi Cavalry may have divided its troops and gone elsewhere..."

Wu Qiuxing nodded silently, accepting Zheng Tai's comfort. Immediately, unknown anger rose in his heart. He pointed at the 300 Zhengxi cavalry showing off in front and said to the cavalry captain on the side: "You are brave and capable. Huh? Defeat it quickly!"

The captain of the cavalry was excited, quickly drew his sword, shouted loudly, and with the cavalry on standby in the center, rushed towards the Zhengxi cavalry!

Zhang Lie looked at the Guanqiu Xingjun formation waiting in front, laughed a few times, and said, "Do these fools really think that someone will fail to charge the formation? With such a posture, are you not afraid of being tired?"

Several cavalrymen who followed Zhang Lie also laughed. They did not feel nervous at all when facing a large formation of ten thousand people. It was as if they were not facing soldiers with swords and guns, but a large group of sheep gathered together. General group.

"Look! The boy in front is holding a spear like a hoe, and he hasn't even lifted it up, haha..." A cavalryman turned his horse's head and followed Zhang Lie out of the range of Wuqiu Xing's military formation. Stopping slowly, he pointed forward and said, which immediately caused several other cavalrymen to laugh.

Veterans, most of them are relatively calm when facing battle formations, while those who are nervous are often recruits. Although the expressions on some people's faces cannot be seen clearly, the uncontrollable tremors reveal their innermost feelings. practical thinker.

When facing battle, especially when commanding recruits who are going into battle for the first time, the grassroots sergeants will even order these extremely nervous recruits to raise their swords and guns, close their eyes, and slash forward...

Don’t worry about these new recruits with their eyes closed, and don’t worry about whether they will be unable to avoid fatal injuries in the first round of combat because they have their eyes closed, because there are more important things than these. matter.

This is a simple method, but it works very well. Otherwise, not all recruits have strong psychological quality to resist fear when faced with bright swords and guns. Once a few people's cowardly escape leads to the collapse of the array, it will be the biggest disaster. mistakes.

Those who survive the first wave of contact, stimulated by adrenaline, will basically be able to adapt to the bloody battlefield.

No matter how crowded the crowd is, there is always a chance that the swords and guns wielded randomly will hit someone...

War is cruel. The vast majority of recruits lose their lives when they first set foot on the battlefield, and there is no growth at all. This tragic elimination mechanism, especially for units like death camps, , even more so. For the princes from all over the country, these new recruits who go into battle for the first time are even too lazy to equip them with armor. They are consumables anyway. In addition to a gun head, even giving them an extra shirt is a waste...

The regular soldiers are different. They have more or less one piece of armor, and according to different types of soldiers, they are equipped with different weapons. They have strong organizational discipline and are generally used as an important force in the Chinese army.

Seeing the number of Zhang Lie's cavalry, Guanqiu Xing's soldiers immediately breathed a sigh of relief. Even the cavalry who rushed over seemed to become excited for a moment, waving their sabers and shouting as they rushed over.

It is human nature to bully the weak and fear the strong. Facing Zhang Lie's cavalry, which only had about 300 people at most, these Wuqiuxing soldiers naturally felt a lot of courage deep in their hearts. They even felt that it was like pinching a snail with ten fingers. There is strength in numbers. Although most of the soldiers may not be stronger than their opponents, the swords and guns in their hands are not made of mud. If everyone rushes forward together, one person can not level these three to two hundred people in just a short time. Already?

Isn't this what fighting in the countryside is all about?

Or if they charge with such a huge momentum, the opponent will naturally run away when they see that they are outmatched...

Of course, this was their idea, not that of the Zhengxi Cavalry.

"Hey, the momentum is pretty good..." Zhang Lie smiled, flicked the horse's head, and then roared, "Let's go, take them for a walk!"

Zhang Liecai was not stupid enough to confront Guanqiuxing's cavalry here. At such a distance, even if the horse's speed could be increased, after the confrontation, it would be equivalent to entering the range of Guanqiuxing's infantry. No matter how well-equipped he and his cavalry are, after all, unlike those armored heavy cavalry that have vests, how can you pass by like this without being shot like a fool?

Therefore, Zhang Lie's combat goal was to keep a distance, hang on to Guanqiu Xing's cavalry troops, and take advantage of the opportunity. If there was no opportunity, he would not force it.

Of course, in addition to this reason, Zhang Lie deliberately led his troops to wander in front of Guanqiu Xing in order to attract Guanqiu Xing's attention and make him ignore something inadvertently...

Just like a person staring at the black dots on a piece of white paper will only subconsciously focus on the black dots and forget about the white paper itself. Zhang Lie's three hundred horses were actually specially given to Wu. The "little black dot" that Qiu Xing stared at.

The key is that these "little black dots" still have thorns, and you will get hurt if you are not careful.

When Guanqiu Xing first saw Zhang Lie and others "escape", he felt somewhat proud. He stroked his beard and shook his head. But a moment later, when he saw that the horses were running very fast and disappeared from sight, Guanqiu Xing's heart jumped suddenly and he hurriedly ordered: "Come here! Send the command to the captain quickly to disperse. Don’t chase after me!”

However, the cavalry captain, who was trying to wash away the embarrassment and humiliation in front of Guanqiu Xing, did not realize the danger was coming...

Although the scouts of Guanqiu Xing suffered a heavy blow before, most people believe that one of them was ambushed by the Zhengxi Cavalry, and the other was that 300 Zhengxi Cavalry attacked the 100 scouts of Guanqiu Xing. How much was the defeat? It is as it should be, and now he is leading a thousand cavalry, which is three times the number of Zhengxi cavalry fleeing in front. The strength ratio is now reversed. Victory is right in front of him. How can he give up easily?

The two sides ran one after another for more than ten miles in the blink of an eye.

During this process, both sides fired with bows, and the arrows shot by Guanqiu Xing's cavalry were naturally much more than those of Zhang Lie's cavalry. However, the lethality of these bows and arrows was quite limited, especially the arrows shot by Guanqiu Xing. Even if they caught up with Zhang Lie and others, they would probably lose their strength. Except for a few unlucky ones who scratched the buttocks of their horses by arrows, there would be no damage at all.

Of course, turning around and shooting bows and arrows are also a matter of luck, but because Guanqiu Xing's cavalry rushed forward to meet the arrows, once they were hit by the arrows, the degree of injury would naturally be much more serious than that of Zhang Lie's men. Several cavalrymen stumbled off their horses and disappeared into the smoke between the horses' hooves.

The sporadic casualties aroused the anger of Guanqiu Xing's cavalry. They shouted and waved their weapons, as if this could speed up their pace and catch up with Zhang Lie and others. They did not notice that Zhang Lie and others did not know when. Lie and others slowly ran away and spread out from the original oval shape into a larger fan.

The horses' hooves churned, and small black dots fell one after another from the horses of Zhang Lie and others, disappearing into the rising smoke and dust, without attracting any attention...