Chapter 404 Fierce Battle in the Valley

Chapter 404 Fierce Battle in the Valley

After the armed Hu merchants left Xiurong City, they discovered that their destination was not the flowery world of Jinyang, but the rugged and desolate mountains in the south, and they were quite surprised.

But behind them were thousands of brave and powerful Jinyang soldiers. Even if they had any dissatisfaction in their hearts, they did not dare to express it. They could only obey the order and go south obediently.

When they saw that the number of suspected opponents on the opposite side was far less than their own, the worries in their hearts disappeared immediately, their words and deeds gradually became wanton, and they continued to make various provocative actions. They began to imagine that after this battle was over, they would Ke transferred to Jinyang to receive the reward, but he was completely unaware that the expressions and reactions of his companions around him were a bit abnormal.

Seeing that the enemy was weak, people from all walks of life became commotion. But Luo Chao, who was at the rear left of the team, ordered his troops to slow down and move closer to him, and whispered: "Although there are not many people in this team, the formation is not lax, and it is definitely not the same as Li Shihu's troops." momentum.

They are not from Jinyang, but they must be elites from the Western Dynasty and Beizhou. They cannot be defeated by the rabble of these business groups. You should be careful and don't rush forward to fight rashly! "

After hearing this, Li Yunxin, who was among his troops, came closer, frowned and said in puzzlement: "General, are the elites of the Western Army really so powerful and formidable? But didn't they lose to King Gao's army a few years ago? What's more? With only these members, we have tens of thousands of troops!”

Luo Chao also took great care of this little fellow who spoke a friendly local accent and was also very strong and brave. After hearing this, he sighed: "You also know that it is the army of King Gao that can defeat the Western Army. What does it have to do with these rabble in front of you?

The battle is about to begin, so we might as well make peace with you guys who are greedy for merit and forget their lives. These thousands of miscellaneous people are used to weaken the enemy's soldiers. The real killer move is the Xiurong County soldiers in the rear. If you force yourself to come forward, you will only die. Even if you are lucky enough to survive, I am afraid there will be no reward!

Although Jinyang's treasury is full, it will not give generous gifts to outsiders like you. How can I be a vulgar person? In the old years, they were once a powerful force in Qinlong, but they have been idle for many years since then. These six-state slaves are the most domineering and protective. If outsiders want to stand out here, it is really difficult to reach the sky! "

At this point, Luo Chao's face, which has seen a lot of vicissitudes of life, is full of resentment that his talent was not recognized. He has already become dominant in one place at a young age. He has been able to follow the trend after many twists and turns, and his power and status have also increased. , considers himself a hero in troubled times.

As a result, after returning to the Eastern Dynasty, he sat on the bench for many years and was always excluded from important military and political positions. A dignified military commander was actually assigned to Maling garrison as a garrison commander. For him, What a disgrace!

Under normal circumstances, he wouldn't dare to show his resentment for not being able to show his talent, but he couldn't help but reveal it a little bit when facing Li Yunxin, a fellow countryman who was new to this situation.

Li Yunxin felt quite gloating when he heard Luo Chao's angry words. He did not know Luo Chao before, but after some exchanges with him, he remembered that this guy was the traitor who harmed the Qinzhou countryside during the Zhengguang period. A member of the military.

Li Yunxin was still young at the time, but he still remembered the serious harm that the rebellion had done to the local area, and the Li family in Longxi was even more implicated by Li Yan, the governor of Qinzhou at the time, and received special attention from the rebels, so much so that several relatives and elders of the same clan were killed. He was killed by the rebel army, and this Luo Chao was one of the executioners!

After knowing the other party's identity, he secretly hated Luo Chao in his heart. However, because he was in an enemy situation and had to use the other party's identity to cover up his party, he could only reveal his true identity. Hold back.

At this time, hearing Luo Chao's unjust and resentful words, Li Yunxin whispered again: "I heard that the general Yan who led the army also returned from the Western Dynasty. Seeing that he led the elite, he seemed to be highly valued. The general and He comes from the same source and returns to the righteousness. If he can be taken care of, he will surely become famous due to his general ability. If he is difficult to approach due to his high position, after the battle is over, he will go to Jinyang to see my employer and ask him to provide financial aid. As a gift..."

"The fact that you have such a heart is worthy of my care for you. But if you want to bribe Yanzi Xian, you'd better avoid it."

Luo Chao first smiled at Li Yunxin with relief, then turned to look at the rear and sighed: "This disciple was originally a confidant in the palace of Prime Minister Yuwen of the Western Dynasty, but he defected while he was on an emissary mission. I chose this place because the fortune-teller told me that wealth lies in Qi and Zhao.

It can be seen that this beast was greedy for power and had no sense of kindness. In order to cover up his unjust acts, he treated the personnel of the Western Dynasty most ruthlessly. Every time we fight with the Western Dynasty, no prisoners will be left behind. People like me who surrender after being defeated in a vigorous fight will be even more hated by them. Others' honest words and deeds are the biggest provocation in their eyes! "

After hearing this, Li Yunxin couldn't help but secretly thought it was a pity. He originally wanted to use Luo Chao to get close to the commander Yan Zixian in the rear and then take advantage of the chaos to attack and kill him, but hearing what Luo Chao said was obviously impossible.

As if to prove the truth of this statement, as soon as Luo Chao finished speaking, a messenger from the rear formation rushed into the army formation to convey the military order to him: "The command of General Luo, commanded by the Commander-in-Chief of Yan, is to attack the enemy's flank. Attack immediately as soon as the sound is heard, don't waste the opportunity!"

After hearing this, Luo Chao cursed secretly in his heart, but he did not dare to object vocally. He could only nod in agreement, and then gathered his troops again.

It has been several years since he entered the Eastern Dynasty. There are not many of his original tribes left, and there is no complement at all among the Jinyang soldiers. He took advantage of the opportunity to recruit Hu Shang's armed forces to include some of the strongest troops. My own department also wanted to take this opportunity to develop and replenish its own power.

But Yan Zixian was obviously aware of his intentions. Because of his extremely harsh nature towards the personnel of the Western Dynasty, he was not willing to let Luo Chao, a descendant, grow in power under his nose, so he wanted to drive these people he had just gathered. People and horses are in the front line.

These men and horses recruited from outside the Beishan Great Wall were led by several garrison leaders from the Beishan garrison. Luo Chao's town of Maling garrison was used as a recruitment site, so he had the largest number of Hu soldiers, more than 2,000 people, and the recruited These pawns have the highest horse rate, and more than half of them have horses for horse fighting, so they are placed in the front line.

At this time, the distance between the two sides has been shortened to only a few miles away. The opposite side has already formed a cavalry battle formation and is slowly advancing forward. Behind them came the spear array, with the longbowmen at the end, and the cavalry troops guarding the rear on both sides.

Such an array is capable of both offense and defense, and is especially suitable for terrains such as the Chishi Ridge Valley that are not suitable for large-scale gatherings and gatherings. Although Li Tai looked down on these rabble in his heart, he also noticed that the formation behind them was calm and neat, so he did not dare to go too far. Underestimating the enemy's advance, he planned to defeat the thieves' formation head-on with the infantry battle formation. After their formation was scattered and defeated, they would then rush out with cavalry on both wings, relying on these defeated soldiers to destroy the rear battle formation together.

Luo Chao, who was on the opposite side, saw the enemies put up such a battle formation, and felt a little headache for a while. To be on the safe side, he decided to send a small team to fight forward to test the opponent's combat effectiveness.

He ordered his troops to pause temporarily and prepared to deploy 500 infantry and cavalry for testing first. However, a drum order for all his troops to attack came from the rear army formation. Even if he still wanted to steady the rhythm, other troops and horses were accompanying him. With drums, he ordered his troops to move forward.

The other garrison generals were not fools either. Seeing that the opponent's formation was so neat and orderly, it was obvious that they were not ordinary soldiers. Since the terrain of this valley was not suitable for shifting positions, those in front would naturally be unlucky.

“If we don’t attack now, we’ll wait until later!”

Before Luo Chao could give the order, Li Yunxin jumped out of his horse suddenly, waved the long spear in his hand and shouted loudly at the war on the opposite side. Even the sound of war drums waving in the valley could not suppress the loud shout. .

Hearing this, Luo Chao frowned immediately. Before he could scold Li Yunxin for making his own decision, he saw the disciple hit back and stabbed him! The sudden change really caught him off guard. Fortunately, after many years of military service, some of his stress reactions have become his instincts. Even though he rolled his horse backwards and fell off the horse, he finally avoided this fatal blow. .

However, the flag bearer next to Luo Chao was not so lucky. He was heartbroken by Li Yunxin's attack, and the battle flag also fell to the rear array. The vanguard flag of the front line was originally intended to announce where the forwards were advancing to the rear and to guide them in the direction of their attack. Now it fell steeply, causing great chaos.

However, this is not the most critical thing. For most merchant group armed forces, due to lack of experience in fighting formations, they are not very sensitive to changes in flag orders. They only feel that the war drums have sounded, so they just rush forward to kill. . But just as they were moving forward bravely to fight, their companions suddenly slashed at them with butcher knives!

In the valley at this time, as the charge drum sounded, the battle started instantly, but it was not between the enemy and ourselves, but the armed merchants who filled the valley were fighting each other. Such an incredible scene is shocking.

When Li Tai saw his eldest grandson actually appearing in the enemy camp and turning against him, he was so shocked that he almost lost his ability to think. No matter how superior his intelligence was, it was difficult for him to figure out what happened in a short period of time. But he understood that this was an excellent opportunity, and immediately ignored the coordination of both offensive and defensive infantry and cavalry, and directly ordered: "Attack, the whole army attacks!"

The enemy formation, which was engaged in fighting among themselves, was already in chaos. As Li Tai's cavalrymen rushed forward, they immediately fled to the rear, and the chaotic rout quickly spread to the entire army.

"No retreat, no..."

The soldiers supervising the battle in the rear were still trying to stabilize the formation, waving the long sticks in their hands to beat the soldiers who were fleeing backwards, but they were quickly hacked to death by the panicked soldiers with knives, and the bodies were pushed down in an instant. It was trampled and soon turned into a mass of flesh and blood.

"What happened? How could this happen?"

Yan Zixian, who was sitting behind with his elite troops, saw this scene and was a little dumbfounded for a moment.

Although he had long known that these temporarily recruited Hu merchants were unreliable, after all, the numbers were here. Even if they could not defeat the opponent, they could always fight back and forth for a period of time and consume the opponent's manpower. He really did not expect that the situation would turn around. So quickly, without even substantial contact between the two sides, these Hu merchant armed forces fell into chaos and collapsed.

In surprise, the hood on his head was caught by his own hands, revealing the sparse and messy hair on the top of his head. But he no longer cared about whether this appearance was unsightly, and just gave a loud order: "The front line will attack, and the rear line will quickly put on armor. We must not let these broken soldiers rush out of Chiji Ridge!"

After passing Chishi Ridge, although the mountain road is still rugged and winding, there are more intersections and passages, making it difficult to block them. Moreover, several of the trails can lead directly to the foot of Jinyang City, so Yan Zixian does not dare to take them there anyway. These scattered soldiers were released from Chiji Ridge to avoid affecting the situation around Jinyang.

However, he had previously thought of underestimating the enemy because he saw that we were outnumbered. He thought that Hu Shang's armed forces were at the forefront, so he did not order the soldiers to be armored so that his elite troops could fight in the best condition.

Now that the defeated soldiers have rushed directly into the front army formation, it is obviously too late to put on armor again. They can only let the soldiers in the front team welcome and resist for the time being, while the soldiers in the rear team put on armor and arm themselves as soon as possible and organize. form a stronger line of defense.

"Your Majesty, I will live up to my mission! As long as I rush out of this valley, there will be few obstacles for the east thieves on the way forward!"

After jumping in front of the formation, Li Yunxin did not rush inward to attack. Instead, he quickly gathered nearly a hundred subordinate soldiers on the left and waited against one side of the mountain wall for Li Tai to lead his troops to attack. Luo Chao, who was left dead but left where he was, was captured. When he saw Li Tai approaching on horseback, he strode forward and shouted.

"Well done! Continue to mount your horse and kill the enemy. Let's talk in detail after the battle."

Li Tai didn't have time to ask Li Yunxin about his farewells, so he threw him a pair of fine armor before and after entering. With a smile of appreciation on his face, he pointed at his subordinates who were gradually withdrawing from the defeated army and standing against the mountain wall. The soldiers laughed and said: "All the soldiers are not afraid of hardships and dangers, go deep behind the enemy's rear, kill the enemy and make achievements, and make a name for yourself. Today is the day! Join me to defeat the bandit army and achieve a feat together, charge!"

As the men and horses hidden in Hu Shang's armed forces gradually gathered together, Li Tai's men and horses became more powerful and galloped forward. No enemy dared to stop and fight back. They chased them down all the way, leaving flesh and blood corpses scattered all over the valley. This valley is even more red. The defeated soldiers in front were like a flock of sheep driven away by tigers and wolves. They just fled forward, hoping to escape.

Yan Zixian's troops responded hurriedly, and several columns in the front line were quickly harassed and fought by the defeated soldiers.

Although the defeated soldiers did not dare to turn around and resist the enemy, their survival instinct made them even more violent and ferocious. When their front was blocked, they slashed with their swords and used their hands and feet without any explanation to find a way out.

In normal times, how could these merchant group's armed forces be the opponents of the Jinyang soldiers who have been battle-hardened and well-trained? Whether it is individual bravery or military formation coordination, they are not on the same level, let alone the Jinyang soldiers' armed forces. The level also far exceeds that of these civilian armed forces.

But the sudden change caught people off guard. No matter the well-trained elite soldiers or the defeated soldiers, they were all confused and at a loss as to what to do, and each reacted to their instincts.

Those Jinyang soldiers may have the courage to fight against many, but what they faced were not rational people who knew how to advance and retreat, but people who were already daring and crazy. Even if they knocked down the opponent's sword and staff, they would But they still waved their hands and feet to grab and kick, and even pounced on them and bit them with their teeth, all of them looked like ghosts.

After Li Tai led his troops to rush in, he saw these soldiers fighting and fighting, and they were indistinguishable for a while. Naturally, he would not miss this opportunity and directly ordered his troops to lead them forward to perform indiscriminate shooting skills.

The distance between the two sides was already very close. Due to the interference of Hu Shang's defeated soldiers, it was difficult for the Jinyang soldiers to organize an effective counterattack against Li Tai's troops. At this time, they were completely exposed within the range of the cavalry bow. As the arrows were shot, a large number of casualties immediately appeared.

In this formation where the entanglement was the most intense, the corpses of the Eastern Army soldiers who had been shot were piled up layer by layer in the valley. They were all brave and strong, but now they were shot one after another without the power to fight back. kill.

As the killing continued and casualties increased, the front line gradually became unsustainable. Seeing that the robes were like weeds harvesting lives, the Jinyang soldiers who were fighting at the front gradually joined the fleeing team.

But there was a sudden sound of iron hooves in the valley ahead, and the whole valley seemed to be shaken by an earthquake. Even the mountain walls on both sides were shaken by the powerful sound, and the sand and gravel fell.

Li Tai looked up from his horseback and saw a heavily armored cavalry of 300 people, lined up in front and back, slowly charging into the valley from the rear entrance. He couldn't help but take a breath of cold air. .

The armored heavy cavalry is the absolute king on the battlefield in this era. No matter what the battlefield situation is, once the armored heavy cavalry is put into battle in a battle order, it will bring great changes to the battle situation.

Li Tai felt shocked when he saw the other party putting on heavy equipment and heavy riding. Although he also had this armed organization, he did not carry heavy armor because he was in enemy territory and it was difficult to carry too much baggage.

Originally, the enemy troops who had been killed here were a little frightened, but as our heavy cavalry was armed and put into the battlefield, the original panic was relieved. After restoring the array, they clung to the mountain wall to avoid the impact of the heavy cavalry. Move forward, and quickly form an army in the rear after the heavy cavalry rushes through.

Li Tai led his men and horses to retreat slowly. Naturally, he did not dare to engage in a head-on confrontation with these heavily armored cavalry. As he retreated, he ordered the infantry at the rear to quickly form a battle formation and line up in front of the mountain walls on both sides. Each lined up with their spears to meet the enemy, as if the two lines set up on both sides of the mountain wall often held back horses.

The heavy cavalry on the opposite side were arranged in a line, covering the entire space in the valley horizontally. It was obvious that they were trying to push Li Tai's troops out of the valley, thereby giving the remaining soldiers in the rear time to reorganize and regroup. Although it is not the best time to invest, if you don't invest in fighting for a turnaround and wait until the collapse is extended before expanding, it will be a complete failure.

However, facing the two-character long snake spear array arranged by Li Tai, the coverage area of ​​the heavy cavalry was far from enough. Only the two peripheral wings could be affected, but such a single heavy cavalry charge was really lacking in deterrence. If you pick it out, you may be able to bear it once, but after two or three times, it will inevitably make you fall on your back.

However, due to the strong inertia of the heavy cavalry charge, it was impossible to stop at will. Just after it rushed more than ten feet, heavy cavalry men and horses were overturned on both sides of the edge, and as the front of the gun formation tightened, Just like teeth that bite close to the edge. Although they also knocked away and killed a dozen enemies who were too aggressive, their own losses were even greater.

"Gather up the team!"

Yan Zixian, who personally led the charge of heavy cavalry, knew that the terrain was not suitable for heavy cavalry to enter the battle, but he had no other better choice. He originally hoped that the enemy general might not react quickly enough to seize the opportunity to reverse the situation of the battle, but Now it seems that he obviously thought too much.

The opponent's light cavalry battle formation is still gathering in the front, but there are thousands of infantry with spears on the mountain walls on both sides of the rear. If these soldiers form a battle formation to block the retreat, then his group of heavy cavalry will be alone here, and the situation will definitely become more dangerous. The only solution now is to quickly gather and retreat and then cooperate with the men and horses from the rear who have taken a breather. Holding tightly to the valley entrance to the north would not be considered a disastrous defeat.

But Li Tai naturally didn't give him a chance to readjust his tactical rhythm. Once the armored heavy cavalry stopped, it would be like a tin can on the battlefield. It had no advantages except being a little tougher. What a waste!

"Go back and smash open these iron walnuts!"

Following his command, Ma Shan pointed far away to the north, and all the light cavalry turned their horses' heads one after another and rushed back to the battlefield.

"The thief is looking for death!"

Yan Zixian saw that the distance between the two sides was quickly closing, and it was difficult to regain the speed with another charge. It was just a waste of horsepower, so he simply ordered the soldiers to dismount and form an array to face the rebel army. This way, he could save his horse power and avoid avoiding the enemy. divided.

Since the battle, Li Tai has also been able to identify who gave the order. When he came closer, he held a spear in both hands and hit Yan Zixin on the head.

Yan Zixian was also a strong and brave general. He was not frightened when he saw this. He stood with his legs on the ground and his lower body sank steadily. He also held a spear in both hands and was about to remove the big spear that had been smashed. He used the force to throw it aside, but the power contained in this big stick was beyond his imagination. It shocked his left shoulder and made him unable to move. Although he successfully counterattacked this move, he failed to counterattack again. Not enough.

Li Tai's move with the momentum of the galloping horse failed, and he couldn't help but be surprised that there were indeed many brave generals in the Eastern Wei Dynasty. He could attack this move, but he might not be able to handle it, but this enemy general could handle it. No problem.

He felt a little unwilling in his heart, so he took advantage of the misalignment and twisted his waist back to stab him backwards. Yan Zixian was about to take a step across to block, but when he took this step, his lower body suddenly became unstable, and his back was carried away by the sharp edge, exposing his head with sparse hair.

Sure enough, people can become stronger if they lose their hair?

Li Tai had a reverie in his mind, and Zhu Meng came up behind him. Taking advantage of Li Tai's previous attack, he swung Swallow Xian away with his sword. While he was still in the air, the fierce general was already vomiting blood from his mouth and nose, and was knocked back as soon as his body hit the ground. When the horse reaches this point, Li Tai, who has quick eyes and quick hands, stabs him through the throat and kills him!

One battle will not be divided into chapters, but two chapters will be published in one. . .