Chapter 915: Docking the tail to survive
Chapter 915: Survival by cutting off the tail
Chapter 913: Survival by cutting off the tail
But Qin Hao ordered Li Cunxiao to lead the cavalry to support, but Li Cunxiao ignored all the defeated Liang troops along the way and led 15,000 cavalry straight to Hulao.
The Hulao Pass intersection is not far from the Hukou in front of the pass. Li Cunxiao led the cavalry at full speed and quickly arrived in front of Hulao Pass.
At this time, nearly half of the Liang army had withdrawn into the pass. Of course, nearly half of the troops had not yet entered the pass, but they entered the pass in an orderly manner.
On the battlefield in front of the Hukou of Hulao Pass, it can be said that there are stumps and broken arms everywhere at this time, and the location outside the catapult convoy is also in a mess. Only a few parts are intact, and only 3,000 of the 10,000 coalition troops are left. The remaining people.
Seeing this scene, Li Cunxiao didn't know that he was late. Of course, this was not his fault. After all, he was only responsible for leading the army.
The main hindrance was Gongsun Zan, a useless teammate, and his mistake directly caused the collapse of the Longmen Formation, which cost an extra four to five thousand people dead in battle. Of course, he would also pay the price for it.
Li Cunxiao rushed over from Suanzao without stopping, forgetting that he didn't catch up with the battle on his lord's side. If he didn't even drink the soup here, then his trip would really have been in vain.
Seeing that there were thousands of Liang troops at the city gate who had not yet entered the city, a bloodthirsty smile flashed across Li Cunxiao's lips, he held a gun in his hand and shouted: "Kill..."
“Kill…kill…kill…”
Li Cunxiao and the coalition reinforcements arrived at this time, which also caused the Liang army outside the city to panic.
At this moment of life and death, no one cared about order. They all swarmed up and squeezed into the city gate. For a while, the gate of Hulao Pass became extremely chaotic.
"Don't crowd...Don't crowd...If this continues, no one will be able to get in..."
Not only did such persuasion have no effect at all, but it became even more chaotic due to the cavalry shooting of the coalition cavalry. The soldiers responsible for maintaining order were even trampled to death alive.
Li Shimin looked at the messy city gate and saw Li Cunxiao coming towards the city gate. A trace of determination flashed in his eyes, and then he said in a deep voice: "Pull the suspension bridge and close the city gate."
“But general, are there still soldiers outside?” a general said hesitantly.
"If the city gate is not closed, Li Cunxiao will attack and enter the city."
Li Shimin shouted angrily, but now the general did not dare to talk back and immediately went to carry out the order in person.
The moat of Hulao Pass has actually been filled in by the coalition forces a long time ago, so even if the suspension bridge is pulled up, soldiers cannot get close to the city gate. However, after pulling up the suspension bridge, the suspension bridge acts as a barrier, and the soldiers can only run into the city through the gaps on both sides. , which can also limit the area where soldiers can approach the city gate, making it easier for people inside the pass to close the city gate.
Seeing the gate of Hulao slowly closing, the soldiers who had not yet entered the city were completely panicked. Some begged, some cried, and some cursed.
"Don't close the city gate, we haven't entered yet..."
“I have fought hard for the Liang Army for ten years and am a meritorious official of the Liang Army. Is this how you treat meritorious officials..."
"I have a seventy-year-old mother and a five-year-old baby. I don't want to die..."
No matter what, the city gate was still closed, and everyone who prevented the city gate from closing died at the hands of the Liang army.
These Liangzhou soldiers did not die in the thrilling Longmen Formation, but died in the hands of their own people. How ironic!
But there was no other way. In order to protect Hulao Pass, Li Shimin had no choice but to cut off his tail to survive.
After counting, it was found that the number of soldiers who returned to the pass was only over 10,000.
In this battle, Li Shimin personally led 40,000 troops out of the pass, used 8,000 troops to block the enemy's reinforcements, used a total of 20,000 troops to defeat the Longmen Formation, and used 12,000 troops to deal with the trapped camp. Lu Bu's 8,000 enemy-blocking army were abandoned, and there was no other way out except death and surrender. However, 12,000 soldiers were killed in the Longmen Formation, and 3,000 soldiers and horses were killed in the resistance camp. The total casualties were Twenty-two thousand troops.
In other words, when the Liang army retreated, there were still 18,000 troops, but only a little over 10,000 troops returned to the pass, and nearly 8,000 troops were outside the pass and did not come in.
Eight thousand troops are not too small, and Li Cunxiao missed two battles in a row, and he was actually holding a fire in his heart. Now he finally found someone to vent his anger on, so naturally he would not let go of the soldiers outside the city.
The terrain in front of Hulao Pass is narrow and too many troops cannot be deployed, so Li Cunxiao only sent 6,000 cavalry and divided them into three groups of 2,000 cavalry each. One group killed from left to right, and the other group killed from right to left. And he himself led five thousand soldiers and horses to kill from the middle.
Under the three-pronged outflanking of Six Years Cavalry, the already exhausted 8,000 Liang army was quickly killed and routed.
It is already impossible for the Liang army outside the pass to escape back to the pass. If they want to survive, there is only one way to go, and that is to beg for surrender.
Li Cunxiao saw that the Liang army outside the city had lost all their courage after a fierce attack, so he accepted their surrender.
After counting, Li Cunxiao found that there were actually 6,000 surrendered troops. With only 6,000 cavalry, he not only swept away 8,000 troops and horses, but also captured 6,000 troops and horses.
At this time, Qin Hao's side had also cleared the battlefield. Of the 8,000 blocking troops led by Lu Bu, 4,000 died in battle and 4,000 surrendered. The coalition also suffered nearly 3,000 casualties.
In other words, in this battle, the coalition forces killed a total of 20,000 enemies, captured 10,000 prisoners, and suffered 10,000 casualties themselves.
Since the Battle of Hulaoyu, the coalition forces have been on the siege side, so the number of casualties has always been higher than that of the Liang Army. However, this battle reversed most of the previous losses in troops.
After Qin Hao finished cleaning the battlefield, he immediately brought the princes and the remaining soldiers and horses to Hulao Pass. After arriving, the first order he issued was to **** all the prisoners back to the camp.
Ten thousand prisoners is not a small number, and if one is not handled well, it may lead to big trouble.
At this time, all the generals, led by Xue Rengui, came to Qin Hao together and paid homage in unison: "The generals are incompetent and failed to save the catapult convoy. They have failed the lord (lead leader). I still hope that the lord (lead leader) will be punished." ”
Qin Hao smiled indifferently and asked: "How many catapults are left intact?"
“There are only a hundred left, but after disassembly and repair, fifty should be repaired.”
“One hundred and fifty?”
After Qin Hao pondered for a moment, he smiled mysteriously and said, "It's enough."
Xue Rengui and other generals couldn't help but feel a little puzzled when they heard this. The firepower network formed by one hundred and fifty catapults was not enough to suppress the catapults at Hulao Gate, but why did the Lord say it was enough?
Qin Hao obviously had no intention of explaining. Instead, he looked at Gongsun Zan among the princes and said with a faint smile: "Gongsun Prefect, don't forget what you promised to this alliance leader!"
Gongsun Zan twitched the corner of his mouth and said with a wry smile: "I understand that our Youzhou army will do its best to offset the attack."
Qin Hao nodded, and then said to Xue Rengui: "Arrange the battlefield immediately. This battle is not over yet. There will be a big war soon..."
(End of this chapter)