Chapter 1979: Iron cavalry descends from the sky (Part 1)
Chapter 1979 Iron cavalry descends from the sky (Part 1)
Chapter 1977: Iron cavalry descending from the sky (Part 1)
“Wen Yuan received a message from Luoyang, saying that the Tang army had withdrawn from Luoyang.” Xu Huanghui reported.
Hearing this, Zhang Liao suddenly became energetic and shouted: "Quick, speed up the march. We must catch up with the main force of the Tang army before it leaves Yin, Henan and enters Hongnong County."
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Following Zhang Liao's order, the 40,000 Qin army started the attack mode, marching at a high speed towards the Tang army's Hongnong County at a speed of 150 miles per day.
Most of the 40,000 cavalry led by Zhang Liao were light cavalry. Among them, the main 20,000 Qin cavalry were one man and two horses. They could travel two hundred miles a day, but the remaining 20,000 cavalry were not so fast.
The other 20,000 cavalrymen came from Li Jing, Zhang He, Xiao Yan, and Han Xin. The previous configuration of cavalry, which used to be one man and one man, had been reorganized and reached the Qin army's standard cavalry configuration of one man and two cavalry, but it was obviously not up to the standard. The high-intensity rapid march speed of two hundred miles a day, or even one hundred and fifty miles, was already the limit for them.
In order to allow the 20,000 cavalry to keep up with the main force, Zhang Liao deliberately reduced the marching speed to 150 miles per day.
At a daily marching speed of two hundred miles, although the 20,000 main force can reach the predetermined position in the shortest time, the other 20,000 cavalry will be far behind.
Even if the main force of 20,000 Qin cavalry could defeat the 60,000 Tang army, they would still have to pay a lot of effort. Naturally, Zhang Liao would not do this.
According to Zhang Liao's calculations, even if he did not march at full speed, he could still catch up with the Tang army before it left Henan Yin and entered Hongnong County.
The current location of Forty Thousand Qinqi is at Xiaopingjinguan in Hedong County, which is only three hundred miles away from Luoyang. Even if they travel 150 miles a day, it only takes two days to reach Luoyang City.
The Qin army was all cavalry, which is why it was so fast, but the Tang army was a mixture of infantry and cavalry. No matter how fast it was, fifty miles a day was the limit.
Calculated based on the distance between the two sides, the Qin army could catch up with the Tang army in up to three days at a marching speed of 150 miles per day, and the Tang army probably had not even entered Hongnong County in three days.
In Luoyang, after learning that Zhang Liao was leading 40,000 cavalry and would arrive in Luoyang within two days, the generals in Luoyang were all excited.
Most of them were unwilling to watch the Tang army escape, but there were too few troops in Luoyang city, and there were even fewer elite soldiers. Once they went out of the city and recruited the Tang army back, it was very likely that even Luoyang would not be able to save it.
Now this worry is completely gone.
Forty thousand cavalry are about to arrive in Luoyang. Even if the defenders in the city chase them out, it is impossible for the Tang army to dare to fight back.
With this consideration in mind, the top brass of the Qin Army unanimously decided to send their elite troops out of the city to pursue the enemy and to assist Zhang Liao's 40,000 cavalry.
Perhaps the Luoyang garrison's combat power is not very strong, but if the elites are gathered together, they will still be an extremely strong combat force, which can provide considerable help to the cavalry team.
At present, there are only 2,000 Flying Tiger Army and 8,000 Detachment of Women troops in Luoyang City who can go out to fight.
The new soldiers and strong men can only be used to defend the city. If they really fight the Tang army head-on, they will definitely be defeated at the first touch. Not only will they not help, but they will cause more chaos.
“About the candidate for the leader of this pursuit of the army?”
Jia Xu looked around at the generals in the hall, and finally his eyes fell on Mu Guiying.
“Mu Guiying, I have ordered you to lead the eight thousand women’s army and two thousand flying tiger army out of the city to pursue the Tang army. I do not want to defeat the Tang army, but I want to delay its march until General Zhang Liao arrives.”
Mu Guiying's face suddenly flashed with joy, she clasped her fists decisively and said, "No."
Giving the position of the pursuit leader to Mu Guiying was actually a helpless move. Now the Yin in Luoyang City is rising and the Yang is declining, but among the 10,000 troops who can participate in the pursuit, 8,000 people are women's soldiers.
If the people from the Detachment of Women are not allowed to be the generals, if these iron ladies lose their temper and give up their jobs, Jia Xu will have nothing to do with them. After deciding on the general, it was Mu Guiying’s turn to appoint the general.
"Qin Liangyu, Hua Mulan, Arthur, Hu Sanniang, Deng Chanyu, Liang Hongyu, Yang Paifeng..."
Every time Mu Guiying read a name, a female general would stand up. As he read it, he discovered that the male generals were shocked to find that the ones who stood up were all female generals. This was a rhythm he didn't want to play with them!
"uh-huh."
A strange look flashed across Jia Xu's face, and she pretended to cough, reminding Mu Guiying to restrain herself.
Mu Guiying didn't mean not to choose male generals, but the current situation in Luoyang was that the yin was rising and the yang was declining. Most of the generals present were female generals, and only one-third were male generals, and most of them were not of high grade. Of course she wanted to Priority is given to selecting female players.
However, Mu Guiying also reacted and quickly ordered a few more male generals, which made the male generals breathe a sigh of relief.
In the end, Mu Guiying led eight thousand women's troops and two thousand flying tiger troops, a total of ten thousand troops, as well as generals such as Qin Liangyu, Hua Mulan, Di Qing, Qin Ji, etc., and embarked on a journey to pursue the Tang army.
Not long after Mu Guiying's 10,000-strong army left Luoyang, they were discovered by a secret sentinel set up by Li Shimin, and the news was passed back to the army.
Li Tang's senior officials were very surprised when they learned about it. They didn't understand why the Qin army in Luoyang City didn't come out to chase them when they first retreated, but waited until they had already walked for a long time before chasing them?
What do these mean? Just for show?
"No, the Qin army was definitely not just showing off. Among the 10,000 Qin troops who left the city, there were not only 8,000 women's troops, but also 2,000 flying tiger troops.
These are the last elites in Luoyang City. If they are just pretending, it is absolutely impossible to send all these elites out of the city. "Li Kui said with determination.
“Then what gave the Qin army the courage to leave the city to pursue them at this time?”
After hearing this, Li Kui couldn't help but fall into thinking. Just when he figured it out, Sima Yi jumped in front of him and said: "There is only one possibility. The reinforcements of the Qin Army arrived in advance, which gave the Qin Army in Luoyang confidence. That’s why I dared to go out of the city to pursue him.”
“This is absolutely impossible.”
Li Shimin decisively denied it, but a trace of panic flashed deep in his eyes.
“How could the Qin Army in Hebei, which totaled 200,000 troops, arrive so fast? Besides, I also received news not long ago that the Qin Army had not completely crossed the Yellow River and would never reach Luoyang in such a short period of time.”
“No, there is another possibility.”
Li Kui's eyes flashed with fear, and he smiled bitterly and said: "Li Jing should have divided his troops into two groups and let the cavalry cross the river first. Only with the speed of the cavalry can it be possible to reach Luoyang so quickly."
…”
Li Shimin suddenly felt as if he was struck by lightning.
If the Hebei Qin Army's cavalry really separated from the larger army and came to pursue them alone, it would really be possible to catch up with them based on the marching speed of the Qin Army's cavalry.
The focus now is how many cavalry did the Hebei Qin Army dispatch?
If it were ten to twenty thousand, the Tang army could still cope with it, and they could still defeat it at a certain cost.
But if it reaches 30,000, it may be difficult for the 60,000 Tang troops in Luoyang to evacuate safely.
Guarantee
(End of this chapter)