Chapter 1098: Reward for the Enemy Leader

Chapter 1098: Reward for the Enemy Leader

In the face of absolute strength, any trickery will become useless.

As the Qi army launched another attack, the situation on the battlefield verified this well. As the Qi army's thousands of divisions and brigades advanced, the Tongtan River, which could have blocked the enemy's power, was quickly filled up, allowing the Qi army to smoothly advance northward.

At this time, the Wei army was greatly boosted by their first victory on the right. When they saw the enemy coming again in large numbers, although they were quite nervous, they were not too frightened.

Li Taifang, who was in the Chinese army's main tent, learned some information about the enemy from the captured enemy general Qi Lianmeng, and was informed that the enemy army was attacking again in large numbers. He climbed up from the plateau and had a bird's-eye view, and saw that the enemy army did not charge forward with most of their cavalry as before, but steadily advanced with a combination of infantry and cavalry. Although the force lacked a bit of momentum, it seemed more powerful. Steady and solid.

Li Tai knew that this time the enemy's offensive would be difficult to force out, and he would still need to rely on conventional tactics to stop the enemy's advance. So he ordered the central army Tian Hong to lead 5,000 infantry and cavalry to advance forward to prevent the enemy from setting up a stable stronghold on the north bank, while he led the rest of the army from behind, continuing to strengthen the front while personally raiding the formation to watch the battle.

The river embankment built by the Qi army was several feet wide, and the main army followed it. Since the embankment that had just been laid was not yet strong and solid, the cavalry troops were not included in the starting lineup. The infantry formation was formed first. The team moved north first, and after arriving at the north bank, they relied on the dike to advance outward.

As troops from the rear continued to pour in, these Qi army soldiers quickly formed an oval battle formation at the northern end of the embankment, and this battle formation continued to expand outwards, and soon reached The range of a square mile.

Tian Hong led his light cavalry to rush towards the enemy formation. The knights formed a more conventional sagittal formation. The top few elite soldiers held horse spears and rushed in first, as if a sharp blade was piercing into the enemy formation.

Although the sergeants of the Qi army's infantry formation also struggled to resist the enemy with swords and shields, the natural combat effectiveness gap between the infantry and cavalry made it difficult for them to resist when faced with the huge momentum of the enemy's army and horse. Soon, several people were assassinated on the spot, causing a small crack to be cut in the formation. The knights of the Wei army rushed into the formation along this crack, and brandished their swords in an attempt to continue to tear the gap open.

However, the oval battle formation became thicker and thicker as it went inside. After breaking through the outer layers, the inside became almost crowded with people. Although such a dense crowd was not conducive to the Qi army's counterattack, it also caused a great obstruction to the Wei army's intrusion. The surging crowd in front directly formed a tough and unbreakable barrier of flesh and blood, making the Wei army knights who rushed here not move forward. Inaccessible.

Once the light cavalry sergeant loses his mobility, especially in a battle formation where the enemy is densely packed, the consequences will undoubtedly be devastating. So soon there were enemy soldiers from the side slashing at them with swords. The knights of the Wei Army were trapped in a tight siege. Although they tried their best to resist several swords, in the end it was inevitable that both men and horses would be killed by the swords.

The forward momentum was blocked, and not only was it difficult to penetrate the enemy formation, but more than a dozen forward soldiers were directly lost. Tian Hong also felt that the enemy's formation was difficult to shake, so he immediately led his troops to retreat temporarily, and then formed a column on the side, slashed along the perimeter of the enemy's formation, and charged back and forth.

Although this will inevitably be hindered by enemy arrow fire, it is also more effective in curbing the expansion of the enemy's military formation. The sergeants of the Qi army on the periphery saw the enemy's butcher's knives repeatedly passing in front of them, and the soldiers around them were being killed on the spot. They were frightened in their hearts, hesitated, and even couldn't help but retreat into the formation. It became quite confusing.

However, the number of cavalry of the Wei army is relatively small after all. The right division brigade alone sent more than 5,000 cavalry, and the number of cavalry currently owned by the Chinese army is only 5,000 or 6,000.

At present, Tian Hong led less than 3,000 cavalry sergeants into the battle. Before the enemy's formation was fully opened, the back-and-forth raiding and killing could still be slightly hindered, but they could not completely encircle them. In the past, the enemy's formation was expanding outwards in a rhythmic manner, but now it is extending outwards when the Wei cavalry cannot block it. The formation is no longer the elliptical formation before, but has become an irregular shape protruding everywhere. Regular shape.

With the superiority of its troops, the Qi army's position was still slowly expanding. With the expansion of its troops, the internal chaos was alleviated. Under the cover of the soldiers on the outside, elite soldiers in the formation began to put on heavy armor, and then they lined up the soldiers in front and advanced fully armed until they reached the front of the battle formation.

At this time, another group of Wei army's fine cavalry rushed from the side, but these heavy armored infantry were not afraid at all. Seeing the enemy cavalry galloping towards them, they suddenly swung their swords in their hands, stamped their feet and shouted angrily: "Kill !”

The Wei knight's spear grazed the heavy armor of the Qi soldier, but it did not cause any damage to the enemy. On the contrary, because he had no time to dodge the enemy's sword, both his men and his horse were cut open, and scattered all over the place. Earthly flesh and blood!

Speaking of sophisticated armor and weapons, it has never been exclusive to the Western Wei army. On the contrary, the armed level of the Eastern Wei and Northern Qi has always been more sophisticated than that of the Western Wei. The reason why Li Tai was able to develop rapidly and become stronger militarily was because he sacked Jinyang Palace in the Eastern Wei Dynasty in his early years and captured many skilled craftsmen.

This war has gone deep into the heart of Northern Qi's territory. Naturally, there will be no hidden secrets in the decisive battle, and all the best weapons will be deployed. As these heavy armored infantry entered the battle, the situation on the battlefield changed again.

When the Wei army's cavalry fought with these heavy armored infantry, they were like waves crashing on the rocks. They were shattered into pieces by the collision, but it was completely unable to shake these elite soldiers armed with heavy armor.

With these heavily armored elites as the vanguard, the Qi army advanced more and more smoothly, and its formation rapidly expanded again. Soon tens of thousands of infantry and cavalry troops were gathered on the north bank of the Tongda River.

Li Tai saw that the men and horses in front of him were in vain, and that several attacks only increased casualties, so he ordered the men and horses in front of him to withdraw to the main formation, and instead used small artillery trebuchets to attack the enemy's dense battle formation protected by heavy armor. Carry out bombing and counterattack.

Since the enemy's current formation is still very dense, the effect of this counterattack is also quite sharp and significant. Every artillery stone that hits the target can basically directly hit the target, and in the process of bouncing, it will cause many casualties. As for every stone bullet attack, it can cause a commotion of several feet in the enemy's formation.

The most effective way to avoid stone bullets is to spread out the people, making the dense formation looser. But once this is done, many soldiers will be separated from the protection of the heavy armored infantry and once again exposed to the enemy's cavalry blade.

"Heavy armor lines up the front line, the remaining soldiers are divided into two wings, the cavalry quickly assembles and attacks!"

After suffering several waves of shelling, Xue Guyan noticed that the range of the enemy's stone cannons was not too far, so even after stopping the advancing formation, he chose to temporarily avoid the enemy's edge, and Yu Tong Formations were formed along the Dan River, and more mobile cavalry were dispatched to attack and destroy enemy artillery vehicles.

The offensive of the Qi army advancing northward was slightly adjusted, and the pressure on the Wei army was no longer as great as before. Li Tai also seized the time and sent another 5,000 troops to the front. The troops led by Tian Hong in the front united together and relied on The artillery carriages formed and moved forward.

These trebuchets on the battlefield are not the Heyang cannons that Li Tai relied on to attack the city. They are just ordinary-style instruments that were temporarily built when he was stationed in the south of Wusu City. Therefore, their range and power are relatively limited. They can only be used when the distance is relatively close. The enemy can only be attacked under certain circumstances, so Li Tai did not put it into use immediately.

The construction of the Heyang Cannon has high requirements on the strength and precision of the materials, as well as the placement location. It requires too much energy, but the results in positional warfare are relatively limited. If he could move and place it more flexibly, he would try to launch an attack on the other side first, seize the southern river beach, and then set up artillery to bombard the Chinese military camp high in the ocean, sending this guy running away with his head in his arms.

As Qi's cavalry troops rushed forward, the battle became fierce again. This time the Qi army's cavalry entered the formation for a very clear purpose, which was to destroy the trebuchets in the Wei army's battle formation.

Because the Zhuozhang water cuts down vertically on the east side of the Piyuan where the Wei army's central army is located, while the west side gradually rises and connects to the mountains, so the front is slightly narrow.

A frontal attack by the Qi army would not be conducive to the preparation of the army's battle formation. Now it is known that the enemy has trebuchets that can effectively attack dense battle formations. Of course, they must be destroyed before launching a general attack, so as to ensure the smooth advancement of the future war. Therefore, the Qi army now sent thousands of elite cavalry, led by its general Xue Guyan, to continuously attack the Wei army's battle formation.

Li Tai was observing the battle between the enemy and ourselves around the trebuchet on the hillside. Suddenly, a group of soldiers from the flank army rushed to the front of the banner. They kowtowed to Li Tai with an excited expression and a sad tone and said: "I beg you, Lord, for your grace." Send the last generals out to fight the enemy, and kill the traitor general Xue Guyan to avenge General Guo Yan!"

Hearing this, Li Taicai recognized that these people were the soldiers who had previously transported supplies to Duanliang City with Guo Yan. Among them were Guo Yan's disciples and his subordinate Pao Ze. But no matter how close the relationship was, it was only because Guo Yanshe lost his life in the battle that they were able to successfully withdraw.

When they saw that the enemy general Xue Guyan who killed Guo Yan was still fighting on the front line and showing off his power, these people were extremely angry and couldn't help but go forward to ask for a fight, hoping to avenge Guo Yan.

"When the two armies are fighting, life and death are common. How can we disrupt our battle formation due to personal grudges! You must return to the formation quickly and recharge your batteries. When the time comes to kill the enemy!"

After listening to these people's appeals for war, Li Tai frowned and said after pondering for a moment.

After everyone heard this, their faces suddenly darkened. Just as they were waiting for Yingnuo to retreat, they heard Tang Gong's order: "Inform all the armies, although the thief general Xue Guyan is not a noble among the thieves, he has done great harm to my general. Because it is hateful, no one will be left alive in this battle. Anyone who can be killed in battle will be given the title of County Duke and a reward of ten thousand pieces of silk!"

"The last general will take your orders! Thank you Lord for the reward, and kill the thief general Xue Guyan!"

Since the beginning of the war, this was the first time that Li Tai had set a reward for a certain enemy general in battle, and it was so generous. Therefore, as the reward was announced, the soldiers in front of the battle suddenly became more and more excited and responded loudly to the order. , vying for credit.