Chapter 1095 Bloodbathed Bronze

The next day, the sun was still shining brightly. Although the fierce sun made the grass and trees wilt, it could not stop a vigorous battle from happening.

At the mouth of the Tongdi River, the drums and horns sounded from time to time. The flags of the two warring parties were planted all over the river valley and the pond like a dense forest. The soldiers under their command were dressed in military uniforms and stood in clear formation under the scorching sun.

Because of the natural river division of the Tongdi River and the Zhang River, the two armies lined up and occupied the battlefield area respectively, and there was no direct battle between them near the river mouth.

However, on the west side of the river mouth and the upper reaches of the Tongdi River, the boundary division was not so clear because the river channel narrowed and became shallow. The previous battles between the two sides for the river mouth also started from here, so it was not surprising that the battle had already begun.

He Ruodun, the commander of the right army of the Western Wei Dynasty, led his 10,000 infantry and cavalry to arrive at the battlefield first. He led his troops here as early as dawn, before the sun rose. However, when He Ruodun's troops arrived, the Qi army had already set up fences and stationed there, so the two sides immediately started fighting.

When it was still dark, each side only sent dozens of jumping soldiers to fight on the river bank. As the sky gradually brightened, the scope of the battlefield was gradually expanding, and many cavalrymen rushed back and forth in this area, all trying to rush into the enemy's position and wreak havoc.

This local battle did not show the overall strength gap between the two sides for the time being. The soldiers who fought each other were mostly brave and skilled in archery and horse riding. They buckled the strings and hung the saddles, stabbed with swords and spears, and relied on the mobility brought by the war horses to charge left and right on the battlefield, and they were already in a state of you in me and me in you.

The battle on the field was chaotic and orderly, because each side's goal was to attack and pressure the opponent's line, so the soldiers on both sides in the melee were also trying to push the battlefield to the opposite side.

In this case, it is necessary to maintain a close combat state, and close combat is undoubtedly the most serious situation of casualties on the battlefield. Every minute and every second, soldiers fall off their horses. Those with better luck can still struggle to avoid the enemy's front, but those with worse luck will die on the spot.

Soon the Tongdi water was stirred up and became turbid. The floating plasma was too thick to dissolve in the muddy water, and a layer of blood appeared in the river. The fish and shrimp in the river were naturally disturbed, but fortunately, they found that many fresh foods suddenly appeared in the river. Many fish gathered under the broken limbs and internal organs thrown into the river, greedily pecking and sucking these foods.

In this tragic fight, the battle circle also kept moving north and south because of the hard fighting of the soldiers on both sides, but it was not completely pushed into the line of either side. From the results, the casualties of so many soldiers on both sides seemed to be in vain, but the fact that war is a consumption of human lives was fully reflected.

"Hold on, charge south!"

Gao Lin waved a long lance in his hand, waiting for an opportunity to knock the enemy knight who tried to approach him off his horse, and while he was still struggling in the mud, he stabbed him to death with a lance, and then raised his arms and shouted, encouraging the troops who were still fighting nearby.

As the vanguard commander of the right wing of the Wei army, Gao Lin was also fighting in person. Not long ago, his horse was shot and killed by the enemy cavalry, and he fell into the river bank mudflats. He struggled to get up with the desperate rescue of his personal soldiers, but his knees and feet were still deeply stuck in the mud, unable to move at all.

The Qi army soldiers naturally noticed the embarrassment of the Wei general, and tried to hunt him down several times. There were already seven or eight enemy soldiers lying dead within a few feet of Gao Lin.

"General, please get on your horse!"

Finally, several Wei soldiers brought an idle horse and laid the raft next to Gao Lin. The horses and men pulled it out of the mud together. Gao Lin didn't bother to wash the mud and blood off his armor. He rode his horse around to the sandy river beach upstream to the west and continued to fight with the enemy cavalry.

While the elite cavalry of both sides were fighting in the battle array, the troops behind them did not stand idle and watch the battle. Since this was the most suitable time to launch a charge and fight, each side had to rush to build a solid camp for defense.

The Qi army arrived earlier and had built a wooden fence defense line in the south. At this time, they took advantage of the enemy being entangled by their own cavalry to dig trenches outside the wooden fence. The excavated soil was all rammed inside and outside the wooden fence. The combination of earth and wood formed a solid defense line that could effectively block the enemy's attack.

On the other hand, the construction of the Wei army was lagging behind. Hundreds of carriages were scattered among the battle formations, and the digging of the earth and trenches was also disorderly. It looked messy, like a naughty child digging game, not a strict camp defense line. This was probably because the Wei army was fighting with foreign troops, and there were not many engineers and laborers accompanying the army, so they could only make do with what they had.

Qi Lianmeng, who also led the troops in the battle, also realized that the defense of the opposite Wei army was quite simple and might not be able to withstand the fierce attack of the army. If there were enough cavalry soldiers to launch a swift attack on the enemy formation, it might be possible to seize the enemy's flank position in advance before the real decisive battle in the central army, thus forming a situation of encirclement and siege.

"Quickly gather the remaining troops in the camp, and all go out of the camp to attack the enemy formation!"

After this thought came to his mind, Qi Lianmeng temporarily withdrew from the battle and shouted to his generals.

After hearing this, the general said with difficulty: "But, but King Pingyuan has ordered that the camp line must be set up before noon. If we go out to fight, I'm afraid it will be too late..."

"Fool! The war situation changes rapidly, we should be flexible, how can we just follow the old plan!"

Qi Lianmeng glared and scolded after hearing this. As he left the front line, his vision became more comprehensive. He saw that the enemy's military strength here was not strong. I'm afraid it was not as many as the 15,000 infantry and cavalry led by him. If he just defended and built the camp, it would undoubtedly miss the opportunity to fight.

After hearing this, the general did not dare to say anything more. He immediately returned to the camp and ordered to suspend the offensive, and summoned the other armored soldiers in the camp, and led out a full 5,000 elite cavalry.

As these five thousand elite cavalrymen were thrown into the battlefield, the number of Qi troops on the battlefield suddenly reached more than eight thousand. The situation that was originally deadlocked suddenly tilted significantly. The battle circle that had been swinging left and right on the river line was suddenly pushed northward by more than dozens of feet. The elite cavalry of the Qi army waded directly across the water and formed a battle formation on the north side of the Tongdi River.

Seeing the immediate effect of the reinforcement, Qi Lianmeng was naturally very excited. He immediately waved his hand and ordered to charge forward, not giving the enemy a chance to reorganize their troops and fight back.

As the Qi army launched a charge with thousands of horses galloping, it gave people an unstoppable shock. The soldiers of the opposite Wei army also changed their colors. Even Gao Lin, who had led his troops to fight bravely in the battle before, saw the huge gap in strength between the enemy and us, and his face turned pale and his mouth was dry. Although he had already made a plan to fight, he became a little less confident at this moment.

Nearly 10,000 enemy cavalry launched a charge, which was far beyond the ability of ordinary battles to resist, so Gao Lin also led his troops to retreat to the main camp. The soldiers in the main camp of the right wing of the Wei army, a few miles away, were also visibly nervous. Before the commander gave the order, the soldiers outside the front line retreated to the inside.

"Charge! Don't give the enemy a chance to breathe."

While charging, Qi Lianmeng saw that the enemy army retreated in a hurry, and even many chariots carrying supplies were left behind. He felt that his plan was correct. While shouting, he also rode hard to completely break the enemy formation in one fell swoop.

Although it was not wise to advance alone, the enemy formation was already in chaos. If it could be broken in one fell swoop, even if other enemy troops heard the news and came to help, it would be difficult to intercept and siege his own formation under the impact of those defeated troops.

If the enemy is strong, they will break through the enemy formation and retreat in formation. If the enemy is weak, they will continue to charge and fight fiercely. The ability to advance and retreat freely and come and go like the wind is the fundamental reason why cavalry has absolute control over the battlefield.

Qi Lianmeng was once a confidant of Erzhu Rong. After the demise of the Erzhu family, he joined Gao Huan. He was still brave and strong after half a lifetime of military service. He had rich combat experience and was naturally quite keen in understanding and grasping the opportunities on the battlefield. Seeing that the enemy was forced to expose the state of defeat, he accelerated his attack on the enemy formation.

At this moment, the Wei cavalry troops withdrew from the formation one after another, leaving only the infantrymen with low mobility still trapped in the formation. These infantrymen were scattered among the chariots, without even a complete formation. I am afraid that there would be few left after the cavalry brigade rushed.

Just when Qi Lianmeng was sure of victory, the troops charging in the front had some minor accidents. Several riders fell to the ground while running. It turned out that they fell into the pit traps dug by the enemy. Moreover, there were some sharp short spears in the traps. Anyone who fell into them would be pierced to death immediately.

"It's just a small trap. Don't worry about it. Keep charging!"

Qi Lianmeng just sneered and didn't take it seriously after learning about this. He felt that the enemy was really out of tricks.

Even if there were no traps, the cavalry of the brigade would inevitably fall behind or fall off their horses while running at high speed. These were all normal losses of cavalry attacks. Although the traps increased the casualties to a certain extent, the traps dug by the Wei army were messy, and the pits were mostly narrow and shallow, which could not trap and kill a large number of soldiers. The lethality was limited and could be completely ignored.

Of course, this is from his perspective as the commander. After seeing their comrades being killed on the spot, the soldiers were more or less vigilant in their hearts, and their momentum was slightly restrained, no longer as unrestrained as at the beginning.

However, this slight restraint did not have much impact on the overall momentum, and soon the Qi army soldiers rushed into the enemy formation.

The Wei army's chariots were scattered in the formation, and some Qi army soldiers had no time to turn their horses to avoid them, so they simply crashed into them with their horses.

However, an accident occurred after this collision. The seemingly thin wooden box walls of these chariots did not break after being hit by the high-speed running horses. Instead, the Qi army soldiers were subjected to huge recoil force, and some of them broke their tendons and bones, and even died of bleeding from all seven orifices.

It turned out that these chariots were not as simple as they seemed on the surface. The carriages were filled with heavy earth and rocks, and they were nailed directly to the spot. The chariot itself is much taller than an ordinary chariot frame, and the side edges of the chariot boards are also inlaid with sharp spear tips, which were previously deliberately covered by tent cloth. From a distance, it looks ordinary, but when you get closer, you will find that it is actually a series of sturdy, tall and sharp roadblocks.

When the Qi army rushed into the chariot formation, hundreds of knights were killed by accident. Although hundreds of casualties were not noticeable in this cavalry brigade of nearly 10,000 people, they were all concentrated in the front. More than half of the troops in the front line were killed or wounded, which was a huge blow to morale!

"Avoid the enemy chariots, avoid these enemy chariots!"

The lesson learned by the comrades with their lives immediately alerted the other Qi soldiers who were lucky enough to survive, and they shouted for warnings. After receiving this reminder, the soldiers in the rear were also careful and no longer ran wildly, but rushed into the enemy formation in different ways.