Chapter 737: Between a retreat and an advance
Yuan Shao stared closely at the queue of Gongsun Chan lined up in front of him, and said that he was not nervous, that was a lie, before Yuan Shao led the army, most of them were fighting with some bandits, and the yellow turban was at most a county soldier, and it was the first time to fight with a strong army like Gongsun Chan who was famous in Liaodong......
Like every junior brother, what Yuan Shao can hope for now is that his troops can be stronger and more durable, although most of the time this wish backfires.
In this early spring, Yuan Benchu finally took the first step on the road to becoming a powerful local warlord.
Seeing that Gongsun Zhan's cavalry troops had almost crossed the river and lined up in formation, Tian Feng reminded in a low voice on the side: "Ming Gong, it's time to give the order......
Yuan Shao clenched his hands, which were already a little sweaty, tried to make his voice steady and powerful, and said, "Summoning General Koji to come forward!" "In fact, this operation is still very dangerous, allowing Gongsun Chan to cross the river smoothly, give up the terrain of twenty miles, and choose a relatively flat area for engagement, just to let Gongsun Chan underestimate the enemy and create favorable conditions in an unfavorable situation.
Taking the initiative to attack the cavalry with foot soldiers, using the tactics of strong crossbowmen before Fei Qian, so that Gongsun Zhan's cavalry suffered a strong crossbow blow under the cover of his foot soldiers, and then carried out a countercharge, instead of carrying out the traditional infantry engagement strategy, this tactical arrangement that violated the traditional art of war was Tian Feng's strategy of lightening the enemy.
When Yuan Shao gritted his teeth and made up his mind to use Tian Feng's strategy, all the generals were very frightened, but Lu Yi agreed and volunteered to be the front......
Koji Yi can be regarded as the Central Plains of Xilianghua, during the period of Emperor Ling of the Han Dynasty, the plain koji clan took refuge in Xiping, and gradually became the local surname, Koji Yi is also proficient in Liangzhou to master some of the Qiang people's tactics, and some of the heroes of Xiliang also have a lot of intersection, for Xiliang's iron cavalry also has some understanding, and later after Liyi returned to Jizhou, he became the general of Jizhou Mu Hanfu at that time by virtue of his martial arts.
But after all, Koji Yi grew up in Xiliang, so he is also very extroverted in personality, he is very arrogant, and he doesn't pay attention to what he says, and he belongs to the big-mouthed cannon type of person, so he can't get along with Han Fu somewhat......
Later, when Yuan Shao arrived in Jizhou, he almost didn't spend much effort to rebel against Koyi and make him a general under his command.
When Gongsun Zhan coerced the aftermath of the Qingzhou Yellow Turban Army, when the morale of the people was high, the other generals were a little worried, although there were cases before Fei Qian, but no one dared to pack a ticket to say that it would be successfully replicated, only Koji Yi patted his chest......
Gongsun Chan was originally opposite to Yuan Shao across the river in the north of the boundary bridge, but Yuan Shao retreated twenty miles and laid down the formation, Gongsun Zhan saw that the south of the boundary bridge was flat, and there was no cover that could be ambushed in the open space around, so he let the 30,000 foot soldiers follow up with the formation, and he took the 3,000 white horse Yicong in the center and the 5,000 cavalry on the left and right wings, and took the lead in crossing the boundary bridge and arrived in front of Yuan Shao's formation.
And Yuan Shao's seemingly weak behavior hides a murderous ......
When, in the sound of war drums, Koji Yi led 800 elite heavy infantry and 1,000 strong crossbows to break forward in formation, Gongsun Zhan, who was full of ambition, underestimated the enemy and made the same mistake as Niu Fu, and even directly shot Wang Zhan, trying to stud in one fell swoop.
Gongsun Zhan saw that his cavalry had all crossed the river, and did not suffer the tactical blow of the so-called half-crossing attack, and the place was flat, and there was no sign of any soldiers and horses coming to help, and at the same time, he bullied Yuan Shao's advance Koji Yi soldiers were few, so he did not wait for the follow-up foot soldiers to follow, and there was no delay, so he ordered Bai Ma Yicong to immediately attack from the center, and the two wing assault cavalry followed up, he tried to crush Yuan Shao's forward with the usual heavy cavalry group charge tactics, and even Yuan Shao's Chinese army swept together.
According to normal terms, there is not much of a mistake, because the cavalry is normally one against three, and after forming a battle formation, one against five, and Koji Yi is about two thousand people, and Gongsun Chan is not much wrong in theory by shooting three thousand white horses.
It's a pity that this world has never lacked malice, and Tian Feng's strategy is for the arrival of this moment......
When the enemy cavalry was dozens of paces away, these infantry suddenly raised dust and shouted, and launched a counter-charge against the approaching Baima Yicong, and the left and right sides and rear fired thousands of crossbows in unison, forming a crossfire to block the follow-up Baima Yicong cavalry.
Bai Ma Yi never expected this hand at all, panicked under the intensive attack of the strong crossbow, and was attacked by the opponent's heavy infantry halberd, and the weakness of the heavy cavalry in the non-charging state of white-bladed melee was exposed. At the same time, the advance path of the cavalry on both wings who rushed from the rear was also blocked, and they were crowded together with the white horse Yicong, unable to use it, and became a live target for the strong crossbow.
This unprecedented situation is not only the cavalry such as Baima Yicong was at a loss, but even Gongsun Chan was dumbfounded, and there was no effective measure to break the deadlock for a while, so that many cavalry continued to lose their lives in the chaos.
With the continuous attrition, the morale of the cavalry such as the White Horse Yicong also continued to decline, and then most of the cavalry fled in defeat......
Yuan Shao, who never thought that there would be such a situation, was overjoyed, and the blood of excitement poured up, and he also made a fatal mistake, so that all the army pursued Gongsun Chan with Koi Yi, and tried to defeat Gongsun Chan in one fell swoop, while Yuan Shao himself only left dozens of strong crossbowmen and two hundred halberd infantry by his side.
The cavalry on both flanks of Gongsun Zhan, who was behind Bai Ma Yicong, actually did not suffer a very big blow, so after passing the panic period, they regrouped, bypassed the frontal area where the fierce battle was raging, and found Yuan Shao's main formation in the rear, so they rushed to Yuan Shao's banner under the instinctive drive.
Although the regrouped Gongsun Zhan cavalry was not a white horse, when it attacked, it was not just a few hundred Yuan Shao's main formation......
Yuan Shao's originally excited red face suddenly turned pale, and the sound of horses' hooves was like a horn urging his life, as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and he couldn't help but tremble.
Tian Feng stepped forward and said, "The lord retreats quickly!" I'm here to break off! Then people surrounded Yuan Shao, leaning on a broken eaves wall on his side, so that the soldiers gathered together and tried their best to resist.
For a while, bows and arrows rained, people and horses shouted and fought hard, and Yuan Shao was in danger.
Yuan Shao's soldiers were also very afraid, seeing that their morale was constantly being eroded, many people began to retreat gradually, wanting others to go up and hide behind the broken wall.
At this time, Yuan Shao made perhaps the wisest decision in his life, he took off his hood, threw it to the ground, and then roared loudly: "The eldest husband is fighting to the death, and he is fleeing the evil among the walls? ”
After saying that, he rushed forward with the long sword, where would Tian Feng and the guards around him let Yuan Shao really rush to the front line, and hurriedly stepped forward to protect him, but it was precisely because of this that Yuan Shao's soldiers in this formation saw that the main general was desperate, and they all re-energized their fighting spirit and bravely resisted the attack of Gongsun Zhan's cavalry.
Then Yan Liang on the battlefield discovered the abnormality of the formation, and hurriedly led the army to rescue, and Gongsun Zhan's cavalry saw that they could not do anything, so they retreated again......
With the retreat of Gongsun Zhan's cavalry, the battle of Jieqiao came to an end.
For both sides, in fact, in this short battle, except for Gongsun Zhan's White Horse Yicong and Ko Yi's Xiandeng Battalion, the other troops did not suffer great battle losses.
However, the situation in the entire Jizhou has been fundamentally changed, and the myth of Bai Ma Yi's invincibility has burst like a soap bubble, which has also led to the collapse of the image of Gongsun Zhan, who has been running very well, and the entire Jizhou Shi clan and even the entire Hebei region have readjusted the evaluation of Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zhan......