After passing the pass, the cavalry descended the slope, and then galloped away with their whips. So, there is a small disconnect between the sides of the pass ramp. The war horses on the downhill side on the south side galloped away, and the war horses on the uphill side on the north side were crowded together and slowly went uphill.

Just when Zhao Yuankang thought that everything would go smoothly. Under the already dim skylight, a heaven-shattering cry suddenly sounded from the dense forests on the hillsides on both sides. Countless figures rushed out of the dense wooded hillside, and in a very short time, the roar of arrows and firearms resounded through the mountains.

The ambush on the hillside rushed out of the space tens of paces wide at the top of the pass. Under the ferocious blows of the crossbows and firearms, the officers and men could not react before the other side occupied a vantage point at the top of the pass.

Zhao Yuankang quickly came back to his senses, and saw that the other party was condescending to shoot arrows and fire weapons at the soldiers and horses uphill, and his cavalry was caught off guard and suffered many casualties, so he immediately ordered to retreat immediately. Stop going uphill. When the cavalry retreated down the slope, Zhao Yuankang suddenly realized a very serious problem: the soldiers and horses were divided.

Three thousand cavalry were the first to pass through the pass, while another seven thousand soldiers and horses were blocked under the Bowangpo pass at the moment, and the cavalry formation was divided into two in a short period of time. Zhao Yuankang immediately understood what was going on. This tactic was similar to what was going on in Akakura Town as we knew it back then. The same cutting formation, the same use of favorable terrain, the difference is that that day was blocked by fire, today there is an ambush to kill, quickly seize the position at the top of the pass. This is Lin Jue's handwriting, the identity of this group of people is self-explanatory, it is the soldiers and horses of the Luoyan Army of Funiu Mountain.

There were roars and shouts of killing from the other side of the mountain pass, and Zhao Yuankang was even more sure of the other party's intentions. They were trying to divide their formation, and the 3,000 cavalry who had already crossed the mountain pass were the target, and they would be attacked with all the strength of the opposing side.

Zhao Yuankang scolded repeatedly, he suddenly realized a serious problem, his so-called plan to attack the east and west has actually been seen through by the other party. The other party is already ready to intercept their soldiers and horses here. Everything is an arranged net, just waiting for yourself to be sent to the door. Although the terrain on both sides of the Bowang Slope is not steep, it is this point that confuses him, and he thought that there would be no condescending blow from the rolling wood and stones, but he did not expect that the other party would hide in the dense forest, and take advantage of the disconnection of the team to rush out, occupy the pass, and divide the team. It's a completely arranged plan.

Zhao Yuankang's first reaction was to immediately withdraw from the army and turn around and leave. He knew that as long as he wanted to go, no one could stop him. But then, I'm afraid that the 3,000 cavalry will be buried here, and the whole plan will be ruined. How to explain to Guo Xu is a problem. I patted my chest and was ashamed, and even swore a poisonous oath, and now I fled back without doing any rescue, and the emperor would not spare him.

Zhao Yuankang settled down and observed for a moment, and quickly stabilized his mind. There were not many bandits on the hillside, at most more than a thousand people. They just rushed out suddenly, and then they caught themselves off guard. According to the report, there are only 20,000 bandits in the entire Funiu Mountain, and how many can attack them out of the mountain? If he can completely annihilate this mountain bandit, he will be regarded as a victory, and he will win the first battle.

Thinking of this, Zhao Yuankang ordered in a loud voice: "Rectify the formation and prepare to charge." A rush of anger rushed up to the pass and crumbled them into pulp. ”

The cavalry also recovered from the panic, got up and shouted, and quickly reorganized their formation. These cavalrymen were the elite of the forbidden army, not a rabble, and after recovering from the panic, they quickly adjusted their psychology and prepared for the attack.

"There are more than 1,000 bandits, which will be our first credit. Kill! Zhao Yuankang shouted loudly.

"Kill!" The cavalry erupted in an earth-shattering roar, their swords in their hands, emitting a cold light in the twilight. The cavalrymen waved the swords in their hands, held the sword flowers, made a whirring sound, and rushed to the Bowang slope with an earth-shattering roar.

Bowang Slope is not steep, but a wide and long slope. Although it affected the speed of the charge, it did not overall, it did not prevent the cavalry from using their speed of impact. The torrent of cavalry was like a tidal wave surging up the embankment, and even the high embankment could not resist the rush of the tide. In just a few dozen breaths, the vanguard cavalry had already rushed dozens of steps down the slope.

Without any suspense, the opponent's arrows and firearms began to roar, and the dense rain of arrows began to pour down like a heavy rain.

"Stand on the shield!" The cavalry generals who rushed ahead shouted, and the cavalrymen took off their shields hanging from their saddles and leaned down to cover the sides of their horses and their bodies. This is exactly where the forbidden army has strengthened its training in recent times. On that chaotic night in the capital, Lin Jue's firearms and the crossbows of the palace guards made the forbidden army suffer a lot. On the way to pursuit, it was even more beaten. Therefore, in the nearly two months of training, how to defend against the opponent's firearms has become a problem that Guo Xu and Yang Jun must face.

The answer given by Yang Jun was that the cavalry carried shields to resist the ferocity of firearms. According to the analysis, the trajectory of the firearm is a direct head-on shot, and this single shooting direction is actually easy to prevent. Just resist with a shield. The problem, however, was that there was no precedent for cavalry to carry large shields, and it was a heavy burden for horses and soldiers. There are several kinds of shields in the Great Zhou army, such as hardwood shields and iron shields, and no matter which one is relatively heavy. This was a complete burden for cavalry that needed light cavalry raids, so the cavalry did not deserve shields at all. The physique of the Great Zhou people and the quality of the war horses are not at all the characteristics of forming heavy cavalry, and there is no such concept in the Great Zhou army.

Later, some people suggested that the cavalry should be equipped with light rattan shields, which should solve this problem. The rattan shield is already an eliminated shield, this kind of shield is a common thing used by barbarians, and the soldiers and horses of the Great Zhou Dynasty do not disdain to use it. But at the moment, it has become the best choice for defensive firearms. Rattan is thin and resilient. It can defend not only against arrows, but also against the iron balls of firearms. The generals in the army quickly used the rattan shield to design a tactic, lying sideways on the horse's back when charging, and covering half of the horse's head and his upper body with the rattan shield, which had the effect of protecting the horse and protecting people.

From a certain point of view, Lin Jue played a certain role in promoting the improvement of the equipment of the Great Zhou cavalry.

Although the rattan shield is a rattan shield after all, the strength is limited. Many of the rattan shields were smashed to pieces by the powerful penetrating power of the crossbow arrows, and many cavalrymen were inevitably pierced by iron bullets and crossbow arrows, and many were killed and wounded. However, this rattan shield has greatly reduced casualties. In the dozens of paces of the charge, if it were not for these vine shields, the dense firearms and arrows above would have caused a large number of casualties. Originally, the casualties were supposed to reach five or six hundred, but now they have been reduced by at least half.

The distance is approaching, and those with common sense know that when the cavalry charges within twenty paces in front of them, it is already an unstoppable momentum, and no one will allow the cavalry to rush in front of them. Either wipe them out at a distance, or avoid them in advance. Otherwise, it's your own nightmare.

Zhao Yuankang's nervousness at the bottom of the hill was also much more relaxed, and he knew that victory was within reach. He had already urged his horses and was ready to lead his own soldiers to rush forward.

However, the situation changed abruptly, and the cavalry of the forbidden army, who were about to rush to the top of the hillside, suddenly fell one by one as if they had fallen into an evil spirit. The centaurs rolled to the ground in front of the formation, neighing and confusion. The entire two or three hundred cavalry that rushed to the front rolled to the ground as if under a spell. It doesn't matter if a man falls off his horse, and the war horse can't afford to struggle on the ground.

"What's going on?" Zhao Yuankang shouted in horror.

"I don't know." The people around him were also shocked and dazed.

The news came not long after, and all the horses that rushed to the bottom of the hill fell for the simple reason that the ground was manipulated. The wounded cavalry who retreated felt something in the dust on the ground, and this thing quickly reached Zhao Yuankang's hands. It was an object the size of a pigeon's egg, surrounded by spikes, and heavy to the touch. The spikes are several inches long, and there are dozens of them. It was an oversized version of thistle, and that was something that did a lot of damage to a horse's hooves.

Zhao Yuankang scolded loudly, and an ominous premonition rose in his heart.

The other party not only made preparations, but also prepared very well, as can be seen from this oversized iron thistle, this is a special response made by people who are familiar with the equipment of the cavalry of the forbidden army. The horses of the Great Zhou cavalry were basically nailed with horseshoes. Horseshoes are known to be ring-shaped and nailed around under the horse's hooves to protect the horseshoe from thorns and stones. The cavalry of the Great Zhou Dynasty also had an original protection measure, which was to embed a thick layer of leather felt in the middle of the horseshoe to increase the thickness of the horse's hooves to protect the horse's hooves, and increase the effect of anti-slip and anti-stabbing. Ordinary obstacle spikes can't hurt the hooves of war horses at all, and the thistles commonly used to prevent war horses from charging are not big, and the spikes are not long. After penetrating the felt, it can penetrate the stratum corneum layer of the horseshoe for up to a few minutes, and it does not cause substantial damage to the hooves of the war horse.

However, the thistle in front of him was clearly a specially made large object, and the spikes several inches long could penetrate directly through the cuticles of the felt and horseshoe to the flesh and blood. This is exactly the pertinence of cracking the Great Zhou cavalry's protection of horse hooves.

I don't know when, the other party sprinkled a large amount of dense thistle terrestris on the ground within twenty steps of the slope. The war horse charged here, and after stepping on the thistle, the consequences can be imagined. The rattan shield can prevent the head, face and body, but it can't protect the feet. This is once again calculated by the other party.

Countless war horses stepped into the area full of thistles, and the thistles pierced into the flesh and blood of the horses' hooves made the war horses scream and jump, rolling all over the ground. The knight on the horse naturally couldn't restrain him at all, and rolled to the ground. The entire hillside was almost full of horses and soldiers rolling everywhere, and the formation was in chaos, and the momentum of the charge suddenly stopped.

What's even worse is that the other side seems to have begun to raise their hands to sprinkle thistles again, making up for the vacancy in the ground, making the ground below the hillside a trench that the cavalry cannot overcome.