Chapter 3 Troubled Times Descend Section 63 Battle of Bochang (II)

Outside the north gate, the dejected thunder rode into the city while glaring viciously at the scattered reinforcements. The sparse procession meandered for miles, and in the distance, there were faint black dots moving on the horizon.

When we arrived at the North City Gate, Zhang Fei, who was steaming hot, saw me coming from afar and shouted: "Big brother, good horse, good horse, this is a good horse I have never seen in my life!"

In order to establish the heavy cavalry of Izumo City, we deliberately spent several years searching for famous horses on the grassland to breed and train, with Zhang Fei's violent tendency, he went to the grassland to take a turn, the horse he valued was of course a good horse, but I didn't know, it was the stallion left by that tribe.

In the Han Dynasty, not long after the Xiongnu moved westward, good breeds of horses were not completely extinct. Later, Akkha Takma, who was active in Central Asia, is said to have been brought by the Huns. This is a horse suitable for heavy cavalry to ride, and it is also called the Han blood horse or the Don hippopotamus. The Russian Cossack cavalry rode on such horses.

According to the records of ancient military books, in the ancient Chinese army, they all liked to click on military horses. Because the gelding horses will not make trouble in the queue because of their hair when they go into battle. Therefore, for thousands of years of history, our generals have always chosen the best horses, castrated them, and made them last forever. The famous Eight Horses are treated like this, and so are the Red Rabbit Horses. This custom was retained until the New China period, when the border guards also followed the gelding.

Through thousands of years of hard work, our horses have become smaller and smaller. And the best of them were again and again being picked out and castrated, so that the surviving horses were getting slower and smaller. This is the reason why since the Song Dynasty, there have been no heavy cavalry in China.

"Well, Yide, although Le'an is our territory, the way you march is too loose." I held my breath, tried hard to suppress the fire, and said patiently: "The two armies are facing each other in front of Bochang, what if you encounter an enemy attack with such a casual marching method?" Do you know that today, when you came to Bochang like this, you were almost regarded as an enemy by the thunder rider, and you were attacked by the thunder rider wolf rider. By the way, I asked you to hurry to Bochang, this team you brought is the army there? ”

Zhang Fei touched his head embarrassedly, turned over and jumped off the horse, and said with a hippie smile: "Big brother, it's okay, we went against the tide and saw Liu Hun's nephew on the shore in Boxing, he said: The road from Boxing to Bochang is smooth, since the eldest brother is in Bochang, he will never let the enemy bypass Bochang to attack the counties behind him." I hear that. Hehe, plus I got a new good horse, and I was itchy for a while, so I bet on the speed of horse racing with Jieshi City Shou Ambition Boljin, so the team ran out of order. ”

Jieshi City Shou Ambition Boljin, how could he come to Qingzhou? Since we have been attacked by the Yellow Turbans, why has Bohai County not moved. According to the news from Yang Feng, Zhang Jiao was frustrated again and again and felt that there was a shortage of manpower, so he summoned all the Yellow Turbans to gather in Jizhou. The Qingzhou Yellow Turbans are in a hurry to cross the Yellow River, and there should be people on the side of the Yellow River who echo them. And at this moment, this Boerjin did not follow the order and came to Qingzhou without authorization, is there any law left?

"Where's Burgin? Why didn't you see him? Who ordered him to leave the Stone? I asked sharply.

Zhang Fei was angry when he saw me, and immediately put away his smiling face, and replied honestly: "Big brother, I heard that there is a police in Qingzhou, and Gao Tang Xiangguo said: Izumo is in winter training, although he can't draw the army, but there is nothing to do in the winter idle season, and there are many civilians who are willing to join the army to fight." Anyway, after the war, they will be able to return during the Spring Festival, and they will not miss next year's farm work. Therefore, Lord Gao Tang helped us gather 3,000 civilians and come to Qingzhou with us. ”

I shook my head, furious: "What's going on with Boljin? Where are the frustrated military divisions and Yun Chang? Don't ramble, talk about it! ”

Zhang Feihan smiled and continued: "When we passed by Jieshi, after Jieshi ordered Chen Qun to see us, he said that winter was coming, and he wanted to come to Qingzhou to meet the lord. The frustrated military division believed that Jieshi looked west to Jizhou, and Niliu could take care of Pingyuan County, so he was willing to stay in Jieshi and guard on behalf of Chen Changwen (Chen Qun). Changwen heard that there were police officers in Qingzhou, and he was not worried about the lord, so he brought with him 1,000 people from Jieshi City Guarding Ambition and Jieshi Guard. I was anxious to see my eldest brother, so I took Bo Erjin first, and Yun Chang and Chen Qun were in the back. ”

I was so angry that I jumped to my feet and shouted, "Where is Boljin? I ask you, what about Bolkin? Don't tell me anything, isn't he racing with you, call him out of here! ——”

Zhang Fei's innocent eyes widened, and he said sincerely: "Who knows where he ran to, we ran to the city of Bochang, it was not far apart, but when he saw Lei riding out of the formation, he immediately turned his horse and ran back, I couldn't shout." ”

I laughed angrily: "Yide, Yide, what are you eating with such a big head?" Boerjin can see that the momentum is not right, and you don't want to think about why he turned around and ran. ”

Zhang Fei shook his head violently and replied loudly: "What do I want to do so much?" Whoever my brother asked me to fight, I would turn my fist at him, worrying about troublesome things, and my eldest brother would block me, so why should I bother myself. ”

That's it, reason with Zhang Fei, it's better to play the piano to the cow.

No, this horse is familiar. I asked suspiciously, "Yide, this horse...... Where did you find it? ”

Zhang Fei waved his hand quite generously, and replied to me with a proud face: "Big brother looks at this horse, do you think it's good?" Then I'll let my eldest brother ride for a few days and have fun. ”

I said earnestly: "Yide, you have been playing in Izumo for a month, how do you learn a bad problem, I ask the east, and you answer the west." Where did this horse come from? Say it. ”

This time, Zhang Fei replied briskly: "Big brother, when I went to watch the stabbing competition, I saw Taishi Ziyi (Tai Shi Ci) riding a big horse and swaggering, I asked him about the big horse he got, and he said that he found it in his backyard." I didn't believe it, so I ran to see it, and sure enough, there were many good horses. ”

Then, Zhang Fei folded his fingers honestly and counted them one by one: "Well, I wasn't greedy, so I pulled three horses back." Big brother has a horse, I have a horse, and Yunchang has a horse, how about it? ”

I had nothing to say, and after holding it for a long time, I couldn't help but ask Zhang Fei: "Yide, Ziyi didn't tell you that he lives in my house, and his backyard is my backyard." ”

When Zhang Fei heard this, he had a sudden expression: "No wonder, no wonder Ziyi repeatedly told me that after this horse is gone, I must tell my eldest brother, so it is." ”

"Confused, that's the City Lord's Mansion, didn't you even look at the plaque on the door when you entered the door?" Bitter, this horse is an adult horse, and it is a Peel horse specially kept for breeding, the Izumo Divine Horse. This Zhang butcher, is he really stupid or is he pretending to be stupid with me.

Zhang Fei nodded again and again, expressing his understanding: "Yes, I said, why does Ziyi live in that big house alone, but he has to live in a side hall, it turns out to be the eldest brother's mansion." In this case, it is not surprising that there is a plaque of the Lord's Mansion hanging on the door. ”

When I encountered such a cheeky person, I was speechless, so I had to indignantly instruct Tian Chou: "Zitai, as a city guard, Boer Jin does not follow the rules and regulations during the march, does not give orders, and is severely punished according to the law." Zhang Fei, although this is not his army, but as a forward, he does not send probes and horses on the march, and does not echo the rear army, so he will be punished according to the law. At present, the war is imminent, and these punishments will be recorded first, and they will be dealt with together after the war. ”

Behind him, Zhang Fei heard my order and muttered in a low voice: "More than a dozen military sticks for a jade chasing horse, it's worth it." ”

With Zhang Fei's voice, this muttering sound is similar to the shouting of ordinary people. Hearing this, my legs weakened and I almost fell - the white Izumo horse, the horse's name is Yu chasing, this is still the name I gave, it turns out, he knows everything.

On the same day, Chen Qun and Guan Yu arrived at Bochang City, bringing with them 3,000 civilian troops.

Izumo civilians, after three years of military management, have long been accustomed to militarized operations. Even, even when they go out to do errands collectively, they are walking in the neat steps of the army. Even young and strong civilians who walk alone, after several years of training, can immediately form a formation when they hear a military horn. Give them a weapon, and this is a combat team. I have always believed that if I can persist in this way for a long time, the people of Izumo will be as strict and disciplined as the Germans, and they will be able to fight and win.

Now, I have two legions on hand, more than 7,000 people, if I use one legion to face the Yellow Turban, it is too thin, if two legions are the same, only the Bochang defenders are left. There were no reserves at all, and it was a very dangerous thing for a frontal battle, and these 4,000 men came just in time.

Soon after these reinforcements entered the city, the Yellow Turbans, who had been intimidated by our boulder artillery, rose up and retreated two miles to re-entrench the village. It is no wonder that it was originally a siege-style way to go down the wall, of course, to get as close as possible to the city wall. Now, in order to change to a battle-style camp, there must be enough open space in front of the two armies.

Over the next two days, we quickly got acquainted with the team. Zhang Fei volunteered to serve as the commander of the Thunder Cavalry, but Guan Yu couldn't grab Zhang Fei and took advantage of the situation to serve as the commander of the Wolf Cavalry. The two legions of foot soldiers, led by Le Jin, faced the Yellow Turban Army head-on. The leader of the Bull Clan, Ambition Boljin, commanded the Jieshi reinforcements and the Izumo Civilians as a strategic reserve to fight against me.

On the third day, Gu Shan was ordered to go to the Yellow Turban Camp to convey our news: because the ground had not dried up after the snow, and in addition, the Yellow Turbans had not yet been properly settled, so the battle was postponed for two days.

After Gu Shan passed the order, he obviously felt that the Yellow Turban generals were relieved, after all, as we reinforced more and more, victory seemed to be getting farther and farther away from them.

Gu Shan also took the opportunity to contact Yang Feng and told him: When the battle begins, line up on the right, try to get as close to the front as possible, and if the battle is defeated, tell him to gather the remnants of the army and retreat all the way to Taishan County.

On September 27 of the 7th year of Guanghe, although both sides were trying their best to delay, the time for the battle was inevitable. According to the news from Yang Feng, in this battle, Qingxu Yellow Turban eliminated the old and weak, and a total of more than 117,000 elite people, and our side faced the battle with 7,000 people from the first and second legions of Qingzhou Xunchi, 1,000 people from each of the thunder and wolf horses, and 4,000 people from the Jieshi Izumo Combined Legion.

In the early morning, the mist rose again, and it drifted faintly across the earth. The generals of the Yellow Turban Army announced: Demolish the camp, fight to the death, and if you win, you will live in Bochang City, and if you lose, you will bury your bones in the wilderness.

Inspired by this resolute atmosphere, the Yellow Turban soldiers finally summoned up a fierce spirit, demolished the camp tents with grief and despair, and stood in a formation in the wilderness.

A whimpering song came from the Yellow Turban Brigade: "Hair is like a leek, cut back to life; The head is like a chicken, cutting and singing. Officials don't have to be fearful, and small people can never be ...... lightly"

This song was sung repeatedly in a desolate tone like ashes, and each time it was sung, the more people were harmonizing, and gradually, the entire Yellow Turban Army was singing in a low voice, singing in a trance, and singing like a fascination.

Many years later, people discussed the significance of this battle, and they thought: I have a thunder cavalry wolf rider with a powerful piercing ability, and when we know that the other side is ready to fight to the death, we do not use the tactics of outflanking and dividing and encircling, but insist on engaging the enemy ten times our own head-on, so we have brought heavy casualties to our army. It seems that I have failed to live up to my reputation for mastering the art of war.

It's really on paper! In the rear of Bochang, there is Le'an, which has just stabilized, and we have spent a lot of energy to govern, if we let the enemy army rush into Le'an, the consequences are unimaginable. I do not yet have the vicious heart to take the people's homes as a paradise to lure the enemy into the depths of the enemy, and to throw the innocent people under my rule into the flames of war and suffering. So, we can't go back.

Yellow turban bandits, if they win, they plunder, and if they lose, they scatter and flee. If we don't arouse their desire to win, let them gather together, and win the battle, once they are defeated and flee, they hide in remote areas beyond our ability, and come out to rob from time to time, then the war will be implicated, I don't know how many people will be affected, and I don't know how long it will be over. In this battle, we may have suffered heavy casualties, but it avoided several subsequent expeditions that cost people and money.

Perhaps, in my subconscious, there is also a little bit of heroism. But no matter what, it is exactly what I expected to defeat the crowd and decide Qingzhou in one battle. With such a small number of troops, defeating an enemy ten times its size, such a powerful combat power of the Qingzhou Corps made all those who peep at it tremble in the future.

The mist cleared, and the bugles sounded across the field.

After the Yellow Turban Army finished platoning, four military flags were raised at the head of Bochang City, and the military flags of the Thunder Cavalry, the Wolf Cavalry, the Qingzhou Legion, and the Jieshi Izumo Combined Legion were raised, and our army went into battle.

With the opening of the west gate, the first to come out were the first and second legions of Qingzhou, and the spearmen of the five battalions were arranged in a 16 by 16 spear formation in battalion units, accompanied by the waist drums of each team of drummers, slowly and resolutely injected into the plain. Accompanied by the sound of drums, the sound of the silent spearmen making neat footsteps, and the sound of clattering armor leaves also followed the pace of the soldiers, monotonous and uniform.

In the course of the constant fighting, we found that the soldiers, with their long and insensitive spears, were useless and isolated once they left the ranks. And when the spearmen advanced, they saw that the spears attacked the opposing team in a volley, and their power and speed were rare among the infantry at that time. Therefore, we must keep the soldiers firmly in line with the queue, and only in this way can we play to their collective strengths.

However, even on flat terrain, it is necessary to practice repeatedly in order to keep a dense group in line at high speed. We didn't have enough time to make the soldiers reflexively uniform, so we once came up with the idea of using the rhythm of the military song to unify the pace. However, when the two armies went to war, the soldiers were so nervous that it was impossible to fight while singing.

After trial and error, we decided to adopt the Ansai waist drum as the snare drum in the army. In the large square infantry formation, a small space was vacated for five to ten drummers, and the army marched to the beat of the waist drums. Even, when attacking, they stabbed their spears neatly to the rhythm of the sound of war drums.

The Battle of Bochang was the first demonstration of this new tactic, and now it seems that the deterrent effect is obvious.

The Yellow Turban soldiers saw our army marching into the battlefield, and the singing gradually fell to a low level, and finally it was inaudible.

Rumbling, rumbling, this waist drum made the cold air immediately hot, the quiet sunlight immediately splashed, and the sleepy world immediately became excited. It reminds people: the sunset shines on the banner, and the horse is singing in the wind!

Rumbling, rumbling, the heavy sound of the ten waist drums collided on the field where the cold wind was howling in the four fields, and the field suddenly turned into a cowhide drum surface, only to hear a rumbling, rumbling, rumbling between heaven and earth.

In the five spear phalanxes, the heavy sound of one hundred and ten waist drums, the arms, legs, and whole body of the drummers fought vigorously, rapidly, and on the ground. collided with the hearts of the Yellow Turban soldiers who were full of decisive hearts, and the hearts of the Yellow Turban Army suddenly became a drum face, which was also rumbling, rumbling, rumbling......

A small drum sounded, and the drum between heaven and earth suddenly disappeared, and there was silence, and the earth mourned in silence.

The sound of thunderous horses' hooves sounded, and the thunder horse, who was wearing iron armor all over his body, had sharp thorns on his forehead, and the face of the knight was hidden under the armor, and the sharp spear poked neatly into the air, like thunder, wind and lightning, and rushed to the battlefield on the right side of the spear array. In the billowing smoke and dust, with Zhang Fei's loud shout, the iron stream suddenly stopped, as if it had been staying there for thousands of years.

The sound of the trumpet sounded again, and with the sound of small footsteps, 2,000 archers slowly walked out of the city gate, leisurely walked behind the spear array, and formed an evacuation formation. The drummers of the archers beat the light drum and walked the distance with a swagger.

Immediately, the neat drum sounded, and the 2,000 fighters trotted out of the city gate. Holding a round shield in one hand and a short blade such as a sword, sword, and tomahawk in the other, these brawlers ran directly into the archers, each of whom took care of one of the archers and assumed a protective posture.

At this moment, the sound of the waist drum sounded again, and at the gate of the city, five more spear teams came out in unison, and walked to the back of the archers to line up.

On the other side, in the sound of drums, the Yellow Turban Army watched in horror as Bochang Ximen kept spitting out groups of soldiers. On the majesty of the orders, the neatness of the queue, and the well-trained, the Yellow Turban Army, which was accustomed to fighting against the local armed forces and the local armies of the Han Dynasty, was unheard of and unseen. For the first time, the Yellow Turban soldiers' hearts were filled with thoughts of the invincibility of the other party. The neatly lined Bochang defenders, in the eyes of the Yellow Turban soldiers, have transformed into a huge iron fist, just waiting for an order, the iron fist will smash towards them, along the way, will sweep an obstacle.

The trumpet sounded again, and the wolf led by Guan Yu rode out of the city. Today, the wolf rider threw off all his burdens, did not wear his mask, dressed as a light archer, and kept making strange cries of "minions" from his mouth, and rushed to the left of the infantry formation like a whirlwind.

In the Yellow Turban Brigade, Yang Feng secretly complained in his heart: The Lord ordered me to set up a formation on the right side in front of the formation, but the right side was facing the wolf cavalry, looking at the arrogant and domineering face of the wolf cavalry opposite, once the two armies started a war, he would inevitably bear the brunt of the attack route of the wolf cavalry. Although the soldiers under Yang Feng are in the Yellow Turban, their combat effectiveness is not bad, but whether they can withstand the trampling of the wolf rider, he has no bottom in his heart.

At the gate of the city, when all the forward soldiers had left the city, I calmly asked, "Boljin, has the axe been sharpened?" ”

Boer Jin stroked the blade of the axe and replied menacingly: "City Lord, my axe is thinking about drinking blood." ”

I nodded and commanded: "Order, Zitai commands all the defenders, close the city and hold it." Ordered, Changwen (Chen Qun) went out of the city with me and served as a military counselor in the army. Boltin, ordered the combined army to go out of the city, blew the military trumpet, like Siye announced, the war began".

In order to keep up with my horses, the Combined Legion trotted closely to my left and right, with a unified "ho-ho-ho-ho" sound from their mouths.

When the drums stopped, the earth was silent, and only the wind could be heard blowing through the wasteland, whining and crying. A flock of crows croaked and flew over the military formation, as if waiting to enjoy their meal. There was not a single tree on the barren earth, and the grass bowed its head, waiting for the blood to spill.

I clapped my horse and walked in front of the spearmen, took a deep breath, and declared loudly: "In this battle, our army will win." ”

Tens of thousands of voices shouted at the same time "win, win".

When the voice subsided, I shouted loudly: "In this battle, our army is outnumbered, warriors, I look forward to your bravery, attack forward, and never head up." ”

The soldiers shouted again: "I am invincible, I am invincible." ”

"This battle is a grand battle, our army is facing an enemy ten times its own head-on, children, with a brilliant victory to declare the world: Qingzhou, invincible."

"Invincible, invincible......"

"Warriors, forward. Take care of your companion's back, give your back to your companion to take care of, attack forward, and vow not to look back. ”

The sound of the military horn sounded majestically, and Le Jin gave a loud order: "Vertical spear, stand still, drummer, prepare." ”

"Warriors, forward, I hope that every warrior who dies in battle, your body still falls to the enemy, beats the drums, and marches." I drew my saber, pointed my halberd at the Yellow Turban Brigade, and gave the order to attack.

At this moment, if you look down from a high altitude, you can see such a strange scene: the two armies are arrayed and ready to clash, one side is 100,000 people pressed by the black, and the other side, there are only more than 10,000 people, lined up in five small phalanxes. However, it was the side with fewer people who attacked first and aggressively. On the contrary, the side with more people showed a look of shrinkage.

The Battle of Bochang kicked off under such a scenario.

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