Even the most sophisticated weapons have their weaknesses, such as trebuchets, which can only reach far away, not close. Moreover, the operation of the trebuchet is very laborious, requiring twenty hard-armed soldiers to work together, and another ten soldiers must be responsible for carrying the stone projectiles. At this time, if the enemy rushes in front of them, it will be difficult for them to resist.

The commander chose to rush in the direction where the stone projectile was thrown, but he hit it right and chose the soft underbelly of the trebuchet. However, the Xianbei military camp was already covered with Zama nails, and a team of 1,000 people under his command fell to the ground as soon as they rushed out of the barracks.

However, although the Zama nail is a sharp weapon against cavalry, it also has its weaknesses. In order to ensure the effect, the horse nails are made very sharp, once the horse's hooves are pierced, they are often pierced deeply, and no matter how good the horse is, it will be completely wasted. But because of this, after the horse is nailed to the horse, it will often be nailed to the horse and will not fall off. When the horse suffers, it will roll on the ground, and this roll will tie more nails, and many of the nails on the ground will be removed at the same time.

Therefore, although the thousand-strong squad that rushed out of the camp fell to the ground one after another, rolling and howling miserably, it also played the role of "stepping into a mine", and the threat of the Zama nail in the south of the Xianbei military camp was basically lifted. The commander rushed with the remaining six or seven thousand men on the bodies of his companions.

Most of the Xianbei cavalry in the thousand-strong team of "landmines" were only injured by horse nails, and a few of them fell off their horses and broke their bones and tendons, but they were not fatal, and they were struggling on the ground, and suddenly they were trampled on their bodies one after another by the thick hooves of the horses, and in the blink of an eye, they became a mess of flesh.

Because the formation was too chaotic and hasty just now, the six or seven thousand Xianbei cavalry who rushed through the "mine array" did not have time to bring all their equipment, so some of them brandished horsewhips, some brandished scimitars, and even some only brandished a bow, but there was no quiver at their waists. But you can't underestimate these Xianbei cavalry, they have grown up on horseback since childhood, as long as there is the best companion of the war horse, even if it is just a small horse whip, it can still become a sharp weapon for them to kill.

Zhang Liao put down the clairvoyant mirror in his hand, waved his hand behind him, and in the trench that was quiet just now, countless soldiers suddenly rushed out. This is Zhang Liao's team that has been ambushed in the trench for a long time, and it is all infantry.

In fact, the best way is to use cavalry against cavalry. However, Zhang Liao's purpose in today's two battles was not only to eliminate the living force of the Xianbei people, but he also had a more important purpose, that is, to boost the confidence of the people in Daling and Qixian. If they can't restore their confidence, without their support, it will be very difficult to hold these cities by relying on the Han army's own strength.

In the battle to eliminate Murong Xiong just now, Zhang Liao had arranged for the representatives of the people in these two counties to observe from a distance with a clairvoyant mirror. Now the delegates were again placed at trebuchets, waiting to see a miracle of infantry victory over cavalry.

The Han infantry rushing out of the trench quickly lined up on the north side of the "willow forest". It was an infantry force of five thousand men, consisting of shieldmen, pikemen, axemen, and crossbowmen. Standing at the front are the shieldbearers, huge shields that stand on the ground and form a moving wall. Behind the shield-bearer was the spearman, a spear eight feet long, with steel as the point and ash as the shaft. The spear stretched all the way to the front of the shield, like a giant hedgehog. Behind the pikemen is the axeman. The knife and axe are not held in the hand, but a long knife and a broad axe. These long knives and axes were developed by the research institute based on those weapons of the Great Qin Empire, and they were very suitable for chopping horses' hooves. At the end of the line is the crossbowman, the archer is in front, the crossbowman is behind, and the strong bow and crossbow are the sharp weapons to restrain the cavalry.

With 5,000 infantry against 6,700 cavalry, Zhang Liao is still a bit risky, but if he can boost the confidence of the people through this battle, and then rely on this city, I believe that this place will become a lingering nightmare for the Xianbei people in their lives.

Zhang Liao jumped on his horse and walked to the other side of the "willow forest", where three thousand cavalry were in ambush. He did not intend to personally command this battle, but handed it over to Han Yong. Han Yong held the clairvoyant mirror, observed the movement of the Xianbei cavalry on the opposite side, and began to count: "Seven hundred steps, six hundred steps, five hundred steps......"

Judging distance is a compulsory course for becoming a junior officer, and with the assistance of the clairvoyant mirror, Han Yong's judgment on the speed and distance of the Xianbei cavalry is inseparable.

The Xianbei cavalry did live up to their reputation, they came quickly, almost in the blink of an eye, they approached from three miles away, and they were only five hundred paces away from the Han army's infantry formation. When Han Yong reported for the "Five Hundred Steps", the crossbowmen at the end of the line began to launch.

The effective range of the crossbow used by the Han army is more than 400 steps, when the soldiers pull the crossbow machine, the Xianbei cavalry is still continuing to rush forward, just into the range of the Han army, hundreds of cavalry who rushed to the front have fallen off their horses, and some of the war horses that have lost their owners are still running forward along the brigade.

After the first wave of iron arrows of the crossbowmen was fired, the second and third waves were soon fired. As the Xianbei cavalry rushed quickly and the distance was getting closer and closer, the damage caused by the crossbow arrows to the Xianbei cavalry also increased greatly. Compared with the bow, the crossbow has much greater power, range and accuracy, but there is a disadvantage, that is, it is more time-consuming to pull the string and put on the iron arrow, and usually when a bow shoots three to five arrows, the crossbow can only be shot once. However, this crossbowman of the Han army fired three waves of iron arrows in succession.

This is not because the crossbows of the Han army have improved much in terms of reloading, but because they have added a safety device to the crossbow. The Han army was not short of money, there were many bows and crossbows in the army, Zhang Liao equipped each crossbowman with three crossbows, and each crossbow was installed with iron arrows in advance and the insurance was closed. After the first crossbow is fired, the crossbowmen immediately change to the second crossbow and open the safety to fire immediately. Theoretically, continuous firing is guaranteed as long as a sufficient number of crossbows are carried. In the absence of a repeater, this is the best way to increase the interval between crossbow shots, and although it is a little stupid, it is absolutely effective. However, they did not face many Xianbei cavalry, and Zhang Liao did not equip them with more crossbows.

By the end of the three salvos of the crossbowmen, the Xianbei cavalry had already rushed to within two hundred paces and entered the best range of the archers. And the Xianbei people on the horse also began to take off their bows and arrows, and were ready to ride and shoot. It's just that most of the Xianbei people came out in too much hurry and didn't carry bows and arrows, and such distances were far beyond their range.

At this time, the Han archers began to shoot. These archers are highly trained, and it may not be possible for them to shoot five arrows in a row, but it is not a problem for them to shoot two or three arrows in quick succession.

After three rounds of rapid fire from the archers, the crossbowmen behind finally loaded a batch of Iron Determination, and another volley came. Seven rounds of dense arrow rain caused huge casualties to the Xianbei cavalry. However, the superb horsemanship of the Xianbei cavalry was manifested at this time, and although they were not equipped with stirrups, many of them skillfully used the horse's body as cover, and even hid under the horse's belly.

When they were only a hundred paces away from the Han infantry formation, the Xianbei cavalry was visibly excited, even though they had less than 3,000 men left. Some Xianbei cavalrymen armed with bows and arrows returned to their horses from the side of their horses or under their bellies, and began to use their cavalry bows to counterattack the Han army.

It's just that the counterattack of the Xianbei cavalry was a little messy, and most of the feather arrows shot were also blocked by the shield at the front, and occasionally a few arrows fell over the shield and fell into the infantry formation behind, and it was difficult to shoot through the new armor equipped by the Han army. The lethality of the Han army is almost negligible.

The Xianbei cavalry, who began to demonstrate their riding and archery skills, immediately became the target of the Han archers, and most of them were shot into hedgehogs by dozens of feathered arrows before they could shoot a single arrow. Because in the entire Xianbei cavalry team, only they are still "erected" on horseback, and the goal is too obvious.

On the contrary, those Xianbei riders who did not have time to take their bows and arrows were now waiting for the infantry formation to attack the Han army, but they took the opportunity to escape the catastrophe.

Without bows and arrows in hand, the Xianbei cavalry did not need to slow down the impact of their horses, the cavalry group ran faster and faster, and the distance from the Han army's large array was getting closer and closer, already within fifty steps, and they could see each other's expressions clearly.

Suddenly, the Xianbei cavalry shouted in unison, and the speed of the war horses reached the limit in an instant, and they crashed into the infantry formation of the Han army. The shieldman's whole body pressed up, and he resisted the tremendous force of the impact, and some of the young soldiers oozed blood from the corners of their mouths, as if they had suffered considerable internal injuries. The spearmen lined up behind them, their spears kept stabbing out, withdrawing, and stabbing again, and all they heard was the sound of "plopping", all of which were sharp knives into the flesh, and they did not know whether they were stabbing men or horses.

The axemen, who were behind the pikemen, also came into action, and they rushed forward, helping the shield-bearers to withstand the onslaught as they slashed at the legs of the enemy's horses with their long knives. The speed of the war horse galloping was too fast, and the knife and axe hands hardly needed to use too much force, they only needed to point the blade outward, and the war horse collided with it, and the horse's leg was immediately broken.

Wave after wave of Xianbei cavalry crashed into the Han army's infantry formation, like moths to a fire. Soon, in front of the Han army's military formation, there were piles of corpses of people and horses, and some war horses with severed legs were rolling and struggling on the ground, and the air was filled with a disgusting smell of blood.

Zhang Liao breathed a sigh of relief, he waved his hand, and asked the cavalry to retreat to rest, and the back hand that had been prepared was no longer needed. Then, Zhang Liao asked the representatives of the people in Daling and Qixian to come over, personally led them to the front of the battle, pointed to the dead bodies everywhere, and said loudly: "Everyone has seen that the Xianbei people are not three-headed and six-armed, they are also flesh and blood, and under the sword and arrow, they are also killed, there is nothing to fear!" ”