Chapter 190: The Battle of Tonghua Valley [1]

"Order the whole army to speed up! I'm going to get to Yalu Mansion by tonight anyway! The old minister ordered in high spirits, he was originally an ordinary soldier, and he became his current status by virtue of his military exploits, and the old minister can be described as high-spirited.

Of course, the main reason for this is that the old minister has just heard an important news, and there are only 3,000 Tang troops in Yalu Mansion. The rest are all Bohai troops, even if they go to the battlefield, they can't work hard, and they are even likely to give you a turnaround blow at a critical moment. Among them, there are also 1,000 hired Khitan rangers, and the old minister even considered whether to send someone to the Khitan people to lure them?

However, the old minister finally vetoed this decision, because he felt that he was too cautious. Now that 8,000 troops from the Bohai Sea are here, the Tang army will not dare to act rashly. And even if the Tang army killed 8,000 Bohai troops, there were 15,000 men and horses on his side, five times that of the Tang army, so why be afraid of the Tang army? Why bother bribing those Khitans with a lot of money for the victory at hand? I'm afraid that if the lord of the kingdom finds out, he will punish himself for wasting his money afterwards.

"Marshal! The front is Tonghua Valley! After the front, you can see the Yalu Mansion in the distance! The guide pointed to the valley ahead flatteringly.

"Oh!" The old man replied with some indifference. "Is there a possibility of an ambush?"

The guide introduced on the side: "There should be no possibility of ambush in this, Tonghua Valley is actually the meaning of the valley leading to Huaxia." There are merchants and pedestrians walking all year round, and there are no big beasts. The most important thing is that there is also water along the way! ”

"Hmm!" The old man still nodded a little dazedly.

Suddenly, there was a stir in front of me, and there was a faint sound of shouting and killing, but it was very weak, and it was not really good to hear, I don't know what was going on, but it was even more worrying. "Zong Leopard, go and see what's going on!" The old minister nervously admonished.

"Order!" Zong Bao hugged his fists and responded, he was the same as the old minister, he was killed step by step from the bottom, but he was much more virtuous than the old minister, and he refused to rely on the powerful, and as a result, he was still a general, that is, the old minister with the same experience appreciated him to keep his current position.

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"How is Jerian doing with him?" Yelu Abaoji asked coldly.

Yelu Anduan is the younger brother of Yelu Abaoji, ranked fifth, and he is also a pivotal figure in the Khitan Kingdom in history, as the vanguard of the attack on the Bohai Sea, and many times led troops south to attack the Later Tang, Later Jin and other Central Plains courts. However, the current Yelu Anduan is just because his brother became a big official in the Central Plains, and he also came to Yelu Abaoji.

"Captain Yelu has already led his troops to retreat!" The herald on one side bowed his head in response.

"Good!" A gleam flashed in Yelu Abaoji's eyes.

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"Marshal, it's the Tang Army, they are harassing in front, about three hundred horsemen, do you want to send troops to attack?" Zong Bao, who came back from riding a horse, bowed his hand to the old man and said without being arrogant or humble.

"I don't know whether to live or die! Hum! Ordered the army to press up, why not be afraid of his three hundred horsemen! The old man said in an old-fashioned manner. But he does have such capital, he has an army of 15,000 on hand, even if one person sprinkles a soak of urine, it is enough to drown these 300 cavalry.

"Zong Leopard, you bring a thousand Jurchen cavalry up! But be careful, don't go too far and fall for the enemy's tricks. After the old man was arrogant, he was very cautious after all.

"The last will be ordered!" Zong Bao also seems to know the surname of the old man, and he doesn't care about it, he just responds categorically.

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"General, the enemy is in there!" The herald's eyes couldn't help but flash a look of excitement, and after thinking about it, the herald added: "It's just a thousand cavalry, do you want to launch it?" ”

"Damn! I didn't expect this old man to be quite cautious! Yelu Abaoji frowned in distress, but Yelu Abaoji quickly waved his hand decisively and ordered: "Order the whole army to attack!" Destroy that team so you can attract the old man over! ”

"Yes!" The herald hurriedly answered.

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"Boom! Boom! Boom! A rapid war drum sounded, and Zong Leopard hurriedly raised his hand and scanned the valley on both sides in disbelief.

Suddenly, among the weeds on the slopes on both sides of the valley, hundreds of elite cavalry poured out, and at the same time, more than two hundred crossbowmen also poured out. There is no shortage of talents in the Bohai Kingdom, which has been studying Datang technology and Datang culture for a long time, and they immediately saw that this is a Datang standard horse crossbow, with a maximum range of up to 200 steps! (three hundred and seven meters) the effective firing range is about ninety steps, but do not forget that now the Tang soldiers are standing on the hillside, condescending, and the effective firing range can even reach a hundred paces.

"Shoot!" Regardless of the dynasty, from the moment the crossbow was invented, he was destined to be the nemesis of the cavalry. Accurate shooting, strong strength, and a range much farther than riding a bow, even though many of the Jurchen cavalry were familiar with mounted archery, their range was only fifty paces, and they were immediately hit mercilessly by the strong crossbow.

The crossbowmen shot a total of two rounds of arrows, but they didn't kill anyone, not that the Tang Army's strong crossbows were useless. Since ancient times, it has been said that the thief captures the king first, and the man shoots the horse first. A cavalryman without a war horse is even worse than having two broken legs. Four hundred crossbow arrows are enough to make at least two hundred horses lose the power to gallop.

At this time, there was a large army in front, about 1,000 people, with very elite equipment, and it seemed that most of them were the strong forces of the Tang Army.

"Withdraw!" Zong Bao decisively ordered.

But it was easy when you came, but it's not easy when you leave now! When Zong Leopard left the battlefield, there were only five hundred horsemen left, which was really miserable, and this was because Yelu Abaoji was afraid that the battlefield was too close to the Bohai army and did not pursue, otherwise it is difficult to say how many men and horses could be left.

"What! Zong Leopard is attacked! How many people are there in the Tang Army! The old minister was very shocked when he heard the news of Zong Bao's heavy blow, and hurriedly asked the soldiers who came to report.

"Back to the words of the marshal! Captain Zongbao was attacked by the Tang army, and it was estimated that there were 2,000 people, and there were cavalry and crossbows in ambush on the left and right slopes, which was very difficult to deal with! The soldier hurriedly replied.

The old minister groaned slightly, nodded, and the Zong Leopard was hit hard, which proved that the strength of this Tang army should not be underestimated. "Someone!"

"In! I don't know what the marshal ordered? ”

"Order the front army to increase the search range of the exploration horse! Make sure you miss the enemy's ambush! The old man commanded.

"The little one understands!" The herald replied in a loud voice.

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