Chapter Twenty-Nine: The Siege
Watching the Jiuyuan soldiers who he had cultivated single-handedly and had been following him in the southern expedition fell one by one, Meng Tian's heart was like a knife. But he knew that this was not the time for his children to grow up.
Li Zuoche was able to equip more than 1,000 chariots and more than 10,000 flying horses in just over a month, and the most important thing is to make these flying horses and chariots like arm commands, and they are not afraid of death, which is not something ordinary people can do.
The strong crossbow fire just now, if it was an ordinary soldier, I am afraid it would have collapsed a long time ago, but Li Zuoche's flying cavalry could still resist the onslaught of more than 30,000 of his Jiuyuan soldiers with hand-to-hand combat at a critical time, and his courage was no less than that of the Jiuyuan army.
But Meng Tian was not too worried, he didn't believe that Li Zuoche could train the two armies on the left and right in the rest of the month to be as brave as these more than 10,000 flying horses, and this battle was not yet to the end in Meng Tian's opinion.
Of course, Meng Tian also knew that if he ordered to break through now, with the bravery of the Jiuyuan Army, even if he fought to the last man, he would definitely not stop, and Li Zuoche's more than 10,000 cavalry and 1,000 chariots would still not be able to stop it.
What's more, there are more than 10,000 elite Jiuyuan cavalry like poisonous snakes around one side, attacking it and saving it, so that more than 500 chariot soldiers have been forced to rush back to rescue Li Zuoche. The empty door on the right wing is wide open.
More than 500 chariots hurried and hurried, and finally rushed ahead of more than 10,000 Jiuyuan cavalry to escort around Li Zuoche, but they did not dare to move again. Li Zuoche was also shocked into a cold sweat just now, because his fear of Meng Tian made him forget about the 10,000 cavalry who had been on one side for half a day.
I almost got myself in.
"If you can't arrive at the tea time of the left and right armies, the main general will be killed!" Li Zuoche, who has always been known for his elegance, was also anxious at this time, gritting his teeth and saying murderously.
Meng Tian was not worried about the more than 10,000 cavalry cruising outside. Liu Xin, who commanded this cavalry, was single-handedly promoted by him, and he knew Liu Xin's ability better than anyone else, so from the very beginning, he completely let go of this cavalry and let Liu Xin do it.
Liu Xin really did not disappoint Meng Tian, and waited until the most powerful time to make a move. Immediately, the more than 500 chariots that were about to complete the siege of Meng Tian were transferred back and gathered together.
Liu Xin had expected that more than 500 chariots would rush to Li Zuoche's side before him, because the chariot soldiers were much closer to Li Zuoche than the more than 10,000 Jiuyuan elite cavalry.
Although encountering a chariot on the plain is very disadvantageous to the foot soldiers, but for the battle against the chariot, whether it is Meng Tian or Liu Xin or ordinary Jiuyuan foot soldiers, they have long been aware of it.
It's just that due to the impact of Li Zuoche's more than 10,000 flying horses before, the large formation of the foot soldiers was a little chaotic, and after a moment of stalemate, the Jiuyuan foot soldiers have completely stabilized the formation.
At this moment, more than 500 people on the left flank rode in chariots and became more and more unscrupulous.
Dozens of heavy chariots roared and continued to cling to the periphery of the infantry array, and the sharp "flat spears" that protruded densely on the wheels of the chariots were like carpenters' planers, scraping the outermost layer of the infantry formation.
Wherever these heavy chariots passed, hundreds of Jiuyuan infantry soldiers were disemboweled or cut into small pieces by the "flat spears", which was terrible to see and bleeding profusely.
The light cart next to the heavy vehicle swept the formation, but it kept wandering, and from time to time it quickly swept past the military array and stabbed to death a few foot soldiers who stood out.
Although this time due to lack of intelligence, and Meng Tian discarded most of the weapons and baggage, the 30,000 foot soldiers did not carry spears and other weapons that could most effectively deal with the impact of chariots, but it did not mean that the Qin army had no way to deal with these damn chariots.
The outermost Jiuyuan foot soldiers used their bodies as a cover under the robe Ze, and they all inserted the small Changge they carried into the soil, and the sharp Ge was facing the periphery, and the more than a zhang long Ge went out to make the Qin army's foot pawn phalanx look like a peacock that had lost its tail feathers at first glance.
The sharp and slender Da Ge suddenly made the chariot soldiers who had already killed a little jealous, and they did not dare to attack and harass the Qin army's array as unscrupulously as before. Begin to wander around and look for weak spots.
The Qin army's infantry used the Changge Formation to temporarily alleviate the disturbance of the chariot's step-by-step attack, and of course they would not let go of this great opportunity. One after another, powerful crossbow arrows whizzed towards the charioteers who were wandering outside the large array.
Since the more than 500 chariots on the left flank of the army were not all gathered together, but scattered along the long sideline of the left flank of the army, the Qin army's foot soldiers chose crossbow arrows to shoot freely instead of salvos.
Screaming and screaming.
In a moment, dozens of heavy chariots that had been roaming around very close to the army and were looking for opportunities, whether it was the royal soldiers on the carts or the war horses pulling the carts, they were all warmly greeted by the Qin army's strong crossbows.
Especially the war horse pulling the cart is more due to the fact that the target is obviously greeted by more crossbow arrows. With the fall of the chariot and the death of the war horse, dozens of heavy chariots and more than a dozen light chariots that were originally running happily and proudly overturned with a bang, splashing dust on the ground Li Zuoche's chariot was originally the inventory in the county treasury of Daqin County, so there were not many heavy chariots, most of them were light chariots, and the light chariots were not suitable for charging and were generally used to sweep the heavy chariots.
This accident suddenly caused the remaining 400 or so to flee the Qin army in a hurry in light chariots, no matter how fast they fled, they were not as fast as the Qin army's crossbow arrows, and dozens of chariot horses were shot dead, sawdust flew sideways, and the chariots overturned.
By the time they escaped from the range of the Qin army's strong crossbow, there were already more than three hundred chariots left.
The remaining 300 or so light chariots did not dare to approach any longer, but only dared to swim outside the range of the crossbow.
Although the losses of the chariots on the left flank were heavy but acceptable, and the dozens of heavy chariots caused at least thousands of casualties among the Jiuyuan infantry in just a few dozen breaths, and there were very few injuries, most of them were killed on the spot.
This was the most serious casualty of the 30,000 original infantry soldiers in this war, except for Li Zuoche's more than 10,000 flying cavalry and feather arrows.
The infantry on the left flank dealt with the attacking Zhao army's chariot and began to concentrate all their efforts on dealing with the Li Zuoche flying cavalry trapped in the infantry phalanx.
On the other side, Liu Xin also seized the opportunity to pack up the more than 500 chariots on the right flank.
The reason why Liu Xin saw Li Zuoche flying and cavalry raiding Meng Tian's infantry phalanx did not step forward to help, but directly chose to raid Li Zuoche's purpose was to let the more than 500 people who were preparing to surround the right wing of Meng Tian's infantry phalanx return to Li Zuoche's side in chariots and gather together.
He knew very well about the equipment of the Jiuyuan infantry that in the plains, the threat to the Jiuyuan army from these more than 1,000 fast-running chariots was much greater than that of the more than 10,000 flying cavalry, not to mention that the more than 10,000 flying cavalry had no room for movement, and it was impossible for the hand-to-hand combat to be the opponent of the Great Qin infantry at all.
This is the self-confidence of the generals and even the soldiers of the Jiuyuan Army, which has been established in countless battles of blood and fire, and is unshakable.
This is also the reason why Meng Tian began to lightly tap Li Zuoche's army with his tooth banner in this battle, and he has never given orders since then. Everyone, whether a general or a soldier, knows how to cooperate in the most suitable way.
This is the most elite army of Great Qin, which was brought out by Meng Tian.
Most of them gathered together to escort the more than 500 chariots that were wandering around Li Zuocha, and they were immediately fatally attacked by Liu Xin's 10,000 cavalry.
The reason why Liu Xin did not attack with crossbow arrows before these more than 500 chariots was because he was too far away from the battlefield, and because the chariot soldiers had moved to the right flank of Meng Tian's army's infantry phalanx, the crossbow arrows were easy to injure his own army by mistake.
Therefore, he chose to attack and save these chariots and soldiers to Li Zuoche, and at the same time he could solve the threat of Meng Tian's right flank being encircled.
More than 10,000 crossbow arrows pierced into the car formation around Li Zuoche with a sharp whistle.
People are on their backs and the car is overturned!
More than 500 chariots went down under this wave of arrows. The rest of the chariots also hurriedly fled from the range of the Qin army's crossbow machines, and there was a sudden emptiness around Li Zuoche.
The combat power and bravery of the Qin army were beyond Li Zuoche's expectations, and in the face of the sudden impact of the cavalry with foot pawns, and after the attack of the feather arrows, the formation was still unchaotic and the counterattack was extremely fierce, and his more than 10,000 flying cavalry had now completely fallen into the phalanx of the Qin army's infantry pawns, if nothing else, the more than 10,000 flying cavalry that had been built up with great difficulty would be lost in this battle.
Now the cavalry of the Qin army is moving like a rabbit, and the generals of the army are only allowed to control the fighters, which is also unexpectedly large for Li Zuoche.
"Meng Tian deserves to be a famous general in the world!" Li Zuoche was distressed by the loss of the chariot soldiers.
Just as Liu Xin was about to pounce on Li Zuoche's Chinese army to take Li Zuoche, the sound of shouting and killing came from the rear of Li Zuoche.
Li Zuoche's left and right armies of more than 100,000 foot soldiers finally caught up at this time. And it seems that the tens of thousands of foot soldiers on the left flank are going to wrap their more than 10,000 cavalry together.
At the sound of an order, the 10,000 Nine Yuan Elite Cavalry quickly moved away from the battlefield before the left flank army arrived, and continued to cruise outside the battle array, surrounding one side and distracting Li Zuoche's attention. Reduce the pressure on Meng Tian's 30,000 foot soldiers in the center of the battlefield.
Li Zuoche did not hesitate to leave when he saw the 10,000 original elite riders, and escaped from his expected encirclement, and was slightly disappointed. With these 10,000 cavalry roaming around, he really didn't dare to let his left army attack Meng Tian's right flank with all his might.
Because of the previous scene, the threat of this 10,000 cavalry in Li Zuoche's heart suddenly increased several levels.
"Order all the archers lurking in the left and right armies to the left army to guard against the sneak attack of the 10,000 cavalry of the Qin army. Blowing the horn, he ordered the left and right armies to immediately surround and kill Meng Tian's Qin army, and now he must take Meng Tianxiang's head. The prime minister personally cheered for our army! ”
"Woo woo woo" The low horn sound sounded from Li Zuoche's Zhongjun.
"Knock Knock"
After a few breaths, the trumpet sounded, and Li Zuoche personally beat the war drums, and the steady and heavy drum sound resounded throughout the battlefield.
Seeing that Lord Xiangguo personally beat the war drums, the soldiers of the left and right armies who had just arrived suddenly had a great boost in morale, and their momentum was like a rainbow. The left and right armies that caught up at the critical moment quickly moved forward and completed the encirclement of Meng Tian's army.
At the moment of the encirclement, he launched an overwhelming onslaught against Meng Tian.
The more than 10,000 Zhao army flying cavalry that originally blocked more than 30,000 original infantry soldiers had already fallen into the center of the 30,000 original infantry phalanx, and it was difficult to move, and most of the casualties had been killed and injured at this moment, and it was about to be swallowed by Meng Tian's army, as long as these flying cavalry were solved, then Li Zuoche's Chinese army was basically finished.
Coupled with the 19,000 primordial elite horses cruising outside, Meng Tian believed that Li Zuoche would be difficult to fly even if he had wings.
However, Li Zuoche's left and right armies, which suddenly arrived and launched a fierce attack on the Qin army's infantry phalanx, suddenly made the situation of Meng Tian's army take a sharp turn again.
(To be continued)