On June 12, after listening to the information sent by the scouts, Zhang Madness immediately mobilized his army and faced the Xianbei cavalry head-on.

Because the Xianbei people have one person and two horses, the whole camp is quite scattered. The scouts observed that the opposing cavalry numbered about 10,000 people. In the face of this army of 10,000 people, Zhang Arrogant dispatched the cavalry team, the guerrilla team, Xie Xun's thousand-man team, and the Yu Ban thousand-person team to fight.

As for the famous heavy armor team in the rumors of the Huns, they were left in Meiji County to suppress the battle. Of course, in order to avoid the waste of combat power, Dian Wei, the "10,000 enemies", temporarily joined the pro-guard team and followed Zhang Qiang's side.

In this way, without Dian Wei, the "thorn", the commander-in-chief who is responsible for staying in Meiji, the military division Cheng Yu, commands the lifting armor team, which can be regarded as handy.

In addition to the main force of nearly 3,000, there were also 2,000 auxiliaries and 2,000 strong men who followed Zhang Qiang into battle. But don't underestimate them just because they are called "auxiliaries". The arrogance of later generations, in recent years, has invested far more resources in military training than the average level of the current generation.

In the Taixing army, Yu Ban, who is the best at commanding troops, evaluates the combat effectiveness of these auxiliary soldiers that they have reached the level of the general county soldiers of the Han Dynasty.

Even those people from the Taihang Mountains can be used as reserves to go to the front line when necessary. These people, who have gone through thousands of miles of training, are no worse than ordinary soldiers of Dahan County in terms of discipline alone.

Zhang Qiang had already planned in his heart, if the war went smoothly and he successfully gained a foothold on the border of the West River, he would organize these 3,000 people from Taihang Mountain into auxiliary troops for the defense of the Tuntian area.

On the surface, Zhang Qi used a total strength of only 7,000 people to meet the Xianbei cavalry, which numbered about 10,000 people, and was obviously inferior in numbers. However, don't forget that according to the record of the Han army against the Hu people, it has always been "one Han and five Hu".

Even among the Xianbei people, the standing army of the royal court, which contains 1,000 people, is stronger in combat than ordinary Hulu, and it is also certain that the arrogance can defeat the enemy with less than 3,000 soldiers under his command!

The Taimarching army took the initiative and made a decisive move, which greatly surprised Helian. He originally sent troops in the summer when the war horses were not fat, just to catch the Han people by surprise. However, it is good for now, the enemy is obviously in full battle, and he is still fiercely rushing in front of him!

For a while, the problem of fighting with Lian or not fighting was a splitting headache.

The current Xianbei Alliance, although on the surface, is still dominated by the royal court of Danhan Mountain. However, neither the eastern Xianbei nor the western Xianbei should take the order from Danhan Mountain as the same thing. Even in the central Xianbei, which is quite reliable at present, seeing the development of the situation, there are many "adults" who secretly begin to plan for themselves.

The only thing that is gratifying is that within the Eastern Xianbei and the Western Xianbei, the relationship between the various "adults" is not very good. If it weren't for the intrigue and contradictions between these "adults", I am afraid that there would have been powerful tribes who would have taken the initiative to raise the banner of rebellion against Danhan Mountain.

It is not too difficult to convince these Xianbei "adults" who are about to move. After all, the fame of the former king was erected there. occupies the name of righteousness, and the advantages of Helian are not too much. In general, there is only one flaw under the eyes of Helian. However, this flaw is a fatal flaw for a nomadic chief.

Exploits!

It's a feat!

What Helian lacks is the combat exploits that can be done!

It is not that Helian has not led troops to fight. It's just that his performance on several expeditions is very mediocre. Many tribal leaders who had been commanded under Helian felt that if they were to command the army by themselves, their performance would be much better than that of Helian.

With this understanding, some tribes far away from Danhan Mountain's awe of the royal court began to slowly fade. In addition, after He Lian came to power, he showed negative personalities such as greed for money, lust, and cronyism, and the Xianbei "adults" who had opinions about He Lian became more and more day by day.

To be honest, on the grassland, greed for money, lust, cronyism, and even cruelty are not a big deal. The barbarians on the grassland have always been "afraid of power but not virtuous". However, if you add "poor command and lack of martial honors", it constitutes a reason that is enough to make other grassland powerhouses turn their backs on this person's leadership.

In addition to taking advantage of the fire to rob and make some children's wealth, the most important purpose of Helian's expedition this time is to fight a "big" victory. After all, even with the defeat of the "Sunset Plain", the deterrent power of the Han army on the grassland is still extremely strong.

If Helian, as the king of Xianbei, can successfully achieve a reasonable "big victory" in front of the Han army, then Helian's prestige will surely soar in geometric progression. And other Xianbei "adults", will they dare to disobey the orders of King Helian?

However, with the rapid response of the Tai Xing Army, He Lian found that his careful planning since January had now come to naught!

If you don't want these reliable forces under your command to suffer big losses, Helian will have to accept the result of returning empty-handed and running for nothing.

Then, the results of this expedition will become a new topic of discussion among other Xianbei nobles. And Helian's prestige within the Xianbei clan will further decline. At that time, Helian will really become "stealing chickens and rice".

However, if he really wanted to fight with the Han army, Helian did not have the confidence to win. After all, the great martial arts left by the Han army on the grassland in the past hundred years have made Helian tremble. And the results of his previous battles with the Han army also confirmed how strong the Han army's combat power was.

In this way, He Lian hesitated all night between fighting and retreating, but still did not make a judgment. And on the battlefield, the lack of decision is a more serious consequence than a mistake in decision!

With the behavior of the Han army out of the camp early in the morning, the troubles of Helian finally disappeared. Now, the Xianbei people, who were forced to a distance of five miles by the Han army, no longer have the right to choose.

In such a close position, if the Xianbei people retreated, they would inevitably encounter a large number of Han cavalry, and they would not hesitate to pursue mercilessly. Once this kind of thing happens, the Xianbei people will inevitably usher in a big defeat!

- Let's fight!

Kazuen, who had been known for his intelligence since childhood, stopped thinking uselessly and began to mobilize troops and horses.

To tell the truth, before the Tai marching army approached, the troop dispatch of the company could be said to be decent, and there was nothing obvious wrong. However, several veteran military commanders who accepted the order were slandered by Helian.

-- At this time, what kind of fighting? Hurry up and send a cavalry as a rearguard, so that the rest of the troops can retreat quickly!

The superiority of the steppe cavalry has never been a battle after battle. Their greatest advantage is that they can rely on their own mobility advantage to fight a battle led by their own side at the time and on the battlefield they choose.

If it is clear that your side is in a disadvantageous position, the best countermeasure for all steppe cavalry is not to fight, but to retreat.

In the hearts of the herdsmen of the steppe tribes, it is definitely not a big shame to run away. At most, you will have a chance to retaliate back later.

"King, this is the Han people, I have read too many books!"

After receiving the order, he was asked by Helian to take the initiative to attack, and a Xianbei handsome who delayed the enemy from the front complained to his cronies in private. Although this order does not require Xiao Shuai to lead his troops to fight hard with the Han army. However, Xiao Shuai, who was extremely afraid of the crossbow arrows of the Han army, was ready to lose one-tenth of his troops.

Due to the inconvenience of ancient traffic information exchange, the stirrups that have been equipped by many Qiang people in the Liangzhou area are not known to few people in the Xianbei tribes in the north. Without the stability of horseback provided by stirrups, the cavalry's melee combat ability would have to drop by at least fifty percent.

As for the riding and archery that is highly respected by some "brick families" and "beasts" in the future, it should actually be separated from the middle and described as "riding" and "shooting". Whether it is horseback riding or archery, it is what the Xianbei people are very good at. However, being able to shoot arrows while riding a horse is not something that ordinary Xianbei people can do.

In addition, the steppe people who can do it are even rarer, even more advanced than archery on horseback, that is, the skill of archery while riding a horse. Even under Helian, who has gathered many masters of mounted archery, there are only less than 1,000 knights with this advanced skill.

Moreover, in the process of shooting, both the strength and accuracy of the arrows shot can only be described by the word "bad". Since ancient times, the use of this method on the battlefield has been basically limited to small-scale elite scout chases, and has rarely been used on frontal battlefields.

Under Xiao Shuai's subordinates, those Xianbei people who can shoot are mostly elites in the army, and they are big and small. Xianbei Xiaoshuai, who knew the strength of the Han army's bow and crossbow, did not plan to exchange the dozens of baby bumps in his hand with the Han army's crossbowmen.

Finally, there is a more critical thing, so that Xianbei Xiaoshuai has no consideration of launching a rush at all. That is:

The state of the war horse.