The sound of a low horn resounded through the field, the boundless army of cannibals was like a black wave, surging to the east, the spears were dense like a forest, murderous, the huge footsteps were neat and powerful, the cavalry on both wings guarded the infantry, the spearmen and Sogdian archers were at the forefront, and with an unstoppable momentum they slaughtered the Tang army ten miles away.

Ten miles away, the 20,000 Tang Army has also been completed, the formation is in a flat wilderness, it is still the Glaive Array used in the Battle of the Baishui River, and the same as the 3,000 soldiers, but it has expanded nearly ten times, forming a huge half-moon formation covering an area of two miles, the infantry and crossbowmen are concentrated in the middle, and the two sides are arc-shaped cavalry formations, although the appearance looks at each other, but the essence inside is completely different, the five thousand crossbowmen are equipped with a Zhang crossbow, this kind of crossbow needs to be matched with the feet with Zhang Xian, it is very laborious, but the range is up to two hundred and forty steps, The effective killing distance is one hundred and fifty paces, and in the middle of the five thousand crossbowmen is equipped with a bed crossbow, after repeated debugging of the good craftsmen who came to the capital, this bed crossbow is fired with a twisted string, and the nine-inch long iron arrow is placed in the steel pocket, one shot and ten arrows, the effective killing range is more than five hundred steps, a total of four hundred bed crossbows, dragged by horses, and the cavalry uses horn bows and crossbows, and the effective killing distance is sixty steps, so that it forms a far, medium and near three layers of strikes, but in front of the crossbowmen, it is a row of huge cowhide wooden sheds, placed at a 45-degree oblique angle, The cowhide is coated with a greasy grease and is specially made to defend against the blows of the trebuchets of the Great Food Army.

Li Guangbi, the commander of the Tang Army, calmly watched the Great Food Army approaching step by step from afar, his heart was full of expectations, commanding 20,000 people to fight together, this was the first time in his life, for this, he was full of gratitude to Li Qing'an, and this trust made him willing to use his life to serve him.

"General, the Great Food Army is not followed by trebuchets!" The shouts of soldiers came from the lookout.

Li Guangbi immediately waved his hand and ordered: "Take down the cow pippen!" ”

The soldiers quickly moved dozens of cowhide puffens away, at this time the big food army slowly stopped two miles away, began to line up the formation, and did not continue to move forward, the other party's caution was expected by Li Guangbi, in fact, from a few days ago, they began to compete, Li Guangbi did not besiege the city, and the big food army did not fight, their ideas were the same, they were all to strike backwards, trying to understand the details of the other party more comprehensively, this time the big food army went to war, but there was a kind of hesitation to test the surname to attack, there was no kind of fierce and decisive jadeThis subtle hesitation made Li Guangbi realize that the other party's battle was very likely to be forced, if this was the case, then he would have seventy percent chance of winning this battle, but the other party was only two miles apart, which was too close to the battlefield.

The Great Food Army did not all go into the attack, after all, this was not a small-scale conflict, this was a medium-scale battle, and it was a thorough understanding of each other before a big battle came, which doomed the caution of the two sides in the use of troops, Qi Yade stared at the bed crossbow in the Tang Army, it was the first time he saw such a weapon, his eyes were full of interest, he had guessed that this must be a powerful long-range weapon of the Tang Army.

Ziyad glanced back at the soldiers who were ready, and decisively ordered: "The first to third regiments of the First Legion, and the fifth and sixth regiments of the Second Legion are ready to attack!" ”

The first army is also a Sogdian legion, which uses the Sogdian infantry as the main force, and the two cavalry regiments of the Khorasan army as the flank cover, this is the first time to test the surname attack, the rumbling drum suddenly beats, the excited war horse snorts heavily, the spear is stabbed to the ground, the scimitar is unsheathed, the Great Food Army is launched, and the two thousand cavalry cover the three thousand Sogdian infantry, like a torrent rushing out of the broken embankment, swooping towards the Tang army.

The Tang army was still as steady as Mount Tai, motionless, only the crossbowmen slowly raised their crossbows, stretched into the air at an angle of thirty degrees, a total of five rows of crossbowmen, two steps between each row, they would launch at the opponent's one hundred and fifty paces, attacking the opponent in five rounds of firing, the shooting soldiers of the bed crossbow also raised their hammers, ready to fire with one blow, the opponent was getting closer and closer, the raised shield formed a black shield wall, and the pace of the cavalry was not fast, following the infantry, they protected the two wings of the shield wall from the left and right.

Li Guangbi's brows furrowed more and more, what did the other party only send five thousand people for? Did you want Tang Jun to eat it in pieces? Impossible, they wouldn't know the sharpness of the Tang army's bow and arrows, but let these five thousand people come to die, Li Guangbi faintly realized that the opponent's tactics would not be so simple, at this time, the enemy army had entered the range of the bed crossbow, and the Tang army's war drums were slowly beating, which was to remind the decision-makers that the time had come for the bed crossbow to be launched, Li Guangbi stared at the main force of the big food army two miles away, he gritted his teeth and said: "The bed crossbow is not allowed to shoot!" ”

The hammer of the bed crossbow was slowly lowered, and the four hundred powerful bed crossbows did not shoot, and the enemy continued to advance, already three hundred steps, at this time, the general of the Great Food who led the first wave of impact roared, "Kill!" ”

The five thousand troops suddenly accelerated, they galloped at a high speed, and rushed towards the Tang army's large array, Li Guangbi sharply ordered: "Crossbowmen prepare to shoot!" ”

Five thousand crossbowmen brushed up their crossbow arrows, and the cold arrows were aimed at the sweeping Great Food Army, and the crossbowmen kept adjusting the firing distance through the lookout mountain.

"Two hundred steps.... One hundred and fifty steps...."

"Shoot!" Li Guangbi gave the order to shoot, the first round of a thousand crossbow arrows rose into the air, and suddenly disappeared, with the whistling wind into the enemy group, the big food army slowed down, and raised their shields to meet each other, a clanging sound, mixed with the screams of someone being hit by an arrow, the arrow rain was too dense, there were still dozens of people killed by arrows, the new metal shield of the big cannibal blocked the first round of arrow rain of the Tang army, followed by the second and third rounds, the overwhelming arrow rain roared, so dense that people were breathless, The Tang army used the method of five rounds of shooting, so that the bow and arrow maintained the most intensive blow, the advance of the Great Food Army was extremely difficult, every step had to pay the price of nearly 100 people killed by arrows, and they could not fight back, although the Tang Army's arrow rain was too dense, so that they could not spare their hands, more importantly, their bows and arrows were far less sharp than the Tang Army, the range could not reach that far, in just 30 steps, the Tang Army shot fifteen rounds of arrows to the Great Food Army like a torrential rain, and the saturation blow of 15,000 arrows, the Great Food Army also paid nearly 900 casualties.

Under this great test of will and courage, the Sogdians were a little overwhelmed and began to cause chaos, and at this moment the two thousand Khorasan cavalry left behind the infantry, and they went around from behind and swooped down on the Don positions as fast as they could.

At this moment, as if the wind and clouds had changed abruptly, the main force of the Great Food Army behind was launched, the sound of horns resounded in the sky, the sound of horses' hooves rolled over the field like thunder, and the 20,000 troops rushed out, Qi Yad waved his sword, pointed to the front and shouted hoarsely: "Kill it!" ”

The bed crossbow of the Tang army was also launched at the moment when the two thousand Khorasan cavalry pounced, the iron hammer was swung down, four hundred bed crossbows were fired at the same time, and four thousand nine-inch iron arrows were shot out of the steel pocket, with a kind of force that opened gold and cracked stones, and shot strongly at the two thousand cavalry.

Although the equipment of the Khorasan cavalry was far superior to that of the Sogdians, they were dressed in tough leather armor, ordinary swords were difficult to cut through, they held spears and shields, and even their war horses were also covered in armor, they were only a hundred steps away from the Tang army's position, a hundred steps, for the strong sprinting power of the Great Food War Horse, it only took ten seconds to rush through, but this short hundred steps became the source of nightmare for the Great Food Army.

The two thousand cavalry looked so thin and fragile in front of the four thousand iron arrows, one iron arrow pierced through the shield and penetrated directly through the chest of the great eater, and the arrow with blood and minced flesh broke through the back and shot through the abdomen of another soldier, and the two thousand cavalrymen turned their horses on their backs, and the horses neighed and fell, foaming at the mouth and died.

The powerful iron arrows not only pierced through the cavalry, but also dealt the final blow to the Sogdian soldiers who were in a mess behind the cavalry, and in an instant, more than 800 people fell to the ground screaming.

"Oh my God!"

When Humed described to him the might of the Tang army's bow and arrows, he felt that Humed was more shirking responsibility, but at this moment, he saw this terrifying scene with his own eyes, more than half of the two most elite Khorasan cavalry were killed and wounded in a powerful burst of arrows from the enemy, and no one could rush through in just a hundred steps, and the last hundreds of people were also killed in the overwhelming rain of arrows of the Tang army.

After a few years, the terrifying power of the Tang army's crossbow arrows would still wake Ziyad from a nightmare, and after the war, he spared no effort to promote the Tang army's crossbow in the Great Food Army, and gradually, the powerful crossbow of the Arabs originated from this, and the crossbow became a nightmare for Western Christendom, so that Western gentlemen had to sign an agreement before going to war that they were not allowed to use the Arab crossbow.

Although the Tang Army's bed crossbow was powerful, it also had an obvious flaw, that is, it was slow to wind, and although the Tang Army invented the ox cart twisting string and used it in the First Battle of Broken Leaves, it still could not keep up with the speed swept by the wind of the Great Food Army.

The turbulent Great Eclipse cavalry has rushed to two hundred paces away, and the rain of arrows of the Tang Army's crossbowmen is also overwhelming, and people continue to fall off their horses in the gallop, but they still can't stop the rapid impact of nearly 15,000 Great Eclipse cavalry, they wield swords and swords, hold their shields high, gallop on their horses, and shout killing resounded through the heavens and the earth.

It was already sixty paces, at this time the archers fired ten thousand arrows, and the black oppressive arrow rain covered the sky, shooting into the enemy cavalry, and the casualties of the Great Food Army increased, but the Khorasan army was the elite of the Abbasid Dynasty after all, they were not afraid of arrows, and fought bravely, the cordon for the retreat of the crossbowmen of the Tang army was generally twenty steps, but the enemy cavalry was too fast, and at forty paces, the crossbowmen were ordered to retreat.

With the last round of crossbow arrows fired, the crossbowmen quickly retreated, and the bed crossbow was also dragged away by the war horse, and at this time, the Tang army had the sharpest two thousand Mo knife army against the cavalry, and the two thousand heavy armor Mo knife army were lined up in two rows, and the two-zhang long Mo knife was swung out, and the cold light was shining.

Regarding whether the Modao Army should fight in this battle, there was a dispute at the top of the Tang Army when the battle was deployed, after all, this is not a big battle that determines the outcome of the battle, it is just a battle to test the details of the two sides, and there is no need to expose the strength prematurely.

But the coach Li Qingan overrode public opinion, insisted on the Modao Army to fight, and ordered Tian Zhen to be responsible for commanding the two thousand Modao Army.

As soon as the Mo Dao Army came out of the battle, it ushered in a mountain of great food cavalry charging over, first of all, the overwhelming short spears roared and thrown, the sharp short spears could not shoot into the heavy armor of the Mo Dao Army, they were closely lined up into a human wall, with a collective strength to resist the first wave of the impact of the Great Food Army.

"Boom!" A huge wave, like a stormy wave struck, the air wave scattered, dozens of Mo knife soldiers were knocked over, but the Mo knife hand in the back row immediately made up, Mo Dao Tian Zhen roared, Xue Liang's big knife slashed down, and a cavalry commander and his horse were split in half, blood plasma burst out, internal organs rolled down, and the smell of blood and blood came to the nose.

The long knives of the Modao soldiers flew over, and the extremely sharp blades cut the soldiers and war horses to the heads, and the blood flowed like a river, and the big food army behind them threw countless short spears towards the Modao army, dense as a torrential rain, but these sharp short spears still had no effect.

Qi Yad was taken aback by the battle of the Modao Army, he didn't expect that the Tang Army also had heavy infantry in the army, all tall and mighty, the cold and shining broadsword seemed to be the natural enemy of the cavalry, seeing that his Khorasan cavalry suffered heavy casualties, he immediately ordered: "The cavalry of the first legion attacks the front, and the cavalry of the second legion attacks from the flank!" ”

The rapid sound of the horn conveyed the order of the commander, and the Mo Dao team of the Tang army was dealt with by the Sogdian cavalry, while the Khorasan cavalry faced the 8,000 cavalry of the Tang army, and the other 2,000 cavalry of the Tang army protected the back and flanks of the Mo Dao army. The Tang army had a total of 20,000 people, including 10,000 cavalry, 5,000 crossbowmen, 3,000 scout troops and jumping army, and 2,000 Modao army.

The crossbowmen were converted into garrisons after withdrawal, protecting the army's baggage and command center with bows and arrows, and continuing to fire arrows to support the cavalry and Modao troops when conditions permitted, while the scouts and jumpers scattered the flanks and perimeter to prevent enemy attacks or flanks.

At this time, the two armies launched a fierce battle on the two-mile-long front, swords struck each other, spears fought, war horses intersected, screams came and went, the general Hou Meide led a thousand cavalry to bypass the defense of the Tang army from the side, trying to sneak attack the command center of the Tang army, but they were intercepted by the Tang army's jumping army, the jumping army is also the sword and shield army, they are guarding the periphery, Hou Meide's sneak attack has no effect, and the dense arrow rain of crossbow soldiers shoots them back.

Li Guangbi was in the middle of the garrison, he carefully observed the combat characteristics of the Great Food Army, the Great Food Army is completely different from the grassland Hu soldiers, they are highly disciplined, well-trained, brave in battle, the biggest advantage is that the speed of the war horses is fast, but their equipment is not as good as the Tang Army, armor, bows and arrows, horizontal swords are the guarantee that the Tang Army can gain the upper hand.

However, the Sogdians in the Great Food Army were obviously much inferior, and their 7,000 cavalry were defeated and retreated by the 2,000 Modao Army, and they began to have a tendency to rout, and this weakness of the Sogdians would become the source of the defeat of the Great Food Army.

Qi Yad also discovered this, and he also achieved his goal, testing the combat effectiveness and combat characteristics of the Tang army, which was highly moraled, well-equipped, and as well-trained as them, and he witnessed it with his own eyes.

Seeing that the Sogdians had been cut down in half like melons and vegetables, and that the defeat was assured, he knew that there was no need to fight any further, and Ziyad immediately ordered, "Collect the troops!" ”

The horn of the collection of troops sounded, the Great Food Army retreated like a tide, the seven thousand infantry who came to support the retreat, the cavalry guarded on both sides, and began to slowly retreat to the East Cao Capital, the Tang Army chased for a while, and shot the retreat of the Great Food Army with bows and arrows, but the infantry were all holding big shields, and the effect of bows and arrows was not great, at this time, the Tang Army camp was a gong, and the Tang Army also collected its troops.

As the Great Food Army gradually moved away, the 300 female guards in the Tang Army began to get busy, quickly bandaging the wounded Tang Army, and letting the soldiers carry the wounded soldiers into the camp on stretchers, so as to carry out emergency rescue for some seriously injured soldiers of the Tang Army.

Although this battle was a battle of tentative surnames, the Great Food Army suffered heavy casualties, nearly 10,000 dead and wounded, most of them under the bow and arrow, the Tang army captured 3,000 wounded soldiers, and the Tang army also had nearly 1,000 casualties.

Two hours later, Li Qing'an's 10,000 reinforcements slowly arrived at the camp, and at this time, the strength of the Tang army reached nearly 30,000.

"The last general, Li Guangbi, see the general!"

Li Guangbi greeted Li Qing'an's horse and bowed half-kneeling.

Li Qing'an dismounted, helped him up and said with a smile: "This time, Guangbi defeated Qi Yade and avenged Gao Xianzhi with an arrow, I will definitely report to the court and give the general a heavy reward." ”

Li Guangbi was moved in his heart, and hurriedly said: "The last general did not dare to grab the merit of the commander's deployment, this battle can be won, it is the commander's good deployment of troops, it is the soldiers who sacrifice their lives and forget their deaths, and the last general's efforts are not worth mentioning." ”

Li Qing'an smiled and said: "It has always been the tradition of the Anxi Army to reward merit, if not, where would today's Li Qing'an, I have my own measure." ”

He looked at the sky again, it was already dusk, and said, "This time I will bring heavy siege weapons, rest for the night, prepare for the siege, and start the siege tomorrow." ”

As soon as he finished speaking, several scouts came speeding in the direction of Dongcao Capital, and Li Qingan saw that they were in a hurry, and couldn't help but be stunned, what happened? Several scouts rushed to Li Qing'an's side, turned over and dismounted, and reported: "Report to the general, the fire in the capital of Dongcao is soaring, and there seems to be civil unrest. ”

Li Qingan immediately turned around and ran up to the observation tower, and took the curtain to look in the direction of Dongcao City, his eyesight was excellent, and he faintly saw that there was black smoke rising in the city.

"Pass my order, 10,000 cavalry immediately rush to Dongcao City!"

The 10,000 cavalry brought by Li Qing'an rushed to Dongcao City non-stop, there was indeed civil strife in Dongcao City, Qi Yade was defeated and returned to the city, but the two thousand Dongcao soldiers who went out with him were all wiped out, and the families of the soldiers were extremely sad and made trouble, which caused the serious dissatisfaction of the Dongcao people with the destruction of their religion by the Great Eclipse, which turned into an uprising, and the Dongcao people took up arms and took to the streets, they stormed the city gates, burned the shops of the big cannibals, and killed the patrol posts on the streets.

Seeing that the situation was serious and that Tang reinforcements had arrived, Qi Yad immediately decided to evacuate Dongcao and return to Samarkand.

When Li Qing'an's army arrived in Dongcao City, Qi Yade had already evacuated for half an hour, the city gate was wide open, and tens of thousands of Dongcao people went out of the city to greet them, they greeted the Tang army with bread and water, shouted the name of the main god of Ahuramaz, and were very excited, and welcomed the Tang army into the city with great enthusiasm.

Li Qing'an rode into the second capital of the Sogdian state, and at this time, the vice king of Dongcao, Sheahu, stepped forward and knelt down and said: "The deputy king of Nudongcao, Ahu, welcomes the Tang Heavenly Soldiers into the city, and I am willing to swear allegiance to His Majesty the Tang Heavenly Khan." ”

"What about your king, Sutina? Why didn't he come to meet me? Li Qingan asked coldly.

"Returning to the general, Sutina knew that he was guilty, and he fled with the great cannibal, and took his wife and daughter with him, and the palace was empty."

Li Qingan snorted heavily, "Ran away?" It's cheaper for him. ”

He pointed his whip at Ahu and ordered: "From now on, you are the king of Dongcao, you give me to immediately stabilize the situation in the city." ”

(To be continued)