Wars are always like this, and their outbreaks are always unexpected. The early contact with the Yuan army greatly surprised Deng She.

Just when Deng She was still ten miles away from Dongmu Mountain, the Yuan army divided a group of men and horses to intercept it, the number was not large, about four or five thousand people, but all of them were cavalry.

"The surrounding terrain is open, which is suitable for cavalry. General, the meaning of the Tartars is obvious, to block the advance of our army with a small number of elites, and then increase the intensity of the main force to attack Dongmu Mountain. Our army must be routed by the enemy as soon as possible, otherwise, once Dongmu Mountain falls and the main Tartar forces are freed up, our army will fall into a two-front battle and fall into the enemy's encirclement. ”

It was Xu Ren who spoke, and he had been following him since Guan Duo started his army. In the past few years, he has made many achievements, from a small soldier to today's ten thousand households, and his combat experience is very sophisticated.

Dunshe sat on his horse, standing on his legs, looking ahead. From the fifth more rapid march to the present, the physical strength of the soldiers is very high, and they are in a hurry to respond to the battle, and they are definitely not the opponents of the elite cavalry of the Yuan army. He asked, "Yang Wanhu, how long can it last?" ”

"General Yang's headquarters only has a thousand people, and they are all foot soldiers. In the end, if you hold on for two quarters of an hour at most, it will be remarkable. Relying on his own experience, Xu Ren replied that he was ordered by the priest that he must obey Deng She's orders without affecting the overall situation and benefiting the war, and forced himself to press down the anxiety in his heart, and he said to Deng She eagerly, "Our army has just arrived, and the camp has not yet been completed. The last general is only able to watch from a high level, and the attacking Tartar cavalry can be called elite, and it is by no means comparable to ordinary Tanma. General, please make a quick decision. ”

The drums of war are like thunder, endlessly. At the foot of Dongmu Mountain in the distance, the sound of cannons shook the sky; A few miles ago, the sound of Yang Wanhu's desperate fight was faintly in his ears.

Deng She was calm, he looked at it for a moment, and said: "Order: The sentinel will be released for ten miles, focusing on patrolling the left and right flanks and the rear of our army. ”

"Left and right?"

"Yang Wanhu's department came earlier than our army, and his army was small and the Tartars did not stop him; As soon as our army arrived, our army was numerous and the Tartars launched an offensive. The Tartars have clearly planned for a long time, and the idea of fighting is to encircle the point to send reinforcements, so they need to be cautious and cautious. "Yes, sending horses as the first priority.

Someone took the order to go.

"What's next?"

"Order: Pass on Yang Wanhu and insist on it for an hour, and he will be given miraculous feats; Three quarters of an hour, great work; two quarters of an hour, reactive; In less than two quarters of an hour, I'll see you on my head. Deng She turned his head to look left, "Where is the prison array?" ”

An Angzang Han leaped out: "The end will be." ”

"Lead hundreds of people forward, supervise Yang Wanhu, and those who dare to take a step back, cut!" Brave the forward, reward! "The means of fighting the enemy and motivating the soldiers to use their lives are ever-changing, and they are nothing more than the word reward and punishment. It is better to let the soldiers fear themselves than to let the soldiers fear the enemy.

The warden took the order and left.

"Order: Forward our department, camp in the chariots, fire gunners, crossbowmen, and shield bearers in the front, and be the second line of defense." Deng She's department, most of the foot soldiers, and the cavalry only had a thousand people brought by Xu Ren and Li Jing. There is no good way for foot soldiers to fight against cavalry, just rely on strong and long weapons.

"With a three-fold formation, the pikemen and axe men are second, and the short soldiers are behind." Deng She called over to Fang Buzhen and said, "Pack up the money in the army, pay for the prison formation, open the box, put it behind our army's formation, and reward those who have merit in killing the enemy and not retreating!" ”

He dispatched properly, and the orders were passed down one by one, Xu Ren and Li Jing asked themselves, if they changed themselves, they couldn't do better, so they were speechless, and they went to mobilize the troops and set up camps.

On the way to advance the army early, Deng She guarded against a surprise attack by the Yuan army and made preparations. First of all, the marching order of each branch of the army is according to the three-fold array; Secondly, the heavy vehicles of the army are all on the wings and in the forward. Everything is foreseen, and now it is very convenient and fast to arrange.

The front team is stationed, and the heavy vehicles are advanced; The endless stream of soldiers, the veterans acted as if nothing had happened, and the new soldiers were hesitant, and under the suppression and reprimand of the officers, they were quite orderly.

The dragon banner representing the rook, the dog flag representing the bow and crossbow, and the feather flag of the shield move forward slowly and non-stop; followed by a banner representing spears and axes; Each flag represents the assembly point of the different arms. In the flow of people arranged by the soldiers, Deng She rode up to the high ground and watched the terrain on the left and right.

The afternoon sun is very hot; Directly in front were the cavalry of the Yuan army in light armor and light armor; Behind him are endless red flags and red robes. The smoke and dust trampled by people and horses choked into his nose all over the day, and Deng She couldn't help coughing a few times.

Far to the left there was a river, and the sun had turned it into a dazzling white ribbon; Dongmu Mountain, ten miles away on the right, is towering. Between the river and the mountains, there is a rough open area, with a little grass on the riverside, and then to the left, a few bushes, and occasionally a little hilly, interspersed with a few dilapidated farmhouses, which were originally the location of fields, but have long since become abandoned wilderness.

"Bring the flag." Deng She stretched out his hand and asked Bi Qianniu to come over and embroider the flag of the flying birds. According to Guan Duo's military system, the flying bird flag represents the cavalry.

Bi Qianniu sent it with both hands. The flagpole was held in Deng She's hand. When the brave wins on the narrow road, he raised the flag and called Li Jing, and the two galloped down, and he shouted: "The warriors of the Great Song Dynasty!" ”

The cavalry gathered at the flag, Deng She galloped in front of their formation, mustered up all his strength, raised his voice and shouted, he said: "I am a big Song Dynasty iron horseman, galloping Huaishang, roaring two rivers, galloping North China, going to the outside of the Saiwai, more than 100 battles, how can I have a defeat?" Where I fly the bird flag everywhere, the Tartars are invincible!

"The Holy Son of Heaven helps each other, I am Song Tianwei, and my name moves Jiangnan. From the chieftain to the women and children, who doesn't know? You are all invincible warriors. And there was a defeat in Fengzhou, and the pain is still so far! A manly man, how can he encounter shame but do not want to take revenge?

"Today, although there are many Tartars, they are all different, and they cannot give in in victory, and they cannot save each other in defeat. How can their courage compare with ours? This is a chance for a Zhengda husband to take revenge and make a contribution! Do you want revenge today? ”

The army shouted, "Drink! ”

"Do you want to use their blood to wash away our shame?"

"Drink!"

"Do you want to use our blood to reflect our glory?"

"Drink!"

"Ten months ago, who burned their Shangdu?"

"We!"

"Today, who will give blood for blood and tooth for tooth?"

"We!"

"Draw your swords! Raise your swords! Stir your horses! Follow me, the direction in which the flag is raised, so that our horses' hooves will never stop! ”

The eyes of the army were about to split, and the sound of drawing swords and swords resounded in front of the battle.

Deng She shouted: "Destroy this morning food, drink spirits together!" ”

Li Jing chased after him, raised his sword and shouted: "Destroy this dynasty and drink spirits together!" ”

The hooves of the horses of the army urged, and they raised their swords and shouted: "Destroy this dynasty and drink spirits together!" ”

Thousands of iron horsemen, following behind the Flying Bird Banner and Deng Shuai's Shuai Banner, rolling like a dragon, murderous and awe-inspiring, angry in the sky, bypassing the foot soldiers in the formation, interspersed with the left flank of the position. The division is left second, and there is no blame. The purpose of Deng She's move was to compete with the Yuan army for the advantage of the left flank.

The cavalry, which was like a rainbow, swept by. Deng She's heroic posture of raising the flag and galloping made all the soldiers gallop. Among them, there is Fang Mihan.

Deng She came to Liaoyang, and at the request of Hong Jixun, Wen Huaguo, Chen Hu and others, he brought 1,000 Han soldiers, and Fang Mihan was one of them. In the bloody battle of Pyongyang, he cut off two people's heads and was promoted to the rank of ten commanders, which was one step closer to his ambition to eat meat every day.

He was a pikeman, and he was ordered to move to the front. It wasn't until Dun She was far away that he withdrew his gaze. In front of him, the car formation was roughly set up. Behind the rook are the shieldmen, after the shieldmen are the musketeers and crossbowmen, and then the pikemen.

Most of his nine subordinates had experienced battles, and three had killed people. Accustomed to killing, they firmly believed in Dunshe's invincible exploits, so although they faced an unexpected encounter, they were not very nervous.

However, there is one problem that they have to worry about. One of them asked Fang Mihan, "Boss, can you trust them?" As he spoke, he pouted to the left, and the one in charge of defending the line there was the red scarf brought by Xu Ren.

Although Fang Mihan is young, he has killed many people, and he has his own fierceness, he casually glanced to the left, and said: "It's not that we have won more with less, and we can win without them." ”

"How much silver is the reward for cutting off a man's head?"

Someone scoffed: "Just like your skinny monkey, you still expect a reward?" Do you have a life? ”

Accustomed to life and death, they are not taboo about such words, and if they win, they have money, and they are happy; Died in battle, just a rotten life, life in troubled times is not worth much, it is already earned to live until now, and it is not a pity.

The thin monkey snorted and said, "Lao Tzu beat Dingzhou, one person cut off ten heads, and looked down on people? ”

He was clearly bragging, and the man who spoke earlier said: "Ten heads? The generals have clear rewards and punishments, why didn't you be promoted to be a centurion? Chopped? Look, you're choosing! Don't say that your lord didn't remind you, you have to cut off your head. Be careful that the general hears and loses your eating guy. ”

"Iron Bull, you!"

The iron bull looked left and right, sighed, and said, "It's a pity that there are no trees." ”

Someone made fun of it and said, "What? ”

"Monkeys climb trees,...... Eh, there are bananas here, can you eat them? The iron bull lifted his trousers, covered his crotch, and asked solemnly; Without waiting for the thin monkey to answer, he sang the ballad he usually made up to tease him, "Bow your head and eat a big banana, lalala." ”

The thin monkey was so angry that he wanted to jump over and beat him, but Fang Mihan kept smiling and listening to their bickering, and then reached out and grabbed him: "Don't move!" Don't you really want to live? The formation has been decided, do you still dare to mess around? ”

The centurion, who was on patrol, happened to walk past their formation, gave him a cold look, ignored it, and continued to walk forward. The thin monkey let out a big sigh and said, "Buddha bless, I hope I won't be seen by the cold-faced ghost." ”

The sound of the battle ahead was getting louder and closer. Fang Mihan raised his feet, put his hands on the pergola, and looked into the distance. Yang Wanhu's troops seemed to be unable to resist, the sharp banner of the Tartars, deep into the formation, the horse's hooves shook the ground and trembled slightly, and from time to time there were screams, and blood and flesh flew blurry. Fang Mihan shouted: "Good! And cut down another Tartar cavalryman. ”

The iron bull praised: "General Yang is really worthy of being a tiger in our army,...... Skinny Monkey, how long has General Yang been blocking? ”

"We're almost ready, there's not an hour, and there's always three quarters of an hour, right?"

"That's at least a big achievement, after this battle, let alone a higher level." Tie Niu is not very clear about the specific rewards and punishments, and takes it for granted speculation. The skinny monkey didn't know either, but that didn't delay the bar.

Fang Mihan looked at it for a while and said, "Don't make any noise, the Tartar is getting deeper and deeper, let's turn quickly." He paused, looked over the faces of his brothers one by one, and said, "Skinny monkey, after all, you must be careful. Don't forget, your mother is still in the Twin Cities, waiting for you to raise it. …… Iron Bull, your merit is almost up, and if you cut off a person's head, you will also be a ten-captain; If it goes on like this, it won't take a few years for you to have enough money to go back to Hebei to find your brother. ”

Fang Mihan is still very discerning, he has never read a book, and he knows that he loves soldiers like sons, only in this way will the brothers give you their lives. He reminded everyone one by one, everyone was silent for a moment, Tie Niu's family originally had ten acres of land, and later by the holy decree, the local officials gave it to a lama temple, and then became a homeless person, wandered to Hebei, encountered a rebellion, both parents died, and brothers were separated.

He gritted his teeth and said, "Dog Tartar on dog days, killing one is enough, and cutting two is profitable." ”

There was a sudden burst of shouts of killing in the left front, and everyone hurried to look and see that it was the Tartars who had divided an army to block Dunshe. I saw that Deng She's handsome flag stopped and didn't stop, moving forward, in an instant, dozens of meters deep into the Tartar array, the handsome flag and the bird flag were like entering a no-man's land, and for a time the Tartar people turned over on their backs.

Fang Mihan cheered and said, "The general is brave!" ”

On the right, there was a rapid sound of horses' hooves, and everyone turned their heads to look, and saw that it was Xu Ren, leading a hundred and ten personal soldiers, galloping close to the horse, bringing up dust and smoke all the way. Deng She went to break through and temporarily gave him and Yang Wanhu the power to command the foot soldiers.

"General Yang wants to withdraw, and the whole army has it: array! Array! ”

In the spear phalanx, there is a certain distance between the front and back, the left and right. According to common sense, "every pawn lives in a place, and the width and vertical are two steps each", which is about three meters. But in the face of superior cavalry, this formation can be flexibly changed, the spacing can be shortened, and it can be changed to a denser gun forest.

"Don't panic, don't panic."

Several familiar flags swayed and retreated from the front of the formation, passing through the right side.

"Okay, General Yang retreated smoothly and went around the camp and went back."

The sound of the horses' hooves of the Yuan army is near, closer.

"Steady, steady, there are chariot arrays, shields, firearms, bows and crossbows in front of you, and the Tartars will not die a thousand people, and they will not be able to pass!"

Fang Mihan, like the other ten commanders, softly pacified his subordinates, while watching Xu Ren drive his horse to the front: "General Xu is moving forward, the chariot formation is resisting!" ”

A few commanders either rushed forward with Xu Ren, or stayed where they were, watching the battle. They commanded a few words, and the drums of war beat loudly, and the hearts of the people beat faster, and the centurions heard the drums and moved, and their voices were hoarse: "Spears! Zhige! ”

Fang Mihan, Iron Bull, Thin Monkey, etc., tightened their mouths, their guns were propped on the ground, and the cats were bent on their waists, almost at the same time as the order was handed down, ready for engagement. The horse's hooves rolled, the troops looked back, and Yang Wanhu, who had just retreated from the formation, was bare-chested, holding a big axe, rolled dozens of soldiers, and killed back in front of the formation again.

He shouted angrily: "Where is the general? ”

Dozens of soldiers echoed: "In front of the left formation, break into the Tartar formation for 100 meters." ”

Yang Wanhu shouted again: "Everyone, where is the general?" ”

Deng She was in front of the blood, and he personally took risks; Fang Mihan rushed forward with enthusiasm, and all the troops responded in unison: "In front of the left formation, break into the Tartar formation for 100 meters!" ”

The first wave of Yuan cavalry rushed to the front of the car formation. Hand-to-hand combat is coming.

——

1. Flag.

That is, a flag with multicolored feathers tied at the end of the pole.

2, the division is left, no blame.

If it is located on the left or stationed on the left, it is safe. By extension: retreat to defend and avoid the edge for the time being.

In ancient warfare, soldiers usually held a shield in their left hand and a blade in their right hand, so when they were fighting against the enemy, especially when they met on a narrow road, they should of course be close to the slope or cliff on the left side, forcing the enemy to be on their right side, so that they could block with their left hand, and at the same time kill with a weapon with their right hand.

In the process of derivation and development, it has become the principle of residence, camping and etiquette, such as "the gentleman is noble on the left, and the soldier is on the right", "auspicious things are still left, and evil things are still right".

3. Where a pawn lives alone, two steps in each direction.

Taibai Yin Sutra: "The pawn is accommodated between the pawns, and there are two steps apart." "General Essentials of the Martial Arts": "Where a pawn lives alone, there are two steps in each direction." It is about three meters. It is also believed that "the distance between the two fighters is 1.84 meters." ”

The spacing can be shortened: Han Shizhong once defeated the Jin soldiers, and one of his tactics was to use 10,000 people to carry axes and advance in parallel, so as to defeat the onslaught of the enemy's cavalry from both flanks.