Chapter 152: The Battle of Liangzhou (3)

In April of the eleventh year of Yonghe, Geng Bing, tens of thousands of the old departments of the Donghu Xianbei Qiu Dun clan, the Wulu Zhen clan, and the Shugegan clan gathered in the Gonglu water source rebellion, and the Heishui general Yang Su, the Wanshui general was decoction, and the Modong general Fei Tingjun led the army to ask for it. In August, 5,000 were beheaded and 3,000 households were destroyed.

--- Excerpt from the Introduction

With Gu Cheng shouting, the five thousand Hezhou cavalry immediately rushed out. They rode out from behind the Hezhou infantry army, preparing to flank the first formation of the Beifu army around a large circle. More than 20,000 horses' hooves flew over the land of Hexi, making a shocking sound, these Hezhou cavalry composed of Hexi Xianbei, Juyan Xianbei, Hutu Xiongnu and Hexi Qiang people were violent, because they were among the best elites in the entire Liangzhou, and they did not suffer any losses in the face of the strong cavalry of Northern Zhao. But that was under Xie Ai's leadership, not now.

As soon as the Hezhou cavalry attacked, they immediately fulfilled the wish of the fox slave who had been ready to move. Ever since he heard the dull sound of horses' hooves faintly coming from behind the Hezhou army, the fox slave had been listening to the sound of horns everywhere with his ears open, and he also turned his head to look in the direction of the Chinese army from time to time.

After a while, in the expectation of the fox slave, a horse galloped from there, and a red "small order flag" behind him was particularly conspicuous in the rolling yellow dust and whirring wind, which made the fox slave raise a burst of joy.

"The commander of the Chinese army ordered that the fox slave raise a two-box cavalry to meet the Hezhou cavalry, and be sure to defeat it to ensure that the first formation of our army is protected from invasion. The rest of the cavalry was commanded by Xiahou Khotan. The herald held the military token issued by Zeng Hua's military staff officer, finished Zeng Hua's military order loudly in one breath, and then stuffed the numbered military token into the fox slave's hand, turned the horse's head and galloped away, and disappeared into the vast black "color" after a while.

The herald can be said to be one of the busiest arms of the Beifu Army on the battlefield. As soon as the war began, the heralds were non-stop. In addition to conveying various orders, the bannermen, trumpeters, and cavalry also had to transmit all kinds of "color" information up and down, so as to complete the "sharing of military intelligence" that Zeng Hua had always emphasized.

After the fox slave raised the military token, he shouted: "Qinzhou left second carriage riding for the front formation, flying bear left carriage riding rear formation, out of the ranks!" Only a cheer was heard, and the two generals who were standing around on horseback raised their whips and galloped wildly towards their own ranks. The left second carriage cavalry of Qinzhou is composed of the cavalry of the Qinzhou Prefecture, and the left carriage of the flying bear is the cavalry of the Zhenbei Army.

The cavalry of the two compartments, which had been on standby for a long time, immediately set out according to the battalion under the mobilization of the commanders who gave loud orders while running, only to hear the sound of horses' hooves one after another, and two torrents immediately split into the black sea and rushed towards the left flank.

The fox slave raised the general token into Xiahou Khotan's hand, and then rode his horse and galloped away under the escort of dozens of personal guard cavalry. Xiahou Khotan was a native of Fufeng County, Yongzhou, and was originally a lieutenant under Liu Ning, the general of Northern Zhao, who was not only good at cavalry warfare, but also familiar with military strategy, and performed well in the battles in Beidi, Shangjun and Shuozhou, so he slowly rose up. For this old partner, the fox slave was very relieved, so he did not hesitate to carry out Zeng Hua's military order.

A large banner with the inscription "Fox Slave" moved rapidly in the Beifu military formation, and soon gathered with the two torrents and fluttered high at the front of the team. The huge torrent rushed through the standing rear army, and the infantry who gave way looked at the cavalry comrades who were rushing in front of them, and couldn't help but raise their weapons and military flags, and shouted "Wan Sheng!" "Cheer on the cavalry brothers!

In the overwhelming cheers, the two cavalry soldiers were more energetic and excited, and they instigated their mounts in the farewell of their comrades and brothers, and rushed forward with a bang, even if there was a mountain of swords and a sea of fire in front of them, they did not hesitate to move forward.

When he knew that the Hezhou cavalry was rushing towards his left flank, Deng Yao immediately raised the horizontal knife in his hand and began to dispatch.

The second-line sword players and crossbowmen of the first formation have already rushed into the Hezhou army formation with steel knives, and cooperated with the comrades on the first line to start a fierce battle with the right wing of the Hezhou army. The remaining second-line spearmen under the command of Deng Yao and the third-line spearmen turned to the left, lined up in three rows, and then put their spears in front; The third-line knife players line up and follow closely behind, ready to support the spearmen at any time; The third-line crossbowmen lined up in dense formations, ready to resist the attack of the Hezhou Iron Cavalry with a rainstorm of iron feather arrows.

The first formation of the entire Beifu Army was filled with a tense atmosphere, where Cao Yan commanded the rest of the sergeants to continue the assault on the right flank of the Hezhou Army, while Deng Yao rode his horse and ran around, inspecting the military formation that was running and arranging nervously. At this time, the well-trained advantages of the Beifu Army began to be brought into play, and one after another military orders were being passed in an orderly manner, and the officers and non-commissioned officers were very calm and effective in mobilizing the various units, sentinels and teams according to the orders, and a few loud and expletive words were heard from time to time. In this tense atmosphere, foul language may ease the tension of many people.

After a while, the Hezhou cavalry had already circled in a very large circle and appeared in the sight of the first sergeant of the Beifu Army. These Hezhou cavalry don't seem to be as "rich" as the Beifu cavalry, and the equipment on their bodies also looks a lot different. Some wore the unique blue armor of the Liangzhou Army, some wore homemade simple leather armor, and some simply wore a linen shirt or were shirtless. They waved the steel knives in their hands, shouted loudly, formed a scattered formation, and rushed towards the first surging formation of the Beifu army, and the momentum seemed to sweep in like a sudden flood.

With a "buzz", a black "colored" iron feather arrow broke through the air and flew towards the Hezhou cavalry who rushed head-on, and suddenly pierced the chest of a unlucky Hezhou cavalryman. The unlucky man screamed and rolled over and fell off his horse, but soon disappeared into the roaring flood of the Hezhou cavalry.

Seeing that the "shooting" range was enough, thousands of iron feather arrows emitted a huge terrifying wind-breaking sound, which immediately caused hundreds of Hezhou cavalry to turn over and fall off their horses, followed by a rain of arrows. However, this rain of arrows after another still did not stop the increasingly turbulent Hezhou cavalry, but made these cavalry of all ethnic groups in Liangzhou even more enthusiastic, and they instigated their mounts one after another, speeding up, trying to rush to the front of the Beifu military formation faster.

It is only less than 500 feet away from the Beifu military formation, and the 5,000 Hezhou cavalry has left more than 600 corpses on the ground, but judging from the current situation, the arrow rain of the Beifu army cannot stop the footsteps of the Hezhou cavalry, and they are about to rush into the Beifu military formation, and then let the saber in their hands play a role.

Soon, more than 30 Hezhou cavalry in the front rushed to the front of the Beifu military formation, facing the spears like a forest, and their faces didn't have time to "show" the "color" of fear, and they were pierced by the sharp spears. The rain of blood and the remnants of the body flew in front of the spear forest, the war horses and cavalry fell down in front of the army formation, and some people and horses who were not stabbed by the spears tried to struggle to get up, but the blood all over the ground turned this place into a black and red muddy ground, so that they fell down again before they could stand up, and then the comrades who followed closely behind instigated their mounts, or were also stabbed by spears and fell, pressing on their bodies, or the iron hooves stepped straight over, trampling them to the ground.

The Hezhou cavalry rushed to the ground several Beifu army spearmen who had lost their spears in front or could not dodge, but more spears swarmed over, densely surrounding the few Hezhou cavalry vanguards, and then poked them down.

The left-wing people in the first formation of the Beifu Army were screaming, and they were miserable. The crossbowmen in the back were also moving faster, and the arrows rained down on their targets, hoping to cut off the surging flood, while the knife players were even more nervous, holding their knives and keeping a close eye on every move in front of them. Under Deng Yao's greeting, the three hundred Mo swordsmen were already lined up, standing behind the swordsmen, ready to be the mainstay of the military formation.

The fox slave saw the scene in front of him and knew that it was the last moment. He immediately turned his head and sent an order to the Qinzhou Left Second Carriage Cavalry in the front formation: "Your unit will run and shoot at the flank of the Hezhou cavalry, and then continue to assault as a second wave after the rear assault. ”

The three thousand Qinzhou Mansion cavalry kept accelerating under the leadership of Daqi, and then slowly changed the direction of running, and soon it was parallel to the Hezhou cavalry, but in the opposite direction. The Qinzhou left and second carriage cavalry lined up in a slender line stretched out their bows and arrows, and the Hezhou cavalry galloping away on the right was a rain of arrows, which immediately made the unprepared Hezhou cavalry fall dozens of people.

The 3,000 cavalry on the left side of Qinzhou were like a whip, slashing on the right side of the Hezhou cavalry, and in this short period of time, tens of thousands of arrows flew towards the Hezhou cavalry, and their target, whether it was a man or a horse, as long as they "shot", immediately made the right wing of the Hezhou cavalry slimmed down.

Seeing that the whip of Qinzhou's left second carriage was almost finished, the fox slave raised a saber, held it high, and then yelled at the flying bear left carriage that was galloping behind him: "Let the people of Liangzhou see what a real horse warrior is!" Kill me! ”

In the midst of the wild shouts of 'chaos', the cavalry in front of the left wing of the flying bear pulled out their spears behind the saddle, and then slowly flattened them, which was the best sharp formation of the light cavalry assault formation. Qinzhou's left second carriage had just finished showing off on the right flank of the Hezhou cavalry, and the flying bear's left carriage was like a sharp knife "inserted" into it, and the spear that shook as the mount ran was stabbed into the bodies of more than a dozen Hezhou cavalry soldiers under the grasp of the cavalry. The Beifu cavalry who rushed in behind did not want to waste the spears in their hands at all, they saw the opportunity, and then threw the spears with a flick of their hands, and the two-meter-long light cavalry spears crossed an arc in the air, and each found their target.

The cavalry on the left side of the flying bear waved their sabers one after another, and rushed into the Hezhou cavalry, slashing at the Hezhou cavalry who urgently turned their horses. Although the Hezhou cavalry was also very brave and brave, they could not stop the Beifu cavalry that rushed over, and the huge impact was very lethal to the Hezhou cavalry. Because under the threat of the Beifu cavalry, these Hezhou cavalry nervously and helplessly turned their horses' heads to meet the Beifu cavalry, and because of this change, they were simply stationary compared to the galloping Beifu cavalry, so they could not withstand the stormy assault of the Beifu cavalry.

The Beifu cavalry waved a knife at the Hezhou cavalry next to it, and then continued to move forward without stopping at all. And the Hezhou cavalry could only helplessly watch the Beifu cavalry gallop in front of them, and the sabers that kept waving were simply continuous, so that the Hezhou cavalry couldn't parry, blocking the first knife, the second knife but not the third knife, the fourth knife, and finally being cut out of a deep bloody wound by the sharp saber, and turned over and fell off the horse in the screams and severe pain. And once they fall off their horses, the surging hooves will make them die no more.

The left wing of the flying bear quickly killed the charging formation of the Hezhou cavalry, and then went around under the leadership of the fox slave to strike at the left flank of its rear formation. However, the gap was filled by the left second compartment of Qinzhou who drew an arc and circled back, and under their equally cheerful saber, this gap was torn wider and wider.

Within a radius of less than three miles, more than 10,000 cavalry were fighting each other. They sometimes found that the enemy on the opposite side was cursing in the same language, but in the face of sabers and blood, whether it was the same Hexi Xianbei, Qiang or Xiongnu, as long as the cavalry on the opposite side had different clothing and armor, it would immediately be a life-and-death struggle.

Attacking back and forth twice, the Hezhou cavalry soon showed defeat. After all, after several years of operation by Zeng Hua, even if the cavalry of Beifu is a government soldier, it is a strong man of this era in terms of equipment and quality, which is higher than the Liangzhou cavalry gathered everywhere, not to mention the Zhenbei Army cavalry, which is known as the "most elite cavalry".

The Hezhou cavalry was intercepted by the fox slave leader, and the first formation of the Beifu army was able to attack the right flank of the Hezhou army wholeheartedly, and the Hezhou army, which had just breathed a sigh of relief, immediately increased its pressure sharply. Moreover, with the passage of time and the launch of a full-scale attack by the third formation, the Hezhou Army was in an all-round emergency, and the situation was precarious.

Seeing this scene, Zeng Hua knew that it was time to put the last straw on the Hezhou army. He turned to Zheng Pu and Advisor Liu and said, "Is there any movement in Lingju City?" ”

Zheng Pu nodded and said, "It should be this time." ”

Zeng Hua thought for a while, waved his hand and said, "Regardless of him, Zhang Sheng plays his, we will beat ours." ”

After speaking, he sent an order to Xiahou Khotan, ordering him to send a cavalry army of Yifu soldiers to flank the right flank of the Hezhou army from the gap between the first and second formations of the Beifu army, and open the breach of the collapse of the Hezhou army.

But the collapse of the Hezhou Army came from behind.

Just as Gu Cheng, Guan Wei and others were paying close attention to the Hezhou cavalry and the fox slave breeding, dozens of cavalry rushed out of Lingju City and kept shouting behind the Hezhou military formation: "Hezhou Assassin Shi Zhang ordered to surrender to Beifu!" ”

The shouting was like a thunderbolt on a sunny day, which not only stunned Gu Cheng and others, but also made tens of thousands of Hezhou troops who were still fighting bloody in a panic. They turned their heads to look at Lingju City behind them, and saw that the "Zhang" family flag that was still flying all over the city just now was gone, only dozens of white flags, which were particularly dazzling.

Lingju City has already fallen, and everyone is still fighting hard here! The first to react was the rear army of the Hezhou army, they dropped their weapons one after another, pulled their legs and ran backwards, whether they ran back to Lingju City or fled to other places, anyway, there was no way to fight this battle.

The panic was like an avalanche and soon caused a chain reaction in the River State Army. Hearing the news of Lingju City, seeing the movements of the rear army, the front army that was fighting bloodily also moved, and many people also dropped their weapons and ran behind the rear army, even a part of the Hezhou army that did not escape and insisted on fighting was also panicked, and their morale declined, and they were soon killed and retreated by the morale-like Beifu army.

After reading the document jointly signed by Zhang Sheng and Mo Zhong in the name of Hezhou Thorn Shi and Guangwu County Shou, Gu Cheng, Guan Wei and others knew that this was a conspiracy, Zhang Sheng and others had planned it a long time ago, and the 30,000 Hezhou troops who worked hard for him were just a bargaining chip for them to sell themselves.

Before Gu Cheng and the others could react, they were scattered by the surging retreating Hezhou army, and they could only fight separately or plan their own plans.

Soon, there were less than ten of the five hundred guards around Gu Cheng, and even his body was covered with blood and scars, which made Cao Yan, who was standing opposite, sigh with emotion.

"General Gu, do you surrender or not!" Due to the sudden change in the situation, the right wing of Hezhou, which was at the forefront, became the last team to know the news and the rout, and they also let the first formation of the Beifu Army, which was originally rushing to the front, be dragged to the back and lagged behind the second formation. This made Cao Yan annoyed, but when he saw the chief general of the Hezhou Army who had met on the other side, he felt a little better.

Gu Cheng held a bloodstained steel knife that was "inserted" into the ground in order to ensure that he would not fall, and only in this way could he maintain the last bit of dignity in front of Cao Yan, an opponent. Five or six guards stood in front of him, but in the face of thousands of Beifu troops, they seemed too slim.

Hearing Cao Yan's voice, Gu Cheng, who was a little dizzy because of his injuries, recalled that this was the general of Beifu who asked himself whether he would surrender or not before the battle, and he couldn't think of the sentence that was about to end. Gu Cheng couldn't help but smile bitterly on his face, he no longer had a companion to negotiate, his most trusted and relied on strategist Wenchen-Guan Wei was falling at his feet, and the dozen or so blood cuts on his body had already made this No. 1 strategist in Hezhou have long been lifeless.

Fall, if you want to fall, it will be lowered long ago. Gu Cheng felt very worthless at this time, he knew that the lord did this, so it was better to lower it at the beginning. He and others are working so desperately, just to win the last bit of dignity for the lord and Liangzhou. Gu Cheng, Guan Wei and others knew that as long as Beifu suffered a little in the bloody battle of the Hezhou army, they would really respect Hezhou and Liangzhou, and they would respect Zhang Sheng and Guzang's other surname Zhang, which may be the only and last thing they can do for Liangzhou and the Zhang family.

However, it is just a pity that the souls of these more than 10,000 soldiers are heroic. Gu Cheng sighed secretly.

Seeing that Gu Cheng had not answered, Cao Yan was not verbose, and as soon as he raised his hand, he immediately gathered more than 500 divine arm crossbowmen, and Zhang crossbow aimed his arrow at Gu Cheng.

Looking at the swarthy divine arm crossbow and the glowing arrow tip, Gu Cheng suddenly understood. Maybe he remembered Zhang Zuo's last shout he heard in Guzang City, and maybe he understood that he was just making a senseless sacrifice. Gu Cheng couldn't help but laugh out loud, in the midst of the crazy laughter, his tears kept washing down the bloodstains, and the hair that he had long discarded from his helmet and scattered made him look even more crazy.

In the laughter, Gu Cheng felt that Zhang Zuo, who died in the sea of fire, laughed together, Zhang Guan who died under the "chaos" knife was laughing with him, Guan Wei, who was lying at his feet and did not move, was also laughing, and the 30,000 Hezhou soldiers were also laughing.

Cao Yan silently pressed his hand, only to hear a buzzing sound, and five hundred iron feather arrows immediately covered Gu Cheng and the others.

Although several guards blocked most of the arrows, Gu Cheng was also hit by several arrows. The arrows covered in iron made Gu Cheng feel extremely heavy and in severe pain, and the laughter also stopped abruptly in the severe pain. Gu Cheng felt that the strength in his body was suddenly withdrawn, and his body was slowly falling backwards.

When Gu Cheng's body slowly landed, he shouted with all his strength: "Lord! ”

In the shouting, Gu Cheng fell to the ground with a bang, raising a cloud of yellow dust. Seeing the yellow dust flying in front of his eyes, Gu Cheng's eyes slowly lost their vitality, and at the last moment of his life, he saw countless feet rushing past him, raising more yellow dust. In the yellow "color", Gu Cheng felt that he was flying through the clouds, and soon he was "lost" in the darkness.

Looking at Zhang Sheng, Ma Hou, Mo Zhong and others who were kneeling respectfully outside the city gate, Zeng Hua didn't pay attention to them, just looked at the majestic Lingju City in front of him, shook his head and sighed: "It's really a heroic city, it's a pity!" It's a pity! ”

But Di Pu and Liu Gu smiled at each other, and then said in a low voice: "This Liangzhou war is almost over!" ”