The enemy army was led by Dai Luanxiang's son Dai Song. Although the number of soldiers increased compared with the previous two attacks, they were only about 4,000 people. Although the offensive was fierce, it was still unable to shake the defense of Zheng Xin's army. However, they were not willing to fight. After a brief battle with Zheng Xin, they quickly retreated. Zheng Xin's troops, who wanted to fight, were unable to use all their strength.
As soon as Dai Song retreated, another group of troops immediately attacked, led by Dai Luanxiang himself.
Dai Luanxiang was much more experienced and shrewd than his son in using troops. He did not choose to rush into the enemy's front. Instead, he took a look at the weakness of the opponent's formation, which was slightly loose in the vertical direction just after being attacked, and ordered his soldiers to charge into the enemy's formation from the diagonal. . With this move, he broke through half of the 20,000-strong formation and almost reached Zheng Xin.
Zheng Xin was shocked when he saw this, and waved his command flag one after another, asking the escorting soldiers to immediately shrink their formation and trap Dai Luanxiang in the formation.
How could Dai Luanxiang let Zheng Xin get his wish
Before Zheng Xin's flag order could be conveyed, Dai Luanxiang's entire army suddenly turned around and charged out the same way, leaving their stunned opponents dazed in place.
Such an advance and retreat prevented Zheng Xin from reacting at all. After a slight hesitation, the army led by Dai Song rushed over again. This time Dai Song either became smarter or listened to his father's order. When the opponent's formation shrank to the center and the width of the wings narrowed, he moved over at high speed from the flank, as if he wanted to bypass the defense and kill directly. Go to Zheng Xin.
Zheng Xin was about to succeed in a bloody battle today, so of course he was unwilling to lose his life just like that. However, Dai Song's attack was so fierce and fast that it was too late to temporarily change his formation to respond to the enemy. In desperation, Zheng Xin had no choice but to give in on his own and quickly moved to the east under the personal protection of a dozen of his close associates.
Zheng Xin's transfer speed was not slow, allowing Dai Song to rush away, leaving behind the Chinese army flag that he could not take away in time. Dai Song cut off the flag-raising rope with a knife, and a seven-foot-square flag fell from a few feet high. The top of the high flagpole swayed down and fell right into Dai Song's hand.
Capturing the banner of the opponent's Chinese army is a feat as great as killing the enemy's commander on the battlefield. Dai Song held this golden and bright flag in his arms, feeling indescribable joy and excitement in his heart. He was about to lead the army to find and kill Zheng Xin, but unexpectedly, he heard his father's call to retreat behind him.
Although Dai Song was in high spirits, he did not dare to neglect at all and quickly led his troops back.
Qiu Yizhi saw the flag of Zheng Xin's army captured from afar amid heavy siege by the enemy, and knew that Dai Luanxiang must have succeeded in the attack, which had shaken Zheng Xin's position. So he wanted to send an order immediately, asking the entire army to take advantage of Zheng Xin's momentary passivity to counterattack and regain the initiative on the battlefield.
But when he looked up, he saw that his army was still heavily surrounded by his opponents, but the pressure of the siege was slightly reduced. If he wanted to fight back on the spot, he had no chance of winning.
So Qiu Yizhi temporarily changed his mind and sent an order to his subordinates: "Our reinforcements have arrived, and the enemy's army must be in chaos. The troops must stabilize their positions first, and then fight back!"
Zheng Xin ran around in panic for a while before barely escaping Dai Song's pursuit. Seeing that the Chinese army's flag was taken away, he felt extremely angry. Only then did he realize that Dai Luanxiang's reputation as "the number one general in the country" was by no means a lie. . According to the situation during the last attack, Dai Luanxiang now has more than 10,000 troops at his disposal. Zheng Xin's own ability to use troops would never be able to compete with Dai Luanxiang when the military strength is similar.
After thinking about it, Zheng Xin could only make a decision - to withdraw all the troops attacking Zhao Chengxiao from the left wing, gather a total of 70,000 troops, and command them personally. With the advantage of numbers, he could rush Dai Luanxiang into the Yangtze River in one go, and then concentrate his efforts to deal with it. Qiu Yizhi.
So under Zheng Xin's strict orders, the left-wing troops finally withdrew to Zheng Xin's side after spending a cup of tea and paying the price of losing hundreds of soldiers. Zhao Chengxiao had to assist Qiu Yi in the battle and had no time to take advantage of the opportunity to counterattack, so he could only retreat with the team in front of him.
On Dai Luanxiang's side, due to the lack of troops and the fact that they were landing one after another from the ship, they could not deploy their entire army into battle at once, so they used the method of attacking in waves, gradually investing their troops, and successfully attracted Zheng Xin's attention. Focus on yourself.
After several attacks, Zheng Xin was indeed fooled and gathered an army in front to deal with Dai Luanxiang.
Since it's a head-on confrontation, naturally there aren't that many conspiracies and tricks to use, and the opponent doesn't have that many loopholes that can be exploited.
Although Dai Luanxiang's Qimou was powerful, he was even better at confronting the two armies in an upright and direct confrontation. Therefore, although he only had 20,000 troops in his hands, he might not have any chance of winning against the 70,000 exhausted troops who had fought a whole day of bloody battles. Moreover, what Dai Luanxiang wants to do now is not necessarily to defeat Zheng Xin head-on, but just to contain his opponent and then work with Qiu Yi to attack from behind.
Therefore, Dai Luanxiang calmed down and ordered the army to form a formation. He was about to send his son Dai Song to lead a small team to test it out, but unexpectedly, the rumbling sound of "dong, dong, dong" came from behind him. Before the sound of the cannon fell, , and then saw several pillars of smoke rising several feet high from Zheng Xin's formation, followed closely by the heart-rending shouts and cries of the soldiers.
Dai Luanxiang had just seen the power of Li Shengjie's artillery on the ship, and thought that although the artillery was powerful, it might not actually have much power. But now I see that Li Shengjie only used five of the ten artillery pieces on a ship, causing at least dozens or hundreds of casualties in the blink of an eye. In the process, Li Shengjie was dozens of steps away from the enemy. A safe place away from home without taking any risks.
What's more, it is also a long-range attack. Bows, arrows and crossbows can still be blocked by giant shields, but the power of artillery is extremely powerful. Even if the construction of the city wall is slightly jerry-rigged, it will collapse under the bombardment. Such a one-sided attack will cause an immeasurable huge blow to the enemy's morale.
With such a powerful force, it is no wonder that when Qiu Yizhi and the enemy were fighting in a melee just now, Li Shengjie refused to bombard them with artillery. If this artillery fire continues, wouldn't all the good and good be destroyed, regardless of high or low
Dai Luanxiang has been fighting for half his life. Although he has never tasted defeat on the battlefield, the victories he won again and again were all achieved through life-and-death fights with the enemy with real swords and guns. But today, he could win by just bombarding with artillery from a distance - he had never fought such a cheap battle in his life!
While Dai Luanxiang was thinking, he heard the rumble of artillery behind him, followed by the natural sound of the enemy's cries and howls.
As a famous general of the generation, Dai Luanxiang would not only focus on the victory or defeat in front of him. He also thought that although the artillery was heavy and could only be installed on sea ships to have power and combat effectiveness, as long as he selected skilled craftsmen and managed to create an oxen that could carry the artillery. With a chariot and a carriage, you can fight everywhere with such an invincible weapon.
The reason why the Turkic cavalry poses the greatest threat to the Han Dynasty is that they are good at long-range cavalry shooting. However, as long as there are ten or twenty artillery pieces on the battlefield, they can attack the Turkic cavalry as much as they can. When the time comes, the Turkic cavalry's mere arrows will Not enough to mention.
In this way, while Dai Luanxiang was thinking, he strictly restrained his soldiers, asking them to maintain their formation and not to move out without authorization. Li Shengjie behind him was still firing cannons.
After about ten rounds of shelling, Li Shengjie on the ship sent a message, saying that the barrel of the gun was overheated and that it had to cool down before continuing to fire, otherwise there was a risk of the barrel exploding.
Although Dai Luanxiang didn't know the reason, he also understood that without the artillery bombardment, it was time for a head-on confrontation with Zheng Xin. However, seeing that the formation on the opposite side was torn to pieces by artillery and could only barely maintain it, Dai Luanxiang naturally felt a little different. With the odds of winning, he felt that with his men, he could not only take some of the pressure off Qiu Yizhi's front, but perhaps also turn the tide of the battle in one fell swoop.
Qiu Yizhi also heard the sound of explosions erupting in the distance and saw the pillars of smoke rising from Zheng Xin's formation. He knew that Li Shengjie must be using artillery to assist the battle, which might have disrupted Zheng Xin's deployment.
Although he was still unclear about Dai Luanxiang's actions, he learned from the almost stagnant attack of the opponent in front of him and the news from Zhao Chengxiao behind him that the enemy troops had withdrawn. If he wanted to defeat Zheng Xin's troops, now was the best and best time to do so. Maybe this is the only chance!
So he discussed with Zhao Chengxiao and reluctantly selected two thousand uninjured soldiers from the entire army on the left and right, plus the bandit soldiers around Qiu Yizhi. Zhao Chengxiao personally led the army and went to the front. The enemy thrust forward.
This is the last bargaining chip that Qiu Yi can take out. His combat power must be extraordinary. With just one charge, he penetrates the enemy's formation like an awl. This time Qiu Yi was determined to win, and regardless of whether the opponent had any counter-attacks, he immediately ordered the entire army to follow the direction of the forward's breakthrough and attack the enemy with all his strength.
At this time, Zheng Xin had been completely blinded by Li Shengjie's artillery. He just wanted to save his life under the fierce artillery attack. He had no idea about Tong Qiu Yizhi's movements ahead, so naturally he was unable to issue orders to deal with his actions.
So Qiu Yizhi made a fierce charge, relying on less than 50,000 wounded and exhausted horses in his hands, he actually smashed the formation of more than 100,000 people in front of him.
However, Qiu Yi's troops were tired after all. Such an attack seemed to have reached their limit, and they were no longer able to pursue and mop up the defeated army. Of course Qiu Yizhi knew the principle of eradicating all evil, but his soldiers were no longer able to fight anymore, and no matter how hard he tried to mobilize, it was of no avail.
At this moment, a knight came running in front of him. It was Yelu, a warrior from the Bohai Kingdom. He reined in his horse and stopped in front of Qiu Yi's gate. He didn't have time to dismount and salute, so he said to Qiu Yizhi on his horse: "Your Highness, the enemy is here. Now that we have retreated, shall we take advantage of the victory and pursue it?”
These words spoke to Qiu Yizhi's heart, causing him to nod quickly: "Yes, we are about to chase the enemy. We must capture the culprit Zheng Xin on the spot."
"Okay. But please let His Highness Yi know how to pursue the law!" Yelu replied.
Qiu Yizhi thought for a moment and said: "The Yangtze River is to the south, and our army is blocking it to the north. The Bohai Sea is iron hoofed and the horses are fast. If you divide the army into two and pursue the river from the left and right sides, you will definitely be able to block the main force of the enemy's army. Stay. Also, Youyan's cavalry is not slow in maneuvering. If it cannot surround it, it can be forced to retreat on its own. The rest of the defeated troops are also elite soldiers of the Han Dynasty and cannot be killed indiscriminately."