In this era of close combat with cold weapons, a general, especially a general, plays a greater role in the army than imagined. Whether he is wise or brave can completely determine the success of an army. lower limit. And once the general is seriously injured, he can destroy the entire fighting spirit of a mighty army in an instant, even if they are facing a group of enemies whose strength is far inferior to their own.
This kind of thing has happened many times in history, and today, in the vast wilderness on the border between Song and Liao, the same scene appeared again, and this time, the Liao army was already in a situation of inevitable defeat. Xiao Yanping was hit by an arrow and fell down. After not knowing whether he was alive or dead, the whole army collapsed.
At this time, they could no longer maintain any formation. They just fled in all directions in a panic, without even the courage to resist and struggle. Some people continued to run forward along the valley road, while others got off their already exhausted horses and climbed up the hillside, hoping to avoid the Song army's pursuit. Some people even chose to kneel on the spot at this time, not daring to make any resistance.
As Xiao Yanping was shot down by an arrow, the Liao army no longer threatened at all. After the Song army reached the mouth of the valley, they saw prisoners everywhere, and many people were running up the mountain in a panic. Even an experienced general like Qin Gan was surprised at this time and sighed: "General Sun is indeed amazing. You can defeat a thousand troops with one arrow."
Although his words were a bit exaggerated, the meaning was almost the same. If we really want to completely destroy this defeated Liao army, I am afraid that the Song army's investment of only a thousand soldiers and horses will not be enough. But now, it saves everyone a lot of effort, not to mention causing unnecessary damage. This also increased the morale of the Song troops who followed closely, shouting to step forward to kill the enemy and gain their own credit.
Those who were kneeling on the ground were naturally easily captured. As for those who ran up the mountain or fled away, some people quickly divided their forces to pursue them. Judging from the current situation, it won't take until midnight for this war of pursuit of death and north to come to an end.
But Sun Tu didn't have much joy on his face at this time. He just reined in his horse and stood at the mouth of the valley in a daze. He didn't even listen to the praises given to him by Qin Gan and other generals. Although this battle ended with a great victory for the Song Army, the casualties suffered by the Huben Army before were too heavy. And all of this is because of a wrong decision of my own!
In addition, Taniguchi has never seen the Liao general Xiao Yanping who was the culprit. Although he was shot by an arrow, he didn't know if he could survive it like he did back then and escape.
However, at this point in the battle, it was impossible for him to take care of it alone. In addition, he was injured and exhausted. At this time, he could no longer risk the pursuit. He could only get off his horse with some dejection and look around helplessly. What will be the final result of this battle
The results were reported quickly. In this battle, the Song army was truly victorious, completely routing an entire Liao army of nearly 5,000 men and almost annihilating them. Only about three to four hundred people escaped in the dark, and there were about five hundred prisoners. As for the important Liao army generals, a few were captured alive, but there was no Xiao Yanping.
After hearing these reports, Sun Tu became even more silent: "Have you still failed to do your best?"
"General Sun, you are a little too demanding for perfection. In today's battle, our soldiers of the Song Dynasty did their best and achieved a rare victory. Not only did they eliminate the hidden dangers in the rear, but they also wiped out thousands of enemies. Even if It's on the front line
, is also a rare victory. "Qin Gan was quite satisfied and said with a busy smile: "Of course, if this battle is really discussed, you, General Sun, and his subordinates should take the lead. If you hadn't persisted here, even if I arrived, I wouldn't have been able to defeat him. Unable to defeat the Liao army. "
The surrounding soldiers who had returned also agreed one after another, and they did not hesitate to praise Sun Tu and the soldiers of the Huben Army who had not yet arrived to the end. Only then did Sun Tu come back to his senses from his emotions, cupped his hands and said with a smile: "General Qin, generals, I appreciate your good intentions. But I cannot agree with what you said. If you really want to talk about merit, you are only here. On top of my fierce army, if you had not arrived in time, I am afraid that I and thousands of my subordinates would have died at the hands of the Liao army."
Sun Tu's words made these soldiers happy, and they became a little closer to him. In the past, I only admired him because he was brave enough and famous enough. Now, I really agree with this general.
Qin Gan also laughed: "General Sun's words are too outrageous. You and I are one, so how can we distinguish between small and large contributions? The Tiger Army and we are all good, and we should all be rewarded!" One sentence can be said to be true. The matter was completely settled, and both parties shared the credit equally.
The next step is to clean the battlefield and wait for the soldiers and horses from the rear to arrive one after another.
In this pursuit and escape just now, the cavalry on both sides tried their best. They didn't feel anything, but for the infantry behind, it was a long journey. In addition, they had to be vigilant and deal with the scattered Liao soldiers who escaped along the way, so time was wasted. So when the main force finally arrived, the day was bright again and the whole night had passed.
Then comes the sad moment of counting one's own casualties. When the specific figures came out, even Qin Gan's expression changed. The soldiers and horses he brought had few casualties, only two to three hundred, but the Hu Ben army was seriously injured.
The original team of five thousand soldiers now has less than three thousand left, and most of the soldiers are injured. They are all exhausted and can't even stand firm. In fact, if Qin Gan's reinforcements had not arrived in time, the casualties would have doubled, and by then the fate of the Liao army would have been theirs.
When Sun Tu got this cruel number, he stood still for a long time. Especially when he learned that Generals Zhao Jiongguang and Yang Siming had also died in the rebellion, and that Pan Song had broken his arm and was seriously injured and was still awake, he tightened his grip on the hilt of his saber and took several deep breaths before calming down. mood.
Although these generals were not his cronies, they were brothers in the army who had followed him for some time and obeyed his advice. But this time, they all died in battle. This kind of pain naturally cannot be relieved for a while. What's more, such a tragedy could have been avoided. As long as the reinforcements at Yanmen Pass could arrive in time as agreed, it would be impossible for the Liao army to pose such a big threat to the Tigers and Guards guarding the heights, and it would be impossible for them to do so. I risked my life to save myself...
If Qin Gan hadn't kept going south in search of the Liao army and had seen the wolf smoke in time, the entire Huben army would have been buried under that mound and killed by someone in Yanmen Pass.
At this moment, Sun Tu's heart was filled with resentment and murderous intent. He glanced at the injured soldiers in front of him and made a decision - he must get this justice back!
So when Qin Gan looked at him and asked: "I wonder what General Sun has planned next?", he replied without even thinking: "Of course I will go back to Yanmen first.
closed! "The words Yanmenguan almost burst out from between his teeth.
"Want to go to Yanmen Pass to rest for a while? It's a good idea. After all, it's still hundreds of miles away from the frontline camp, and many of our soldiers are injured, as well as these prisoners. Just go there!" Qin Gan Da immediately responded to this statement, and at the same time, he called over a close aide: "You take a few cavalry and return to the camp at starry night, and report the victory here to the commander, so that he and the frontline soldiers can feel at ease. I will I will personally escort the military rations back soon." After all, he still remembered the military order he had issued. At this moment, tomorrow would be the ten-day period, so he had not violated the order.
"Here!"
"Also," he said and glanced at Sun Tu, who looked slightly strange next to him: "Report the news of the arrival of Yue Hou Sun Tu and his army, including the meritorious service of his troops and horses this time. There must be no concealment. "Although he is a border general, he also knows that Sun Tu and Tong Guan have a close relationship, so naturally he should sell his face.
After the confidant ordered a few people to ride away together, Qin Gan ordered the entire army to rest at the mouth of the valley for half a day, and then return to Yanmen Pass. Sun Tu didn't have any other opinions on this. He and his officers and soldiers of the Huben Army really needed a good rest.
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Two days later, at noon, at the head of the city north of Yanmen Pass.
Tian Boyuan once again climbed the city and looked north. In addition to worry, his eyes were full of guilt and self-blame.
At this time, the column of smoke that shot straight into the sky had long since dissipated, as if it had never appeared before. But he knew what was behind all this - I am afraid that General Sun and his troops had already collapsed over there and were defeated by the Liao army.
As a general who had had head-on confrontation experience with the Liao army, he knew very well how much advantage the Liao army had against the Song army outside Guancheng. Even the elite border troops would suffer, let alone the thousands of forbidden troops from the capital. .
What made him even more panicked was that five days had passed and no one had escaped from the front. Does this mean that all the Song army along the way was really in the wilderness to the north
There were thousands of people, all of them died in the battle just because of his own cowardice and incompetence, and the conspiracy and revenge of the Du Supervisor Army? In the past few days, he couldn't eat well and couldn't sleep well. He almost always wanted to run to the north city and look out, hoping to see Sun Tu escaping with the defeated army. Even if they only come back with a few hundred people, it would be good, at least they would let him know a result, instead of relying on imagination and guessing like they did these days.
"If I had known this, I should have..." Tian Boyuan muttered lightly after some hindsight, but that was all he said. If he was really given a chance to come back, he would still not dare to choose to be an enemy of Du Changguo.
And not long after these words were spoken, a soldier beside him suddenly shouted in surprise: "Then... what is that? It's such a big smoke, is there an army coming?"
"What?" Tian Boyuan was also startled, and then he looked into the distance and found that there was indeed a large army heading towards Yanmen Pass. With this posture, the number of troops was at least tens of thousands!
"Get ready for battle, I'm afraid the Liao army is coming!" At this time, Tian Boyuan's first thought might be this. After all, even if Sun Tu and the others escape, they will only have a few thousand people at most, and it is impossible to return with several times the strength...
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First update today. . . . . . . .