The army marched after hearing the drum, and stopped when the drum stopped.
Nearly a million troops from both sides lined up outside Xiping City, the flags stretched for dozens of miles, and the iron armor stretched like a vast ocean.
The general of the rebel army, Shi Lei, turned his head and glanced at Li Yuanshan, who was surrounded by heavy cavalry, with something special in his eyes. Li Yuanshan ascended the throne and proclaimed him the Great Zhou Dynasty, and made him Duke of Su, ranking first among the princes of all states, and having the highest title among generals. Although this title is like a child's play, he is still dissatisfied with this title.
Wan Yansong and Zhou Dingguo were Li Yuanshan's personal soldiers. When Shi Lei was regarded as the leader of the Seven Tigers, Wan Yansong was just a personal soldier and Zhou Dingguo was just a brigade leader. After Li Yuanshan raised his troops, Wan Yansong was promoted to rank four general, and Zhou Dingguo was promoted to rank five general.
In the battle that attacked Zuo Xiaowei in Mandu Banner, Wan Yansong was the first to lead troops into Zuo Xiaowei's camp. After this battle, he was promoted by Li Yuanshan to be a third-rank general, on the same rank as Shi Lei.
Shi Lei had followed Li Yuanshan for more than fifteen years, and had been a fourth-rank general for more than seven years. He used to think that he was the number one under Li Yuanshan, but later he realized that Li Yuanshan had always been wary of the Seven Tigers. Shi Lei knew that when Li Yuanshan raised his troops, the Seven Tigers really did not approve, but in the end they didn't leave and chose to follow. Because of this, Li Yuanshan began to cultivate new cronies, and this change made Seven Tigers feel uncomfortable.
That's why up to now, Shi Lei is the only one of the Seven Tigers standing by Li Yuanshan's side.
Wu Kui was defeated and killed, Chu Feiyun left without saying goodbye after Li Yuanshan became king, Yin Poshan and Meng Wansui each led an army and no longer listened to Li Yuanshan's restraint.
As if sensing Shi Lei's gaze, Li Yuanshan in heavy armor looked towards him. Shi Lei's eyes flickered for a moment, and he turned his head to look in another direction. Li Yuanshan suddenly felt ashamed at this moment, and couldn't help but look at Shi Lei a few more times. Of the seven tiger generals, only Shi Lei is left to follow him, but is he being too unsympathetic to him
This thought flashed in Li Yuanshan's mind, and disappeared without a trace in less than a second.
He looked at the formation of the Sui army on the opposite side, took a deep breath and then gave the order: "Blow the horn, let Shi Lei lead 50,000 troops to attack, and the left and right wings will feint."
Following his order, the whining horn sounded immediately.
Shi Lei withdrew his thoughts, looked left and right at his trusted generals and nodded, everyone clasped their fists together, their faces determined. Shi Lei pointed the spear in his hand forward, and the 50,000 army slowly started.
Great weather, great venue.
It seems that today is especially suitable for a decisive battle.
Shi Lei's rebel army began to speed up, and the team without cavalry moved forward in an orderly manner. When they rushed forward, the formation was still in order, which shows that Shi Lei's army is quite strict. Of the hundreds of thousands of people that Li Yuanshan allocated to him at the beginning, now there are only 50,000 left. These people are all fighting over the mountains of corpses and blood. Be stronger.
Seeing the rebels attacking, Jin Shixiong waved the command flag, and the archers in front of them put the arrow pots at their feet, and they could easily draw out the feather arrows when their hands were down. The lookout stood on a high place and kept waving flags, while the soldiers below loudly reported the distance of the rebels.
The emperor leaned back on the blanket-covered seat, resting his chin with one hand and squinting his eyes.
"very good."
He said two words lightly.
Su Buwei bowed his head and said: "This servant does not understand military affairs, so I don't know what His Majesty's praise is referring to?"
The emperor smiled and said: "I have entrusted this task to Jin Shixiong. What I am most worried about is that Jin Shixiong failed to forget the defeat in Mandu Banner more than three years ago. As a general, if his reason is blocked by resentment in his heart, then his command It will be a mess. Just now I was worried that Jin Shixiong would give the order to attack, and I was relieved to see him defending. At this time, there is no need to exchange lives one-on-one with the rebels. Those rebel lives are worthless, and Li Yuanshan's life is also worthless. It is worthless, and it is unwise to rush forward to face the battle. Use strong troops to defend against weak troops, and then wait for an opportunity to counterattack, and you will be invincible. Jin Shixiong's leadership is still as safe as ever, so I say it is very good."
"Archers, shoot the arrows!"
The archers and generals commanding in the front gave orders loudly, and the archers in the front row put a feathered arrow with dyed red feathers on the bowstring, which was much longer and heavier than ordinary feathered arrows. Backing up the bow and throwing, a row of feathered arrows was sent out neatly. About two hundred and thirty or forty steps away, the feather arrow poked the ground, and the wavy red line was clearly visible.
The watchman standing on a high place stared at the row of marked arrows, and immediately waved the banner after seeing the rebel column pass by.
"Throw!"
The general gave the order, and the arrow array was launched immediately. Tens of thousands of feathered arrows flew into the air densely, drew a beautiful arc and then fell down. The covering blow of the thrown feather arrows fell into the crowd of rebels like a rainstorm hitting the beach, and countless small holes were smashed out in an instant. Each small pit represents a rebel soldier who was shot and fell to the ground.
"Raise the shield! Raise the shield!"
The rebel general shouted loudly: "Run, run faster! Let the arrows fall behind you, hurry up! Let me run!"
As the rebel soldiers ran forward frantically, the formation began to become disorganized. But this kind of scatter is not an unorganized scatter, but a deliberate distance to avoid feather arrows. There are not enough shields. If they gather together and charge forward at this time, more people will only be sent to hell by the feather arrows.
"Ballista!"
The general of the Sui Army raised his right hand high, and then pressed down violently: "Let it go!"
call!
Following his order, hundreds of heavy crossbows flew out flatly. The speed of the heavy crossbows was much faster than that of the feathered arrows, and the strength of the ropes was far beyond that of manpower. To attack distant enemies, archers have to throw feather arrows to cause damage, but the heavy crossbow flies forward parallel to the ground.
Thin iron is the feather, and fine steel is the front.
When the arm-thick heavy crossbow was shot, it was like cutting wheat with a sickle, knocking over the front of the rebels. The strength of the heavy crossbow was so strong that the shield could not resist it, even if it was wrapped in a layer The thick leather shield would be easily shattered by the heavy crossbow at the moment of contact. As for the soldiers behind the shield, there was no way out.
A heavy crossbow shattered the shield and passed through the chest of the rebel soldier, leaving a blood hole the size of a bowl on the chest. There were several wounds extending outward around the blood hole. It was the heavy crossbow. Feather traces. Under this kind of strength, the leather armor on the rebel soldiers was like a piece of window paper, which could be broken with a single poke.
The heavy crossbow passing through the body of the rebel was only blocked and slowed down, and then crashed into the body of the second rebel soldier. The crossbow cut off the soldier's arm from the shoulder, and he was still holding the steel knife His arm fell to the ground with a thud. His body was hit and fell backwards, and the wailing sounded immediately. The soldiers who rushed up from behind gave way one after another, but some still couldn't dodge and stepped on the wounded soldier.
He shouted frantically, but he couldn't stop the trampling from his comrades.
Soon, his shouts were drowned in the crowd and gradually lost his voice.
…
…
Because the speed of infantry is far less than that of light cavalry, archers can shoot six arrows calmly after the enemy comes into range, and even the weakest people can send five feather arrows out. Shi Lei's 50,000 rebels were wiped out again and again by the rain of arrows, and almost none of the four or five rows of soldiers who rushed to the front survived. The sound of the feathered arrows falling and hitting the shield was continuous, mixed with the muffled groans and painful howls of the person hit by the arrows.
The rebels fell layer by layer, and the people behind immediately filled up. For the attacking side, there is no effective way to isolate the lethality of the enemy's feathered arrows. The most effective way is to rush forward with the shield on, and run as fast as you can. The pikemen and simple swordsmen who rushed to the front had nothing to cover them at all, and their defense against feather arrows relied entirely on their leather armor and luck.
As a spearman whose marching speed is second only to the cavalry, if he wants to survive the blow of the arrow array, he can only keep his head down and run forward regardless.
The equipment of the pikemen is the simplest, only a piece of leather armor for the upper body, and the weapons in their hands are also the cheapest. The cost of a finely crafted long lance can be exchanged for hundreds of long spears.
While sacrificing defense power, he exchanged for the fastest speed.
The horn sounded again, and the imperial army began to change formation. The ballista had to fall back after firing two rounds, because the movement speed was too slow to risk firing a third heavy crossbow. The archers also began to retreat, handing over the position to their comrades. Although the quality of these soldiers could not be compared with that of the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty, the fighting in the past year had made them qualified soldiers. There was no confusion when the archers retreated. They retreated in a row, and the space left between the two rows allowed the soldiers behind to fill up as soon as possible.
The transformation was completed in just two minutes. With the long spear and giant shield moving forward, the archer and ballista were out of danger. But they didn't dare to stay, once the archers were close to each other, they had to withdraw to the rear of the army formation, otherwise they would block the follow-up troops from supporting the front formation.
The giant shield as tall as a man was poked on the ground with a bang, and the people holding the giant shields were all strong men with big arms and round waists. After poking the giant shields on the ground, they squatted down, clenched the handle of the shield with both hands, and carried it on their shoulders. Hold the shield. Behind each layer of giant shields is a row of long lances. They put the long lances on the giant shields, ready to meet the impact of the enemy at any time.
"kill!"
Shi Lei waved the horizontal knife and shouted in a hoarse voice. The rebel soldiers who had finally stopped being baptized by the rain of arrows understood that this was the time to fight desperately. The rebel soldiers who had been suppressed for too long knew that life and death depended on this battle, so they Outburst of unprecedented courage.
boom
The torrent formed by the rebels slammed into the embankment formed by the giant shield, immediately stirring up a wave of blood. It is conceivable that the giant shield bears the impact. Although they are behind the giant shield, they are not safe. Once knocked down, without any weapons or armor, they will immediately become the target of the enemy to vent their anger.
Chang Leng kept poking forward with his hands, shouting, and everyone's eyes were covered with a layer of blood. They don't look at the face of the enemy on the opposite side, they just mechanically poke the long spear out. Few of the people who are still alive after the war still vomit or become incontinent due to the flying blood.
Human life is the most worthless at this time.
As more and more rebel soldiers squeezed in, the first giant shield was overthrown, and the shield bearers, who had no weapons or armor, had no other choice but to meet the enemy's blade. The Sui army commanders behind resisted desperately, but they had no way out and were soon submerged by the torrent. Two people who are desperate for life hug each other to die, just like a pair of old friends who haven't seen each other hug for a long time, so tight.
The main theme of the battlefield has never changed.
dead
Life goes by, so quickly.