From last night to this morning, for more than seven hours, the Gao family army led by Zheng Ziyu was attacking with an indomitable momentum, but when the fine cavalry of the Black Banner Army pierced the Gao family army's back, the roles of the offensive and defensive sides immediately changed Variety. Xiahou Baichuan, who had been keeping a close eye on the battle situation, knew that the opportunity had come, and immediately ordered to beat the drums, and the Black Banner Army changed from defense to counterattack with all its strength in an instant.
Jingqi was like two knives, one on the left and the other on the right, pierced into Zheng Ziyu's ribs.
The pain was worse than being stabbed in the ribs with a knife.
Zheng Ziyu knew that the Black Banner Army had a very powerful cavalry. As a general who has led the army for many years without a certain understanding of the enemy, he was undoubtedly a failed general. He just didn't expect that the light cavalry of the Black Banner Army was so sharp. The defensive formation set up by the rear team was broken by an offensive like a pack of wolves biting.
Zheng Ziyu watched helplessly as a fine cavalry of the Black Banner Army pounced from the flanks, and the archers formed an array and began to prepare for the impact of the cavalry with a rain of arrows. However, when the cavalry came into range, it suddenly turned around, and after making a beautiful and huge arc, it changed from directly facing the infantry to passing by.
The feathered arrows sent out by the archers of the Gao family army immediately reduced the lethality too much for the cavalry.
The fine cavalry who had changed direction brushed past the infantry phalanx and returned fire with their crossbows. The archers who also had low defense but far less movement speed than the cavalry suffered heavy casualties. After the cavalry passed by, almost no one was left in the first two rows of archers.
The cavalry passing by the phalanx made the general commanded by the Gao family army not know how to issue military orders. According to the habit of the soldiers of the Sui Dynasty against the cavalry, the cavalry rushed over. The front phalanx completely blocked the enemy's cavalry with a dense forest of spears. Once caught in the gun formation, the light cavalry became a living target for everyone to slaughter.
But the elite cavalry of the Black Banner Army did not do that, and the general who had already raised the command flag to issue an order to change formation stopped abruptly. The enemy didn't rush over at all. If this would change, it would be tantamount to letting the pikemen die. The enemy flitted past like this, and the pikemen had no strength to fight back, not as good as the arrow formation.
Just in such a trance, Gao's army's defense was breached immediately.
No one thought that there was another cavalry behind the fine cavalry that brushed past the phalanx. The first cavalry was purely to confuse Gao's army's feint attack. The moment they passed sideways, a cavalry suddenly rushed out from the smoke and slammed into Gao's army's arrow formation like a wedge.
Archers are almost defenseless arms.
No melee weapons, no defensive armor.
The moment the cavalry stepped in, they had no choice but to turn and run. However, what the elite cavalry of the Black Banner Army wanted was for them to turn around and run away. Gao's army has tens of thousands of horses, and the formation is thick enough. This thickness can be ignored if the heavy cavalry charges, but not the light cavalry.
They had to force the archers of Gao's army to retreat, relying on the enemy to disrupt their own formation.
"Blow the horn, don't go too fast, and drive the enemy's archers back!"
The cavalry general ordered loudly, and the orderly immediately blew the horn. After hearing the sound of the horn, the light cavalry began to change formation, quickly dispersed from the initial conical formation, and turned into small groups composed of more than a hundred cavalry. After these squads were dispersed, the front line was wide enough, and they used sabers to drive the enemy's archers back like herding sheep.
Zheng Ziyu's eyes were bloodshot.
At this moment, he actually knew that defeat could not be stopped. If he can still mobilize some archers, use feather arrows to block the fleeing archers, and tear up a vacuum, the pikemen behind will have time to form a square formation. Once the spear array is formed, those light cavalry who only have leather armor will never dare to rush over again.
but no
The continuous attack allowed him to use his forces to the limit.
Now, he finally understood that the opponent's general, Xiahou Baichuan, had not used the light cavalry until now. Xiahou Baichuan was waiting for him, and when he basically mobilized all his troops, he would counterattack at this time, and the power of the light cavalry would be brought into full play. At this time, more than half of his troops are attacking in front, and the troops left behind are performing their own duties. Mobilizing any one to make up for it is equivalent to leaving a bigger loophole for the enemy.
"Xiahou Baichuan!"
Zheng Ziyu let out a roar, and spurted out a big mouthful of blood with a wow.
There is no doubt that in this contest he lost. It seemed that he had forced Xiahou Baichuan to a point where he had no strategy to use, and could only fight desperately with swords and guns. In such a fight, Zheng Ziyu knew that his team was elite enough to not be afraid of any opponent.
But it was this point that Xiahou Baichuan took advantage of.
Xiahou Baichuan has been allowing him to attack, even at the expense of compressing the defense line to create the illusion that it is about to collapse, thus forcing Zheng Ziyu to invest more troops in the attack. This is a risk. Once the shrinking formation is out of control, it may be really broken by the enemy.
Xiahou Baichuan defeated him with his back against the cliff.
Zheng Ziyu's body shook a few times, and his eyes turned black.
Since leading the army, he has not experienced such a fiasco.
The rear team was breached, and the front attacking team was suppressed by the counterattack of the Black Banner Army. It didn't take long for the Black Banner Army to form a double team. Zheng Ziyu lost the battle completely. It wasn't until the last moment that Zheng Ziyu knew where Xiahou Baichuan put his trump card, and he lost. Xiahou Baichuan knew where his trump card was from the beginning.
…
…
The soldiers cleaning up the battlefield carefully checked, not letting any wounded go. They opened their eyes one by one, rummaging through the pile of dead people for companions who might survive. The soldiers of the Black Banner Army have been instilled with a spirit from the very beginning, never giving up on their comrades.
There were too many wounded, Fang Jie sent almost all the military doctors from each battalion over.
The fierceness of this battle was even more frightening than the battle against Li Yin City. It was tough, of course, but it was a siege, and people knew it was going to be tough from the start. This was a field battle on the plains. It was the first time that the Black Banner Army fought against an army on the plains in these years.
The other party relied entirely on the will of a qualified soldier to fight. In the case of the Black Banner Army with artillery and cavalry, regardless of casualties, they launched offensives that were almost suicide attacks again and again. Especially when the heavy armored infantry was sent to the front of the Black Banner Army's line, at least five or six thousand Gaojia Army infantry died in battle. Use their corpses as a barrier to block the artillery for the hoplites.
In fact, if the fight continues like this, Zheng Ziyu will lose.
Xiahou Baichuan took off the blood-stained iron helmet and threw it to his own soldiers, and strode into the place where the wounded were treated to visit the wounded. This battle is not a normal enemy at all, and Xiahou Baichuan still can't understand why Zheng Ziyu has to use such a decisive battle regardless of the cost.
The Gao family army was behind in terms of weapons, and the quality of the soldiers was almost the same. The number of soldiers killed and injured was far more than that of the black flag army. As a general who has led the army for many years and has experienced many battles, Zheng Ziyu did not stop at all. the meaning of. It was he who was pushing his soldiers to death with both hands. Even if he hadn't succeeded in the surprise attack of the Black Banner Army Jingqi later, he would have lost, but the Black Banner Army's losses would have been greater.
"Zheng Ziyu is a lunatic."
Xiahou Baichuan scolded, he can only explain the emergence of this war by saying that Zheng Ziyu has gone crazy.
Because a rational person would not use troops like this.
"General!"
A soldier ran over quickly and said out of breath: "The cavalry has besieged Zheng Ziyu in a small village. There are no more than four hundred people around Zheng Ziyu."
"good!"
Xiahou Baichuan was shocked, put on his iron helmet and mounted his horse again, and followed the soldier to the place where Zheng Ziyu was besieged. This is a small village four or five miles away from the main battlefield, and the people in the village have already fled. After years of fighting, abandoned villages like this in the north abound.
In the village, Zheng Ziyu and a small number of soldiers are still doing their last resistance.
When Xiahou Baichuan arrived, the Black Banner Army had already entered the village, and every street was full of corpses. Those fearless soldiers of Zheng Ziyu exchanged their own flesh and blood for even one more minute of survival for the commander. Not only that, they also use such determination to defend the dignity of their soldiers.
Zheng Ziyu and the remaining dozens of soldiers were trapped in a large courtyard, which was already surrounded by the black flag army.
Xiahou Baichuan got off his horse outside the courtyard, looked at the soldiers on the courtyard wall who looked haggard and tired but still showed no fear, and couldn't help feeling a little respect in his heart.
Such an opponent is indeed respectable.
"General Zheng is here, I'm Xiahou Baichuan, can I say a few words!"
Xiahou Baichuan stood outside and shouted loudly.
With a creak, the courtyard door was pulled open from the inside. Zheng Ziyu in blood armor came out slowly holding the horizontal knife that had already been broken into countless gaps, and stood at the door looking at Xiahou Baichuan.
"General Xiahou, at this moment, do you still want to persuade him to surrender?"
Zheng Ziyu raised his jaw slightly and asked.
"General Gao Jie, Xiahou dare not persuade him to surrender."
Xiahou Baichuan clasped his fists and said.
Zheng Ziyu's complexion changed slightly, and he suddenly threw the knife aside and clasped his fists: "Thank you General Xiahou, I have an opponent like you in life, even if I die, I have no regrets."
Xiahou Baichuan said: "I just don't understand, why is the general so decisive? If the general takes every step, it will not be easy for me to win."
Zheng Ziyu laughed out loud, and the laughter was full of desolation.
"Your lord sent Gao Kaitai a lot of letters, all of which were written to him by the lieutenant general of the Gao family's army. One of them was a letter of begging for surrender written by me. The humble words are disgusting. I didn't write that letter. Gao Kaitai or In order to show that he believed in me, or to tell me what he already knew, he sent someone to send me the letter... The master doubted and the minister died, such a thing happened to me... I have followed him for many years, but I can't compare Your lord's trick to divorce."
"I will not surrender and will not betray Gao Kaitai. Even though he doubts me, I always regard him as my lord. But, what is the point of my life? Since I have to die, I will die cleanly and happily, so that my confused lord can see Look, who am I, Zheng Ziyu!"
Xiahou Baichuan sighed: "General... on the battlefield, there have been so many conspiracies and plots, why are you so hard to think about it, and you have to drag tens of thousands of troops to die together."
"They are all my soldiers, and I will take them with me when I die."
Zheng Ziyu shook his head: "You can say that I am selfish, but this is not my ambition alone, but the ambition of tens of thousands of sons under my command. I can die, and my subordinates can die, but don't lose this ambition!"
After saying this, Zheng Ziyu bent down and picked up the horizontal knife on the ground.
"General Xiahou, you are luckier than me. You followed the right person... I didn't."
He looked up to the sky and laughed loudly, stabbed the horizontal knife into his lower abdomen and twisted it hard.
In the yard, the remaining dozens of soldiers also committed suicide one after another.