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It is 150 miles from Xuzhou to Dangshan County. Dangshan is located at the junction of Nanzhili, Shandong and Henan provinces. It has a flat and wide terrain with fertile fields for thousands of miles.
Unfortunately, because it was the junction of the Qin and Qing forces, small-scale conflicts between the two sides occurred from time to time, and almost all local people fled to Xuzhou.
The fertile fields were no longer cultivated and were overgrown with tobacco. The villages and houses were either burned down or collapsed due to disrepair. There was no one living anywhere and the scene was desolate.
It took Hao Yaoqi's 10,000 vanguards two days to reach the vicinity of Dangshan County. The black flags and black armor surged forward like a dark cloud covering the ground.
The top of the character "Qin" written in seal script on the flag looks like a bow and arrow, with a sharp arrow about to be shot out.
Time and space change, the world goes round and round, and in a trance, people seem to see again the black iron stream from Xianyang two thousand years ago, the powerful iron army that swept across the six kingdoms, attacked the Huns in the north, and the barbarians in the south, and was invincible.
Under the scorching sun, the black iron stream rolled forward, the yellow dust was endless, the flags covered the sky, and the uniforms of all the soldiers were wet with sweat. Lu Shan, who was on the battlefield for the first time, wiped his sweat and asked Shang Yi beside him: "Captain Shang, are you nervous?"
Shang Yi looked at him, licked his cracked lips and replied, "Nervous."
Shang Yi was a hero who had made great military achievements. He had fought many battles with the King of Qin, and the soldiers admired him very much. Lu Shan thought he would comfort himself that there was nothing to be nervous about, but he actually admitted that he was nervous, which surprised Lu Shan.
"Captain Shang, you must be lying to me. Why are you so nervous?"
"In fact, everyone would be nervous when facing a life-and-death battle, including the Jiannu."
Rookie Lu Shan couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief after hearing this. It turns out that everyone was nervous. I thought I was the only one who was nervous. Thinking of this, the nerves that had been tense since the start of the expedition actually relaxed a lot.
Shang Yi smiled secretly, and then said: "The Jiannu are probably more than just nervous now, they are scared, they must be scared to death."
"Captain Shang, how do you know?"
"Because now it is us who are going to defeat them."
Lu Shan said with a hint of understanding: "That's right, if they are not afraid, they will come to attack us."
"Hahaha... ... "
Tang Lu, who was standing nearby, also came over and said, "Captain Shang, tell us about the time when you followed the King of Qin into battle."
Lu Shan immediately agreed, "Yes, yes, yes. Captain Shang, please tell me. It's a pity that I didn't catch up with the King of Qin to fight together."
Lu Shan's face was full of regret. It was the dream of every Qin soldier to be able to fight together with the King of Qin. It was a pity that the King of Qin did not personally command the Northern Expedition this time.
"Didn't I tell you all this?"
"Captain Shang, please tell us more. We want to hear more."
Just as Shang Yi was about to speak, he saw a scout running back from the front. He reported loudly to Hao Yaoqi: "General Hao, the Qing army is withdrawing from Dangshan County and setting fire to the city, trying to burn it down."
Hao Yaoqi was very angry when he received the report. He ordered the army to speed up and sent several hundred cavalrymen to gallop towards Dangshan County first.
As soon as the order was issued, the 10,000 Qin soldiers began to run in small steps. The sound of their footsteps was like waves hitting the shore, and the clanging of armors made a sound. A large cloud of dust rose up to the sky.
When the Qin army advanced to about ten miles away from Dangshan County, they could see thick smoke rising from the direction of the county. The vanguard commander Hao Yaoqi was furious about this. He was really worried that the Qing army would adopt such a strategy in every county.
If the Qing army set a fire every time they evacuated a county, it would not only cause a huge disaster but would also be extremely detrimental to the Qin army's advance.
However, given the brutal nature of the Qing Dynasty and the difficulties they are facing, we cannot rule out the possibility that they will fight to the death.
Although Dangshan was just a dilapidated small county and its people had mostly fled, the burning would not have caused much impact, but once this precedent was set, it was always a worrying thing.
The Qing army originally stationed in Dangshan was led by Melezhang Jing Duolun. After receiving Duoduo's order, he set fire and hurriedly withdrew from Dangshan, but he did not flee far away. Instead, he prepared to harass the Qin army all the way and slow down its marching speed.
The several hundred cavalrymen sent by Hao Yaoqi encountered Duolun's 500 troops before they reached Dangshan County. It was four hundred against five hundred, all cavalrymen. The Qin army guerrilla Lu Yun did not hesitate, drew his sword, pointed, and led his troops to rush directly towards the enemy.
"Brothers, this is the first battle of the Northern Expedition. We must demonstrate the might of the Qin army. The King of Qin is watching us, and the people of the country are watching us. Even if we die in battle, we must take a Jiannu with us. Kill!"
Lu Yun roared, and the hundreds of Qin soldiers behind him rushed forward without hesitation. The iron hooves were like thunder, and the flying dust was like dragons, rolling and surging.
However, Duolun obviously knew that Hao Yaoqi's army was behind him, and did not want to fight Lu Yun to the death to avoid being entangled.
When the two sides were two hundred steps apart, Duolun gave an order and the five hundred Qing soldiers suddenly split into two, drawing two arcs, encircling the Qin army, and using their superb riding and archery skills, they shot at the Qin army in the middle.
It is difficult for cavalry to complete the overall separation and turn while galloping;
In terms of horsemanship, the current Qin army is indeed inferior to the others. Lu Yun did not expect Duolun to suddenly do this, and the prepared frontal attack turned into an encirclement on both wings.
The powerful arrows of the Qing army came like locusts, hitting the round shields of the Qin army with a clang. Some of the arrows could not be blocked. With the sound of "pu pu" entering the flesh, the war horses fell to the ground with a bang, tumbling out, and there was a loud bang of collision.
As the two armies passed each other, the Qing army suffered almost no losses, while Lu Yun suffered more than 20 casualties. The Qing army taunted the Qin army with bursts of "Woo-hoo!"
Hundreds of Qin soldiers were furious, and Lu Yun regarded this as a great humiliation.
He ordered the remaining troops to slow down, gave some hurried instructions, then turned his horses around and charged towards the Qing army again.
This time the Qin army was divided into small groups of ten people each, just like a pack of wolves, without any formation at all;
When Duolun saw this, he couldn't help but laugh proudly. The Qin army was really not knowing how to live or die.
With the Qin army's formation, the Qing cavalry only needed to suddenly split into two or three groups when approaching, and they could quickly cut the enemy into pieces and then kill them separately.
But Duolun underestimated the Qin army's desire to win the first battle and their courage to die after being humiliated.
The two sides approached each other again, and every Qin soldier gritted his teeth, his eyes blazing with anger. They formed groups of ten riders, spread out widely, and covered the enemy like a large net.
After approaching two hundred steps, the Qing army split into three groups again, preparing to cut off the Qin army.
The iron hooves of both sides continued to bombard the earth, making a deafening sound, and at the same time raised thick smoke and dust that covered the sky and the sun.
"Shoot!" Duolun shouted, and the Qing army drew their bows and arrows again, shooting them into the air;
But because the Qin army was too scattered, the casualties caused by their diffuse shooting were limited.
The Qin army clung to their horses, lit fire sticks against the wind, and rushed towards the Qing army fearlessly.
As the two armies approached rapidly, the war horses neighed sadly, and the Qing army's point-blank shooting became more and more accurate. Qin soldiers were constantly shot by arrows and fell off their horses, dying heroically, but none of the remaining soldiers retreated. They rushed towards the Qing army like a pack of wolves pouncing on their prey, ready to die.
Looking down from the sky, the Qing army was like three torrents, fanning out, while the Qin army was like scattered stars, constantly converging on the Qing army.
Closer and closer, the horses' hooves were flying, their manes were dancing, the arrows from the Qing army kept flying close to their bodies, but Lu Yun ignored them;
Finally within 20 steps, Lu Yun quickly ignited the thunder bomb and threw it out fiercely;
The fuse of the thunder bomb was very short. Before it hit the ground, it exploded with a loud "boom" above the Qing army. The flying shrapnel instantly killed three Qing soldiers. The three riders screamed and fell off their horses at the same time. The war horses behind them could not avoid it and trampled on them with violent iron pedals, splashing blood everywhere.
Boom! Boom! Boom... ... ...
Then, countless thunder bombs exploded everywhere, with billows of gunpowder filling the air. The Qing army, which intended to split the Qin army, was blown to pieces instead. Wounded horses neighed and jumped around, broken arms flew in the air, and screams, sounds of falling to the ground, and explosions intertwined like waves.
Unable to avoid the attack, the Qin army simply crashed into the enemy's formation, detonated all the thunder bombs, and perished together with the enemy.
The Qing army suffered a horrific loss after this round of attack, with corpses of people and horses strewn all over the ground and blood everywhere. At least two hundred of the five hundred soldiers were lost in this encounter.
And this is not the end. The Qin army was divided into small groups and could turn very flexibly. After the first round of bombing, they quickly turned around and kept chasing.
The Qing army, which was terrified by the explosion, saw the Qin army chasing them again. They were so terrified that they whipped their horses desperately and fled.
Stimulated by hatred and victory, the Qin army was like a pack of hungry wolves, chasing relentlessly and exploding as soon as they bit. The explosions were one after another, causing the Qing army to scream and scatter, pissing and shitting...
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.(To be continued..)
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