Guo Shao did not stay in Jiangzhou, but walked more than twenty miles that day; the next day he was only seventy miles away from Jinzhou.
The total strength of the left wing of the Huben Army was more than 16,000, including more than 7,000 cavalry and 9,000 infantry. On the last day of the march, the infantry ran faster and the cavalry fell behind. The army temporarily called in several thousand horses from the imperial guards. The cavalry infantry did not need to worry about the horsepower at the last moment, as they only needed to conserve their physical strength, so they marched on horseback; while the horsepower of the cavalry's warhorse was very important at the critical moment, the soldiers did not ride it and would rather walk.
By the afternoon, they were ten miles away from Jinzhou. Shi Yanchao sent someone to report that they had defeated the rebels' vanguard cavalry. Guo Shao sent Zuo You to commend him and ordered him to rest on the spot and wait for the decisive battle with the main force tomorrow.
Shi Yanchao was a professional soldier and would not disobey his commander on the battlefield. When he was ambushed in Xinzhou while chasing the Liao army, it was Fu Yanqing who asked him to go.
Attack the enemy tomorrow. Guo Shao put away the various news maps scribbled in the tent and said to the generals who came.
After running nearly a thousand miles, the commander would usually find a way to rest and recuperate; but Guo Shao was already impatient. On the one hand, he was worried that it would give Li Jixun time to pull his troops to the other side of the Fen River, making it difficult to attack; on the other hand, he was confident in the combat effectiveness of the Huben Army.
South of Jinzhou City, after the two armies had deployed, the sun had just risen from the winter. The dust and fog made the red sun unclear, and it seemed to be surrounded by a layer of light fog.
The north wind was icy and biting on his face. Guo Shao's troops were facing the wind and the weather was not good. Moreover, the rebels were well rested and the only advantage he had when he first arrived at the battlefield was speed. After being exposed in Jiangzhou for two days, the troops were close to Li Jixun's troops.
It is always difficult to gain all the advantages in war.
Guo Shao rode forward and looked into the distance. He saw a large half-square formation on the bank of the Fen River, with an estimated diameter of two miles. The square formation was a defensive formation, with infantry of various arms forming a large circle outside and cavalry inside. Because Li Jixun's troops were facing the water, the square formation was only half to concentrate more troops. This formation had poor mobility, but strong defense.
Guo Shao had not systematically studied military tactics and formations, but he was familiar with these conventional formations from actual combat.
In the Battle of Huainan, the Southern Tang army often used square and round formations in field battles; but the most common formation for the Zhou army was the crescent formation, and this time was no exception. The infantry in the middle and the cavalry on both wings were deployed in an arc shape. Guo Shao's central army was stationed on the inside of the arc.
The generals rode their horses to the center of the army, looking back at the enemy soldiers in the distance while talking among themselves.
Everyone, Guo Shao spoke.
Everyone turned around. Guo Shao glanced at Shi Yanchao and was very satisfied with him. Although this guy was not very respectful, he still knew the rules. Guo Shao said: I saw it at a glance. The enemy's square formation defense means that they are afraid of us. We ran so far, didn't we come here to win but to send our heads to the battlefield
Haha, everyone burst into laughter.
Guo Shaodao said: "Ma Quanyi will first cover the middle with bows and arrows; after three rounds of arrows have passed, Shi Yanchao will make a trial attack from the middle right wing to see the situation. As for the rest of the troops, I will send messengers to order them to move."
Understood. Shi Yanchao and Ma Quanyi clasped their fists and said.
Guo Shao waved his hand and said: There is nothing more to say. Whoever is braver will win. Go back to your camp and prepare for battle.
On the tall flagpole of the central army, the yellow flag was crackling in the wind. Guo Shao took a deep breath, put his fingers on the belt ornament at his waist, fumbled for the hilt of the sword, pulled it out quickly, and shouted: All troops advance!
Suddenly, the central army's horn sounded, and the troops began to move forward slowly. The surroundings were dark, and the various formations slowly spread forward like a tide, making it even more lively.
Suddenly, a sound of arrows was heard in the distance from the middle of the arc-shaped camp. When Guo Shao looked up, a swarm of arrows was flying towards him in the air. The generals shouted and stopped.
Drums sounded, and the four rectangular infantry units in front and behind Ma Quanyi's army raised countless bows and arrows. A gong rang, and Ma Quanyi shouted loudly: Release!
Suddenly, black spots like locusts flew obliquely into the air, like a rainstorm.
The two armies fired at each other, and there was a loud noise of screams and shouts.
Shi Yanchao lifted up his iron spear, lifted his horse's belly, and took the lead in moving forward, followed by the heavy cavalry on the left and right; more horse hooves rumbled. The horses gradually accelerated, and Shi Yanchao led his troops to jog forward.
At 150 steps, Shi Yanchao shouted: "Kill!" Immediately, he spurred his horse forward. A large group of cavalry rushed diagonally towards the center of the opposite road like a torrent.
The archers in front had already withdrawn, and the dense spear formation bulged out. The spears in the back row stretched out from the ground. The front of the square formation was densely packed like a hedgehog, but there was a gap between the two square formations. Without saying a word, Shi Yanchao rushed into the empty space in the middle, and the iron horse with a harness in front of him went diagonally into the square formation and rushed straight to the front flank.
With a whoosh, the iron spear in Shi Yanchao's hand slipped out of his hand, and the soldier holding the long spear in front of him screamed. The heavy iron spear, which borrowed the speed of the warhorse, suddenly penetrated the soldier's chest, and the man was knocked back by the impact, knocking down two people in a row. In a flash, Shi Yanchao had rushed into the battle, and one of the three sabers on his back was unsheathed; the back of this saber was not sharpened, and Shi Yanchao skillfully held the blade with his left hand and moved it to the side. There was a click, and a head fell to the side, and blood spurted out like a spring.
The heavy cavalry rushed in from both sides, stabbing, hacking and trampling like crazy in an instant. The spear formation was immediately shaken, and soon collapsed, and countless infantrymen rushed back.
Shi Yanchao broke through the middle and rushed into the formation to ask a personal soldier to report.
Guo Shao could see the scene in the middle from his high horse. There was chaos over there, and a large number of rebel infantry camps had fallen apart. Guo Shao was a little stunned for a moment. The battle had only been going on for less than a cup of tea, and Shi Yanchao was too fierce. It was a bit unexpected. Guo Shao originally asked Shi Yanchao to test the attack.
Moreover, that guy didn't stop at all. The heavy cavalry in the front was charging through the formation, and a large number of cavalry behind were rushed in and engaged in a melee on the periphery.
He ordered Deng Fei's cavalry to attack from the left wing, and to attack Guo Shao from both sides together with Shi Yanchao.
He got the order and sent a messenger to pick up the command flag and run away.
Shi Yanchao led the heavy cavalry of the Crane Horse Army to penetrate the two layers of infantry square formations, but Li Jixun's troops had stored mobile cavalry in the middle of the square formation, and cavalry reinforcements immediately came up. The rebel infantry square formation also reinforced the gap in an attempt to block it.
Suddenly, a strong man on the opposite side shouted: Shi, let me learn a few moves from you, and then he came forward to fight with his spear in hand.
Shi Yanchao cursed and rode forward. When the war horses rushed and crossed, he swung his weapon and slashed at the opponent's head. With a loud bang, the opponent's long spear was violently cut off, and Shi Yanchao's knife also broke directly. He picked up the broken knife and threw it forward, reaching out to pull the knife from his back. Shi Shouxin on the opposite side tilted his body to the side, clamped his legs on the horse's back to avoid the violent throw, and the horse ran to the side.
The cavalrymen around Shi Shouxin came forward to stop them after a while, but Shi Yanchao rushed over on his warhorse, and sparks flew everywhere. He knocked a cavalryman off his horse along with his weapon, then ran forward a few steps and swung his hand, killing another cavalryman off his horse.
Shi Yanchao saw two large cuts on the blade and threw it away. Horse lances were handed over from left and right, and a group of heavy cavalry followed him and charged forward fiercely. Where the cavalry passed, people and horses fell to the ground and no one could stop them. But more mobile forces in the square formation were divided into the left and right wings to encircle them.
Shi Yanchao's troops saw that the front was crowded with people and horses, so they just stopped their horses to rest, slowed down their sprints, and prepared to turn and charge again. At this moment when they had no speed, they saw a black man on the left wing holding two sticks and rushing towards them, shouting: Zhao is here!
Shi Yanchao laughed loudly. Zhao Kuangyin was furious, and his horse had already rushed over, swinging his two sticks and sweeping them diagonally from top to bottom. The wind from the sticks covered Shi Yanchao's entire body.
Zhao Kuangyin was also a familiar general of the Palace Guard not long ago. Shi Yanchao knew the advantages of the double sticks. In addition, he had just thrown away his long weapon when he charged, and the saber in his hand was not as long as the stick, so he could only defend. In a flash, Shi Yanchao suddenly stretched out his hand, and with a bang, he actually grabbed the short stick in front of the stick. He immediately pulled back violently, but the force was in vain. Zhao Kuangyin also reacted quickly, and saw that something was wrong and let go of the stick.
Shi Yanchao was anxious to take advantage of the victory and charge forward, but was blocked by several riders who rushed over, so he had to fight back. There were too many rebels.
Deng Fei's cavalry was unable to break through the left wing infantry line, so Guo Shao immediately shouted: "Order Dong Zunhui to rush to the left wing to support us!"
The messenger was ordered to respond immediately.
The square formation was filled with dust and fog, and a group of cavalrymen were charging around. They were Shi Yanchao's troops. Guo Shao had just watched and saw that Shi Yanchao seemed to want to charge to the left and attack from the front and back with Deng Fei's troops, but he could not get through after many detours. The cavalry's charge speed slowed down after rushing to the enemy camp, and their ability to break through the formation would become weaker and weaker as their horsepower was consumed; if they did not maintain mobility and were surrounded by dense infantry, they would only wait for death.
It was reported that Yang Biao should break through the enemy camp from the right wing and support Shi Yanchao's rear. Guo Shao immediately gave another order.
Soon, a burst of drum beats sounded, and the tiger flags on several large square formations of the Second Army of the Tiger Guards' Left Wing were laid flat forward, and the infantry in formations slowly moved forward. Seven square formations formed a large "品" formation and advanced amidst the arrows, with drum beats and shouts that shook the earth.
In front was a newly deployed spear formation; Yang Biao's vanguard was also equipped with spears and lances, while the two wings were led by sword and shield soldiers. The first phalanx came into contact with the rebels, and both sides stabbed with spears. For a moment, the crowd seemed to be two broken lotus roots, and the dense spears in the middle were like broken lotus roots.
Kill suddenly shouted, and Yang Biao, holding a long iron knife, suddenly pounced forward, his upper body suddenly turned, and the heavy weapon swept across the enemy line. Yang Biao's ferocious horse face was full of murderous aura, and it was like the evil spirit from the underworld had descended to face him.