The power was out for a whole day.
The battlefield was in turmoil. The eight commanding infantrymen of the front line, numbering 4,000, had advanced to within a hundred steps. On the other side, behind a ditch and fence, archers were stationed, ready for battle.
At this time, the drums were beating loudly. The two commanders on the right wing leaning against the mountain slowly moved forward. The two rows of sword and shield soldiers in front raised their big round shields and moved forward together. Soon, arrows rained down from the air and the ground. Several people in the rectangular formation fell one after another. The heavy infantry in front were holding big wooden shields. They could not die from being shot at a long distance. The injured people screamed in pain. The opposite side fired three consecutive dense arrow rains, and then arrows were shot randomly. The Tiger Guards had advanced fifty or sixty steps.
They were only thirty steps away when suddenly a gong sounded and a commander shouted, "Sword and shield soldiers, squat down!"
The two rows of people in the front immediately squatted down, and the row of archers in the back had already drawn their bows and arrows. Suddenly, a row of more than 50 arrows were shot out at close range, and the archers in the back also shot into the air. The dense arrows suddenly set off a torrential rain on the ground.
The rebels behind the fortifications thought that there were trenches blocking their way, so they deployed light soldiers with archers in front of them. Suddenly, there were ghostly howlings and countless people were hit by arrows.
The two commanders of the Huben Army waved their swords and shouted again after seeing the situation.
The light troops on the rebels' right wing were in chaos, suffering heavy casualties, and they fled backwards in panic.
At this moment, a trumpet sounded in the mountains, followed by the sound of drums, and the infantry on the front line advanced forward.
Soon, a group of sword and shield soldiers from Li Chongjin's army came up and blocked the fence. In the back, there were spearmen and archers, who threw arrows one after another. The right wing of the Tiger Guards also took advantage of the situation to make adjustments, with spearmen moving to the front. Soon, the small drums sounded, the tiger flags leaned forward, the generals shouted, and the soldiers shouted: Kill, kill!
The square formation was shaken immediately, and the people in front rushed forward, bypassing the barricades, jumping directly into the ditch, and then climbing up. The ditch was dug temporarily and was not deep, so most people could climb up.
A strong man in full armor placed his spear on top, pressed his hands on the ground and pushed his body upwards, but his heavy body flipped up nimbly. He immediately raised his spear, stared at a sword and shield man behind the fence, and stabbed it fiercely. The spear stabbed through the bottom edge of the round shield and pierced the man's abdomen, and the scream of pain was deafening.
More soldiers climbed up, and the sword and shield soldiers couldn't reach them because of the fence, so the spearmen behind them squeezed up and fought.
Hong Mulanshan was pushed down by countless people, and everyone shouted again. A large number of Tiger Guards rushed in, and the enemy camp was in chaos, and soon a melee broke out.
The heavy and orderly footsteps from behind sounded among the yellow earth, and the second line of infantry was advancing forward.
Less than an incense stick of time had passed since the battle began, and the front was full of enemies, with thousands of people attacking Li Chongjin's troops head-on. The infantry on both sides had no formation at all, and were fighting in the middle. At this time, close combat martial arts were reflected. There were chaotic soldiers all around, and if you couldn't defeat the enemy soldiers, you would be hacked to death.
A wounded rebel soldier on the ground was holding his leg and screaming, but soon several feet stepped on his upper leg and torso, and the wounded soldier screamed. Finally, a soldier of the Tiger Guards nearby, who could not squeeze to the front, heard the scream and raised his knife to chop him on the head.
The narrow terrain made it impossible for the troops to deploy. Seeing a large group of people fighting, the two armies had a maximum of 2,000 people fighting on all fronts, and the killing efficiency was very limited. The people behind the Tiger Guards went up with shovels and dug soil to fill the trench. Countless people dug soil on both sides of the trench, and the smoke and dust were even greater.
Soon, Li Chongjin's infantry in front of them collapsed. Their casualties were not high, but if they couldn't win the fight head-on, they would run away, which affected their morale. When more people ran away, the front collapsed.
A large number of chaotic soldiers panicked and squeezed into the square formation at the back, which accelerated the unrest in the camp that did not participate in the battle; the imperial guards, who had long been in disarray, rushed in frantically and fought with the rebels behind them. The battle formation was now in chaos, and the dust on the dirt road was thick on a sunny day. The wind blew everywhere, and the generals could no longer figure out what was going on. They only saw people fighting frantically everywhere.
Guo Shao rode his horse and led the immobile infantry and cavalry behind him to cross the ruined fortifications and slowly advance forward.
At this time, the fighting in the narrow valley had gradually subsided. Except for the dead and wounded soldiers of Li Chongjin who surrendered, the rest had escaped from the valley. Parts of the Second and Third Armies of the Huben Army were in disarray at this time, and everyone was probably tired and did not chase too far. The generals were struggling to greet their soldiers and tried to reorganize the army.
Guo Shao led his men to pass the chaotic soldiers and rushed to the front of the valley entrance on horseback, only to see Li Chongjin had deployed his camp there, with infantry in front and cavalry behind.
The infantry and cavalry behind the imperial army also advanced in the hazy dust. The generals saw the tall yellow flags and gathered one after another. Guo Shao said directly: The whole army advanced to the front of the valley, Dong Zunhui attacked the left wing and Shi Yanchao attacked the right wing; if the camp was breached, Yang Biao led the infantry to attack and defeat the rebels.
The generals who were called all clasped their fists and said: "I understand your command!"
A large group of soldiers and horses pressed forward again, the central army blew the trumpet first and then beat the drum. Immediately, the cavalry on both sides came out, and Shi Yanchao led the heavy cavalry to rush forward fiercely. The heavy iron cavalry galloped and the scene was very terrifying.
Dong Zunhui did not charge directly with the heavy cavalry. Instead, he led the light cavalry in a long formation to attack the local square formation first. When the rebels saw the cavalry coming, they defended themselves with dense long spears in front of them, and archers in the middle shot to provide cover.
A large group of light soldiers whizzed past the front of the formation, passing from left to right; Dong Zunhui spread his arms and drew the bow on his horse like a full moon. In this direction, he just held the bow in his left hand and pulled the string with his right hand, which was very convenient. With a snap, a soldier fell to the ground, and the arrow was deeply embedded in the armor. The personal soldiers around Dong Zunhui were superb in martial arts, and they shot arrows one after another with very accurate archery skills. Even when running at high speed, they still shot arrows without missing a target. People in the square formation kept falling down.
Arrows were also flying in the air. Most of the people behind were light cavalry. People were usually fine after being shot by arrows. The elite chain mail had strong defense against projectiles. However, the horses had no armor. When they were unlucky, a horse would neigh and kneel down, throwing the cavalry to the ground. One horse was shot by an arrow but was not injured in the vital parts. It ran wildly through the gap in the enemy camp. It was surrounded by enemy soldiers and was immediately pulled off the horse. Two screams came from the horse. Blood was splashed above the crowd by swords and spears.
Dong Zunhui galloped back and forth, and rushed from the left for the second time. With a snap, the iron arrow flew straight to the face of a soldier holding a spear. The man didn't have time to dodge, and the arrow pierced his cheek, and with the full force of the bow, the arrow tore off a piece of his face. The soldier's face was covered in blood, and he screamed and turned around to run. His horrible face frightened the soldiers behind him.
Bang, bang, bang. The personal soldiers around Dong Zunhui shot arrows in his direction. There were many casualties in that area, and there was immediate chaos and turmoil on a large scale.
Seeing this, Dong Zunhui shouted, "Kill!" He rushed forward with his horse and shot another arrow, killing a soldier who was about to come up from behind. The personal soldiers screamed and passed by Dong Zunhui's position, raised their swords and rushed forward, slashing fiercely from the side from a high position. More horsemen rushed up, slashing and killing crazily, chasing the square soldiers and forcing them to run around.
A knight screamed as a spear pierced through his skirt armor and went into his butt. He rode his horse a few steps and then bumped into a long spear rising diagonally. He fell off his horse, but the horse was still running. A group of infantrymen in front of him dodged one after another.
A group of people surrounded the injured cavalryman and stabbed him with swords and spears, screaming. At this time, several cavalrymen rushed up from behind, and a cavalryman on the side raised his hand and chopped down a man with a sword, and the other infantrymen moved aside and crowded together. With a few swishing sounds, the knight's armor was hit by an arrow, and an arrow penetrated the shoulder armor, and blood oozed out of the armor. At this time, the horse was stabbed in the chest by a spear, and the warhorse knelt on its front hooves, and threw the man off its back.
After a while, they suddenly saw a heavy force of cavalry rushing from behind. The cavalry in front of them held a spear from a high position and with a loud clang, the spear pierced through the infantryman's armor and stabbed into his chest. The infantrymen turned around and fled when they saw the iron horses and iron men coming at them.
A large number of cavalry entered the camp, penetrated the center, and hacked and killed in a circuitous way. The infantry camp soon dispersed, and countless soldiers turned around and ran. The cavalry pressed down from behind and killed, and the troops on the left wing were already surging northward like a tide.
Dong Zunhui let out a long sigh, pulled out a few arrows from his armor, and when he looked up, he saw that the infantry on the right wing were still intact, but the middle of the camp was pierced. Shi Yanchao's heavy cavalry and light cavalry had already rushed far to the valley entrance.
Dong Zunhui looked around and saw that the cavalry in front were chasing the deserters, and the infantry and cavalry were in chaos. A large number of infantry battalions in formation behind the right wing were following Shi Yanchao's route and charging forward.
Rushing forward, Dong Zunhui turned around and shouted to the soldiers around him.
Everyone spurred their horses and followed the chaotic crowd. There were some slow-running infantrymen in the herd who threw away their armor and helmets and ran desperately. Dong Zunhui was not polite either. He rode his horse and shot at the deserters as targets without drawing his bow. A group of horsemen passed by, and the deserters on both sides were like hedgehogs, with countless arrows hitting them.
The cavalry was in front, and the infantry was behind. They chased out of the valley and saw chaos on the open ground on the south bank of the Fen River. A large number of rebels were rushing eastward. The cavalry of Li Chongjin's army fled without firing a single arrow. The road in the distance was blocked by the rebels. Countless people and horses rushed to the road, scrambling to get through, but the traffic jam became more and more serious. Many people dropped their weapons and climbed up the mountain to the south.
Shasha heard a deafening shout from behind. When Dong Zunhui looked back, he saw that the imperial guards had already broken up their ranks and were running towards them in large groups. The entire southeast bank of the Fen River was covered with people running in chaos. From a distance, they looked like a group of frightened ants that had scattered.