At daybreak, the battlefield was already in turmoil. The Shu army had indeed occupied Sanma Mountain. Guo Shao felt that Wang Zhaoyuan was actually quite thoughtful and not a particularly foolish Wolong.
As usual, all the generals gathered in the central army for a final meeting before the battle. Guo Shao's martial arts were basically useless now, and he never thought about going into battle himself, but he had to say a few words before the battle.
A few people had just reached the camp gate. Guo Shao looked up into the distance. On the rolling hillsides, between the dark mountain shadows and the slightly white sky, those black dots should be the densely packed troops of the Shu army. There were also flagpoles and flags, which could be mistaken for tree shadows if you didn't look carefully.
Everyone turned their eyes to him. Guo Shao was not in a very good mood at the moment. He had just recovered from a cold and had not had a good rest recently. He felt a little dizzy early in the morning. But he could not act listless at this time.
You are all warriors, and this is all you can do in this life. Who wants to go home and farm? Guo Shao said.
A group of military officers laughed after hearing this, and stood in front of Guo Shao in a mess, all of them were quite casual at this time.
Guo Shao added: "Since you are in this business, you must do it well. Your family's wealth depends on fighting on the battlefield, and the country's strength also depends on killing on the battlefield. If you think that you can live comfortably by occupying a position, look at what the soldiers of Shu are like now. It's time to show the prestige of the Great Zhou Imperial Army and make achievements.
He drew his sword from his waist, raised it to his head and shouted: The Zhou army will win!
The expressions of the victorious generals were startled and they all echoed the sentiment.
Guo Shao gave the order: Everyone return to their camps and fight according to last night's deployment.
The generals dispersed. Guo Shao took the reins, mounted his horse, and rode out of the camp with a group of horsemen, running in the middle of the frontal formations of the偃月阵. While he was riding, he shouted: Which unit of the Great Zhou army is the most elite and best at fighting
At this time, the tiger flags were flying everywhere. When the soldiers heard Guo Shao's shout, they responded noisily: "Hu Ben Army, Hu Ben Army!"
Guo Shao shouted again: We have come here over mountains and ridges, thousands of miles away, are we here to play
The soldiers and horses in the large army that the war horses passed by shouted one after another. The shouts and noises resounded throughout the battle formation, and everyone's emotions gradually became high. Guo Shao ran through the gaps between the square formations, repeating one sentence over and over again: I will watch which group of soldiers and horses are willing to fight for their lives and which group of soldiers and horses are afraid of death. The brave are reused, and the cowards are eliminated.
Amid the commotion, the sound of horns and drums gradually rang out, and the Zhou army quickly began to move forward without saying anything. More than 10,000 soldiers were on the uneven ground, and the crescent formation was like a large black arc, slowly surging forward; like a steel torrent, slow but unstoppable.
Guo Shao ordered his soldiers to go ahead, and then he looked back at the hillside called Sanma Mountain. He could not see behind the hill, but he knew that it was Kuizhou. Kuizhou was the throat of Sichuan from the east, and it was the most important fortress in Shu. If Kuizhou was taken, the gate of Shu would be open.
On the broad front, at the front was Yang Biao's army, which led more than 2,000 people from the First Army, using the most elite infantry as the blade. The drums and trumpets before the battle had already sounded, but they were still a little distance away from the Shu army, and the various commanders were marching forward together.
Now everyone was silent. In the dark and moist mist, only the clanking of plate armor rubbing against chain mail could be heard. Finally, a big man with an axe on his back said, "General Yang, I will rush to the front and help you break through the enemy lines. If I succeed, General Yang will say a few good words for me."
Zhang Dutou Zhou Tong hurriedly stopped him and said that General Yang would recommend credit to anyone who made contributions. Is there any need to say more
Humph, Yang Biao was riding on his horse, holding an iron knife, with a ferocious face and ignoring him.
The group continued to move forward in silence. The sun had not yet risen. The mist on the ground was hazy, adding a sense of mystery. Zhang Jiankui took out a piece of rag from his arms and slowly wrapped it around his right palm.
After a while, the shouting of the Shu army on the opposite side was getting closer and closer. It seemed that someone was encouraging the morale of the army. Waves of shouting surged in the fog like waves. Yang Biao fell off his horse and mixed in with the infantry. Zhang Jiankui, Zhou Tong and others saw this and thought Yang Biao was quite smart, so they followed suit and mixed in with the soldiers.
The flags of the Shu army were vaguely visible in the fog, and the hillside was crowded with people.
At this moment, Zhang Jiankui suddenly felt a slight heaviness on his head, and a moment later he heard the sound of arrows hitting iron. He reached out and put the visor on his face. Cough cough cough There was a cough from behind, but no one spoke.
Then he heard a whistling sound in the fog. Zhang Jiankui buried his head and did not dare to look up. The mask was the weakest defense point. He thought that although it would not be so lucky, he was afraid of being shot in the face. The crisp sound of "dangdangdang" came from all directions amid the heavy footsteps.
Everyone just walked in formation and no one fired back with bows and arrows.
Suddenly, a crossbow as thick as an arm flew in from the sky. With a bang, a soldier fell backwards to the ground, holding his thigh and screaming in pain. My leg is broken!
Zhang Jiankui turned his head and saw large groups of people on the left and right wings slowly following behind him. Due to the fog, he could not see the end on either side.
Yang Biao shouted: "Hurry up! If anyone retreats in the face of battle, don't blame me for turning my back on you!"
Already on the hillside, the first commander of the front army deployed the troops and formed a 20-row deep square formation to attack upwards. The two armies were less than 50 steps apart, and arrows rained down from overhead. From time to time, people in the front row were injured, but the offensive of the Zhou army's heavy infantry vanguard did not weaken at all. The first three rows had already prepared their bows and crossbows, and were about to approach for a round of shocking the Shu soldiers.
Unexpectedly, at this moment, a drum sounded suddenly, and a large group of Shu soldiers on the hillside swarmed down.
Zhou Tong waved his sword and shouted: "Arrange the crossbow array!"
There was a sound of small drums, and soon the Shu soldiers rushed over from the hillside. Then Zhou Tong shouted: Release the arrows. There was a crackling sound of arrows, and the people on the hillside rolled and crawled in a mess.
At this moment, the chaotic soldiers in front of the Shu army were dispersed, and the densely packed infantry behind them rushed up quickly with swords and shields. The Zhou army infantry put away their bows and crossbows, drew out their short weapons and started to fight. Suddenly, there was a chaos of clanging, chopping and shouting.
The Shu army was defeated and scattered. Yang Biao and his men took advantage of the situation to chase them, only to see a dense formation of people holding spears rushing down again. Yang Biao looked back and shouted: Send people to urge the troops on both sides to come up and protect our two wings.
Suddenly, there was a saturation sound, and Zhang Dutou rushed forward with an axe in his hand. He grabbed a spear with one hand, rushed forward, and swung the axe with one hand, sweeping across, the axe was unstoppable with a strong wind. The Shu soldiers holding spears had nothing to block the approach of the fierce general. Suddenly, there was a sound of "pu", and the axe chopped a Shu soldier's shoulder, causing blood to fly. The axe did not stop and chopped the side of another person's head, making a loud bang, and the helmet was afraid of being cracked.
Seeing this, the Zhou soldiers behind rushed forward to reinforce the fierce general in front. The long spear pierced the breastplate with a clanging sound. The Shu soldiers seemed to have little strength and could not even penetrate the plate armor. They could only make a dent, not to mention the mail inside. The Zhou soldiers approached with swords and chopped fiercely, and screams rang out everywhere.
Ha! Zhang Jiankui swung the axe with both hands and chopped it down from above. The Shu soldiers in front looked up at the axe, not caring about anything else, and their faces turned pale. The Zhou infantry in the middle immediately broke through the Shu army's spear formation.
Yang Biao was itching to do something, so he called his personal soldiers and rushed forward himself with an iron knife in hand.
A group of elite soldiers were protecting Yang Biao. Yang Biao was wearing heavy armor and was extremely powerful. The heavy iron knife in his hand slashed left and right like a piece of wood. Wherever he went, ordinary soldiers could not stop him and the central vanguard of the Shu army collapsed immediately.
More infantrymen attacked from both wings, and the battle in the middle spread out in all directions.
At this moment, the sun gradually rose, and its brilliant light began to pierce through the fog. The scene on the earth suddenly became clearer, and the situation on the hillside also became clearer. The battle power gap was too great, and it was almost one-sided.