The Shu army is not strong enough to fight, and it is undoubtedly a futile attempt to stop our attack. We should speed up our march, quickly defeat that mob, and remove the obstacles to Dangtu City. Lin Renzhao looked back at his generals and said.
It was already bright, but the sky was grey and the sun was not visible. It was a cloudy day, and there was still a thin mist on the ground, so the vision was not very clear. When Lin Renzhao looked back, he saw a dense mass of soldiers and horses following him on the two roads, marching in a vertical and horizontal manner. And in front of him, many cavalrymen were active on the flat plain.
A military general clasped his fists and said: I will urge all the troops immediately.
Not long after, someone in front of me shouted:
Lin Renzhao calmly wiped his round head with his hand, put on his helmet, and rode past the horse team in front. Looking far away, he saw a large group of soldiers and horses in the distance, with flags like clouds and a large number of people and horses.
A group of people rode forward first, and when they got closer, Lin Renzhao looked carefully for a moment, and suddenly felt something was not right. At this time, the general beside him also said: "Looking at the complete armor and orderly formation, it seems that they are not a mob."
Lin Renzhao also realized that this is how one estimates the enemy's combat power before a battle, mainly by visual observation.
He didn't say anything, and observed again. There were many mountain shadows on the left, and that mountain was the Dahuang Mountain; and behind the position of the Shu army opposite, there should be a lake. Lin Renzhao had sent scouts to carefully investigate the terrain and military situation of this generation earlier.
The Shu army formation on the opposite side had its back against the lake and its side against the mountain. The whole group of soldiers and horses formed a square circle, which was a defensive formation. However, the formation was very strange. It looked like a six-flower formation, but judging by the density of each corner, it seemed that there were not only six protruding parts like the petals of a flower, but eight, so it looked like the Eight Formations Diagram.
At this time, the general asked: Lord Lin, should we still follow the previously decided fish scale formation
Lin Renzhao hesitated for a moment. The army ahead seemed a bit difficult to deal with. Would there be any danger if he could not make a quick decision? He calmed down and thought again. The main force of the Zhou army was stationed in Caishi. Under the threat of more than 40,000 people from Huangfu Jixun, a war might happen at any time. It might not be possible to withdraw and threaten him for a while. Moreover, the Zhou army in Caishi was more than 20 miles away from here.
Although the Shu army was well-organized, they were still Shu soldiers. These people were captured from Shu and were really good at fighting tough battles.
While he was thinking, the vanguard of the army had arrived, and the formation commander came to ask again. Lin Renzhao made a prompt decision: Arrange the formation according to the original plan.
There were people coming and going at the foot of the mountain. The troops who arrived at the battlefield began to form square formations and arrange fish scale formations under the arrangement of the generals. The direction of the Southern Tang army camp was arranged in the northwest to avoid the mountains on the left wing and increase the attack surface.
After a long time, the troops that arrived one after another were deployed to the arranged positions. The Southern Tang army was in an attacking position, with a prominent position in the middle, a staggered echelon in the back, and a heavy force in the front. The tactics were simple: break through the middle.
At this moment, the Shu army formation suddenly moved, and the entire octagon began to slowly rotate. Lin Renzhao rode his horse to the front to watch and try to figure out the Shu army's intentions. Later, he saw that the Shu army turned a well-armored horn to the front, and Lin Renzhao finally understood.
The enemy generals should have seen that the Southern Tang army deployed the fish scale formation and understood that the sharp edge of this formation was in the middle, so they placed the most elite troops in the front. From a distance, the infantry was wearing a lot of armor, and the armor was shining, a bit like the Ming Guang armor of the Tang Dynasty. In short, the best armor should be the elite soldiers.
This formation can rotate in the inner circle, and Lin Renzhao's attacking troops are on the outer circle, unable to avoid the enemy's elite. He did not change his tactics and ordered the Southern Tang army to move towards the enemy camp together.
Soon, the long-range archers in front began to shoot arrows at each other. Lin Renzhao then left the front army, returned to the back of the drummer in the middle, ordered the central cavalry to move out, and then climbed onto a large cart with a raised platform. After seeing the Southern Tang cavalry move out, the Shu archers were already retreating and returned to the main formation from the empty space between the corners of the formation.
The Southern Tang army led the way with cavalry, and the main force moved forward. The central salient attacked a corner of the Shu army with heavy troops, and the sound of killing shook the sky.
Lin Renzhao was in the center of the army. When the battle started in the front, the army stopped advancing and waited for the central army to break through the enemy camp. But for a long time, there was still no progress and the entire army could not move forward even a single step.
One of the riders rushed back to the center of the army, knelt on one knee and said: "Report to General Lin, the vanguard was unable to break through the enemy camp, and many were killed and wounded."
Lin Renzhao could see the general situation in the central army. His vanguard was heavily armed, with a much larger number of troops than the Shu army's octagonal troops, and he also had cavalry. The Southern Tang army also charged fiercely, showing no signs of fear, but they suffered many casualties and were unable to defeat that group of troops.
The situation was completely beyond Lin Renzhao's expectations. He did not expect the Shu army to be so powerful. He panicked and shouted, "Personal soldiers, get on your horses. I will go forward to see what is going on."
The generals tried to dissuade him: the war had already begun, and if the commander left the central army, anything would go wrong, which would be disadvantageous to the entire army.
Lin Renzhao finally calmed down and said: Order the second formation on the right wing to move out from the flank.
A general shouted and jumped on his horse.
The fish-scale formation set up by Lin Renzhao, with elite troops and heavy forces in the middle, was intended to concentrate troops to break through the enemy camp from the center. It was not a good idea to divide the troops to attack another place now, because the dispersed forces could not create concentrated pressure on one place. However, Lin Renzhao made a temporary judgment and believed that the front could not make progress because of the small number of elite troops of the Shu army, so he issued this order.
The Southern Tang cavalry went first, followed by the infantry, and attacked the other corner of the Shu army from the right wing. Looking from the high platform of the cart, a group of cavalry were seen shooting arrows near the enemy formation. The enemy formation was stable and there were dense spearmen in front, so the Southern Tang cavalry did not dare to charge head-on. The infantry archers in the Shu army camp were thrown in batches, and the Southern Tang cavalry suffered more losses. Although the soldiers had armor, the horses did not, resulting in the loss of war horses and the cavalry falling off the horses.
The center of the octagonal formation opposite was hollow, and the Shu army placed the cavalry in the hollow. At this time, a group of cavalry had quickly reinforced the right wing. There was a faint sound of bronze knocking, and the cavalry of the Southern Tang army retreated, reorganizing their troops in the open space on the right, waiting for the infantry to catch up.
After a while, the right wing infantry moved forward and gradually approached a corner of the Shu army. The two sides soon engaged in close combat, and the shouting became louder. The horses and men stabbed densely in the area of contact, and the bows and arrows behind were still thrown at each other. The battlefield was very tragic. But the Shu army did not collapse for a long time.
Lin Renzhao was panicked and asked: Who is the commander of the Shu army
The general replied: The scout we captured this morning confessed that his name is Gao Yanchou, a surrendered general from Shu.
Lin Renzhao frowned and said: That Gao Yanchou, why did he risk his life for the Zhou people? He is so loyal even as a dog.
When he was cursing, he forgot that he was also a surrendered general of the Min Kingdom and had fought hard for the Southern Tang Kingdom. However, Lin Renzhao thought that the southern countries should have united long ago to resist the Central Plains.
Finally, he could no longer bear it and led his army to the right wing, shouting: "Follow me to defeat the Shu army camp!"
At this moment, someone suddenly caught up with them on horseback and shouted: "Oh no!"
What's the panic? Lin Renzhao turned his head very unhappily.
The man pointed to the right and shouted: "Marshal Lin, look, they are all cavalry. They are Zhou's troops, right?"
Lin Renzhao then noticed the end of the western field, and sure enough, he saw groups of horsemen running out from the sparse woods. The distance was too far, and the enemy had no flags, so he couldn't see clearly who their troops were. But Lin Renzhao's heart was already cold. He was almost certain that the enemy soldiers were just as the soldiers who reminded him said. The Central Plains army had the largest number of cavalry. Moreover, in addition to Lin Renzhao's troops, the Southern Tang army should at least inform him if anyone else was coming.
Lin Renzhao stood there in a daze. Even though he was confident that he was well versed in battle formations and military tactics, he was helpless and stunned at this moment.
Damn, where did the enemy soldiers come from? Didn't Huangfu Jixun make an appointment to attack Cai Shi today? His 40,000-strong army attacking such an important place can also free up the Zhou army.
At this moment, a horseman came galloping back, running towards Lin Renzhao's banner, and before he could dismount, he shouted: The Zhou army is coming!
Lord Lin, what should we do? The general asked urgently.
What should I do? Lin Renzhao also wanted to ask his mother, how could I have expected that a group of cavalry would suddenly come out from nowhere? Now this fish scale formation, with heavy troops gathered in the front, is originally an offensive formation, and the rear flank is very weak, which can withstand a large cavalry charge.
Gao Yanchou was also not in the central army. He was supervising the battle on the right wing of the Southern Tang army in the west. The troops in the front were the most elite troops of the entire Jiannan Army, and they were equipped with excellent plate armor allocated by Guo Shao, with extremely high defense. After receiving reinforcements from the horns and the central army on both sides, the front line was very stable. But the west side could not withstand the attack. Most of the soldiers of the Jiannan Army were selected from the Shu Kingdom's imperial army. They had not fought hard for many years. When Chengdu fell, they surrendered directly without fighting. There was little bloodshed, and if a few more people died, they would collapse.
Gao Yanchou personally led the cavalry to sit behind the battle formation. Some of those who wanted to escape were killed by the formation. The others were frightened and did not dare to flee easily. The central cavalry continued to reinforce them, and they barely held on.
But it is hard to say how long it can last. Gao Yanchou was eager to establish his position in the Zhou court. He would rather die in battle than be defeated, but the soldiers under him were not as anxious as he was.
But even if a corner is broken, it may still be able to hold on for a while, after all, the gap in the Eight Formations is relatively small. This is also Gao Yanchou's consideration for not using the Six Flower Formation, but the Eight Formations. The more corners there are, the smaller the gap will be when a place is broken. He is not using the Eight Formations, but perhaps the Eight Flower Formation. The Eight Formations used by Zhuge Liang are too complicated to be used by ordinary people in later generations, so they developed a more simplified Six Flower Formation.
Gao Yanchou was also anxious. Lin Renzhao was indeed a man of great reputation. If the fight continued like this, Gao Yanchou felt the future would be worrying.
At this moment, I finally heard the generals cheering, reinforcements are coming
Gao Yanchou ignored his appearance, stepped on the stirrups, stood up on the horse's back, and looked forward to it, with a look of great joy on his face. Guo Shao arrived just in time. Shipo Mountain was near the quarry, more than 20 miles away from here, but he arrived so quickly.
I didn't want to apologize again, but I had no choice.
I left home on the 16th of this month to attend a training course at the Lu Xun Academy of Literature in Beijing. It will end on April 3rd, and including the return trip, it will take nearly 20 days. So my goal this month is to update as frequently as possible, with only one update per day.
I will resume posting at least two updates next month, I hope you can understand; this is also my fault that I don’t have any manuscripts saved.