Yao Erniu, wearing dozens of kilograms of armor, fell heavily to the ground. Stars flashed in front of his eyes, and the scene became blurred. A sharp pain came over him. He lay on the ground, trying to figure out what was happening around him, but he only saw the shadows of people and horses swaying around, and his ears were buzzing.
My body was in pain and I was so weak that I couldn't even use any strength. A loud scream startled Yao Erniu. He looked and saw a soldier from the Southern Tang army curled up on the ground. Yao Erniu was horrified to find that the man was holding a ball of intestines and a pool of blood on the ground, but he was not dead yet. He had just been stepped on by a horse's hoof on his calf. He screamed and then called out in pain: Mom!
Yao Erniu's sense of touch returned immediately. He felt the mud and sand kicked up by the horse's hooves, splashing on his face with the strong wind. His scalp went numb, and he struggled with strength from nowhere.
A voice shouted as he walked away, and Yao Erniu was immediately pushed by two companions who also had no horses. His helmet was gone, his hair was loose, and he looked like a refugee.
There was a mess of Southern Tang infantrymen nearby. One of the infantrymen shouted in a panic and rushed towards Yao Erniu with a spear in his hand. Yao Erniu had no idea where his saber had gone. The spear had already stabbed into his chest. He grabbed a spear and grabbed the end of the spear, but it was too late. The spear head stabbed into his breastplate. Yao Erniu felt a pain in his chest. The plate armor was not pierced. The spear had lost its power. If Yao Erniu did not fight back, he would probably be stabbed a second time. He reached behind his shoulder and found a short spear on his back.
Yao Erniu grabbed the javelin and rushed forward, yelling, and stabbed at the guy's face. The soldier was also very agile, dropping his javelin and grabbing Yao Erniu's wrist with both hands. Yao Erniu's legs hurt a lot, and his lower body was unstable, so he stumbled and fell on the guy. But he was no match for this Southern Tang soldier. He had no strength left after falling, and his arms were weak and sore, so he was pushed down by the guy. The javelin he was holding was held up and slowly pressed against his face.
Yao Erniu used all his strength but the guy put all his weight on him. Yao Erniu could not bear it. His eyes were wide open, tears and snot came out at the same time, and he could not utter a word.
At this moment, his face suddenly felt hot and blood spurted out. He saw an arrowhead piercing the throat of the man on his body, and even the torn flesh could be seen clearly. The power of Gugu disappeared immediately, and the man fell to the ground with one hand holding his throat, his limbs scratching and kicking in the mud.
Ah, Yao Erniu got up from the ground and screamed like crazy, but no one paid any attention to him.
At this time, a tall and strong general led a group of elite cavalry and infantry and swept in from behind the Nan Tang infantry formation. The arrow just shot from there. The elite horsemen were skilled in horse riding and sharp in swords and spears. Wherever they went, ghosts cried and gods howled and no one could stop them. They rushed left and right like a gust of wind. The Nan Tang army's flank formation was attacked from both sides and collapsed in an instant.
The tall and strong man was Shi Yanchao. After he and his friendly forces on the flanks and rear attacked and defeated this formation, he immediately led his troops to attack the center of the Southern Tang army.
The high central army flag of the Southern Tang army was flying in the air, and the cavalry raised their swords and spears to prepare for battle. At this time, a general on the right suddenly appeared, glaring and cursing, and led his army to charge directly at Shi Yanchao's right wing.
Shi Yanchao raised his iron spear and pointed it to the right, shouting loudly, and all the soldiers turned their horses to attack from the side. Shi Yanchao was the first to throw the iron spear in his hand at the round-headed man, and everyone threw their spears forward. There was a clang of sound, and several people fell off their horses on the opposite side, but the round-headed man actually opened all the spears thrown at him.
Shi Yanchao was not afraid but rather interested. He rode his horse and charged forward to kill the general. The two sides fought for several rounds. Shi Yanchao rushed forward and killed several cavalrymen, but failed to kill the general. The general barely withstood Shi Yanchao's fierce attack, and most of his personal soldiers were killed. He turned around and ran away, and even shot an arrow halfway through.
But Shi Yanchao did not pursue, but turned around and attacked the center of the Southern Tang army. The third army behind them also rushed forward, and the military order they received before the battle was to support Shi Yanchao's fierce attack. Soon, the center of the Southern Tang army was in chaos, and the big flag swayed and fell to the ground.
The Shu army in the south also launched a counterattack, and large areas of the Southern Tang army collapsed. The defeat could no longer be stopped.
The plain at the foot of Dahuang Mountain was very large, but the battlefield was confined to a small area. Thirty to forty thousand troops were rushing and boiling here. The messy and chaotic battlefield was like countless debris washed out by a flood. The noisy sound resounded between heaven and earth and could be heard from far away.
The Southern Tang army was besieged by twice as many troops, including the most elite troops of the Great Zhou army, who suddenly attacked them. The army was defeated like a mountain, and even the gods could not gather them. By the evening, the Southern Tang army's vanguard Lin Renzhao's troops had ceased to exist. Most of the troops surrendered, and then there were countless people who were chased and killed within a range of more than ten miles. Some people escaped in a scattered manner. It was impossible for this army to recover its strength.
The generals above the rank of Tiger Guard Commander rushed back to the central army one after another and went to the largest square tiger flag. At this time, a crowd in one place shouted loudly: "Victory, victory!" Then the soldiers on the entire battlefield shouted, and the atmosphere was very enthusiastic.
Guo Shao was not in the central army, he was riding back from the chaos of soldiers. This Southern Tang army was very powerful, but the situation it faced was a bit bad; only the Third Army of the Huben Army and the cavalry of the Control Crane Army rushed to the front and suffered casualties.
All the generals congratulated him. Guo Shao looked back at the battlefield and said: This time we succeeded quickly, and the battle of Cai Shi has already won 90% of its victory. Although Huangfu Jixun has 40,000 to 50,000 people, he missed the opportunity. No matter how many people he has, he can't play a key role in this battle.
Zhang Jiankui laughed and said: We are lucky to be fighting with Marshal Guo. If we were in the Southern Tang army, we would be in big trouble.
Guo Shao turned his head and looked at the corpses being cleaned up in the distance and the embarrassed wounded soldiers being supported, and did not comment at the moment. He said: If a general does not make mistakes, at least he can reduce casualties. Lin Renzhao did not make any mistakes, and no one in his position could do better. There is only one step left in this battle. You should boost morale, gather troops before noon tomorrow, and take down Huangfu Jixun in one go.
Guo Shao breathed a sigh of relief at this time.
Gao Yanchou and others rode towards this side on horseback. When Guo Shao turned his head, he saw him from a distance and clasped his fists and said loudly: Fortunately, Marshal Guo rescued us in time!
Guo Shao waited for him to approach and praised him in public: The facts are in front of me. I was not wrong about General Gao. Lin Renzhao's troops are brave and sharp, and they can be called elite. In order not to expose their whereabouts, our army rushed 21 miles, which took a lot of time. General Gao withstood the offensive before that, and his contributions are unquestionable.
When Gao Yanchou heard these words with a clear attitude, the expression on his face fully revealed his excitement.
Guo Shao glanced at him, and then said what Gao Yanchou guessed he wanted to hear the most: General Gao has proved the loyalty and bravery of the Jiannan Army with his military achievements, and established his position in the court. From now on, they will be indistinguishable from the Great Zhou Imperial Guards; anyone who dares to question General Gao's loyalty is harboring ulterior motives and is trying to stir up internal strife.
Gao Yanchou hurriedly bowed and said: It was all thanks to Marshal Guo's timely rescue that I dare not take credit for it.
Guo Shao also commended the commanders who had rushed to the front and achieved results, and called out their names one by one. Everyone knew that these things would be used as a basis for rewarding merits in the future and would refer to the experience of the attack on Shu.
He began to reorganize the troops that day and reorganized the scattered people into an army.
Huangfu Jixun learned in the morning that a large number of enemy soldiers suddenly appeared on Shipo Mountain, southeast of Caishi, and there were many smoke and flags in the forest. He dared not rush to attack Caishi.
He then temporarily sent scouts to Shipo Mountain to find out the truth. The scouts did not ambush on the mountain road, which made Huangfu Jixun even more afraid. A general suggested that the enemy soldiers that had been discovered were heading eastwards towards Lin Renzhao's troops; Lin Renzhao's troops were in danger and could not be rescued in time, so they should immediately attack Caishi Ferry, where the troops were relatively empty, to save the situation.
Huangfu Jixun was afraid of being attacked from the side and rear if a fight broke out, so he kept his troops in place. That evening, he learned that Lin Renzhao had been badly defeated.
Only then did he realize that the enemy troops to the east who were fighting against Lin Renzhao would return to besiege him, and he began to think of retreating. But the opportunity wasted a little, and the next afternoon, the Zhou army cavalry was already several miles behind him. He was stunned by the speed of their maneuver.
The main force of the Southern Tang army, with more than 40,000 troops, was unable to advance or retreat. Huangfu Jixun wanted to divide his troops to guard the rear and give up attacking the Caishi Ferry. The main force broke through the front and back Zhou Jun Ma camp and retreated. After a night, when he was ready to move, he suddenly found that the Shu army on the east side was also moving towards the center.
The main force of the Southern Tang army was facing the river and was besieged on three sides. Huangfu Jixun sometimes wanted to break through, but the direction of the breakout was uncertain; sometimes he wanted to concentrate the army for a decisive battle. There was no way to fight or defend, and the generals were at a loss and in chaos. The Zhou army's northern cavalry was thin in number but unstoppable, breaking through the outer perimeter of the Southern Tang army camp; seeing that the Zhou army's vanguard was unstoppable, the main general Huangfu Jixun fled from the central army in a hurry, ignoring the large number of reserve troops around him. For a time, more than 40,000 people were paralyzed, and all the troops collapsed in just one day.
The Zhou army surrounded the enemy from three directions, but their numbers were not as large as Huangfu Jixun's. After the Southern Tang army was defeated, they broke out in large numbers, but after losing their camp, they could not fight against the Zhou army's cavalry. On the way of escape, they were pressed down and killed by the cavalry. Thousands of chaotic infantry could not resist the charge of hundreds of cavalry. As long as a large number of infantry surrounded them, they could stab and kill the pursuing cavalry, but no one was willing to turn back and fight to the death. The soldiers and generals were in chaos and only cared about escaping. It was difficult to count the number of surrenders, and there were wounded soldiers and corpses for dozens of miles.
In the Caishi battle, the Southern Tang army came with great momentum, but ended in absurdity and misery. Huangfu Jixun fled to Jiangning Prefecture almost alone, leaving behind the remaining large number of his soldiers.