The sound of cannons rang out in the distance, and Guo Shao turned his head to watch for a while. A cannon array on the other side of the city wall seemed to be firing at the Liao army, but it was obviously useless. The stone lumps thrown from a mile away had almost no accuracy, and they made a hole in the ground, and had no killing power at all against the cavalry. It couldn't scare the horses, the distance was too far; the sound of the cannons firing hundreds of steps away was no louder than the sound of the drums beating nearby.
Guo Shao observed the situation from afar and saw that the infantry phalanx outside the central army headquarters seemed to have begun to advance and counterattack.
The Liao army attacked the camp, but obviously failed to break the prepared infantry battle formation of the Zhou army. However, Guo Shao did not hold out hope for the success of the Zhou army's counterattack. The infantry had to maintain the formation of the square formation to attack, which was very slow. Their tactical maneuvers could not be faster than those of the Liao army. They had to maintain the square formation defense first, and then mainly rely on bows and arrows to attack the cavalry within the range. Although the Hu Ben army's cavalry infantry was mobile, it was not easy for them to defeat the Liao army in a horse battle. They were just a temporary emergency reserve when the Youzhou Zhou army lacked mobile forces.
Up to now, Guo Shao felt that this battle was very passive.
Since the Liao army unexpectedly took the lead in launching an offensive, all deployments seemed to be passive. Not only Guo Shao, but also many civil and military officials including Wang Pu did not expect that the Liao army would take the risk to do so.
After learning of the situation, Zhou Jun adopted an active defensive strategy, but was still unable to escape the passive position.
Now Guo Shao can only hope that Han Tong's left wing will block the Liao army in time, and Li Chuyun and Luo Yanhuan will be free to encircle the Liao army outside Youzhou City from the east. However, the Zhou army infantry in Youzhou cannot be relied on. Even if the Liao army's offensive is defeated at this time, what is the use if they cannot catch up
At this moment, the battlefield was filled with dust and chaos. Guo Shao thought about the overall situation in his mind, and it was also a mess, as if countless threads were intertwined and entangled together.
The countless preparations made beforehand became a mess due to the sudden change in the situation at this moment; it seemed as if there were omissions and uncertain risks everywhere.
Guo Shao turned his head and glanced at Wang Pu on the horse next to him, and couldn't help but said in a deep voice: I suddenly feel that Wang Zhang's words make sense. We are using cavalry as infantry. The Liao army's tactics are different from those of the mainland countries.
Wang Pu frowned and agreed with a serious face.
At this time, a cavalryman with a flag on his back ran to the front of the central army camp, dismounted, ran over, knelt on one knee and said: "The Liao army has stopped the attack and is fleeing north in large numbers."
Guo Shaodao: Tell Yang Biao not to advance rashly.
As for the various infantrymen, Guo Shao ignored them and said they could not keep up even if they wanted to advance.
Soon Guo Shao realized that the previous order was unnecessary. A general reported that Yang Biao's Hu Ben Army cavalry infantry was trying to attack the Liao army's flank in the northeast, but was attacked by the Liao army instead, and half of them were defeated.
At this time, a group of chaotic cavalry came to the camp gate. The generals guarding outside the central army camp shouted and asked, and a voice in the distance said: Yang Gong is back!
The horsemen made way for him, and they saw a man on a horse covered with arrows, like a hedgehog, walking towards them with people supporting him on both sides. The hedgehog hung his head, who else could it be but Yang Biao
When Guo Shao saw Yang Biao's appearance, he felt his head buzzing and hurriedly spurred his horse to rush over.
Yang Biao was covered in arrows, his blood was all over his torn armor, but he was still alive.
Yang Biao and Guo Shao dismounted, stared at him, and changed their voices.
The soldiers were silent. Unexpectedly, two men came from behind carrying a chopping board, and Luo Mengzi lay on his back.
Guo Shao turned around and stared at Luo Mengzi lying there, and said in a trembling voice: He is injured
A general lowered his head and said: General Luo has died in the battle.
Guo Shao walked to the chopping board and saw Luo Mengzi's face covered in blood. He was motionless and there was no sign of life.
Guo Shao stretched out his hand and tried to touch Luo Mengzi's face. When his palm touched his nose, he could no longer feel any heat. The breathless coolness suddenly penetrated Guo Shao's palm straight into his heart.
Guo Shao's hands froze there, and gradually began to tremble. Yang Biao was shot so badly that it was hard to tell whether he was alive or dead, and Luo Mengzi had completely become a dead body. Guo Shao had many generals under his command, and many of them were stronger than his two sworn brothers; but no one could replace them.
In this world, people meet, get to know each other, and cooperate with each other at various times for various reasons, but it is not easy to find brothers who treat each other with their heart when they are down and out and after countless life and death tests.
Lonely, Guo Shao suddenly felt an inexplicable chill of loneliness coming over him.
Self-blame and regret for realizing it belatedly surged in his heart. Guo Shao suddenly realized at this moment that there were many deployment matters for this battle. He lost the initiative but failed to produce serious consequences. The biggest mistake was to let the Hu Ben Army's cavalry infantry rush to attack the Liao Army's elite cavalry. The Hu Ben Army's cavalry infantry could still be used as cavalry when facing the armies of Shu, Southern Tang and other countries, but it was obviously a huge mistake to use them as cavalry to fight against the Liao Army's elite cavalry for the sake of mobility.
The most serious decisions are often buried under too many trade-offs and complications.
The veins on Guo Shao's forehead were tense, he clenched his fists, his eyes were shining, but he finally gritted his teeth and didn't let the tears come out. He just felt a salty and hot flow in his throat.
He suddenly felt as if the world was shaking, and his feet staggered.
His Majesty and his ministers hurried to support him.
The generals in front of them all prostrated themselves on the ground:
Guo Shao looked back at the hedgehog-like Yang Biao, walked up to him and tried to grab his hand, but got no response. Wang Pu hurriedly said: "Why are you still standing there? Hurry up and take General Yang down to treat him. We must save him."
Yes, sir.
Guo Shao looked at Yang Biao who was being moved away on the horse, and felt a little out of control.
Wang Pu hurriedly advised: Wait until Han Tong and Li Chuyun join forces to annihilate the Liao army in the south and avenge General Luo.
The Liao army risked their lives to charge the Zhou army camp for the Emperor of the Great Zhou, and suffered heavy casualties; but the Zhou army also suffered heavy losses, and many wounded soldiers were carried to the healing camp by the Sanggan River. The doctors, soldiers and civilians in the camp were busy.
Surgical treatment at that time was naturally very backward, but doctors also had many methods to treat trauma. In Guan Gong's era, bone scraping was used to treat injuries, and splints for fractures were also one of them. But the most useful thing was to clean the wound in time and disinfect it with simple herbs. This simplest treatment could also avoid many deaths from traumatic infections.
Xu Erniang and some other women washed cloth by the river and then boiled it in a pot.
At this time, another group of wounded soldiers were carried in. Xu Erniang immediately dropped the wet cloth in her hand, ran over and asked everyone she saw: "Do you know Zhao Hu?" Zhao Hu of the Tiger Guards Shenhuodu, who knows Zhao Hu
At this moment, a soldier lying on the wooden board turned his head and said: I don’t know Zhao Hu, but I have seen the divine fire. They are holding firearms, which are very different.
Xu Erniang rushed over and asked anxiously: Did you win the fight? Did the Divine Fire win
The soldier said: "The Great Zhou army has won, anyway, the Liao army has been repelled. But Shenhuodu is a bit miserable. They fired muskets in front of the long spear phalanx, and there were only chevaux de frise for protection. They said they would counterattack, so they had no time to build fortifications. Besides, we didn't even have time to get out of the barracks and form a battle array."
The Liao army cavalry rushed forward without caring about their lives. The fire guns were almost as effective as fire sticks after they were fired. The Shenhuodu collapsed immediately. It is estimated that more than half of them were killed or injured. I heard that the captain was chopped to death. I saw it with my own eyes. I was in the first row behind the Shenhuodu at that time. Otherwise, how could they come back lying down
As he was speaking, someone behind him said: I know Zhao Hu.
Xu Erniang looked in the direction of the voice and saw that the person who spoke was a man who had just entered the camp carrying a wounded soldier. The man asked again: Who are you to Zhao Hu
Xu Erniang didn't care about much and immediately said: I am his wife
The man frowned and asked a civilian to come over to take over his rack. He stepped aside and said, "Zhao Hu is dead."
Xu Erniang stood there in a daze, staring blankly at the strange man in front of her.
The man nodded and said, "Yes, he is dead. I was a soldier in Shenhuo City. I saw him dead and I carried his body. I was just a soldier at the back of Shenhuo City. At that time, all the soldiers in the city were defeated, so I had to run too."
Xu Erniang was at a loss, and didn't know where she was. She just felt that she had no strength in her body, and she almost didn't have the strength to speak. She shook her head and said: I don't believe it.
The man rubbed his palms and frowned, saying: I am a soldier of Shenhuo City. Why would I lie to my comrade's wife? Sister-in-law, please accept my condolences. His tone was not very fluctuating, perhaps because he had seen too many dead people. Besides, Zhao Hu was no different from other soldiers who died in battle to him.
Xu Erniang bit her lips so hard that they almost bled. She choked and said, "I need to see him with my own eyes to believe it."
The man looked around and pointed: "In the camp over there, all the dead people are there. If the bodies need to be sent back to the country, sister-in-law, come with me and I will take you there."
Xu Erniang staggered along the roadside, silently following the soldier. People were pushing carts or carrying wounded soldiers. She couldn't remember how she got to the camp where the bodies were kept.
Walking in, it was like walking from the human world into Yama's palace. There were many corpses on the ground, everywhere at a glance; there were also many coffins piled up. In addition to the dead, there were also many living people, some of whom were armored soldiers, and most of whom were civilians. They were busy stripping the armor off the dead, cleaning the bodies, and smearing lime on them.
The soldier in front suddenly asked: Sister-in-law, do you really want to see it now? I think it would be better to wait and see it.
Why? Xu Erniang asked blankly.
The soldier didn't answer, nor did he ask any more questions. He looked around and finally walked to a place and stood in front of a corpse on a wooden frame.
When Xu Erniang walked over and took a look, she immediately knelt on the ground, covering her face with her hands, and tears burst out.