On March 11, the two armies met and finally set up their battle formations.
After enduring the long journey, we will meet in battle. Gaoping, long ago during the Warring States Period, was also called Changping. Qin general Bai Qi and the 400,000-man Zhao army will never forget this place. The mountains and rivers in this place are naturally a battlefield, and the Battle of Changping may have taken place there more than once.
The weather is fine and the sun is shining brightly.
On the uneven wilderness, the 100,000-strong Northern Han-Khitan coalition forces and tens of thousands of Zhou troops were deployed in the north and south, as densely packed as a swarm of ants or as massive waves advancing in layers.
After the confrontation, no one knew when the fighting started; it seemed that the fighting had been going on from the beginning. Where the two armies met, countless soldiers and horses fled in panic, and the arrows flying in the air seemed like a rainstorm on a clear sky.
Guo Shao looked around and saw a forest of long weapons and armor, with dust rolling and no end in sight. Being in the middle of it, he had no idea how the Zhou army was deployed. It didn't seem necessary for a general to know. He only knew that this side should be behind the right wing of the Zhou army.
However, he was very clear that this battle was related to the survival of the country and had a huge impact. If he wanted to climb up, the Battle of Gaoping was the best time. Before the war, he had prepared himself mentally to seek opportunities to make merit and stand out, but this desire was soon diluted by a stronger sense of fear and desire to survive.
The wailing and vigorous horns and the dense black dots in the sky marked the beginning of the Northern Han army's attack. In the dust and the sound of killing, the roar of horses' hooves was as if there were an ambush of thousands of troops coming from all directions, and it was terrifying even before the enemy soldiers were seen.
The battle ahead was probably already intense, but Guo Shao couldn't see it, and the flames of war hadn't spread here yet. Only the northeast wind blew in his face, with sand and stones flying in the whistling sound. The sand and stones hit his face and hurt him. The dust was blown by the wind, making it hard to open his eyes.
The battlefield situation was changing rapidly. When Guo Shao opened his eyes, he suddenly found that the Zhou cavalry in front had been defeated. A large group of horsemen on the flank ran in the opposite direction, with the sound of horse hooves rumbling. The Zhou cavalry fled in an organized manner. Soon, there were earth-shaking shouts, and then countless infantry turned around and ran towards this side. The crowd threw away their armor and weapons and could not form a queue. It was really embarrassing to the extreme.
Damn it, Guo Shao cursed when he saw this.
Countless Zhou soldiers who were defeated in front of them were entangled in the Xiaodi Army's formation, and the front line was in chaos. The Xiaodi Army belonged to the imperial guards of the Palace Front Division. After all, it was an elite force and would not collapse at the first blow. However, the chaotic rush of their own people had already weakened their vanguard. Guo Shao remembered that the Battle of Gaoping should have been a victory for the Later Zhou Dynasty, but he could not remember the historical details; but looking at the current situation, why is it a sign of defeat
He suddenly felt a heat on his left cheek, and when he turned around, he saw a bloody arrowhead piercing through the neck of an acquaintance, with flesh torn off, and blood splattered all over his head and face. Guo Shao was stunned, and his throat couldn't help but move.
He looked up and his scalp went numb. It was as if someone had poked a hornet's nest in the sky, or as if a swarm of locusts had come to eat everything. In an instant, hailstones began to fall, and people kept falling.
The endless shouts amid the sound of horse hooves were like a tsunami, and countless heavily armored cavalry rushed through the dust and smoke, and the chaotic soldiers in front were chased away and scattered. The front of Guo Shao's small army infantry was in chaos, and was quickly torn apart by the heavy cavalry from the front, and the infantry was immediately out of formation.
This scene is unbearable to watch. Guo Shao practiced for more than six hours a day from the age of fourteen to eighteen for four years, aiming and aiming with perseverance; it was boring and arduous, rain or shine; at least a hundred times a day, a few actions, repeated 100,000 or 200,000 times. All of this was to go to the battlefield and be shot through by an arrow or hacked to death by a knife.
At this time, Huang Dutou's voice was heard shouting: Brothers, retreat one after another.
Seeing this, Guo Shao also quickly waved his hand to call his soldiers to retreat. A large group of people were rushing to the south and retreating. Suddenly, a loud shout was heard, "The imperial carriage is under attack. Why should we retreat and behead those of us who retreat?"
Following the sound, he looked up and saw a general standing on horseback with a sword in hand, surrounded by armored cavalrymen. The defeated soldiers who were crowded forward were immediately killed. The army was frightened and the rout stopped. When Guo Shao heard the word "Chengyu", he stretched his neck to look behind him. Sure enough, he saw the Zhou Dynasty flag within his sight, and the emperor's guard of honor was faintly visible among the thousands of troops.
The depressed mood was inexplicably rekindled. The emperor was nearby, and he would see the performance of the soldiers.
At that time, someone shouted: "Zhang Yuanhui, the most powerful general of the Han army, is here. Who will fight for the emperor?"
The soldiers looked ahead and saw a fierce general of the Northern Han Dynasty leading a group of heavily armored cavalrymen charging deep into the Zhou army. The dust raised by the cavalrymen spread like a fiercely burning fuse, ready to set off the entire battlefield.
Guo Shao reached over his shoulder and touched the two-stone strong bow for shooting rabbits. The extremely familiar weapon gave him a sudden intuition: today is the day to achieve success and establish a career. After years of torment and countless dreams, if he fails in this situation, he will regret it a thousand times.
The fierce general who rushed left and right as if he was in an empty space should be Zhang Yuanhui, the general of the Northern Han Dynasty. No one could stop him wherever he went. The left and right wings of that guy were all well-armored personal soldiers, each of them was extremely fierce, and they surrounded the general in the middle. They were wearing heavy armor, and their horses were all covered with iron armor; most of the arrows were blocked by the personal soldiers and could not penetrate their armor.
Guo Shao stared at Zhang Yuanhui in the cavalry, took out the arrow feathers, and gently put them on the bowstring. The cavalry finally entered the range of the side and front, the best angle.
The tendons were pulled apart with great force, and the bowstring was stretched tight in the air. This moment seemed extremely long to Guo Shao. He could clearly feel his own breathing, and the three points of his eyes, arrowhead, and target were in a straight line, as if they had merged into one whole. Guo Shao felt that he had become Zhang Yuanhui, rising and falling rhythmically with the warhorse, and could feel the direction in which the warhorse was sprinting.
At the most appropriate moment of intuition, he suddenly found that the wind had turned into a tailwind without him knowing when. Everything was so perfect, so perfect that it was touching. Without hesitation or any reason, the violent sound of strings rang in his ears.
The flying arrow, full of hope and dreams, cut through the air with a high profile and rushed forward rapidly. Guo Shao seemed to hear a hissing sound, but he could not see clearly or hear the sound in the dust. He inexplicably felt that the arrow had pierced the flesh on the man's neck.
As expected, the general fell off his horse. The lone cavalry who had penetrated the deep seemed to lose momentum immediately, and the charge stopped. Some knights dismounted in a panic to save people. The fiercely burning battlefield fuse seemed to be extinguished by a bucket of water.
Guo Shao excitedly glared and shouted: The one who killed Zhang Yuanhui is Guo Shao, a small army.
There were no soldiers around to cheer for him. Guo Shao suddenly realized that his side had been dispersed by the heavy cavalry, and he had not noticed it just now. The soldiers of this city had been divided into several scattered groups by the impact, waiting for the cavalry to slaughter them from a high position. Whether you want to shout or beg for mercy, it will be drowned out and useless; people are like tides and dust, whether you are trembling with fear or pretending to be dignified, it doesn't matter.
Looking up, I saw a crowd of people, countless swords and knives flying and flashing in the crowd, the whole wilderness was like a big pot of boiling water, and people were struggling desperately like fish and shrimps in the boiling water. The dust in the sky seemed to be stained with a layer of blood mist, making the sun in the east look blurry like a ball of beautiful blood hanging on it.
The ground was shaking and Guo Shao felt his head swollen and buzzing. Cao's loud shout was like a revelation, shocking him back to his senses.
The person who shouted was Yang Biao who was not far away. Yang Biao had conflicts with Guo Shao, but Guo Shao felt relieved to see someone familiar at this time. After all, he was one of his own. Yang Biao picked up the long-handled iron knife and blocked the side slash of the cavalry saber. The heavy steel caused sparks to fly. He didn't expect this guy to be so fierce that he could block the heavy cavalry with his infantry body.
Yang Biao shouted loudly again, swung his weapon quickly from left to right, and immediately pierced the waist of the cavalry on the right. The special muffled sound of the iron blade entering the flesh made people tremble with fear and their muscles contract.
At this moment, Guo Shao suddenly drew his bow quickly and aimed the arrow at Yang Biao. The sound of the bowstring rang out without hesitation. In an instant, Yang Biao's face turned pale. The arrows on the battlefield are blind. This is what he said himself.
When he threatened to stab someone in the back, he became a threat to others. No one is afraid of anyone in this world. Killing one thousand enemies will only cost you eight hundred. Everything has a price.
The arrow flew towards Yang Biao's face with a strong wind at a distance of several steps. The arrow almost brushed his helmet and passed by Yang Biao's pale face. He was stunned for a moment, then turned his head and saw an enemy soldier standing behind him with a long sword raised in both hands, with an arrow stuck in the middle of his forehead. Then he fell down softly like a lifeless sack.
Yang Biao turned around and looked at Guo Shao with complicated eyes. There was no chance to say anything because of the swords and sabers around him. Guo Shao looked at him and nodded slightly, saying everything.
He hurriedly approached Guo Shao and said, "General Guo, I was about to say something," but at this time another horse rushed towards him desperately.
In a hurry, Guo Shao dodged backwards and instinctively picked up the bow in his hand to block. With a snap, the bow was broken into two pieces. Guo Shao did not hesitate, and while throwing away the broken bow, he drew his sword smoothly.
The enemy soldier was about to strike again, but was immediately knocked off his horse by Yang Biao's long-handled iron sword. The heavily armored knight fell to the ground and couldn't get up. Guo Shao immediately jumped up and stepped on his abdomen, raised his shield sword with both hands and stabbed it hard at the enemy soldier's chest armor. The enemy soldier opened his mouth wide, his eyes wide open, and his eyes were full of despair.
Guo and Yang immediately faced each other and prepared for battle, without any discussion or hesitation, completely acting in unison.
On the battlefield, you can only trust your brothers.