Chapter 248 Three Shandong Heroes

Any general can observe the formation technique.

It is to infer the enemy's combat effectiveness from all details such as the arrangement of the opponent's military formation, the morale of the generals, the armor and equipment, etc. Some powerful generals can completely understand the enemy's virtuality and reality by just observing the formation.

Zhang Xutuo was also watching the formation. He rushed from Shandong to Liaodong, with one man and two riders along the way. Even all the logistics and food were transported by war horses, and he fought for such a stubborn period. However, after all, he had been delayed too much time in the battle against Lu Mingyue. When he arrived in Peiping, he had heard Chen Qing, the general of the Liaodong camp in the army, who was in charge of the army, say that the Liao people had already begun to siege the city.

He traveled day and night, and finally crossed the Liaohe River today, without giving the enemy a chance to resist by the river. However, he was still a little heavy when he saw the number of the opponent. At this glance, there were at least 100,000 troops in the other side. He heard from Chen Qing, a general of the Liaodong camp, that there are now more than 500,000 coalition forces of various ethnic groups in Liaodong city. When he thought of this terrifying number, even he was deeply worried even if he won every battle.

The soldiers and horses under him are indeed very strong, but what few people know is that the Bafeng Camp is actually an infantry combat chariot formation. During each battle, the outermost chariots are equipped with deer antlers to deal with war horses, the middle is infantry and archers, and the innermost chariots are cavalry.

During the battle, the entire formation is extremely strong, which means that it is impossible to penetrate the wind and rain in all directions. The soldiers and horses of the Bafeng Camp rely on the Bafeng Formation to fight against defensive counterattacks. They first use chariots as their camp, and then continue to advance like walls. Because of the strong chariots and sharp antlers, their infantry can form formations and advance without worrying about the cavalry breaking the formation. Under the impact of these sturdy formations, few soldiers can stop them.

As long as the enemy cannot stop it, no matter whether it is defeated or retreating, the Eight Wind Formation will open a hole, and the cavalry in the middle will rush out, giving the enemy the most fatal blow. It is precisely with this Eight Wind Formation that he can gallop across Shandong and Henan and create an invincible myth.

If this battle was in the Central Plains and he had his complete Bafeng Camp, then he was not afraid of facing the 100,000 Liao troops in front of him. After watching for so long, he had already seen that this army was not strong, and it was probably just a second-line unit. There were very few truly elite troops, only the cavalry troops in the middle were indeed very strong.

He was confident of using the Bafeng Camp to rush into this array. But at present, he only had more than 18,000 tired soldiers. Although they were all cavalry, the number was too small. For an array of 100,000 people, it lacked a critical and powerful impact.

Prime Minister Su Weinian is over 70 years old. Although he has always been in good health and has a handsome face, he is still an old man after all. After a month of continuous rushing, everyone is almost disbanded. According to Zhang Xutuo's intention, he was leaving a team to guard him and come to Liaodong slowly. However, Su Wei was a little nervous at this time, worried that Yang Guang would take the opportunity to kill him, but despite his hard work, he did not dare to make fun of his life.

"General Zhang, how could this Liao people have so many soldiers and horses? What should I do?" In the past, the hundred thousand soldiers and horses were just a symbol in the memorials he had seen, but today I really saw 100,000 people with my own eyes, which was definitely different. It was boundless and could not see the end from afar. I couldn't figure out how many soldiers there were.

Zhang Xutuo looked determined, "Prime Minister, please rest assured. After a while, I will send a team of troops to protect you and Lord Huang. You just need to follow them closely. Although there are 100,000 Liao people in front of me, they are just a group of native chickens and tiles in front of me. No matter how many people I have fought, I have never feared it."

Chen Qing said hesitantly, "General, why not our army confronts the Liao people here for the time being. Let us send people to Liaodong City to report the message first. What if we ask General Chen to send people out of the city to respond?" There are more than 100,000 troops in the Liaodong camp. If Chen Kefu is notified to let him go out of the city to respond, then there should be no problem.

Although the young general Luo Shixin was young, he was a veteran of Zhang Xutuo's troops who had been following him for several years. He was carrying a big iron spear like Zhang Xutuo, with a cold face and a disdainful look, "Not to mention 100,000 people, we have fought even 200,000 troops. I don't think these 100,000 people are much stronger. As long as one charge, I can definitely defeat this army. General, I am willing to be the vanguard and start the battle."

When Qin Shubao saw Luo Shixin asking for orders, he hurriedly bowed and asked for his orders, "Master, the last general is willing to go with him!"

"Master, let them take me, Old Cheng, too. I, Old Cheng, have to join the army, and I, no matter how hard I have to go on the battlefield and kill dozens of Liao dogs to make contributions." Cheng Yaojin said, unwilling to fall behind.

Su Wei still said hesitantly, "Ship Zhang, I think General Chen is safe. If General Chen can send a team to pick him up, there will definitely be no problem. We should be safer. It is not too late to wait until the troops are united, and then discuss how to defeat the enemy."

In the whistling north wind, Zhang Xutuo was silent and said, "The Prime Minister doesn't know that the Liao coalition forces have more than 500,000 people siege Liaodong City, and there are only about 100,000 people in front of me. Therefore, I guess that I am afraid that the remaining troops are still siege Liaodong City, and I am afraid that Marshal Chen will be able to come out of the city to meet us after receiving our news. Besides, Your Majesty ordered me to reinforce Marshal Chen from Liaodong, so how could he let Marshal Chen come first?"

"I have decided, so don't say anything more. Luo Ganxin and Qin Shubao are the vanguards and are the first to rush forward. I am the general. Cheng Yaojin leads a thousand soldiers and horses to protect the safety of Prime Minister and Lord Huang. As for General Chen, you will take a team of men around the battlefield and rush back to Liaodong City first, and inform General Chen, and say that our army will then go to Liaodong City and ask them to prepare to open the city gate to meet."

After allocating the combat plan, another half an hour later, Zhang Xutuo's troops replaced the war horses that had already been recuperated. The 18,000 people were divided into 5,000 front troops, 52,000 middle troops, and 1,000 rear troops, and Chen Qing led a team of 50 people to return to Liaodong City at any time.

The north wind was as tight as the gusts, and the snowflakes in the sky were not at all. After standing on the snow for a long time, a lot of snowflakes were accumulated on everyone's body. The soldiers raised their spears and swords, raised their swords and jumped their horses one by one, ready to attack.

Zhang Xutuo's beard was covered with blood, and his face was red with cold. He raised the large iron spear in his hand and pointed at the Liao army formation. The sound of long horns sounded, and Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin took the lead and took the lead in the formation. Five thousand cavalrymen followed closely behind him, shouted and rushed towards the formation army position.

At the beginning of a fierce battle, Zhang Xutuo led the army closely behind, fighting against the Central Plains for a long time, without fear of five or six times their Liao army. They rushed towards the enemy like wolves and tigers, bows and arrows, cavalry, horizontal swords, and various weapons flew over.

In front of these Liao people, although the soldiers of the Bafeng Camp had no chariots and no antlers to resist horses, they were still moving forward. They cooperated with the tacit cavalry and charged forward in groups. Just like farmers harvesting wheat in autumn, and the Liao people and slaves fell down one after another.

There were 130,000 people in the array, but in fact there were only 30,000 real soldiers. The three generals of Goguryeo, Yuan Taizuo was good at attacking, Gao Jianwu was good at defending, and the strongest Yizhi Wende was his plan. He was like a poisonous snake hiding in the grass, and if he didn't come out, he would be injured.

In order to win this decisive battle, Yizhi Wende formulated a precise plan overnight. Even this plan was tailored for Zhang Xutuo. He knew Zhang Xutuo's strength, so he did not plan to face the famous Sui general head-on from the beginning.

Zhang Xutuo not only set up an ambush along the road, but also finally brought to the 130,000 people by the river, except for 30,000 soldiers, all 100,000 were slaves and civilians. Such an array must not be able to stop the Sui army. However, he had never thought of defeating or even blocking the Sui army. The role of these 130,000 soldiers was just for defeat.

Qin Shubao and Luo Shixin had just charged, and they had already opened a gap in the Liao people's array. In this case, even Luo Shixin, who had been able to defeat the Liao army with a charge, could not believe it.

However, this young murderous devil would not stop and think about why. He rushed straight towards the Liao army's commander's flag with his men. Since he had already broken the army, he would kill the general and seize the flag.

Gao Jianwu led more than 5,000 elite Goguryeo cavalry to the slanting ground, and withstood the storm-like attacks between Luo Shixin and Qin Shubao. Unfortunately, after only half an hour, Zhang Xutuo's central army had completely defeated the formation, and more than 10,000 cavalry rushed to the scene.

With this new force, Gao Jianwu, who had been struggling to support, seemed to be unable to hold on, and one cavalry after another fell down. Gao Jianwu originally wanted to lead his troops up to block for a while, so as not to let the entire formation be defeated so quickly or so easily. But he never thought that the powerful impact of the Sui army was simply shocked.

The two young generals were fearless and were completely desperate to lead waves of attacks. The elite Goguryeo cavalry around them fell one after another, and Gao Jianwu felt a chill in his heart. He no longer had to pretend. They were really defeated, they were defeated so quickly.

In the north wind, snowflakes were still flying all over the sky. Gao Jianwu looked up at the sky. Although there was still a distance from the agreed time to retreat, he could no longer stop it. If he could hold on, he would really become a prisoner of the Sui army.

At the cavalry that was less than two thousand men left beside him, Gao Jianwu yelled, "Retreat!"

A team of flag guards followed Gao Jianwu with the flag tightly, turned their horses and retreated in the direction of Liaodong City.
Chapter completed!