Chapter 27 Head-to-head confrontation He rode his horse at full speed, facing the biting cold wind, but Uther did not show any discomfort. Having been fighting against wind and snow all year round, and now that winter has not yet arrived, this little bit of cold is nothing to him. Looking at the barren and cold land around him, Uther couldn't help but feel worried. The Wuhuan tribes in Liaodong's vassal state numbered no more than a thousand in total, with a total population of about 20,000, making them relatively weak among all the tribes. The Dida tribe he led had less than a thousand people, and the 300 cavalrymen he brought this time were all the young and strong men in his tribe. This year, the Xianbei came south and took away many of their tribe's cattle, sheep and horses. The remaining ones were not enough to support them through the winter. In order to survive, they had no choice but to "borrow food" from the Han people. They could not defeat the Xianbei people or the border troops, but it was easy for them to deal with the Han people in the county and villages. As long as not too many people die, we can just apologize to the Han people afterwards and save face. This is how they have been getting through these years. After all, the Han people didn't want to push them into a corner, so they turned a blind eye to this.
Although he had heard that there had been a lot of business travelers coming in and out of Wen County recently and that supplies were plentiful, he had never seen it with his own eyes and had no idea how much it was, and what he needed more was food. After walking for so long, the villages that were originally located in these locations had disappeared, leaving only broken walls and ruins. He became more and more annoyed as he had gained nothing. Suddenly, a black dot appeared not far away and continued to expand. Uther looked closely and found that it was actually a cavalry, fully armored. what's the situation? Although Liaodong has many border troops due to its location on the border, most of them are concentrated near Xiangping. This time he decided to come and plunder at the last minute, and he arrived here on the same day. The border troops could not have known about it, and it was even more impossible for him to show up at this time. Looking at the war horses around him that were tired from traveling all the time, Usgu felt a little annoyed. He thought there wouldn't be any accidents during this robbery, so he hurried on his journey, trying to make a two-day round trip in case the tribe was attacked by other tribes. He didn't even have time to rest during the journey. Although each person was equipped with two horses, which they took turns to ride, the horses were already exhausted. The enemy was coming at him with great force. If he chose to retreat, he would probably not be able to escape. There is no way back, we can only fight to the death. "Dida's warriors, kill them!" Accompanied by the sound of a horn, the Wuhuan cavalry rushed towards the enemy one after another. Opposite them, Xu Rong looked at the disorganized Wuhuan cavalry with no formation at all and sneered slightly. One Han can defeat five barbarians. The Hu people were poor, and their weapons and armor were very backward. They were no match for the Han army in frontal combat. They only relied on their passion and the strength of their horses. In these two aspects, our soldiers are not inferior to those of the other side. The ideological education, welfare benefits and strict military orders in the army have initially shaped the soldiers' iron will. As for horses, at least three horses per person can be guaranteed, and each soldier has at least one good horse picked from a hundred miles away. However, this time because the distance was too close, each person only had two horses.
Although there were only 100 cavalrymen under Ma Teng who came on this trip, and he and Le Jin were leading infantry, they were also quite good at riding skills. When the distance between the two sides was less than 500 steps, a unique horn sounded following Xu Rong's order. Xu Rongjun and Le Jinjun, who were rushing in the front on the left and right, dismounted very smoothly. As the horses retreated, two hundred infantrymen gathered together skillfully and formed a formation like two wings. When Uther saw this scene, he was surprised and happy. He didn't expect that the Han army would make such a stupid move. Converting the cavalry into infantry at this time, isn't this just waiting to be beaten? But the opponent was able to change its formation so quickly, obviously they were an elite force. The charge horn had already been sounded. With seven parts of joy and three parts of uneasiness, Uther led his troops to charge forward without hesitation. Xu Rongjun and Le Jinjun showed no fear when they saw the oncoming Hu cavalry. During military drills, they had already simulated this scenario countless times. Even if the war horses rushed to within ten steps, they would not waver in the slightest. As the Hu cavalry at the front approached a distance of more than a hundred steps, sparse arrows shot towards Xu Rongjun and Le Jinjun. But these low-quality arrows could not hurt the fully armed Han army at all. You know, the price of a qualified arrow is not low, at least equivalent to one day's ration, especially in Wuhuan where ironware and craftsmen are extremely scarce, arrows are even more scarce. When the distance between the two sides reached a hundred steps, a horn sounded. Xu Rongjun and Le Jinjun picked up the crossbows that had already been strung without hesitation. Forty large crossbows on each side aimed at the enemy and shot straight at them, while the rest of the archers were divided into three rows front and back, shooting arrows continuously. The sharp arrows easily pierced the bodies of the Hu cavalry, and corpses were scattered all over the ground in a moment. Tian Ze was wealthy and had a large amount of arrows stored in his warehouse for a long time, so they could spend them at will. In order to prevent the arrows from being used by the enemy, Tian Ze also arranged for the craftsmen to make a small design during the production, so that the arrows could no longer be used if they encountered a violent collision. Dozens of the three hundred Hu cavalry were shot and killed as soon as they arrived, and the fierce offensive was immediately curbed. However, the fierce Hu people did not stop there, but continued to rush towards the two infantry. After three rounds of arrow shooting, they rushed to the position of thirty steps with heavy losses. Wusgu could not help but be shocked by the shooting speed and accuracy of the Han army's archers, but he thought that this was the end of it. At this moment, Ma Teng’s army, which had been suppressing the speed in the rear, arrived. They took advantage of the gap deliberately left between Xu Rong's army and Le Jin's army and charged straight towards the Hu cavalry whose morale had been dampened. At the same time, the archers in both armies threw away their good bows, picked up sabers, and protected in front of the crossbowmen. "kill!" Ma Teng, who was rushing in the front with a spear in his hand, looked at the scattered Hu cavalry, pushed his talent to the extreme, and shouted excitedly. With one spear, he stabbed the oncoming Hu cavalry off their horses. The Han army behind him was equally brave. They maintained a relatively neat formation in units of ten and slaughtered the Hu cavalry in front of them like chopping melons and vegetables. Compared with the scattered Hu cavalry, although Ma Teng's army was smaller in number, they achieved better concentration of troops by leveraging the advantage of their formation, forming an absolute numerical suppression on the battlefield.
Moreover, Ma Teng's talent for trampling camps can greatly increase the combat effectiveness of his cavalry during a charge, allowing them to crush the enemy even more. Wusgu was furious when he saw his people being killed one after another. "Han dog, die!" With a loud shout, Wusergu stabbed a Han cavalryman fiercely with a spear. The Han cavalry were wearing sophisticated black armor, and Uther's terrifying power only caused the armor to deform violently, but did not pierce it. But the huge impact force knocked the Han cavalry off their horses, and their lives or deaths were unknown. Zhang Lie, the squad leader standing nearby, saw this scene and had no time to take care of his downed men. He stared at Utherbone with a fierce look. "Two tigers! Big bull!" Zhang Lie called out to his two subordinates who were good at archery, and at the same time, he charged towards Utherbone with his spear without hesitation. The two men immediately started fighting. As he swung the spear, Uther was shocked to find that, as the strongest warrior of the tribe, he was suppressed by the man in front of him in less than two moves! Whether it was strength, speed or moves, he was crushed in all aspects. This shouldn't be the enemy general! He deliberately avoided Ma Teng who looked like a god not far away, but unexpectedly he was crushed by a squad leader. Just when he was doubting his life, two sharp arrows pierced through his left waist and right shoulder at the same time. His hands went limp and Zhang Lie's spear took the opportunity to pierce his chest, and Uther fell to the ground helplessly. Zhang Lie glanced at Erhu and Daniu who were holding bows behind him, nodded slightly, and continued to kill forward. The situation on the battlefield changed rapidly. Although he was confident that he could kill the enemy leader in a single fight, every second of delay added a variable. Erhu and Daniu were among the best archers in the group. Even though their accuracy was lacking, they could still hit the torso by aiming at it at such a close distance. The morale of the Hu cavalry had already been brought to the point of alert by the rain of arrows and the charge, and their leader was beheaded. They could no longer hold out under this fierce charge. In just a moment, nearly half of the Hu cavalry were killed and fled in panic. Seeing this, Xu Rong breathed a sigh of relief, but Le Jin, who was holding a saber and preparing to charge into the enemy camp, had a look of dissatisfaction on his face. The operation was very successful, but the power of this saber cannot be tested for the time being. We will find out when we have the chance. Seeing that the cavalry had taken control of the situation, Xu Rong immediately called on the war horses in the rear to return again. The infantrymen mounted their horses and assisted Ma Teng's army in continuing to chase and kill these Hu cavalry. "Happy! Really happy!" An hour later, Ma Teng, covered in blood, led his troops and brought more than a hundred Hu cavalry prisoners to Xu Rong. "Bo Jin, in this battle our army killed more than 170 enemies and captured 153. Only less than ten Hu cavalry escaped. The leader of this group of Hu people was also killed by our army." "What about our losses?" Xu Rong asked. "Eleven people were killed in the battle, fifteen were seriously injured, and thirty-seven were slightly injured. Most of them were knocked off their horses due to their poor riding skills. The loss is not small, but fortunately these squad leaders were not injured or killed." Ma Teng sighed slightly.
Although it was a great victory, casualties were inevitable. "After all, they are still a group of new recruits. It is normal to have such results. It just needs to be the backbone." Xu Rong said. The training time for these soldiers is still too short. If there is another half a year, the total number of soldiers killed or seriously injured can probably be controlled below ten. The tempo of the battle was firmly controlled by Xu Rong from beginning to end, but the problem of the soldiers' quality could not be solved by willpower and equipment alone. "This battle is considered a success. Clean up the battlefield as soon as possible. Soldiers who are not injured should prepare to follow the rear personnel to the Dida tribe." After arranging everything, Xu Rong looked towards the southwest and thought to himself: The battle over there should have ended by now. (End of this chapter)
