Chapter 311, Mei Xiao crossed the river to pick Robbie, Yingning poisonous plan to burn the cavalry

From the Eight Immortals crossing the sea to Hu Chun entering Longshou Mountain to gather with Longgangu, the Anshi Rebellion on earth had been quelled. He led his army to stop the rebels from going south, and the general Mei Xiao, who attacked Luoyang under Guo Ziyi, made outstanding achievements and was named the Marquis of Xihe. Although the war in Guanzhong has been quelled, the disputes among the masters in the world have become more and more intense. Naturally, the immortals on the east sea of ​​the Heavenly Court did not participate in the struggles on earth.

After Hu Chun entered Longshou Mountain, Emperor Qing was talking to King Xu, but something happened to Mei Yi on earth. The body of the earth immortal was destroyed, and his spiritual consciousness was dispersed and he re-entered the cycle of reincarnation. How could such a thing happen? I have to start from the beginning-

In the first month of the second year when Li Heng proclaimed himself emperor and undermined his father Li Longji, An Qingxu killed his blind father An Lushan and usurped the throne of Emperor Yan. At the same time, the rebel general Shi Siming defeated Li Guangbi in attacking Taiyuan. The rebels were blocked in the north and planned to go south. They sent Turkic general Ashina Chengqing to lead 20,000 cavalry across the Yellow River and invaded Xuzhou, Bozhou for a generation.

When Ashina Chengqing went south, King Yong Li Lin had just arrived in Pengze. He was still rectifying the Pengze Naval Army, which had not been formed for a long time. The far water could not save the nearby fire. The Jianghuai was shocked by the Jianghuai. At this time, Mei efficiently led the Wuzhou army and local civilians to fight across the Yangtze River to the north. When he heard that Wuzhou sent troops, the nearby prefectures seemed to have found their backbone and sent temporary military horses and civilians to support him. After crossing the river, Mei Xiao had already had 60,000 troops, including soldiers from Wuzhou, Hezhou, Shuzhou, Runzhou, and Chuzhou.

Although Mei Xiao's troops were three times that of the enemy, most of them were temporarily gathered without training. He ordered his subordinates who knew military tactics to spend a lot of energy to practice the military formation, select those who knew martial arts and could archery, and barely formed into one thousand heavy cavalry, eight thousand light cavalry, three thousand sword teams, three thousand crossbowmen, and another ten thousand navy divisions. The remaining more than 30,000 people formed into infantry formations that cooperated with swords, shields and spears.

This is already all the military forces that can be gathered in a hurry in the Jiangnan area, and the drill has been practiced for less than a month. I just mastered the command of the military flag and the golden drum, and the advance and retreat between the various battle formations. It seems to be a huge momentum, but Mei Xiao knew in his heart that this army could not resist 20,000 Turkic cavalry in the open area. As long as the opponent charges, the formation in front will be chaotic, and most of the troops who have no combat experience will likely collapse.

After the hastily formed the army, the rebels had already set sail to the north bank of the Huai River. Mei Xiao also led his army across the Yangtze River and approached the south bank of the Huai River. The army of 60,000 people needed logistical support, and more than 100,000 civilians in the rear were raised under the command of local officials and officers to transport food, grass and military supplies. Fortunately, the Jiangnan states were rich, and there was no shortage of money and food, but the organization and coordination were very complicated.

Of course, Mei Xiao is the leader of this army, but the nominal leader is Mei Yingxing. Although Mei Yingxing is not old, she has the aura of her father. At the same time, the most backbone force in the army comes from the children of the Mei family, and only he can conquer the situation. It can also stabilize the morale of the army.

When in Wuzhou, there was a debate about whether to cross the river to meet the enemy. Yingning believed that the soldiers in Wuzhou could only protect themselves according to the city, and bringing a group of people who had never fought wars across the river would mean death. Mei Xiao pointed to the picture album and said: "Only the soldiers in Wuzhou can not naturally welcome the enemy, but now the states are in a panic. Huainan Road cannot consolidate its army and the lack of patriots to climb up the high ground and call for a call. You can take the opportunity to gather troops from nearby states. A real man is making achievements at this time."

Ying Ning didn't care who fought with whom in the world. She just thought about Mei, and pointed to the map and said: "The Mei family in Wuzhou is strong and strong in the army. If you take them across the Yangtze River, there will be no way out if you lose. Are you going to follow the example of Chu King's fight against the water?"

Mei Xiao shook his head and said, "Most of the Turks have long been out of the climate, and they rely on the rebels to rebel and cause cruelty. This time, when we come to the south, we first plunder property, population, military supplies, and we will burn and kill them, and we will not be left behind. If they are defeated, they will have their own way out. They will only return to the grassland, and the people of Jianghuai have no way to retreat behind their homes. You still don't know what kind of desolate scenes will be like after such wolf soldiers pass through the border."

Mei Yingxing, who had not spoken, suddenly slapped the table and said, "Cross the river! The combat power is not as good as it is. If you don't gather people to inspire your fighting spirit, how can you fight?"

As Mei Xie expected, with the call of crossing the river to meet the enemy, a large army was assembled in a short time, and at least it could be a battle. Tingtao Villa received a letter from Yu Wenmodi, the governor of Wuzhou. He also sent a monk Yu Wendeng to the army with his two nephews Yu Wenlong and Yu Wenhu. Some monks did not play a big role in front of the formation of thousands of troops. However, they were suitable for sending messages, reconnaissance, guarding generals, and spying on military information.

Mei Yingxing has never been on the battlefield but has read military books. After crossing the river, he said to Mei Xiao: "The military books say that. When the enemy crosses halfway, the vanguard has not yet established a stable foothold, and the head and tail cannot echo. The best attack is. Should we send light cavalry to the bank of the Huai River and attack while the opponent crosses the river?"

Mei Xiao shook his head and said, "Ashi Chengqing has been under An Lushan's command for a long time. How can he not know the military strategy? The so-called half-cross attack requires a good geographical advantage. It is often best when the enemy is unprepared or has to cross the enemy. Our light cavalry has insufficient combat power, and most of the troops behind cannot keep up at the same time, and cannot control the opponent when crossing the river. If you are tired from attacking, you may be afraid that the vanguard will collapse first. You can only join the army to advance and choose the right place to meet the enemy."

After two days, the scouts reported that the army of Asuna Chengqing had crossed the Huai River in Haozhou. At that time, the place I chose was wide-open and was not suitable for ambushing. At night, people were sent to swim across the river to explore the surrounding terrain and enemy situation, and established a beacon and dark post at a high place. All nearby ferries gathered on the dawn, mounted an arrow tower and crossed the beachhead position on the south bank, and quickly built a floating bridge. The cavalry did not dismount and rushed across the river quickly.

At this time, Mei Xiao's army had just entered the territory of Haozhou, and was more than 300 miles away from the Huaihe River. It was indeed too late to cross the cross to fight. If only the light cavalry was sent to advance, it would be difficult to win. If the morale in the front was lost, the battles behind would be difficult, because the soldiers under his command had never fought at all.

After the enemy soldiers passed Huai River, they headed south along the canal, but did not take the water route. Instead, they marched on the land along the official road beside the canal. It may be because it is more troublesome to get on the boat, and most of the Turkic soldiers were not familiar with the water and were not used to taking the boat. It is speculated that their marching direction should be to capture Runzhou.

Runzhou is a transit station where the Grand Canal was dug by Emperor Yang of Sui to connect the Yangtze River. It was transported to the north by taxes, money, grain, tributes, and commercial goods in the south of the Yangtze River. A large amount of money and various materials were hoarded there, and the population was the most densely populated, gathering various shops, workshops, and craftsmen. Whether from a strategic perspective or just wanting to raise troops to plunder, Runzhou is a must-attack place for the rebels.

After hearing the news, Mei Xiao ordered the stop advancing. The entire army retreated fifty miles, set up camps in front of the official road, and transported all the food, grass and supplies into Tianshui County behind the Dazhai. While retreating, three hundred personal soldiers who were good at lurking were quietly left along the way, and they disappeared one by one in dense forests, rivers, and reed marshes.

They had scouts and other scouts. It was impossible to hide the marching of such a large land force. The other party must know their dynamics. However, when the 60,000 troops heard that the enemy was retreating, they "lost" three hundred people on the road, which would not attract special attention. These three hundred people were all children of the Mei family's close confidants. They dressed in casual clothes as woodcutters, hunters, and fishermen. They brought three days of dry food to lurk in the dense forests and reeds southwest of the official road. After these people were scattered, even Mei Yingxing could not find them.

After the enemy soldiers crossed the Huai River for a day and a half, they reached a place thirty miles away from Meixiao's army. There was almost no decent resistance along the way. Each of them had more than one horse, and most of the military supplies relied on plunder and supplies. Therefore, the march was extremely fast and mobility was very strong.

Twenty thousand cavalry marched on the official road. The three armies in front, middle and back stretched for twenty miles and approached the enemy camp in front. The reconnaissance cavalry returned, and the Tang army left the city to set up camp. The battle formation had already been set up outside the camp. The Turkic vanguard general Ashinarobi ordered the front army to slow down, gather the formation, and form a charge formation, and at the same time sent people to repay the central commander Chengqing.

The rebels obviously did not take the Jiangnan troops in front of them seriously and were not afraid of encounters. The soldiers under Mei Xiao were a little nervous. Many people in the formation were sweating with their hands holding swords. It was said that at this time, they should take advantage of the opponent's foothold and the battle formation was not fully set, and sent heavy cavalry to attack along the official road, but Mei Xiao did not move.

I don’t know if it was because I was afraid that my troops would not be able to be retracted, or if I was waiting for a better fighter jet, Mei Xiao, who was under the Central Army, was always looking into the distance.

The sound of trumpets came from the horizon, followed by the sound of horse hooves galloping, the ground was trembling, and the enemy vanguards formed several battle formations three miles away. The horses rushed over and charged to exert the maximum power of the iron cavalry, and smoke and dust could be seen everywhere from afar.

There was a silent sound in the formation. Just as there was a clanging sound, a young man behind him might be too nervous, and his shield fell to the ground and quickly picked it up again. At this time, he had to move. The southwest wind that had been blowing suddenly became stronger. Mei Xiao raised his hand, waved the central army flag left and right twice, and the sound of the war drum sounded, the bow was put on the strings, and the knife was unsheathed. Three thousand Modao soldiers lined up and walked forward to lead the central army with the rhythm of the war drum.

Behind the sword formation are three thousand sword-patterned crossbowmen, with the archer archer placing arrows, the crossbowmen tilting the strings, and pointing diagonally towards the sky according to the command. Another hundred crossbowmen rode on horses and stared at the battle formation in front of them. As long as someone fled to the enemy and fled to the formation, they would immediately shoot with an arrow.

The light cavalry was placed on both sides of the central army and could rush out at any time. The sword, shield and spear and infantry were arranged behind the cavalry. A thousand heavy cavalry gathered on the left side of the battlefield, away from the direction of the canal, so that there was the largest open area to impact. The sound of war drums sounded like thunder, which seemed to shake everyone's nerves. The nervousness of the soldiers and generals faded, and became more and more excited with the neat pace.

At this moment, Aban roared and spread across dozens of miles with the impact of the clouds and breaking through the air. Several horses nearby were frightened and neighed, and actually dropped the knight on their backs.

Aban's roar came out, and the opponent's cavalry had already been seen on the horizon. At this moment, a thick smoke rose from the left side of the enemy's army, and then another thick smoke rose, extending to the distance. The rebel vanguard rushed out in line, but the central and rear troops were in chaos.

We need to introduce the terrain here. The water system north of Tianchang County is very developed along the canal. There are countless lakes of Chengzi Lake, Hongze Lake, Baima Lake, Gaoyou Lake and other large and small lakes along the way. Reeds are everywhere, and only the official road along the canal can pass through the cavalry. Outside Tianchang County is an open area suitable for large army battles, and Mei Xiao lined up to wait here.

Mei Yingxing left the three hundred people in the reed marsh on the southwest side of the official road, scattering and lurking for about thirty miles. In the past two days, the southwest wind was blowing, and Gaoyou Lake on the other side of the official road was heard. When they heard A Ban's roar, they took the fire at the same time and ignited the nearby mountains and reeds.

In early winter, the grass was dry, and the fire spreads with the wind and burns towards the direction of the official road. Thick smoke rolls everywhere. Ying Ning's idea was the idea of ​​fire attack, and it has three functions: one is that thick smoke rises from thirty miles away. The enemy's army did not know what ambush was, so they were distracted and panicked. They could not gather all their strength to fight with Mei Xiao for a short time.

Secondly, because there are many places next to the official road, there are forests and reeds. Fireworks attacked, and the army had no place to retreat. On the other side is Gaoyou Lake. Even if you can't burn it to death, how can you fight in the army? Thirdly, even if people can avoid fireworks, the war horses will inevitably be frightened by fireworks, and the war horses will be in chaos as soon as the war horses are chaotic.

There are no reeds and forests around dozens of miles of road, but as long as the Turkic army is in chaos, there is an opportunity to take advantage of it! This move is ruthless and it really works.

Marine fire prevention is common sense. Turkic horses are on guard along the way. When there are dense forests and large reeds next to the road, they are also moving in batches to speed up. No enemy is found. But who would have thought that the other party would set fire at the same time in a mile or a few hundred miles along the road? There are dozens of villages along the way. Although the people have fled, the houses and pastoral areas are everywhere.

The most threatening place was not the fire, but the thick smoke drifted with the wind. The war horses were so fumbling that they could not open their eyes and neighed around. The leaders of the army shouted loudly and finally gathered their troops and gathered a little away from the fireworks, but the army was in chaos. Among the 20,000 cavalry, only hundreds of people were killed by fire, thousands of people were caught and trampled to death, thousands of people were squeezed into the Gaoyou Lake in panic, and more than ten thousand people did not join the war in time.

Only the forward Ashinarobi led 4,000 cavalry to the open area as planned and fought head-on with Mei Xiao's 60,000 troops. As soon as the two armies confronted each other, they heard the cheers in the opposite formation. When they looked back, they saw thick smoke covering the sky and the sun behind them.

Morale is very strange. Even if the soldiers and horses in Jiangnan are useless and the Turkic cavalry are brave, who will not be able to bully the 4,000 people who have no support for the time being? There are many ordinary people who may run faster than anyone else when they run away from their lives, but when they wave their swords and guns in one go, they will forget their fear when they cut the first knife in the sound of killing the sky. When he stepped on the first enemy, he seemed to become a fearless warrior again.
Chapter completed!