frightfiction Chapter 793 The War of Founding the Nation (3)
Chapter 793 The War of Founding the Nation (3)
Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun were both generals skilled in offense, and also the sharpest spears in the world. Even in their sixties, they were still unstoppable.
The two men led a small number of infantrymen to clear the way, forming a pincer attack that relentlessly struck the heart of the Wei army. Wherever they went, the Wei troops melted away as quickly as snow under the scorching sun.
Seeing this, Cao Ren gave another order: "Zhang He and Xu Huang, you lead your troops to hold off these two old thieves. Cao Zhang and Xiahou Shang, you each lead 20,000 cavalry to flank them from the left and right and cut off the Han army's rear."
The reason why Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun were able to suppress the Wei army was because the Han army kept coming in, giving the Wei army no chance to breathe.
Cao Ren knew that if things continued this way, the Wei army would be defeated and had no chance of winning. Therefore, he had to cut off Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun's reinforcements, divide and surround them, and at the cost of losing tens of thousands of soldiers, to buy the Wei army a moment to catch their breath.
Upon receiving the order, Cao Zhang and Xiahou Shang decisively launched an attack, leading their troops to bypass Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun from the left and right flanks, attempting to cut off Zhang Fei and Zhao Yun's connection with the main Han army in the rear. However, Zhuge Liang had already anticipated this move, and Cao Zhang's troops ran right into the arms of King Zhao, Liu Feng, as soon as they arrived.
Seeing Cao Zhang charging towards him, Liu Feng pointed his long sword forward and shouted, "Attack him!"
Liu Feng led infantry, so when facing cavalry, they naturally focused on ranged attacks, firing arrows and crossbows in rapid succession, easily felling a large number of Wei soldiers.
However, the Wei cavalry was too fast. They only withstood one volley of arrows from the Han army before rushing to the front of the Han army's formation and crashing into a shield wall made of shields and spears.
Cao Zhang was the first to arrive, wielding his long sword to deflect the Han army's spears. His mount, as if guided by a spirit, suddenly reared up the moment he deflected the spears, its two front hooves slamming hard onto the shield.
The shield bearers behind him could not withstand the heavy pressure and fell to the ground on the spot. Cao Zhang successfully broke into the formation and attacked the Han army. The cavalry behind him followed closely and rushed into the battlefield through the gap that Cao Zhang had torn open.
This is near the Wei army's main camp. The Han army has just arrived and has not had time to dig trenches, horse traps, or other defensive structures. In this situation, normally, the cavalry could simply charge into the enemy lines and begin a massacre.
The problem is that since the Han army knew they were at a disadvantage against cavalry, how could they not have made some preparations?
Therefore, after Cao Zhang broke through the shield wall and rushed into the formation, he did not encounter Han infantry waiting to be slaughtered, but rather wooden boxes that were several meters long, wide, and nearly two meters high, resembling large coffins. The front and sides of the boxes were even covered with many sharpened bamboo poles or spears.
Caught off guard, Cao Zhang nearly crashed into the spear tip in front of the wooden box. Startled, he jerked the reins and braked hard. The horse reared up in pain and bounced backward. When it landed, its head was only half a foot away from the spear tip. This shows that if Cao Zhang had reacted even half a beat slower, the horse's neck would probably have been pierced by the spear tip.
Cao Zhang was startled by the sudden turn of events and broke out in a cold sweat. After regaining his balance, he looked up and saw thousands of such rotten wooden boxes scattered on the ground like stones in a pile of rubble, as if they had been abandoned.
He didn't care about the wooden crates; the problem was that these crates piled up here were becoming obstacles. How could the cavalry charge with so many obstacles?
While cavalry is fast, it also has many limitations. It can only roam freely on plains without obstacles. When it encounters an obstacle it cannot pass, it must slow down and go around it. This is fine in normal times, but on the battlefield, slowing down is equivalent to giving up the speed advantage of cavalry. Without the impact force generated by high speed, how can it deal a fatal blow to infantry?
Cao Zhang was furious and about to curse when several arrows shot towards him. Startled, he quickly shut his mouth and parried with his sword.
Cao Zhang was forced into a state of panic, not to mention the cavalry behind him. Some of them couldn't stop in time and crashed into the spear tips in front of the wooden crates, while others were tripped and fell to the ground because they braked too suddenly.
Seeing that he could not get around the wooden crates, Cao Zhang had no choice but to order a retreat, preparing to send in infantry to clear the crates first.
The situation was the same for Xiahou Shang, who was being defended by Liao Hua.
Due to the tight schedule, the wooden crates on Liaohua's side did not have barbs; they were just plain boxes. However, each box weighed several hundred kilograms and was laid flat on the ground. It was impossible for them to be easily knocked over by cavalry like infantry. For cavalrymen, hitting a box was no different than hitting a wall.
Moreover, the boxes were scattered haphazardly, so since the Wei cavalry couldn't knock them over, they had to go around them, circling the boxes on horseback, which was slower than the infantry.
Moreover, there are not only boxes here, but also Han soldiers behind them. Infantrymen are much more agile than cavalrymen. They can shoot you with an arrow out of the blue and then quickly run to hide behind the next box. Unless you dismount and chase them, you have no chance of catching them.
The Wei cavalry was so thoroughly suppressed by the Han army in such a way that Xiahou Shang, feeling utterly frustrated, wanted nothing more than to bang his head against a wall.
Xiahou Shang gritted his teeth and said, "I've never seen anything like this in battle before. This must be Guan Xing's idea. Let's retreat first."
The Wei troops on both flanks returned empty-handed. Liu Bei, Guan Yu, Zhuge Liang, and Guan Xing on the high platform were all smiling. Liu Bei said leisurely, "I didn't expect the wooden box formation to be more effective than the shield wall. This is really a powerful weapon against cavalry. Anguo, well done."
This despicable idea was indeed Guan Xing's. Guan Xing deployed wooden crates on both flanks and even the rear of his army, all in order to cripple Cao Wei's cavalry and force them to dismount and fight on foot.
It's important to know that there are gaps between the wooden crates, the narrowest of which is about two meters, allowing infantry to pass freely. However, cavalry would not be so free to pass, because the wooden crates are mostly arranged in a triangular pattern. To pass through the gap between two crates, one must turn, or else crash into the crate in front. Cavalry would have to keep turning between the crates, so how could they charge?
Guan Xing laughed and said, "The biggest advantage of cavalry is speed. If we can overcome the speed advantage of cavalry, cavalry will be easier to fight than infantry. But Cao Ren shouldn't give up so easily, right?"
Upon receiving reports from Cao Zhang and Xiahou Shang, Cao Ren, though unwilling to accept his fate, couldn't help but swear a few times. He then decisively abandoned any attempt to take shortcuts and gritted his teeth, saying, "Damn you, you want to fight head-on, huh? Fine, I'll grant your wish. Cao Xiu, lead the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in a frontal breakout. Cao Zhang and Xiahou Shang, you two follow closely behind Cao Xiu and charge through the gap torn open by the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. Don't give the Han army any chance to breathe."
"Zhu Lingqian, you two each lead 30,000 infantrymen to attack the left and right flanks of the Han army, and burn those broken wooden boxes for me."
The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was established by Cao Cao and was the most elite cavalry force of Cao Wei. It is no exaggeration to say that it was the ace of the Wei army. Therefore, the commanders of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were all generals from the Cao Wei royal family. The first one was Cao Chun, and after Cao Chun's death, it was handed over to Cao Xiu.
The Han army was surrounded by wooden crates on three sides, leaving only the front unobstructed and allowing for free movement. Therefore, Cao Ren decided to move all his cavalry to the front to engage the Han army in a head-on confrontation.
Cao Xiu led his Tiger and Leopard Cavalry straight out, took over the defensive line from Zhang He, and headed straight for Zhao Yun.
The thousands of Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, like a black mobile castle or a black steel torrent, rushed into the formation and instantly suppressed Zhao Yun's attack, forcing Zhao Yun to shrink his defensive line and retreat slowly.
Cao Zhang and Xiahou Shang joined forces and forced Zhang Fei to retreat. Cao Ren, taking advantage of the Wei army's powerful cavalry, finally managed to regain some of the advantage.
From the high platform behind, seeing the Wei army's Tiger and Leopard Cavalry move out, Zhuge Liang immediately ordered, "Xia Tong, take your men up there and see if your Ironclad Battalion can withstand the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's attack."