Chapter 85: The Siege of Guangwu (V)

The army led by Zhao Yi had more than 30,000 people.

Among them, the Left Army had more than 25,000 soldiers, and the soldiers of Chenliu and Xingyang counties each had more than 3,000 soldiers.

The Left General was originally the elite of the central army, but the soldiers from Chenliu and Xingyang counties were transformed into first-class elites after Zhao Yi took over, through training, reorganization, and actual combat experience.

After Wang Yun led a thousand light soldiers to attack Ziyuyuan, the Turks, as Han Bin had expected, sent out cavalry to encircle and surround the enemy.

The 8,000 elite infantry led by Zhao Yi himself appeared behind the Turks at the right time and used the narrow terrain to encircle the Turks.

Following Zhao Yi's order, eight thousand soldiers of the left army, armed with spears and large shields, advanced like a wall, resisting the Turkish arrows while continuously shrinking the activity area of ​​the Turkish cavalry.

Shi Yanchao led two thousand cavalrymen to encircle and block the enemy, supporting the central army and preventing the Turkic army from making a surprise attack from behind.

In addition, Yingyang Lang Jiang Ma Shiyi led 2,000 Guanzhong cavalry, Huben Lang Jiang Su Yong led 3,000 Jizhou infantry, and Taiyuan County Magistrate Wang Bian led 3,000 Bingzhou troops. They followed the orders of their respective commanders and joined forces with Han Duo under Zhao Yi to form an elite force of more than 10,000 people, with the aim of intimidating the Turkic base camp and blocking the rescue army.

On the Turkic side, the leader was the special general Ashina Luzhi.

According to the Turkic official titles, under the Khan there was the Lesser Khan, also called the Deputy Khan, and under him there were 28 ranks including Yehu, Sha, Teqin, Tutun, etc.

Teqin was already a leader of a very high status, and Ashina Luzhi was a member of the royal family who could participate in meetings in the Golden Roof Tent.

He personally asked the Little Khan Ashina Jieshe for permission to lead 3,000 archers and 1,000 Tuojie soldiers to encircle the Yan army from behind.

Unexpectedly, he fell into the trap set by the Yan army.

Now in the front is the advancing Yan army infantry, with spears like a forest and shields like a mountain. The only gap is blocked by the Yan army cavalry.

For the thousands of Turkic cavalry, they were already in a desperate situation.

On the other hand, after seeing the Yan army coming out, the young Khan Ashina Jieshe in the Turkic camp wanted to send troops to support them immediately. However, he did not expect that the Yan army had already taken precautions, and countless Yan army troops were lined up in front of them. The only hope of rescuing the thousands of trapped cavalry was to send out an army of tens of thousands of people.

However, if too many troops were used, it would inevitably affect the siege of Gang County. There were at least tens of thousands of soldiers who were able to fight, and if they took advantage of the situation and attacked, the Turks would face the risk of being attacked from both inside and outside.

Another reason was that the Yan army's cavalry dragged branches, raised a lot of dust, and carried a large number of drums, horns and flags, making it impossible for the Ashina Society to judge the number of Jin troops in front of them.

The Ashina Society was slow to respond, which in fact was tantamount to giving up the thousands of cavalry that were used for encirclement.

After all, he can tell what is more important than what is less important.

It is not worth it to risk the siege of Gang County and the safety of the army in order to rescue thousands of cavalry.

On the riverside battlefield, after the initial panic, Special Forces General Ashina Luzhi quickly calmed down and ordered the entire army to counterattack.

Four thousand Turkic cavalrymen charged back with shouts and screams, and without any orders, they rained arrows on the heads of the front troops of the Yan army.

However, this time the Turks' powerful bows and arrows failed to cause much hindrance to the front of the Yan army.

At the forefront of the team were the 3,000 heavily armed infantrymen under the command of Han Duo, the Tiger Guard General. Everyone was wearing heavy armor, and the Turkic arrows could not penetrate them at all.

The arrows, as numerous as locusts, hit the armor of the Yan army, making clanging sounds and sending sparks flying, but very few soldiers were injured by the arrows.

The whole team was like a moving mountain, seemingly indestructible.

The two sides were getting closer and closer, and finally after several rounds of arrow rain from each other, the two armies finally came into close combat.

The forest of spears kept stabbing forward, making it impossible for the Turkic cavalry to resist. Occasionally, a Turkic cavalry who risked his life to charge forward would step on one, and the surrounding spears would immediately stab densely, and the Turkic man who only had one piece of leather armor would naturally be stabbed with countless blood holes.

The Turks were quite brave and did not collapse immediately. They wielded their scimitars vigorously and fought against the Yan army.

However, it is difficult to break heavy armor with a scimitar, unless you hit the vital point. Otherwise, the blade may bend if it hits the heavy armor.

Also, due to lack of space, the cavalry's assault advantage could not be brought into play, and they could only be constantly strangled by the Yan army's infantry formation that advanced like a wall.

The front row of infantrymen kept stabbing with their spears and lances, and any cavalryman who fell would be trampled into the mud.

As the battle became more and more like a one-sided massacre, the courage of the Turks finally collapsed.

Once the defeat was formed, it became a chase and escape. For the Turks, the only way to escape was to ride up the mountain on horseback or wade across the river.

Many people were swept away by the turbulent river, and in the end, less than three hundred Turks reached the other side.

The Yan army won a great victory in this battle, beheading more than 1,500 people, taking more than 300 prisoners alive, and many people were missing. They also seized more than 1,000 war horses, more than 1,000 bows, and 10,000 arrows.

And their own casualties were less than three hundred.

At the celebration banquet, after Zhao Yi thanked all friendly forces for their assistance, the first person he toasted was Zheng Shandao, the prefect of Chenliu County.

Zhao Yi breathed a sigh of relief after the battle, and was almost about to ask Zheng Shandao, who had offered the advice, to become his sworn brother.

However, Zheng Shandao always remained very calm towards Zhao Yi's attempts to get close to him and win him over, which was like hitting a soft nail for Zhao Yi who wanted to recruit him under his command.

But there is nothing to do.

During the several months when Zhao Yi served as the prefect of Chenliu, he had offered advice similar to yesterday's more than once. Zheng Shandao was not only able to give advice, but he was also in charge of the government affairs of Chenliu County, and even his military management was equally remarkable.

For Zhao Yi, he must win over such a versatile person.

But the problem is that although Zheng Shandao was extremely cooperative in official duties, he was always lukewarm towards Zhao Yi's private attempts to win him over.

In fact, Zhao Yi had no way to deal with Zheng Shandao. After all, he was from the Zheng family of Xingyang, and he was a direct descendant and the eldest son of General Zuo Zheng Guo.

In the future, there may even be a chance for him to become the head of the Zheng clan.

Is it worthy for a general of the left army, who comes from a powerful military family, to serve the dignified Zheng family of Xingyang?

Just three words, far from it.

At present, Zhao Yi just hopes to establish a good relationship with Zheng Shandao, although he is a bit too eager.

But whether in terms of ability or background, it is worth Zhao Yi's effort to make friends with him, and he is even barely qualified to be his friend.

After all, in the era of aristocratic families, the most effective stepping stone to the upper class was not how much merit you had or how much ability you had.

But it's about bloodline.

From the moment they are born, the children of wealthy families are arranged early on what kind of numbers they will study, what path they will take, what kind of food they will eat, and what kind of friends they will make.

(End of this chapter)