Chapter 47: The Eve of Battle

  Yuan Cheng, county government office.

  Zhang He paced back and forth under the hall, asking loudly: "Where are the Xiliang rebels now?"

  A small school hastily replied: "Reported General, has already killed rushed to Pingzhuang."

  "Hey, those damned Western Li bandits."

  Zhang's face turned iron-green with rage, and he clenched his fists and pounded his palm heavily.

  He paced back and forth for a while, then couldn't help but ask: "Is there any news from Ye City?"

  "No news for now."

  Just then, a small school rushed in and said loudly: "General, the Xiliang rebel army has killed Pingtu, destroyed three forts and two manors, and all the wealthy families have been exterminated, leaving only women and children.

  "It's suffocating me too!"

  Zhang He let out a loud roar, his eyes almost spewing fire.

  This damn rebel army of Western Liang is really brutal and has no humanity at all.

  If this continues, the local gentry and powerful clans in Changshan County may rebel.

  But himself cutting down bandits is not advantageous, hiding in Luan city and not sending out troops, when the time comes he will likely become a scapegoat.

  Xiao Xiao's face flushed with excitement, and he couldn't help but shout loudly: "General, we are willing to fight a decisive battle to the death with the Western Liang rebels!"

  "Please send troops, General."

  The rest of the military schools also asked for orders, each with high morale.

  Hiding in Lanzhou like this, allowing the Xiliang rebels to burn and loot at will, is really too stifling.

  Zhang He glanced at the crowd of military officers, knowing that public opinion was hard to violate. He gritted his teeth and shouted loudly, "Alright, pass down my order! The army will set out immediately, heading east to Pingyang, where we'll engage in a decisive battle with the Western Liang rebels."

  "Roger."

  The whole army was shocked and responded loudly.

  Ten miles west of Pingci, inside a fort.

  Luo Zheng gnawed on a steaming hot lamb leg, his mouth full of oil.

  In two days, this is the thirteenth stronghold that the Western Liang army has trampled flat, and the thirteenth powerful clan they have annihilated.

  The landlord class is the backbone of this era, monopolizing not only knowledge and official career paths but also occupying a large amount of fertile land.

  Local officials and nobles, if they want to govern the local area well, have no choice but to employ scholar-officials. If they want to expand their armies and increase their strength, they cannot afford to offend these local magnates, because most of the money and weapons are in the hands of these local magnates.

  For the common people, the aristocratic clans are class enemies.

  However, for those ambitious vassals, the aristocratic clans were the backbone of their rule.

  Oppressing the strong and wealthy is just like letting them bleed and cut their own flesh.

  Luo Zheng would not harm those poor commoners, but he would show no mercy to these local tyrants.

  In two days, all the villages and strongholds that were trampled flat did not escape extermination, only some women and children were spared.

  Of course, some villages and manors were jointly built by the people to resist mountain bandits and avoid disasters, and the Western Liang army did not move.

  Report—

  Just then, a horseman rushed into the fort like a whirlwind.

  The commander of the vanguard cavalry galloped all the way, charging straight to Luo Zheng's front not far away, before reining in his warhorse, rolling off the saddle and dismounting, bowing down on the ground and saying loudly: "Report to General, our vanguard has discovered the Ji Zhou army, which is now rushing towards Pingji."

  "Oh, the Jizhou army has arrived?"

  Luo Zheng's spirit was suddenly lifted, and he asked loudly: "Is it Zhang He's army?"

  "Indeed."

  "Alright, very good."

  Luo Zheng slapped his thigh heavily and asked: "Where is Zhang He's army now?"

  "Have already arrived at the pavilion," replied General Hou, "and from there it is still a distance of one hour's march."

  At this moment, Luo Zheng suddenly stood up and shouted: "Pass my order, instruct each small team to return to the camp immediately, and then order the soldiers to have a full meal, rest their spirits and physical strength, and half an hour later, send troops to meet Zhang He's army."

  "Roger."

  The guards rushed to obey orders and quickly passed on the commands.

  In the official road from Yunxian County to Pingji, Zhang He led a large army of 7,000 men on their way.

  Only a few cavalrymen served as scouts, constantly galloping back and forth, either running to the front of the army to high places, shading their eyes to look around, or entering some deep gullies and dense forests, carefully searching to prevent being ambushed.

  In ancient times, whether it was cavalry or infantry, when a large army marched, they had to have scouts to explore the way.

  If you don't investigate the terrain, it's easy to be ambushed by the enemy and defeated.

  As for what's shown on TV, where a troop is ambushed here and another troop is ambushed there, and the enemy army is defeated with great losses, that's just cheating the audience. Which commander in chief is not an idiot? How could they charge into the enemy's ambush without scouting ahead?

  Ambushing requires many conditions

  For example, when one side is defeated and the other side pursues a victory, the defeated side can lay down an ambush, taking advantage of the pursuing side's need for speed and their inability to reconnoiter the terrain, in order for the ambush to be effective.

  For example, at night, take advantage of the darkness to set up a small ambush, which can achieve remarkable results.

  Normally, when two armies clash, there is rarely an opportunity to set up ambushes to defeat the enemy.

  Report—

  Zhang He led his troops in a swift march when a mounted scout rushed up like a flying bird.

  "General, the Western Liang rebel army has been spotted five miles ahead."

  "Estimated one minute at most, the Xiliang rebel army will arrive."

  "Time flies!"

  Zhang He's eyes narrowed, and he immediately shouted: "Pass on the order, the whole army will form a battle array on the spot and prepare to meet the enemy."

  The military order was quickly passed down and 7,000 Jizhou soldiers swiftly formed a battle line at the foot of an earth mound, with their backs against the mound ready to face the enemy.

  Infantry is not comparable to cavalry. When fighting against cavalry, the best approach is to use stillness to control movement and defense instead of offense. Otherwise, it's easy to be caught off guard by the cavalry and defeated in one blow. Only by first forming a defensive formation can you seek opportunities to defeat the enemy.

  Soon, a low rumble of thunder could be heard in the distance.

  Then everyone saw dust rising in the east and a rumbling sound growing louder.

  At this moment, the heavens and earth suddenly fell silent, and the rumbling sound subsided.

  At this time, Ji Hou came to report, "General, the Western Liang rebels have stopped."

  "Stopped?"

  Zhang's eyes narrowed and his mind was racing, but he couldn't figure out what the Xiliang rebels were up to.

  However, it soon started again.

  After a while, a black line appeared on the horizon and was rapidly moving towards this side.

  Three thousand Western Liang iron cavalry galloped across the vast wilderness, their horses' hooves pounding the earth with a deafening sound like thunder descending from the heavens. The ground itself began to shake, and the momentum was so overwhelming that it seemed as if they could shatter mountains and rivers, leaving onlookers trembling involuntarily.

  The two armies had not yet clashed, and the soldiers of Jizhou had already lost their morale.

  The Western Liang army was originally fierce and good at fighting, and after defeating the three thousand elite cavalry of Youyan in front of Qiao County, the confidence of this Western Liang cavalry swelled even more rapidly. The momentum formed when they charged forward in formation was even more fierce and powerful.

  Of the 7,000 troops from Jizhou, nearly half were conscripted from various counties, and they were truly inferior.

  More than three thousand Western Liang iron cavalry originally formed a long snake-shaped array, but when they advanced to within one li, the rear army then exerted great effort to spread out to both wings, forming a fan shape, and came across the open plains like a vast and mighty tide.

  "Pass on the order, form a circular defense."

  Zhang He's eyes widened in surprise, and he immediately let out a loud shout, issuing a military order.

  When two armies clash, with soldiers fighting in formation, different formations are required for different battles.

  If three thousand Western Xia iron cavalry form a triangular formation and charge from the front, they must be repelled with layered refused cavalry.

  Under the eyes of three thousand Western Liang cavalry, they came to the mountains and plains, the army advanced in a fan shape, not intending to launch a head-on attack, but rather to use a circular formation to respond, to prevent the Western Liang cavalry from taking advantage of the gaps and breaking through from other directions.

  Zhang He had long been through battles and wars, and in this aspect, his quality was absolutely solid.

  Just thinking that the Xiliang rebel army suddenly stopped two miles away, I don't know what they're up to, but my heart feels a bit uneasy, yet can't quite put my finger on it, so I can only double my vigilance and secretly keep an eye out.

  Iron hooves galloping, the earth far away.

  In front of the Western Cool Army formation, Luo Zheng wore armor and helmet, riding a horse to advance quickly.

  Three thousand Western Liang iron cavalry, like a rope swung in a semicircle, concave in the middle and arcing forward on both sides, tightly controlling the formation to advance forward, as if they were going to wrap up the seven thousand Ji Zhou soldiers.

  Luo Zheng was at the very bottom of the semicircle, with two hundred iron armor chain cavalrymen who had just changed their clothes behind him.

  "My lord, has the Jizhou army formed a battle array?"

  Xu Chu's eyesight was extremely good, and he could see the changes in the Jizhou army formation clearly. He immediately shouted loudly to remind them.

  "Alright, we will defeat the enemy today."

  Luo Zheng also saw it and couldn't help but shout in praise.

  The Western Liang Iron Cavalry advanced rapidly and soon entered within two arrows of the Ji Zhou army.

  Lu Zheng's eyes flashed with a killing intent, and he immediately waved his hand, turning his horse's head to charge towards the flank.

  More than a hundred cavalrymen on both sides immediately followed, clearing the way for the two hundred iron-clad ring-formation riders behind.

  The distance of two arrows can already allow both sides to clearly see the changes in each other's military array.

  Zhang He's horse stood in the army, seeing this strange scene, his eyes immediately condensed, and he became highly vigilant.

  Soon, the Western Cool cavalry at the bottom of the semicircle entered the range of one arrow from the Ji State Army.

  However, except for the cavalry on both wings keeping their distance and whizzing past from both sides of the Jizhou army, the hundred or so Western Liang cavalry in front showed no intention of flanking, and instead charged straight forward as if to launch a frontal assault.

  "What's going on?"

  Zhang He's eyebrows furrowed suddenly, and he felt inexplicably uneasy.

  If it were an ordinary general commanding the army, most would think that the Western Liang cavalry was seeking death by launching a head-on attack with only 200 cavalry against the heavily guarded and waiting 7,000-strong army. It's absolutely suicidal behavior, and just one round of simultaneous shooting could kill half of them.

  But this is so obviously wrong, it seems problematic no matter how you look at it.

  Zhang He, having experienced many battles, naturally did not think that the Western Liang army would commit such a low-level mistake.

  The only problem is that the Western Liang rebels have a sinister plot.

  The answer will be revealed soon.

  When the two hundred Xiliang cavalry entered the range, Zhang He gave a loud order, and five hundred archers immediately came up with a round of simultaneous shooting. A swarm of arrows swept through the Jizhou army formation and shot heavily at the heads of the two hundred Xiliang cavalry.

  However, the result left everyone's eyes wide with wonder.

  Even Zhang He, who was normally calm and composed, was greatly shocked.