Retreating in front of the enemy was the most difficult thing to do. It was a headache for any veteran general with rich battlefield experience. A retreat could easily turn into a rout. Once it turned into a rout, even if you had millions of troops, you would be suppressed by tens of thousands of people, like a pack of wolves rushing into a flock of sheep.
A smooth and orderly retreat that left no room for the enemy to take advantage of during the retreat required extremely brilliant commanding skills, as well as an extremely high prestige in the army. This way, the soldiers would have absolute trust in your command when retreating. Otherwise, the act of retreating could easily cause panic among the soldiers. Even if you were faking your defeat, it could turn into a true rout.
Tin Aino was very lucky. She was caught up by the enemy just when she retreated to two saline-alkali swamps. After the enemy saw the impenetrable hole in the sand, they did not dare to attack from the left and right flanks. The troops of both sides were crowded on the main road, and the enemy's advantage in numbers could not be used.
On the other hand, although Xu Yisheng was a boorish man who fought by relying on his own courage and was not an outstanding general, he had a high prestige in the army, and these soldiers just had to listen to an officer like him.
Although Xu Yisheng did not know any brilliant military strategy, he had the ability to train soldiers, and he had put in a lot of effort. Therefore, the fighting quality and military discipline of the defending troops of Flying Fox Pass were very good. In this way, Tin Aino could use the alternating retreat method, and retreat boldly in front of thousands of Cavalry Tigers and Wolves.
After retreating a hundred steps, they stopped to set up the formation and supported the comrades who stayed behind to defend the enemy. Although it made the advance of the army extremely slow, this was the only thing they could do. They were infantry fighting, and if they were too far away from the comrades who stayed behind, they would not be able to support them. Before the comrades who stayed behind could retreat to the front, they would be killed by the enemy.
And a hundred steps was also a distance where their crossbows could exert their power. They could use their crossbows to suppress the enemy here, and support the comrades who stayed behind to retreat.
In this way, a strange scene appeared on the battlefield. On the white snowfield, the troops of both sides lined up in a long line, and stood orderly along a road, not daring to cross the line to either side. On this road, the Tang Army took turns to cover the retreat.
Every hundred steps the vanguard took, they would raise their shields and draw their bows, ready for battle. The comrades who stayed behind to defend against the enemy slowly retreated to the back of their comrades who had already rearranged their formation. Then, they rearranged their formation a hundred steps away. The comrades who were originally in charge of supporting them had now become the soldiers fighting on the frontlines. They continued to retreat.
The two teams crossed each other, but they were always within the effective killing range of the crossbows at the rear. Under the suppression of the dense rain of arrows, by the time the enemy rushed to the front of the shield team, the retreating soldiers had already repositioned themselves a hundred steps away.
Along the way, with every rotation and attack, there would be corpses of soldiers from both sides on the road. Blood dyed the snow-white ground red. Looking from above, it looked like plum blossoms were embroidered on the white silk carpet. The old branches were still extending into the boundless distance, and the "plum blossoms" continued to decorate it.
In this way, one side slowly retreated, and the other side slowly approached. It was like a vigilant hunter facing a pack of fierce wolves, retreating step by step in the confrontation. The situation was extremely dangerous, but before one side launched the final attack at all costs, it was relatively calm before the decisive battle.
In the distance, a sentry troop galloped over. This troop came from behind the Turks who were like wolves, and they were the second Turkic cavalry corps, with a total strength of more than three thousand men. The commander-in-chief was a Daqigin under Mu En. After hearing the situation of the battle in front, this Daqigin could not restrain his anger, and almost beheaded his vanguard.
The battle had actually turned out to be like this. If he just watched the Tang Army safely retreat to the Ming Wei Garrison, he would become the laughing stock of the entire grassland. This Daqigin ordered the cavalry to attack with all their might at all costs. Even if they had to use human lives, they had to pave a way out. At the same time, he ordered dozens of cavalry to separate to the left and right of the snowfield. He did not believe that there were potholes everywhere that could collapse at any time. Similarly, he intended to pave a way out even if he had to sacrifice human lives.
At this time, the Ming Army had already retreated another ten miles, out of the saline-alkali pothole area. The Turkic soldiers who stepped onto the snowfield with trepidation first cautiously probed, and then lightly galloped back and forth. When they found nothing out of the ordinary, their courage finally grew, and they rode back and forth on the snowfield. After circling a few rounds, they ran back and excitedly reported to the Daqigin.
This Daqigin had already seen the scene of them playing around in the snow. Without waiting for their report, he ordered the vanguard with the iron bow to atone for his crime, and led his men to attack the Tang Army from the left and right of the Tang Army, in order to tear a gap in the Tang Army's defensive line.
While the Turks were probing the ground on the left and right, they had already launched an attack on the Tang Army at the back, disregarding the sacrifices. Tin Aino could not help but secretly sigh when she heard the constant reports from her bodyguards. She knew that it was impossible to retreat easily.
"Stop advancing, get into formation and prepare for close combat!"
With the order, all the officers and soldiers knew that it was the most dangerous moment. They immediately rushed to prepare. The injured soldiers were helped to the middle of the formation, and the entire perimeter was set up in a tight defensive line.
Those soldiers with arrows in their shoulders and bleeding from their wounds did not give up fighting. The Tang Army was made up of archers, and they could no longer fight in close combat, so they picked up their war bows. At this stage of the battle, the blood in every man's heart was stimulated, and no one showed the slightest bit of fear.
Tin Aino gently lifted the curtain of the sedan chair, and quietly looked at Yang Fan's back, her eyes full of nostalgia.
Her mission had come to an end. The next battle would depend on the bravery and struggle of the entire army. It was no longer a battle of wits. She did not know what the outcome of this battle would be. She also did not know if she and he would be able to leave this place alive under the bite of this pack of wolves.
Her only regret was that she had finally fallen in love with a man. She had finally experienced the kind of happiness that a woman felt when she fell in love with a man. It was like drinking wine. But the time was so short. She hadn't enjoyed even a moment of romance. She hadn't even heard him say "I love you!" to her.
Yang Fan listened to the faint sounds of battle, and his hand that was gripping the reins was almost sweating. The battle was imminent, and it was unknown whether they could escape safely. He knew that the Tian Ai Nu had joined in because of him, otherwise, she would not have been in danger again and again. He also knew why the Tian Ai Nu had joined in because of him.
This debt was too deep and too heavy, and he feared that he would never be able to repay it in his lifetime, and might not even have the chance to do so. For Yang Fan, who did not forget to repay even a drop of kindness, it was really difficult to bear. And at this moment, no matter what he thought, he could not change the situation in front of him.
Yang Fan let out a long breath, and exhaled a cloud of white mist. He slowly turned his head, and the curtain of the sedan chair was slightly swaying, and it was quiet inside. Yang Fan secretly swore in his heart, "No matter what, I will do my best to protect you. As long as I am here, you will be safe! "
The hand-to-hand combat began, and the Tang army formed a rectangular formation on the road. When the Turkic cavalry rushed in front of them, the archers and crossbowmen pulled out their swords and spears, and together with the other soldiers of the vanguard, formed the first line of defense. At this time, the wind was not strong, but the enemies and themselves were fighting with all their might, and it was like a cold wind on the snowfield. The fighting spirit that had been accumulated during the shooting and the stalemate suddenly exploded, and both the generals and the soldiers were crazy.
They raised their spears and halberds, brandished their swords and sabers, roared, roared, and shouted. Like ferocious tigers, they madly pounced on their enemies, and a fierce melee began.
Because the Tang army adopted a relatively tight battle formation, the first line of fighting space was limited, and the second echelon of soldiers could only clench their weapons, and stare at the front, ready to enter the battle at any time.
This kind of hand-to-hand combat was far more convenient than fighting on the ground, and the Turkic also dismounted, holding all kinds of weapons, and began to fight with the Tang army. Both sides fought with all their might, and the ground had been trampled into mud, and blood was constantly sprayed. It was also trampled by countless feet, and there was no time to freeze it.
"General Lang, the vanguard suffered heavy casualties, and can't hold on any longer!"
Deputy General Xiao staggered to the front of the carriage with a broken arrow in his shoulder, and a bloody long saber in his hand.
There was a moment of silence in the carriage, and then Xu Yisheng's voice came out, "Vanguard, retreat and rest, battle team, advance!"
Xiao Ningfeng said loudly, "General Lang, do you want our cavalry to push forward?"
Xu Yisheng's deep voice came out from the carriage, "It's not time yet!"
"General Lang?"
There was no more sound in the carriage. Xiao Ningfeng stomped his feet, turned around, and shouted to the flag bearer, "Vanguard, retreat and rest, battle team, advance!"
At this time, Xiao Ningfeng was already suspicious of Xu Yisheng's refusal to show up, but he was only suspicious of Xu Yisheng's current condition, and still did not suspect that the person in the carriage was not their General Lang. At this time, the battle was urgent, and even if he had doubts in his heart, he did not have time to find out.
The battle team, which was formed by jumping soldiers and ambushing soldiers, was already ready. At Xu Yisheng's order, they immediately rushed forward, and took over their comrades' positions. The exhausted vanguard soldiers quickly supported and dragged their injured comrades, and quickly retreated to stop the bleeding, bandage their wounds, and rest.
The rotation of the troops caused the stalemate between the two sides to be like a tide crashing against a rock. The Turkic army was like the rising tide, taking advantage of the Tang army's withdrawal to take a step forward. However, they were immediately pushed back by the Tang army who had gained a firm foothold.
The Turkic Great Qi Jin rode on his horse, looking at the situation from afar. He saw that his men were wearing heavy leather robes and boots, and that their movements were getting slower and slower. Knowing that their physical strength was reaching its limit, he immediately ordered for another battle.
Both sides exchanged for fresh troops, using fresh blood and lives to strengthen their positions!
At this time, they could not take another step back, because a step back would mean total collapse, and collapse would mean total annihilation!
Every soldier on the front line was using their lives to fight for survival, time, and opportunity for themselves and their comrades!
But would this opportunity come?
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