The Zhou army wore armor and marched day and night.
As the large group of people and horses moved forward, their footsteps caused the ground to tremble slightly.
Every soldier carried five days' worth of rations, as well as their own pots, stoves, sleeping bags, and other equipment. In order to maintain a certain amount of horsepower to cope with special situations, the cavalry would dismount and lead the horses when they were tired after walking for a period of time. Not only could they stretch their bodies, but they could also reduce the burden on their horses. Once they set off, the horses were their capital to save their lives, so how could they not cherish them?
Even so, the high-intensity march caused some soldiers to fall behind. No one cared about the soldiers who fell behind. They just let them accompany the infantry behind them.
The military order had been issued. Those who did not arrive in time would be beheaded. Although if everyone was late, General Zhang might not carry out this order. But if most of the troops arrived, then those who were late would definitely be out of luck.
During the march, the officers and soldiers of the various battalions chased each other. The organization and formation were already chaotic, but this was not a problem. Their first priority was to get to Lulong. There, they could reorganize a little and find out the latest situation at the front line before deciding on their next move.
At midnight, the three armies set up camp and rested for a while.
The soldiers took off their sleeping bags, chewed their dry rations, drank cold water, prepared fodder, and fed their horses. After being busy for more than an hour, they finally fell asleep.
At the fifth watch, the bugler was awakened by the officers and soldiers on night patrol. He rubbed his eyes and got up, then blew the bugler to wake up the sleeping soldiers. After a little reorganization, he hurried on his way again.
After another day of rapid marching, there was only half a day's journey left to the Yellow Deer Valley. At this time, it was already the second watch. General Manager Yan ordered them to rest in place. They would cross the valley early tomorrow morning and arrive at Lulong before tomorrow night. Once the military order was issued, the three armies set up camp in place, arranged food and rest, and recovered their strength.
They cooked in the black pot and fed the horses. When the exhausted soldiers crawled into their sleeping bags and were about to fall asleep with their swords on their waists, they suddenly felt a slight tremor coming from the ground beneath them.
"Bad news!"
Even without the general's orders, the experienced veterans knew that something was wrong. Because along with the trembling of the earth, the sound of galloping horses reached their ears. A large number of cavalry suddenly appeared in this place, and from the sound of the galloping horses, it was clear that they were charging. It was definitely not their men.
When the soldiers crawled out of their sleeping bags while shouting, they didn't care that their clothes were disheveled or that they didn't have time to put on their armor. They just picked up the saddles and hurriedly put them on the backs of the horses. Before they could tighten the silk sashes, the rumbling of the horses' hooves began to roar in their ears.
Thousands upon thousands of men and horses waved their gleaming steel blades as they pounced out from the darkness like ghosts. A flustered new recruit only saw a black shadow sweeping past him with a strong gust of wind. Then, he heard the blood-curdling screams of his companions in the distance.
While the terrified soldier was rejoicing that he had escaped death, another black shadow swept past him with a strong gust of wind. This time, he was not so lucky. The sharp saber cut him in half from shoulder to hip.
This was a cruel massacre. The exhausted Zhou army was already an arrow at the end of its flight. Furthermore, they were completely unprepared and at their most relaxed moment, they were attacked by the enemy cavalry.
The enemy's attack was so fast that even the scouts on the periphery did not have time to send back the warning. In such a hurry, it was impossible for the Zhou army to form a defensive formation, let alone launch a powerful counterattack.
Although the attacking Khitans looked disorderly and did not have a formation, they had participated in hunting since they were young and had long been trained to be elite knights. They usually formed groups of three and attacked at an acute angle. They cooperated with each other and cut off all obstacles to their comrades, maintaining the fastest speed of their charge.
There was enough distance between each attacking triangle to ensure that after they charged into the enemy's formation, their comrades behind them did not slow down and launched a second round of attacks at the same speed.
The attack unfolded on the entire Zhou army's camp. In every place, the Khitans maintained at least five rounds of attacks. These five rounds of attacks were enough to kill one-fifth of the Zhou army and cause great chaos. This ensured that when the Khitans passed through the camp turned back for a second round of attacks, the Zhou army would still not be able to form an effective counterattack.
The Zhou army fell into absolute chaos. No one could give a unified command and dispatch under such circumstances. They did not have the time to figure out who the Khitans were or where they came from. They could only fight on their own.
At this moment, the elite troops fully displayed their abilities. Based on their past combat and training experience, they spontaneously formed a circular formation. The soldiers on the periphery stabbed the enemy knights with their spears and used their sabers to cut off the legs of the enemy's horses in the dark. They used their lives to buy time for their comrades in the middle so that they could mount their horses as soon as possible.
In such a situation, they could not even form a dense spear formation. Without the resistance of the cavalry, the entire army was destined to be annihilated.
Soon, the neatly dressed cavalry charged out of the inner circle and fought with the enemy cavalry. They worked together with their infantry comrades to approach the other defensive camps that had spontaneously formed. They merged with each other and formed an even larger circle.
Under the assault of the Khitan cavalry, they had been divided into camps of various sizes. If they could not meet up as soon as possible, their deaths were only a matter of time.
Thanks to his never-ending combat training, after a day and night of rapid marching, Yang Fan was still able to maintain much more physical strength than his companions.
However, the group he was on was formed from prefectural soldiers from various places. They did not cooperate well with each other. When he killed a few Khitan cavalry with all his might, seized a warhorse, and mounted it, he could no longer find a small group of more than ten people around him with the help of the dim starlight and scattered torches.
The Khitan cavalry swept through the Zhou army camp. They did not stop to fight on the spot at all. Instead, they used their advantage of charging to repeatedly trample and charge at the Zhou army camp. Yang Fan could only mix in with the Khitan cavalry that kept charging back and forth and reaping the lives of the Zhou army. As he fought, he tried his best to save his companions.
After the Khitans pierced through the Zhou army camp and returned to carry out another round of penetrating assault, they finally slowed down. They began to surround the Zhou army, who had formed a small circular formation, and began to attack. They constantly shot arrows and even threw javelins.
The Zhou army, who had finally stabilized their formation, also shot arrows and crossbows outwards and used spears and daggers to block their attacks.
Most of the scattered roaming cavalry like Yang Fan had already been annihilated by the Khitans. Yang Fan's advantage lay in his superb martial arts. In this kind of darkness and chaos, the enemy was unable to concentrate their superior forces to attack him, so he was still alive and kicking until now.
In the midst of the fighting, a group of Zhou soldiers who had formed a formation to protect themselves finally discovered Yang Fan, who was wandering among the Khitan soldiers like a ghost. They immediately shouted at him, "Lieutenant Yang!"
Yang Fan was exhausted from all the killing. He hurriedly glanced in that direction in the middle of the battle. With the faint light of a torch that had fallen to the ground, he clearly saw the person who had called out to him. It was his other ride, Shi Rui.
Yang Fan was overjoyed. He immediately circled his horse and charged in that direction to kill.
Shi Beige had hurriedly gathered a small number of defeated soldiers and used dead horses and spears to form a small barrier. He was doing his best to block the Khitans' attack.
The Khitans circled their horses and ran endlessly around their small formation. From time to time, they would shoot an arrow, and from time to time, they would pull out a slender and slightly curved sharp saber and charge at their weak points of defense. More than twenty Zhou soldiers were exhausted from running for their lives inside the defensive circle.
Yang Fan raised his curled steel saber and approached the camp step by step. When there was still a distance of five or six feet between them, a Khitan rider took the lead and entered the Zhou army's defensive circle. He swung his sharp saber left and right and began a massacre.
Compared to infantrymen, apart from riding and shooting, the infantrymen would never be able to surpass the infantrymen in terms of maneuverability, the infantrymen would also be able to borrow the momentum of the horse's charge to slash down from a high vantage point. To infantrymen, this kind of tactic of slashing diagonally while riding a horse was an unstoppable and brutal killing method.
Seeing this, Yang Fan panicked. However, there were at least five or six enemy soldiers in front of him. Some of them were wielding heavy and powerful tridents, while others were wielding heavy sabers. They couldn't be dealt with in a short period of time.
The Khitan rider who had charged into the Zhou army's defensive circle raised his saber and slaughtered to his heart's content. Every time his steel saber fell, a cold light would flash and reap a life. His momentum was unparalleled and unstoppable. The Khitan riders behind him had already used this opening to charge over.
When Shi Rui saw this, he immediately raised his spear and charged over. Stepping forward, he twisted his waist and shook his spear. Just as he was about to stab at the Khitan who was killing without restraint, another Khitan rider leaped in from the opening. The handsome horse soared through the air, but before its front hooves touched the ground, the rider's shining steel saber swept past the back of Shi Rui's neck. His head, along with half of his shoulder, flew into the air.
"Shi Bie Jia!"
Yang Fan let out a loud cry, his eyes bloodshot. The steel saber in his hand fiercely slashed at the enemy in front of him. The Khitan general with the Heaven Supporting Trident saw the Tang general's entire body leaning out from the horse, the saber in his hand slashing at him with a sharp whistling sound. He could not help but be shocked and hastily put the steel trident horizontally. With a clang, the saber in Yang Fan's hand broke, ending its mission.
The Khitan general was overjoyed. He turned the trident and with a bang, the handle swept across the shoulder of Yang Fan, who was trying hard to sit back on his horse. The trident swept him off his horse.
A Khitan soldier rode forward and thrust his spear at Yang Fan's lower back. The Khitan general used the trident to block and shook off the spear with a clang. The sharp tip of the trident pressed tightly against Yang Fan's back. Looking at the picture of a ferocious beast on his back, he sneered and said, "This is a Tang general, tie him up!"
There were only five Zhou soldiers left in the stronghold, huddled in a corner. All of them were injured. When several Khitans leaped over the obstacles and turned around in this small circle, preparing to charge and kill them all, the five Zhou soldiers threw away their weapons and obediently raised their hands.
However, the Khitan people did not put down the sabers in their hands. They were running around everywhere, so how could they take in captives?
The Khitan people occupied an advantageous terrain in the Yellow Deer Valley. They waited at ease and used many deceptions to lure the enemy in. They also used fireworks to cause the Zhou army to trample on each other, causing countless casualties. As a result, they wiped out the Zhou cavalry with a very small price and immediately launched a one-sided massacre on the Zhou infantry.
In the Yellow Deer Valley, the infantry could not resist at all. Annihilating them also did not consume much military strength. Now, other than Li Duozuo's troops guarding the rear of the supply hall and the infantry that was left far behind by their rapid march, the main force of the cavalry of the Zhou army did not amount to more than thirty thousand people.
In this kind of situation where they waited at ease and launched a surprise attack at night, even if the Zhou army was several times more than the Khitan army, they would still be powerless and would definitely be defeated. Moreover, it was sixty thousand against thirty thousand. The Khitan people had the absolute advantage in military strength.
When dawn broke in the east, the earth seemed to be dyed with a layer of sunlight. The ground was covered in blood and corpses were strewn everywhere.
The main force of the Khitan people continued to rush towards the Tang infantry that were delayed and the rear of the army's rations and supplies.
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