Before Beiliang's white horse crossbowman captain Wei Musheng died in battle, he didn't get to see Yuan Nanting's ten thousand white feather light cavalry arrive with his own eyes. However, his unwavering determination won Yuan Nanting's cavalry an unimaginable advantage. This was because when two cavalry armies were of equal strength, the one who made the first move would usually win.
Liang Mang and Wei Musheng had been fighting on the border for almost twenty years. They knew each other well. The grassland cavalry was most adept at hunting and feinting. They had once wiped out a total of two hundred thousand elite cavalry at the border during the last years of the Dafeng Dynasty in two battles. However, now that they were up against the Beiliang cavalry that could be said to be the best in Liyang in terms of warhorses, weapons, and battle formations, the Beimang cavalry didn't dare to pay the price of loosening their formation in an attempt to tear apart the enemy's great formation. They then successfully divided the battlefield and formed an overwhelming advantage in many areas before wantonly nibbling away. It should be known that this wasn't a battle between nomads and farmers in the ordinary sense. It wasn't like the Central Plains army could only rely on tall cities or heavy armored infantry formations to resist the grassland cavalry that came and went like the wind. This was a true battle of cavalry against cavalry. This was why Beimang had viewed Beiliang as a major threat for the past twenty years, to the extent that the Taiping Emperor insisted on taking down Beiliang first before swallowing up the Central Plains. One of the words of this Imperial Preceptor of Beimang was widely spread: As long as you grit your teeth and take down the four prefectures of Beiliang, the thirty prefectures of the Central Plains would be as easy as turning your hand!
Yuan Nanting's ten thousand white feather light cavalry suddenly appeared from the flank of Dong Zhuo's private cavalry, spreading out an extremely long front line. Beiliang cavalry had a habit of using heavy crossbows and light feathered arrows. However, this White Feather Guard could be said to be an exception. Every one of them carried a quiver with white feathers inserted into it, and they were long bows on horseback. Years ago, when the old Emperor of Liyang traveled to Beiliang's border, the cavalry that Butcher Xu Xiao led had participated in the martial arts training with the White Feather Guard. It was said that when the old Emperor raised his head and saw the sky full of white feathered arrows shooting towards the north, he sighed from the bottom of his heart, "I never thought that I would be able to experience the scene of snow in the middle of summer. How magnificent!"
The commander of the Dong family's private cavalry, Agudamu, galloped on his horse, roaring repeatedly as he gave out orders. one after another. However, the number of Beimang cavalry that could truly achieve this could be counted on one's fingers. The reason why Liu Gui was able to be highly regarded by the Beimang Empress and earned the reputation of being "half of Xu Xiao" was because Liu Gui's cavalry was the most meticulous in battle, and it was the most similar to Beiliang's cavalry. Therefore, they would definitely win a battle, and even if they lost, they would definitely not lose a great battle.
Other than Liu Gui's cavalry, Dong Zhuo's infantry and Helian Wuwei's Xihe Army could also be considered two. As for Dong Zhuo's cavalry, it was enough to make the knowledgeable people of Beimang wring their hands and sigh. Due to their outstanding military achievements, they were later restricted by the nobles of the Beimang Royal Court, to the extent that they had no choice but to deliberately suppress the number of cavalry to around ten thousand. The reason why Huang Songpu quietly left his post seemed to be due to the series of unsuccessful battles in the Tiled Gentleman's Pavilion, but it might not necessarily have nothing to do with the bold and decisive reform of the Southern Court's cavalry. The Beimang Prairie's puritans and the Southern Court's elders and tycoons all viewed him as having ulterior motives and recklessly tampering with the foundation of his ancestors.
On the other hand, the newly appointed Xia Jemo, Zhong Tan, did not receive too much criticism from the Royal Court after the various reforms he displayed during the Huloukou Siege. Other than the grassland needing to establish a hero, how could Zhong Tan's identity as a Beimang military general not be a protective talisman?
The ten thousand White Feather Guards that had rested for a short period of time before charging were the first to draw their bows and shoot out. The arrows were like a snowstorm that covered the sky and covered the sun. The hastily arranged formation of Dong Zhuo's private cavalry immediately had several hundred riders hit by the arrows and fell from their horses. However, the valiance and valiance of these eight thousand private cavalry were also fully displayed at this time. Agudamu and those chiliarchs' plans were not deviated in the slightest, their formation gradually unfolding, preventing the White Feather Guards from forming an arc of encirclement that was most advantageous for the horses to shoot at.
However, the Beiliang's border cavalry that had taken the initiative did not stop there. Instead, they began to change their formation, displaying the outstanding mobility of the White Feather Light Cavalry to the extreme. As a result, a magnificent scene appeared on the battlefield unknowingly. The ten thousand White Feather Light Cavalry not only did not purposely pursue the thickness of the central army's formation, but instead suddenly increased their speed on the left and right flanks during the charge. The cavalry formation that had previously been one in an arc imperceptibly turned into two parallel flood dragons. Agudamu's cavalry had previously been divided into three groups. The two thousand cavalry that had encountered the White Feather Light Cavalry first were immediately trapped between the two armies. The Dong Family's main cavalry that was closely connected to this cavalry army that was attacked from both sides did not slow down in the slightest under Agudamu's personal leadership. They did not continue to charge forward. Otherwise, even if they managed to charge out of this "corridor", they would definitely leave behind more than a thousand corpses.
Agudamu did not hesitate to turn his horse around, leading the central army to charge towards the enemy formation in the south. At the same time, he ordered the two thousand cavalry at the rear to entangle the northern cavalry at all costs. Agudamu, whose military strength was slightly inferior, clearly wanted to use the lives of his two thousand cavalry to stall for time. He wanted to use the six thousand Dong Family's private cavalry to take down five thousand White Feather Guards. Firstly, this was a helpless action after losing the initiative. Secondly, the formation of the White Feather Light Cavalry had an innate weakness, which was that the vanguard was long and the formation was weak. It could not withstand the brute force of six thousand cavalry. This kind of six thousand cavalry against five thousand cavalry, the advantage was not as simple as having one thousand more people.
Fast.
After the two cavalry armies came into contact, the essence of both armies was speed.
This kind of speed was not only limited to the speed of the warhorses' charge, not only the speed of the cavalry's arrows, but also the speed of the cavalry's changes in response to the situation.
However, since the founding of the Great Qin Empire, there were very few Confucian generals at the border who were both well-read and adept at war. Even if there were, they were mostly accomplished in defending the border but were powerless in expanding the borders. As a result, throughout the dynasties, from the Great Feng Dynasty to the Spring and Autumn Northern Han to the present day Liyang, there were only a few famous officials who were bestowed with the title of 'Xiang'. The character 'Xiang' implied that the land was filled with virtue and the armor was filled with hard work. The Central Plains had been divided and united for eight hundred years. During the civil wars, there was no lack of generals who had rendered meritorious service in destroying countries. Logically speaking, it was not excessive to give them the character 'Xiang'. However, the founding emperor of the Great Feng Dynasty, who was the first to receive the title of 'Xiang', once said that only those who raised their whip across the desert could receive the character 'Xiang'. Since then, the successive monarchs had this tacit understanding. The word 'Xiang' was hard to come by. The Great Feng Dynasty had too many bloody precedents to learn from. At its peak, the Great Feng Dynasty was said to have eight hundred thousand horses. Even at the end of its decline, it still had two hundred thousand border cavalry. However, there were two generals in succession, one old and one young. The old man was an experienced general with splendid military achievements, while the young man was an armchair strategist. In the end, both of them lost their reputations under the hooves of the grassland cavalry. In the end, half of the Central Plains was brought to disaster. A large part of the reason was that in a true large-scale cavalry battle, opportunities were always fleeting. However, as soon as the situation deteriorated, the army would definitely be defeated. The historical records of the Central Plains were always vague about the grassland cavalry. They were just repeating the same old words over and over again. It wasn't until Liyang established the Central Plains and suffered three consecutive defeats at the border that they had no choice but to switch from offense to defense. It was only after Gu Jiantang took charge of the Ministry of War that they truly began to study the tactics of the grassland cavalry in detail. After that, some of the imperial court generals who were interested in military achievements began to realize that the reason why the grassland cavalry was able to bring disaster for hundreds of years and invade the south every few days was not as simple as just being born familiar with archery and horses.
Regardless of whether the Liyang imperial court admitted it or not, it was hard for the officials in the imperial court to not rejoice in their hearts. Luckily, the Zhao family still had the cavalry army that had almost emptied the dynasty's northwest foundation. With the 300,000 armored cavalry intimidating the Beimang barbarians, the Central Plains was able to win close to 20 years of recuperation. Only then did they have the confidence to declare that they would fight the grassland cavalry outside the country's gates.
Following Agudamu's change in formation, the White Feather Light Cavalry also began to change. The 5,000 light cavalry in the north began to quietly split up. Half of them headed toward the 2,000 Dong family private cavalry behind Beimang, while the other half began to follow the main force of Beimang to the south. They did not give the enemy a chance to create an advantage in terms of military strength. Instead, they continued to maintain absolute suppression of the Dong family's main force. If Agudamu could see everything before and after, he would definitely be shocked at the terrifying tacit understanding between the captains of the northern White Feather Light Cavalry. There was no communication between them at all. However, the cavalry formation was formed so quietly. This required a sense of smell, courage, and trust. Not a single one could be missing.
The White Feather Guard was once the direct line of troops under Wei Fucheng, one of the Four Fangs of Beiliang. Wei Fucheng was one of Chen Zhibao's two great generals. After Wei Fucheng and Dian Xiongzao left for Shu without bringing a single soldier, the Iron Stupa of Qidang continued to be the Iron Stupa. Yuan Nanting, a veteran of the Lotus Seed Camp, took over the White Feather Light Cavalry. The former was Xu Xiao's adopted son, and his loyalty to the Xu family was unquestionable. On the other hand, Yuan Nanting's factional colors were extremely faint. He had once respectfully sent off His Royal Highness, Hsu Fengnian, to the capital with Lin Doufang and several hundred other old men of Beiliang. Following the succession of Hsu Fengnian, the Beiliang Frontier Army also naturally changed dynasties. If one were to say that the Iron Stupa and White Feather Guard, who had a deep relationship with Chen Zhibao, did not feel uncomfortable or stifled inside, no one would believe it. As a result, when Yuan Nanting left for the Longyan Plains, almost all of the ten thousand White Feather Light Cavalry cheered to their heart's content. Killing the enemy on the battlefield was much better than being cooped up outside Liangzhou Pass and suffering the supercilious looks of the other armies. It had to be known that the first battle of Liang Mang had been so bitter that even the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry and two heavy cavalry troops that had been in hiding for many years had been mobilized. They were all from the Xu family's headquarters, the Iron Stupa and White Feather Guard. In the end, they didn't even see the Beimang barbarians. How could they not be stifled? Could they not hear some strange words?
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