Ziyad was truly rather vexed. He had previously abandoned his own soldiers and returned to Khorasan, resulting in the annihilation of his ten thousand elites. This was already depressing enough, and now, his lack of consideration had caused the destruction of the transport carriages he had just built, severely delaying the progress of the siege.
Abu Muslim had no intention of blaming Ziyad. He was also responsible for the destruction of the transport carriages, because he also knew that wood could not withstand fire. But time was short, and he had not expected the soldiers defending the city to have finished preparing the ballistae so quickly.
Since the transport carriages had been destroyed, there was no need to worry about the issue of responsibility, as there was no need or meaning to it. What they should be thinking about was how to improve the equipment they had.
"The losses this time aren't very large, so there's no need for you to worry. However, we must break through Archeng, so we must think of a new plan."
Abu Muslim said.
Ziyad thought for a few moments before saying, "General, although the attack failed this time, it was entirely because the transport carriages made of wood could not withstand fire. If we replaced the wood with metal plates, we would have succeeded, or we could have covered the wood with a sheet of metal."
This was an extremely obvious improvement that anyone could think of.
Abu Muslim felt that this was very reasonable. In the current situation, this improvement was the simplest and easiest method. He did not believe that the enemy defending the city would be able to set fire to the metal plates of the transport carriages.
"Okay! The second batch of ten transport carriages is currently under construction. You will personally be in charge of modifying them into carriages that do not fear fire. "
Abu Muslim gave the order.
Besides attacking Archeng, Abu Muslim was also very concerned about the movements of the enemy forces in the other cities. As the commander of the army, he had many things to consider and could not devote all his energy to one place. He also had to consider the problems of the other cities. If he concentrated all his forces on Archeng or suffered heavy losses while attacking Archeng, it would inevitably make the battle much more difficult.
The scouts quickly reported the results of their investigation. Apart from a small number of cavalry reinforcements coming to Al City, the main forces of the enemy did not seem to have any intention of coming to Al City's aid. It seemed that they had no intention of assisting this northern city.
Of course, all of this was within his expectations. He naturally guessed that Artek's troops would not dare to rashly send reinforcements. Otherwise, his main cavalry force would annihilate all of the enemy troops who rashly sent reinforcements.
As for the several thousand reinforcements from the other cities, Abu Muslim didn't care much about them. No matter how powerful these cavalry were, how strong could they be? It was clearly not very likely that these few thousand soldiers would be able to reverse the situation.
While Abu Muslim was unconcerned about the several thousand enemy cavalry, these nimble and mobile cavalry had already approached the perimeter of Archeng and had decided to harass the three Khorasani cavalry units around it.
One of the most elite cavalry units, led by a commander of the Tang dynasty, had arrived twenty li south of Archeng. Near them was the main camp of the eight thousand Khorasan cavalry.
One thousand mounted archers were naturally no match for eight thousand Khorasan elite cavalry. The difference in strength between the two sides was simply too great. However, the goal of the mounted archers was not to clash head-on with an enemy force several times their size. Instead, they were to skillfully maneuver around the enemy and wipe out the enemy's strength while moving.
Because these mounted archers had been established under the guidance of the soldiers of the Tang dynasty, a small number of Tang dynasty soldiers would appear in these units as instructors and adjutants. However, they were the actual leaders, and the commanding officers had to listen to their orders in many cases. After all, these commanding officers had been trained by the soldiers of the Tang dynasty, so they would naturally listen to their instructors.
The commanding officer of the most elite mounted archers was an Arab. He was also a bearded man about forty years old. He was a typical middle-aged man, but he was also very spirited.
The commander of the Tang dynasty was a burly man from Guanzhong. He was not even thirty years old, much younger than the commanding officer, but he was no worse than the commanding officer in all aspects. The skills of mounted archers had all been taught to them by this young commander of the Tang dynasty.
"General Tang, the enemy's strength is eight times ours. How should we fight this battle?"
The Arab commander asked the young commander of the Tang dynasty.
Although he had already finished his apprenticeship, his overall level was still not good enough. He still needed the help of the young commander of the Tang dynasty in many aspects.
The young commander of the Tang dynasty said, "The enemy should not have discovered us yet. This is a good opportunity. We can first send one hundred cavalry to the enemy camp to lure them into a nearby valley. Our main force can then ambush them and wipe out the enemy's strength."
"But the enemy has eight thousand men. Isn't the risk a bit too high? We can't be sure how many soldiers the enemy will send to pursue us. If there are too many, we will be in danger."
The Arab commander said worriedly.
"Don't worry, we've only sent out a hundred cavalrymen, so they won't send out too many cavalrymen to chase us because there's no need for that. I estimate that they'll only send out three to five hundred cavalrymen, no more than a thousand at most. Then, as long as they enter our ambush, none of them will be able to escape. If there are few of them, we'll charge forward and shoot arrows. If there are too many of them, we'll retreat while shooting arrows. We'd rather kill as many enemies as possible to ensure our own safety.
The young commander of the Tang dynasty said.
The bearded man nodded and said, "Okay! Then we will ambush them. You lead one hundred cavalry to lure the enemy. "
Then he looked at a subordinate and gave an order.
The nearby valley was very large and not narrow. The cavalry could easily gallop in it. It was a good place for the cavalry to set up an ambush.
The nine hundred cavalry were divided into three groups and ambushed in different positions. This way, when they launched a sudden attack, they would be able to achieve the best effect. A few cavalry arrows back and forth would definitely be able to give the proud Khorasan cavalry a head-on blow.
The one hundred cavalry archers soon approached the Khorasan cavalry's camp. They rushed to within an arrow's range of the camp and quickly shot a crossbow arrow, killing many Khorasan cavalry who were standing guard.
The Khorasan cavalry naturally could not tolerate such a blatant provocation. They had to teach these audacious fellows a lesson and let them know that the Khorasan cavalry was not to be trifled with.
A young commander volunteered to lead the three hundred cavalry and rushed out. They had the momentum to kill the one hundred enemy cavalry in one fell swoop.
The commander of the camp was not at ease and immediately ordered three thousand soldiers to provide support. If the enemy had any tricks up their sleeves, the three thousand cavalry under his command would definitely be able to unravel all of the enemy's schemes.
In the minds of all the Khorasan cavalry commanders, the enemy only had ten thousand cavalry, and most of them were rookies. As such, they only needed three thousand Khorasan cavalry to deal with all of the enemy cavalry. They did not have to worry about the enemy infantry either, because infantry would never be able to outrun cavalry. If they encountered a large number of enemy infantry, they could just run away. It was not a big deal.
The three hundred cavalry immediately set out. The three thousand cavalry needed to be prepared. After all, the scale of the army was simply too large. All kinds of preparations needed to be made.
The one hundred cavalry archers fled towards the valley according to the predetermined route, while the three hundred Khorasan cavalry followed closely behind, not caring about the possibility of an ambush.
Perhaps in the eyes of these proud Khorasani cavalry, their opponents were nothing more than clowns, not even worth mentioning. They certainly didn't care if their opponents were ambushing them, and even if their opponents were ambushing them, they wouldn't care.
In the minds of these veterans, the rookies could not even withstand a single blow. Perhaps their three hundred cavalry could easily defeat the ten thousand rookies? If they were able to achieve such a great result, their contributions would be great.
Even when they entered the encirclement, they did not care and continued to give chase, completely disregarding the mounted archers and horses.
The young commander of the Tang dynasty and the commander looked at each other and revealed a happy expression. The enemy only had three hundred people, which was simply a gift of meat. If they did not annihilate them, they would be letting themselves down.
After the sound of a cannon, the cavalry archers hiding in three directions all rushed out and directly pressed against the Khorasan cavalry.
The one hundred cavalry archers who were originally luring the enemy at the front also changed their appearance. They immediately nocked their arrows and shot at the enemy chasing after them.
Even though the three hundred Khorasani cavalry were veteran soldiers brimming with confidence, they were still given a fright by this menacing army that was several times their number.
The enemy's aura was very strong. They did not look like rookies at all. Instead, they looked like seasoned veterans. Moreover, when they got close, the cavalry all fired their crossbows, causing a lot of casualties in an instant. At least a few dozen cavalry were hit by the first round of arrows.
Facing the sudden fierce arrow rain and the enemy having the advantage in numbers, even the elite Khorasan cavalry could not withstand it. They became timid and wanted to escape.
After the first round of arrow rain, another round of arrow rain followed, causing a lot of casualties to the Khorasan cavalry.
After three rounds of arrow rain, the one thousand archers had completely surrounded them and caused a third of their casualties.
"Retreat, retreat immediately! Open up a path of blood and return to the main camp!"
The remaining two hundred cavalry had nowhere to go. They could only risk their lives and break out of the encirclement. As long as they broke out of the encirclement, they might have a chance of survival.
The one thousand archers were completely capable of wiping out the remaining two hundred Khorasan cavalry. However, in order to ensure that they did not suffer any casualties, the archers did not block the Khorasan cavalry's path of escape. Instead, they took the initiative to open up a path of retreat.
However, the attack did not stop. The one thousand archers formed a bowl-shaped formation and continuously fired arrows at the fleeing Khorasan cavalry.
The one thousand archers had one thousand crossbows. Every time they fired, they would cause a lot of damage to the fleeing Khorasan cavalry without suffering any casualties.
After a while, the two hundred Khorasan cavalry were once again reduced to one hundred. Moreover, most of them were injured by arrows. Some of them even had arrows stuck in their backs.
The Khorasan cavalry's main camp was not far away. They only needed to gallop a short distance to return to the main camp. However, at this moment, they were powerless because they could not shake off the pursuit and attacks of the archers. Casualties continued to rise. It seemed that they would be wiped out very soon.
The three hundred Khorasan cavalry were about to be wiped out. Meanwhile, the three thousand Khorasan cavalry were on their way out of the main camp. A portion of the cavalry was already waiting outside the main camp. As soon as the troops were reorganized, they could set off.
Then, just as they gathered a thousand cavalry, they saw their comrades in the distance being chased by the archers. As such, they did not have the mood to wait for the main force to gather. They immediately rushed over to save their comrades.
Thus, the one thousand Khorasan cavalry charged forward. They wanted to save their comrades from danger.
There were not many Khorasan cavalry left. However, even more Khorasan cavalry were approaching. If they continued to chase, it was very likely that they would collide with the elite Khorasan cavalry. In such a situation, it would be very disadvantageous for the archers. Thus, they immediately reined in their horses and slowed down. They first used a volley of arrows to attack the last ten or so Khorasan cavalry before reining in their horses and fleeing. They wanted to distance themselves from the reinforcements of the Khorasan cavalry.
The one thousand archers had suffered almost no casualties, but they had inflicted nearly three hundred casualties on the Khorasani cavalry. Moreover, the majority of them had been killed or heavily injured. This was an extremely glorious victory, one that could easily be recorded in the annals of history.
In order to preserve their strength, the archers could not directly clash with the Khorasan cavalry. This was to prevent them from suffering a devastating blow.
For example, in the battle just now, the archers attacked with three times the number of troops and almost wiped out the three hundred Khorasan cavalry. This kind of victory could only be considered a small victory. However, if they were able to achieve this kind of small victory regularly, it could be considered a great victory.
This kind of tactic of concentrating the advantage of strength to defeat the enemy one by one was an excellent tactic. In the Celestial Empire of the future, many guerrilla groups that did not have advanced weapons used this kind of tactic to eliminate their enemies step by step. Killing thirty out of three hundred guerrilla groups might seem insignificant. However, if there were hundreds of guerrilla groups and they were able to achieve this kind of small victory regularly, it would not be considered a small victory.
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