Fu Song

Chapter 496
Cavalry battles are always swift, swift and bloody.

The sound of hooves was like thunder, the shouts shook the sky, the sword was bright and sharp, they approached quickly, and then staggered past, leaving countless human corpses and war horses that lost their masters on the open space.

Then, regroup and do it again.

Generally speaking, after several rounds of round trips, the outcome is basically determined.

In the cavalry decisive battle, it is seldom said how long the fierce battle will last.

But infantry combat is different.

Ten thousand people sounds like a lot, but when they are lined up and crowded together, they don't look so conspicuous.

Just like now, the [-]-step postscript is divided into ten square formations, the first three, the middle four, the last three, and each square formation is only fifty steps wide and twenty steps thick.The main general stands in the middle of the phalanx, with a flag bearer on his left and a drummer on his right.

The standard-bearer supports the big flag and accepts orders from the commander-in-chief, while the drummer adjusts the pace and speed of all the infantry with drum beats.

The entire Western Army has only [-] footsteps.

The troops under Xiao Ding's direct control are [-] iron kites and [-] paces of postscripts. The rest of the troops belong to the major military divisions, and the size of the troops of the major military divisions is directly controlled by the local wealth.

Those with more money will have more troops, and those with less money will have fewer troops.

Of course, every year, the Xingqing government will allocate a certain amount of military expenses to the major military divisions, but this military expense is only the most basic guarantee.Therefore, under the command of the major military divisions, there are not many troops at ordinary times. Only when the war comes, will the people of the right age be recruited to join the army.

The major military divisions of the Western Army basically maintained some characteristics of the tribal army in the past, that is, they prepared their own horses, armor, and weapons.And the seizures on the battlefield also belong to them.

Over the years, several major military divisions close to the Song Dynasty are actually not short of money, such as the Jianing Military Division, the Xiangyou Military Division, and the Zuoxiang Shenyong Military Division. They traded with the Song people and allowed the Song Dynasty merchants to enter their territory in large numbers. , not only the government, but also the common people are making a lot of money.

And the people who have made money will spend more money to buy better armor and weapons.

In fact, these things can be easily done with a little guidance from the government.

Under Xiao Cheng's plan, the iron smelting technology and weapon manufacturing in the Northwest are no less developed than those of the Song Dynasty.

And the major weapon manufacturing workshops in Xingqing Mansion also made a lot of money because of this.

These weapon workshops are all affiliated to the General Manager's Office.

Now the biggest business in Xingqing Mansion is the arms business.

These workshops must not only produce the best weapons for the troops directly under the Western Army, but also produce weapons of a lower quality for ordinary people.

It is said that it is a grade worse, but in the eyes of ordinary people, the quality is already quite high.

In Xingqing Mansion, more than [-] people rely on this business to live, and they live very well.

And the major military divisions purchase weapons from here and sell them to the common people.

Almost everyone in the territory under the control of the Western Army carried a knife, and even some women wore a short knife on their belts.

The sturdy folk customs are cultivated in this way.

Armor is too expensive, and a family can buy at most one pair, which is for the men of the family who are going to the battlefield.

Generally speaking, when a war comes, each family will recruit at most one person at a time.

And when this person dies in battle, things like armor are usually returned with him.

After all, a pair of armor costs tens of pennies, which is quite expensive for ordinary people.

This is the case in the south, and the martial arts in the north and west are even stronger.

After all, the south borders the people of the Song Dynasty, and everyone spends more time doing business and less time fighting.In the north, places like Heishui Townyan and Heishan Weifu border the Liao Kingdom, and they do business, but that's on the surface, but in private, everyone is more keen on looting, so the enthusiasm for buying weapons is even higher.Items like the anti-enemy bow, which are rarely bought by the major military commanders in the south, are very popular in the north.That is to say, the Western Army is not allowed to buy crossbows, and is not allowed to buy or sell magic arm bows. Otherwise, as many things as these can be produced, they will be bought for you.

In the west, the area under the control of Zheng Jihua and Lei Dejin has maintained an aggressive westward strategy, so the wind of arms trading is more prosperous.

Under the command of the Western Army, everyone carries a knife. This is no joke.

An important reason why Xiao Ding was able to control such a vast territory was that his five thousand iron kites and twenty thousand pace kites were the most powerful in the Northwest.

No military commander has the power to challenge Xiao Ding's dominance.

And another more important reason is that Xingqing Mansion has been effective in governing the Northwest over the years. A series of policies have been released, so that the numerous ethnic groups in the Northwest can coexist peacefully and help each other in the same boat. The grain harvest is bumper every year, and the commercial income is increasing step by step, so that everyone They all feel that this day is very exciting, and there is hope for following the chief executive.

The support of the people, the support of the people, this thing is sometimes invisible and intangible, but it actually exists.

Therefore, even if some people have certain ambitions in their hearts, they can only carefully hide their ambitions and dare not show them in such a large form.

If you dare to show the fox's tail, someone will definitely cut it off with a single click of a knife.

In Zhang Yuan's words, the Northwest has developed so smoothly over the past few years, and the general manager's foundation has been roughly laid. A new level.No one can shake the great cause of the manager.

And the immediate crisis, in Zhang Yuan's view, is the catastrophe that Xiao Ding will overcome.

Dongshoujiang City had been defeated, and Chen Cang retreated to Zhongshoujiang City with thousands of people.

Yeluhuan's army approached Zhongshou surrendered city, Liao army cavalry came out everywhere, they had already cut off the connection between Zhongshou surrendered city and the outside, waiting for the decisive battle between Xiao Ding and Xiao Siwen from Xuanlei village to decide the winner.

Once Xiao Ding failed, Yeluhuan would inevitably attack Zhongshoucheng with a fierce attack, and advance to Xishoucheng, approaching Xingqing Mansion in one fell swoop.

Of course, if Xiao Ding wins, a treacherous and cunning guy like Yeluhuan will definitely retreat in a blink of an eye.

Therefore, the immediate battle is extremely critical for the Western Army.

It is also absolutely unbearable to lose.

That's why Xiao Ding came here in person.

That's why Xiao Dingcai brought five thousand iron kites and twenty thousand steps.

Fight with all your might.

Looking at Bubazi who was stepping forward with the sound of drums, Zhang Yuan took a deep breath.

At this time, he really understood the reason why Xiao Ding and Xiao Cheng brothers were unwilling to call themselves widows.

The elite of the Western Army came out together for a decisive battle of life and death.

And the Liao people are just a partisan sent out at will.

Losing, for the Liao people, it can be regarded as a minor injury with a broken arm or leg at most.

After resting for a while, he recovered again.

Bubazi are real heavy infantry.

The whole body of armor weighs more than [-] catties, holding a spear, a hammer pinned to the left side of the waist, and a short knife stuck in the right side.

When fighting, as long as the formation is neat, they dare to challenge even the cavalry.

The spears are like a forest, advancing slowly, full of oppression.

Even if the formation needs to be fought alone when the queue is broken up, their combat effectiveness is quite powerful. Throwing away the spear in their hands, holding a hammer in one hand and a steel knife in the other, they are full of lethality.

As soon as Bubazi and the Liao army infantry confronted each other, they immediately gained the upper hand.

The infantry of the Liao army was crushed so that the infantry retreated.

Then, the cavalry on both sides couldn't hold back and began to appear on the stage.

First, the cavalry of the Liao army wanted to help their own infantry, so they inserted in along the gap in Bubazi's army formation. Bubazi immediately stopped moving forward, and tightened his position to fight against the cavalry.

However, the cavalry of the Western Army encircled the cavalry from the periphery and wrapped up the cavalry of the Liao Army.

The two sides got entangled layer by layer.

From the rising of the sun to the west of the sun, the battle still showed no signs of stopping. Instead, it became more intense because of the repeated increase of troops from both sides.

The flags of the Chinese army led by the generals of both sides have not moved a single bit since the start of the war.

Sometimes the main battlefield will be closer to Xiao Siwen, and sometimes it will be closer to Xiao Ding, and closer to that side, which naturally means that the other side has the upper hand.

Another Bubazi from the battalion was sent out, and behind Xiao Ding, there were less than [-] Bubazi waiting to join the battlefield.

[-] infantrymen had already entered the battlefield, and nearly [-] cavalry, only less than [-] iron kites were left by Xiao Ding's side.

"It's getting dark!" Zhang Yuan said suddenly.

"It looks like we're going to fight at night!" Xiao Ding looked relaxed.

"Can Mogus be activated as agreed?" Zhang Yuan was a little worried. "Or shouldn't he be allowed to take people there? Those Beizhubu people may not recognize him as the old leader in the past."

Xiao Ding said with a smile: "Mogus is still waiting, he is waiting for who can gain the upper hand. If we gain the upper hand, he will definitely rise up and help us succeed. If Xiao Siwen has the upper hand, then he They will attack us. Haven't you noticed that the cavalry under his command have been wandering around the edge of the battlefield since the battle started? It looks very lively, but in fact, it didn't put in a lot of effort."

Zhang Yuan smiled: "This bastard is comfortable, wait until the end of the war to deal with him slowly."

"No, if we win, they will definitely be the most docile." Xiao Ding said: "The Beizhubu tribe is also the majority, even if we surrender another group this time, on the prairie, they still have more Tribe, maybe it will be useful in the future.”

"I'm afraid the Liao people will deal with them when they turn around."

"The harder the Liao people deal with it, the better it will be for us!" Xiao Ding laughed.

"Boss, it's time to increase the troops!"

"Yeah, it's time to increase the number of troops. I will lead the troops to attack, and you can take the rest of the rifles to fight!" Xiao Ding pulled out the dark knife on the side of the saddle.

Xiao Ding's banner is quite conspicuous on the battlefield.

Because it was a large white flag with nine white wolf tails flying from the top of the flag.

The big white flag, black clothes and black armor, every time this big flag moves, it represents the beginning of a decisive battle.

Xiao Ding led five hundred guards directly into the battlefield.

On the other side, Xin Jian took the rest of the iron kite and rushed straight down.

The two armies, one on the left and the other on the right, were facing Xiao Siwen's flying Chinese flag in the distance.

There were thunderous cheers on the battlefield.

The morale of the Western Army soared.

They have an invincible commander on the battlefield.

Over the years, under the leadership of this commander, they have been invincible and invincible.

These soldiers who are fighting on the battlefield are undoubtedly the biggest beneficiaries of the rise of the Western Army.

Each of them has real estate, fields, and some even have shops around Xingqing Mansion.

There is a beautiful wife and young children at home, and there is delicious wine and hot kang in the house, all of these were brought to them by Xiao Ding.

No one can take it away.

They have been victorious in the past, and today is no exception.

When the white wolf flag plunges into the battlefield, it is like a tiger entering a flock of sheep. Wherever it passes, the Liao Kingdom moves away to both sides like a wave of water being split by a large ship. The white flag walks out on the battlefield in a straight line. There is no half-bend.

The turtledove had no strength at all.

Beside him, the wild boar was also covered in blood, where the helmet went, and his face was bloody.

Five years ago, the two of them were just a commander and a battalion general, and they could be regarded as real mid-to-high-ranking generals in the Western Army.

But in this kind of battle, generals like them also have to fight in person.

Turtledove commanded two battalions with a total of [-] people. They were in the first row to the left. They had been fighting fiercely for a whole day, and there were only about two or three hundred people left in the team.

They rushed extremely deep. At this moment, as far as the eye could see, they were almost surrounded by Liao people.

"Wild boar, I'm out of strength." He cut down a Liao man with one knife, and the price was another knife on the breastplate, which split a hole in the armor leaf. "You're stronger. When you go back, don't forget to take good care of Da Ya and your godson."

"Get out, I have Erya to take care of me, and I have my own son to take care of, so I don't care about you!" The wild boar groaned authentically. "Usually I ask you to practice martial arts more, but you say that you are the commander, and you don't have many chances to go to the battlefield. What's going on now, can't you?"

"I didn't know I would fight such a big battle!" Turtle Dove leaned on his horse with a knife, and suddenly he heard the deafening cheers on the battlefield.

When he turned his head, he saw the big white flag and the nine white wolf tails flying under the setting sun.

"The manager has made a move!" Turtledove cheered.

"Kill!" The wild boar's reaction was more direct than his. He didn't know where the knife in his hand went, but he held a hammer in each hand, one hammer left and the other hammer, and when the hammer fell, it smashed people into chaos .

The team of more than [-] people seemed to have been beaten with chicken blood all of a sudden, and they all came alive one by one, unexpectedly they rushed hundreds of steps to the right, and merged with another team of wrapped infantry Together, the entire team became about five hundred people.With [-] people, it is already stable to form an army formation.

Turtledove can finally take a breath.

Glancing at the wild boar, he suddenly remembered the past.

"Goofy wild boar, you gave me a hundred pennies when my son turned [-] years old, so that even now people still doubt whether my son is my seed."

"Turtledove in Gou Ri, I married Erya and became your brother-in-law. You still hate it. I gave birth to a son, and you gave it two hundred guan."

"Don't say that, I'll get angry if you say that. You deliberately provoked me to give you two hundred guan. In fact, you were greedy for my money. You used the two hundred guan to set Zhuangzi up, and made me stay out of bed for a month. !"

The wild boar laughed: "That's because you are stupid!"

The two stared at each other, but laughed again in the blink of an eye.

Every time I thought I was going to die, but in the blink of an eye, I had a chance to come back to life again.

And at this time, those past events are particularly clear.

Under the banner of the Liao army, Xiao Siwen also got on his horse and sneered: "The picture is poor, starling, it's our turn!"

Brother Wanyan chuckled: "It is said that Xiao Ding is the best general in the world, but today I want to see and see who is stronger and who is weaker between him and Qin Min!"

Starling Wanyan is known as the number one hero in the Liao Kingdom, but for a long time, there has been no clear winner between Qin Min and Yelumin, no matter whether it was on the battlefield in the past or on the school field later. burden.

But Yelumin has always been very convinced of Xiao Ding, so Wanyan Bage always wants to have a real relationship with Xiao Ding.

Today, I finally have the chance.

For generals of their level, it is not an easy task to find a comparable opponent.

(End of this chapter)