Chapter 1103: Arrogant and Flattering
The sun gradually rose higher, and the weather became hot again. The battle on the north bank of Tongdi River was still going on fiercely, but the roars of the soldiers became a little hoarse and weak.
On the viewing platform on the south bank of Tongdi River, Qi Lord Gao Yang sat under the imperial canopy, watching the stalemate on the north bank, frowning, and became anxious. He cried for thirst several times and drank honey water, but still felt dry mouth.
The two sides started fighting at dawn, and the war has lasted for nearly two hours. The Qi army has invested more than 20,000 people on the battlefield and organized several attacks, but still failed to break the enemy's first line of battle, but suffered heavy casualties.
From Gao Yang's perspective, in front of the enemy's first line of chariots, there was a pile of corpses of dead soldiers, both from the enemy and from his own side. These corpses were spread on the embankment layer by layer, which not only looked shocking, but also seriously hindered the Qi army from continuing to advance.
On the front battlefield, Xue Guyan sent people to the rear several times to ask for permission to suspend the offensive and sort out the bodies of the dead soldiers. Gao Yang watched the battle all the way and knew that these front-line soldiers had indeed tried their best. The existence of the pile of corpses not only affected the army's actions, but also a great blow to morale, so he nodded and agreed to take a short break.
At the same time, he said angrily: "What's wrong with the right-wing army? King Anding said that they had landed on the enemy's formation at dawn, so why is the enemy's formation still stubborn?"
He had high hopes for Heba Ren's breakthrough on the enemy's flank, and he also sent more troops to strengthen his momentum. However, judging from the enemy's performance on the front battlefield now, the impact from the side did not seem to affect the enemy's performance on the front battlefield at all.
Previously, from this position, we could see thick smoke billowing from the enemy's side, but now even the sound of fighting has become weaker, and there are fewer broken limbs and fragments of weapons floating in the Zhuozhang River, which shows that the battle was not fierce.
Previously, Zhao Daode sent someone to report that King Anding had his own ideas, but did not elaborate on what they were. Now it seems that they were completely unable to echo the battle on the front battlefield.
The reason why Gao Yang did not like to employ veterans was that veterans often relied on their experience and qualifications to make their own decisions and did not implement their orders thoroughly. In the previous battle, if Heba Ren could launch a fierce attack from the flank and actively cooperate with the front battlefield, it would not only be that the enemy's first line of defense could not be broken through.
So he sent another person to the right-wing military camp to convey his order, asking Heba Ren to quickly launch a fierce attack on the enemy's flank.
Gao Yang thought that Heba Ren was acting on his own initiative, which was unfair to him. The right-wing army crossed the river to attack the enemy, and the road to advance was not as smooth and convenient as that of the central army, and the protection of the Wei army on the flank was not much lower than that on the front battlefield.
Although the west bank of Tongdi River did not deploy the chariot array on the front battlefield due to the terrain restrictions, there were more troops deployed. Heba Ren alone saw tens of thousands of divisions and brigades distributed along the west bank of Tongdi River, and there were many elite armed forces such as heavy troops and heavy cavalry.
Although the Qi army had landed on the other side of the river for thousands of divisions and brigades, they were completely unable to exert their power under the siege and counterattack of these elite enemy forces, and were squeezed into the narrow space of the river bend. Even a floating bridge occupied by the Qi army was burned by rockets after several attacks by the Wei army.
When the central army envoy arrived here, Heba Ren was patrolling up and down the Zhuozhang River, looking for areas where the enemy's control was relatively weak and convenient for crossing the river to launch a new offensive.
When he heard that the emperor wanted him to launch a fierce attack regardless of the cost, he immediately frowned and said in a deep voice: "The enemy failed in the past and exposed their weaknesses. Now they are attacked everywhere and their forces are poor. It is inevitable that they will be defeated. There is really no need to rush to attack. Your Majesty has entrusted me with this matter. I will do my best to contain the enemy army, but blindly attacking will inevitably increase casualties. The soldiers and soldiers are all the bravest in the country. If we slow down the work, we can save them greatly and still defeat the enemy. Please report this to Your Majesty."
After listening to Heba Ren's reply, the envoy rode back to the central When Gao Yang climbed up the viewing platform to report Heba Ren's reply to the emperor, his face suddenly changed. He drew his sword and angrily chopped the small table in front of him, shouting and cursing: "You old man are afraid of fighting. Haven't you heard that speed is the most important thing in war? It's really disgusting to be arrogant and flattering! If the soldiers can't fight bravely, what's the point of raising them!"
While speaking, he summoned several generals such as Gao Anagong and Liu Taozhi, and asked them to lead another 10,000 troops from the rear of the central army to reinforce the right wing, and ordered Heba Ren to launch a fierce attack on the flank of the enemy formation.
As this support army arrived at the right wing army position, Heba Ren could also feel the emperor's determination. If he still refused to obey the order, he would be captured directly in front of the battle and sent to Jiafang to carry coal for labor reform again.
"The central army suffered heavy casualties, but the war has made little progress. The emperor is therefore anxious and wants to make another breakthrough on the flank. Your Majesty should not take it slow any longer."
Gao Anagong looked at Heba Ren, who was frowning, and whispered to him. His Majesty the Emperor has always been tough in ruling people, and when he gets angry, he will really ignore the facts.
When he followed the army to attack the remnants of Rouran, he was ordered to pursue the enemy. Because of the shortage of troops, he requested reinforcements, which angered the Supreme, who directly reduced the number of troops under his command by half. Although Gao Anagong fought hard and won in the end, he would never face such a mess again.
Hearing Gao Anagong's advice, Heba Ren could only nod helplessly. Then he began to dispatch troops and advance to the riverside, preparing to start a strong attack. The reinforcements here have reached more than 30,000 people. If the cost of casualties is not taken into account, a fierce attack can be launched against the enemy formation.
After all, the turbid Zhang River is not a big river. As the Qi army on the east bank launched a full-line charge, the Wei army's defense line along the river on the opposite bank was immediately in a state of emergency. Especially the positions occupied by the Qi army at the river bend were rapidly expanded as the Qi army attacked from all sides in the formation.
The Wei army soldiers on the shore also launched a fierce counterattack. There were heavy armored cavalry patrolling along the river. Whenever they encountered enemy soldiers who swam or boarded the raft, they would attack them while they were not yet stable, and directly killed them on the river bank. All the flesh and blood fell into the river and rushed down with the river.
However, the Wei army's defense was limited after all, and it was difficult to guard the river line that was several miles long. More and more Qi army soldiers rushed to the shore. After landing, they quickly gathered together and formed a battle team along the river bank, resisting the Wei army's charge while gathering to a larger team.
After rushing into the beach for half an hour, the number of Qi army soldiers who arrived at the west bank of the Zhuozhang River had reached nearly 10,000. As the number of personnel increased, the battle formation became more and more stable, and even a new floating bridge could be built by connecting boats and rafts in series, so that the elite troops carrying heavy armor and equipment in the rear could also be thrown into the opposite bank.
But such a rapid breakthrough was not without cost. On the contrary, the cost was very high. In just half an hour, thousands of Qi soldiers were killed by Wei soldiers and washed away by the river. There were piles of corpses floating at the corners of the river bend, and even the river water was dyed red.
When Gao Yang saw many corpses of soldiers and horses washed down from the upper reaches of the Zhuozhang River, he did not need Heba Ren to send someone to report the news. He also knew that a group of soldiers were launching a fierce attack on the flank of the enemy formation. So he immediately ordered Xue Guyan's troops in the front to launch another attack, and to use the joint attack of the two armies to cripple the enemy's counterattack!
As for the bodies of the soldiers and horses who died in the river and on the battlefield, he did not care. For him, these people and horses were just consumables to defeat the opponent and make achievements. Death on the battlefield was not only the fate of these soldiers, but also the embodiment of their value.
Raising soldiers for a thousand days only for one death, using the death of these soldiers in exchange for the death of the enemy, this is Gao Yang's understanding of war. Therefore, Heba Ren's behavior of sympathizing with the lives of soldiers and not willing to fight with all his strength, he could not understand, and simply regarded it as a behavior of him to build personal favors and resist orders.
The effect of the fierce attack on the enemy's flank was immediate. As the battle on the front battlefield continued, it can be seen that the enemy was obviously no longer as stubborn as before.
The Qi army soldiers attacked as fast as before, and finally successfully killed through the first battle formation of the enemy after more than a quarter of an hour of fighting. After being killed through the battle formation, the Wei army had only more than a thousand defeated soldiers retreating to the rear, and even the catapults behind the chariot formation were not collected in time, which shows how embarrassed and panicked they were.
Gao Yang was encouraged by the breakthrough of the enemy's first line of defense, and he shouted loudly: "Keep attacking, don't give the Qiang bandits a chance to breathe!"
Since the enemy's front line had moved back, the northern bank of the Tongdi River had been completely controlled by the Qi army, so Gao Yang ordered the dispatch of 10,000 fresh troops to the battlefield, and took turns with the front-line divisions to continuously attack the enemy's formation, and summoned another 10,000 elite cavalry on the southern bank of the Tongdi River, ready to pursue the enemy as soon as possible after conquering the remaining two lines of defense of the enemy.
However, just when there was a great breakthrough on the front battlefield, there was a sudden change on the flank battlefield. Just north of the battle between the two sides, a large group of cavalry suddenly emerged and rushed towards the flank battlefield.
"No, the enemy has an ambush! This is to lure my division across the river and annihilate them. Report to the Supreme immediately, the situation has changed!"
When Heba Ren saw the large cloud of dust rising into the sky caused by the enemy cavalry galloping down, his face changed immediately, and then he stamped his feet with an annoyed look.
At this time, more than 20,000 people had been deployed in the side battlefield. Although they had occupied a large space in the enemy formation, the surrounding enemy troops were still fighting back vigorously. The battle was stalemate and fierce, but at this time, a new enemy force appeared to join the battlefield.
The Qi army was not able to advance and retreat smoothly. If the situation worsened due to the ambush, the more than 20,000 divisions would probably be completely lost in the enemy formation! Recalling the enemy's slightly abrupt and fruitless night attack, Heba Ren felt more and more that this was a trap conspiracy deliberately targeting his right division, in order to lure this group of people into annihilation!