Chapter 239 Fire Bull Formation

On the day when the two armies met, Yang Zhengshan did not talk much with Wang Bin. It was not until the next day when Yang Zhengshan came to Wang Bin's main tent again that he talked about the situation of the Korcha clan.

Inside the main tent, all the military officers from the reinforcement camp were present.

Yang Zhengshan stood in front of a map, ready to talk about the situation of the Korcha family.

This map was drawn up temporarily. It is very simple, rough and non-standard, but it is barely readable.

"We are currently about 230 miles away from the Korcha clan's flag area. According to our investigation..."

Yang Zhengshan gave a general account of the situation of the Korcha family.

Although Wang Bin knew something about the Korcha clan, all his knowledge came from intelligence information provided by the General's Office. There was a lot of information, including intelligence on the entire East China Sea Hu tribe.

But the information about Korcha is much more vague.

In comparison, Yang Zhengshan and his team also obtained a lot of information during this period. Although it was not specific enough, it was still more detailed than what Wang Bin knew.

After Yang Zhengshan finished his story, Wang Bin asked in a deep voice, "How many troops does the Korcha clan have?"

This question is the key.

Yang Zhengshan pondered for a moment and said, "It's impossible to be sure. We have interrogated many Hu people, and they only have a rough estimate of the specific number of Korcha's troops."

"From ten thousand to twenty thousand!"

This is a really approximate number.

The reason for this is actually not difficult to understand.

The Donghai Hu people have a bit of a mentality of mobilizing all the people into a military system, and at least 80% of the able-bodied men can be considered cavalry.

They grew up on horseback, and when they grow up they can be considered cavalrymen when they climb onto a horse.

However, such cavalry are not actually real cavalry, at least not in Yang Zhengshan's eyes.

The military has its own conditions and requirements.

There is still a big difference between trained troops and untrained Hu people.

At the very least, in terms of discipline and coordination, the Hu cavalry was far inferior to the garrison battalion, which was one of the important factors that enabled the garrison battalion to defeat eight Hu tribes in a row.

If Korcha mobilized all the able-bodied men, they would have at least 20,000 cavalrymen.

However, Yang Zhengshan estimated that the number of people who could truly be considered an army was no more than 10,000.

Upon hearing this, the military officers in the tent couldn't help but whisper to each other.

With 10,000 Hu cavalry, they might still have some confidence, but what about 20,000!

Currently, Wang Bin has two reinforcement battalions under his command, which means 6,000 troops, and half of them are infantry.

In addition to the reinforcement battalion, there are Yang Zhengshan’s garrison battalion and Zhang Yuanwude’s garrison battalion.

Zhang Yuanwu's garrison camp had only more than 500 people, and its combat effectiveness was barely enough to be almost negligible.

That is to say, their total strength is about 7500, including 4000 cavalry and 3500 infantry.

It is a fact that the enemy is strong and we are weak.

Wang Bin thought for a moment and asked, "Does Lord Yang have any good ideas?"

He had thought about this problem a long time ago, but he still didn't give up because he felt that Yang Zhengshan should have a solution.

Yang Zhengshan stroked his beard and smiled, "I do have a plan!"

Wang Bin's eyes lit up, "Master Yang, please speak!"

"Fire Bull Formation!" Yang Zhengshan told the plan he had thought of during this period.

The Fire Bull Formation is a tactic invented by Tian Dan, a general of Qi during the Warring States Period.

During the reign of King Zhao of Yan, General Yue Yi of Yan defeated Qi, and Tian Dan held on to Jimo. In 279 BC, King Hui of Yan ascended the throne. Tian Dan pretended to surrender to the Yan army, paralyzing them. At night, he used more than a thousand oxen, tied weapons to their horns, tied reeds to their tails, poured oil on them, set them on fire, and charged the Yan army fiercely. He also sent warriors to charge and defeat the Yan army, killing Qi Jie. Tian Dan took advantage of the victory to capture more than cities in a row.

Now Yang Zhengshan has a lot of cattle in his hands. Not only cattle, he also has a lot of fat oil.

The most crucial thing is that the Korcha clan has no strong city to defend. Not only that, but because the banner is too large and has too many people living in it, there is not even a wooden fence outside the banner.

In addition, the Korcha clan has recently summoned all the able-bodied men from other settlements, so the Korcha clan's banner is currently in some chaos.

In this case, if the fire bull formation is used to attack at night, the result can be imagined.

Yang Zhengshan explained in detail how to use the Fire Bull Formation. The more Wang Bin and others listened, the wider their eyes widened.

"Is this still possible?"

"Why not?" Yang Zhengshan asked back.

Wang Bin thought about it and the more he thought about it, the more he felt that this Fire Bull Formation was very useful.

With thousands of mad cows charging, if it were his reinforcement battalion, it would have been overwhelmed in an instant.

Can the Hu tribe stop the fire bull formation?

It should be difficult!

Even if they can stop them, there are still their cavalry and infantry behind them!
However, Wang Bin still thought of a problem, "If we want to use this Fire Bull Formation, we must hide it from the other party!"

Thousands of cows are not a small number. If we drive the cows over openly, the other party will probably be on guard.

Once the opponent is on guard, the power of the Fire Bull Formation will be greatly reduced.

Yang Zhengshan nodded in agreement and said, "That's right, so we need to bluff and conceal the truth."

He pointed at the map and continued, "Cavalry, 4,000 cavalry will pretend to be 8,000 cavalry and march to the west of Korcha's banner area 30 miles away. Here, we will display a large number of flags, set up police tents everywhere, and make a show of force, creating the appearance of wanting to fight a big battle with them."

"Infantry, from the south bank of Songyuan, go east for 200 miles, cross the river, and head southeast!"

He drew an area of ​​hills southeast of Korcha on the map. There were several small hills in that area, which was less than fifty miles away from Korcha's flag area.

Although the hill is small, it can cover the whereabouts of the cattle and the army.

As long as Korcha didn't deliberately send scouts to investigate, they wouldn't be able to find out for a while. "In order to avoid being discovered by Korcha, the cavalry must set out first, attract their attention, and confront Korcha with false and real moves."

"The infantry driving the cattle must move quickly. From here to here and then to here, it is about 400 miles. Riding cattle to travel this distance should not take more than three days at most."

"The longer the time, the greater the risk of exposure!"

Yang Zhengshan patiently explained his plan to everyone.

After listening to this, everyone started talking about it.

Wang Bin pondered for a while, then said: "I think we can take a risk!"

Everyone nodded.

Yang Zhengshan’s plan is very complete. Although the process is a bit risky, it is highly feasible.

The most important thing is that they can use this to defeat the Korcha clan at the lowest cost.

Otherwise they would have no confidence in defeating the Korcha clan.

Seeing that everyone agreed with Yang Zhengshan's plan, Wang Bin no longer hesitated and started making arrangements immediately.

Orders were passed down one after another, and the army set out again the next day.

Wang Bin and Yang Zhengshan led the cavalry straight to the Korcha clan's banner area, while the camp officer Zhao Chengzhi and the garrison commander Zhang Yuanwu led 3,500 infantrymen to the previous camp of the Anyuan City garrison camp.

Inside the camp, Yang Zhengshan had asked Wang Sheng to leave two thousand cattle behind, and they could just go and take them away.

……

"Report, a large number of enemy troops are spotted approaching us from the southeast!"

In the Korcha clan's banner, Dobato received a report from the scout, stood up suddenly, and asked solemnly: "How many people are there? How far are they from us?"

"The enemy has more than 5,000 soldiers, all cavalry, and is currently about 80 miles away from us!"

Although Yang Zhengshan had led the garrison battalion far away from Korca, Dobato did not relax. Instead, he continued to summon his troops and sent out a large number of scouts to guard the area within a hundred miles south of the banner.

"More than five thousand!" Dobato's face looked extremely ugly.

Yang Zhengshan only used more than a thousand cavalry to successively break through eight tribes, and now there are more than five thousand cavalry, which makes Duobato feel heavy pressure.

"Explore again!"

After letting the scout leave, Dobato paced back and forth anxiously in the tent.

In the past, he also looked down on the soldiers of Chongshan Town. In his opinion, Chongshan Town was a group of lambs to be slaughtered.

But now he no longer dared to underestimate Chongshan Town.

Especially Yang Zhengshan and the garrison battalion, even though he now has nearly 20,000 cavalry, he still dare not relax at all.

……

On the other side, Yang Zhengshan and Wang Bin were leading the cavalry and approaching the Korcha clan at a leisurely pace.

They had already discovered Korcha's scouts, but they did not stop them. Instead, they shrank the patrol range of their own scouts, deliberately allowing the enemy scouts to observe them more closely.

They used 4,000 cavalry to create the appearance of 8,000 cavalry, deliberately to confuse Dobato.

In the afternoon, they arrived at a location thirty miles west of Korcha, and then began to set up camp, cook, and prepare for a confrontation and battle with Korcha.

Just as the soldiers were setting up camp, Wang Bin and Yang Zhengshan rode their horses to a slightly higher earth slope and looked at the Korcha clan's flag area in the distance.

The continuous felt tents cover an area of ​​seven or eight miles, and look extremely spectacular from a distance.

"Do you think they will take advantage of their rest and attack us first?" Wang Bin asked.

Yang Zhengshan raised his head and looked at the somewhat gloomy sky.

There are quite a few clouds in the sky, but there won’t be any rain in the next ten days, which is a good thing for them.

"No, I have met Dobato. He is a very cautious man. He will not rashly start a war before he knows our military strength!"

Yang Zhengshan said confidently.

That night he had a fight with Dobato, and in the end both of them left because they were not sure of their chances.

From this point we can see that Dobato is not a rash person.

"Of course, we can't help but be on guard. We must take some precautions tonight!" Although Yang Zhengshan was confident, he was not overconfident.

Don’t be afraid of ten thousand, just be afraid of what happens.

If Dobato loses his mind and impulsively launches a night attack, they will die before they even accomplish their mission.

Wang Bin nodded slightly, "I hope our plan can be implemented smoothly!"

He was still a little worried, and he would probably remain anxious until the plan succeeded.

"Don't worry, General! We will win this battle!"

Although Yang Zhengshan was a little worried, he did not show it.

It's man-made.

Now that you have decided to do it, you must stick to it.

He cannot be complacent at this time and must firmly believe that the plan can succeed.

Otherwise, once he becomes weak first, others will probably be even more worried, which is not good for military morale.

Wang Bin nodded and said nothing more.

He would only show his worry in front of Yang Zhengshan. In front of other people, he was the commander and he certainly could not be discouraged. He understood this.

The two men looked at Korca's flag for a while before riding back to the army camp.

(End of this chapter)