Chapter 272 Let me teach you how to fight an honest battle! Liu Bei: Crossbow, it turns out to be a crossbow!

Two days later, we went to the south of Xiaxiang City.

On the East Coast Avenue of Sishui.

Liu's 70,000 infantry and cavalry formed dozens of military formations of varying sizes and advanced northward in a mighty force.

Liu Bei sat high on his horse, staring towards the north with a stern look in his eyes.

noon.

At the end of the northern horizon, a thin black line appeared.

It became thicker and closer, until at one point, countless flags and countless figures surged up like a tide and came into view.

Yuan Jun has arrived!

Yuan's army, also numbering 70,000, formed dozens of military formations and advanced from north to south like a torrent.

The two armies were more than 200 steps apart and stopped advancing, forming a standoff.

Seventy thousand against seventy thousand, the forces are evenly matched.

The soldiers of Liu's army were all in high spirits, gripping their swords and guns tightly, looking towards the enemy with excited eyes eager to fight.

I saw the formation of Yuan's army, with sword and shield soldiers in the front, spearmen in the back, archers in the middle, and cavalry on both wings. The formation was well organized and they were well versed in the art of deploying troops.

"This young master Yuan was able to conquer Qingzhou and Xuzhou, and he stood up for Yuan Benchu ​​alone. He is indeed extraordinary."

"Just by looking at the arrangement of the troops, which is very well planned, we can tell that this man is a talented general."

Liu Bei pointed his whip at the enemy formation from afar and praised Yuan Tan, his enemy.

Chen Dao, however, had no time to admire the enemy and pointed at the enemy's flank and said:
"My lord, it is just as the military advisor predicted. The Yuan army's Youyan cavalry has at least 5,000 men."

Liu Bei glanced around and saw thousands of cavalrymen on both wings of Yuan's army, forming a massive wall of steel. Just looking at them gave him a strong sense of oppression.

In contrast, his own army only had two generals, Zhang Xiu and Zhang Liao, commanding more than a thousand cavalrymen, which seemed much "shabby" in comparison.

At this time, most of Liu Jun's soldiers had already discovered the numerical advantage of the enemy cavalry, and a shadow began to cast over their faces, which had originally been full of fighting spirit.

Liu Bei's gaze fell on the right wing of the army, and the three hundred crossbowmen hiding behind the spearmen and shieldmen.

These three hundred crossbowmen, holding three hundred new crossbows made by Xiao Fang, are responsible for delivering the decisive blow in today's battle.

In fact, for the sake of confidentiality, this new crossbow had never been tested in the camp.

Therefore, even Lord Liu Bei does not know where the power of these 300 new crossbows lies.

All Liu Bei can do now is to trust Xiao Fang unconditionally.

"Jinglue, since we met, you have been very careful in planning and have never failed!"

"This time, I believe you will not miscalculate!"

Liu Bei took a deep breath, and with a firm, confident and stern gaze, he shot towards the Yuan army in front of him.

now.

Under the main tent of Yuan’s army, Yuan Tan was also looking at the situation of Liu’s army.

"My Lord, as the intelligence reports, Liu Bei's cavalry numbers are indeed only over a thousand, pitifully few."

Xin Ping pointed his whip at Liu Jun's flank, with a sarcastic sneer on his face.

As a counselor, he didn't have to personally attend this battle. He only needed to stay in Xiaxiang City with Xu You, Chen Deng and others.

It was just that he had been detained by Liu Bei and teased by Xiao Fang before, which made him feel angry. He just hoped to witness Liu Bei's defeat with his own eyes so that he could vent his anger.

Therefore, for today's battle, Xin Ping tried his best to ask Yuan Tan to come with the army.

Yuan Tan glanced in the direction he pointed, his lips slightly raised:

"Liu Bei relied on deception and force to gain control of Jing and Yang provinces. Now it seems that he thinks he has grown strong enough to win with an upright army."

"Very good. Then I will teach him a lesson today and let him see how an honest battle is fought."

After a domineering and contemptuous sneer, Yuan Tan took a deep breath and whipped his horse whip:
"Send a message to Han Meng to lead our Youyan cavalry to attack immediately and break through the enemy formation."

Xinqi received the order and was about to head straight for the flank.

Xin Ping suddenly thought of something and hurriedly reminded:

"My Lord, Xiao Fang is cunning after all. I am worried that he will teach Liu Bei to imitate the battle at Jie Bridge and hide crossbowmen in front of the formation to defeat our cavalry."

"General Han must be on guard to avoid following in Gongsun Zan's footsteps."

Yuan Tan's heart trembled, and he suddenly woke up a little.

He witnessed with his own eyes the battle of Jie Bridge, how Ju Yi led the first group of crossbowmen to defeat the powerful Baima Yicong.

"Chen Gong has repeatedly reminded me that Liu Bei knew that I had the advantage of cavalry, but he still dared to challenge me. He must have been treacherous."

"This cunning, could it be that he wants to imitate the battle at Jie Bridge and hide his crossbowmen to defeat our cavalry?"

"Yeah, that makes sense..."

Yuan Tan suddenly understood and shouted:
"Warn Han Meng again, if you see the enemy deploying crossbowmen, you must act according to the situation and don't follow Gongsun Zan's example!"

The messenger took the order again and ran away.

A moment later, a horn sounded, followed by the sound of mountains collapsing and the earth cracking.

Led by the big flag with the Chinese character "Han", five thousand cavalrymen rushed out, and rushed towards Liu's army formation with a cloud of dust.

Han Meng, one of the four pillars of Hebei, led Yuan's cavalry and took the lead in launching an attack.

The cavalry rushed straight towards Liu Jun’s central formation.

Two hundred steps.

One hundred steps.

Seventy steps.

The sword and shield men in the front row had already gripped their large shields tightly, holding their breath as they prepared to meet the charge of the enemy cavalry.

Central Army Department.

Liu Bei, however, remained calm as a mountain and sneered:
"As Jinglue expected, Yuan Tan wants to use his cavalry advantage to break through my center formation!"

"Pass the order, change the formation!"

The order was passed down, the central army flag waved, and the drums of war suddenly sounded. Huang Zhong, the commander of the front army, brandished his sword and shouted:
"Break the sword and shield soldiers and release the crossbowmen!"

The layers of sword and shield warriors immediately opened up like waves.

The two thousand crossbowmen hiding behind the formation immediately came forward, ready to fire their crossbows and arrows.

Liu Jun changed his formation before the battle.

Yuan Tan's nerves tensed up immediately when he saw this, and he cursed in a deep voice:
"Xin Zuozhi, I really did think you were too kind. That big-eared thief really wants to fight at Xuejie Bridge, and he's hiding his crossbowmen to defeat my cavalry!"

Xin Ping looked pleased with himself, but sneered:
"It's a pity that Liu Bei was just learning how to walk in Handan. Han Meng is a pillar of Hebei. How could he be as stupid as Gongsun Zan was back then?"

Yuan Tan nodded slightly and looked at the flag with the word "Han" with expectant eyes.

really.

Han Meng remained alert at all times while running, staring at Liu Jun's every move.

When Liu Jun's sword and shield soldiers were divided, he immediately ordered the cavalry to slow down. When Liu Jun's crossbowmen appeared, a sarcastic sneer appeared on the corner of his mouth.

"Liu Bei, you want to learn from Lord Yuan, but unfortunately I, Han Meng, am not Gongsun Zan!"

After sneering, Han Meng swung his sword and shouted:
"Youyan cavalry, listen up! Turn around immediately and outflank the enemy's right wing!"

Han Meng turned his horse and galloped sideways.

The five thousand cavalrymen who were charging forward immediately turned around and galloped away from Liu's army.

When Huang Zhong saw the enemy cavalry changing direction, he quickly ordered the crossbowmen to shoot arrows.

Accompanied by buzzing sounds, more than two thousand crossbow arrows whizzed away from the bows.

It's still a step too late.

The Yuan family cavalry changed direction in time, and the rain of arrows whizzed away, but only shot down dozens of cavalry, and could not shake the Yuan army at all.

Five thousand cavalrymen rolled up the dust and fog in the air and in the blink of an eye they had circled back to the right wing of Liu's army.

Han Meng pointed his long sword, and the cavalry accelerated again, rushing towards the right wing.

Liu Bei still saw this scene clearly.

"The Yuan army is indeed on guard. If they really imitate the battle at Jie Bridge, the consequences will be disastrous..."

Liu Bei secretly rejoiced in his heart and turned his attention to the right wing of the army.

The enemy cavalry rolled in and approached again at a distance of more than seventy steps.

"Jinglue, let us see the power of your new crossbow!"

Liu Bei took a deep breath, whipped his whip and shouted:
"Pass the order, the crossbowmen on the right wing will meet the enemy!"

The command flag waved again and the rhythm of the war drums changed.

The sword and shield soldiers on the right wing rushed out like waves, and more than 300 crossbowmen, under the command of Jiang Qin, quickly charged forward.

Three hundred crossbows were aimed at the oncoming cavalry of Yuan’s army.

Liu Jun's formation change was on the flank, and Yuan Tan could not see it clearly, so he could only rely on Han Meng's decision-making before the battle.

Han Meng was really surprised when he saw Liu Jun's flank formation change and crossbowmen appeared again.

Not only were there crossbowmen deployed in the front of the center formation, but there were also crossbowmen deployed on the flanks. It was obvious that Liu Bei was well aware of his cavalry's tactics.

Under normal circumstances, Han Meng would have ordered the entire army to turn around again without hesitation to avoid being shot by Liu's crossbowmen and falling off their horses, thus following the fate of the Baima Yicong.

But the next moment, the surprise on Han Meng's face was replaced by a disdainful sneer.

Three hundred crossbowmen.

In the field of vision, Liu Jun’s crossbowmen only had 300 crossbowmen!
You can only shoot three arrows in battle. Three hundred crossbowmen can shoot a thousand arrows at most. What use can such a small number of arrows be?

"Liu Bei, you are still one step behind. Do you think you can stop my five thousand cavalry with just three hundred crossbowmen?"

Han Meng smiled coldly, and suddenly his confidence surged, and he shouted:
"The enemy has only 300 crossbowmen. Brothers, charge at them in one go!"

Five thousand cavalrymen roared like beasts and galloped towards Liu's flank.

Yuan's army did not retreat, but instead rushed forward at an accelerated speed.

Liu Bei's eyes widened, and his excited gaze quickly shot towards where Jiang Qin was.

Jiang Qin took a deep breath, waved his sword and shouted:
"Crossbowmen, listen up! Release your arrows!"

When the order was given, three hundred crossbowmen immediately pulled the trigger.

"Whoosh whoosh!"

Three thousand sharp arrows whizzed out in the blink of an eye.

That’s right, three thousand sharp arrows.

One crossbow could fire ten shots, and three hundred crossbow machines could shoot out three thousand sharp arrows in one breath, forming a dense wall of arrows, pushing towards the enemy cavalry.

"Liannu?"

"Jinglue's new crossbow is actually a repeating crossbow!"

Liu Bei exclaimed, and endless surprise suddenly appeared on his face.

At this moment, he and his generals finally understood why Xiao Fang was so confident that he could defeat 5,000 enemy cavalry with only 300 crossbows.

It turned out that the new crossbow built by Xiao Fang was actually a repeating crossbow that could fire ten shots.

Three hundred crossbowmen can defeat three thousand crossbowmen, and they can release such a dense web of arrows in an instant.

With such a close distance and such a dense rain of arrows, how can the Youyan Cavalry resist?

In an instant, a dense rain of arrows appeared before Yuan Jun's eyes.

"How could three hundred crossbowmen shoot so many arrows?"

"This this--"

Han Meng's eyes suddenly widened, and the contempt and disdain on his face were instantly replaced by endless shock and astonishment, as if he had seen the most bizarre scene in his life.

The next moment, a rain of arrows came.

People turn their backs!

(End of this chapter)