The sun was tilted, and the wild boar opened his mouth and swallowed a large piece of stewed donkey meat that was rich in oil and salt. Or it was inaccurate to say it was donkey meat, because the meat had been almost completely stewed, and it tasted like minced meat when it was eaten in his mouth.

Similarly, puffs of green smoke floated from the Karakhanite camp opposite, and they were also cooking.

Before the formation was formed, many herdsmen sent by Karakhan were dragging away the corpses of men and horses, clearing the way forward for the following troops.

Some light cavalry who still had strength were still galloping back and forth in front of the formation, provoking and harassing the Fengtian army's rest. From time to time, the sound of bowstrings vibrating could be heard, which was the marksmen of both sides firing at each other with strong bows.

Saktu drank a large bowl of horse meat soup with a serious expression. He looked at the general who had just returned from sentry duty and was barely breathing.

"With this loss of power, how far is the Khotan army from here?"

After losing his strength, he quickly knelt down on one knee and took two more breaths before replying: "Back to the Great Khan, the Khotan army, horse and infantry, totaling 20,000, left Shule City after noon yesterday.

They have a strict formation, alternately covering the front and rear, and using light cavalry to cover the surrounding area. Therefore, although the marching speed is not fast, it is almost impossible for us to find a chance to make a surprise attack. According to the speed, we will not arrive until about the end of tomorrow (7 p.m.)."

At the end of the day tomorrow, Saktu waved his hand and let his strength go away, and began to make plans in his mind.

The Khotanese army was obviously afraid of being attacked by him, so they chose a safer way of marching. However, this also gave him time. If he could kill the group of people on the opposite side today, he would be able to calmly do so tomorrow morning.

leave.

Looking at the loess soaked in blood around him, Saktu took a deep breath and started walking towards the commander's tent. He had no choice now and had to kill all the enemy troops on the opposite side.

Under the current circumstances, revenge and the secret of destroying Shule City were no longer important to him.

The important thing is that if he can't defeat him outnumbered even though he has already lost thousands of cavalry, then no one will follow him in the future.

It doesn’t matter whether you are a male camel or a lion, if you cannot defeat the enemy, you are nothing among the grassland peoples!

But Saktu didn't know that Li Shengtian was convening everyone to discuss the matter at this time. The Khotan Ying Lord was almost unable to restrain himself.

"Uncle, the Emperor, after you leave the city, you pretend to be fighting steadily, but in the early morning of the next day, you must let the Shenwei Right Army and the Amazhi Cavalry leave the army and come day and night. My nephew will definitely be able to hold Saktu back. As long as there is someone

If the two thousand cavalry can arrive on time, the Kara Khanate will be doomed."

Zhang Zhao's expression when he said this seemed to be still in front of his eyes. Li Shengtian squeezed the riding crop in his hand. It can be said that his nephew really took Khotan's affairs as his own.

"Send the order to the whole army and the infantry to set up camp on the spot!" Li Shengtian stood tall and made a decision.

"Prince Pei, the solitary king will also give you his four hundred palace guard flying cavalry, and then draw two thousand fine cavalry from the Shenwei right army. You can go to the Amozhi knights and select the six hundred nobles with the best riding skills."

, set off now and head north day and night.

If you can arrive at Xia Atush on time, the lonely king will allow you to restore the ancestral temple of King Pei of Shule, so that your Pei family ancestors can continue to enjoy the incense and blood food that a king should have!"

The bearded Governor Pei raised his head and glanced at Li Shengtian, his whole body trembling with excitement. Restoring the ancestral temple of King Pei of Shule was the long-cherished wish of his Pei family for generations!

"Your Majesty! Thank you, Emperor!" After saying this, Governor Pei immediately got on his horse.

"Ask Pei Shengyuan to come to see me, and within a quarter of an hour, disperse the Karakhan Rangers around me!"

....

‘Bang!’ This was the eleventh box full of gold and silver that Zhang Zhao kicked down. However, he did not kick it down in front of the soldiers, but in front of the logistics workers.

Now these civilians who have been drafted to provide logistics all have some wooden guns and their own hunting bows.

"You know even if I don't tell you, if we lose today, someone with a BMW can save your life, but you will be dead! So this is not fighting for me, but fighting for yourselves.

I won’t treat you badly. I’ll give you one handful for those who go to the battlefield, five more silver coins for each person you kill, two handfuls for those who are injured, and three handfuls for those who die in battle. Whether you can make a fortune depends on your courage.

"

After saying that, Zhang Zhao waved his hand, "Kill the horse and drink the blood wine, one bowl for each person. After drinking it, you will fight with the bastard opposite!"

‘Woooooooo!’ The heavy sound of horns sounded, and the Karakhanids’ formation began to move. In front were the light cavalry of various tribes, and behind were the heavy armored cavalry of Iqta and Gulam.

The babbling chants sounded. It was the imam who was accompanying the army singing Tianfang religious scriptures, and some Karakhanites who had memorized the melody also sang along.

At the same time, passionate and majestic singing also sounded among the Fengtian Army.

"The royal winds of the four seas, the virtues and the clear water for thousands of years; I don't even have to wear my military uniforms. I have accomplished today. Looking back at the Qin fortress, it is as low as a horse. I gradually see that the Yellow River flows straight north. The power of the sky rolls directly into the Jade Gate fortress, and the barbarians from thousands of miles away are exterminated."

Song!"

Shanzhuer himself drank the horse blood wine in the bowl, and started to sing "The Music of the King of Qin Breaking the Formation" by slapping the armor on his chest like his colleagues around him. Everyone understood that this time, it would be the last.

decisive battle.

"The warriors of Karahe Khan! The eagles of Bragg Khan! Charge!" Qianhu Domi, a member of the Karakhan Kingdom's Ghulam Guards Archers, pulled out the long sword in his hand and roared.

Before the blood on the long blade dried, Qianhu, who was known as a marksman, was the first to leap out of the horse. He couldn't wait to avenge his family!

"Strong Archers, Team A, go to the left! Team B, go to the right!" As soon as the other side started to charge, Boarer howled immediately.

This time Karakhan's light cavalry were all dispatched, and they were spread out widely. They had to choose a denser direction to fire, leaving the sparse formation to the spearmen to withstand it.

"Ouch! Wow!" A sharp voice sounded, and a tall marksman shot a loud arrow. Immediately after the loud arrow flew out, it was the arrows shot by more than a hundred bows of the A-shaped team.

Accompanied by the sound of intensive firing of bows and arrows, there were screams and collisions one after another. A group of Karakhan light cavalry who were hit first suddenly fell to the ground.

Another loud arrow flew out, and the strong archers of Team B also shot in the same direction. The Karakhan light cavalry that rushed over fell in large pieces like falling rocks.

"Archers in the front row! Get ready to shoot!" After the strong archers in the front row fired two waves of arrows, the archers in the back began to take aim with their bows.

The so-called regular archers sound good, but in fact they are archers who can only use six or seven bows. They are not able to follow the sound of arrows and fire volleys neatly, and their shooting skills are relatively poor, so they can only wait for the enemy to get close.

Will shoot.

The charge of the Karakhan Cavalry was not a charge in a formation with men and horses squeezing against each other. They could not use this high-end tactics, but a scattered honeycomb-like charge.

This way, you can avoid being hurt by arrows when you are far away from the enemy's infantry positions. After all, the range and strength of the horse bow cannot be compared with that of the infantry bow. The charging cavalry is destined to receive several rounds of bows and arrows first.

And when they get close to the target, they will start to gather together. Only in this way can the power of the horse bow be exerted. Covering an area with fire is much better than shooting randomly.

However, when they approached, the archers in the second row of the stacked formation also started shooting at them, so the two sides began to shoot at each other through the spearmen of the stacked formation.

The screams and roars suppressed the rumble of horse hooves. Although the main archer team began to fall down more and more, the Karakhan cavalry fell even more.

First, the armor coverage rate is completely incomparable. Second, humans are smaller than war horses, which can always form a concentrated shooting advantage. War horses are constantly moving. Many light cavalry did not throw arrows at all and were caught in the formation.

The archer was shot over.

Zhang Zhao was keenly aware of a sharpshooter among the dense group of Karakhan cavalry. Just now, this guy shot three arrows in a row, knocking the three strong archers behind him to the ground.

Drawing the bow and setting the arrow, Zhang Zhao fully drew the stone bow in his hand. From the Five Dynasties to the Northern Song Dynasty, the pulling force of a stone bow was approximately equivalent to about 125 to 130 pounds in later generations.

This is already an extremely strong standard. If you are hit by such a strong bow, even if it hits the arm, it may break your arm directly. If it hits the throat, it can directly pierce a bloody hole in the neck.

Zhang Zhao kept silent while searching, and finally he found a guy wearing iron-lined leather armor and an iron helmet. He looked like a senior officer of the Karakhanids.

In the dark, strong men always cherish each other. As soon as Zhang Zhao locked his eyes on this guy, Domi Shi also locked his eyes on Zhang Zhao. Their eyes lit up at the same time and they loosened their bowstrings almost at the same time.

‘Ding!’ There was a crisp sound, and Zhang Zhao felt as if someone had punched him in the chest. He suddenly took a few steps back and almost fell down. A suffocating pain in his chest made his vision go dark.

In a daze, he looked towards his chest. An arrow with its tail feathers still trembling slightly hit the entire plate armor on his chest. The arrow had already penetrated two or three millimeters. It seemed that the arrow used on the opposite side was also at eight.

A strong bow that is more than a match.

‘Crack!’

Zhang Zhao almost blacked out, but it was different if he lost his temper. He only had time to cover his neck, and then he fell straight from his horse.

The Gulam guard Qingqi Qianhu was hit in the neck by the powerful bow in Zhang Zhao's hand. The arrows fired by this terrifying powerful bow had huge destructive power. The arrows not only penetrated the neck, but also caused damage to the neck.

After taking away a lot of flesh and blood, Domish went directly to see his God.

As soon as the Qianhu's body fell to the ground, more than a dozen soldiers rushed over from various places. They snatched the body of Domi Shi and retreated wailing.

As they retreated, the over a thousand Qingqi who charged fiercely exchanged fire with the Fengtian Army in front of the formation for more than ten minutes, and then quickly withdrew.

‘Boom!’ An unusually loud drum beat sounded, and a Saktu personal guard wearing golden armor leaped out from the rear.

He held a long Tang Dynasty sword in his hand and rushed into the retreating team without any hesitation to kill them. Immediately afterwards, the sharpshooters around Saktu also drew out their arrows and fired warning shots.

"Those who retreat will die!" the personal guard holding a horizontal sword roared in the midst of the screaming and groaning retreating team, and then took the lead and rushed towards the Fengtian Army.

"Those who retreat die! Those who advance live!" Under the roar of the Khan's personal guards supervising the battle everywhere, the retreating light cavalry turned back and charged forward.

Yin Yaozi looked back at the horned crossbowman who was barely moving. His heart was beating violently, which made him want to make the two hundred crossbowmen at the back start shooting too, but his reason told him that this would not work. The armored cavalry on the opposite side had not yet

Start charging.

The situation in front of the stacked formation became more and more tragic, and more and more light cavalry chose to retreat after being unable to endure the huge casualties.

But they did not go far, but retreated beyond the range of the hard archers and began to gather. They were waiting, waiting for the second wave of armored cavalry to break through and follow up.

Blood was sprinkled all over the land in front of the formation. The dry soil, which was originally grey-yellow, was dyed into a weird yellow-black color. Then, under the constant trampling of the horses' hooves, it turned into a black silt area about half a meter wide.

, except that the silt is not caused by rain or river water, but human blood.

And around the formation, what was most abundant was not blood, but countless arrow shafts, densely packed like dead branches growing on the ground. In just one hour, both sides had shot at least fifty thousand arrows.

Various arrows.

Finally, the chaos of horse legs in front of Zhang Zhao became less and less, and the fourth wave of cavalry retreated. However, except for the sound of heavy breathing and vomiting caused by excessive exertion, there was no cheer around Zhang Zhao.

Because this kind of retreat has occurred four times, it does not mean that the Karakhan cavalry will not come again.

"My Lord! The Karakhanites can't hold it anymore! These light cavalry are not capable of long-term hand-to-hand combat, but they did not retreat as far as they did last time. I guess next time, the armored cavalry from the opposite side will attack!"

Shanzhuer walked up to Zhang Zhao holding a Mo Dao and said angrily.

Zhang Zhao nodded and had a rough estimate of the combat effectiveness of Karakhan's army. Judging from these four charges, Karakhan's cavalry was not very strong.
To be continued...