Chapter 1012 Yellow Sand Hundred Battles Wearing Golden Armor
The wind is biting, and the snow is dazzling.
The iron flow composed of ten thousand Guan Longjing cavalry controlled the speed and walked slowly. Since there is no way to be caught by surprise, there is no need to waste precious horsepower in advance.
If it weren't for the heavy armor and equipment of the knights, Xi Junmai might have planned to let the soldiers dismount and rush to the battlefield on foot. Fortunately, they had a rest last night and captured many war horses of the Tuyuhun people. At this time, the ten thousand Tang cavalry could ride on the prepared horses all the way, and the main battle mounts were empty to keep their strength.
When they arrived at the Dongyuan battlefield in Huangshui, the low mountains looked like a herd of elephants covered with snow-white hair, as if they were moving on the Gobi desert and meadow covered by heavy snow.
"This is the east source of Huangshui, and this beach is called Jinyin Beach."
Xi Junmai told the prince that this place is somewhat different from Xiyuan, the mountains here are lower and the river beach is wider, but it looks the same when it snows heavily in winter.
"Why is it called Jinyintan?" Cheng Qian asked casually, while looking at the army formation of the Tuyuhun people on the opposite side.
“There are several theories. One is that the river produces gold sand, and there were even silver mines on the Gobi river beach. Another theory is that many golden and silver flowers bloom on the river beach in summer.”
"Is there really gold sand?" Cheng Qian asked with a smile.
"There should be. It is said that the eldest grandson's family panned for gold here before."
Chengqian is not very interested in whether there is gold sand or silver flowers here. What he is interested in is defeating the Tuyuhun people in front of him.
On this wide Gobi river beach, across the shallow Dongyuan water of Huangshui River, Tuyuhun soldiers lined up, ready to fight.
"Murong Cheng seems a little unconvinced, and wants to fight with me here!" Cheng Qian looked at the black Tuyuhun army, but just laughed, "But it can be seen that Murong Cheng doesn't have his father. That kind of character, otherwise, he shouldn't just wait here, he should take the initiative to intercept halfway."
"Murong Cheng is a coward after all, nothing to be afraid of!"
Chengqian asked the flag bearer to stand his flag directly in front of the formation. Compared with Murong Cheng who set up his sweat flag on a mountain bag ten miles behind the army formation, Chengqian's move was undoubtedly more grandiose and domineering.
Xi Junmai was carefully observing the army formation of the Tuyuhun people. The last time he suffered a surprise attack, the Tuyuhun people came prepared this time and lined up on the beach outside the valley ahead of time. Hidden in the valley behind.
In front of the valley, Murong Cheng gathered about 50,000 to 60,000 riders.
But it is obvious that they cannot have so many young and strong warriors, so in fact, only about half of the 50,000 to 60,000 riders are young and strong warriors, there are many young and old people, and even many young and strong women.
"What kind of formation is this?" Chengqian looked at it for a long time, then sneered a few times, "No matter how you look at it, you don't want to fight with us on horseback, but you want to fight with us?"
Although the Tuyuhun army was numerous, they lined up against the mountains, and many knights dismounted and stood.
Xi Junmai nodded, and he could already see how the Tuyuhun people were fighting. Although they were knights on horseback, because their equipment was far inferior to that of the Tang army, and because of their new defeat, the tribes were afraid of Tang cavalry, so they obviously didn't plan to fight this time. The cavalry hedged against the tactics of cavalry and shooting, but planned to fight tough battles.
In the center of Taniguchi, at least 20,000 people were arranged to form several dense square formations. They abandoned their horses and held spears in front, archers stood in the back, and a few rows of shields were arranged in the front.
The two wings are young and strong riding in front, and the old and weak are behind with bows and arrows, and they even seize the high places on the hillside.
This is obviously a defensive array.
"The Tuyuhun people actually want to fight a defensive war with us? There are more than 100,000 people here, nearly 200,000 people, facing 10,000 lonely cavalry, but they want to fight a defensive war. Is this to be a turtle?" Chengqian disdainful.
Xi Junmai didn't laugh at his opponent, and Murong Cheng had no problem forming the formation like this. Although Tang Qi was few, he was well-equipped and well-trained. They don't have much confidence and can withstand the impact of Tang cavalry in cavalry battles, so they don't play cavalry at all. Can occupy a favorable terrain condescendingly, and use bows, arrows and spears to block the charge of Tang cavalry.
"About 5,000 young and strong cavalry on the left and right wings, and about 10,000 cavalry behind the phalanx of spearmen and archers in the middle. In addition, there are about 5,000 reserve cavalry on standby under the Khan banner of Taniguchi Murong Cheng at the rear. , their arrangement is indeed like a turtle, even a bit like a hedgehog or a porcupine, we only have 10,000 Qingqi, so it's not easy to talk about it!"
Murong Cheng, a profuse Khan, hid on the mountain ten miles away to watch the battle. The banner hanging in front of the Taniguchi was the Prime Minister Xuan Wang Murong Wei. This prince of the Tuyuhun royal family was actually not a very powerful figure. Although Wei inherited the title of King Xuan and was one of the thirteen kings of Tuyuhun, he was far behind King Tianzhu and others.
It is only now that Fu Yun, Tianzhu Wang and other old and powerful figures have died in battle or aged, that Murong Wei has become the father-in-law and prime minister of Murong Cheng.
"Shenwei! Huh!"
Murong Wei, the king of Xuan, was named Shenwei, and his banner was the word Shenwei, and he also organized an elite army, named Shenwei Army.
The flag was raised very high, and the flag was also very big, with the tails of tigers, leopards and wolves hanging on it to show bravery. That King Xuan wore a dazzling battle armor, so dazzling that it was actually shining with gold. Cheng Qian suspected that the old man's armor might really be made of gold.
In comparison, the armor on Chengqian's body paled a lot.
In fact, Chengqian also has a set of golden armor, which is no worse than this one, and even more gorgeous. The armor was given by the emperor, and it is very similar to the golden armor of his father, but the golden armor is only to welcome the king's triumphant return It is only worn when you wear it, and you have to wear it with a golden chariot when you wear it.
In real war, the emperor would not wear this kind of armor.
Chengqian used to march in Longyou, and he also liked to wear luxurious armor, but since he led the troops to attack, he has replaced it with a more practical armor, which is only a little more gorgeous than the armor of ordinary generals. He is so coquettish that he can't wait to let the whole world know that he is an important person.
"It is said that Murong Xuan is a man who loves luxury, and his cloaks are all woven with countless gold thread, so the wind is so heavy that even strong winds can't blow them up, they are very gorgeous, and they also have a good effect of preventing arrows. I heard that the old man has eighteen such cloaks, and each one is worth a hundred horses."
"There is also his gleaming golden armor, which is said to contain 60% gold, a gold-copper alloy, and inlaid with many precious stones. A set of armor weighs 68 catties, and the gold contained in it alone reaches more than 40 catties. His diamonds, emeralds, topaz, rubies, agates, etc. are even more valuable, and his armor is worth at least three thousand horses!"
Chengqian couldn't help but opened his mouth wide, he really is a luxurious character.
Since the Great Tang conquered the Turks and other surrounding grassland tribes, the source of war horses has greatly increased, and the value of war horses has been far inferior to that of the Sui Dynasty. Now the total amount of war horses domesticated in the military horse farms officially recorded by the Tang Dynasty is 800,000. Count the military horses in service, and the mounts owned by the officers, etc.
In addition, polo has flourished in the Tang Dynasty in recent years, and the number of polo horses is also very large. These horses are almost at the level of war horses, and many of them are even eliminated from war horses, or sold to the private sector after the excessive number of military horse farms.
But even so, a war horse is now worth about twenty guan, even if the horse has not been trained, the entry price is at least ten guan.
Three thousand war horses, calculated as one horse in ten guan, this set of armor is worth 30,000 guan.
"If you melt those dozens of catties of gold, it's only worth six or seven thousand coins, right?"
"Your Highness, this golden armor is an exquisite work of art. Melting it into gold is too wasteful. Besides, the gems on this armor are also very valuable. So many gems, rhinoceros and elephant teeth are all good. something."
"How many golden armors like this does Murong Wei have?" Cheng Qian said with a smile, "Gu has already made up his mind, and I will hand in these armors and present them to the saint!"
Tang Qi lined up calmly in front of the Tuyuhun people.
The knights replace the mounts that have been maintaining their physical strength.
Drummers, horns, and standard bearers were all on standby under the handsome flag of the prince.
Chengqian didn't pay too much attention to the dazzling golden armor, even if it was worth 10,000 horses, it was still a dead thing, and he had already pre-ordered this trophy.
What he needs now is to find a way to defeat these Tuyuhun rebels.
"General Xi, how do you think we can defeat them?"
Xi Junmai had a bit of a headache. He felt that the lineup drafted by Draft Cheng did appear to be a little cowardly, but he was very cautious, which didn't give Tang Qi much opportunity to take advantage of it.
If you ride against each other, Xi Junmai is not afraid, because as long as the cavalry runs, there will be countless opportunities. They are sharper, more mobile, and more powerful. On the battlefield, 10,000 cavalry is sometimes not much different from 20,000 or 30,000 cavalry. In the hands of a good general, the number of troops does not need to be massive, as long as a certain number is enough.
For some mediocre and incompetent generals, the more soldiers there are, the more dangerous they are. Too many soldiers, the test of command and adjustment level is too high, and it is difficult for ordinary people to do it. There are a large number of soldiers empty-handed, but they cannot be rationally dispatched and used.
But now that the Tuyuhun people put up such a tortoise formation, it gave him a headache.
Under normal circumstances, you can find a way to go around or sneak attack, or attack its logistics camp, etc., but now that the opponent has protected the camp in the valley behind them, and has deployed many archers on the two-winged mountain, they have no way to go around at all. or the chance of a flank attack.
There is only a frontal attack, and you can ride against the infantry, which is very disadvantageous. The opponent is not a simple infantry, but a combination of infantry and cavalry. The front uses spears and shields to defend against the impact of Tang cavalry, and there are many archers behind.
This is really a difficult opponent. Xi Junmai is very unwilling to fight this kind of battle. He is too passive. How can he fight according to their arrangement on the battlefield designated by the enemy.
"Your Highness, it is not too late for us to retreat now, there is no need to fight hard."
Chengqian didn't listen to these words, he got up early in the morning, walked twenty miles in the wind and snow to come here, and now he is retreating without a fight?
"General Xi, I think we won this battle before we even fought it. Look at their cowardly thinking. This is a group of deadly opponents. Let us fight, can we still win?"
"Even if hedgehogs are covered with thorns, and turtles no matter how hard their shells are, they will never be opponents of tigers!" Cheng Qian said domineeringly.
(end of this chapter)