Book 47 Chapter 9 – Decisive Battle of Cijian (1/2)
Book 47 Chapter 9 – Decisive Battle of Cijian
wang shi+chong and Kou Zhong cliate tower to look at the ene Army started to asseood order, fast, niile; certainly it was the appearance of a military unit at its peak, their morale was like a rainboell-equipped and well-trained
Although it was still in the initial stage of assembly, it was already visible, so that people could see the entire battle for spoke next to Kou Zhong’s ear in low voice, “Zhen is wrong Shaoshuai, what can you do to remedy it? Shall we hold fast orwas shaken wang shi+chong was really afraid of the war; he lost his confidence, hence in his agitation he lowered his voice and lowered his pride to ask advice fro’s repeated indecisiveness ht cause himent when he was confronted with options
Kou Zhong sized the eneth was around fifty thousand, the other five thousand should be staying behind to take care of the cas and front and rear troop dispositions were all cavalry The central unit was further divided into nine groups, each group about three thousand men, consisted of troops from different military branches, each one was equipped with crossbo, spear, saber, sword, shi+eld, Frisian horses [Cheval de fries], and other weaponry It could be i combat under Li shi+min’s coes, targeted at the enemy at any time, and would be able to deliver the hty the Tang Ar a chill in the air, which was also exuded by wang shi+chong and the other people around He could not help hating wang shi+chong; if wang shi+chong illing to listen to his advice and sent the troops one step earlier than Li shi+min, they would not have to be forced by Li shi+min to eat this soup, to be such in a bind that even he, Kou Zhong, felt that there was no room to advance or to retreat
If Cijian were a strong city like Luoyang, Chang’an, or the like, or even a second-level city like Liyang or Hulao, he would not even need to think to propose to fir out, to rely on the solid city wall and strong defensive force to weaken and inflict wear and tear to the Tang Arth Too bad Cijian was just a se army’s assault Moreover, it was practically unable to acco Ar on the city wall to resist the huge eneenerals caht, to wait for wang shi+chong’s instruction, while wang shi+chong aiting for Kou Zhong, this ‘hu jia junshi+’ [military advisor protector or (one)-self] to speak
The great general, wang shi+chong’s trusted aide, Ba Yegang, a short and stout, surly and unreasoning htforward countenance and with barbarian lineage, analyzed, “The enee, ifhastily go out of the camp to meet the enemy head-on, before our battle array is complete, the enemy would press their foroing to suffer a big loss In Chenxia’s [official in feudal court] opinion, relying on the trenches and city wall in firm defense will be the most dependable”
Nearly half of themilitary officers on top of the city wall nodded their head in agreehed and said, “We have lost the opportunity to fight the decisive battle outside the ca said those words for his benefit, he wanted to state that under this kind of situation, he did not support facing the attack fro a deep breath, his mind entered the Moon in the Well realht, then they would undoubtedly lose the battle
Laughing cal out, hoould Li shi+min react? Would he command his troops to forcefully attack? Or would he withdraw the troops and be done with it?”
wang shi+chong suddenly frowned and said, “Really strange, they do not prepare any equip hi said, “Clearly Li shi+min is only want to deth We can just ignore them”
The Great General Chen Zhilue spoke heavily, “All Li shi+ cities, he is not adept at besieging cities; therefore, if we decide to defend the city fir to us”
Kou Zhong sighed inwardly Since Li shi+ a city, naturally he understood better than anyone else the strengths and weaknesses of a city; he kne to guard and kne to attack The fact was that wang shi+chong and the great generals under his co prowess and now by his display of power, so that they did not dare tospoke indifferently, “Gentlemen have not answered my question; will Li shi+min move his troops to attack, to batter our cath, withdraw the troops and be done with it?”
Guo Shancai asked, “Hoould Shaoshuai look at it?”
Everybody’s eyes were fixed on Kou Zhong, waiting to hear his answer
Kou Zhong laughed aloud and said, “Li shi+min is worthy to be called the unrivalled commander-in-chief able to ender each other, so that other people cannot see through his goal We can’t even figure out whether he is co his troops to invade our territory, or just want to show off his strength a bit”
Turning to wang shi+chong, he said, “Li shi+shang shrinks back and do not come out, he would dispatch one unit to circle around behind Cijian and select a strategic place somewhere over there to set up a ca, to intercept our rations and fodder And then when he succeeds in establishi+ng this kind of army camps all around Cijian, Cijian will beco, ill, in the reat battle, in which to whom the deer falls is still unknohich we should have won in thesaid, “Shaoshuai is advocating the battle?”
Kou Zhong said, “We have no choice, the initiative already fell into Li shi+min’s hands; by the time the battle array is completed, they will advance toward our army, and when they suppress us until we are unable to le step, ill be like the fatty hter us Shengshang must make prompt decision, otherwise, any delay in the troops deploy nodded and said, “Shaoshuai’s re, please ’s breathing grew urgent, he suddenly shouted, “Just like Shaoshuai proposes, immediately deploy the army to meet the ene-the-heavens shouting and cheering exploded from the enemy ranks, and it continued to rush forth like a tide They saw Li shi+ate, the Coenerals of the Heavenly Policy Mansion, entered the Tang Arhter, Kou Zhong said, “Oh, Li shi+ain first-hand experience of your true skill”
The Zheng Army, from inside the city and the ca Ar expected, Li shi+min chose the se, using flag signal, battle dru to attack, and in retreating to defend
The Zheng Ar on the city walls of Cijian to reduce the defensive line as hten and concentrate the foranic defensive syste Army’s comparatively more scattered assault of its phalanx for Arht, three divisions The left and right divisions consist of five-thousand-man cavalry each, with the infantry positioned between two sides The right side cavalry was under Yang Gongqing and Ma Chang’s command The left side cavalry was under Chen Zhilue’s co as his deputy
The e units, each unit consisted of five thousand xin, Duan Da, and Guo Shancai, respectively Song Mengqiu and Lang Feng stayed behind to guard the city
Kou Zhong and Zhang Zhi acco personal guard regiment positioned themselves in the middle of the e of the overall situation
The phalanx-for-on-the-city-wall-for Ar opposite of each other over a distance The war could happen at anyAr Ar Ar Arlance, the covering-the- Arth appeared to be several tile of view, ahead, extended to the left and right, were all types of the Tang Ar to the extreme point
It was certainly the appearance of the arenerals and brave soldiers at its peak
By contrast, because their earlierled by the nose by the enemy troops, everybody’s countenance was heavy, none was not taking the passive attitude of if they were able resist the assault of the ene
Kou Zhong threay all distracting thoughts, completely without fear he watch the ene to look for the ene!’
The eneether The roups, consisted of the infantry and the vanguard cavalry, started to advance, to press on toward the ene Army’s center infantry formation, they stopped suddenly The forated phalanx, thetheir well-trained perforh they have not really attacked, it already put huge pressure on the Zheng Army They still maintain the formation where the cavalry took the forward position, and the infantry took the rear position
Kou Zhong laughed happily and said, “Good Li shi+le horn sounded, the cavalry at the Zheng Arradually disperse outward to block, like a pair of giant pal out to cla shi+chong asked, “What Li shi+h?”
Kou Zhong replied, “The cavalry on the right side has a total of five groups, each group has a thousand roup in the inside is precisely Li shi+ [dark-armored celestial soldiers], which is also the wonder troops [troops appearing suddenly] that can bore through the ene eneain If we cannot decide the plan to deal with them early on, this battle will, no doubt, be lost”
On wang shi+chong’s other side, Zhang Zhi spoke in astonishment, “It’s not that we have not heard Li shi+ [personal troops], but on the surface this cavalry is not the least bit different froe that this squadron is precisely Li shi+ nodded to indicate that he had si cal replied, “Look at their rides The warhorses are roups This is the Tujue’s people secret technique of observing the horses Horses have keen sense of touch, if their masters are nervous and uneasy, they would clearly sensed it; further It is precisely because this team of men and horses are the elites of the elites, they have been through battle disposition for a long time that everybody’s mind and intention is relaxed, unlike other people’s nervous thought Thereupon it is reflected by their horses”
Zhang Zhi concentrated his attention to exaasped with adht is really brilliant”
“How should we deal with it?” wang shi+chong asked
Kou Zhong responded indifferently, “The eneest point is precisely the weak point, the place where the flaw is If we can withstand them, in today’s battle, Li shi+min will have no place to carry out his usual scheme As for the next battle, we’ll think about it in the next battle!”
Looking at wang shi+chong, he spoke in heavy voice, “Shengshang’sbehind us?”
Without any choice, wang shi+chong nodded and said, “Should be so!”
Kou Zhong laughed and said, “Without any sacrifice, how can there be any gain? If Shengshang gives roup of Li shi+ power like a nail – head-on, kill his Niang’s until they are in a sorry state Otherwise, if we let this team, from the front formation, attack toward our side’s rear fore froer be a for! Dong! Dong!’
The battle dru Ar the mountains and the plains, yet with the shape of the formation intact, they rushed to kill