Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

The sun began to set in the west, and the battle intensified. The battle between the cavalry became fierce from the beginning. Both sides were rapidly losing strength and suffered heavy casualties. However, the local situation of one side could not affect the overall situation for the time being. There had been no breakthrough in the battle and it fell into a stalemate.

The large infantry phalanx in the middle was constantly advancing forward, and the cavalry on the left and right wings were also fighting bravely. On the battle line that stretched for more than ten miles, everyone was fighting desperately. A small group of cavalry led by Gongsun Zan broke through the front line and pushed to Lu Bu's side, but under the pressure of more infantry and reserve troops in the rear, they were forced to retreat. The teams fighting on the front line suffered heavy casualties, but soon the reserve forces came to the rear.

Gongsun Zan had 70,000 men, while Lu Bu had only 50,000. The disparity in military strength neutralized the outstanding talents of the generals on both sides at the beginning of the battle. It was not until around 3:00 p.m. that the strengths and weaknesses of the generals on both sides began to emerge.

After more than four hours of continuous fighting, the soldiers on the field gradually became tired, and the casualties became more and more serious. However, the front line had hardly made any major progress in the evenly matched situation, giving people a feeling that the battle would be endless. Some people began to get impatient. Deputy General Gongsun Liang, who replaced Gongsun Fan in the command position, saw that there was a relatively weak point on the left side of Zhang Liao's army, so he tried to lead the cavalry to break through to the rear and attack the Tang infantry from behind.

There will be no shields or crossbows behind the infantry formation. If you can successfully break through, you can easily destroy the infantry formation from behind, then the battle line can be advanced forward at a very fast speed, and victory will basically be determined.

This great military achievement tempted Gongsun Liang to do so. Zhang Liao let him go and then systematically attacked the enemy's retreat.

However, the infantry formation behind Gongsun Liang, which he thought would be easy to defeat, suddenly turned around when he got around. The rear formation became the front formation, and the large shields hidden in the formation were erected one after another. The outer perimeter was full of spears, and the inner perimeter was full of bows and crossbows. A large number of cavalrymen were shot down in a short while when they rushed over.

Gongsun Liang was horrified and wanted to lead his troops to turn back quickly. However, the terrain here was not very flat and wide. There was a medium-sized mound on the left side that restricted the rapid turning of the large cavalry. Zhang Liao's cavalry from the rear came over and trapped them. In just a short while, the infantry formation on that side, under the command of Qu Yi, quickly advanced and massacred this cavalry that had almost lost its mobility.

Cavalry without speed is like a tank without fuel, just a sitting duck. Moreover, cavalry cannot form a square formation like infantry. If surrounded by infantry, they will lose a lot of men quickly. In history, Guo Yi used this method to defeat Gongsun Zan's Baima Yicong.

The casualties in the previous battles were slow and even. Even though Gongsun Fan was accidentally injured, Gongsun Zan had more soldiers and horses, so he could still remain calm on the surface. However, the local battlefield just now lost nearly 5,000 cavalry at one time, which made Gongsun Zan, who was already a little anxious, completely unable to calm down. He began to become anxious when giving orders. He even planned to send all the 3,000 cavalry and 5,000 infantry in reserve into the battlefield.

As a spectator, Xun You felt sorry for the 5,000 cavalrymen, but after all, they were not his own soldiers. He remained calm and immediately stopped Gongsun Zan's impulsive behavior.

"Those cavalrymen may have perished, but the infantry formation remains stable. You've sent out all your reserves at once. If one of the front lines collapses and there's no reinforcements from the rear, the enemy might charge directly under your banner, and that would be a complete defeat."

Gongsun Zan roared, "I have a military advantage ahead of me. How can I allow them to come here so easily?"

He pointed at the battlefield and said, "The two sides are still evenly matched. If I can deploy another 8,000 men, I will be able to push the battle line under Lu Bu's banner. Victory will be imminent, our army's morale will be boosted, and the outcome will be decided."

"Your Majesty, you're overthinking it. With tens of thousands of people on this battlefield, how can we easily close the battle line with a numerical advantage of just ten or twenty thousand? As long as you can hold your ground, and the generals below can hold their own, and refrain from any rash advances, our numerical advantage will allow us to slowly suppress the enemy. Finally, when both sides are exhausted, we can deploy our reserve reinforcements, and our chances of victory will be much greater."

Gongsun Zan looked at the sun sinking further and further west. "At this rate, it will be impossible to determine the outcome before nightfall. Moreover... morale is high at this moment, and the generals may not be able to maintain their composure. Even if I send someone to deliver the order, I'm afraid the messenger may not be able to find the generals alive."

In ancient times when communications were underdeveloped, on battlefields of more than ten miles, hundreds of thousands of soldiers and horses were fighting in a melee. Teams far away could not even see the commander's flag. Cavalry combat was highly mobile, and it was indeed difficult for messengers to safely find the generals to convey specific orders. At this time, the commander could only convey simple orders such as advance, retreat, attack, and retreat. The control of the local battle situation depended almost entirely on the generals of all parties. They had to analyze the situation on the surrounding battlefield to arrange the most advantageous tactics.

For example, Gongsun Liang's charge tactics just now were correct in his assessment of the situation. However, he ignored the terrain on the side of the infantry formation and underestimated the organization and discipline of Qu Yi's infantry, or in other words, he underestimated Qu Yi as a person. This is actually the difference between a famous general and an ordinary general. To put it another way, if Zhang Liao was the one leading this cavalry, he would never charge forward easily without clearly seeing the situation everywhere, and be trapped by the enemy.

Before the battle, Gongsun Zan was a little afraid of Lu Bu's powerful Bingzhou army. However, from the beginning of the war to now, except for Gongsun Liang's army, the battle situation of other armies did not show a very obvious overwhelming trend. This made him feel that Lu Bu's army was not as terrible as the rumors said. At least compared with his Youzhou army, the quality of the soldiers was almost the same.

The evenly matched situation, coupled with the enormous benefits this battle could bring him, drove Gongsun Zan, the gambler, completely crazy. He thought for a moment and said, "Isn't Lü Bu's general the easiest to kill? His subordinates should be the same. If I leave the center of my army slightly open to lure his cavalry to attack, and then have the infantry retreat and trap him, Lü Bu will undoubtedly send his reserve cavalry to rescue. I can then send the cavalry on the right wing to break through and kill his main general, and the Tang Empire will be finished."

Xun You said, "Your Majesty, have you forgotten that Lü Bu possessed a courage unmatched by ten thousand men? Back then at Wangyuan, he single-handedly broke through a Qiang army of several thousand men. Even if you sent four or five thousand cavalrymen, they would not be able to defeat him."

Gongsun Zan choked and continued, "If I can't kill Lü Bu, I can kill his wife and a few of his advisors. No matter how brave he is, he can't stop my 4,000 cavalry! If I can't successfully lure Zhang Liao's 4,000 cavalry into death, then he won't have much maneuverable force left. The outcome will either be determined by a battle today, another one tomorrow, or he'll retreat and surrender Jizhou."

"He won't send out all the reserves!"

"Then I will devise a plan to eliminate Zhang Liao!"

"A gentleman does not stand under a dangerous wall. Your Majesty, please do not use yourself as bait."

"I only said to let go a little, not completely. Besides, I still have 500 white horse volunteers behind me. If the situation is not right, they will have no problem protecting us and retreating."

While he was saying these words, another army formation in front was split and destroyed by Xu Rong's troops. Gongsun Zan could no longer hold back and immediately issued the order to lure the enemy deep into his territory.