Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

"Lü Bu and Zhang Liao have fallen into the trap! Send the order to withdraw the battle line!"

Looking at Zhang Liao's troops rushing towards them from afar, Gongsun Zan excitedly ordered the infantry formation in front to slowly retreat, and the 5,000 infantrymen reserved also drew their bows and held shields in front of the commander, ready to shoot and kill Zhang Liao's cavalry who came to break through the formation.

"Order again, have Tian Kai lead the troops to attack Lü Bu's main camp. Anyone who kills Lü Bu will be rewarded with ten thousand gold coins and be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households! Anyone who kills his wife will be rewarded with a thousand gold coins and be granted the title of Marquis of One Thousand Households. As for the rest of the counselors and clerks, every one of them will be rewarded if they bring us their heads!"

"Yes!"

"and many more!"

After receiving the order, the messenger turned around and rushed to the northern battlefield to find Tian Kai to convey the order, but Xun You stopped him.

He looked at the Feixiong Army charging into the battlefield and said, "Your Majesty, Lü Bu mobilized his reserves before Zhang Liao's cavalry went out. He's clearly coming to kill you. Lü Bu is a highly skilled warrior, and he has the Red Hare. Our cavalry might not be able to kill him, but you're in great danger here! Why not have General Tian return to encircle and destroy the Feixiong Army and Zhang Liao's army together? If we can eliminate them, we'll essentially win today's battle!"

Gongsun Zan subconsciously glanced towards the north, where he had reserved a cavalry formation of 3,000 men for himself, so that he could retreat and reunite with Guan Jing in case of defeat!

However, what Xun You said seemed to make sense. Relying on the large infantry formation in the front and the small formation in the back, even if Zhang Liao's army was trapped, the opponent's Feixiong Army, with the cooperation of its infantry, might be able to break through the large formation and rush in to rescue them. But if the cavalry was called back, Zhang Liao and his men would have little chance of escape. Compared to killing Lu Bu, it was obvious that the chances of winning were greater if they did as Xun You said.

But if Lu Bu could be killed, it would be a complete victory, while killing Zhang Liao's cavalry would only win today's battle. Weijun still has a lot of troops from Han Hao and Gao Shun, and Lu Bu can definitely make a comeback later, so the final outcome is uncertain.

Gongsun Zan was hesitant for a moment!

In fact, the choice he faced at this time was the same as Zhang Mo's just now. If Zhang Mo had not intended to kill the general, judging from the current situation of both sides, the fight would either end in a state of no victory or a small victory, and they would have to fight again the next day.

But if they could take the risk of killing Gongsun Zan, the hidden danger of foreign enemies in Jizhou would be completely eliminated.

After weighing the risks, costs and benefits, Zhang Mo chose her usual adventurous style without hesitation, but Gongsun Zan did not have that courage. He struggled for a long time but did not know what choice to make.

"Your Majesty, the situation on the battlefield is changing rapidly. You can't hesitate any longer!" Xun You urged.

"This... let's stick to the original plan!"

Gongsun Zan's mind was actually a little confused at this time, and he subconsciously made his earliest decision!

The messenger immediately took the guard team and ran to the battlefield to find Tian Kai to convey the military order. At this time, Zhang Liao's troops had bypassed the large battlefield in front and arrived at the small infantry formation in the rear.

Zhang Liao originally wanted to bypass this infantry formation and kill directly to Gongsun Zan's banner, but now it seems that this is not possible, because during the time he came here, the infantry formation has changed, and it has become a semicircle next to Gongsun Zan. The Lishui River is not far away on the south side, and the passage is long and narrow. If he wants to go around it, he will not only have to be hit by several rounds of arrows from the enemy, but it will also take a lot of time, and by then the large formation behind will have to retreat.

After observing the enemy's situation and the surrounding terrain, Zhang Liao immediately decided to wade through this infantry formation.

The infantry formations against cavalry are all similar, with two rows of large shields and long spears in the front and bows and crossbows in the back. The formation of 5,000 people looks relatively thin. 4,000 cavalry can crash into it, but the casualties will be heavy. Zhang Liao was reluctant to exchange two for one.

"Shield riders, move forward, prepare your hand axes!"

Zhang Liao gave an order, and a team of cavalrymen equipped with round shields rode up on horseback. They wore face armor and iron plates on their legs and arms, similar to the shin guards of football players. Although the protection was not as tight as that of heavy cavalrymen, it was light in weight, easy to disassemble, and much more flexible. Even if they fell off their horses, they could stand up by themselves. The key was that they did not need to be equipped with additional auxiliary soldiers, and the knights could disassemble them freely by themselves, so the cost was relatively low. The war horses only wore armor on their heads, and their bodies had no protection like other war horses.

It should be noted that it is not only extremely expensive to fully equip a heavy cavalryman wearing plate armor, but each soldier also needs to be equipped with three or four auxiliary soldiers. It is a real money-burning type of soldier. Therefore, even though the forging technology of plate armor is already quite mature, the current Tang Dynasty basically cannot afford to equip such heavy armored cavalry. It can only use this kind of half-light cavalry and half-heavy cavalry shield cavalry to replace the function of heavy armored cavalry.

"rush!"

Following Zhang Liao's order, this specially equipped cavalry, with shields protecting their faces and a small axe in their right hands, rushed forward towards the rain of arrows from the center of the semicircle of infantry. When they were about half an arrow's distance away, the knight threw his hand axe with all his might, and it fell into the enemy's formation, immediately causing casualties. Then, before hitting the spears, the cavalry turned their horses' heads to the left and right and galloped away from the semicircle formation.

During the rotation, many knights' mounts were shot, but the horses did not die immediately. Instead, the mad horses rushed away from the area covered by the rain of arrows even faster. In addition, the arrows on the left and right edges of the semicircular formation were farther away, so after a wave of arrows, the cavalry did not suffer many casualties.

This method is only effective against small infantry formations. If it is a large square formation, this throw will not have any destructive effect on its formation.

Zhang Liao seized the opportunity and led his spear riders to rush into the area that had become loose due to the injuries caused by the small axes. The first wave of attack opened a gap in the formation. Without the cover of the large shields and spearmen in the front, the pure crossbowmen in the back could not withstand the cavalry charge at close range. Zhang Liao and his team really just waded through.

"Quick! Surround them from both sides, White Horse, hurry!"

Gongsun Zan was stunned by Zhang Liao's actions. He thought that Zhang Liao would definitely come around from the side, and after knocking down a wave of archers, he would use the White Horse Volunteers to surround him on this side, which would definitely cause him to pay a huge price in casualties. He didn't expect that the other party would not play according to common sense, and directly use cavalry to charge the infantry formation, and let him charge past.

Once the cavalry broke through the infantry formation, as long as their speed was not slowed down by the obstacles in front, it would be a fantasy to surround it with infantry. Seeing that Zhang Liao's army was about to attack, Xun You was scared and his face turned pale. Fortunately, after realizing that Zhang Liao was going to break through the formation directly, the left and right White Horse Volunteers had retreated to the back of the infantry formation to block the enemy. Otherwise, the moment the formation was broken, it would be the day they died, and they would not even have time to escape.

Seeing that the White Horse Volunteers were blocking the way ahead, Zhang Liao was afraid that his cavalry would be slowed down by the enemy, so he immediately gave up his decision to attack Gongsun Zan directly and instead ordered his knights to split up and trample the infantry to death.

The sound of horse hooves, screams and breaking bones filled the ears. The result of four thousand cavalry chasing five thousand infantry was predictable. In just a short while, the infantry on this side either died under the horses' hooves or fled in all directions.

After confirming that the threat behind him was temporarily eliminated, Zhang Liao then went to meet the Baima Yicong, but it turned out to be a real bloody battle!