Lu Bu: My wife comes from two thousand years later

At the end of August, the sky is high and the clouds are vast, the autumn wind is refreshing, and the temperature is neither too cold nor too hot. It is a good time for field operations.

On the appointed day, at daybreak, both sides' military camps were in motion. Amid the sound of trumpets, soldiers, horses, and chariots were arranged in order under the command of their respective generals. In addition to the main camp stationed outside, the Cao army's several auxiliary camps near the south and connected to the north gate of Changyi City were also busy. The auxiliary soldiers were busy harnessing horses to the chariots, the soldiers were busy putting on armor, and the civilians were busy distributing food and moving fences and deer antlers.

A large-scale battle involving more than 200,000 people, plus their respective auxiliary troops, had already caused the field to be covered in dust just by the time they began to line up. There was also the sound of trumpets, horses neighing, wheels of vehicles, and voices mixed together. At this time, the generals had no way of giving orders by shouting, and could only lead their soldiers to the pre-arranged positions with flags to line up. The soldiers only recognized that flag, the soldiers followed the team leader, the team leader followed the military officer, the military officer followed the Sima, and so on, one level after another, standing in line in a chaotic but orderly manner.

There were so many soldiers involved in the battle that it was not until the sun was almost at its zenith that the armies of both sides finally lined up on the plain.

At this time, many people were hungry again, but each soldier carried a day's worth of dry food with him, in case the battle lasted too long and he needed to replenish his physical strength.

Today can be said to be the largest battle since Dong Zhuo's chaotic rule. Even when the princes of Guandong fought against Dong Zhuo, they had never fought such a large-scale head-on decisive battle. From soldiers to generals, everyone was on edge.

War drums thundered, flags fluttered, and on the battlefield stretching for dozens of miles, the troops of both sides slowly set off under the command of their respective officers. A moment later, the cavalry picked up speed, and the earth and sky began to shake. First, arrows flew all over the sky, and after hitting the enemy, all that could be heard was the sound of metal colliding and shouts of killing.

"what is that?"

On the Tang army's platform, Zhang Mo pointed at the troops behind Cao's army that were still sending out in a steady stream, and asked with a frown.

Although the weather was good today, her vision was severely obstructed by the flying dust on the battlefield. In addition, it was far away, so she couldn't see what it was at all.

Lu Bu's eyesight was slightly better than hers. He looked in the direction of her finger and his expression changed slightly. "It might be a chariot."

He made a rough estimate, "No less than a thousand."

Mountains, rivers and lakes are the nemesis of cavalry, and the only things that can restrain cavalry on the plains are chariots and crossbows. In the past, Li Mu of Zhao State used this method to encircle and annihilate 100,000 Hun cavalry with infantry. It sounds outrageous, but they did it. Lu Bu immediately reacted and realized that Cao Cao wanted to learn from Li Mu today.

Hearing about chariots, the answer to the question that had been bothering Zhang Mo for the past few days finally surfaced. "No wonder they had been showing weakness before. Cao Mengde was trying to lure the Tang cavalry into a reckless charge, then use the chariots to slow them down and shoot them with bows and crossbows!"

She looked at the battlefield from afar and could vaguely see that Cao's chariot formation was splitting to the left and right, dividing into two parts and lined up behind the 15,000 cavalry in the middle.

Once the chariots were in formation, these cavalrymen formed two battlefields with the cavalrymen originally distributed on the two wings to cooperate in covering the enemy. At the same time, the tens of thousands of infantrymen he had originally placed behind the chariots also moved to the back of the chariots. It was clear without looking that they were all archers.

What's worse is that the generals on the field at this time can't see the chariot formation in the rear at all, or even if they can see it, the Tang soldiers who have been spoiled by Cao's army for so many days may not take it seriously. At this moment, they are like bows and crossbows ready to be fired. Once the strings are released, it will be difficult to slow them down unless they are exhausted.

"Send someone to alert the generals!"

Lu Bu said, "It's too late!"

Because the battlefield was too vast and the war had already started, only the troops close to the central army could receive military orders in time, while those far away could only hope for the vigilance of the commanding generals.

When it comes to a battle involving such a large army, there is no such thing as formation conflict. Both sides adopt conventional formations, leaving a part of the reserve army in the rear, and then the generals in the docking area command the battle respectively. The commander can only look at the overall situation from a high vantage point to see which unit is at a disadvantage and needs support from the reserve army, which unit wins first and can go to support the nearby battlefield, which unit has been defeated and cannot be saved, as well as the dispatch and command of the troops near the center army, that's all.

Because of the high morale of the Tang army and their contempt for Cao's army, the various units showed extremely strong impact and lethality as soon as the battle started. The collision of several legions was like asteroids colliding in the universe, with blood splattering and wailing. The infantry broke through the enemy's infantry formation, and the cavalry repeatedly rode and shot along the outer edge of the infantry formation to disrupt the enemy's army formation. Then the elite soldiers who were specialized in breaking through the formation attacked the scattered formation, and finally divided, surrounded and killed them.

The first unit of Cao's army to be dispersed was a small to medium-sized defensive formation of 5,000 people located on the left side of the central large infantry formation. The troops responsible for attacking this area were led by Qu Yi. After destroying this formation, Qu Yi glanced towards the center and saw that Gao Shun's trap camp was about to open the large formation, so he left a part of his troops to assist, but his eyes were fixed on the enemy cavalry rushing towards this place.

Cao's cavalry was small in number. If they were destroyed, Cao Cao, who had no cavalry at all, would be in a very passive position on the battlefield. The Tang cavalry could divide and surround his infantry formations at will, and defeat would be only a matter of time. Therefore, the merit of annihilating the enemy's cavalry was a great temptation to the generals of the Tang army.

Generally speaking, the cavalry distributed on the flanks and rear of the infantry formation were used to cover the central formation. They should have been dispatched when the Tang army attacked the infantry formation in front. It was a bit late to arrive after the flank defense formation was broken. However, the Tang army, which was blinded by killing, did not notice that there was anything wrong with this time difference. The 10,000 cavalry of Qu Yi's army rushed head-on towards the enemy cavalry.

Qu Yi was so determined not to take credit for his actions, but simply to get rid of Cao Cao's cavalry.

"I was fooled after all!"

On the general's platform, seeing Qu Yi and his men attacking the enemy cavalry, Lu Bu shook his head and sighed.

"How did you get fooled?"

Wang Yi, who was following Zhang Mo, asked in confusion after hearing what Lu Bu said.

In her opinion, the Tang cavalry was much stronger than the enemy cavalry. If Cao's army dared to come and confront them, it would be courting its own destruction. Why did the king say that he had been fooled?

Zhang Mo said, "The infantry formation in front hasn't been broken yet. If we go and confront the cavalry now, even if we can break through the enemy formation in one go, we will be blocked by the chariot formation behind and the infantry formation in front. It will be very difficult for our army to turn around, and we will most likely be shot and killed by the crossbows ambushed behind the chariot formation."

She paused and sighed, "Breaking through the enemy formation is inevitable. This is Cao's army's strategy to lure the enemy."

"What should we do then?" Wang Yi looked at Zhang Mo and then at Lu Bu.

Zhang Mo shook her head. "The infantry formation up front hasn't been broken. There's no way to rescue them now, and it's too late. Our only chance is to break through the chariot formation, but even if we can, I'm afraid there won't be many left out of the 10,000."

A cavalry charge requires a vast area to turn around, but here the rear is surrounded by a semicircular chariot formation, and the front is an infantry formation. It is easy for Qu Yi and his men to get in but difficult to get out.

Zhang Mo turned her gaze to the right side of the battlefield, where Zhang Liao's troops were located. The troops led by Zhang Liao were mainly cavalry. The main force of 20,000 cavalry could easily disperse the Cao army's infantry blocking the front. However, according to the report of the scouts who were watching the formation over there, the flag of General Jianwu Xiahou Dun was right behind it, which made Zhang Mo's heart tighten again.