Three Kingdoms: Rebirth of Liu Bei, the Zhaolie

Although Gao Shun did not have the same combat prowess as Lü Bu, he was still a valiant general. He wielded his eighteen-foot spear with great skill, thrusting and slashing with exceptional dexterity.

Liu Bei, who was watching the battle from the sidelines, noticed that Gao Shun was good at using the "thrust" and "slash" techniques from spear fighting.

The targets it stabbed were mostly the eyes, nose, face, throat, armpits, hands, feet, and areas not covered by armor, such as the gaps in the breastplate and the skirt armor.

The areas targeted for shaving are the throat, wrist, and ankle.

From Liu Bei's perspective, Gao Shun's spear technique was unique and completely different from that of the other generals, as if he had been instructed by a master.

Gao Shun was originally from Chenliu in Yanzhou. From his youth, he loved to travel around and broaden his horizons.

He followed his business friend and served as his bodyguard to the border area of ​​Bingzhou, where he met Lü Bu, the leader of the local chivalrous knights, and was deeply impressed by his martial arts skills.

The two shared similar interests and became close friends.

Over time, Gao Shun and Lü Bu became sworn brothers.

Although the two did not swear an oath, they vowed to live and die together.

Liu Bei also greatly admired Gao Shun's integrity and loyalty, and made a point of recruiting him.

At this moment, he saw Gao Shun displaying his martial arts skills, his spear technique was extremely superb, and he liked him even more.

During the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period, guns were not yet widely used on the battlefield.

Therefore, the weapons used by military generals were mostly spears and halberds.

Simply put, the difference between a spear and a gun is that a short sword is attached to a wooden pole and called a "spear," while a dagger is attached to a wooden pole and called a "gun."

This is the simplest way to distinguish them based on their form.

The short blade makes it more suitable for precise thrusts, and it has a blood shield.

The spear has a long blade, making it more suitable for powerful slashes, with no way to block attacks.

The person wielding the spear must be strong enough.

A person who uses a gun needs to be proficient in all skills.

Therefore, the generals of the late Han Dynasty and the Three Kingdoms period who used spears were all broad-shouldered, burly, and strong.

"A spear that is eighteen feet long is called a shuo."

Although a spear as long as eighteen feet can be called a shuo, the blade of a shuo is twenty or thirty centimeters longer than that of a spear.

Generally speaking, the spearhead is 20 to 30 centimeters long, while the lancehead is 50 to 60 centimeters long.

Therefore, in a loose sense, the lance can also be broadly referred to as the "horse spear".

The eighteen-foot-long spear that Gao Shun used could basically be regarded as a horse lance in the general sense.

However, the production process of a horse lance is actually more complicated and expensive than that of a lance. Only top-tier military commanders can be equipped with horse lances.

Ordinary cavalrymen mostly used spears.

The spear was mainly used for slashing, but Gao Shun rarely used wide, sweeping slashing motions; he was more comfortable using thrusting and slicing.

In the blink of an eye.

Gao Shun then stabbed down two heavily armored cavalrymen and slashed the legs of several horses, leaving the ground covered in blood.

Three or four hundred elite cavalrymen faced off against a roughly equal number of heavily armored cavalry. The situation appeared chaotic, but the three-by-three formations showed order and discipline amidst the disorder.

After a fierce battle, they gradually gained the upper hand.

They effectively implemented Liu Bei's "three-three system" strategy, using three against one, and were invincible.

The number of hundreds of heavily armored cavalrymen dwindled with each battle.

The fewer people there are, the more likely they are to be surrounded and killed.

In the end, the remaining two hundred or so heavily armored cavalry could no longer hold out and began to retreat in disarray, scattering and fleeing in all directions.

Lü Bu and Gao Shun led four hundred elite cavalry in pursuit.

When they clash, both sides inflict damage.

During a chase, it becomes a one-sided massacre.

In ancient battlefields, the moment when one side inflicts the greatest damage on the other is when the enemy is routed and flees.

At this point, the soldiers lost their command and became like lambs running wild across the mountains, at the mercy of others for slaughter.

Lu Bu and Gao Shun, riding fast horses, caught up and killed several more heavily armored cavalrymen.

Just then, Tuoba Sihai, who was in charge of attacking and harassing the south gate of Yanliyou tribe, led his 700 light cavalry to launch a surprise attack. Together with Lü Bu and Gao Shun, they attacked from both sides, causing the fleeing heavy cavalry to fall to their deaths.

At this moment, the heavily armored cavalry of Yanliyou's tribe had no will to fight and only wanted to escape this hellish world that resembled a battlefield.

Upon seeing this, Liu Bei ordered the loud-voiced guard, Yan Liyou, to shout again:

"Listen, heavy cavalry! Lay down your weapons and surrender to avoid death!"

Upon hearing this, the one or two hundred heavily armored cavalrymen trapped in the encirclement simultaneously threw away their eighteen-foot spears and shouted:

"We surrender! We surrender..."

Liu Bei sent Guan Yu out on horseback to summon back Lü Bu and Gao Shun.

Thus, this surprise attack on the Yanliyou tribe was drawing to a close.

Liu Bei then ordered his men to place Yan Liyou under house arrest, keeping him under strict guard, treating him to good food and drink, and forbidding him from being killed, injured, or beaten.

Because Yan Liyou, as a Xianbei leader, still held a certain political influence.

Next, Liu Bei would need to use the pretext of the banquet at Liyou to pacify the people of the other four villages under his command.

—Around Yan Liyou's camp, there was only one tribe, while the other four tribes were scattered across the grasslands within a hundred miles.

As for these surrendered soldiers, Liu Bei divided them into two groups.

He ordered Guan Yu, Qian Zhao, Lü Bu, Gao Shun, and others to lead 800 elite cavalry to keep a close watch on the heavily armored cavalry.

He ordered Babapeng, Pulu, and Yiloujin to lead 600 light cavalrymen to keep a close watch on the light cavalry of Yanliyou.

The raid resulted in heavy casualties on both sides.

On Liu Bei's side—sixty or seventy elite cavalrymen were killed and over a hundred were wounded; three hundred light cavalrymen were killed and nearly a thousand were wounded.

Xu Wushan's 28 elite cavalrymen suffered 11 wounded, but none died in battle.

The Bingzhou Wandering Knights had one hundred men; sixty were wounded and seven died in battle.

On Yan Liyou's side, four or five hundred heavily armored cavalrymen were killed and over a thousand were wounded; more than a thousand light cavalrymen were killed and more than two thousand were wounded.

Of Yan Liyou's 3,000 heavily armored cavalry, more than 2,000 surrendered, and 100-200 went missing; of his 5,000 light cavalry, more than 3,000 surrendered, and several hundred went missing.

Judging from the casualty ratio of both sides, this surprise attack caused quite a lot of damage, especially to Yan Liyou's tribe.

According to the plan that Khan Tuoba Lin had devised before the Tuoba tribe set off, Liu Bei appointed Tuoba Qiudun as the chief of the five villages of the Yanliyou tribe, with Tuoba Sihai as his deputy to assist him.

Because the location of the Yanliyou tribe—Langshan—is a strategic point. Hundreds of miles to the west from here is the Zhijian tribe, which roams around Juyan Lake, and hundreds of miles to the south is the Luoluo tribe, which roams at the foot of Helan Mountain.

Further southwest from Juyan Lake lies Dunhuang.

What Liu Bei needed to do next was to quickly absorb the elite troops of the Yanliyou tribe and integrate them into the western expeditionary army of the Tuoba tribe, so as to make full preparations for the upcoming military operations to attack the Zhijian and Luoluo tribes.

The people of the Yanliyou tribe had already informed the Zhijian and Luolu tribes that the Tuoba tribe had annexed the Rilu tribe. Now, the defeated and routed soldiers of the Yanliyou tribe, who were killed, fled, or were wounded, may also be scattered among these two tribes and continue to tell them about the battle at the foot of Wolf Mountain.

In this way, the two divisions would inevitably make thorough preparations for defense before Liu Bei's army arrived.

And Liu Bei's original plan to launch a blitzkrieg against the Zhijian and Luolu tribes will probably have to be abandoned.

This is the ever-changing battlefield.

Even the best plans can't keep up with changes.

Of course, the main problem is that intelligence gathering work is not done well.

Liu Bei realized that there were still two tough battles to fight.

Therefore, he ordered Guan Yu, Qian Zhao, Lü Bu, and Gao Shun to select more than 1,200 relatively honest and loyal men from the two thousand surrendered heavy cavalrymen of Yanliyou tribe.

Afterwards, Liu Bei added more than two hundred of them to his eight hundred elite cavalry, replacing those who had died in battle or were seriously wounded and had to stay behind to rest and recuperate, so that the total number remained unchanged at eight hundred.

The remaining thousand or so heavily armored cavalry were placed under the command of Tuoba Daxi.

Since Liu Bei had not received military orders from Khan Tuoba Lin, even though he was the commander-in-chief, he could not take all two thousand surrendered heavy cavalrymen under his control.

As for the eight hundred heavily armored cavalrymen who were not selected, they were handed over to the new leader, Tuoba Qiudun, to intimidate the five major villages of the Yanliyou tribe.

In this way, if there is any alarm in the east, Tuoba Qiudun can send his deputy Tuoba Sihai to lead these eight hundred heavily armored cavalry to reinforce Canhebei, while he himself can continue to be stationed at the foot of Langshan Mountain.

……

Cao Cao accepted the surrender of 300,000 soldiers and over a million men and women, and recruited the elite among them, calling them the "Qingzhou Army".

—From the Records of the Three Kingdoms, Book of Wei, Biography of Emperor Wu