vrcanaries Chapter 702: Han River
Chapter 702: Han River
Zhang Han went around to the rear of the enemy army again.
Why is it the end of the line instead of the front?
Because Zhang Han is not stupid. Given the character of the enemy, if he dares to attack the enemy from the front, he will face the life-threatening attack of more than 300,000 people.
The enemy is determined to move south and retreat. If you attack him, he will not care about you, but if you try to stop him, he will really fight to the death.
Zhang Han still had the confidence that he could win the battle of 100,000 cavalrymen against more than 300,000 infantrymen, but he was afraid that there would not be many of the 100,000 cavalrymen left.
This is the most valuable asset of the State of Yan. It doesn't matter if the infantry go to die, but the cavalry dare not be used in this way. They are very valuable.
Zhang Han was so anxious that he scratched his head and cheeks. While sending someone to report to the Second King, he continued to chase and kill the enemy.
At the rear of the enemy were two corps, totaling 20,000 men.
Ten thousand Qian troops and ten thousand Chu troops.
When the generals of the two corps saw the Yan army coming, they immediately withdrew their defense lines to the sides, clearing the road for the Zhennan army to rush in and kill the friendly forces in front.
Friendly: ???
The friendly forces, having suffered an unexpected disaster, immediately turned around to fight against the Zhennan Army, but only two corps turned back.
Zhang Han rushed over immediately.
However, the two corps that had just made way actually rushed towards the Zhennan Army with roars.
Taking advantage of the opportunity when the Zhennan Army's speed of attacking the enemy formation slowed down, he ran for his life and stabbed the Zhennan Army's buttocks with his spears.
When Zhang Han saw this scene, he was so angry that he almost vomited blood.
Rebellion, rebellion, it’s all against Tiangang!
The infantry actually chased and killed the cavalry!
The angry Zhang Han led the Zhennan Army back and attacked with all his might to strangle the two corps.
Of course, the two infantry regiments could not withstand the impact of 100,000 cavalrymen. They immediately formed a tight defensive posture. Although they were still killed and torn to pieces by the Zhennan Army, they fought desperately and made the Zhennan Army pay a heavy price.
Zhang Han was determined to annihilate the two corps and avenge his father, so he led his cavalry to charge back and forth, slaughtering the coalition forces like passing the buck.
But it took him a lot of time to chase after these two legions.
The allied forces in front cut off their arms like warriors and their tails like geckos, and marched forward desperately.
By the time Zhang Han wiped out this coalition force, the main force of the coalition was nowhere to be seen.
He led the Zhennan Army to chase after them.
Just like that, fighting and chasing all the way.
The coalition forces rushed forward fiercely, not caring about being ambushed from behind, and would fight wherever they were caught.
Zhang Han also learned to be smart. He would stop two corps each time and fight them. After they were wiped out, he would pursue them southwards.
Gradually, the coalition forces' formation was broken into pieces, and they continued to march south.
As the coalition forces retreated desperately without regard for casualties, by evening they were actually pushed to the edge of the Han River.
At this time, at least 70,000 to 80,000 of their coalition forces had been wiped out by the Zhennan Army, and the remaining main force was less than 300,000.
Gong Yang Ge immediately gave the order, and the entire army formed a defensive formation, fighting a desperate battle with the Zhennan Army!
The auxiliary troops quickly built camps and laid bridges.
Zhang Han led his troops to charge twice, but was repelled by the enemy both times, resulting in the loss of a lot of soldiers and horses.
No matter how unwilling he was, he had no choice but to suspend the attack.
The Qian-Chu coalition took advantage of this gap and quickly set up camp.
A lot of their baggage was left on the road and would most likely be picked up by the Yan army, but there was nothing they could do about it as the harassment from the Zhennan army was too annoying.
The commander of the Zhennan Army was worried about his soldiers. If they really didn't care about casualties, all of their more than 300,000 soldiers would have to die here.
In fact, what Zhang Han did was right. If he had really given up the 100,000 Zhennan Army in order to fight the more than 300,000 enemy troops, the first thing that King Nan and Shen Changgong would have done after returning would have been to chop off his head.
The Zhennan Army was meant to cooperate with the infantry to achieve a surprise victory on the field battlefield, not to fight desperately against an enemy that was destined to be defeated.
The Zhennan Army had made countless contributions and spent so much money and food to be established. After fighting for these allied forces, Yan Fuyao, Shen Changgong and Ma Ling were so heartbroken that they vomited blood.
The Zhennan Army, exhausted after a day of hard work, could no longer catch up. Their war horses were foaming at the mouth and would have to give up if they continued running.
The journey was eighty miles, with fighting back and forth. The total distance was hundreds of miles, which was unbearable for both humans and horses.
Before the follow-up infantry arrived, Zhang Han led the Zhennan Army upstream of the Han River and found a shallow beach for the war horses to eat grass and drink water. He would feed the horses more grass after the food and fodder were delivered.
The 100,000 Zhennan soldiers groped in the dark and rested by the water. They were so tired that they would rather go thirsty and hungry themselves than not find grass and leaves to feed their horses.
They waited until the horses were full before they began to eat their dry food.
For cavalrymen, war horses are their best comrades, their lives, and their most cherished weapons.
Can cavalry still be called cavalry if they don’t have war horses?
Cavalrymen have the deepest feelings for their war horses.
"Zhang Shuai, tell me, did we win or lose this time?"
A general of the Zhennan Army sat next to Zhang Han with some dry food.
Eat and chat.
Zhang Han said without hesitation,
"We definitely won. We killed at least 70,000 or 80,000 enemy soldiers this time, right? Aside from the time we hunted down Emperor Qi, when has our Zhennan Army ever fought an independent battle in which we killed and wounded so many enemy soldiers?"
Every time we attack, we coordinate with the infantry. There are not many opportunities for our Zhennan Army to attack alone."
"But the Second King's mission was to hold back the enemy and wait for our army to surround them. We failed to do so, and the enemy finally reached the Han River."
"What are you afraid of? Isn't it the same thing? Our main force will arrive tonight, and then we can surround them. There's a river to the south, how can they escape?"
"But what if the Qian-Chu coalition forces repair the bridge overnight? Will they run away?"
"Nonsense, haven't they been running? Why are they heading south instead of running away?"
At this point, Zhang Han smiled and said,
"It doesn't matter whether the enemy runs or not. If they run south, we will fight south.
The more they ran, the fewer of them there were, and the easier it became for us to fight.
In the end, we still have to chase them to the Yangtze River in Jingzhou.
They either crossed the river, jumped into the river, or were defeated and surrendered.
Boy, remember, when fighting a war, we cannot just look at the short-term success or failure and gains and losses. We must know our overall strategic goals.
Our goal has always been to occupy Jingzhou, build ships and sail south. While building the ships, we will also conquer the entire northern part of Chu State and incorporate it into the territory of our Yan State.
Even if the enemy runs to the east or west, can they escape? Our Zhennan Army will catch up with them.
Run south, then run, we'll still chase them after we cross the river!"