After killing the sentries, the normal course of action should be to launch an attack.
We'll catch them off guard and seize the initiative.
However, nomadic peoples are skilled in riding and archery, and are tall, strong, and powerful. Even if the men of Dayu are stronger, they will inevitably suffer losses in unfamiliar terrain.
Everyone knows that there will be casualties in battle, but it would be painful for anyone to suddenly fall to the ground, or for someone who was just smiling at you to become a cold corpse.
Fang Heng still remembers how his father was depressed for half a month because of the death of his personal bodyguard. Later, General Fang taught him, "If you don't want to lose many people, then you have to plan ahead to protect them."
How can we protect it?
Fang Heng recalled the days in the dilapidated temple, the time he dug a pit for Zhou Zhiqiang, the time he outwitted the magistrate of Xiyang County, and the time he played cat and mouse with the Wang family.
Those little things in life, when integrated and combined, coincided with the military strategies taught by his father, making them even more brilliant.
His eyes shone with an astonishing light. He pressed down the restless men of Dayu and whispered, "Jiang Yi and Jiang Wu, take twenty men to the front to lure the enemy. Be careful to protect yourselves. The rest of you, follow me and lie in ambush."
After the repeated defeats of the Tartars in the past few days, the members of the Fifth Squad had complete trust in Fang Heng and obeyed him unconditionally.
Jiang Yi and Jiang Wu immediately led their men forward, while the others retreated and concealed themselves, ready to fight at any moment.
This tactic is actually not difficult to understand.
About twenty Da Yu soldiers rushed over. The Tartars were initially surprised, but then they became furious and wanted to kill them to avenge the sentries.
The enemy is known to number no more than thirty. Out of caution, the Tartars will send out forty or fifty, but they are unlikely to send out their entire force.
When they reached the ambush site, the Dayu soldiers, who had been waiting for their chance, jumped out and slaughtered the Tartars.
"Should we go in, Captain?" Jiang Yi asked.
Fang Heng shook his head.
The same trick cannot be used twice. The Tartars are not fools; they will become wary and suspicious.
"So...should we continue to hide?" Jiang Wu asked hesitantly.
You guessed right.
Fang Heng snapped his fingers. "All troops, stand by and lie in ambush."
The Tartars lost their sentries, and the forty or fifty of their compatriots who went out to pursue them also disappeared. Out of caution, they would send troops to investigate.
At this point, it depends on the capabilities and numbers of both sides.
If the Tartars send out a large number of men, the fifth squad should remain inactive until they have gone far away, then launch a surprise attack on their stronghold.
Conversely, they would directly break through and then storm into the Tartar stronghold.
Leading troops into battle requires flexibility and adaptability. One cannot directly apply the methods of predecessors, nor can one memorize the strategies in books. These are conclusions that Fang Heng has drawn from two years of battles.
He held his breath, lay down behind the lush green grass, and stared intently ahead.
About the time it takes to drink a cup of tea, the sound of horses could be heard. More than thirty Tartars came over, and seeing the obvious signs of a fight, they cursed and swore.
Based on my experience dealing with them over the past few years, the insults were quite vulgar.
Jiang Liu leaned closer and asked in a low voice, "Captain, there aren't many of them, should we wipe them out?"
Everyone immediately gripped their long knives tightly, ready to rush in at any moment.
Fang Heng pursed his lips. Normally, the best thing to do would be to rush in and wipe out the Tartars at this time, but the Tartars are not stupid. They always fall precisely into their plans.
To put it bluntly, if the Tartars were really so easy to deal with, the borders of the Dayu Dynasty wouldn't have been so turbulent for decades.
"Wait a minute," Fang Heng instructed in a low voice.
His subordinates were itching to act, but out of respect, they suppressed their emotions.
After another short while, just as the Tartars in front mounted their horses, hundreds more Tartars arrived from behind, speaking in broken English, seemingly to confirm that there was no ambush.
Jiang Liu broke out in a cold sweat. If they had attacked just now, they would be the Tartars' meal right now.
Despite the small difference in numbers between the two sides, if the two sides were to actually fight on horseback on the grasslands, the victory of the Great Yu would be a Pyrrhic one.
"Captain, what do we do now?" Jiang Yi also came over and asked.
Fang Heng's mind raced.
The fifth squad has a total of over a hundred elites, with three hundred combat-ready, while the opposing Tartars number around four hundred. To protect their people, they cannot engage in a direct confrontation; they must use strategy.
The Dayu people fought against the Tatars for decades and knew that they were weak on horseback. They invented the "tripping rope," a weapon against nomadic peoples, but it was gradually abandoned because it was highly restricted to certain areas.
Fang Heng remembered that he had brought more than twenty of them with him this time, originally just in case, but now he wanted to use them.
"Jiang Wu, immediately prepare fifty skilled archers on horseback, and tie their outer robes around their horse's tails."
"Jiang Yi, lead the others to prepare. After the Tartars chase after us, bury tripwires deep in the spot. Remember to stick two tree branches in the ground as markers."
The two agreed without hesitation.
Jiang Yi quickly realized what was happening, "Captain, the Tartars chased after them? Where did they chase them?"
Fang Heng didn't speak. He took off his outer robe and tied it to his horse's tail, then mounted the horse again. After nodding to Jiang Wu, he pulled on the reins and shouted, "Giddy up!"
Fifty skilled horsemen followed behind him, shouting in unison, "Giddy up!"
The wind on the grassland was strong, blowing the boy's hair. Beside him were four hundred Tartars, their killing intent palpable, but they were fearless and galloped forward.
The outer robe on the horse's tail also fluttered, making the original group of fifty people appear to be over a hundred.
"People of Chongqing!"
“Damn the people of Dayu, they killed our compatriots.”
The Tartars shouted angrily, quickly turned their horses around, and chased after them in unison.
The nomadic horses were incredibly fast, and the distance between the two groups of people was getting shorter and shorter. Fang Heng flipped over, took off the outer robe from the horse's tail, and threw it backward with all his might.
Others followed suit, and countless garments rushed towards them, managing to slow the Tartars' advance for a moment.
However, those who were meant to catch up still came, their foreign languages babbling and filled with murderous intent, trailing behind the men of Dayu, ready to crush them to pieces and grind them into the mud at any moment.
"Men, hurry up!" Fang Heng shouted. "We can't leave them on the grassland to become fertilizer."
The boys did indeed pick up their pace, and the horses galloped on until they were just afterimages.
However, during their journey, they subtly veered to the right. If someone were to observe from God's perspective, they would see that they drew a circle on the grassland and eventually ran back to their starting point from another direction.
In the time it takes to drink three cups of tea, the horses were exhausted, the boys were drenched in sweat, and the Tartars were in hot pursuit, with the distance between the two sides getting smaller and smaller.
Fortunately, the tripwires had already been set up.
Fang Heng aimed at the branch and whistled. The fifty men behind him nimbly leaped to the sides, barely avoiding the tripwire.
In an instant.
The horses of the Dayu Dynasty fell, and the horses of the Tartars that followed also fell. The brave and warlike nomadic people fell to the ground, dazed and confused, and some even suffered broken bones.
The Dayu soldiers, who had been lying in ambush, charged out with their swords and engaged the remaining Tartars in battle.
When nomadic tribes had horses, they were the bosses; when they didn't have horses, the Dayu Dynasty was second to none!
Kill them!
The long knife pierced his neck, blood gushing everywhere, but no one cried for help, not even a whimper.
The living are exhausted, the dead stare in fury.
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