The moment he saw the armored infantry, Lieutenant General Jiang knew that it was impossible to break through the Khmer formation by relying on the impact of his own cavalry.
But it’s not impossible yet.
After all, our own troops far outnumber those of the enemy. Even if we rely on the impact of the cavalry to fight against the armored infantry, we will win in the end, but with greater casualties.
Thinking of this, Deputy General Jiang once again gave the order: "Speed up, as fast as you can, and crash into them."
The roars of people, the neighing of horses, and the harsh sounds of spear tips rubbing against armor all mixed together for a moment.
From Lin Hai's perspective, the Chen Dynasty cavalry directly "depressed" the numerically inferior Khmer armored infantry formation. The cavalry gained an advantage in the first round by relying on its own weight and speed. If the cavalry had taken advantage of the chaos to quickly leave the battlefield, return to a safe distance to reorganize their formation, and then accelerate the attack again, then the winner of this confrontation would definitely be the cavalry.
If Lin Hai could see it, then basically everyone present could see it.
Lieutenant General Jiang gave a call and planned to lead his men to continue charging forward. It was obvious that he knew that the Khmer troops were short of manpower, so he planned to start from the spot and accelerate, pass through the Khmer formation, and then line up behind the Khmer army to attack again.
Overall, Lieutenant General Jiang's plan was half successful.
He successfully led the remaining cavalry to the back of the Khmer infantry formation, but the one hundred Khmer cavalry who had just been outside the battlefield turned around and joined the Khmer armored infantry formation, as if to prevent Lieutenant General Jiang from leading his troops to fight back.
"Well, the enemy cavalry has also moved. Lieutenant General Jiang did a great job and tied up all the enemy's troops at once. Now is the opportunity. Pass on my military order, all troops, charge." After seeing the actions of the Cambodian cavalry, the lieutenant general immediately gave the order to charge.
Strictly speaking, while the Lieutenant General was greedy, lustful, and embezzled military pay, he was also a stingy individual... but he was also a talented and capable individual. This battle was later included in textbooks as Qinghe's first formal engagement (although he mostly observed it from the sidelines). However, once the fog of war was lifted, no one would have considered the Lieutenant General's on-the-spot command flawed, and no one could have done a better job under such circumstances.
Even when he used 3,000 men to attack 700, he launched the general attack only after he was fully certain of the enemy's strength and movements. It could even be said that he was overly cautious.
But there's more to the problem than meets the eye.
Lieutenant General Jiang desperately hoped his commander was a coward, so the Chen Dynasty could minimize losses. But he understood that the Lieutenant General, despite his many shortcomings, was not a coward. The problem was, he couldn't lead the remaining cavalry back. Lieutenant General Jiang sighed as he gazed at the massive Khmer army formations below the gentle slope.
Yes, not far behind the Khmer formation is a gentle downward slope. The slope is very gentle and the height is not high. It is probably... probably just enough to hide the 5,000 Khmer infantry formation in everyone's blind spot.
Before the battle, the Lieutenant General and Deputy General Jiang had thought about the possibility of an ambush, but generally speaking, the terrain near Zhaoyang City is flat, except for a few small mounds on the edge of the battlefield (yes, Lin Hai stayed there, isn't it a coincidence?), if no ambush can be seen from the city wall of Zhaoyang, then at least the area within dozens of miles is safe.
Then, there must be something wrong with Zhaoyang City!
The news must be spread. Lieutenant General Jiang made up his mind at the first moment. No matter what the cavalry would encounter, as long as one person escaped, the large group of infantry would be saved from danger.
"Charge, charge back. Everyone who can get out will be a hero. Tell the Lieutenant General that Zhaoyang City has surrendered to the enemy. Stay away from Zhaoyang City and avenge us in the future." Lieutenant General Jiang looked at the Cambodian army formation that was constantly expanding on both wings and closing in the middle, and immediately ordered the cavalry to charge back, even if the distance was not enough to reach the maximum speed.
Behind him was a mixed army consisting of only a few hundred armored infantry and a hundred cavalry. It would be difficult to break through, but it was not impossible for a few people to rush out.
At the same time that the lieutenant general ordered the entire army to attack, the gates of Zhaoyang City were opened.
The lieutenant general did not believe that the cowardly Tongzhi would order someone to go out of the city to help in the battle. Besides, even if he wanted to help, he would send someone to contact in advance. There was no reason to send people out of the city at the last minute. If there was no coordination when the fighting started, it would be hard to say who would win.
So he sensed danger, and he felt he was right.
Facts soon proved that his senses were very sharp. The people rushing out of the city were not only cavalrymen who would never be in Zhaoyang City, but also cavalrymen wearing Khmer clothes.
In a flash, the Lieutenant General of Nandingzhou understood everything.
Zhaoyang City has already surrendered to the enemy, this place is a trap.
The other side spent so much effort to ambush him. It seemed that the army in Chongzuo had been completely wiped out. He was the last mobile force of several nearby states. Once he was killed, the Khmer people would be able to move freely in and out of the southwest of Dachen as if it were an empty land.
Yes, that was the original plan of the Khmer army, but now the main force of the Khmer army, led by a general, was stunned in Nandingzhou - where did the garrison go? It couldn't be that they got the news in advance and slipped away.
And the most fundamental reason why Xin Yuetu agreed to Lin Hai's plan was this. Killing the garrison in Nandingzhou was the greatest military achievement that could be obtained at this stage of the war. Originally, Xin Yuetu had no share in it, but if he refused it since it was delivered to his doorstep, it would seem that he was not very smart.
Khmer cavalry rushed out of the city continuously. They completed basic acceleration in the city. Although the size of the city gate limited the flow rate, the cavalry's flank attack on the moving infantry brigade still showed great power.
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