Snowflakes were flying all over the sky, drifting down from the air with the cold wind, and falling on the bodies of hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides, as if they were covering the hundreds of thousands of soldiers on both sides with a layer of silver-white armor.
Cao Tingjin, the commander-in-chief of the Liang State's Western Expedition Army, did not choose another day to fight because of the heavy snow, but still set the day of the decisive battle on January 29th, 388 of the Daliang calendar.
The coalition forces, mainly composed of the Gule army, saw that the Liang State's western expeditionary army had come out in full force, and they also chose to fight with all their forces.
At the beginning of the war, the coalition forces directly dispatched more than 100,000 cavalry troops, which crushed the Liang State's Western Expedition Army with overwhelming force.
The total number of cavalry from various units of the Western Expedition Army was less than 30,000. Faced with the coalition cavalry that was pouring in like a flood, the commander-in-chief Cao Tingjin did not send his own cavalry to meet them, but instead ordered the heavy infantry formations of various units to directly charge forward.
Because Liang's heavy infantry battle formation was specially designed to deal with the cavalry of the grassland nomads, it was able to defend very firmly against the weaker coalition cavalry.
After paying a considerable price, the allied cavalry found that they still could not break through the Liang army's heavy infantry formation, so they began to shift the direction of attack to the two wings of the Liang army's entire heavy infantry formation, trying to break through the weak points on the two wings.
At this time, the cavalry units of the Western Expedition Army attacked from both wings of their own formation, engaged in a head-on confrontation with the coalition cavalry, and protected the two wings of the heavy infantry formation.
As the allied cavalry turned to the two wings, the allied infantry also pressed forward and slammed into the Liang army's heavy infantry formation, and the entire battlefield suddenly became stalemate.
Although Sun Hao, the acting commander-in-chief of the Western Regions Protectorate, did not personally fight on the front line, many of his elite troops were deployed to the battlefield one after another.
By the evening, only Xiong Kuohai, Pei Yuanqing and eighteen Yanyun cavalrymen were left by Sun Hao's side and had not joined the battlefield, which shows how fierce the battle was.
The battle lasted from morning to evening. Both sides suffered heavy losses, but neither side was able to completely defeat the other. In the end, the coalition forces chose to withdraw from the battlefield first.
The Western Expedition Army, which had been fighting fiercely for a whole day, no longer had the strength to take advantage of the situation and attack. After hastily cleaning up the battlefield, it retreated to the camp behind.
Late at night, in the tent of Commander Cao Tingjin, the four senior officers of the Western Expedition Army all looked extremely solemn.
Cao Tingjin said with a slightly worried look: "In today's decisive battle with the coalition forces, although the coalition forces' losses may be much greater than our Western Expedition Army, our Western Expedition Army is still smaller in number.
I'm worried that the soldiers can't endure another bloody battle like today."
As soon as Cao Tingjin finished speaking, Wang Lian said, "Of my Huaide Left Guard, only a little over 10,000 are still able to fight.
If we continue to fight like this tomorrow, I don’t know what will happen to the other units, but Huaide’s left guard will definitely fight to the death.”
Sun Zhe sighed and said, "Huaide Vanguard and Huaide South Guard lost almost half of their troops today, especially the four cavalry battalions of Huaide South Guard. There are only a few left, with only about 300 cavalrymen surviving.
The coalition forces' fighting spirit and even combat effectiveness are much higher than we estimated. I suggest taking advantage of this heavy snow to withdraw immediately.
It’s too late. I’m afraid I won’t be able to leave even if I want to.”
When Sun Hao heard Sun Zhe's proposal to retreat, although he was unwilling, he did not object. He also knew that after a day of bloody fighting, the Western Expedition Army was no longer able to continue fighting with the coalition forces mainly composed of the Gule Army.
His Western Region Army's left and right guards were relatively new and their combat effectiveness was weaker than other units, so they suffered greater losses.
After returning to the camp and taking inventory, there were only more than 7,000 people left in the Western Region Army's Left Guard, and less than 6,000 people left in the Western Region Army's Right Guard.
In fact, many soldiers of the Western Region Army did not die at the hands of the enemy, but were beheaded by the supervisory team.
It was precisely because of the supervision team composed of Sun Hao's family soldiers who continuously killed the retreating deserters that the left and right guards of the Western Region Army were able to survive such a brutal battle today.
In addition, the armored troops under Sun Hao's command who participated in the battle also suffered heavy losses. Among them, 66 Black Tiger soldiers, including the "level 90" Black Hu Slave general Otosha, were all killed today.
Seeing that Sun Hao didn't say anything, Cao Tingjin took the initiative to ask, "Sun Hao, what do you think about withdrawing the troops?"
Sun Hao pondered for a moment and said, "I agree to withdraw our troops from Iron Lion City, but I will not give up the territory that already belongs to the Western Regions Protectorate.
I plan to lead the soldiers and civilians of the Western Regions Protectorate and rely on the various cities to resist the counterattack of the Hu army."
Upon hearing this, Sun Zhe hurriedly said, "Your Western Region Army's left and right guards now total 15,000 men. How can they resist the coalition forces of hundreds of thousands?
Don't forget that Puwan's reinforcements of over 100,000 will soon arrive in Gule's territory, and Wensu is also gathering a second batch of 100,000 troops."
"Father, I know it will be very difficult, but among the more than 40 cities captured by our Western Expedition Army, there are a total of two million Liang people.
Our Western Expedition Army can retreat all the way back to Pizhou. With the two fortress passes of Suolong Pass and Longyu Pass blocking the way, the Hu army will not be able to cross the Canglong Mountain Grand Canyon.
The problem is that if we all withdraw, the remaining two million Liang people will very likely... or should I say will definitely suffer revenge from the Hu army. I really can't bear to abandon these Liang people.
Moreover, with me leading the Western Regions Army to stay, perhaps the Hu people will not bother to pursue the main force of our Western Expedition Army."
Sun Hao's words made Cao Tingjin, Sun Zhe and Wang Lian fall into silence.
Once the Western Expedition Army retreats, the Allied Forces will certainly not let it retreat back to Liang State easily, and will most likely send cavalry units to pursue it along the way.
If Sun Hao did not stay voluntarily, the Western Expedition Army would have to leave behind a rear guard force.
As for the two million Liang people, not to mention that the Western Expedition Army did not have the ability to bring them all back to Pizhou, even if they had the ability to bring them back, there would be no way to feed these two million mouths.
Pizhou had already suffered a drought that had not been seen in a century last year. In order to prepare for the western expedition to the Gule Kingdom, Pizhou Governor Chen Fengshi did his best to gather enough food and fodder for the western expedition army for two months.
If the Western Expedition Army had not seized a large amount of food and fodder from the Gule Army, it might have run out of food by now.
If the Western Expedition Army brought the two million Liang people back to Pizhou, most of them would probably not survive the winter.
Cao Tingjin asked Sun Hao in a heavy tone, "Have you thought it through?"
Sun Hao nodded and said, "I have thought about this for a long time.
If I leave like this, I will never feel at peace in my life."
Cao Tingjin then said, “I will have the left and right guards of the Ganyang Army, as well as the left, front, and south guards of the Huaide Army, leave all the captured weapons and armor to the Western Region Army, and I will also leave as much food and fodder as possible.
Furthermore, after I return, I will immediately report to the imperial court and officially appoint you as the first Grand Commander of the Daliang Western Regions Protectorate."
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