"Commander-in-chief! Liu Heita's elite soldiers have not suffered any losses. If we forcefully attack the camp from both sides, I'm afraid we will suffer heavy losses!"
The captain of the Left Third Military Command said hurriedly.
The captain of the Left Three Military Commanders' Office had previously served under Liu Heita and had some understanding of the strength of Liu Heita's troops.
The Liu troops they had just forced to surrender did not have strong combat effectiveness and their fighting spirit was average. They were obviously not the elite troops under Liu Heita.
In other words, from the time they left Weize Pass until now, they have not fought against the elite troops under Liu Heita's command.
The elite troops under Liu Heita's command suffered no casualties.
If they attacked the camp from both wings while Liu Heita's elite troops were still intact and divided into two groups, it would be easy to cause serious damage.
If there hadn't been a group of surrendered soldiers to help, the captain of the Left Third Military Command wouldn't have said this.
Now that they have a group of surrendered soldiers to help them, they can force the surrendered soldiers to fight with Liu Heita, wear down Liu Heita's elite troops and reduce their losses.
Su Dingfang understood what the captain of the Left Third Military Commander was thinking, and glanced inconspicuously at the surrendered soldiers who were approaching Liu Heita's temporary camp timidly.
"Do you think they can really be counted on?"
There has been no close combat yet, and the war has not yet developed to its most brutal level. Although the surrendered soldiers have suffered injuries, it has not reached the point where they have completely lost their fighting spirit, so they still dare to move forward.
Once the battle damage reaches the bottom line that they can bear psychologically, or if there are heavy casualties after close combat.
Then the surrendered soldiers will definitely be afraid of fighting and will definitely run away.
The captain of the Left Third Military Commander opened his mouth, but in the end said nothing, and just nodded heavily.
Su Dingfang raised his horse spear and looked towards Liu Heita's temporary camp. He said quietly, "Liu Heita, remember, I am the brave warrior of Jizhou, Su Dingfang!"
In the past, Su Dingfang accompanied Gao Yaxian to seek refuge with Liu Heita. During the banquet, Liu Heita praised Gao Yaxian highly but paid no attention to him at all.
Gao Yaxian recommended him to Liu Heita, saying that he was capable of taking on the important task.
Liu Heita just smiled and said, "Mr. Gao's adopted son must be extraordinary," and there was nothing more to say.
Liu Heita's high praise for Gao Yaxian was just a pretense.
It is true that I don't care about him and don't care about him.
Today he wants to tell Liu Heita that his name is Su Dingfang and he is from Wuyi, Jizhou!
"Left Second Colonel, Left Second Colonel, follow me to break through the camp from the left and right wings!"
Su Dingfang tightened the reins and shouted loudly.
The soldiers in Zuo Ertong’s office were all stern in expression.
Su Dingfang mentioned breaking the camp, which means that the battle has reached the most critical moment.
"kill!"
Su Dingfang took the lead and rushed out first.
The soldiers of Zuo Ertong's headquarters rushed out without any hesitation.
Although Su Dingfang was only their temporary commander, he won their recognition in the battle of Mingshui City.
In the battle of Mingshui City, although Qu Tutong and Luo Shixin were also there, Qu Tutong was always coordinating the overall situation, while Luo Shixin led a team of elite soldiers to check for loopholes and fill in the gaps. When the soldiers there could not hold on any longer, Luo Shixin would appear there with his men.
Only Su Dingfang stayed with them throughout the whole process, leading them to fight the enemy.
At the beginning, when the soldiers were still able to suppress the attack of Liu Heita's army, Su Dingfang just commanded his men to fight while recuperating from his injuries.
When the soldiers were unable to suppress the attack of Liu Heita's army, Su Dingfang decisively gave up recuperating and led his men to fight against Liu Heita's army.
At the critical moment of the battle, Su Dingfang's wound split open, bleeding, and his clothes were soaked, but he still stood in the front.
The soldiers obeyed him.
So when the battle came to an end, even the brothers under the command of other brigade commanders were willing to obey his orders.
Now that Su Dingfang is leading the charge, they have nothing to hesitate about.
"You dare to attack the camp?! Set it on fire!"
When Liu Heita saw Su Dingfang leading the cavalry to break out from behind the army formed by a group of traitors, he understood Su Dingfang's intention.
Liu Heita wanted to lure the Tang army inside Weize Pass to launch a surprise attack on him. He also knew how many men he had at his disposal. In order to avoid the Tang army mobilizing too many troops and making it difficult for him to cope with them, he made a lot of preparations.
In addition to setting up a number of ambushes outside the camp, he also made a lot of preparations inside the camp.
“Yes!”
Fan Yuan readily agreed and sent people to set fire.
Two walls of fire soon appeared on both sides of the temporary camp.
Su Dingfang continued charging on his horse as if he didn't see the two walls of fire.
He shouted as he rushed forward.
"Blindfold the horse!"
"Let those who are more likely to cause trouble than to help others wait behind the firewall. If they dare to break in, we will kill them with spears!"
Seeing that Su Dingfang didn't care about the firewall and was about to force his way in, Liu Heita snorted coldly and gave an order.
Fan Yuan sent someone to deliver the message again.
Those Liu troops who retreated from both sides of the forest were sent behind the wooden gate several feet away from the fire wall. They held spears and shields and waited quietly for Su Dingfang and his party.
It is the kind of thing made of sharp wood that can be used to set up a checkpoint at the city gate to prevent the enemy from being on the road.
Unfortunately, although Liu Heita issued two orders at close intervals, Liu's army still failed to form an effective defense before Su Dingfang attacked the temporary camp.
When the cavalry charges, once the momentum is formed, the speed is extremely fast. It may take only a few breaths or a few blinks of an eye for them to rush in front of you.
The fences on both sides of the temporary camp were easily broken through by the cavalry.
The deterrent effect of the wall of fire behind the fence was greatly weakened the moment Su Dingfang ordered the horses to be blinded.
Although the fire was fierce, Su Dingfang and his party still rode past on horseback.
Only those wooden gates formed an obstacle for Su Dingfang and his party, and also greatly reduced the impact of Su Dingfang and his party.
But Su Dingfang also had a way to deal with it.
He decisively abandoned several war horses, used the flesh and blood of the war horses to break open the wooden door, and rushed into Liu Heita's temporary camp.
Liu Heita watched helplessly as the two major barriers he had set up were easily broken through by Su Dingfang and his men. He was so shocked that he was speechless.
Fan Yuan was screaming.
"My king! The camp has been breached!"
Liu Heita shouted, "Who is he?!"
Fan Yuan replied hastily, "Gao Yaxian's adopted son and general, Su Dingfang!"
Liu Heita couldn't believe it, "He is Su Dingfang?!"
He had long forgotten that there was such a person under Gao Yaxian's command.
He had no intention of re-employing Gao Yaxian from the beginning to the end, so he didn't care about the people around Gao Yaxian.
The reason why he took in Gao Yaxian was that most of the people around him were from Dou Jiande's old subordinates, and Gao Yaxian took the initiative to surrender with his people, so he could not refuse.
The second reason is that he wants to show everyone that he has the ambition to recruit talented people, and he will treat them with courtesy as long as they come to him.
Otherwise, he would not have kept Gao Yaxian, someone who could threaten his position, by his side.
He feels a little regretful now.
I regret not getting rid of Gao Yaxian earlier, and not getting rid of Gao Yaxian and the people around him earlier.
Now, the people around Gao Yaxian have broken into his camp and are slaughtering his few soldiers inside.
As for regretting not making use of Gao Yaxian or the people under Gao Yaxian, he didn't even think about it.
Because he will not use anyone who can threaten his position, no matter how capable the person is or how brave his subordinates are.
Not to mention him, any person in power would not reuse someone who poses a threat to him before he has secured his position.
Even though this person never showed any intention of coveting his position from beginning to end.
"My king! Retreat!"
When Fan Yuan saw Su Dingfang easily break into their temporary camp, he knew that defeat was inevitable, and quickly told Liu Heita to leave.
Liu Heita gritted his teeth, looked gloomy, and quickly went down the lookout tower.
Surrounded by a group of guards, he retreated to the rear camp.
There was a retreat route they had prepared in advance.
By riding a horse, you can retreat into Taihang Mountains within half an hour.
"I clearly made sufficient preparations, so why did the thieves break into my camp so easily?"
Liu Heita retreated while questioning angrily.
Fan Yuan and the others who were surrounding Liu Heita were silent.
Some of them know why, and some don't.
Those who know it are very clear in their hearts.
Liu Heita had limited troops and horses, only a small number of which were elite soldiers, and most of his troops were cobbled together. Therefore, in order to lure the Tang army to take the initiative to attack, he had to win by ambush.
They don't have the strength to fight the Tang army head-on.
The soldiers under their command don't have the fighting spirit.
The moment the ambush was discovered, they should have retreated in time and retreated several miles away.
But Liu Heita still stayed and insisted on fighting the Tang army. The final result was that his camp was pierced through.
When using the weak to defeat the strong, the most important thing is the word "strange".
Take the enemy by surprise and launch a surprise attack.
Once you lose this "strange" element, you can only rely on the fighting spirit of your soldiers to attack the wall with your weak force.
Not only did Liu Heita lose his "surprise", his surprise troops were also used by others. His chances of winning were definitely infinitely lowered.
Liu Heita led a group of defeated soldiers and sneaked all the way from Mingzhou to Weize Pass. How much fighting spirit do you expect from them?
When Liu Heita was using troops, he was reluctant to use them, and always used the bandits and vagrant soldiers he gathered on the road as the main force.
The Tang army seemed to be composed of elite soldiers, so it was reasonable for them to be able to break through the main camp.
If you can't drill through it, it doesn't mean you are very strong, it just means the opponent is too weak.
How to fight a war and whether you can win it, powerful weapons and careful deployment are only part of the key , the more crucial thing is the people.
If you are not a good person, three of them can chase you and beat you up like a hundred people, and after the beating they will still scold you, saying "You dare not surrender and even resist."
It's amazing. Three people can chase and beat up a hundred people. After the beating, they still have to curse the other party, "You don't surrender, and you dare to resist, you're asking for a beating."
Therefore, Liu Heita did not lose because of the military equipment or the deployment.
He lost because the soldiers under his command had no fighting spirit, and he was reluctant to use his elite troops to charge into battle.