webnovelfull Chapter 714 A great victory
Chapter 714 A great victory
Ma Chao led 20,000 cavalrymen, who had not yet engaged in battle and were in peak condition in terms of morale and spirit, into the enemy ranks.
The Han army, engaged in battle with the enemy, saw their general charging in and decisively retreated, handing the battlefield over to Ma Chao's cavalry. Then...
Although the two sides were locked in a fierce battle, their clothing and skin color made them easy to distinguish, so there was no need to worry about mistaking one another for another and accidentally injuring friendly forces.
Moreover, the Sasanian army's formation had been completely disrupted by the Western Regions coalition, leaving Ma Chao's cavalry with no obstacles and allowing them to charge at will without restraint.
In this situation, the Sasanian army had no power to resist, and their swords were already dulled, unable to stop the ring-pommel swords of the Han cavalry. As soon as the weapons of the two sides clashed, the Sasanian army's broken swords were cut in two, posing no threat to the Han army.
Seeing this, Ma Chao decisively ordered his army to break into smaller units of a thousand men each, charging towards areas with large numbers of people. This ruthlessly dispersed the small resistance forces that the Sassanid family had painstakingly gathered, keeping them in a state of disarray and unable to form effective resistance, allowing Ma Chao to calmly reap the rewards.
The Western Regions allied forces followed behind the cavalry, filling in any gaps and quickly dealing with any isolated enemy soldiers who had been knocked down and scattered by the cavalry.
Cavalry is the sharpest blade. With the addition of cavalry, the Han army's speed of reaping the Sassanid army instantly doubled.
This situation lasted for only half an hour before the Sassanid army could no longer hold out. They turned and fled, and those who could not escape knelt down and surrendered.
Although the Han army and the Sassanid army did not speak the same language, they both knelt down to surrender.
Ma Chao was too lazy to deal with these cowards, so he handed them over to Ma Dai, who commanded the Western Regions allied forces, and continued his charge to reap the rewards.
Behind the Sassanid army, watching their army collapse in a miserable state, Ardashir felt as if he had fallen into an ice cave, and was completely stunned.
He couldn't understand how he, the Central Asian overlord who had won every battle and even defeated the Parthian Empire, could not withstand a single move from Ma Chao.
Who exactly is this Ma Chao, and why is he acting so irrationally?
The question is, what should I do now: run away, surrender, or commit suicide?
Watching Ma Chao charge through the ranks as if he were in an empty field, Ardashir longed to challenge him to a true manly contest, but he couldn't muster the courage.
General Osmond, a trusted confidant, said, "Master, hurry and retreat! It will be too late if we don't run now."
Ardashir said unwillingly, "Are we just going to slink away like this?"
Osmond replied, "Otherwise, we still have our families, vast territories, and tens of millions of people. If we retreat, we might be able to make a comeback and rebuild our strength. But if we are captured or killed, we will have nothing left."
Ardashir thought about it and agreed. He stared intently at Ma Chao for a few moments, memorizing Ma Chao's image, before stamping his foot in frustration and saying, "Retreat..."
After saying that, he decisively turned around and led the tens of thousands of cavalrymen he had painstakingly gathered to flee at top speed.
His escape further demoralized the already low morale of the Sassanid army and gave Ma Chao a new target to attack.
Tens of thousands of cavalry were too big a target. Ma Chao wasn't blind, and he was on horseback with a high vantage point. How could he not see them?
Although Ma Chao only had a little over a thousand men with him, he instinctively chased after the enemy's banner the moment he saw it being withdrawn, and shouted loudly, "All cavalry, follow me! Don't let the enemy commander escape!"
The cavalry behind him shouted loudly to relay the order, and those who heard the order shouted back loudly. Soon the order spread throughout the entire army. Upon hearing the order, the cavalry decisively turned around and chased after Ma Chao. Some infantrymen even couldn't resist grabbing horses from the Sassanid army and chasing after him.
The most difficult time has passed, and now it's time to reap the rewards of victory. Naturally, no one can be left behind. The riders on the battlefield quickly converged behind Ma Chao like rivers flowing into the sea, mercilessly attacking the fleeing Ardashir.
The total number of troops involved in this battle was close to 600,000. With so many people, they occupied a large area, and the battlefield covered an area of dozens of miles.
Pan Jun was ordered to flank the left wing, leading 5,000 cavalry to bypass the Sassanid army and attack from the rear. Unfortunately, he circled too narrowly and tragically collided with the troops on the edge of the battlefield.
But Pan Jun was not intimidated. He gripped his long sword and charged forward desperately, quickly carving a bloody path through the enemy lines and breaking away from the battlefield to continue his frantic run along the outer perimeter.
After running for more than ten miles, they finally saw Ardashir's great banner and instinctively chased after it.
Although Pan Jun took a roundabout route and was much farther away than Ma Chao, he was not hindered by the enemy along the way and was much faster than Ma Chao.
Therefore, Ardashir had only just begun his escape when he saw the banner.
So Ardashir had barely left the battlefield when he saw Pan Jun attacking from the flank. Seeing that the two sides were less than three miles apart, and that the distance between them was still closing as time went on, Ardashir was furious and cursed, "Damn it, how can they have so many troops?"
After saying this, he instinctively turned and fled to the southwest, trying to distance himself from Pan Jun. However, he did not run for long before he saw Tu Lin's cavalry again.
Tulin was flanking from the right flank, and Ardashir, who was fleeing in that direction, ran right into his arms.
Seeing Ardashir charging towards him, Tu Lin excitedly roared to the sky, "Hahahaha, I never thought that the greatest credit for this battle would go to me, Tu Lin! Men, follow me and charge!"
After saying that, he accelerated again and charged towards Ardashir.
Seeing Pan Jun and Tu Lin rushing towards him like scissors, Ardashir was filled with despair. Before he could even let out a cry of grief and anger, he heard the sound of rapid hoofbeats behind him. When he turned around, he saw that Ma Chao was also attacking from behind.
Now we're truly trapped with nowhere to turn.
But Ardashir was, after all, the head of the Sassanid family and a powerful warlord who controlled most of the Parthian Empire. Like Cao Cao after the Battle of Red Cliffs, he still had a chance to make a comeback if he escaped back. Therefore, he was naturally unwilling to surrender and, without much thought, took the initiative to attack Tulin.
The three-pronged encirclement was both an advantage and a disadvantage, because Ardashir did not need to defeat all three enemy forces at the same time; he only needed to break through one to escape smoothly.
Moreover, his cavalry was charging at full speed and had no time to slow down or turn around. They could only continue charging towards Tu Lin directly in front of them, and then they collided mercilessly with Tu Lin.
Although Tulin's forces were smaller than Ardashir's, they were a fresh force with high morale and good equipment, far superior to Ardashir's demoralized and exhausted troops. Therefore, upon first contact with the enemy, Tulin easily cut Ardashir's cavalry in half like sharp scissors cutting cloth, and then turned around to launch a second charge.
Seeing that Tu Lin easily dealt with his opponent, Ma Chao and Pan Jun, who were on their way, did not rush to join the battle. Instead, they tacitly maneuvered around Tu Lin and Ardashir again, forming an even larger encirclement.
Then it was simple. Ardashir's personal guards were torn to pieces by Tulin and fled for their lives. They were then stopped by Ma Chao and Pan Jun and forced to surrender. Ardashir looked at the dwindling number of soldiers around him and the ever-encroaching encirclement in the distance and resigned himself to his fate. He stood on his horse, raised his hands, and shouted loudly, "I am Ardashir, the patriarch of the Sassanid family. I want to see your commander."
He wasn't sure if the other person could understand Parthian, so he shouted in all the foreign languages he knew in turn, including Kashgar.
Upon hearing this, Ma Chao responded in the Shule language: "I am Ma Chao, the General of the Cavalry of the Great Han Dynasty. Throw away your weapons and take off your armor, and come over on your knees with your hands raised."