Chapter 9: Narrow Road Encounter

  Thanks to the administrator of the starting point cover group, Brother Yī ěr Líng Hóu, for helping with the cover, and thanks for the powerful reward! ~

  In this ten-thousand-strong infantry phalanx of Goguryeo, not all were Goguryeo people. There were also many foreigners, including Khitan, Xianbei and some Han and Turkic peoples. Seeing the Goguryeo warriors who had twice defeated the Sui army's hundreds of thousands of troops fall one by one under the impact of the Sui cavalry, they began to waver.

  The formation was no longer solid and intact, and the Goguryeo soldiers began to turn around and retreat. To put it more accurately, they fled. At first, the Goguryeo officers personally beheaded the fleeing soldiers, but this only had a slight effect.

  In an instant, the entire formation began to waver and more and more Goguryeo soldiers started to turn around and retreat towards Xin City. Some soldiers even voluntarily abandoned their long spears and shields in order to run faster.

  The thousand cavalrymen, who were highly expected by the Goguryeo general, had been repeatedly defeated under the impact of the broken army camp cavalry of the eight teams. The Goguryeo cavalry was helpless in the face of the Tang army's fine armor and superior equipment, showing a trend of collapse on one side.

  Li Benlei rode his war horse beside Chen Kefu, and at this time, seeing the Goguryeo formation finally in disarray, he said on horseback, "Sir, let's directly charge into the Goguryeo phalanx, break through their formation, divide them into small phalanxes one by one, and then surround and kill them bit by bit."

  Chen Kefu nodded, at this time the Goguryeo long spear formation had already lost its complete defense line, full of loopholes, and it was indeed a good opportunity.

  "General Zhang He, take two teams of cavalry to bypass the enemy's formation and attack from behind. General Li Ben Lei and the rest of you gentlemen, follow me in a frontal assault! Charge! Kill!"

  "Kill!!!"

  With a loud shout, the five regiments of Chen Kefu and Li Benlei charged straight at the enemy's infantry phalanx. This time, they did not circle around to attack from the sides, but instead used their long spears to charge forward in the front row, with the curved swords following closely behind, directly cutting into the enemy's phalanx from the front. The entire phalanx, which was supposed to be the most difficult for cavalry to attack, especially the outermost layers, were all composed of long spear formations, the real killer against cavalry. However, once they broke into the formation, the cavalry charge became like a hot iron rod inserted into butter, melting instantly without any resistance.

  Chen Kefu and others did not stop at tearing each other apart, but instead led the cavalry to cut the entire phalanx in half, then split into two pairs again, continuing to divide those halves, constantly cutting until the entire phalanx was completely cut into small squares. The infantry that lost the protection of the large phalanx had no way to cope with the swift and fierce Broken Army cavalry, and could only be slaughtered like sheep waiting for slaughter, although they could still desperately counterattack the Sui army, but it was already too late to change the overall situation.

  "Sir, let's hurry up and leave. This branch of the Sui army is elite, we've lost, let's retreat back to Xin City first. We can't lose Xin City." A general beside Gao Qi said urgently.

  Gao Qi looked at the infantry camp that had been thoroughly cut into small squares by the Sui army, and sighed helplessly. It seems that I was too careless this time, let's go. After finishing speaking, he led his hundreds of remaining soldiers to rush towards Xincheng in the east.

  Chen Kefu took one glance and saw Gao Qi's fine armor, then looked at the several hundred defeated soldiers hastily retreating in disarray, and roughly guessed that this man was the commander of these more than ten thousand Goguryeo people.

  "Rolin, take a team and follow me to chase down the commander of those Goguryeo people. The rest of you continue to surround and kill these Goguryeo people until they surrender." Chen Kefu led two hundred men, looking at the flag of the Goguryeo commander, chasing and killing all the way. Many defeated Goguryeo soldiers looked at the big flag, wanting to gather with their commander, but every time they were met with a fierce charge by Chen Kefu's cavalry. Gradually, the defeated Goguryeo soldiers saw that not only did they no longer gather around the flag, but also turned and ran as soon as they saw it.

  Gao Jie was now fleeing in a state of panic, like a dog who had lost its master. He deeply regretted his earlier decision to abandon the city and flee, fearing that he would be defeated by the Sui army if he engaged them below the city walls. If only he had stood firm and fought the Sui army with his back against the new city, he wouldn't have to be pursued so relentlessly now.

  "How come it's been half a day and we still haven't arrived at New City?" Gao Qi said anxiously.

  "General, once we pass through this small forest, we will arrive at New City. The Sui army is still far from us, and we must be able to safely withdraw into New City."

  As soon as the guard's voice fell, a dense rain of arrows shot out from the forest. Gao Qi and the few hundred remaining soldiers, who were completely unprepared, immediately let out a loud cry, and a large number of men and horses fell to the ground. Even Gao Qi himself was hit by an arrow in the leg, and he fell off his horse, unable to move on the ground.

  After a few rounds of arrow rain, a large team of Sui army cavalry rushed out from the forest and launched a killing spree against the remaining Goguryeo soldiers who were still defending.

  "Captain, it seems we've caught a big fish! Look at this kid's armor and cloak, they're actually made of white ermine fur. He must be someone important. Now we'll get rich!" The speaker was a squad leader, and his team had been sent by Zhang He to lie in ambush in this small grove, to prevent any escapees.

  That team leader was also a veteran who had participated in the conquest of Liao last time, and he burst out laughing as soon as he saw Gao Qi's armor.

  "It's really a stroke of luck, this guy is a Dal-sa, which is the highest official in charge of a large city in Goguryeo. Not only does he command troops, but also governs an entire city, we've hit the jackpot this time. Once we present him to His Majesty, we'll definitely receive rewards from His Majesty, and who knows, if His Majesty is pleased, we might even get promoted."

  Several people were chatting and laughing, but they saw that Chen Kefu, the main general of the broken army camp, had already brought more than 100 people to hurry over.

  That team is about to let people push the high Qi Xing's horse on Chen Kefu said, "General, I and others according to Zhang He's order set an ambush here, did not expect actually caught a big fish. This official uniform I recognize, is a name Bu Sa, is this city's highest official."

  Chen Kefu nodded, "This is your credit, after the war, we will reward you according to your merits. Well done!"

  Chen Kefu glanced at Gao Qi, who was being pressed to kneel on the ground, and the two or three hundred remaining soldiers, most of whom had been killed, with only a small portion having been shot by arrows but not yet dead, and were now lying on the ground wailing.

  "Rolin, send a cavalryman to report to General Li Benlei and let him prepare his troops to meet us. We will proceed to Xincheng first."

  "Sir, although we defeated the large army of Goguryeo that came out of the city, according to the scouts' reports, there are still nearly 10,000 soldiers inside the city. How can we possibly enter the city immediately?"

  "Just send someone to report, although the city is still in their hands, but we already have this great general, with him and the hundreds of Koguryo people's armor and clothes on the ground, we can take it without a strong attack, but with wisdom!"

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