Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 34

  "Fire at will... Fire!" Murong Yin retreated on horseback while shouting loudly.

  The archer on the left flank fired a head-on shot at the iron cavalry army rushing out of the darkness in the first time. The long arrow whizzed, making a fierce cry like a ghost, and pounced on the Han army soldiers who were like madmen.

  Murong Ji's heart was burning with anxiety, he loudly ordered the signaler to blow the retreat horn.

  "Order all siege troops to withdraw immediately."

  "Notify Xiong Ba, immediately stop attacking the city and rush to the vicinity of the South City Gate at the fastest speed to cover our army's retreat."

  "Order the right-wing reserve troops to converge on the central army, gather in dense defensive formations, and slow down the enemy's attack speed."

  A dense rain of arrows shot into the iron cavalry army that was advancing like a storm, and immediately there were soldiers who fell off their horses or were hit by arrows while speeding along. The Han military men didn't care at all, still madly whipping their horses to gallop wildly.

  The shield-bearing soldiers in the front row were stunned by the fierce momentum of the Han cavalry, which was like a landslide. They subconsciously retreated repeatedly, as if this could avoid being hit by the enemy's iron cavalry. The archers had already shot two arrows and were close to the Han army soldiers. Their defensive strength was the worst, and in the face of irresistible force, they turned their heads and began to flee in all directions towards the rear of the main force.

  Li Hong's long spear, aided by the great impact of his galloping warhorse, first struck and killed a shield-bearing soldier. The shield-bearing soldier let out a miserable cry as he flew through the air, heavily crashing into the ranks of archers.

  The two armies collided, producing a massive and muffled roar that reverberated across the battlefield, heavily pounding in the hearts of the Xianbei soldiers with terror and dread.

  "Kill...!" The Han soldiers shouted, ferociously wielding their battle knives. Their war horses galloped and whinnied, recklessly colliding with all the enemies who blocked their way. The Xianbei soldiers were like small boats in a stormy sea, or fallen leaves in a gust of wind, helpless and weak. They were ruthlessly trampled, crushed, collided with, and slaughtered by this massive force that suddenly descended from the darkness, they didn't even have any strength to fight back.

  The fleeing of the bow and arrow soldiers intensified the fear of the Xianbei army and accelerated their death.

  Li Hong rode forward, his steel spear thrusting left and right, leaving no chance for escape. Zheng Xin's long spear was like a venomous snake swallowing the enemy's life without mercy. Tian Zhong opened his bow to the left and right, his arrows whistling sharply, each one hitting its mark. Lei Zi's war knife was like a spinning millstone, those who were hit would surely die. The soldiers of the vanguard and rearguard troops fought bravely, shouting and clashing in battle.

  Liu Yu suddenly opened his eyes.

  When the sudden, muffled sound of a cow horn blared out in the dark night, Liu Yu's nearly stopped heart began to beat violently again. He opened his eyes wide and gazed towards the western battlefield where the roar was like thunder.

  Under the illumination of dozens of huge bonfires, the entire battlefield was in plain sight.

  He saw the Xianbei army's formation at the foot of the city rapidly adjusting, and the soldiers looked extremely panicked and tense. The Xianbei soldiers on the west city wall suddenly retreated quickly down the cloud ladder in a tide-like manner, despite having already gained a complete advantage. The siege battle on the east city wall almost immediately ended with the sound of the retreat horn. Only the fighting below the gate tower continued. But Yuwen Tuo's archers had already withdrawn first and occupied advantageous positions at the foot of the city, preparing to cover the withdrawal of the soldiers inside the city.

  Across the entire battlefield, the urgent sound of retreat horns rose and fell, completely covering up the sounds of slaughter on the battlefield. The suddenly arrived tense atmosphere almost froze the bloody battlefield for a moment.

  He heard a tremendous crash, like the striking of an iron hammer against a bronze drum, low and sonorous but with a hint of collapse. Immediately he saw the enemy's left wing begin to ripple like water in a pond, then the ripples turned into waves, the waves shook violently, and the entire left wing of the enemy army began to tremble.

  Liu Yu couldn't hold back his inner excitement and burst out loud: "Beat the drums, beat the drums..."

  The soldiers and civilians remaining on the city wall were still immersed in the bloody and cruel battle, they didn't have time to believe that the fierce enemy would suddenly retreat.

  The war drums burst forth like thunder, shaking heaven and earth.

  This is the drumbeat of victory, this is the drumbeat of defeating the enemy. The soldiers and the people in the city woke up from the bloody shock. They finally waited for reinforcements, they waited for reinforcements at the moment when they were about to collapse.

  The sound of war drums and cheers suddenly echoed throughout Fishing City.

  Yu Shi, Yan Wuwei's left wing of 600 cavalrymen followed closely behind Li Hong's vanguard and charged into the battlefield, rapidly expanding the impact zone where they cut off the enemy's archery units. The Xianbei soldiers fled swiftly while launching a fierce counterattack. They were skilled in mounted archery, and although they had lost their warhorses, their individual combat capabilities remained extremely prominent. Their precise marksmanship and small-unit tactics inflicted considerable casualties on the Han army soldiers.

  Yan Rou led six hundred iron cavalry into the left wing of the Xianbei army.

  Yan Rou rode a fiery red warhorse, wearing a blood-red battle robe, and under the reflection of the flames, he was like a burning flame flying across the battlefield. His large knife was wide and heavy, sharp beyond compare, and with each swing, only the glint of the blade could be seen, heads flew through the air, and fresh blood splattered everywhere. The Xianbei people's elite troops suffered a severe blow from the Han army's head-on attack, with heavy casualties. But their ferocious nature was not intimidated by the bloody scene before them. After the initial panic and confusion, they began to counterattack, their battle knives and axes slashing down on the Han army's iron cavalry like rain, soldiers... The enemy went mad.

  On the left were Xian Yu's 600 cavalry, in the center Zhao Bing and Wu Zha's 600 cavalry, on the right Hu Ziwei Jun's 600 cavalry. The three troops roared like thunder and charged onto the battlefield almost simultaneously. The joining of the main force iron cavalry was like stabbing a dying enemy with a fatal blow.

  The left wing of the Xianbei army collapsed instantly.

  The enemy's archery unit collapsed very quickly, and Li Hong and the cavalrymen met with no resistance. They killed with a loud shout, driving their horses to pursue desperately, and slaughtered wantonly.

  Yan Rou's troops were subjected to a fierce counterattack by the enemy. The Xianbei people's siege reserve team was full of energy, and they fought with their lives on the line, gradually slowing down the speed of the Han army's iron cavalry. Speed is the soul of the cavalry unit, without speed, the cavalrymen can only take a beating on the battlefield. Just as this happened, Zhao Wen's follow-up troops rushed in. In an instant, the Han army was like a broken dam, bursting forth with unstoppable force, sweeping away everything in their path. The enemy soldiers who were blocking them were immediately swept away by the surging iron cavalry, and were engulfed by the rolling tide in the blink of an eye.

  When the retreat horn sounded, the Xianbei soldiers who had been withdrawing from the battlefield one after another, with the fastest speed, dragged their exhausted bodies to gather on the right wing of the army. They hoped to win a safe withdrawal time and opportunity with the help of the right-wing troops' blocking. But everything was too late. The iron cavalry of the Huns swept in like a storm, facing the enemy who had no resistance ability, only shouting and desperately fleeing, they carried out a ruthless bloody massacre.

  The soldiers of the Khan tribe under the city wall were in low spirits. After experiencing a fierce battle and paying a heavy price, they were about to firmly occupy the city gate, but failed at the last moment. They had no choice but to retreat as ordered.

  On the battlefield under the city gate tower, only a dozen Han soldiers were left shouting, with the morale of the people boosted, under the encouragement of the thunderous war drums on the city tower, they launched a fierce attack on the enemy who was desperately resisting. They broke through the obstacles guarded by the enemy soldiers, and several people, even dozens of people, surrounded a Xianbei soldier. The Xianbei soldiers had completely lost their will to fight, they looked at the surging crowd in horror and fled in disarray. The tide of people rushed out of the city gate, which was still burning, and rushed out of the city.

  They stood still, witnessing an exhilarating scene. They were overwhelmed with tears of joy.

  Li Hong's troops had all deployed, under the command of a loud and clear horn, the soldiers were in high spirits, roaring and shouting, like a sharp war knife, swooping down with lightning speed. The Xianbei army was cut through, wailing and crying out, their livers and gallbladders shattered, fleeing wildly, no longer having the strength to fight back.

  Murong Ji gazed helplessly at the soldiers retreating from the city walls, his heart feeling as if a piece of flesh had been ripped off, in unbearable pain. They no longer had time to safely retreat back to camp. The army's defensive formation had already been broken through, and the entire army was in disarray. The enemy reinforcements descended like ghosts from the sky, their iron cavalry swarming in, everything on the battlefield would be engulfed by them. The defeat was already set, with no possibility of reversal.

  Murong Feng thought of Xiong Ba. As long as Xiong Ba leaves the Eastern City battlefield and comes to rescue them, the troops will be able to escape danger and minimize their losses.

  At this moment, he suddenly and thoroughly understood the state of mind of Xiong Ba's defeat at Lulong Pass. Victory was within reach, but it was like a moon in the water, a flower in the mirror, empty and elusive, far out of reach.

  Murong Yan rushed over on horseback and shouted loudly: "Let's hurry up, I'm afraid it's too late."

  Murong Ji's anger soared to the sky as he glared at him and shouted loudly: "There are still thousands of soldiers on the city wall who are retreating, how can we abandon them?"

  "We are about to lose all our archers, without their cover, our retreat will be extremely dangerous and we may be attacked by the enemy from behind. At that time, you won't even be able to escape. Quickly order the right-wing troops to disengage from the battlefield and rapidly withdraw." Murong Yun saw that Murong Ji was somewhat enraged and his command was becoming disordered, so he hastily reminded him.

  Murong Ji was greatly startled, and suddenly broke out in a cold sweat all over his body. He saw the war flags of the Tulu and Tianlan tribes slowly moving towards the central army, and immediately felt that he had made an incorrect judgment about the entire battlefield situation.

  The enemy's reinforcements have all been deployed, and it is clear that the enemy's main force is attacking our archery unit and siege reserve unit. On the other hand, their main force has not been deployed against our weakest rear army, which is actually the best direction for us to retreat. The enemy's reinforcements began to attack from our flank, they launched a straight-line charge in the east-west direction, and there was no way to suddenly turn around to launch an attack in the north-south direction. However, our withdrawal direction is south-north. As long as we act quickly enough, we can avoid the enemy's lightning-fast strike and withdraw as many troops as possible.

  The bugle calling for the right-wing troops and rear army to retreat sounded across the battlefield.

  Wu Meng and Wei Ran led their troops to disappear quickly in the dark at an incredible speed. The Xianbei soldiers of the rear army were pursued by Hu Zi's iron cavalry, scattered in all directions, and dispersed. This made the Han army soldiers who formed a dense charging array in a single line formation unable to cope with it, not knowing whether to disperse their formation to pursue and kill or maintain their formation to advance quickly. Hu Zi chose the latter. To sacrifice the speed of the iron cavalry in order to inflict casualties on the enemy's soldiers was a mistake.

  Li Hong heard the enemy's horn and immediately shouted loudly: "Speed up, full speed ahead..."

  A loud and clear bugle call, like a thunderclap, suddenly exploded in the dark night sky, shaking every soldier on the battlefield where horses' hooves were rumbling.

  "Kill..."

  Accompanied by the earth-shaking roar, the rumbling sound, the most primitive killing heart of the soldiers was finally ignited. They drove the war horses crazy, and with more fearless ferocity, they killed the enemy in a frenzy.

  Yan Rou's troops encountered great resistance again. Murong Ji's main force, under the command of Xiao Shuai Murong Lin, fought to the death to block them.

  In front was the main army of the Xianbei, with a huge golden war flag fluttering high in the night sky. It seemed to tell all the soldiers who were fighting bloody battles that the main flag had not fallen, the situation was still holding on, and the commander-in-chief was still commanding.

  Murong Invasion gazed at the increasingly approaching Han army, suddenly saw a huge red war flag, in the middle of the flag was a black leopard with its teeth and claws open, on either side were the large words "Wind Cloud".

  "He shouted nervously: 'Leopards, it's a leopard team! Withdraw, withdraw quickly.'"

  Murong Ji was immediately dragged away by the guards, along with Murong Yin, and they hastily mounted their horses and fled.

  Yan Rou's big knife heavily chopped on Murong Lin's wolf-tooth club. Murong Lin let out a miserable cry, his tiger mouth split open, and the wolf-tooth club flew out of his hand. Before he could even steady himself, a long spear had already pierced him and sent him flying far behind the Han army's iron cavalry. Immediately after, he was trampled by countless horse hooves into a pulp.

  "Cut it down......" Yan Rou shouted loudly, waving the big knife and shouting hoarsely: "Cut down the enemy's war flag, cut down......"

  A soldier sprang up and stabbed the warhorse's hindquarters with a knife. The horse was in pain, let out a long whinny, and leaped high into the air, charging towards the Xianbei people's large flag. The enemy guarding the battle flag around them were fearless of death, each holding their weapons, almost simultaneously aiming at the warhorse in mid-air and the knight on it.

  A loud crash, the flagpole was heavily hit by the galloping war horse's body and instantly snapped in two. The large golden eagle war flag fell to the ground along with half of the pole.

  On the massive body of the war horse, a dozen or so battle knives had been thrust in from front to back. As it died, it still crashed into and killed several enemy soldiers with its inertia. The knight on the horse had been shot by numerous long arrows and had fallen off and died.

  The Xianbei soldiers suddenly lost their last reliance in their hearts, and the stubborn will to fight finally collapsed with the chaotic and indistinguishable horn sounds.

  The battlefield suddenly seemed to stop for a moment, and then erupted in a terrifying roar that echoed through the black night, as the Xianbei soldiers began their desperate and chaotic retreat.

  The war drums of the entire Fishing City almost all sounded, and the huge sound shook the sky and earth. On the battlefield, war horses galloped, and the killing sounds shook the sky.

  Dawn suddenly pulled open the black curtain.

  The Xianbei soldiers were frightened and fled desperately on the plain, stretching for several miles.

  Murong Feng barely managed to seize a batch of war horses with the help of the soldiers and was about to make his escape. Xianyu Fu and his iron cavalry arrived like a whirlwind, colliding and chopping, and more than a dozen enemies were immediately wiped out. Xianyu Fu's iron spear ruthlessly deflected Murong Feng's incoming battle knife and stabbed into his chest. Murong Feng let out a miserable howl as he was lifted high by Xianyu Fu's long spear. A cavalryman flew past on horseback, his battle knife flying up to behead him with one slash.

  Yuwen Tuo was tied to a horse and led away by his subordinates, fleeing eastward at high speed. Hu Zi and the soldiers chased after them, shooting arrows and slashing with swords, killing several of Yuwen Tuo's guards in succession. With all his might, Hu Zi swung his large sword, which swooped down amidst Yuwen Tuo's desperate cries, cutting down both the man and the horse together.

  In the cold and stern dawn, Li Hong's iron cavalry swept across the battlefield, bringing bloody terror, like a runaway wild horse, chasing in the direction of the enemy's escape.

  Outside the city of Yuyang, the Han cavalry led by the crimson war flag swept across the plain like a stormy wave, with an overwhelming momentum that shook the mountains and seas, rolling towards the fleeing enemy.

  Suddenly, a long and desolate cow horn sounded on the left side of the Han army.

  Li Hong's heart was racing wildly as he almost instinctively roared: "Reform the array, reform the array..."