Chapter 28: The Battle of White Horse (4)

  Yellow horse, iron spear.

  His all-black armor, the fiery red tassels on his helmet, and the banner standing tall behind him, Li Yuan's appearance was not handsome or elegant, but in the eyes of Sima Yin and the trapped Qin army soldiers, he seemed like a god of war descending from heaven, Yang Jie, inspiring awe and terror.

  "Li brothers, it's you!" Sima Yin's face was covered in blood, his disbelieving eyes staring at Li Yuan, who was excitedly shouting while holding a long spear stained with blood.

  Half a day of uninterrupted fighting left Sima Yin mentally and physically exhausted. He was very clear that the Qin army was in a predicament, and he no longer had any illusions about breaking through. At this moment, Yang Xiong was probably unable to save himself. In the Qin army's formation, Sima Yin couldn't think of anyone else who could turn the tide.

  "Haha, Sima, there is still a battle to be fought!" Li Yuan stood up on his horse, holding high his long spear and shouting loudly. The yellow armored horse let out a loud whinny and galloped out with its hooves flying.

  "Fight! Fight, fight!" Sima Yin witnessed Li Yuan's heroic performance and was also stirred up in his heart. Every Qin man wants to be a famous general like Bai Qi. Sima Yin shouted loudly, urging his soldiers to bring over the war horse. In an instant, his lost energy returned, making him feel refreshed, just like when he first stepped onto the battlefield.

  "Great Qin, Great Qin, Great Qin!" The shouts of the Qin army officers and soldiers rose and fell, interspersed with bursts of battle songs, and compared to their previous despair, the morale of the Qin army began to recover due to Li Yuan's bravery.

  On the entire left-wing battlefield, there were still three to four thousand Qin soldiers who were surrounded and divided. These Qin soldiers saw Li Yuan alone on horseback with a single spear, and those who blocked him were defeated. The hope of surviving began to reignite in their hearts. Who would want to die if they could live well? So, this small spark of hope, no matter how tiny it was, was like a bundle of dry firewood, instantly igniting a raging inferno.

  The fierce wind rages, the dark tide rushes forth.

  Gradually, behind Li Yuan, more and more Qin army officers and men loudly shouted, wielding their weapons with all their might, the surging killing intent reverberated in the air above Baima Ford, and even the turbulent river water could not extinguish their instinct to survive, the bleak autumn wind could no longer cool down their determination to fight to the death.

  ——。

  Huang Xin was merged into one, and was killed by Li Yuan. The face of Peng Yue, the great thief of Juyezhe, turned blue and white, and unpleasant memories began to flood his mind. His footsteps slowed down involuntarily;

  General Pu fell on his horse, turned around and galloped wildly. The sight of Huang Xin being hacked to death like a rotten mud made him horrified from afar. Is this still human? Even if it were Xiang Yu, the bravest of the three armies, who came, would he be a match for him? Not to mention himself, who had lost his life to help, this deal was really not worth it.

  Cao Shen's breath was stuck in his chest, and he was tightly surrounded by the two Qin armies led by Gan Houben and Zhou Xing. He saw that Li Yuan first attacked the weak enemy and swept away the vassals, but for a while, he couldn't pull himself out;

  Guan Yu's mind was still reeling from the shock, and he led his personal cavalry in a fierce battle on the right flank, but he refused to get close to Li Yuan's central army. The news of Huang Xin being trampled to death made him feel extremely lucky; if it weren't for his personal cavalry coming to his rescue, Guan Yu would have ended up just like Huang Xin by now.

  Xiahou Yuan drove his chariot, but unfortunately the four wheels could not outrun the four legs. Following Li Yuan's troops from behind, Xiahou Yuan could only sigh in despair.

  At the moment when the war situation was reversed, Pei Gong Liu Bang was safely in the largest wine house in Baima West Market, drinking with his friend Lu Yi. The autumn and winter weather had begun to cool down gradually. A mouthful of strong wine could dispel the chill from his legs. With a few more plates of fine food and wine, this was truly the life of kings and nobles.

  Last month, King Xiong Xin of Chu held an alliance meeting in Pengcheng, where they agreed that whoever entered Guanzhong first would become the king. This temptation made Liu Bang somewhat restless and sleepless, with both anticipation and apprehension.

  Are kings, princes and generals born of noble birth?

  The decline of the Qin dynasty was already in sight and could not be avoided, but there were still some people who did not know how to advance on the road. For example, Zhang Chen and Li You, Chen Sheng shouted out this sentence, took the lead in raising the anti-Qin flag, and was killed; Xiang Liang wanted to be a great hero of Chu State, called himself Wuxin Jun, and ended up having his head cut off. Also, Yang Xiong and Li Yuan, for example, were like a mantis trying to stop a chariot, overestimating their own strength, fortunately this was the last time.

  ——。

  White horse west, high slope.

  It was once the location of the Qin army's central military, and it has now become the last line of defense for the Qin army's broken rear. After Li Yuan led the vanguard to open a gap on the left wing, Yang Xiong and Wang Shang respectively led the follow-up troops to advance, while the troops responsible for defending were gradually taken over by Gan Houbao and Zhou Xing's two armies.

  After the break, such a bitter errand generally has no one to take on voluntarily. In fact, if Li Yuan did not take over the command of the Qin army, Gan Huaibo and Zhou Xing would also follow other Qin army units and rush out with the large troops. But now, these two Qin soldiers were surrounded by Liu Bang's heavy infantry counter-attack.

  The weapons on the battlefield are always running in the law of one thing overcoming another. The heavy infantry's thick armor and shield had greatly reduced the power of the Qin army's bamboo spear phalanx, but in the previous battle with the allied soldiers who lacked armor, Gan and Zhou's troops were still able to hold their ground. Now, however, they are on the brink of collapse.

  The two groups of soldiers who were originally fighting separately were gradually forced together, and the continuous fierce battle made the casualties more and more. When night fell completely, Gan Houbo carefully counted them, and his heart was gloomy. There were 157 people left, including those who were seriously injured and unable to move. Zhou Xing's thigh injury made it very inconvenient for him to move, and after a long time of bleeding, his spirit also gradually declined.

  "Lao Gan, raise the flag a bit higher, let Duwei see that we are still fighting, we have not given up!" Zhou Xing's voice was weak, his leg injury made it very inconvenient for him to move, and after a long time of bleeding, his spirit was also gradually declining.

  "Don't give up, don't abandon!" Gan Houbo muttered to himself, his aged face gradually revealing a resolute and determined expression. From Yongqiu to Baima, from an ordinary soldier to a military marquis, Gan Houbo's military career had never experienced such ups and downs as in the past few months. It turned out that I could too, it turned out that I was no worse than others, it turned out that I could still smile as I went to die on the battlefield.

  "Old Gan, you go ahead, I'll stay behind!" Zhou Xing said, grasping the flagpole and staring at Gan Houbo. The three of them - Wang Shang, Zhou Xing, and Gan Houbo - had always been competing with each other, one-upping and contradicting each other, but today, Zhou Xing suddenly felt that all those past conflicts were so beautiful, it made him feel a little reluctant to part with them.

  "You, Brother Zhou, what are you saying? Am I, Gan Houbo, a person who fears death and covets life? Don't worry, my family has an old mother, wife, children, and two brothers to take care of. If we can kill two more bandit leaders later, it will be worth it!" Gan Houbo rubbed his hands together, staring angrily at Zhou Xing.

  "Old Gan——!" Zhou Xing's eyes turned red, almost shedding tears. The two brothers, if they hadn't secretly read Gan Houbo's family letter that day, Zhou Xing was afraid he still wouldn't have known that Gan Houbo's second brother, Hou Zhong, had died in battle not long ago at Dingtao, and his third brother, Hou Shu, had already died a year ago in the war against Nan Yue.

  The three Gan brothers, only the eldest brother Gan Houbao is left alive. Now, Gan Houbao insists on accompanying Zhou Xing to the end, this kind of friendship makes even the iron-like man Zhou Xing's collar wet.

  "I won't say much, my old throat isn't good, singing is hard to hear, but today, I want to sing loudly once more: Brave Old Qin, recover my rivers and mountains, blood will not be shed in vain, the battle will not end until death. Brave Old Qin, recover my rivers and mountains, blood will not be shed in vain, the battle will not end until death. In the west there is Great Qin, like the rising sun, a hundred years of national hatred, the sea cannot be calmed. The world is in turmoil, how can there be peace? Qin has brave warriors, who dares to contend with them?"

  The war song is low and desolate, in the empty wilderness, spreading far, far away, in all directions, on the battlefield where swords are broken and bodies lie, there are faintly wounded Qin army officers and men responding softly.

  Note: This chapter was revised multiple times with red eyes.

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