Chapter Thirty: The White Horse War (Six)

  All around was pitch black, only the torches lit by the soldiers made a crackling sound, this was the allied army beheading the divided Qin troops in the continuous night killings.

  Liu Bang swayed back and forth, holding onto the chariot's crossbar, with great effort opening his blurry eyes after drinking, looking around in all directions.

  "Xian, Yin, bring back a few more Qin dogs for me, I'll use them as chamber pots!" Liu Bang cursed and scolded. After years of heavy drinking, his spirit was being numbed by alcohol, although he wasn't anything when sober, but when drunk, Liu Bang couldn't control his words and actions anymore.

  Fortunately, at that time, Xiang Yu and Zhou Bo were trustworthy people by his side. As for Li Yiqi, he was a drunkard himself, so it didn't seem strange to Liu Bang, who was also on the same path. In fact, Li Yiqi's choice of following Liu Bang was mainly because he wanted to find a drinking buddy. Of course, this drinking buddy later became successful, and as a working man, Li Yiqi had little chance to drink with him again.

  Cao Shen, Gan Ying and other Liu army generals each led their troops to sweep the battlefield. Although Li Yuan had broken through the encirclement, small-scale battles were still ongoing in various places. Under the siege of enemy forces three times their own strength, breaking through was a matter of luck. Except for a portion that managed to follow closely behind Li Yuan and escape through the gap he opened up, the scattered remnants of troops on the battlefield could only rely on luck. However, the strict military discipline of the Qin army was being carried out thoroughly among mid- and lower-level officers. Even after losing contact with the main force, groups of one tu, one shi, and one wu of Qin soldiers were still holding on to their positions.

  Xiahou Yuan was very frustrated, and he had not expected that the Qin army would take advantage of the night to leave the main battlefield. Accustomed to using chariots as his vehicle, when facing warhorses more adapted to complex environments on the battlefield, the limitations of chariots became even more apparent.

  What made Xiahou Dun even more frustrated was that the heavy infantry under his command were blocked by the high slope, and the Qin army in front of him seemed to be desperate, on the verge of breaking through. Suddenly, a dozen or so desperate men emerged, and the inflexibility of their actions caused the heavy infantry to suffer significant losses in this war of attrition where one life was exchanged for another.

  It's finally over!

  When the cries of killing no longer came from the slope that had been dyed deep purple by blood, Xiahou Yuan finally let out a long sigh.

  "Reporting to the commander, we have found over 370 enemy corpses here, beheaded two enemy generals, and captured dozens of lieutenants and company commanders. However, no high-ranking enemy officers at the rank of Colonel or above were discovered." The military officer in charge of counting the bodies came down from the hill with a lingering fear, reporting the battle situation to Xiahou Yuan.

  "Are there no enemy generals? How is this possible? Order the scouts to expand their search and find the hidden enemies." Xiahou Yuan shouted loudly, this section of the Qin army's resistance was the most intense, if there wasn't a powerful figure commanding the troops, Xiahou Yuan didn't think that two low-ranking military officers could have such abilities.

  ——。

  Li Yuan had not given up, although he also knew that the possibility of Gan and Zhou's two armies breaking out was slim. Some things, some people and events, often only become precious after they are lost. At the beginning of the reform in Daliang, Li Yuan's attitude towards Wang Shang, Gan Houbao and Zhou Xing's three armies had already been different. Wang Shang's army was cultivated by Li Yuan as an elite seed force, while Gan and Zhou's two armies were ordinary forces, which was similar to the traditional division of the Red and Blue Armies in the People's Army.

  Han and Zhou's two divisions automatically fell back after the break, it was because of their desperate resistance in the highlands that the pursuing coalition forces had to abandon the fastest direct route and turn to detour and pursue, giving the Qin army time to break through. More importantly, Liu Bang's strongest force on the battlefield, the heavy infantry, also had to give up pursuing the main force of the Qin army and annihilating other surrounded Qin armies due to the obstruction of this branch of the Qin army led by Han and Zhou.

  The outcome of a battle depends not only on the attacking arrow, but also on the defensive shield. The smoke of the Battle of White Horse is finally beginning to clear, and Li Yuan and Liu Bang's encounter at White Horse is about to come to an end. Of the two men, one is determinedly searching for his scattered troops, while the other is determined to avenge his grievances. Neither of them has any intention of putting down their arms and achieving enlightenment on the spot.

  Gu Yun had no idea how long she had been running, she only felt that her legs were so heavy that they were almost unable to move. As a woman, her strength was originally not as good as that of a man. This half-day of continuous fierce battle had also made her lose a lot of energy. Now, if she encountered fewer than five enemy soldiers, she could still barely cope with them. If there were any more, she would be completely helpless.

  "This is not easy to get away with, and I have to hand over this flag to Li Dazi. How can I agree to this difficult task?" Gu Yun hurried along, bowing his head, while in his heart he scolded Li Yuan countless times.

  "Who's there?" A loud shout came from the left, it was a search party of over thirty Liu soldiers, the faint sound made by Gu Yun while advancing had been detected by the sharp-eared Liu soldier.

  Gu Yun was in a desperate battle, with one against thirty. Under such an overwhelming disparity in military strength, she wanted to lay down her arms and even be taken prisoner. However, when she saw the gaze of Liu's soldiers cast towards the damaged armor on her body, Gu Yun could only choose to continue fighting.

  Fortunately, just as Gu Yun was about to be exhausted, Li Yuan also searched for this place, and one person and one horse descended from the sky like a whirlwind sweeping away the remaining clouds.

  "Li Dazi——!" Gu Yun muttered to herself, unintentionally blurting out the thoughts that had been on her mind.

  "Li Zei has arrived, run quickly!" The surrounding Liu army officers and men shouted in unison, almost without any resistance, they scattered with a loud noise. This commander of the Liu army had been killed by Li Yuan's single shot not long ago, now seeing the killer god again, where was the courage to resist? Seeing the Liu army defeated, Luo Jia led more than 100 cavalrymen to chase and kill them like a dark cloud.

  Two legs running can't keep up with four legs, and in a short while, the Liu army's small unit of over thirty people was annihilated by the cavalry.

  When he returned, Li Yuan had already dismounted and was talking to the soldier who had just been rescued. In Li Yuan's hand was a badly damaged Qin army banner, on which Rong Jiaxuan vaguely saw the embroidered character "Zhou".

  Gan Houbao and Zhou Xing both died in battle. The discipline and bravery displayed by these two units of Qin soldiers shocked and delighted Li Yuan. In just two short months, they had grown from ordinary provincial soldiers into the bravest warriors of Great Qin. Gan Houbao and Zhou Xing led their troops to improve day by day, but unfortunately, Li Yuan had not noticed them before.

  The general dies in a hundred battles, the brave warrior returns after ten years.

  Perhaps, after many years, the names of these loyal and brave warriors will be like a pile of white bones submerged in the wilderness, unknown and unnoticed. Only this flag, which was fluttering and stained with the hot blood of the heroes, still flies high. Perhaps, for Zhou Xing and Gan Houbao, this grassland on the riverbank is their best resting place.

  Looking up at the sky, one can see the changes of day and night; looking down at the earth, one can observe the transformations of mountains and rivers.