Chapter 9: Three Heroes Battle Three Pillars

  Yan Liang, Wen Chou, Zhang He, and Gao Lan were collectively known as the Four Generals of Hebei, also referred to as the Four Pillars of Hebei. These four men would later become renowned names, but at this time, they were still obscure figures like Liu, Guan, and Zhang.

  Yan Liang was then the Central Army's Colonel, Wen You was the Rear Army's Administrator, Zhang He's military position was even lower, as a Deputy Administrator of another department, half a rank below Liu Bei. If Ma Chao had taken a closer look, he would have definitely recognized this Zhang He as the young general who had repeatedly clashed with him on the battlefield when he first arrived in the Three Kingdoms.

  In this corner of the turbulent Hebei battlefield, five top martial generals from all over the world gathered, and their confrontation heralded a battle between dragons and tigers.

  "Take that, you old coot!" Despite being surrounded, the naturally fearless Zhang Fei remained calm and launched a sudden attack with his long spear, targeting Wen Chou.

  The three brothers of Taoyuan are now exhausted and cannot fight for long. The best strategy is to capture the enemy general directly. The reason why he chose Zhongwen Chou was not only because this man was closest to Zhang Fei, but also because the two were quite similar in appearance: they all had leopard-like foreheads, swallow-like jaws, ringed eyes and curly beards, even the weapons used were the same long spear. Such an opponent is most suitable for Zhang Fei's appetite.

  Wen Chou was commanding the cavalry to charge at the enemy cavalry when he suddenly saw an enemy general, clad in black armor and riding a black horse, wielding an extremely long lance that seemed like a black lightning bolt charging swiftly. The enemy was still twenty steps away, but already gave people a feeling of being unable to withstand his attack.

  Wen Chou's heart was suddenly stirred, his military boots heavily kicked the horse's belly, and the warhorse shot forward like an arrow. The needle opposed each other, welcoming the enemy to come. And the dozens of followers who surrounded him also held spears and jumped on horses, swarming forward.

  Zhang Fei rode his horse like the wind, his whiskers bristling with rage. He laughed maniacally as he charged forward, his 8-foot-long spear flashing in and out of the fray. With a single thrust, he impaled the first cavalryman who dared to stand in his way. What was astonishing was that he didn't even bother to shake off the corpse from the tip of his spear, instead using one arm to hold it steady and lift it up. Seizing the momentum, with a loud "whoosh", he stabbed through the second cavalryman. The two cavalrymen were skewered like kebabs on the 3-foot-long spearhead.

  Such a heroic and ferocious scene shocked the surrounding Jizhou cavalry, who reined in their horses and did not dare to advance. At this time, one of the cavalrymen was unable to rein in his horse in time and barely galloped past Zhang Fei's side. This lucky cavalryman swung his sword at Zhang Fei as he passed by.

  Zhang Fei let out a loud roar, swinging the corpses tied to his 18-foot long spear and suddenly stretched out his left hand, grabbing the waistband of the cavalryman who was almost thrown off his horse by the deafening roar, pulling him away from the saddle, lifting him high up and throwing him in the face of Wen Hu.

  Wen Chou's eyes were filled with rage under his helmet, and he didn't dodge or evade the incoming human bullet - nor could he, otherwise he would lose the initiative. The long spear held in the crook of his arm was fully charged with explosive force, and he thrust it forward without hesitation - blood splattered everywhere, the spearhead piercing through the back of the incoming cavalryman. Wen Chou then used his incredible strength to lift up the cavalryman's corpse, along with the spear, and sent it crashing into Zhang Fei without any pause.

  Zhang Fei's eyes bulged with rage, he thrust his spear and stabbed, meeting spear with spear, attacking each other.

  Plop! Clang! The eight-foot-long spear pierced the corpse fiercely, and the two spear blades collided, struck, and rubbed against each other in the not-yet-dead body. As the two riders crossed over, the spear blades cut and tore with great force, and the corpse in mid-air was torn into two halves with a loud crash, a burst of blood mist and entrails, drenching the two ferocious generals who had just passed each other in horseback riding into bloody generals.

  Zhang Fei and Wen Chou clashed in their first round, ending with a bloody and brutal scene that made one's hair stand on end. How would the second round turn out?

  At the same time, another pair of arch-nemesis, Guan Yu and Yan Liang, also engaged in a fateful duel.

  If it is said that Zhang Fei was a million-man enemy with a heroic posture, upright and unyielding, then Guan Yu was like a lightning-fast surprise attack, making a lateral strike on Yan Liang.

  When Yan Liang was marveling at Wen Chou's bravery, he suddenly saw a commotion in the rear of his cavalry, one general wielding a sword, cutting through the waves and killing seven or eight of his attendants under their horses, and rushing towards him with great momentum.

  Yan Liang was greatly startled, and with a loud shout he galloped away. This wasn't because the enemy general had intimidated him, but rather because he needed to create some distance so his warhorse could gain momentum. How can you engage in mounted combat if your horse isn't running? If others are charging like thunder while you stand still, even if your martial prowess is far superior, you won't be able to withstand the impact of their combined man-and-horse charge.

  Yan Liang rushed out for more than thirty steps, and suddenly turned his head back. He saw that the enemy general was only ten or so steps away from him. Behind him, seven or eight of his men had fallen to the ground, some struggling and others lying still in a pool of blood.

  Yan Liang took a deep breath, these more than ten bodyguards were his personal guards, not one of them wasn't a fierce warrior who had been through hundreds of battles. Now, in just an instant, they were all beheaded by the enemy general. This man's bravery was truly rarely seen.

  A large number of Imperial Guards lost their lives, causing Yan Liang to feel both pain and anger, which further fueled his determination to win. He had always believed that among the soldiers in Jizhou, only Wen Chou was worthy of fighting him, and that he and Wen were the only heroes in Hebei. But today, he encountered a powerful enemy. Moreover, judging from the situation, another general who was fighting Wen Chou was also an unmatched fierce warrior. They had been searching everywhere for such opponents but couldn't find them; now two had suddenly appeared at once. Such opponents are hard to come by and should not be missed.

  Yan Liang whipped his whip and violently pulled the horse's buttocks, taking advantage of the sufficient horsepower to quickly pull open a sufficient distance, then turned around the horse's head, stood horizontally with his knife, and coldly stared at the powerful opponent who was rushing over.

  Guan Yu also slowed down his horse's speed, having killed for so long, his horse's strength was greatly consumed, sweating all over, already at the limit of physical strength. He had beheaded nearly twenty cavalrymen, and although he used extremely clever techniques, cutting and chopping with precision, the use of force relied more on the inertia of the knife rather than brute force, but even the most brilliant technique could only save energy, not avoid using it altogether.

  Guan Yu first followed Liu Bei to charge into the enemy formation, killing dozens of enemies. He then pursued Yan Liang and killed over a dozen more. In just half an hour, he had already slain nearly fifty enemies. Even with his extraordinary bravery and skillful technique, both arms were sore, numb, and swollen, feeling all sorts of discomfort. The sharp blade of his fifty-kilogram steel sword also had several notches in it.

  Guan Yu had decided that if he killed this general, he would be able to lift the siege on his brothers and withdraw immediately; otherwise, even if they wanted to retreat, their horses would not have the strength.

  "Xiangguo Yan Liang, who was beheaded?"

  "Guandong Guan Yu, I'll take your head!"

  The two horses rushed forward like lightning, one knife chopped down and the other swung up. Clang! The two knives collided, sparks flying everywhere. Normally, both sides should have passed each other on horseback, galloping dozens of steps before turning back to fight again. But this time an unexpected thing happened - Guan Yu's long knife had been used too frequently, causing metal fatigue, and the force of this collision was too strong, resulting in a thumb-sized gap being chopped out of the blade. Of course, Yan Liang's knife also had its edge chipped off.

  Two long knives with broken mouths were intertwined, and for a time they couldn't be separated. The cavalry battle turned into a melee fight.

  At this point, Guan Yu's superb knife skills were revealed. As soon as the knife was bitten, Guan Yu didn't hesitate, and with a turn of his right hand, he changed from holding the knife handle upright to holding it upside down, making the force more smooth. He suddenly exerted his strength and pressed down violently, forcing Yan Liang to fall off his horse along with his knife. It was also because of this violent effort that Guan Yu's mount finally couldn't withstand the force, its front legs softened, and it knelt on the ground, throwing Guan Yu off its back and almost rolling him into a ball with Yan Liang.

  Yan Liang's horse ran away, Guan Yu's horse fell over, and the cavalry battle was about to turn into an infantry battle. Just then, something unexpected happened, causing this intense battle between two evenly matched opponents to come to a sudden halt.

  Whether it was Zhang Fei versus Wen Chou or Guan Yu versus Yan Liang, they could all be considered evenly matched opponents. Only the battle between Liu Bei and Zhang He was not on the same level.

  Zhang He also saw this point, so he didn't fight with Liu Bei at all. He directly took his bow and arrow, aimed at Liu Bei, and shot an arrow.

  Liu Bei was commanding the archers and cavalry to launch another round or two, in order to rescue his light cavalry, when suddenly he heard a warning from one of his attendants: "Beware of Sima's cold arrows!"

  Liu Bei's martial arts skills are not to be discussed, but his battlefield instincts were more sensitive than those of most famous generals of this era. Otherwise, he would not have been praised by later generations as the "Master of Escaping with His Life". As soon as he heard the sound, he ducked down in shock, and an arrow shot down, hitting his helmet. When Liu Bei urgently dodged, a second arrow came immediately after, shooting into the horse's neck. The warhorse let out a long whinny and fell to the ground, pinning one of Liu Bei's legs underneath.

  The leader fell off his horse, immediately causing the cavalry to become alarmed. It was this commotion that alerted Zhang Fei and Guan Yu. As soon as they saw their elder brother fall off his horse, they were shocked beyond measure and did not dare to continue fighting, so they threw down their opponents and ran back.

  The archer cavalry shot out two rounds of arrows, forcing back Zhang He, Yan Liang, Wen Chou and other cavalry generals, putting Liu Bei on horseback, under the protection of Guan Yu, killing a bloody road, rushing out of the encirclement.

  Just as Zhang He, Yan Liang and Wen Chou were about to pursue, they suddenly heard a loud thunderclap in the clear sky: "Want to make things difficult for the two brothers? First get past me!"

  With a loud roar, one of them suddenly appeared from the slanting stab, and a super-long giant spear hacked Zhang He with the momentum of Mount Tai.

  Zhang He hastily raised his spear to block. Crack! The spear shaft bent like a bow, and the whole person was pressed down on the horse's buttocks by this powerful force, seeing the sharp spear blade about to cut to the tip of his nose, a long-handled pike suddenly appeared, holding up the spear blade. The spear blade paused, and then continued to press down. At this time, another broad-mouthed long knife appeared, supporting the spear shaft. The knife, spear, and pike all exerted their strength together, finally suppressing this astonishingly powerful blow.

  At this critical moment, Zhang Fei's adrenal explosion of a terrifying blow, forcibly repelled the three generals of Hebei.

  "Indeed, he is the mighty Zhang Fei of Changban Slope!" Ma Chao gazed from afar, sighing in admiration. With Zhang Fei cutting off their rear, Liu Bei was sure to escape without a doubt. As for Zhang Fei, if he wanted to flee, even with the combined strength of Xiahou Yuan, Yan Liang, and Wen Chou, they would probably be unable to stop him.

  Ma Xinyi was just feeling emotional when he suddenly discovered that a troop on the left wing of his army had broken away from the formation, with banners and flags fluttering, raising a cloud of smoke and dust, rushing towards the eastern hills.

  "It's the Black Mountain Army led by Du Chang." Ma Feng was greatly surprised, and at this critical moment when the two armies were engaged in battle, the Black Mountain Army suddenly withdrew from the battlefield, with what intention?

  As the commander of the vanguard, scouting out military information was his responsibility. Ma Xian didn't dare to hesitate, and with a single order, more than 50 cavalrymen rushed down the mountain slope, galloping eastward.