Chapter 18 Northern Expedition (5)

  "Yelü Changhai is indeed gambling." Haotian said to himself, "It takes time for coordination, it takes time to gather troops, and it also takes time for the army to march south. But we have already gathered an army of 100,000 to conquer the north, while the total number of soldiers in the three northern states is only over 100,000. Moreover, they are scattered among three cities. If we cannot encourage unity, we will inevitably be defeated one by one. And we are located in the Hexi Corridor, where we won't have to worry about running out of troops during battles - every soldier who dies means one less for them. If we really recover the six states of the Hexi Corridor, then the Hexi Road will become a thorn in their side, firmly stuck near their territory, which is something they absolutely cannot tolerate. But now they don't have time to gather enough reinforcements to support this place, so they can only stake everything on one gamble."

  "Your Excellency, you mean they've withdrawn all their troops from within the Hetao region? If we lose this battle, there won't be a single foreign soldier left in the Hetao region?" Lu Xiang asked tentatively.

  "Not bad," Haotian nodded: "If given enough time, the three northern states will be defeated one by one, it's inevitable. But with this move, even if they can't annihilate our army, in a desperate situation, they can still cause extremely serious damage to our army. If I'm not mistaken, they must be organizing a third coalition army at this moment. If we lose, they'll discuss how to re-divide the land of Hetao again. If we win, they should think about defeating the Northern Expedition Army again and completely eliminating the threat of Hetao to them. In the end, we still underestimated the heroes of the world."

  "In that case, we must annihilate this enemy force at the least cost and then deploy our defenses along the riverbank." Xuanji said with a furrowed brow.

  Haotian didn't say a word, he just quietly watched the chaotic battle of over 200,000 troops. After a long time, he finally said: "Since Yelü Changhai has already made a bet, wouldn't it be a pity if someone didn't accept it?"

  "Master, are you going to take the field yourself?" Kou Xiang asked anxiously.

  Haotian nodded and left two hundred imperial guards to protect the two, drew his sword and pointed, and the eight hundred imperial guards beside him suddenly charged out like a dragon.

  Before that, Walle's 30,000 cavalry had been killed and scattered in the joint siege of Xue Ke and Huan Shu Tian. He tried several times to rush up and merge with Huan Shu Tian's Iron Eagle Cavalry, but was tightly entangled by Xue Ke. Although the barbarian bull was not as good at riding as himself, he had a natural divine power, and normally Walle would have no chance of winning, let alone now when he was distracted? Huan Shu Tian also tried several times to get close to him, but was bitten to death by Feng Jing. Although the cavalry outside the pass were skilled in archery and had more people than Feng Jing's Golden Eagle Army, relying on their passion and Feng Jing's excellent command, although at a disadvantage, the soldiers of Dingzhou did not yield an inch, only Huan Shu Tian was anxious and scolded his mother.

  Haotian's eight hundred cavalry arrived just in time, the soldiers outside the pass had been fighting for a long time and their morale was already at an all-time low. They were facing twice as many enemy troops and this sudden appearance of a group of well-trained and well-fed elite cavalry, their military heart finally began to collapse. Haotian took advantage of the opportunity and led his eight hundred cavalry to charge into the enemy's formation, left and right, killing and wounding, causing the enemy's already fragile formation to shatter. Watching his seasoned soldiers being unable to hold their ground against a few hundred cavalry, Woler was furious. He could no longer bother with arguing with Xinkou, he grabbed a soldier and threw him at Xinkou, taking advantage of the moment when Xinkou dodged, he hastily gathered a few hundred cavalrymen and prepared to block Haotian's advance.

  Unfortunately, just as he had barely assembled his team, a burly man charged up to him. "What a waste of a good man, born in the wrong place," the man said with a sigh. Before Woller could even understand what was happening, a massive and strange weapon was thrust into his chest. Caught off guard, all he felt was a chill on his neck, as if something had burst out of him. The next thing he knew, he saw a headless corpse wearing his own armor crash to the ground. He tried to let out a loud cry, but found that he couldn't make a sound, and then weakly closed his eyes.

  As Woller was beheaded, the morale of the Autumn Ming soldiers finally collapsed. Under the joint attack of Blood Kill and Huan Tian, except for nearly 10,000 soldiers who surrendered and were captured, the rest of the cavalrymen died together with their commander on the battlefield. Leaving 2,000 soldiers to guard these prisoners, Huan Tian led his troops to reinforce Feng Jing, who was fighting hard. Although the situation on Du Guo Yueming's and Bian Zhongxing's side might be more severe, Huan Tian firmly believed that even if only one soldier was left, Du Guo Yueming and Bian Zhongxing would still hold off the enemy army. Therefore, he decided to concentrate his superior forces to annihilate Huan Shu Tian's Iron Eagle Cavalry first, and then sweep across the Anzhou reinforcement troops. Ye Lü Chang Hai's reinforcement troops were about to be formed, so Huan Tian had to thoroughly clean up the foreign soldiers outside the river in the shortest possible time. Although Huan Shu Tian was indecisive, once he saw that the situation was unfavorable, he would definitely lead his army to escape northward. If he were allowed to escape back to Shi Zhou again, it would be difficult to deal with. On the other hand, the Anzhou reinforcement troops Ye Lü Zhao Chang and Shen Jie were both determined men. As long as Du Guo Yueming could hold off the enemy before Huan Tian arrived, there would be no more worries about the river.

  Huan Shu Tian indeed retreated as expected by Hua Tian, and upon seeing the unfavorable situation, he immediately withdrew his troops to prepare for a northern escape. However, Hua Tian was well-prepared, with tens of thousands of cavalrymen forming an iron pincer that surrounded his 30,000 cavalrymen, making it impossible to escape. The morale of the Iron Eagle soldiers was clearly inferior to that of the Autumn Bright soldiers led by Wo Le. Seeing that the situation was hopeless, they finally surrendered one after another.

  Huan Shu Tian had originally wanted to take advantage of the situation to escape, but Xin Ke had already set his sights on him. With a loud roar from Xin Ke, Huan Shu Tian was instantly beheaded and fell off his horse. The remaining soldiers, seeing this, finally threw down their weapons in despair.

  At the time when Hu Tian was triumphantly singing, Dugu Yueming was struggling to hold on. At first, facing Yelü Zhaochang's 20,000 cavalry, he and Bian Zhongxing were still in control. On the battlefield, he was still joking with Bian Zhongxing with great interest. However, with the arrival of Shen Jie's army, he suddenly felt immense pressure. When the military strength and combat power were evenly matched, the commanding art of the two main generals could greatly influence the direction of the battle. And when the commanding art of the two main generals was similar, the difference in military strength and combat power could also greatly influence the direction of the battle. Yelü Zhaochang had an army of 45,000 men, including 5,000 iron-clad heavy cavalry and 25,000 light cavalry. Dugu Yueming, on the other hand, only had 30,000 men, with only 10,000 being his and Bian Zhongxing's elite troops. Although they were relying on the geographical advantage, facing a superior enemy, the multiple defensive lines set up by him and Bian Zhongxing were already on the verge of collapse.

  "Dugu, do you think we can win this battle?" Bian Chong's icy face still didn't have a hint of blood color.

  "Man proposes, God disposes. As a soldier, one should be prepared to die on the battlefield. Even in death, one should take down several enemies with him." Dugu Yueming said calmly, but looking at Bian Chongxu's still icy face, he couldn't help but ask: "Are you worried that Hua Tian is planning to use the Hu barbarians' hands to eliminate us?"

  Bian Zhongxing and Dugu Yueming could also be considered as having gone through thick and thin together, so there was no need to hide anything when speaking. He nodded and said: "Saying I'm not worried is a lie."

  Du Guoyu Ming shook his head firmly and said, "Absolutely not! Because I believe in my eyes, he is absolutely not that kind of person. His eyes are bright and clear, his smile is extremely sincere, and most importantly, everyone around him is exceptionally talented. Think about it, if a person's heart is extremely dark, how can he lead such a large army in such a short time, and how can he win the loyalty of those talents?"

  His face, which had been as still as the ancient well, finally revealed a hint of emotion. Looking at the soldiers on both sides who were still in fierce battle, he furrowed his brow and said, "I'm not really doubting him, it's just that seeing these brothers who have gone through life and death with us fall one by one on the battlefield, I couldn't help but have some wild thoughts amidst the heartache."

  Dugu Yueming smiled with a hint of enlightenment and said, "Actually, you're willing to follow him here without hesitation because you look up to him. Earlier, your concern wasn't just about the well-being of your brothers, but also the fear that he might let you down, right?"

  He nodded with a sigh of relief: "You still understand me. However, if his reinforcements can't arrive soon, we're probably not going to last much longer."

  Dugu Yueming said calmly: "The greater the pressure on our side, the more it shows how important our battle is. They are also better off over there."

  He nodded slightly, but then sighed and said, "It's just our brothers under us, alas."

  Dugu Yueming burst out laughing: "The country is in trouble, and a good man should die for the country. Since that day when we went on the northern expedition, we made a vow to die for the country. At least today isn't as gloomy as that night, even if I die, I can take one of them down with me."

  "Alright, since that's the case, then someone will accompany you to death. Haotian, don't let us down!" Having thought this through, Bian Chongyan put down the last stone in his heart and laughed loudly. His soldiers were extremely puzzled - what good news could make their usually zombie-faced superior so happy? Was it that reinforcements were about to arrive? Unconsciously, morale was boosted, just in time to counter Ye Lüzhaochang's next attack.

  Yelü Zhaochang's current mood is not as relaxed as Dugu Yuyun's, he and his trusted aide, Shen Jie, are both worried. From morning till now, they have been stuck here for four hours, with nearly 20,000 of their 45,000 troops fallen on this land. Although they know the enemy's casualties are similar to theirs, the rugged terrain has allowed the enemy to hold them back, preventing them from joining forces with the army in Jizhou. Most importantly, the Iron Eagle Army, which was supposed to appear behind the enemy, has yet to show up, making both of their hearts feel like they have a heavy stone weighing on them, struggling to breathe.

  Shen Jie stood beside Yelü Zhaochang with a solemn expression, although the two had never gotten along, but in this situation, he didn't intend to dwell on their personal grievances: "General, our army has already lost 20,000 men, and now there are no more than 18,000 soldiers who can still fight. As for Huanshuo Tian and Wole's armies, we have yet to receive any news from them. What should we do?"

  Yelü Zhaochang said bitterly: "Do you think we still have a way out? Even if the two of us retreat to Anzhou now, Anzhou will eventually fall into the hands of the other side. Not only will we lose the city, but our troops will also be greatly reduced. Do you think we will have a good outcome when we return home? The best plan now is either to defeat the enemy with one blow or die in battle here, at least this way our subordinates won't be implicated. General Shen Jie, we are in difficulty now, but the enemy must be even more difficult than us. Go and organize the troops, victory or defeat will depend on this move."

  Shen Jie heard this and was initially stunned, but immediately understood the meaning of Yelü Zhaochang. If they lost this battle, the six states of the Yellow River would be left without a foothold in the kingdom, and even if they could return home, they would not have a place to stand for themselves. The only way out now is to fight to the death, perhaps there will still be a glimmer of hope.

  Watching Deep Jay's fleeting back, Yelü Zhaochang let out a deep sigh. If they lost this battle today, Deep Jay might still have a glimmer of hope to survive, but he himself would be doomed for sure. When the three northeastern countries captured the three routes of Hebei in the past, Haixi got Donghai Road, Baijing got Beiyuan Road, and Mandan got Taihang Road. If they really let Hu Tian recover the Yellow River Basin, Hu Tian's military strength would inevitably point directly at Mandan's territory. Judging from Hu Tian's strategies over the years, he shouldn't be a simple-minded person either; in the future, the three routes of Hebei will also be thrown into chaos because of him. Given the king's temperament, even if he was the king's uncle, he might still end up with his entire family being executed; perhaps dying on the battlefield would be his best choice after all.

  The battlefield, which was originally filled with the sound of gunfire and flames, suddenly fell silent. Even some of the alien soldiers who had already occupied part of the position retreated. Amidst the worry, this also made Du Gu and his companion temporarily breathe a sigh of relief.

  "Enemy forces are preparing for a desperate last-ditch battle."

  Dugu Huang glanced around and said, "Let's see if we can hold on." Originally, his 30,000 soldiers had been reduced to less than 8,000 after a day of fierce fighting. As for himself and Bian Chongxun's elite troops, they were almost completely annihilated. Even if they could withstand the next wave of attacks, it was unlikely that many people would survive here.

  The low-pitched bugle sounded again in the wilderness, accompanied by the sound of the bugle, the remaining tens of thousands of soldiers from Mandan and Baijing stepped out in unison, once again onto the sandy battlefield. At the forefront was none other than Fred, the deputy general of Mandan's Ye Lü Zhaochang. Among these people, some had lost their arms, while others still had bandages wrapped around their bodies, but in their eyes burned an unwavering killing intent, and their momentum was that of a desperate last stand. The slightly aged Ye Lü Zhaochang and the robust Shen Jie were both among the troops, it was clear that this time they had steeled themselves for certain death.

  Highly recommended books: "The Little Prince", "To Kill a Mockingbird", "1984", "Pride and Prejudice", "The Catcher in the Rye", "The Picture of Dorian Gray"

  Latest full version: The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda II, A Link to the Past, Link's Awakening, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Ages, Four Swords, The Wind Waker, The Minish Cap, Twilight Princess, Phantom Hourglass, Spirit Tracks, Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Tri Force Heroes, Breath of the Wild