Chapter Thirty-One: Rescuing Fu Xiu

  Breaking through the enemy's formation and beheading their general, viewing a vast army as nothing, what kind of spirit is this? What kind of exhilaration!

  Li Zhēn's aura shot straight up to the sky, his long spear in hand seemed like a dragon emerging from the sea, like thunder on the horizon, in the blink of an eye taking away life after life. That thrill of killing and being killed made him somewhat irresistible!

  A long whistle sounded, and with a burst of energy, the warhorse sprang into action, its four hooves pounding rapidly as it swiftly caught up to the battle-hardened cavalry still fiercely charging at the rebel army's formation.

  The next moment, Li Zhong rushed to the forefront of the war horse again!

  Because the commander-in-chief was killed, the hundreds of cavalrymen who had been desperately blocking the enemy's charge suddenly lost morale and soon became disorganized, unable to stop the advancing war horses.

  Li Zhongzhong charged forward, leading the vanguard of war horses. With a flicker of his eyes, he pierced through this troop of cavalry.

  He raised his eyes and saw that one pole with the 'Wang' character on it was waving, the fate of the kingdom was already beckoning to him!

  "Kingdom! Come quickly to receive your death!"

  With a loud shout, the rebel soldiers in front of Li Zhong were like tofu blocks, broken by his single stab.

  The king was stunned at this time.

  He never thought that there would be someone who would view the army of ten thousand as nothing. Nor did he think that the great general he had just sent to intercept the Han court's relief troops would die under the sword of a Han general!

  "Did Ma Teng and Ma Chao really die like this?!"

  Looking at the extraordinary enemy cavalry in the distance, the kingdom widened its eyes and was speechless for a moment.

  It is worth noting that Ma Shoucheng was a fierce general. When he was under the command of Geng Bing, he also made numerous military achievements and was a key figure, otherwise he would not have risen from a small soldier to a military governor in such a short period of time.

  But unexpectedly, it was submerged in dust just for a moment.

  "Great leader, quickly dodge!"

  The many generals under his command and the Imperial Guards saw that they were like giant dragons swimming in the ocean, charging straight at them with their warhorses. They didn't flinch. Shouting orders to block the soldiers, he hastily led the kingdom's troops to avoid Li Jing's cavalry vanguard.

  "Get out of the way!"

  But the king waved off the approaching generals, angrily saying: "A mere dozens of people, dare to rush into my central army's great formation, simply not putting me, the king, in their eyes! Have you all gone blind? Stop them for me, kill them!"

  The soldiers had no choice but to follow the kingdom's orders, and amidst the angry shouts, they gathered the nearby rebels, formed a formation, and slowly pushed forward against the war horses that were rushing towards them at high speed.

  "How dare you!"

  Li Zhēng's eyes saw this, and his eyebrows furrowed involuntarily, with a surge of murderous intent. He shook his long spear, sending the rebel soldiers' weapons flying, and suddenly pulled on the reins, causing Qīng Yún to kick out with its front hooves, trampling several rebels to death. His eyes were fixed intently on Wáng Guó.

  "If we can rescue Fu Xi today and kill Wang Guo at the same time, that would be perfect!"

  Li Zhēng thought to himself.

  Li Zheng was well aware of the importance of reputation in this era. So he wanted to enhance his prestige as much as possible, and beheading generals on the battlefield was the fastest shortcut.

  Bai Lang and others closely followed Li Zhong, on the one hand guarding against the flying arrows that might come at any time, on the other hand paying attention to Li Zhong's movements, relying on the heroic spirit in their chests and the sharp blades in their hands, they quickly broke into the military formation that the rebel army had just organized!

  Suddenly, the White Wolf discovered that not far away from the west wall of Jizhou City, the sounds of battle were growing fainter and fainter. He hastily said: "Your Majesty, it is urgent to rescue Governor Fu Xie!"

  Li Zhēng heard this and was taken aback for a moment, shaking off the corpse hanging from the gun head, and raising his eyes to look towards that small piece of battlefield below the west city.

  "Not good!"

  Li Zhong also discovered something was amiss.

  The cries for help grew fainter, and there was only one reason: the soldiers led by Fu Xie were almost exhausted! If they delayed any longer, it was uncertain whether they would be able to rescue Fu Xie's corpse!

  He glared fiercely at the central army's great flag over a hundred paces away, and suddenly Li Zhēn's eyes turned, his long spear pointing at the several rebel generals under the flag wearing helmets and armor. He shouted: "Release arrows, shoot Wang Guó!"

  The war horse behind him was lightly riding, without saying a word, pressing down the horse knife, holding up the longbow, completely ignoring the surrounding rebel army, and in the blink of an eye, he shot out a burst of arrows.

  In the chaos of the army, lightly riding and shooting arrows was equivalent to giving up defense. In an instant, Li Zhēn saw with his eyes wide open that three riders were knocked off their horses by the surrounding rebels at the same time they shot out arrows!

  "Go!"

  Li Zhēn's murderous intent surged, his steel teeth biting down with a loud crunch. Previously, they had charged into the fray for so long without losing a single man, but in just a few breaths, they had lost three people. The pain and regret in his heart made Li Zhēn want to immediately behead Wang Guo!

  But the situation is not in our favor, so we can only force ourselves to hold back, no longer looking at that central army's great flag, pulling out the green cloud, leading the crowd of war horses, quickly breaking through the already chaotic rebel army, rushing towards Ji City.

  The kingdom's unknown life and death also created good conditions for Li Zhong - at least at this moment, the rebels' attention was focused on the middle army flag covered with arrow rain, intercepting powerless, and no one pursued.

  "Where is the governor?!"

  Li Zhēng burst out of the rebel army formation, his eyes emitting a fierce light as he stared at the shrinking battlefield below Xicheng, shouting: "Don't worry, Your Excellency, we're here!"

  At the same time, the white wolf's eyes behind him sparkled and he shouted loudly: "The king is dead, you still don't quickly dismount and surrender!"

  The rebels who were besieging Fu Xi's remaining soldiers heard this and turned their heads in unison, and when they saw the flag of the state army fluttering crookedly, they also lifted up their hearts.

  "Kill!"

  In just a moment, Li Zhēng's cavalry had charged up close.

  Without saying another word, he raised his long spear and stabbed.

  "Where is the governor?!"

  Li Zhēng killed the enemy while shouting loudly.

  At last, there was an echo.

  "Are you reinforcements? The lord is injured, come and assist quickly!"

  Li Zhong followed the sound and quickly killed through this wave of rebels, arriving at the center of the battlefield.

  As far as the eye could see, countless corpses were arranged in a circular pattern. The remaining living soldiers were desperately protecting a general who lay on the ground.

  "Isn't it Lord Fu Xie of Hanyang Prefecture, Fu Nan Rong?!"

  Li Zhong slowed down and shouted loudly.

  "It's just you, sir, who might this person be?!"

  A young commander with a school-like appearance replied, his eyes looking at Li Zhēn were filled with surprise and vigilance.

  "I am Lingzhou Li Zhong, I have long heard of the crisis in Hanyang and have brought my troops to rescue Your Excellency!"

  At this time, the little school had already looked up and down at Li Zhēn and the soldiers of the war riding behind him, and was amazed at the difference between these cavalrymen. It was probably also discovered that they were not rebel troops pretending to be, so he let out a sigh of relief.

  Li Zheng saw this and ordered Bai Lang and others to block the chaotic killing of the rebels, while he led a few riders to ride over.

  "General Fu has been injured and fell off his horse, he's already fainted!" The small school saw Li Zhēn approaching, hastily waved away the soldiers surrounding Fù Xiè, wiped the blood on his face, saying: "This general, quickly take General Fu away!"

  Li Zhong didn't say another word, flipped over and got off his horse, carried Fu Xie onto the back of Qing Yun, and shouted: "Let's go together!"

  "We have been entrusted with a heavy responsibility by our lord and cannot protect Jizhou City. Death is not worth regretting!"

  That little school heard this and said: "A clay pot will never leave the wellside broken, today there is death and that's all!"

  "Why must it be so?!"

  Li Zhong heard this and his heart trembled: "Why not wait until you are useful, and then return to Ji City to exterminate the rebel army?"

  That little school immediately smiled, and never looked at Li Zhēn again. He turned around and shouted: "Brothers, follow me to kill the enemy!"

  "Kill! Kill! Kill!"

  A soldier covered in blood, looking like a defeated general, burst out with the most dazzling light of his life at this moment.

  They raised their swords and took heavy steps, launching a final attack on the rebel army not far away.

  Li Zhēng's eyes were about to split open, and he gritted his teeth, forcing himself to suppress the pain and hatred that was surging up in his heart once again. He turned his head away: "White Wolf, let's go!"

  From the moment they charged out of the hills, to now, Li Ding's command of dozens of men broke through the enemy's great formation, and it has been about half an hour since he saw Fu Jue.

  After such a long time of intense fighting, let alone the numerous generals and soldiers under his command, even Li Jing himself felt a bit tired.

  The seven green armored cavalrymen were in high spirits, perhaps because it was their first time on the battlefield and seeing blood. The light cavalry warhorses, however, were already drenched in sweat and slightly panting.

  The kingdom is now dead or alive, Wang Jing doesn't know. Even if the kingdom has been shot to death by that wave of chaotic arrows, there are still tens of thousands of chaotic soldiers in front of him. They are only a few dozen people, even if they die from exhaustion, they can't finish killing them!

  To leave is the best option!

  Perhaps the kingdom was dead, or perhaps the rebels were intimidated by Li Jing's killing, but when Li Jing turned back and broke through the rebel army again, he clearly felt that it was much easier this time.

  But in an instant, a line of war riders broke through the army array and quickly went towards Zhuyuan Mountain.

  However, contrary to Li Zhēn's expectations, Wang Guo was not shot dead by the chaotic arrows.

  Although injured, he soon recovered and spent several hours reassembling his scattered troops.

  The kingdom that gathered its forces again, first killed the remaining soldiers of Jizhou who were still making a last-ditch effort, then broke through the city gate and entered Jizhou.

  At the same time, the kingdom sent a messenger to Han Shu and dispatched a force of several thousand elite soldiers in the direction Li Jing had left, following closely behind.

  Li Zhong made him lose face so badly, how can he swallow this bitter pill?!!

  The kingdom itself sent troops to pursue Li Zhong, and also sent messengers to Han Xu, exaggerating the severity of Li Zhong's situation countless times, saying that Li Zhong had nearly 10,000 elite soldiers and horses, posing a great threat, and had rescued Fu Xie, asking Han Xu to send troops to surround and block him.

  Although Li Zhong's cavalry showed ferocity in the battlefield, it made Wang Guo feel cold. However, Wang Guo thought that even if this cavalry was strong, it was only a few dozen people, he had tens of thousands of soldiers and was still the nominal leader of the rebels, so he would take Li Zhong's head at all costs!

  A line of fifty-nine riders soon entered Zhuyuan Mountain and took a short rest at the campsite left behind earlier.

  This battle resulted in the Light Cavalry of the Qing army, as Li Jing had thought, having only minor scratches on their armor from clashing with enemy blades, and no other losses. However, the light horse cavalry suffered more casualties, aside from the three who were killed, many others were injured.

  Most of them were actually injured by the rebels when Li Zhong ordered to shoot arrows at the enemy's central army flag. However, they were lucky and not trampled by the rebel cavalry.

  The first-class armor of the cortex is still very powerful, and the wounded soldiers only suffered physical injuries, without any fatal damage.

  "Let the brothers have a good rest. Those who are injured should bandage themselves properly. After eating and drinking enough, take a short rest, and we will immediately enter Zhū Yǔ Mountain!"

  Li Zhong brought down Fu Xie, who was still unconscious, and carefully bandaged his wounds before laying him flat on the ground. He then turned around to wash his face in the creek water, rinsing off the bloodstains that covered his face and hands, but the faint red color on his fish-scale armor remained conspicuous.

  "This time, we just caught the rebels off guard." Li Zhēng called out to White Wolf, who came to his side. He pondered and said, "Regardless of whether that kingdom is dead or not, the rebels will not let us go."

  He glanced at Fu Xi lying beside him and said, "This one is very important, to us and to the rebels as well."

  The white wolf stood by with his hands tied behind him and nodded, saying: "Your Majesty, what should we do next?"