weaving

With a thud, Xie Junyou and Qiu Yingquan both fell off their horses.

This sudden turn of events caused the dagger in Qiu Yingquan's left hand to fly out of his grasp. In a moment of desperation, he endured the excruciating pain in his waist from the impact and opened his mouth wide to bite Xie Junyou's neck.

"what……"

Xie Junyou let out a heart-wrenching scream, and blood kept gushing from Qiu Yingquan's mouth, showing no signs of stopping.

In a split second between life and death, Xie Junyou somehow found the strength to pull his hands out of the two men's stomachs.

One hand was groping around Qiu Yingquan's body, while the other hand was groping over his mask, as if trying to open it.

Xie Junyou groped around Qiu Yingquan's body for a while but found nothing. Meanwhile, the pain in his neck became increasingly unbearable, so he couldn't help but swing his fist and pound hard on Qiu Yingquan's back.

One strike... two strikes... three strikes... and so it kept hitting.

His other hand was pressed against Qiu Yingquan's mask, gripping it tightly, seemingly trying to open the mask or push Qiu Yingquan's head away from his neck.

Unfortunately, it was all in vain, destined to be fruitless!

Qiu Yingquan was a notorious ruthless man in the Yongyi Army. Now that he had bitten Xie Junyou’s neck so fiercely, how could he let go so easily?

Even though his teeth were aching, Qiu Yingquan still refused to let go, and even increased the force of his steel teeth, as if he wouldn't stop until he bit Xie Junyou's neck off.

One blow... two blows... three blows... Xie Junyou's fists were still pounding Qiu Yingquan's back, but the force was gradually weakening, and each blow was getting weaker than the last.

The roars that Xie Junyou was letting out gradually became lower and deeper...

Even the hand that was holding his mask went limp and eventually fell limply to the ground. Only when Xie Junyou was completely stiff and motionless, without a sound, did Qiu Yingquan release his teeth from his throat.

Qiu Yingquan struggled to lift his head slightly, only to see that Xie Junyou's front was already covered in bright red blood, which had soaked through his armor and flowed down to his waist, and his thighs were also soaked in bright red.

Xie Junyou's eyes remained wide open, seemingly indicating his inner resentment and disbelief.

The rebel general Xie Junyou died in such a way...

He did not die from the sharp guns and cannons of the Yongyi Army, nor from their superior swords, spears, bows, and crossbows, but was bitten to death by the teeth of a Yongyi Army cavalry captain!

A bizarre death brought an end to Xie Junyou's sinful life!
With Xie Junyou's death, the battle between the two cavalry forces came to an end. Most of the rebel cavalry were killed or wounded, and the remaining cavalry either fled or surrendered, with no one daring to resist anymore.

Two cavalrymen at the front saw Qiu Yingquan and quickly spurred their horses over to protect him. Then one of the cavalrymen dismounted and helped him up, asking, "Sir, how are you... are you hurt?"

"It's alright..." Qiu Yingquan said, though he was a little weak, but his spirits were still high and he was obviously not hurt. He continued, "Order the right rank to charge and rout the infantry."

"Here."

The cavalryman, still mounted on his warhorse, loudly accepted the order, whipped his horse, and went to relay it.

…………

The battle on the official road ended quickly, and the final outcome was naturally a crushing defeat for the rebel army. Xie Yinglong, who was the vanguard, was captured by Ji Donglai, a centurion of the Tengshe Camp's cavalry, and was being escorted to see the commander-in-chief, Wei Zhice. Most of Xie Yinglong's cavalrymen were killed or wounded, nearly a hundred cavalrymen surrendered, and only forty or fifty riders escaped.

Zhang Hong, who was on the central route to meet Xie Yinglong, saw that Xie Yinglong's troops had also been ambushed. Without hesitation, he led his cavalrymen down the main road and eventually escaped the ambush of Tengshe Camp, leaving behind fifty-six cavalrymen.

The most tragic loss was to Xie Junyou, who was covering the rear. Not only was he killed by Qiu Yingquan, but most of his cavalry were also killed or wounded. Very few escaped the ambush, fewer than Xie Yinglong's cavalry.

Of the more than 5,000 infantrymen they led, more than 300 were killed or wounded during the artillery barrage by the Tengshe Camp alone. Then, another 300 or 400 fell to the gunners' volleys, and nearly 500 were killed or wounded in the encirclement and attack by infantry and cavalry.

After suffering over a thousand casualties, the remaining nearly four thousand bandits finally collapsed completely. They laid down their weapons and knelt on the official road and in the grass, crying and begging for mercy.

…………

Qiu Yingquan had only killed two bandit cavalrymen, and although one of them was a bandit general like Xie Junyou, he still felt extremely unwilling.

But things didn't go as planned. He had just ordered the right wing to pursue the fleeing bandits when his commander, Wei Zhice, sternly ordered him to stop. He instructed the left wing of his vanguard cavalry to guard the surrendered bandits, while the right wing was responsible for perimeter security. He was strictly forbidden from pursuing the fleeing bandits without authorization.

Although the battle went very smoothly and everything went according to plan, the capture of more than four thousand bandits surprised and troubled Wei Zhice.

Because no one had anticipated so many prisoners and no contingency plan had been developed, Wei Zhice could only proceed cautiously, ordering various units to cooperate in escorting the captured bandits back to camp.

Although these bandits have laid down their weapons, they are different from the starving people. They are all ruthless thugs who have seen blood, and there are not many good people among them. They must be strictly guarded and protected.

Moreover, with so many prisoners gathered together, if something were to go wrong, it would indeed be difficult to deal with. This is one of the reasons why Wei Zhice dared not divide his troops to pursue the fleeing bandits.

Now, he divides the surrendered bandits into groups of five hundred men each, so that they will not gather together, making them easier to guard and escort back to camp.

However, the disadvantages were also very obvious. It was necessary to divide his own forces, and in order to maintain absolute suppression of the captured bandits, Wei Zhice could only adopt a combination of infantry and cavalry.

The main force consisted of infantry guards, supplemented by some cavalry on the perimeter, to deter and discourage the captured bandits from any unusual behavior.

…………

The battle at Xiangong Temple has temporarily come to an end, but the battle at Chuangwang's camp has reached a critical stage of life and death.

Luo Hu, the commander of the Children's Battalion of the rebel army, received the order of the rebel king and led a thousand children soldiers from the left and right wings of the Children's Battalion to break out of the army formation and charge straight at the government cavalry under He Zhenxiong, who was less than three hundred paces away.

Although He Zhenxiong had never met the rebel king in person, he had already memorized his image. He had only glanced at the area a few times before he could tell that the rebel king was no ordinary person.

Now, when he caught sight of Luo Hu leading over a thousand elite bandits charging towards him, he became alert. He dared not be too overconfident and immediately ordered his knights to turn around and move towards Li Changsheng's Imperial Guards.

He Zhenxiong's thinking was simple: with his few hundred exhausted cavalrymen, it was really difficult to guarantee that he could defeat Luo Hu's thousand bandits.

But now that things have come to this, there is no possibility of retreat or breaking out. The only option is to join forces with Li Changsheng's Imperial Guards and try to hold off Luo Hu's thousand elite bandits, so as to buy time for Chen Zhanqi's troops on the other side...

They pinned their hopes on the coordinated efforts of Chen Zhanqi's cavalry and the Tiger Guard cavalry to cut down the rebel's central banner in one fell swoop!
As for the assassination of Li Zicheng, the rebel leader, He Zhenxiong had given up all hope... (End of Chapter)