Call of the Heroes of Chaos in Another World

Chapter 2122 The Gongsun brothers become strangers, and the Flying Tiger of the Han Dynasty rises from this point on.

Gongsun Zan of the Zhenbei Army did not initially intend to side with the Han Dynasty.

In fact, he had never even considered such a thing before.

His surrender to the Han was also related to Gongsun Shu's surrender to the Di.

Gongsun Shu had previously been on good terms with Huangfu Mingfeng, and had even thwarted Cihang's attempt to assassinate Huangfu Mingfeng during Wang Yu's early assassination attempt, thus saving Huangfu Mingfeng's life.

After Huangfu Mingfeng married Lie Feiyan, and as Huangfu Mingfeng's influence in the Zhenbei Army continued to rise, the two became increasingly close, seemingly destined to become confidants.

However, after Huangfu Mingfeng became involved in the death of Lie Qiankun, Gongsun Shu was also implicated.

Although there was no apparent change, he was promoted in name only and demoted in reality.

Even after that, when the Zhenbei faction turned their suspicions toward Wang Yu, Huangfu Mingfeng was still not let go and was instead placed under house arrest.

After all, Yan Ri was still his bodyguard, and there was no evidence to clear him of suspicion.

Shortly after Huangfu Mingfeng surrendered to the Northern Di in the summer, he succumbed to a cold and ultimately did not survive.

During this period, Gongsun Shu's situation in the Zhenbei Army was always precarious.

Ultimately, Gongsun Shu's actions have, to some extent, involved the issue of team composition. Huangfu Mingfeng's downfall only resulted in him being sidelined for a few years, which wasn't a serious consequence at all.

In fact, there are only a handful of god-level generals among the Zhenbei Army, which is why Lie Feiyang couldn't bear to kill him, but only planned to put him on the sidelines for a few years.

To put it bluntly, Lie Feiyang was still thinking that one day he would do this person a favor again, promote him again, and even keep this person firmly around him.

Unfortunately, before that day could come, Gongsun Shu had already succumbed to the sweet talk from Tuoba Changping and joined the Tuoba tribe.

Among the Zhenbei Army, Lie Zhenkun, who once wanted to compete with Lie Feiyang for the position of leader of the Zhenbei Army, was the first high-ranking member of the Zhenbei Army to side with the Tuoba tribe after his defeat in this struggle.

After that, Lie Zhenkun not only surrendered Jubei Pass, one of the three passes of Zhenbei, to Tuoba Changping, but also led 30,000 loyal Zhenbei Army soldiers to defect to the enemy.

Although Gongsun Shu's ceremony of advancement was not as valuable as Lie Zhenkun's, its impact was no less significant.

When Gongsun Shu joined the Tuoba tribe, with the help of Xia Tianzheng, who was sent by Tuoba Changping to secretly contact him, he took away a person and secretly presented Lie Feiyan, the only daughter of the deceased Lie Qiankun and the widow of Huangfu Mingfeng, to the Tuoba tribe.

After that incident, Lie Feiyan was disheartened and only took a portion of her guards to observe mourning for Lie Qiankun, which gave Gongsun Shu and Xia Tianzheng an opportunity to take advantage of the situation.

Tuoba Changping, who was still within the Northern Di territory at the time, was also taken aback upon receiving the news. Gongsun Shu's surprise was indeed considerable.

Therefore, he even sent Tuoba Longxiang personally to bring Lie Feiyan back to headquarters.

Tuoba Longxiang did not participate in this battle, but he was sent by Tuoba Changping to bring back a woman, which shows how much Tuoba Changping valued Lie Feiyan.

For Tuoba Changping, the acquisition of Lie Feiyan was like finding a new path after seemingly having reached a dead end.

Conquering a place is easy, but truly winning the hearts and minds of its people is much more difficult.

Why did Tuoba Changping adopt a conciliatory approach towards the Zhenbei Army before this? He offered Lie Feiyang such a high price, wasn't it to use Lie Feiyang's identity to win over the hearts of the people of Shanyin?

It even opened a rift in the hearts of the people of Dacang later on.

Unfortunately, he never expected that Lie Feiyang would be such a stubborn kid, completely determined to fight him to the death without any hesitation.

Fortunately, fate did not fail him in the end. Even though he failed to win over Lie Feiyang, he was given Lie Feiyan instead.

Even if it can't compare to Lie Feiyang in terms of effectiveness, it's still useful, so what more could I ask for?
While Lie Feiyan was still on her way, Tuoba Changping had already ordered his men to hastily prepare for the wedding. He wanted to take Lie Feiyan as a concubine, just like when Wang Yu welcomed Huangfu Jingya into the family.

Once he officially takes Lie Feiyan as his concubine, he will also have the identity of the late Lord of Shanyin, Lie Qiankun's son-in-law.

This identity may be of little use to those die-hards, but some people are willing to accept it.

Making one woman your concubine and winning the hearts of the entire region—this kind of deal is sure to be profitable.

Gongsun Shu's defection to the Di people, however, brought great trouble to Gongsun Zan. Especially since Gongsun Shu had also secretly taken Lie Feiyan away.

Although these two men are not blood brothers, they are brothers in the same clan, and it was impossible for Gongsun Zan not to be affected.

Gongsun Zan was able to rise to prominence initially because a brother of a divine general recommended him to Lie Qiankun.

If he didn't have such a brilliant general as his brother, how could he have been given such an important position right from the start, and even be able to form an elite force like the White Horse Cavalry with such satisfaction? Did he really think just anyone had such qualifications?
Regardless of the circumstances, in the eyes of outsiders, Gongsun Zan and Gongsun Shu are inextricably linked!

Immediately after the incident, Gongsun Zan, fearing retribution from Lie Feiyang, fled with a few trusted confidants and a thousand White Horse Cavalry.

If Gongsun Shu hadn't taken Lie Feiyan away, Gongsun Zan might have been able to remain calm. However, since Gongsun Shu had taken Lie Feiyan, he dared not gamble anymore, and was even less willing to place the decision of his life in the hands of others.

Lie Feiyan, in a small sense, is Lie Feiyang's only sibling. In a larger sense, she directly affects the entire Shanyin County.

Gongsun Zan could accept dying on the battlefield against the Northern Di, dying as a hero. He had no regrets even if his whole family died on the battlefield.

However, he absolutely did not want to die in an internal purge and suffer a stigma after his death.

Therefore, when this possibility arose, even though he had never thought of surrendering to the Han Dynasty before, and even though he had a blood feud with the Han Dynasty for killing his son, he still embarked on this path.

Or rather, this is the only path he has left.

For Gongsun Zan, his son was important, but not the most important.

At its peak, the White Horse Cavalry had a total of 3,000 soldiers. However, in the great battle against the Northern Barbarians, the Flaming Tiger and Fierce Leopard Cavalry suffered heavy casualties, and even the reserves were wiped out. Naturally, the White Horse Cavalry could not have escaped unscathed.

After all, the White Horse Cavalry, which had only been established for a few years, certainly couldn't have a mature reserve system like the Flaming Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. If losses occurred, it wouldn't be able to immediately draw on enough personnel to replenish the ranks.

At the same time, although this unit was trained by him, it was also part of the Zhenbei Army, and not everyone was willing to follow him away.

Perhaps if he had more time, he could have taken more people with him. But now he didn't have that much time; he could only leave as quickly as possible. At the same time, it was also to prevent word from leaking out. Therefore, in the end, he only took a little over a thousand people with him.

Although Lie Feiyang received the message quickly, it was too late; it was too late to stop it.

He had even considered that Gongsun Zan might defect to the Di like Gongsun Shu, but he never expected that the other party would defect to the Han. You must know that his son, Gongsun Xu, had died at the hands of the Han general Zhao Zilong.

The White Horse Cavalry were light cavalry, and as an elite unit, they didn't actually have three horses per rider; they only had two. More accurately, the White Horse Cavalry riders did have a third horse, but that third horse was inferior in quality to the first two. Superficially, they appeared to be equipped with three horses, but in reality, only two were truly up to standard.

Even so, the speed of the White Horse Cavalry, even if there is only a short time in between, allows them to escape a considerable distance.

The White Horse Righteous Army never managed to have three horses per person. It wasn't because the previous Zhenbei Lord, Lie Qiankun, didn't want to give them three horses each, or because the current Zhenbei Lord, Lie Feiyang, didn't want to. Besides, they couldn't do it!
This Gongsun Zan seemed to be seriously ill, demanding only white horses, and specifically pure white horses without any stray hairs. This requirement alone made the two generations of commanders of the Northern Garrison quite envious!
The White Horse Cavalry was an elite force!
As an elite cavalry battalion, their warhorses were also selected from the best of the best, choosing the most elite batch from all the warhorses.

Therefore, Lie Qiankun and Lie Feiyang were able to procure a batch of white horses for him. However, the requirement was that they be white horses, and that the quality of these white horses be guaranteed to meet the standards for selection as steeds for the elite battalion, which was somewhat unreasonable.

Fortunately, as light cavalry, the White Horse Cavalry did not need heavy cavalry like the Champion Battalion or the Flaming Tiger Cavalry to spare warhorses to help them transport armor before battle.

There is no need for a comprehensive cavalry like the Black Riders, who would have to dedicate warhorses to transport various weapons and equipment in order to prepare for all sorts of complex battles.

Therefore, one person with two horses is actually sufficient to meet their tactical needs in most cases.

The White Horse Cavalry led by Gongsun Zan is actually stronger in combat than the White Horse Cavalry he had at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty.

After all, the white horse that Gongsun Zan had during the late Eastern Han Dynasty was definitely not as good as his current horse in terms of quality.

In fact, if it weren't for the fact that the White Horse Cavalry and the Leopard Cavalry, which were also light cavalry, had different roles, Lie Qiankun and Lie Feiyang, the two successive leaders of the Zhenbei Army, might not have put so much effort into this army.

As light cavalry, the White Horse Cavalry were strongest in mounted archery, followed by mounted charges and hand-to-hand combat.

However, the Leopard Cavalry is best at cooperating with the Flame Tiger Cavalry in frontal battles and is skilled at flanking attacks. After loosening the enemy's formation, they give the Flame Tiger Cavalry the opportunity to unleash their powerful charging ability. Once the Flame Tiger Cavalry has broken through the enemy's formation, they re-enter the fray to reap the rewards.

In fact, the White Horse Cavalry of the late Eastern Han Dynasty became famous because of the Wuhuan tribe to the north.

However, the White Horse Cavalry is now better suited to dealing with the troops of the Central Plains or the cavalry of the Western Rong, making full use of their advantages in mounted archery.

How many armored soldiers could be found among the nomadic tribes of the grasslands at the end of the Eastern Han Dynasty? Apart from the high-ranking officials, they were all naked.

Although the White Horse Cavalry were light cavalry, they were also lightly armored, which allowed them to leverage their crucial close-combat advantage.

However, the Northern Di of Tianqi were different; in many aspects, their equipment was no less than that of the Central Plains armies. The Northern Di of Tianqi can be seen as a foreign race from the Song Dynasty of Earth, with a fairly high level of military technology.

Meanwhile, the foreign tribes on Earth during the Song Dynasty, such as the Western Xia people, invented the powerful weapon, the Divine Arm Crossbow, but for various reasons, it was ultimately brought to its full potential by the Song people.

The armies of the Liao, Jin, and Yuan dynasties, who were not of the same ethnicity, also completed the transformation from tribal to regular state-based systems. In particular, the Yuan Mongols were even better at using firearms than the Song dynasty.

Heavy armored units like the Iron Forest Army and the Iron Pagoda were only found on the grasslands during the Qin and Han dynasties. Could they have been qualified to create such units?

Facing the Northern Barbarians of Tianqi, the White Horse Cavalry could not possibly be as effective as they were against nomadic tribes on Earth.

When facing a well-organized and systematic army, the coordination of multiple branches of the military is still superior to that of a single branch.

The White Horse Cavalry had an overwhelming advantage against the cavalry of the Central Plains dynasties who were not skilled in archery or horsemanship, or against the cavalry of the Western Rong who only knew how to charge.

Regardless of the circumstances, the two successive leaders of the Zhenbei Army devoted their efforts and invested a great deal of resources to the White Horse Cavalry.

However, in the end, it was Wang Yu's big man who benefited.

A fully-fledged elite battalion saves a lot of trouble compared to training one from scratch.

The White Horse Cavalry became the first organized elite light cavalry unit in the Han Dynasty.

Prior to this, although the Han Dynasty had elite cavalry such as the Black Cavalry and the Golden Fire Cavalry, neither of these cavalry units could be considered light cavalry.

Even the Flying Tigers, which are currently being formed according to plans, are not intended to be light cavalry. In fact, the Flying Tigers are not only not light cavalry, but are planned to be formed as heavy cavalry.

Li Cunxiao's Flying Tiger Battalion wasn't something Wang Yu deliberately wanted to delay until now. Rather, before this, he genuinely lacked the resources and strength to spare enough warhorses for Li Cunxiao.

Given the size of the Black Riders and the Golden Fire Riders, the number of warhorses they need is enormous. With these two cavalry units already in place, how can they possibly produce a sufficient number of more warhorses?

Later, Yue Fei's three thousand Beiwei soldiers, including one thousand cavalrymen, were also deployed with three thousand warhorses.

The elite battalion is equipped with warhorses that meet quality standards; not just any warhorse can be used to pull them up.

Furthermore, depending on the cavalry's role, there are different considerations regarding whether they need to be equipped with high-burst warhorses, endurance-type warhorses, or a combination of both.

In this respect, the Five Flying Cavalry of Da Wu are quite particular about their choice of warhorses. Each of the Five Flying Cavalry has a specific role to play, and they have put considerable thought into selecting their horses.

Wang Yu could easily muster such a large number of ordinary warhorses, and even more wouldn't be a problem. However, he prioritized ensuring the quotas for high-quality warhorses for the Black Riders and Golden Fire Riders.

Therefore, the formation of the Flying Tiger Cavalry officially began only after the capture of Henan Province.

Henan Horse Farm is the largest horse farm in Dacang. Otherwise, where did the champion camp's warhorses come from?

The Black Riders, the Champions, and the Flaming Tiger and Leopard Riders were the three legendary cavalry units of the original Great Cang. Each cavalry unit had a specific horse farm to supply them with warhorses.

Although the Henan horse farm had been ravaged by the various forces involved in the first Battle of Tianjing and was no longer as prosperous as it once was, a lean camel is still bigger than a horse, enough to support Wang Yu in helping Li Cunxiao build the Flying Tiger Cavalry.

Even the Greedy Wolf Cavalry and White Dragon Cavalry, which are currently being formed, use warhorses from the Henan horse farms.

Wang Yu naturally placed high hopes on these two light and heavy cavalry units, which served as the emperor's guards, and also wanted to train them to become elite troops.

However, the difficulty of training the Greedy Wolf Cavalry and the White Dragon Cavalry into elite troops is naturally far greater than that of Li Cunxiao's Flying Tiger Cavalry.

Wang Yu planned to spend real money to acquire Li Cunxiao's Flying Tiger Cavalry. Once the personnel selection was completed, he would purchase military spirits to quickly bring the army to fruition.

Gongsun Shu had considered Gongsun Zan's White Horse Cavalry before surrendering to the Di.

However, he still understood his cousin well.

His cousin, when facing the Northern Di, was just as stubborn and headstrong as Lie Feiyang. If he dared to reveal even the slightest hint, Gongsun Zan would surely have him arrested first, staging a scene of righteous vengeance against family.

This can be seen from the fact that Gongsun Zan preferred to choose the Han Dynasty, which had killed his son, rather than the Northern Di, which shows his hostility towards the Northern Di.

Those who surrendered to the Han Dynasty with Gongsun Zan included not only the elite White Horse Cavalry, but also his daughter Gongsun Baoyue, his cousins ​​Gongsun Yue and Gongsun Fan, and his friends Yan Gang, Shan Jing, Tian Kai, Guan Jing, Tian Yu, and other civil and military generals.

The Tuoba tribe's army invaded, and many of its generals surrendered to the Di and Han. As a result, after several months, Lie Feiyang can only hold onto the last third of Shanyin and lives a precarious life.