The First Great Ancestor of the Five Dynasties

Chapter 522 Dangerous victory
The east route army led by Zhang Yuanhui was like a saw tooth, tearing a hole in the body of Zhou Jun in the middle route.

The Zhou Army's middle road was originally fighting inextricably with the Northern Han Army's middle road. The battle situation was stalemate. Zhang Yuanhui led an army to the east and attacked the Zhou Army's middle road directly.

The elite cavalry led by Zhang Yuanhui was even more brave. There were less than a thousand in number, but they were extremely capable. They penetrated the Zhou army's infantry phalanx, cut them off in the middle, and then surrounded and annihilated them to the north.

Liu Chong was overjoyed when he saw the victory of Zhang Yuanhui's East Route Army. He quickly ordered the entire army to further attack. He also led his guards to rush down to the high ground and personally supervised the troops to suppress the formation.

The soldiers of the Northern Han Dynasty pressed forward like a flood towards the high hills south of Bagongyuan!
Shi Yanchao and Xiang Xun led the soldiers to fight to the death. Fortunately, they were at the front. When the soldiers saw that their leader was fighting for his life, their morale did not decrease, and they could barely hold on to their position.

At that time, the south wind was howling, and the wind was getting stronger. The Northern Han soldiers charged against the wind, and the formation was blown away by the wind. The cavalry could not even open their eyes, which greatly slowed down the offensive and allowed Zhou Jun to breathe.

But from the perspective of the entire battle situation, the Northern Han soldiers still have the advantage. Once the shrinking defense line is loosened, the entire army will be defeated!

On the high hill in the south of Bagongyuan, Chai Rong's eyes widened with anger, and his face turned red with horror.

He didn't know what happened to the East Chamber Army. He only saw that Zhang Yuanhui led the East Route Army to support the Central Route. On his own side, there was no trace of Fan Aineng and He Hui. Flag of the Great Zhou Dynasty.

Seeing that under the high hill, the entire middle route army was retreating steadily. As the casualties increased, the morale of the Zhou army became lower and lower, and the signs of defeat were already apparent!
Chai Rong felt a rush of hot blood rushing to the top of his head. He pulled out the Imperial Yanling Saber and roared with all his strength: "Younger Zhou, follow me to kill the enemy!"

Before Zhang Yongde could react, Chai Rong rushed down the high hill first and plunged into the crowd of Northern Han soldiers.

"Your Majesty!" Zhang Yongde was horrified, "Quick! The troops in front of the palace will follow me to protect His Majesty!"

In front of Qianyu Palace, the pro-army troops followed Zhang Yongde and rushed down the high hill in hot pursuit of Chai Rong.

At the forefront were more than 100 horsemen from the inner hall led by Shi Shouxin!
With the new force of the troops in front of the palace joining the battle, the Zhou army formed a local advantage, broke through the encirclement of the Northern Han infantry, and rushed directly to the rear army, where the yellow flag was!
Zhao Kuangyin swung his spear like the wind, and could stab a Northern Han soldier to death with one thrust, causing the horses to collide with him. Dozens of Northern Han soldiers died at his hands along the way!

Ma Renyu, Zhang Qiong, Yang Xin, and Han Chongyun surrounded him tightly and charged.

The young and energetic Ma Renxuan saw the Zhou army fleeing to avoid the battle, and was so angry that he cursed: "His Majesty the emperor personally took Shi Shi to the front, and you, as sergeants, enjoy the support of the court, but you don't want to repay the king's kindness, you are a man in vain!"

Zhou Jun's deserters were shocked by him, some of them turned back to continue fighting with shame on their faces, and some fled towards Gao Gang regardless of their desperation. Fu Yan, who was supervising the battle later, could kill dozens of people in a row, and only then could he barely stop the rout from spreading.

When Zhao Kuangyin heard Ma Renyu's words, his thoughts changed. He urged his horse to get closer to Chai Rong and shouted loudly to the left and right: "Your Majesty is willing to fight to the death, how can we and other soldiers spare our lives? Comrades, follow me and fight to the death!"

Zhao Kuangyin's angry shout shocked everyone. Even Chai Rong, who was rushing forward, heard it and looked back from a distance.

Immediately, more than a thousand pro-army people in front of the palace were full of enthusiasm and shouted in unison: "Fight to the death! Fight to the death!"

In the middle of the road, Zhou Jun saw the Emperor Longqi charging forward, hunting in the wind, and his morale was greatly boosted. He even stubbornly withstood the attack of the Northern Han soldiers and formed a local counterattack!
Zhang Yongde saw that there were fewer and fewer soldiers following Chai Rong in front of the palace. Only dozens of people in the inner palace led by Shi Shouxin were closely following and protecting him. He turned around and shouted: "Zhao Kuangyin! You and I divide our forces to protect His Majesty's two wings." , use your bow and crossbow to clear the way for Your Majesty!"

"Yes!" Zhao Kuangyin responded from a distance.

The pro-army in front of the palace were divided into two parts, led by Zhao Kuangyin and Zhang Yongde respectively. They covered Chai Rong's wings on the left and right, and used bows and crossbows to protect Chai Rong who was charging at the front!
To the north of Bagongyuan, Liu Chong had just descended from the high ground, preparing for the governor's army to press southward, but he suddenly discovered that not only did the Zhou army not collapse, but they withstood the offensive and began to counterattack!
A dragon flag of the Zhou army came towards his imperial camp, and a fine cavalry of the Zhou army, not many in number, but as brave as a tiger, unstoppable!
At this moment, there were only a few hundred people in Liu Chong's imperial camp, and all the troops were pressed to attack, and they couldn't gather them back at all.

Liu Chong was furious and said hurriedly: "Please ask General Yelu to send troops to rescue us!"

To the northwest, on a hill, thousands of Khitan cavalry were ready to go.

Yelu Dilu sat high on his horse, stared into the distance, and sighed: "The Zhou army is brave, Liu Chong will definitely lose this battle!"

The Khitan commander next to him said: "Liu Chong asks for help, shall we attack?"

Yelu Dilu was slightly brooding, and just as he was about to speak, a rumble of war drums suddenly came from the southeast, and a plume of smoke rose into the sky from the gap in the basin!

Immediately afterwards, densely packed Zhou army flags appeared at the end of the line of sight!

Yelu Dilu's expression changed: "No! Zhou Jun still has backup!"

Looking at the dust flying into the sky, there will definitely be no shortage of reinforcements from the Zhou army.

Yelu Dilu sneered and shook his head: "Let's go, we have nothing to do here."

The Khitan leader asked in confusion: "What about Liu Chong?"

Yelu Dilu said disdainfully: "It's still unknown whether he can escape from Bagongyuan alive! The Zhou army has a great victory, and I'm afraid they will march to Taiyuan. It doesn't matter whether Liu Chong dies or not, but the Northern Han Dynasty must not be destroyed! Let's go back to Taiyuan! "

Immediately, thousands of Khitan cavalry roared and evacuated from the northwest corner of Bagongyuan.

The rear troops led by Liu Ci and Zhu Xiu arrived in time and joined the battle immediately. The Northern Han soldiers, who were at the end of their strength, could no longer support themselves and began to flee in panic and exhaustion.

Tens of thousands of defeated Northern Han soldiers evacuated toward the southwest, and Liu Chong was able to escape under Zhang Yuanhui's desperate protection.

Northern Han general Bai Conghui was shot dead by Li Chongjin, and Wang Yansi was trampled to death by the rebels.

In the vast Bagongyuan Basin, a pile of corpses was left, and the blood dyed the grass red and seeped into the soil.

After the smoke of gunfire passed, the surviving soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty cheered and shouted wildly, some cried bitterly, and some roared to the sky. Only those who have witnessed this battle know how lucky they were to win, and how dangerous the battle situation was not long ago.

Li Chongjin laughed wildly and waved the Northern Han Dynasty dragon flag, tore it and threw it down, unbuttoned his crotch and peed heavily on the Chinese dragon flag.

Many soldiers followed suit, gathered together laughing and urinating towards the Han army's dragon flag.

On the high ground in the north of Bagongyuan, in front of the imperial tent that the Han army had hurriedly evacuated and had no time to evacuate, Chai Rong, soaked in plasma, stood there staring blankly at the imperial tent without moving.

Only when I got closer did I realize that his body was trembling slightly, and he was holding on to the Yanling knife to keep him from falling.

Zhang Yongde, Zhao Kuangyin, Shi Shouxin, Li Chongjin, Gao Huaide, Cao Han, Zhu Wu and others all stood behind him, each one looking like a bloody man, with tired expressions but unable to conceal their excitement.

They won a thrilling head-on battle.

Zhu Xiu and Liu Ci arrived and were shocked by the tragedy in front of them.

Zhu Wu was so tired that he couldn't straighten up. He forced a smile at Zhu Xiu, his dark and red face covered with blood.

Li Chongjin punched him in the chest, "If you are one step slower, maybe Liu Chong will be caught by me!"

This guy had Bai Conghui's head hanging on his waist, and Zhu Xiu moved away in disgust.

Zhao Kuangyin was also soaked with sweat, and his forearm was hit by an arrow. Most of the blood and stains on his body were from the enemy, but also from his own.

Zhu Xiu gave him a thumbs up in admiration, and Zhao Kuangyin smiled and waved his hand.

Shi Shouxin stood aside like a gun barrel, the blood on his face was washed into strips by sweat, and the violent rise and fall of his chest showed how exhausted he was at the moment.

Zhu Xiu met his eyes and smiled slightly.

Shi Shouxin nodded lightly and said nothing.

"Your Majesty." Liu Ci called softly, but was stopped by Zhang Yongde.

Everyone could see that Chai Rong was the most tired one.

Whether mentally or physically, as emperor and commander-in-chief, he was under unimaginable pressure.A battle with many twists and turns, from being evenly matched at the beginning, to gaining a slight upper hand, to suddenly being defeated, and finally fighting back.

Compared to his physical body, Chai Rong’s mental torture can be imagined.

But the glory after victory is also unparalleled.

The Emperor of Zhou personally led the charge, what a heroic momentum it was!
The emperor fought in person, the generals died, and the soldiers sacrificed their lives. In addition, God provided help from the south wind, which resulted in the victory of this shocking battle!
The soldiers looked at their Emperor Zhou with great reverence. With such a brave and brave Holy Emperor, there was no need to worry about the country not being prosperous!

After taking a few deep breaths, Chai Rong stabilized his swaying mind, turned around to face the generals, glanced across their faces one by one, and said in a hoarse voice: "Thank you for your hard work, everyone."

Everyone fell to their knees, clasped their fists and shouted: "Long live your Majesty!"

The mountain call came down from the high slope, and soon, a tide of long live voices sounded from all sides.

The soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty were praising their Emperor in the loudest voice.

Chai Rong signaled everyone to stand up, looked at Liu Ci and Zhu Xiu, and smiled stiffly: "If you two hadn't arrived in time, the enemy army would not have been defeated so quickly."

"Thanks to His Majesty's blessings and blessings, the soldiers of the three armies are not afraid of death!"

Liu Ci and Zhu Xiu said in unison with quite a tacit understanding.

Chai Rong said: "I saw that we came with an astonishing momentum. The loess rose to the sky. Apart from the rear army, what other troops came to support us?"

Liu Ci glanced at Zhu Xiu, who smiled quickly and said, "We are the only ones in the rear!"

Chai Rong was stunned, and so were the other soldiers.

"How many soldiers and horses are there?" Chai Rong asked again.

Zhu Xiu grinned and said, "Less than five thousand!"

Li Chongjin shouted: "Impossible! There are 3 to [-] people in that formation!"

Zhu Xiu spread his hands and smiled and said: "It's really only five thousand. I ordered people to hang branches on the tails of mules and horses, and also asked the soldiers to cut many branches and drag them on the ground as they ran, raising dust, so it looked scary.

There are also military flags, which were also temporarily found from Jinzhou. They were pieced together here and there. Almost everyone had a flag and tied it to the head of the gun.

Some of the flags were even left by the Shi Jin Dynasty and Liu Han Dynasty. If Liu Chong looked carefully, he would be furious! "

Everyone was dumbfounded, even this damn thing!
Chai Rong's face trembled and he was quite speechless.

"Where have the remaining rear army troops gone?"

Zhu Xiu was surprised and said: "I secretly reported to Your Majesty before taking action. Could it be that it was not delivered?"

Chai Rong looked towards Zhang Yongde. Zhang Yongde thought about it carefully and said hurriedly: "There is indeed a secret report sent, but the war was fierce at that time and the situation was not good. I forgot about it for a while. Please forgive me!"

Zhang Yongde groped around on his body for a while, but couldn't find the secret report.

Chai Rong said: "It doesn't matter. During a war, oversights are inevitable. Zhu Xiu, tell me, what happened?"

Zhu Xiu quickly told him his arrangement.

"I made my own opinions without your Majesty's will. Please forgive me!" Zhu Xiu made a gesture to prostrate himself.

Chai Rong waved his hand and said with a smile: "It doesn't matter, I originally wanted to arrange it this way, but I had limited troops and was worried that dividing the troops too much would affect the decisive battle, so I abandoned Diaohuang Ridge and put all my money into Jiangzhu Ridge.

You and I thought about it together and made up for this omission, which is great! "

"Thank you for your generosity, Your Majesty!" Zhu Xiu bowed his head and thanked him, feeling relieved in his heart.

Chai Rong's magnanimity is based on strong self-confidence. He believes that no matter how talented he is, he can control it.

This is also one of his most attractive personality charms, so Zhu Xiucai dared to play the trick of predicting the future in front of him.

Liu Ci reminded: "Your Majesty, Liu Chong's defeated troops numbered more than ten thousand. We must not give the enemy a chance to breathe. We must gather our troops as soon as possible and pursue the victory!"

All the generals agreed.

Chai Rong said: "Please ask General Liu to lead the rear army, and then integrate some troops and horses to pursue the enemy. Who is willing to cooperate with General Liu to pursue the enemy?"

Zhao Kuangyin was the first to stand up: "I will go there eventually!"

Chai Rong showed a hint of appreciation, "Okay! You will assist Old General Liu and try your best to force Liu Chong's defeated army back toward Jiangzhuling!"

The two of them took the order and left.

Chai Rong looked around the crowd and said in a deep voice: "What I want to know now is, what happened to the Dongxiang Army? Where are Fan Aineng and He Hui?"

Everyone looked at each other, and Xiang Xun stood up and said, "Your Majesty, the East Chamber Army was defeated and fled, and Fan Aineng and He Hui were missing! I heard from the defeated East Chamber soldiers that it was Fan Aineng and He Hui who could not stop Zhang Yuanhui's onslaught , took the lead to escape from the battlefield. At that time, some people shouted that the Zhou army was defeated, Your Majesty, Your Majesty."

Xiang Xun glanced at Chai Rong and didn't dare to say anything more.

Chai Rong looked cold and stern: "You said that I have been killed or captured?"

Xiang Xun lowered his head and said: "The Dongxiang army was disorganized because of this and had no intention of fighting anymore. More than a thousand infantry surrendered and the rest fled!"

Chai Rong was so angry that he was shaking all over. He didn't expect that Fan Aineng and He Hui, whom he had entrusted with important tasks, would be so unbearable. Before the war was over and the victory or defeat was not decided, they abandoned their soldiers and fled the battlefield.

With such an incompetent and useless general, it is no wonder that the East Wing Army was almost destroyed.

It was just a little short of causing the whole war to end in disastrous defeat.

Chai Rong suppressed his anger and shouted: "Who knows where these two people fled to?"

Everyone looked at each other.

Zhu Xiu suddenly said calmly: "When I came on the road with Old General Liu Ci, I met the fleeing soldiers and told Fan Aineng and He Hui to pass on the message. They bluntly said that the Khitan army arrived and the Zhou army was defeated miserably. All the survivors surrendered!"

When the generals heard this, they were so angry that they cursed their mothers.

Li Chongjin said angrily: "It's okay for the two thieves to run away on their own, but they still dare to spread rumors and cause trouble! If these words spread to Jincheng and Kaifeng, the court will not be able to turn into a pot of chaos!"

Xiang Xun said: "Your Majesty, these two people are causing harm to the morale of the army and cannot be retained!"

Shi Yanchao also cursed: "Your Majesty, please kill these two people to calm the morale of the army!"

Chai Rong's face was gloomy, and he gritted his teeth and shouted: "Preach my decree and gather the fleeing soldiers immediately. If you don't return to camp within seven days, you and your family will be punished and executed!"

(End of this chapter)