Ji Han Liu Zhang

"General, Yan requests permission to charge." Zhang Yan pointed at the Yuan army formation not far away and asked Zhang Ren for permission in a loud voice.

Zhang Renyi's eyes were as sharp as an eagle's. After scanning Yuan's army's formation, he shook his head and rejected Zhang Yan's request.

Then he explained to Zhang Yan, who was a little disappointed because his request was rejected, "If the enemy's formation has not been set up, we can charge at it, but the enemy has already set up the formation, with chevaux de frise in front and spears behind, and they are as strong as a rock. If we charge at the formation, even if we can break the formation, the casualties will be high. This is not the way to use troops."

"General, you are right. It was Yan who acted rashly." Zhang Yan criticized himself, and then he showed a worried look on his face: "But if we don't move forward and let Yuan's army escape, wouldn't that be like letting a tiger run away?"

"No hurry." Zhang Ren's face was calm, and he said calmly: "Lou Fa, Yin Pu and others will arrive soon. Let's hand over the Yuan army blocking the road to Lou Fa and Yin Pu. You and I will not look for other ways to pursue the majority of Yuan's troops."

Zhang Ren had no intention of attacking and clearing out the Yuan army that was guarding the rear in front of him. His goal was to delay Gao Gan's journey to Hedong, so his target was naturally the majority of Yuan's troops. The group of Yuan troops guarding the rear would be handed over to Lou Fa and Yin Pu for handling.

As for whether taking a detour and thus increasing the distance would result in being unable to catch up with the main part of Yuan's army, Zhang Ren had no worries about this. After all, all his men were cavalry, and galloping and charging were their strengths.

Not long after, Lou Fa and Yin Pu led the infantry to the place and took over the task of attacking the rear guard of Yuan army from Zhang Ren. Zhang Ren and Zhang Yan, on the other hand, led the cavalry to take a detour and pursue the main force of Yuan army.

Zhang He saw what the Qin army was doing, so he called over several scouts and said, "Go, report to General Gao as soon as possible, and tell him to be cautious when marching and be careful of the Qin cavalry."

"Yes." Several scouts received the order, then rode out from behind the army formation and headed in different directions. In this way, even if there was only one of them left, they could pass the message to the senior officials of Bingzhou Mu.

At the front of the army, the troops led by Lou Fa and Yin Pu had already engaged in battle with the troops led by Zhang He.

When facing the enemy in battle, bows and arrows come first.

Therefore, the two sides started shooting at each other, using arrows to hit each other. After a fight, both sides suffered casualties.

"It's a powerful crossbow." Based on the power of the arrows shot by Yuan's army, which is beyond the reach of bows and arrows, and only a powerful crossbow has such strength, Lou Fa inferred that Yuan's army was using a powerful crossbow, not ordinary bows and arrows.

Of course, what made Lou Fa even more certain that Yuan Jun was using a powerful crossbow was that he had very good eyesight and saw from a distance that the weapon in Yuan Jun's hand was very different from the simple bow and arrow, so he made a 100% certainty of it.

In comparison, Yin Pu's eyesight was not as good as Lou Fa's, but he could still distinguish the power of arrows and crossbow arrows. He nodded and said, "Indeed, only crossbow arrows have such power."

"Let the Eagle Shooters move forward." Lou Fa gave an order. Since Yuan's army was using powerful crossbows, they would be at a disadvantage in a shootout, so he sent out his most valiant archers - the Eagle Shooters.

The falconer is named after his ability to shoot an eagle owl, and only those who can shoot an eagle owl can earn the title of falconer.

As the Eagle Strikers moved forward and shot their arrows accurately, the number of people in the front line of Yuan's army gradually fell, and gaps appeared in the formation.

"Raise your shields and move forward with me." Zhang He shouted, giving up the shooting and sending his sword and shield soldiers forward to stabilize the formation. Lou Fa and Zhang He were fighting fiercely here, and Gao Gan, who had escaped, received the news from Zhang He and looked worried.

Gao Gan's worry disappeared immediately, and he smiled and said, "Zhang Ren is really hospitable. He came to see us off when we left. He is really too enthusiastic."

Gao Lan at the side chuckled twice in agreement, then he put away his smile and said to Gao Gan: "Envoy, we should send scouts far away and be prepared to fight the enemy at the same time, in case the Qin army suddenly arrives and we are unable to respond in time."

"Of course." Gao Gan nodded in response, with a look of secret delight on his face, because the Qin cavalry bypassed Zhang He who was behind the palace and pursued him, which gave him an excuse to slow down his pace. He could slowly move towards Hedong, but he didn't have to go too fast.

"Qu Yi, Qu Yi, you have to hold on and wait for Nai Gong to arrive!" Gao Gan looked south and laughed evilly in his heart. It was not that he was not rushing to rescue, but the Qin army was chasing too closely and he had no chance.

"Order the entire army to slow down the march." Gao Gan instructed the messenger, and then looked at Gao Lan and said, "General Gao, I'll have to trouble you with the reserve matters. I really don't trust him."

"Yes." Gao Lan bowed and accepted the order. He then turned his horse around and headed to the rear of the team. He would lead the rear part of the team to deal with the possible arrival of the Qin army.

……

Guo Yuan, who went ahead and led his troops south to rescue Qu Yi, was yawning on horseback with a bored look on his face.

Guo Yuan had no enthusiasm for rescuing Qu Yi. He didn't like Qu Yi very much, and even felt a little disgusted with him. It was a good thing that Qu Yi died, as he wouldn't have to deal with Qu Yi's sour face and bad temper in the future.

However, as a vanguard reinforcement, Guo Yuan knew that he still had to put on an act, otherwise if Qu Yi died, he would have to bear some blame. But with his status and position, even if he failed to save Qu Yi, the punishment would be hung high and fall slowly, which would not be a big deal for him.

However, in order to reduce the possible blame he would suffer in the future, Guo Yuan planned to put on a show so that he would work harder and be criticized less. As the saying goes, even if he has no credit, he has worked hard.

With this in mind, Guo Yuan's pace was not slow. He hurried and covered half of the distance. In another five or six days, he might be able to reach Hedong.

"Qu Yi, oh Qu Yi, you bastard, you insisted on leading the troops to Hedong and refused to go with us. Now you have troubled us to rescue you. You really deserve it."

Although he was on horseback, Guo Yuan still felt tired and exhausted from the march. He cursed Qu Yi in his heart. He originally disliked Qu Yi, and now he wished that Qu Yi would die soon.

If he received the news of Qu Yi's death before arriving in Hedong, Guo Yuan began to fantasize. If Qu Yi died, he would not need to rescue him. He could stay in Shangdang County to recuperate and wash away the fatigue of fighting for many months.

Thinking of this, Guo Yuan began to look forward to the news of Qu Yi's death, preferably as soon as possible, and he must not rush to Hedong. If Qu Yi was still alive, he would have to fight against the Qin army.

This will require a lot of hard work. (End of this chapter)