Ji Han Liu Zhang

At night, the moon is bright in the sky and the fields are clear and bright.

"Order the whole army to prepare food at 3am and sneak across the river at 5am."

Guo Yuan, who was furious at being played by the Qin army, ordered all the officers to cross the river the next day. He gave up his reluctance to rescue Qu Yi, and no longer hesitated or waited. Instead, he decided to cross the river to fight the Qin army to the death in order to vent his anger.

However, although Guo Yuan was furious, he also knew the danger of crossing the river, especially since the Qin scouts were patrolling back and forth on the opposite bank during the day. If things went wrong, the Qin army might seize the opportunity and attack him halfway across the river.

Because of this, Guo Yuan planned to cross the river in the morning to catch the Qin army by surprise, thus reducing the risk of attacking the Qin army halfway across the river.

On the second day, before dawn, the surrounding area was dim, but Guo Yuan was wearing a helmet and armor, holding a sword, ready to fight.

Not only the commander Guo Yuan, but the soldiers under his command had also eaten early, their armors were neatly put on, their weapons were polished to a shine, revealing the cold blades.

Guo Yuan strode ahead and led his soldiers to the bank of the Qinshui River. More than a hundred small boats were swaying gently on the bank. It had been five or six days since he came here. Guo Yuan had not done nothing. These hundred small boats were the ones he had built and collected during this period.

No order to cross the river was given immediately. Guo Yuan first glanced at the other side. However, the sun had not yet risen, and the morning mist was thick. Although Guo Yuan squinted his eyes and looked hard for a while, he could not see the situation on the other side clearly.

However, there is one thing Guo Yuan can confirm, that is, the other side of the river is very quiet, and there doesn't seem to be any human traces. Guo Yuan is not surprised. At this time, most of the Qin army is still sleeping, so it is natural to be quiet.

Feeling a little relieved, Guo Yuan waved his hand and ordered the troops to start crossing the river. Under the urging of the military order, the soldiers silently boarded the boats. Soon, one small boat after another broke through the mirror-like water surface and headed towards the other side of the Qinshui River.

Guo Yuan stood at the bow, breaking through the fog on the water like a sharp blade. He, the commander, was actually among the first group of people to cross the river.

"The general is the bravest in the army." Guo Yuan agreed with this statement, so in every battle, he stood at the front of the team, and this time was no exception.

In addition to setting an example for the soldiers, Guo Yuan also had another plan. After crossing the river, they needed to form a formation to defend themselves in order to deal with the attack of the Qin army that discovered them crossing the river, and to protect the subsequent troops that crossed the river.

Guo Yuan was in command, boosted morale, and resisted the Qin army's attacks again and again. He boasted that no one in the army could compare to him.

Only if he, the commander, stood together with the team that crossed the river first, would the soldiers fighting a desperate battle hold their positions until the follow-up troops crossed the Qinshui River and firmly took root on the other side.

It took only a moment for him to think about this before the small boat touched the riverbank on the opposite bank. Guo Yuan raised and opened his right hand, then waved it forward a few times. The first batch of elite soldiers who were crossing the river understood his meaning, and they got off the boats, stepped onto the riverbank, and began to form a battle formation.

At this moment, the bright morning sun rose, and the morning mist dissipated a little. Gradually, the distance that could be seen in all directions became farther and farther, and within a hundred steps, there was no obstruction to the view.

Everything around him was still peaceful. Guo Yuan felt at ease and urged the second batch of soldiers to cross the river.

The second batch of soldiers also crossed the river quickly. There were more than a thousand Yuan army soldiers who crossed the river. Under the command of Guo Yuan, they formed a semicircular formation with their backs to Qinshui, a standard defensive formation.

As the second batch of soldiers crossed the Qinshui River, the morning sun struggled out from Dongshan, revealing its full appearance, and the morning mist dissipated completely.

Just as the third batch of more than 500 Yuan soldiers began to prepare to cross the river, the situation was no longer calm, but changed. The rumbling sound of drums sounded in front of Guo Yuan, and in the last light mist of the morning, the figures of the Qin army began to emerge, with cavalrymen riding tall horses and infantrymen wearing armor and holding sharp weapons, hundreds of steps away, rushing towards Guo Yuan's location.

"Hold on." Guo Yuan shouted loudly, encouraging his soldiers to keep the formation steady. A hint of panic flashed across his face. The Qin army came too fast. There were only a thousand people crossing the river under his command. It was really stressful to repel the enemy.

However, things had come to this point, and Guo Yuan had no choice but to constantly encourage his soldiers to hold their formation, while calling on the follow-up troops to cross the river as quickly as possible. Then he focused on fighting the oncoming Qin army and defending his current position on the river beach.

"Nock the arrows, draw the bows." Seeing the enemy cavalry rushing towards them, Guo Yuan ordered the archers to prepare for shooting. At the same time, he ordered the spearmen to raise their spears and get ready to move forward after the archers fired three arrows.

"I'll show you how you dare to be so arrogant and charge at infantry with your cavalry." Guo Yuan was not panicked when he saw the Qin cavalry getting closer and closer. He had fought against the White Horse Volunteers under Gongsun Zan before, so he had some experience in fighting cavalry.

Closer, just a hundred steps.

Eighty steps.

Seventy steps.

Guo Yuan stretched out his hand, ready to order the archers to shoot, but at this moment, the front of the Qin cavalry was like a wave broken by a boat, separating to the left and right, revealing the back row of the cavalry.

Is the Qin army afraid?

Just when Guo Yuan thought that the Qin cavalry were retreating cowardly, he saw the rear row of the Qin cavalry, and immediately a look of shock appeared on his face.

what is this?
Horse armor?

Horse armor doesn't have such a comprehensive defense...

I saw that the Qin cavalry in the back row, whether it was the people above or the horses below, were all wearing armor like fish scales. It was extremely comprehensive and airtight, without any gaps or flaws, like a steel machine.

Guo Yuan swallowed his saliva. He felt timid in his heart, and his expression was a little dazed due to shock.

By the time Guo Yuan recovered from his shock, the Qin cavalry were nearly forty steps away. He quickly ordered the archers to shoot, but the arrows flew, and had little effect on the armored Qin cavalry. After three blasts, none of the Qin cavalry fell off their horses.

"Spearmen move forward." Guo Yuan's voice trembled as he ordered the spearmen to move forward and the archers to step back.

The Yuan army spearmen who had never seen armored cavalry here, under Guo Yuan's strict order, held their spears tightly in their hands, with the tips of the spears slanted forward and the bases of the spears resting on the ground, staring at the Qin cavalry who were rushing towards them with panicked expressions.

Seeing the spearmen moving forward and backward, Guo Yuan stared at the Qin cavalry whose momentum was unabated, hoping with a little bit of luck that the spearmen could stop the momentum of the Qin cavalry's charge and maintain the semicircular formation with their backs to the water.

The Qin cavalrymen who were close to them, relying on the protection of their armor, rushed into the Yuan army formation like a cannonball, breaking a big hole in the Yuan army's circular formation. In an instant, the Yuan army formation was in chaos. (End of this chapter)