Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 521 Escape from Control
The sky was bright and smoke filled the area around the battlefield.

Yuan Shang stopped his chariot on the side of the road. After the chariot stopped, he slowly scanned the main battlefield of last night.

There were two main battlefields last night, only a little more than two miles apart.

He came to the southern end of the battlefield, which was the area where the Fanyang defenders were fighting. When he arrived, the Fanyang defenders were cleaning the battlefield.

Carts of wounded soldiers were pulled by weak oxen and horses, with blood dripping from the bodies of the cars onto the road.

Most of the wounded soldiers were numb, and only a few would turn their heads and stare at the general's chariot under the embroidered banner.

Yuan Shang also turned his head to watch the cars slowly leaving. After a moment, he looked away and saw that Li Fu had returned. He asked, "Who is the commander of this army?"

"It was Zhang Nan. According to his personal soldiers, when he came to reinforce General Lu to attack the black bandits, the black bandits had already defeated General Lu. Tai Shi Wen Gong led more than a hundred elite cavalrymen to set up an ambush on the roadside and suddenly attacked from three sides. Zhang Nan rushed to the front and was killed by Tai Shi Wen Gong."

Li Fu tried to explain the information he had learned in a calm tone, and continued, "In a short time, Zhang Nan's personal guards were killed and scattered. Judging from the armor and badges of the dead today, 70% of Zhang Nan's personal guards were killed, nearly 20% were injured, and only 12 or 13 escaped. After Zhang Nan was killed in battle, the black bandit led his own troops to attack the main force. Our army had no one to command it, and we were unable to deploy, so we were defeated."

"When the black bandits saw our army coming out of the city and winding its way to the northwest, they didn't bother to kill the wounded. Except for a few officers whose heads were lost, most of our officers' bodies were intact, unlike the night before."

Li Fu restrained his expression and said, "Even if the bandits fled, they did not forget to gather the scattered and wounded soldiers. The battle last night was the same as the night before, and there were no corpses left behind by the enemy."

"Yeah, that's his usual trick."

Yuan Shang turned his head to look at the gradually rising sun, squinting his eyes. "Since he entered Guanzhong as General Tiger Fang, he has repeatedly issued orders to the army not to leave behind the bodies of his comrades. His army has issued merits, and losing the bodies of his comrades requires beheading twice to atone for the crime. This is for the situation like today, so that our army will not know about his injuries. But judging from the traces of the battle last night, his casualties are at least half of ours."

Li Fu took out the bamboo slips and rolled them up: "So, on the eve of the merger, in just these two nights, our army killed and wounded no less than 1,500 veterans under the Black Bandits?"

He looked puzzled and added: "With so many dead and wounded soldiers transported north, it will be difficult to remove the traces along the way."

"Well, you should investigate this matter yourself and don't tell anyone else. Just send a letter to the people of Youzhou, saying that the old black bandits are brave and tenacious. Last night our army killed and wounded no less than a thousand of them. There were only seven battalions of their elite troops, and now only five are left."

Yuan Shang gave the instructions, turned around and boarded the chariot, signaling the driver to go to the next battlefield.

They arrived here very quickly, because a large group of troops arrived first in the second half of the night. The wounded here had already been transferred away, and the fallen soldiers had been sorted out and placed in rows on the roadside.

Most of the bodies were intact, but some of the drummers were badly damaged.

When Yuan Shang passed the area where the drummer's body was, he signaled the vehicle to stop. He stood up and observed carefully. Puzzled, he told his attendants, "Go and check the injury carefully."

"Here."

A dozen veterans left the chariot and went up to check the bodies of the drummers. The worst-case scenario was that a drummer was chopped into several pieces by a heavy weapon from the shoulder along with the drum hanging in front of him.

As for the drummer next to him who was cut in half and had a horrified look on his face, he seemed more normal.

At least these veterans had seen drummers being cut in half on the battlefield before. After all, the drummers were not wearing armor, and it was understandable that they would be cut in half by heavy axes when they encountered strong warriors.

But the drummer who was split into several pieces at the shoulder was really beyond their understanding.

A leader of the personal guards also borrowed a horse, climbed on it, and used a Fang Tian Ji, which was used as a ceremonial weapon of the general, to simulate driving the horse forward, and then used the horse's power to perform chopping movements.

A personal soldier with whom he was on good terms acted as a target. When the horse stopped, the personal soldier repeatedly demonstrated the chopping path of the Fang Tian Ji. Then he looked at the corpse on the ground with its body broken from the left shoulder to the middle of the right thigh, and he couldn't help but feel puzzled.

After several simulations, we found that if the shoulder is chopped diagonally and appears from the armpit, it is in line with the attack effect of charging and slashing on horseback.

But to cut diagonally through the entire torso and then cut the thigh at a large angle... this is too difficult and is beyond my comprehension.

Yuan Shang and his men simulated the killing scene, and they were not only confused but also terrified and bewildered. He was an eyewitness to the bravery of Taishi Wengong.

If there is another person who can be compared with Taishi Wengong and participates in the battle, causing such tragic injuries, then when the two armies fight in broad daylight, he will be very passive.

"Report~!"

A shrill cry came from the north along the road. The scout saw the flag of the chariot and immediately reined in his horse to slow down. He shouted to Yuan Shang on the chariot: "Urgent report!"

Li Fu said, "Speak."

"The south gate of Ji County is open, and the enemy cavalry is coming south! They are black flags, and they are very elite!"

"Explore again!"

After Li Fu finished speaking, he turned to Yuan Shang and said, "General, please move forward."

"I can't leave. He wants to maintain the strength of his soldiers and horses from Ji County to here, so he can only arrive before noon. After our army has a full meal, we can also line up here before noon. Our army is ten times larger than his. If we exchange three men for one of his, it is still unknown who will win."

Yuan Shang said in a gloomy tone: "He dares to challenge me with a small army. Why should I hide?"

He turned his head and squinted to the north, "Inform all troops, feed the soldiers and horses, carry three days' worth of dry food, and march out of the camp to form a battle array."

At this time, Lu Xiang, who was in charge of cleaning the battlefield, came over quickly after hearing the sound, clasped his hands, and said with red eyes: "My lord, I am willing to lead the front team!"

Last night he moved a little too slowly. According to the original plan, when Black Bear burned the strongholds in the north of the city, they brothers would each lead more than a thousand elite troops to detour to the main road from both sides.

As a result, he was a little slower, while Lu Kuang was faster and did not wait, but launched an attack directly.

In the end, Lu Kuang was quickly annihilated by the enemy and did not hold out until the arrival of the Fan Yang defenders; then the Fan Yang defenders were quickly defeated after Zhang Nan charged in the front and was killed.

If Lu Kuang had waited for him for another quarter of an hour, the three armies would have been able to work together to entangle and hold the enemy, thus buying enough time for the main force of the army to move.

Now that the enemy is continuing to move south, it means that the number of troops involved in the battle last night was only about a thousand cavalry.

By sorting out the battlefield information, it is very likely that the fierce infantry of the other side participating in the battle are the legendary chariot camp.

The chariot troops have existed since ancient times, but the chariot troops in Guanzhong were most likely a type of heavy infantry that relied on vehicle transportation and then arrived at the battlefield to participate in the battle.

The information given by the defeated soldiers last night was the same. It was difficult to penetrate their armor with spears and halberds, and all kinds of heavy weapons with armor-piercing and blunt attacks were used. Once the elite armored soldiers were hit, they would immediately lose their combat capability.

As for Lu Kuang, Lu Xiang only found a headless body, which meant that his head had been taken away.

When Yuan Shang saw Lu Xiang asking for a fight, he was immediately in a dilemma, as he was reluctant to let Lu Xiang go to the front line.

At this time, another scout came to report: "My lord, the envoy from Youzhou is coming."

Yuan Shang immediately went to see Li Fu and said, "Go and stop this man and buy time while the soldiers clean up the battlefield."

"Here."

Li Fu also understood the importance of this matter, and he agreed immediately. He mounted his horse and led a dozen knights north along the road.

(End of this chapter)