Goose Three Kingdoms

Chapter 524 Vulnerable

Around five o'clock in the afternoon, Yuan Shang's central army gradually approached Zhuo County.

Looking at the smoke and dust covering the road, there was no end in sight for Yuan’s army.

Zhuo County immediately opened the city walls and prepared cattle and wine for military support.

At the city gate, Yuan Shang's chariot stopped and he watched his soldiers enter the city and take over the city tower.

At this time, the magistrate of Zhuo County and other county officials and representatives of powerful people could only smile apologetically.

The scout came from the north, his voice hoarse: "The enemy army broke through the siege and headed north. The Youzhou troops have been defeated!"

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!"

Tian Chou jumped up in anger after hearing this. His whole body felt much lighter at that moment. He pointed at the scout and said, "This is a false report! A lie about military intelligence!"

The scout had a look of shock on his face and turned to look at Li Fu.

Li Fu turned his head to look at the military official in the general's shogunate, who nodded: "It is definitely not a false report."

The scout then breathed a sigh of relief, and only then did he realize that he had really been to the gates of hell.

Yuan Shang glanced at the officials and nobles of Zhuo County and saw their bewildered expressions. He couldn't help but smile, but then he suppressed his sarcasm and asked, "How are the casualties of Youzhou's troops?"

"The enemy army rushed straight to the north, and the central army fought, killing the Youzhou general Yan Rou in battle; the eastern front also launched a fierce attack, and the Youzhou soldiers fled to the river bank. Because the pursuit on the eastern front was fierce, they went up the river bank to the northwest."

After a pause, the scout continued, "A few Youzhou cavalry have fled to Liangxiang County, and the city has closed its gates and is firmly defending. At this moment, on the south bank of the river, there are more than 10,000 horses of Youzhou soldiers scattered, and the enemy troops are dividing their forces to surround it."

"Humph."

Yuan Shang snorted and laughed, then turned to Li Fu and said, "See, this little thief is so arrogant that he dared to gather up the stray horses even after reaching such a point."

Tian Chou's face turned green. In order to deliver more than 10,000 cavalry to the battlefield, many horses were seconded.

Now, a person with great appeal like Yan Rou died in battle, and a large number of horses fell into the hands of the enemy.

This is not an ordinary horse, it is a good horse, or at least a well-trained draft horse.

Li Fu did not respond to Yuan Shang's ridicule, but immediately asked the scout: "How is my army?"

The scout glanced at Tian Chou and said, "Seeing that the Youzhou soldiers are in danger, they have already stepped forward to engage in battle."

Tian Chou didn't think that this was a favor. He probably just took a fancy to the horses running around and thought he could take advantage of them, so he rushed forward in a hurry.

Thinking of the opponent's combat effectiveness, Tian Chou's mentality unexpectedly calmed down a lot. He wanted to yell and blame Yuan Jun for his slow pursuit, but he felt that it was really unnecessary.

At this time, Tian Chou showed gratitude on his face, and bowed to Yuan Shang on the chariot: "General, your kindness will be forever unforgettable to the people of this state."

"We should work together to defeat the enemy. This is what we should do."

Yuan Shang responded verbally, but gave Li Fu a look. Li Fu understood, turned around and left the chariot, and said to several core shogunate officials who caught up with him: "I think Lu Xiang's pursuit alone will be met with an unexpected event. Immediately send a message to the front army to camp in Liangxiang County for the night."

"Here."

As the few men bowed, more than 40 miles to the north, Lu Xiang looked in horror at the heavy chariots that were heading straight towards him.

He deliberately moved the battle flag backwards, and in addition to the cavalry that was deployed to participate in the fighting, he still had a group of troops in front of him.

The cavalry, numbering more than 300, marched slowly along the road in formation, but were broken up by the huge chariots. The armored cavalry accompanying the chariots were even more valiant, and wherever they passed, all the Yuan army knights within the attack range of their spears, halberds, and horse lances were knocked off their horses one after another.

He no longer cared about the knights who had been sent out to chase and kill him and to seize his horses. He immediately shouted to his left and right: "Sound the horn! Retreat! Retreat quickly!"

As they shouted, the forty or so armored cavalrymen who had broken through the three hundred-odd cavalrymen in front of him crashed into the crowd near Lu Xiang's battle flag one after another like a meteor shower.

Some armored cavalry had better attack angles and could break through seven or eight knights in succession.

If nothing unexpected happens, those who fail to break out of the formation will be knocked off their horses by the larger number of Hebei knights around them.

But what was surprising was that these armored knights were incredibly powerful. Although they were squeezed in the crowd, they could hold spears and halberds in both hands and spin very fast.

Even if the Hebei knights raised their spears and halberds to block, they would often be knocked off their horses.

Lu Xiang's personal cavalry had no time to step forward to resist. They could only watch as Tai Shi Wen Gong rode his horse wildly towards them, breaking through six or seven knights in succession, and forcing his way through the gaps between them. The Fang Tian Ji in his hand was firmly stabbed into Lu Xiang's lumbar spine behind his back.

Then they could only watch as the other party picked up Lu Xiang, held him high up as if to show off, and then smashed him hard on several knights, knocking down both the knights and their horses.

escape!
This was the consensus of the surrounding Hebei Knights, and they turned around and ran away.

The black bear was simply unable to chase them down.

When he turned north again, more than a thousand prisoners from the previous battle area had already started working, moving and clearing the roadside log blockades.

Not long after the Black Bear chariot stopped, Zhang Liao came galloping over on his horse. As soon as he got on the chariot, Black Bear handed him a bowl of tea.

Zhang Liao didn't bother to thank him. He raised his hand to wipe the dried blood stains on his face. After rubbing off some of the blood, he took the tea with both hands and quickly drank the sweet tea. He didn't know if it was an illusion that his heart was warm or for some other reason, but most of Zhang Liao's tiredness was gone.

After drinking the tea, Zhang Liao panted and said, "Now that we have killed General Lu Xiang of Hebei, Yuan's army will not dare to pursue us. I think the previous plan of setting up a battle array with our backs to the water is no longer feasible. It would be better to withdraw soldiers and go upstream to the south bank to pursue and kill the defeated soldiers of Youzhou."

"rational."

Black Bear picked up the teapot and poured tea for Zhang Liao, then said, "Chasing and killing the fleeing soldiers is feasible, but I hope you can chase them instead of killing them, so as to put pressure on them and force them to flee continuously until they are exhausted and surrender. My goal is not to capture as many as I can, but to break their courage."

Zhang Liao drank tea again and nodded after finishing it: "Yes, I will pursue them closely and never advance rashly. We will cross the river and return to Ji County tomorrow morning."

"Well, the general's mission is to pursue, not to capture. Tomorrow morning, I will leave Ji County to help the general cross the river."

Black Bear poured tea for Zhang Liao again, and Zhang Liao understood everything completely. Although they were chasing, the people they were chasing could be equipped with two or three horses, while the fleeing Youzhou knights only had one horse each.

Although this pursuit forced the enemy to run a certain distance, the men and horses are now exhausted.

As long as he catches up, the people of Youzhou who can't hold on or run away will surrender.

Anyway, the people of Youzhou knew that they were not the various Hu people. Even if they were the well-dressed and powerful people in Hedong and Taiyuan counties who joined the rebellion, the heaviest punishment they would receive was to be enlisted in the Death Squad.

The Guanzhong soldiers did kill surrendered captives, but most of them were Xiongnu and Xianbei captives.

Most of the surrendered captives were those who could not speak the language and had serious physical differences. Compared with those people, the people of Youzhou did not need to worry about their personal safety after surrendering.

Black Bear has more experience in cleaning up battlefields and treating wounded soldiers.

Leave Zhang Liao to do it. If the Hebei people suddenly attack, Zhang Liao will have no other means except fighting with all his might.

Black Bear himself is different. If Yuan Shang dares to rush up and smash the pot on his body, he will dare to take off Yuan Shang's head.

(End of this chapter)