The gods began by supporting Guo Jing to become emperor

Chapter 344: The Battle and the Killing
In mid-November of the 16th year of Daye, a cold wind blew from the north, and after the first snow, the weather was freezing cold.

The city of Yangzhou had regained its former prosperity, with a strong political power in place. With a war about to begin and countless grain and fodder supplies in transit, the Grand Canal had regained its vitality.

Under the eaves, the streets are still bustling with pedestrians and vendors, and there are no fewer people. However, since the various alliances in Guanzhong began to raise troops, the price of food in the city has been changing every day and has gradually increased.

But in that era, it was not difficult for thousands or tens of thousands of people to starve to death in one winter. Although there was food in the south, it took time to circulate, and the food price was first supplied to the Wu military. Therefore, it was rising, but it was much better than the two years after Yang Guang's death. Although there were people who could not eat, the local government evaporated the labor, transported food and fodder, and dredged the canal. As long as there was a little strength, people would not starve to death.

Similarly, places like taverns also raised their prices. When it snowed in winter, taverns of all sizes in the city became the most lively and noisy places.

One diner picked up some peanuts and chewed them with a loud crunch. He said under the influence of alcohol, "I heard that the north is going to attack. My brother just came from there. The Turkic cavalry is really fierce. I don't know if Wu can win this time."

A plump middle-aged man beside him shook his head and said, "Of course I need to say that. Back then, Wu defeated the enemy with fewer troops in Shu, and the south never lost. What can those people do?"

"That may not be the case. The King of Wu is powerful, but the Turkic cavalry is extremely powerful. Several families in the north have united. As the saying goes, a single tiger cannot defeat a pack of wolves. I'm afraid it's doomed this time." Someone on the other side retorted.

……

Such debates are common in the city. Keyboard politics has always been something that most men like to hear and hear, and it is also the topic of their conversation after dinner.

As the war is about to begin, the whole city of Yangzhou is plunged into a solemn atmosphere. Martial law is imposed inside and outside the city, and soldiers in armor enter and exit the city gates every day. However, this does not affect the opening of brothels in the city. Recently, Shang Xiufang, known as the most talented woman in the world, even moved in, attracting the city's noble families to compete with each other, wanting to meet her.

……

Three days ago, Yu Wenzhi sent a declaration of war, in which he agreed that the two sides would have a decisive battle outside Luoyang.

On this day, on the banks of the Luo River, the weather was sunny and windy, and flags covered the sky, stretching for thousands of miles.

"Boom, boom, boom..."

The rumbling of drums echoed in the sky above the plains, and a huge square formation like a dark cloud gradually took shape, as if a black line connecting the sky and the earth was spreading over. The vision expanded forward and backward, and flags stood in a forest, waving and rolling in the morning light like a block of sky and sun. The densely packed soldiers marched in unison, facing the sun, and large flags with red characters on black backgrounds, such as "Wu" and "Song", fluttered in the wind.

Suddenly, a voice exploded among the army, and it was heard from far away, "Form a line!"

Following the order, the array of 10,000 people in the three directions of left, right and front split from the central army, and marched forward with rumbling footsteps, or moved left and right to make some space. As they moved, the collision of shields and swords made slight banging sounds, and several equally large phalanxes took shape one after another. For this battle, the Song clan dispatched an army of 200,000, all of whom were veterans who had been on the battlefield and seen blood.

"kill!"

The overwhelming sound roared as if rolling up the clouds and making the air tremble.

Song Que, Li Jing, Kou Zhong and other Wu generals rode on their horses, staring into the distance. The air was filled with a deadly atmosphere, like a powder keg that was about to explode, as if it would explode at the next moment.

In addition to the military generals, the masters of the Wu State were also on the battlefield. Taoist temples such as Louguan Dao, Longhu Mountain, and Qingcheng Mountain all sent reinforcements. The weakest ones were martial artists at the peak of their acquired abilities, and it wasn't supposed to be like this originally.

However, the Guanlong Alliance invited foreign races into the pass, which aroused the hostility of the entire Taoist community. If it was a civil war, it would have been fine, but they chose to invite a wolf into the house. The major Taoist sects jointly dispatched their elite masters to assist the Song army, expel the foreign races, and unify the world.

A few quarters of an hour later, dust and smoke filled the distance like a long rolling dragon. The sharp sound of arrows spread throughout the area. In an instant, particles of soil rose up and the ground shook with a vibration.

The moment Kou Zhong's vision narrowed, he saw countless war horses galloping towards him from far and near. Their hooves were like thunder, tearing the earth apart. For a moment, he was a little distracted. Are these the Turkic cavalry? They are indeed strong!
Before our eyes, as the whistle sounded, the Turkic cavalry quickly split from both sides, slowed down, and stopped their horses in a short while.

In the enemy camp, a man drove his warhorse forward and shouted loudly, "Song Que, you will definitely lose this battle. As long as you withdraw from Jianghuai and hand over Shu, you can take all the land in the south. I can make you a hereditary prince."

Song Que's eyes narrowed slightly, and he said in a deep voice, "How dare a mere lackey of a foreign race dare to usurp the throne of emperor? This is really ridiculous. The outcome of this battle is still unknown. It won't be long before I will break into Chang'an and use your head as a sacrifice to the heavens!"

Hearing this, Yu Wenzhi's face turned cold, "If that's the case, then let's fight!"

After saying this, he returned to the battle formation, drew the sword from his waist, and shouted loudly, "Go out and kill the enemy!"

In an instant, the army moved together, slowly advancing forward, and the heavy footsteps sounded like thunder.

"kill!"

Song Que swung the long sword in his hand, and the sound echoed throughout the battlefield.

Both sides advanced several hundred steps, first with bows and crossbows shooting, a rain of arrows arcing across the sky, landing in front of them and into the crowd, and as they were nailed into the soil, madly rushing footsteps stepped over it,

"Raise your shield!"

The infantry on both sides held up their shields, and the large shields wrapped in iron sheets were pressed down. Thousands of iron spears were stretched out at the same time to form a spear formation, and they moved forward under the rain of arrows. Among them, soldiers were constantly hit by arrows and fell to the ground and died.

When they got a hundred steps closer, they began to shoot arrows.

The infantry battle was very methodical and there was nothing much to say, but Song Que's eyes were not on the enemy's infantry formation, but were fixed on the Turkic cavalry on both wings of the enemy.

These cavalrymen carried quivers and various weapons in their hands, and their bodies were relaxed, as if they were grazing. But Song Que knew that as long as their Khan gave the order, these people would turn into a surging cavalry formation and pierce the weakest point in the Wu line.

In less than two quarters of an hour, the front armies of both sides finally came into contact, but in these short two quarters of an hour, many corpses fell, and the battlefield stretched for several miles, dark and dense.

Song Que could clearly see the local flags, and as expected, Wang Shichong also joined the war.

"Everyone, kill!"

Following his order, generals such as Kou Zhong began to charge, and the lines of both sides were dense and tight.

There was a three-foot-long white light on the pitch-black blade, which drew a semicircle and chopped through the human body and the warhorse's head. There was a cracking sound, and at that moment when blood and flesh flew, the red warhorse rushed into the high-speed charging array. At this moment, he was like a fish in water.

In the coalition front, a man saw Kou Zhong's bravery and his soldiers fleeing continuously, and he shouted, "Young man, wait for me, Yuwen Wudi, to kill you!" On the battlefield, the voices were chaotic, but Kou Zhong heard these words, pulled the reins, and looked through the overlapping crowd. He saw Yuwen Wudi wearing iron armor in the formation at a glance.

"Little bastard of the Yuwen family, I, Kou Zhong, am here!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he spurred his horse to charge. The man and the horse became one, and they passed through the enemies in front of them at lightning speed. The waving blade smashed the iron spears that were stabbing at him on the way forward. Human bodies flashed past him, and both the man and the horse were split in half. Blood flowed on the ground. No one could stop the simple and sharp blade.

The warhorse, with its head smashed and its neck cut, fell to the ground with a mournful cry.

With just one horse, he killed his way through the array of two thousand charging infantrymen. The fighting figures intersected with the knights on war horses. The sounds of weapons colliding and breaking, flesh and blood popping, and the crisp sound of fluttering brocade being torn. Kou Zhong rushed out from the rear formation, his arms and hair were covered with the blood of the enemies. Hundreds of people had died at his hands. His bright armor was covered with blood stains, and the traces of swords and spears were particularly obvious. The cloak on his back had turned into tattered strips of cloth, and he looked quite embarrassed.

But the long sword in his hand did not sluggish at all, but became sharper. With a slight swing, the sword energy burst out and pierced the enemy's head. In a moment, he arrived in front of Yuwen Wudi alone.

"General, we've stopped him, you run!" His personal soldiers shouted and stepped forward waving their weapons.

When Yuwen Wudi saw the ferocious look in Kou Zhong's eyes, he felt as if he was being stared at by a ferocious beast. His bones went soft and he fled on his horse in panic. As soon as he left, the flags of the entire detachment moved with him, and the military momentum collapsed instantly.

"Go away!"

Looking at the person coming in front of him, Kou Zhong's eyes turned cold, and he circulated the true energy of the Changsheng Jue. The surging internal energy chopped down along the blade, turning into a three-meter-long sword energy that spread out.

"Pfft!"

Dozens of cavalrymen ran a few steps and suddenly stopped. Then, blood burst out and gushed out like a fountain. Headless corpses fell from the horse's back. This scene stunned all the enemies on the battlefield around. While the enemy was shocked, Kou Zhong urged his horse to catch up with the fleeing Yuwen Wudi as fast as lightning.

Looking at the figure being protected, he grabbed a spear and swung it with all his strength. The spear shot out, piercing through the air with a "whoosh" sound, and turned the figure several feet away into a gourd.

While running, Yuwen Wudi felt a pain in his chest. He looked down and saw the tip of a gun sticking out of his chest. Blood was flowing out. Then he fell off his horse. Kou Zhong rode forward, chopped off his head with a knife and took him away. He rode away in the chaos of the army and none of the enemies around him dared to stop him.

……

On the other side, the two sides were in a stalemate. The infantrymen holding shields and spears in the rear were mobilized to the front line, thrusting their shields into the ground with all their might and stepping their feet hard to make deep pits.

In the Wu army camp, catapults were lined up in a row. A moment later, stones fell from the sky, smashing the coalition forces to the point of crying for their parents.

……

As time went by, the Turks who were watching discovered that something was wrong. Zhao Deyan said, "Great Khan, the situation of the coalition forces is not right. We have to send troops."

Jie Li Khan was furious, "They are all useless. It's only been a short time since we started fighting, and they can't even hold on. They still need our help." Twenty thousand cavalrymen deployed to the battlefield are enough to change the situation, but it does not mean that he is willing to do so.

Cavalry is a powerful weapon on the battlefield, but if it is deployed too early, it is easy to cause damage to one's own side. The Turks wanted to deal a fatal blow to the Wu army at a critical moment and minimize the damage.

But they didn't expect that after only a few hours of fighting, the coalition forces were already losing. How could this be possible?
Jie Li Khan would not be so naive as to think that after the coalition forces were defeated, their 200,000 cavalry could defeat the enemy's 200,000 troops. Judging from the posture displayed by the Wu army, it would be difficult for the Turkic cavalry to defeat them. If something went wrong, they might even be surrounded and killed.

It is true that cavalry are good at charging, but it depends on what kind of enemy they are facing. Song Que's central army had not moved. He could not see clearly what was hidden in the enemy's formation. He had been waiting for the enemy's line to be torn apart, but he did not expect that what he waited for was the collapse of the coalition line.

"Okay, let's send out our troops, attack from both sides, and break through Huihe as soon as possible!"

"As ordered!"

"Boom!"

The sound of horse hooves was like thunder, and the fighting soldiers were surprised to find that the ground beneath their feet was shaking.

The soldiers turned their heads, their pupils shrank, and they looked at the huge cavalry group approaching quickly with trembling bodies. As the ground shook more and more, the strong pressure made it difficult for them to breathe.
As the horses' hooves approached and the moment their manes could almost be seen, the two outer rows of cavalry suddenly turned left and right, drew their bows and shot. Arrows shot out from the hands of the Turkic cavalry who kept turning in arcs, and pierced into the people with guns behind their shields. Blood splattered, and as the figures fell and the gaps appeared, the pressure on the coalition forces suddenly decreased, and the defeated front line gradually stabilized and pressed forward again.

The rows of charging cavalrymen smashed shields violently, and the bodies lifted into the air fell down to crush the spears. More horses stepped on their iron hooves and penetrated the crowd. The defensive spears stabbed wildly, piercing through people's bodies and knocking them off their horses. The soldiers holding spears were hit by the galloping horses and fell to the ground, vomiting blood. The generals gritted their teeth and pushed forward with all their might, and the light cavalry behind them followed closely, like an ox plow turning a blood-red streak in the crowd.

At this moment, the Wu army made way for a path on their flank, and a large number of cavalrymen rushed out of the camp.

"kill!"

The leading knight roared and chopped the shield with a knife. With a loud bang, wood chips flew out dramatically, and the body of the man behind the shield flew backwards, spilling blood.

"Where did Wu get so many cavalry?"

On the chariot, Jie Li Khan stared with eyes wide open, looking at the scene in disbelief. It was true that the Wu State had cavalry, but in their view, they were just infantrymen who could ride horses.

But I didn't expect the other party to be so large. A rough look showed that there were no less than 10,000 of them.

Li Jing rode on a horse, wielding a long sword, unstoppable, and entangled with a part of the Turkic cavalry. The two sides fought, the sounds of horse hooves entangled, and cavalrymen kept falling off their horses and were trampled into meat paste by the cavalrymen who rushed up from behind.

"Change!"

At this moment, the charging cavalry sent a military order, which was passed down to the generals. Behind the front line, the soldiers cleared the road and pushed forward chariots covered with iron sheets from behind. These chariots were connected by iron chains and had shields erected on them. There were holes on the shields. The charging cavalry ran through the crowd, killed in front of them, and crashed directly into the shield chariots. At this time, long spears were passed out from the holes and pierced through their bodies in an instant.

"Go back!"

The Turkic cavalry had never seen such tactics before, and they shouted loudly and changed their formations.

(End of this chapter)