I am not Yuan Shu

Chapter 375 Where is my army?
Huang Zhong's arrival was quite opportune. Just then, Puli launched another attack on the county town, and Huang Zhong led his cavalry to attack from the rear. They quickly destroyed the Xianbei army camp, causing heavy casualties among the Xianbei soldiers.

By the time Pri realized something was wrong, it was too late.

Huang Zhong, wielding a long sword, led his army in a thunderous charge, heading directly towards the place where Puli was about to arrive.

He charged forward relentlessly, and no one could stop him wherever he went. He was like a god of war descended to earth, a god of slaughter reborn. In just a few breaths, he rushed to a place not far from Priyo and engaged in a wild battle with Priyo's personal guards. The men and horses were covered in blood.

Priya was all bark and no bite. When he saw the situation, he was so frightened that his soul almost left his body and his legs trembled. He couldn't withstand the pressure coming at him and ran away without caring about anything else.

However, he was still too slow. Huang Zhong and his personal guards had already broken through Puli Yao's personal guard line and spotted the well-dressed Puli Yao fleeing in disarray. Huang Zhong immediately threw away his longsword, drew his bow, nocked an arrow, focused his gaze, and the arrow shot out like lightning—

The bullet struck Priyo squarely in the back, piercing his chest. Priyo coughed up blood, looked at his chest in disbelief, then his eyes rolled back as he was thrown to the ground by the galloping warhorse, rolled several times, and died.

While Huang Zhong led his army to slaughter all sides, the morale of the Han army garrison and the young and strong defense force in Beiyu County was also greatly boosted. They opened the city gates and went out to meet the enemy. Together with the reinforcements, they quickly defeated the Xianbei and their vassal army and achieved the final victory.

When the results were tallied, they had killed more than a thousand Xianbei people, and more than a thousand of their auxiliary troops had also been killed. Most of the survivors were wounded or maimed.

This army of four thousand men was basically wiped out.

Huang Zhong also captured more than 1,500 warhorses, a very fruitful haul.

Soon, Lu Zhi and Zang Min arrived. Upon learning of Huang Zhong's heroic victory with fewer troops, Lu Zhi was overjoyed and repeatedly praised Huang Zhong. He then inquired about the battle situation in Wuquan County from the garrison commander of Beiyu County, gaining some understanding of the overall battle situation.

He then ordered the entire army to rest for half a day and have a full meal. The next morning, just as dawn broke, he led his troops forward to raid Wuquan County, which was under attack.

Wuquan County was actually in a worse situation than Beiyu County, because He Lian's main force was besieging Wuquan County, and he himself was also keeping an eye on the situation, driving his auxiliary troops to attack the city day and night, using all kinds of siege equipment.

Even when the morale of the auxiliary army was low due to the high casualty rate, he did not hesitate to order the Xianbei cavalry to dismount and join the siege, using their lives to fulfill their "loyalty" to Tanshihuai.

He didn't care about the casualty figures at all; he was fixated on Wuquan County and was determined to capture it. He felt he wouldn't be able to sleep well if he couldn't.

He didn't care much about the news that Puli was going to send Han troops to aid him before his demise.

In his view, with the Xianbei army marching south in a large force, the Han army could only struggle to cope and could hardly launch a counterattack. Even if troops came to support them, they would be small units and not worth worrying about. So he arranged for his trusted confidants to lead two thousand cavalrymen to provide assistance.

So before Huang Zhong even arrived in Wuquan County, he ran right into the cavalry that He Lian had arranged, and the two sides immediately engaged in a skirmish.

Huang Zhong led his army forward with the momentum of a great victory, and fought fiercely with the Xianbei cavalry. He led his personal guards to charge left and right, as if entering an empty field, displaying great power. In a short time, he defeated the Xianbei cavalry of about two thousand men with fewer troops.

After the Xianbei cavalry were routed, Huang Zhong went berserk and wanted to continue the pursuit, but his subordinate military commander Xu Huang hurriedly stepped forward to dissuade him.

"He Lian has surrounded Wuquan County with a large army of over 10,000 men, while our army only has 1,000. Although we have won, we are still no match for 10,000 men. Captain, you should clean up the battlefield and wait for General Lu's main force to arrive before advancing!"

Huang Zhong looked at his subordinate, who was also covered in blood from the fighting, and gradually calmed down. He patted Xu Huang on the shoulder.

"You're right, I almost made a mistake."

Therefore, Huang Zhong did not continue forward, but ordered his troops to clean up the battlefield, rest and eat on the spot, and sent someone to report the military situation to Lu Zhi and Zang Min, while waiting for the main force to arrive.

Lu Zhi was overjoyed to learn that Huang Zhong had once again achieved military merit. He ordered the entire army to speed up their advance and arrived at Huang Zhong's garrison south of Wuquan County on September 15. They joined forces with Huang Zhong, prepared 7,000 main troops, and marched together towards Wuquan County.

When He Lian learned that the reinforcements he had sent had been defeated by the Han army, he was furious. He ordered the defeated officers to be beheaded, and then reorganized 5,000 troops, preparing to personally lead them south to cause trouble for the Han army, determined to get revenge.

One of his subordinates earnestly advised him, saying that even the reinforcements they sent had been defeated, which only meant that the army besieging Beiyu County had also been defeated. They had already suffered heavy losses and should seek support from Tanshihuai instead of continuing their reckless actions.

How could He Lian possibly accept such a statement?
He hasn't even captured a single city, yet he's already lost a significant number of soldiers. If Tan Shihuai knew this, how furious would he be?
He Lian didn't even dare to think about it!
The only way to win now is through a forced attack, and then we can report back to Tan Shihuai!

Ignoring all advice, He Lian insisted on leading his army south. Just before setting off, he received a report from a scout that a large Han cavalry force was heading towards Wuquan County, numbering no less than five thousand. He Lian's men were astonished, but instead of being angry, He Lian laughed.

"Great! They've arrived before I even got there. Perfect! Let me wipe them all out here and show my army's might!"

So He Lian confidently ordered the army to be prepared, and managed to prepare 5,000 cavalry and 3,000 auxiliary troops who were still able to fight.

It was only then that He Lian realized something was amiss.

Don't I have an army of 16,000?

How come there's only half left now?

Only after being reminded by his subordinates did he realize that he had arranged a strategy of dividing his forces into seven routes, which had scattered many troops, and most of them had been defeated by the Han army.

Now that the Han army has concentrated its forces to attack, his side only has half of its troops left, and no longer has an absolute numerical advantage over the Han army.

He Lian felt a little scared and flustered, but he gritted his teeth and refused to admit his strategic mistake, nor did he accept the suggestion to retreat temporarily and move closer to Tan Shihuai. He decided to fight to the death.

"We still have more troops! As long as we dare to fight, we will surely win! How could we possibly retreat? The Great Chanyu has his mission, and I have mine. We will not retreat until our mission is accomplished! Attack with me!!"

He Lian gave a strict order to reorganize most of the army, leaving only a small number of men to continue surrounding Wuquan County to prevent the Han army in the city from breaking out, while he led the main force slowly toward the direction from which the Han army was coming to reinforce.

On the morning of September 17, the Han army and the Xianbei army encountered each other nine miles south of Wuquan County, and a fierce battle ensued.

The Xianbei continued to use classic mounted archery tactics to outmaneuver the Han army and wear them down, hoping to gain an advantage in speed. However, they did not expect that the Han cavalry was no less mobile than them.

They could ride two or even three horses at a time, a feat that the Han cavalry had also achieved in recent years. The gap in mobility between the two sides had narrowed considerably. Furthermore, the Han army possessed superior armor and weaponry, while the Xianbei were comprehensively outmatched in terms of equipment.

Their swords were not as sharp as those of the Han army, their armor was not as sturdy, and melee combat was not their specialty. As a result, once the Han cavalry got close, they quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.

Lu Zhi did not personally charge into battle, but instead took charge from the center. Zang Min, on the other hand, was eager to try, so Lu Zhi dispatched him to lead two thousand cavalry to attack from the left flank. Then Lu Zhi ordered Huang Zhong, who had previously made many meritorious contributions, to lead two thousand cavalry to attack from the right flank.

Lu Zhi himself led a thousand cavalry and two thousand infantry to form a line, stabilizing the central army and supporting the left and right wings.

Compared to Lu Zhi's methodical attack strategy, the Xianbei people's attack appeared rather chaotic.

The main problem was that Lian himself had no strategy and didn't like to listen to his subordinates' advice. He simply ordered his cavalry to engage the Han army in close combat, believing that his own army was stronger and the Han army was not as capable, so he was sure to win.

But how could he possibly understand how much effort Yuan Shu had put into building this cavalry force?
As a result, this Xianbei cavalry force was undoubtedly annihilated.

The Han cavalry were well-armored and well-equipped. When they clashed with the Xianbei cavalry, they could often cut down the Xianbei cavalrymen in a single exchange, while the Xianbei cavalrymen often found it difficult to penetrate their armor with a single slash.

The armor of the Han army provided excellent protection, which often allowed them to withstand the first wave of attacks and then turn around and kill the Xianbei cavalry with a single blow.

Cavalry clashes often happen in an instant; if a single blow fails to kill, the cavalryman faces the risk of being killed himself. The Xianbei cavalry did not have such good armor, so they naturally had difficulty resisting the ring-pommel sword.

In addition, the performance of the Han army generals was also very impressive.

Zang Min was a famous border general who was very brave in battle. He was very envious of Huang Zhong's previous meritorious service. Now that he finally had a chance to make a name for himself, how could he let it go?
So he led his troops in a fierce charge, and personally led his personal guard cavalry to charge alongside the soldiers, wielding long swords and fighting fiercely. He personally killed six Xianbei cavalrymen. Inspired by him, the Han cavalrymen fought bravely against the enemy.

Huang Zhong's performance was even more outstanding.

Under the protection of his personal guard cavalry, he galloped on horseback, then locked onto the Xianbei army's commanding officers amidst the chaos. Once spotted, he drew his bow and fired, hitting all six of them and killing six Xianbei officers. This threw the Xianbei cavalry's formation and tactics into disarray.

(End of this chapter)