Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 380 Battle of Guangwu
In the hot summer, even though there are many trees in Longyou at this time, they cannot block the heat in the air.

But compared to the heat in the air, galloping while drawing a bow and arrow is more physically demanding.

In the river valley in the north of Chengji County, Qinzhou, dozens of light cavalry were fleeing southward for their lives, and behind them were more "cavalry" chasing them.

The cavalry in the rear were even more skilled in horsemanship. Although the horses were not fast, they could free their hands on horseback to draw their bows and arrows.

Arrows rained down like rain, and the light cavalry fleeing in front either had their horses hit by arrows and fell down, or they themselves were shot into a hornet's nest.

If their armor had not been thick enough, a hail of arrows would have taken their lives.

The two sides were one fleeing and one chasing, and more than ten miles of distance passed quickly. The river valley ahead gradually became narrower, and a camp could be seen at the pass of the valley with the naked eye.

"Beep--"

"Damn it, save me!!"

Seeing the camp ahead, these light cavalrymen blew their whistles and shouted for help.

Upon seeing this, more than a hundred officers and soldiers in the camp immediately walked out of the camp, formed a formation and waited with bows and crossbows.

"Beep——"

"Stop!!"

Unlike the government troops, the whistles of the "cavalry" in the rear were dull and long. Hundreds of people reined in their horses and watched the dozens of light cavalry rush into the camp.

"withdraw!"

The captain on horseback spoke, turned his horse around and retreated northward along the river valley.

Hundreds of cavalrymen withdrew slowly, while the dozens of light cavalry who escaped into the camp did not dare to stay and hurried south.

Before dusk, they changed horses three times and galloped for two hours before finally seeing the city located in the river valley in the distance.

The two words "Chengji" were particularly conspicuous. Dozens of light cavalry rushed into the city, and the infantry at the city gate did not dare to stop them.

There are only the elderly, the weak and women on the streets of the city. It is rare to see men, especially young and strong ones.

When dozens of light cavalry dismounted, they had already arrived at the county government office in the city.

Soon, they appeared in the main hall of the county government office, and sitting in the main seat was Li Zhiyi, the eldest son of Li Chengxun, the governor of Tianxiong Army and the commander of the left army of Tianxiong Army.

"How's it going?"

Li Zhiyi's face was solemn, and the commander of the light cavalry in the hall spoke in an even more solemn tone: "The number is no less than 3,000. After they discovered us, they immediately sent hundreds of people to chase us."

"It's just that their horses are not fast. It's not right to call them jumping troops or surprise troops. They are more like cavalry infantry."

"Three thousand cavalry and infantry?" Li Zhiyi's face became even uglier. The two Du Yuhou standing on his left and right also bowed and said:

"Commander-in-Chief, we have already asked the military commander for help. I think the military commander will lead his troops to help us in three days at most."

"That's right, General. Chengji has 70% of the army's food and fodder. Wang Shaobao and General Jie will not sit idly by and watch this place be threatened by the rebels!"

The two were very confident, but Li Zhiyi said with a dark face: "That's not what I'm worried about."

"I want to know now, where did these 3,000 cavalry and infantry come from?"

"If we go north, why didn't the Shuofang Army give us any warning?"

The rebels who suddenly attacked from the north could only have started from Lanzhou or Liangzhou.

But no matter whether it was Lanzhou or Liangzhou, they had to pass through Huizhou when sending troops, because there were countless mountains and hills between Chengji and Lanzhou, and the cavalry and infantry could only gallop along the official road and it was impossible to bypass Huining.

Thinking of this, Li Zhiyi became worried about the Shuofang Army. His guess was not wrong, the Shuofang Army was indeed not in a good situation at this time.

The border between Huizhou and Liangzhou was the Gobi Desert in later generations, but it was grassland in this era.

The border between Huizhou and Lanzhou was a desert and hills in later generations, but in this era it was grassland and forests.

In such an area, Zhou Bao, who controlled the Shuofang Army, the Pingxia Army and the Shatuo Army, would often lead his cavalry dozens of miles deep into Lanzhou and return every day.

They were stationed on the grassland between the mountains, and elite cavalry dismounted and walked up the surrounding mountains to stand guard.

At this moment, thousands of elite cavalry had just returned from the west, and they had captured hundreds of carriages and hundreds of Longyou civilians.

"Go away, you bastard!"

The elite cavalry of the Shuofang Army pulled the Longyou civilians behind them with all their strength. The civilians at the rear hung their heads in dejection and made no move to resist.

They were attacked by the Shuofang army on the official road more than 40 miles to the west. All the one hundred soldiers escorting grain were killed in the battle, and more than one hundred civilian laborers who were escorting grain were also killed and more than four hundred were captured.

Pulled by Shuofang, Shatuo and other elite cavalry, they were brought into the camp, and soon arrived at the camp.

A tall, dark-skinned general walked out of the tent, followed by Li Sigong, Zhuxie Chixin, Zhuxie Yisheng and others.

This tall and dark general is the current Shuofang Jiedushi Zhou Bao.

"General, these soldiers from Longyou are really brave. We failed to seize the opportunity and lost 52 of our men!"

Du Yuhou, who had led the army back, bowed and saluted. Zhou Bao's eyes twitched when he heard this, but he still stepped forward and questioned the civilians:
"I have attacked seven of your grain escort teams one after another. Why are the rebels in Liangzhou and Lanzhou not making any moves?"

The laborers all lowered their heads and said nothing.

"Uh-"

Suddenly, an arrow shot through a civilian's thigh. He fell to his knees and wailed. Zhou Bao was also startled. He turned around and saw Zhu Xie Chixin holding a bow and snorting coldly:

"Liu Jilong has been regarded as a rebel by the imperial court. If you still want to live, tell Ye Ye everything you know!"

"Dog, kill me if you dare!"

"Anyway, Ye Ye doesn't want to live anymore!!"

The young laborer who was shot through the thigh screamed madly. A cold light flashed in Zhuxie Chixin's eyes, but before he could do anything, Zhuxie Yisheng who was standing behind him took out a bow and shot the screaming laborer to death.

"They are stubborn and won't change. Dad doesn't need to say anything more to them."

Zhu Xie Yisheng said indifferently, Zhou Bao glanced at him, Zhu Xie Chixin also put away his bow and arrow, and Li Sigong laughed:

"The people under my command are the best at dealing with this group of people. Just leave it to them..."

"Okay!" Zhou Bao agreed without thinking, as he naturally knew the methods used by the Dangxiang people.

Except for some tough guys, most people can't hold on for long.

"Wow—"

Suddenly, a bird of prey was heard crying in the sky. The Shatuo and Dangxiang people around looked up and then frowned.

I saw several birds of prey circling low in the sky, and they were reluctant to leave the sky above the camp for a long time. Something was very wrong.

Birds of prey all have their own sense of territory, and generally speaking they don't gather in large numbers.

"It's not a good sign that so many birds of prey are gathering above us."

Li Sigong frowned and said this. Zhou Bao also wanted to say something, but he caught a glimpse of Zhu Xie Yisheng raising his bow and shooting arrows. Two arrows whizzed into the air.

Suddenly, the eagle cries in the sky turned into terrified wails, two birds of prey fell from the sky, and several others also flew away.

"it's good now……"

Zhuxie Chixin chuckled, and Li Sigong also looked at Zhuxie Yisheng, who was only eleven years old.

"This dog rat gave birth to a good baby."

Li Sigong narrowed his eyes, and Zhou Bao took the opportunity to praise him: "He was able to shoot two arrows with one string, and each of them hit a bird of prey. This little military envoy will surely become a great figure in the future."

"This is nothing. In Daibei, any Shatuo boy of my age can do it."

Zhu Xie Yisheng was good at talking, and although his words sounded unrealistic to Zhou Bao and Li Sigong, they did not expose him.

Although the bird of prey was circling and lowering, it was still twenty to thirty feet away.

Zhuxie Yisheng is a teenager now. At the age of eleven, he can pull a seven-bu bow and shoot arrows twenty to thirty feet high. Hundreds of years ago, he would be considered a famous "Eagle Shooter".

"We have gained a lot today. I will ask my chef to slaughter sheep and cook for you later. Please..."

"Beep--"

Before Zhou Bao could finish his polite words, a melodious whistle sounded from afar, causing the faces of everyone present to change.

"Armor-piercing, enemy attack!!"

Li Sigong was the first to react, and rushed towards his tent while shouting.

Zhuxie Chixin, Zhuxie Yisheng and Zhou Bao also took action at the same time as he did.

The Shuofang army, which was originally immersed in the joy brought by the spoils, suddenly took action and became alert.

On the vast grassland, the Tang cavalry sent out by the Shuofang Army were constantly retreating. Dust was rising in the distance, and thousands of elite cavalry were galloping from the north, approaching in layers.

"Buzz rumbling..."

The dull sound of horse hooves continued and became louder and louder. Fortunately, the Shuofang Army and the Dangxiang and Shatuo cavalry were well dressed and their horses were free outside the camp.

Thousands of people rushed out of the camp and mounted their horses one after another.

"Each of you leave 500 men to guard the horses, and all of you mount the military horses!!"

Zhou Bao gave orders to Zhu Ye Chi Xin and Li Si Gong beside him. The two did not argue at this critical juncture, but decisively ordered to leave the horses behind and left 500 people to guard the horses.

After thousands of cavalrymen mounted their horses, the big banner guided them to move towards the northeast.

More than 8,000 elite cavalrymen galloped up a hill and met the eyes of the enemy in the distance.

This grassland is sandwiched between two mountains, one in the south and one in the north, but the grassland in the middle is wide enough.

The elite cavalry of the two armies gradually approached each other. Although they were both elite cavalry, the difference in their equipment seemed to be quite significant.

In the direction of the Shuofang army, although the more than 8,000 elite cavalrymen were riding on military horses, the horses had no protection and only the cavalry on horseback wore armor.

In the direction of the Longyou Army, the eight thousand elite cavalry not only rode tall horses, but also had forehead protectors and vests on the front of their horses, and their ribs were also protected by shorter vests, leaving only the horses' buttocks exposed.

This is Longyou's semi-armored elite cavalry, which is mobile and flexible while ensuring protection.

In the northwest in June, strong winds raged on the grassland, causing the flags of both sides to flutter.

Some of the war horses kicked their hooves nervously, but were quickly pacified by the cavalry on horseback.

"General Jie, didn't you say that Wang Shi deliberately lured us to take the initiative to attack? Then you still fell for it?"

Under the big banner, Cao Mao stared at the Shuofang army hundreds of steps away, but kept talking.

In front of him, Liu Jilong's figure also spoke: "I am now doing what he wants, but he is probably worried about Hu Siguang and others in Chengji, and he is unable to interfere with my taking over Huizhou!"

"But before we take Huizhou, we must first defeat this elite cavalry from Shuofang!"

As soon as he finished speaking, he hung the spear in his hand on the victory hook and took out the ridiculously large bow:
"We must fight quickly and decisively. First, severely damage this elite cavalry. Then, we will immediately head north to join Li Ji and his men and capture Shuofang!"

"Yes!"

"Uuuuuu——"

The horn was blown, and the melodious sound of the horn resounded throughout the place, and the leaves of the trees on the mountains to the north and south also rustled.

"Are these the elite cavalry from Longyou? They are indeed as good as the elite cavalry from Lulong Army..."

"No! Stronger than the elite cavalry of the Lulong Army!"

On horseback, Zhu Ye Chi Xin and his son did not fear the sudden appearance of the elite cavalry from Longyou, but were full of fighting spirit.

If you want to rob, you have to rob the rich. What's the point of robbing the poor?
If we kill these elite cavalrymen from Longyou, their tall horses and heavy armor will all be ours!
"They mainly use horseback archery. They have come from a long distance, so their horsepower must be insufficient!!"

Zhou Bao made a quick judgment and immediately changed his bow and arrow, preparing to attack from the front with horseback archery.

However, when it comes to cavalry combat, both Li Sigong and Zhuxie Chixin are more skilled than Zhou Bao.

The two sides just looked at each other, then immediately shook the reins and led their troops to split into two and encircle the left and right wings of the Longyou elite cavalry.

"Straight bitch!!"

Zhou Bao cursed loudly, but after that he still led more than 1,500 elite cavalrymen of his own army to launch a charge, preparing to attack head-on.

Since the widespread use of iron armor, it has become difficult for arrows to penetrate armor, and cavalry using bows and arrows to attack at close range has undoubtedly become the most damaging means.

The Longyou Army looked like armored cavalry from the front, so Zhuye Chixin and others would naturally not be foolish enough to charge at them.

On the vast grassland, they were divided into three parts, with the elite cavalry of Dangxiang and Shatuo as the left and right wings, and the elite cavalry of Shuofang as the main force.

As long as their judgment is correct, they can take advantage of the fact that the Longyou cavalry has no time to split up and attack from the front with cavalry and archers, and take cover from the left and right wings, shooting as they gallop.

However, their judgment was wrong from the beginning, because the elite cavalry from Longyou attacked with great speed, even as fast as their own speed of galloping and shooting.

"Cao Mao!"

Under the iron helmet, Liu Jilong spoke calmly, pulled out arrows and red flags from the saddle, and waved the flags to signal with his breath.

"The last general takes command!"

Cao Mao understood the flag signal and immediately put back the bow and arrow, pulled out the red and yellow flags and waved them above his head.

After waving the flag three times, he retracted it, and the flag bearers in the team had already begun waving the long flags in their hands.

The army was divided into three and gradually dispersed. They did not form a wall-riding attack, but instead formed a riding and archery stance together.

"You are such a jerk! Why are the vests of these armored soldiers so weird?!"

On horseback, except for Zhou Bao who was on the front battlefield, Zhu Ye Chixin and Li Sigong both discovered from the flanks that something was wrong with the vests of the Longyou cavalry.

Before they could react, the two sides had already approached each other within a hundred steps.

A distance of a hundred steps would only take a few breaths if both sides were running at full speed.

Both sides drew their bows and arrows, and when they were more than ten steps apart, they crossed each other and shot arrows.

Arrows were shot in batches at the enemy's faces and horses' bellies. Suddenly, countless people fell off their horses, and hundreds of people and horses were thrown to the ground.

In the first round of attack, the Longyou cavalry undoubtedly won, but the cavalry's archery did not end in one round.

Relying on the agility of their unarmored horses, the elite cavalry of the Dangxiang and Shatuo tribes galloped out for more than a hundred steps and then turned their horses around, relying on their flexibility and speed, preparing to launch a second round of attack in front of the Longyou cavalry.

But when they turned their horses around, they found that before they could launch a charge, the cavalry from Longyou had only rushed forward less than 200 steps and then turned their horses around as well.

"Damn it! How could the cavalry in horse armor turn around so quickly?!"

Li Sigong and Zhuxie Chixin cursed loudly, and Zhuxie Yisheng in the team also showed rare expressions of surprise and astonishment.

"Dad, there's something wrong with this cavalry, be careful!"

"I know!"

While the father and son were talking, the central army led by Liu Jilong also rushed towards the elite cavalry led by Zhou Bao.

After all, Zhou Bao and his elite cavalry had only been trained for a year or so, and had never experienced life-and-death combat, so they did not dare to get too close to attack head-on.

As they rushed towards the elite cavalry from Longyou, they shot arrows and retreated in panic after only about thirty steps.

They exposed their backs, and the elite cavalry from Longyou chased them for more than ten steps, then drew their bows and shot arrows from more than ten steps away from them.

Many horses were hit by arrows and fell down, and the elite cavalry who were thrown away did not need any special care. After the cavalry trampled them, only a pile of rotten meat was left.

The performance of the elite cavalry led by Zhou Bao was noticed by the Shatuo, Dangxiang and other elite cavalry in the periphery, who passed the military situation on to the central army.

When Li Sigong, Zhu Ye Chixin and others learned about it, their hearts sank and they immediately knew the direction of the war.

"Take advantage of this opportunity to chase them southwards, and immediately take the horses from the barracks and make a detour back to Shuofang!"

"go!"

The battle was not going well, and the performance of Zhou Bao's elite cavalry was really poor. If they continued to engage in a head-on confrontation, they would only suffer more casualties and would not be able to win.

Thinking of this, Zhu Ye Chixin gave a decisive order, and then led the elite cavalry to attack again together with the elite cavalry from Longyou who had quickly turned back.

As expected, few of the elite cavalry from Longyou were killed, while dozens of our own men were killed.

When the horses met, Zhuxie Yisheng saw a general wearing luxurious armor. He drew his bow and shot an arrow, which hit the opponent in an instant. However, the horses met too fast and he had no time to be sure where the arrow had hit.

Without any hesitation, the elite cavalry of Shatuo retreated towards the camp. Seeing this, Li Sigong of Dangxiang hurriedly stopped his own elite cavalry who tried to attack again, and hurriedly led the elite cavalry to break out to the south.

It’s just that their performance is exactly what the elite cavalry of Longyou needs.

The Longyou cavalry turned their horses around and began to pursue. The two elite cavalry units galloped and shot, but few hit their targets and most were shot.

During the chase, Zhou Bao's troops in front also galloped out of the camp.

Zhou Bao's previous arrangement paid off. The 1,500 cavalrymen who had dismounted and were guarding the horse herd had now switched to the Tang army's crossbows and formed a formation to counterattack.

"Retreat!" Seeing that thousands of crossbows were ready and some cavalrymen had dismounted and formed a battle formation, Liu Jilong decisively restored the command flag and led the 3,000 elite cavalrymen around him to turn around.

When he saw the two elite cavalry units retreating in the rear, Liu Jilian continued to wave his command flag, and the 3,000 elite cavalry units from Longyou split into two after a moment, blocking the Dangxiang and Shatuo cavalry units respectively.

"Don't worry about anything else, just rush out first!"

Zhuxie Chixin spoke in a stern voice, and the flag soldiers behind him kept waving their flags.

Half a cup of tea seemed to pass in a flash at this moment, and the two elite cavalry soon collided head-on with the 3,000 elite cavalry who had turned around and were coming.

There was no head-on attack this time. Since we were responsible for blocking the enemy, we naturally had to engage in close combat.

After so many years, Longyou is no longer the poor boy it once was.

Although the standard military lance was not as good as the horse lance, it still brought enough long-range damage to the elite cavalry of Longyou.

Countless elite Dangxiang and Shatuo cavalry were knocked off their horses, and some elite Longyou cavalry, who were not strong enough or used their skills incorrectly, were knocked flying.

As the two sides were fighting, Zhuxie Yisheng saw the large banner of Longyou passing by dozens of steps away from him. He drew his bow and shot arrows at the elite cavalry guarding the banner.

The two arrows hit the banner guard who was behind Liu Jilong one after another.

At the same time he was hit by the first arrow, Liu Jilian had already noticed that there was a sharpshooter shooting at the flag among the enemy troops.

He decisively snatched the banner from the guards and pushed it to a captain next to him.

"catch!"

The captain quickly abandoned his lance and grabbed the banner, but the arrows still shot towards Liu Jilian through the crowd.

Seeing that the Longyou cavalry around him were avoiding him, Liu Jilong dropped his spear, took out his bow, leaped up with his legs bent, and subconsciously shot an arrow.

“Hiss—”

Before Zhuxie Yisheng could react, he felt his body sink and the horse under his crotch was pierced by a thick arrow, which also pierced the horse of a Shatuo elite rider next to him.

"Dad!"

"catch!"

Zhuxie Yisheng was an expert horseman. He decisively abandoned his bow and arrow, reached out to grab Zhuxie Chixin's arm, and with great effort pulled him onto the horse's back while his face flushed.

"withdraw!!"

Zhu Yachixin did not dare to stop and rode away on his horse. When Liu Jilian saw them breaking out of the encirclement, he immediately waved his flag to signal the three armies to stop chasing.

As he watched, the three elite cavalry units fled hastily to the grasslands in the northwest direction, and the 1,500 garrison troops who had dismounted and formed a battle formation also decisively mounted their horses and chased after them.

"Marshal Jie, why don't you chase us?!"

Dou Bin came galloping, with six or seven arrows hitting his armor, but he did not pull out the arrows, but asked anxiously.

Liu Jilong looked at him and said, "The horsepower is not enough to chase them. You should replace the horses captured on the battlefield with the horses captured on the battlefield and chase them. It's best to leave the horses they left behind behind!"

"Yes!" Upon hearing this, Dou Bin looked down at his military horse and saw foam at the corners of the horse's mouth.

Seeing this, he immediately dismounted and ordered the cavalry to gather the horses on the battlefield, then changed horses and chased after them...

(End of this chapter)