Tiger Guards

Chapter 26 A bloody battle
In the melee, Zhao Ji stabbed three people to death with his iron halberd. The fourth person was wearing Han army armor and could not be stabbed to death directly, so he held on to the iron halberd tightly.

Zhao Ji had no choice but to give up the iron halberd and decisively drew his sword to cut off the opponent's chin.

Then he grasped the sword with both hands and slashed wildly in the crowd, cutting off all the Huns' spears, swords, bodies and arms.

The air was filled with blood, and Zhao Ji was extremely excited, without any negative emotions such as fear or nausea.

Anyone who comes in front of him, regardless of whether he can see clearly or not, will be struck by the sword as long as he gets close.

The spears, halberds, swords and shields following behind them did not dare to get close, and they split into two groups on the left and right to fight against the Hun infantry.

They could only watch Zhao Ji carrying two battle flags and moving deeper and further away from them.

The shouts of the Han and Hu sides drowned out each other, mixed with wailing, and it was impossible to hear anything.

Finally, a Xiongnu warrior blocked Zhao Ji with a shield. The sword in Zhao Ji's hand broke immediately under the weight. Zhao Ji swung the broken sword without hesitation and killed a Xiongnu slave holding a wooden spear.

Just as several Huns were about to step forward, they saw a flash of sword, and Zhao Ji on the opposite side drew another sword.

These Huns stopped immediately. Before they could think about it, more than a dozen torches were thrown from the nearby camps on both sides, followed by a round of bow and crossbow shooting.

Zhao Ji vaguely heard someone calling him, but he really didn't dare to stop.

The area of activity created by the killing was limited. If he stopped, he would be immediately squeezed out by the Huns.

He immediately stepped forward. While a few Huns hesitated, they were pushed forward by the people behind them and could only charge forward roaring.

As expected, under the illumination of the floor torches, the four Huns turned into a pool of Hun parts.

In the nearby camp, Jia Kui and a dozen archers squatted on the roof, shooting continuously from behind at Zhao Ji, shooting back any Huns who tried to approach.

After firing more than a dozen arrows, Jia Kui's arms were sore and tired. He told his men, "Save your energy and focus on protecting General Zhao Tun's back!"

In the camp across from him, Pei Xiu stood on a high point, holding his shield and watching the battle. He said to Shen Tulan, who was shooting with a bow beside him, "Alan, you are able to survive Aji's hands. It is really the blessing of our ancestors!"

Shen Tulan said nothing, drew his bow, aimed at a Xiongnu knight who was riding a horse and shouting, and released the bowstring.

The knight was shot by arrows one after another and fell from his horse.

Shen Tulan continued to draw arrows and shouted: "A Shang! Give me a pot of arrows!"

"Hey!"

Guan Shang was walking quickly with a quiver of arrows in his hand. Suddenly, he was hit by an arrow in the back and almost fell down. However, he managed to get up by supporting himself with his hands and handed the quiver to Shen Tulan.

Hu Ban, who was also shooting with a bow, jumped down and asked anxiously, "Brother!"

"Minor injuries, I have armor!"

Guan Shang handed the other quiver he brought to Hu Ban. Hu Ban patted Guan Shang on the shoulder and immediately stood sideways, for fear of shooting people in the opposite camp.

He turned and yelled to Pei Xiu, "Qilang! Set fire!"

"Can't let go!"

Pei Xiu observed the surroundings, "We can't see them clearly, and they have no idea of our strengths and weaknesses! Now that the fire is set, many people are exposed, making it difficult to shoot."

He never participated in the battle, but instead carefully observed the changes everywhere: "The Huns are almost defeated, waiting for the signal!"

As they were talking, the Huns began throwing torches towards the camps on both sides. The night wind blew and the fire on the thatched roofs spread.

When Jia Kui and a dozen of his men saw the fire, they immediately slid down the makeshift ladder.

The thatched roofs of the barracks ignited, and the flames shone, making the vision suddenly clear.

As soon as Jia Kui got down, he shouted to the baggage train, "Push the carts! Disperse the enemy!"

"Ignite~!"

Li Bao, the commander of the baggage train, also put on his armor and shouted to his left and right, and the wooden door was quickly opened.

Four burning chariots came out one after another, breaking up the Hun army and cutting it into two groups, inner and outer.

In the passage in the middle of the camp, the sword in Zhao Ji's hand broke again, and he could only grab a spear on the ground.

After fighting and stabbing two people to death, he finally had some peace and quiet. There was no human figure within five or six steps.

Suddenly he noticed a flash of light and shadow, and he lightly deflected the arrow with his spear, and without thinking, he threw the spear towards the direction where the arrow came from.

A wooden spear about 13 or 14 feet long flew through the air at high speed, and Liu Ping, who was shooting arrows on horseback, was stabbed off his horse. His whole body was pierced by the wooden spear, and he lay on the ground in a strange posture, twisting, struggling, and twitching.

"Aji!"

A shout reached his ears, and Zhao Ji turned to see Wei Gu hurling a sword towards him from across the wall. Zhao Ji reached out to grab the scabbard and, just as he drew his sword, turned to see a dozen or so Huns retreating. Without a second thought, they turned and headed towards the parade grounds.

By the light of the fire, a rough observation revealed that there were about two to three hundred Huns on the parade ground.

There were no less than a hundred Huns lying on the ground nearby, most of them were wounded but not dead.

There was also a very ferocious Hun who knew he had no chance of survival, so he supported himself on the ground with his left arm, kicked the ground with his legs and feet, and moved towards Zhao Ji with a knife in his right hand.

Without thinking, Zhao Ji walked over and casually struck his sword, ending the Hun's obsession.

After killing this man, Zhao Ji's mind went blank for a moment and he didn't know what to do next.

He then noticed that the fighting was still going on in the training ground, so he immediately walked towards there quickly.

Blood was flowing everywhere and the ground was slippery.

When he arrived at the parade ground area, the Huns ran towards the innermost part, as if trying to climb over the high plank wall through the barracks.

Wang Zhi, with a dozen elite personal soldiers, was slashing wildly, looking very ferocious.

Ximen Jian quickly came up to Zhao Ji and asked, "Should we sound the horn?"

"Ming Jin!"

Zhao Ji finally remembered what he should do and said to Ximen Jian, who was covered in blood, "Tell the Xiongnu people that if you surrender, you won't be killed!"

"Yes!"

Ximen Jian agreed, and the two guards beside him picked up gongs and started beating them, as if it was a signal to retreat.

Using a horn as a signal to hunt and kill is also a trick.

The Tiger Guards are newly formed and have not yet undergone rigorous drum and bugle training, so they will not have instinctive reactions.

At the sound of the horn, Ximen Jian turned around to persuade Zhao Ji to surrender, but he glanced at Zhao Ji again. The two red flags on his back were now stained with blood and stuck to the bamboo poles, as if they were bare.

The cloak on his back was completely wet and stuck tightly to Zhao Ji's back.

Taking another look at the several broken and mutilated Xiongnu bodies on the ground, Ximen Jian became distracted. Feeling Zhao Ji turning his head to look at him, Ximen Jian quickly stepped forward and shouted, "General Zhao, order: surrender and you will not be killed!"

When a Hun pretending to be dead stood up and was about to stab Zhao Ji with a spear, Zhao Ji turned around and slashed the wooden spear with his sword, then took a step forward and slashed it hard.

It was also the first time that Zhao Ji knew that if the sword was sharp, it could really have a killing effect that would cause blood to burst out.

At the sound of the horn, the Tiger Guards from all over the camp rushed out.

Pei Xiu and Wei Gu saw Zhao Ji's sword cut off several people from twenty or thirty steps away. The two of them looked at each other tacitly, and they could not understand each other's eyes.

In another direction, Wei Xing had just finished beheading and was holding three of his military medals when he saw Zhao Ji wiping the blood off the sword.

For a moment, Wei Xing's thoughts froze.

He then hung the string of heads around his waist and turned to chase after the small group of Huns who were still resisting in the training ground.

Outside the military camp, Liu He was unable to stop the defeated troops.

There were only a dozen knights around him, and more than a hundred scattered soldiers allowed him to whip them, but they refused to turn around and fight again.

Some even said that his eldest son Liu Ping died in the battle, and when Liu Hedu killed the enemy with one sword, he saw the defenders in the camp rushing towards him.

The defeated soldiers who had just caught their breath turned around and ran away. Liu He had no choice but to jump on his horse and flee to the northeast accompanied by his cavalry.

The Huns discarded their torches and disappeared into the night.

The pursuing troops and decoy troops who rushed out on horseback directly pursued them. At this time, there was no need to pretend to be an enemy.

However, the houses in the military camp were burning, and the bright flames reached the troops stationed in Jiangyi.

The garrison was divided into two parts, one inside the city and the other in the camp outside the city.

The city commander Ma Zhi climbed up the city wall and watched, but he just watched.

He was from the Ma Shi clan. "Shi" refers to the arrows that Lian Po left behind. Because it was not elegant, many people called themselves Ma.

Only the fellow villagers in Hedong would kindly help them complete their original surnames when introducing themselves, to distinguish them from the Ma family in Guanzhong and Hebei.

Even if his nephew was in the Huben camp, Ma Zhi would not take the risk.

If Jiangyi falls, the southern part of Hedong will have no strategic location to defend.

(End of this chapter)