Tiger Guards

Chapter 38: Destroyed
Without time to think, Hou Chen led more than a hundred cavalrymen to charge.

He roared as he charged, saying that the three brothers had never suffered such a big loss before!

"Wei Gu, little boy!"

Hou Chen roared, pointed the spear in his hand diagonally forward, and shouted to his left and right: "Kill!"

Just as he turned around, an arrow hit his mouth and the sound stopped abruptly.

The surrounding troops shouted and screamed, horses trampled, and torches flickered.

Hou Chen fell backwards, and the horse behind him was unable to dodge. The horse's hooves stepped on the fish-scaled armor on his chest, and blood immediately gushed out of his mouth and nose.

Immediately afterwards, another rider trampled over him, and most of the knights rushed to the west side of the convoy, stabbing with the spears and halberds in their right hands.

Most of them were tentative stabbings, and no one dared to get within three steps of the vehicle.

There were also a dozen or so knights who drew their bows and shot at a line in the middle of the convoy.

Zhao Ji was not afraid at all and fought back against these cavalrymen.

When he shot down four or five people in a row, the group of cavalry began to retreat.

He dismounted and shot, showing great bravery.

Zhao Ji was shot in the chest, but he did not retreat a single step. Two of his personal guards got on the chariot with shields and squatted on his left and right sides to block the arrows for him.

After firing more than ten arrows, the opposing infantry and cavalry finally collapsed and the arrows became sparse.

After Zhao Ji shot the last Crescent Shovel heavy arrow, he knew that the quiver was empty.

He threw the painted bow on the car, turned around and jumped off. Han Shu handed him a long spear: "Captain!"

Zhao Ji caught it. The halberd shaft was stained with blood and felt a little slippery in his hand.

He didn't care about these things, he strode forward with both hands and knocked a figure off the horse.

After dodging the charge from the horses, he turned around and saw a Tiger Guard being knocked backwards and pressed against the carriage.

"Bang the drum!"

With a loud shout, he charged towards the other knight.

The opponent's spear was deflected by the side branch of the iron halberd, and the iron halberd stabbed again. The horse rushed forward, and the knight was blocked by the side branch of the iron halberd and pushed off the horse.

He was still struggling to get up, but Han Shu stabbed him in the face with a spear, and he suddenly stopped moving.

Han Shu retreated immediately after his successful attack, and turned to look at Zhao Ji as if to seek credit. His face was covered in blood, and his eyes reflected the light of the torch, making it difficult to see his expression.

Zhao Ji stepped forward and threw the iron halberd in his hand. A dozen steps away, another knight was stabbed and fell off his horse.

The horse rushed forward and ran past Han Shu's arm, scaring Han Shu so much that he jumped in fear.

"Don't be distracted!"

Zhao Ji helped Han Shu steady himself, and a guard beside him threw a spear at the oncoming figure, but missed.

Another injured Hu Ben threw the torch with all his might, hitting the horse's head. The horse was frightened and stood up and neighed loudly.

A personal soldier holding a crossbow approached and took aim. As soon as the horse's front hooves landed, the trigger was immediately pulled, and the powerful crossbow arrow shot the opponent down directly.

Tang Xian, the captain of the personal guards, held a halberd in front of Zhao Ji and waved it left and right. "Captain! Stand back a few steps!"

There was a torch tied to his iron halberd. At this moment, an enemy cavalryman threw a spear, which flew past Tang Xian's shoulder and almost hit his head.

Zhao Ji pulled out a short spear from the bag behind his waist, grabbed Tang Xian's back and pulled him behind him, then threw the spear out with his right arm, and a scream was heard.

Two more personal soldiers came forward from the left and right, holding shields and spears, placing their shields on the ground and raising their spears.

Zhao Ji saw the figure in the fire and threw another spear.

Five short spears were thrown out in succession, and the short spears carried at the waist were used up. Han Shu handed over another half bundle.

The enemy cavalry was mostly concentrated on the west side of the convoy, and the Huben soldiers, with their backs to the vehicles, could concentrate on fighting.

Zhao Ji quickly formed a bulge here, blocking and cutting off the road on the west side.

The drumbeats suddenly stopped, and someone shouted, "Han Tao has been shot!"

"The drums can't stop!"

Someone shouted again, and the drums started beating again, but at a faster pace.

The sound of the drums changed, and Wei Xing at the rear of the caravan was ready, with torches fastened to their spears and halberds.

Wei Xing noticed the change in the drumbeats and thought it was urging them to attack.

He immediately shouted to his men, "Those holding torches are our comrades! Kill only the enemy cavalry, not the infantry!"

"Follow me!"

He immediately kicked the horse hard in the belly and rushed towards the enemy cavalry.

Several injured knights stayed where they were, holding torches. At this time, Xiang Libao and Wei Gu approached on horseback, followed by county soldiers holding torches, and further away was the second garrison, with each soldier holding two torches.

Wei Gu reined in his horse and saw that the enemy cavalry was scattered and disorderly under the light of the fire. The tiger soldiers from all over the place relied on their vehicles to fight back tenaciously and their fighting enthusiasm was very high.

He immediately turned around and shouted, "Hold the fire and kill the enemy!" As he shouted, Xiang Libao led his men to rush forward.

The enemy cavalry in the fight gradually broke up and fled around the hillside.

Everywhere in the ravine, there were Tiger Guards chasing with torches.

Wei Gu then stepped forward, and the Hu Ben from all parts of the caravan also went together to chase and search for the enemy.

At the front of the convoy, Wei Gu saw four or five injured horses lying on the ground. He looked at Zhao Ji again and asked, "Aji?"

"Nothing, we won!"

Zhao Ji raised his hand and grasped the arrow shaft in front of his chest to try. Seeing that the arrow shaft swayed easily and the pain was slight, he pulled it out immediately.

He looked at the arrow by the torch and saw that there was no blood on the arrowhead, so he just turned his hand over and put it into his quiver.

"Treat the wounded, clean up the battlefield, and collect arrows, crossbows, armor, and the like."

Zhao Ji gave instructions to the squad leaders around him, then glanced around and asked Han Shu, "Where's Yang Ji?"

"I don't know."

"Patrol the area around the convoy. If you can't find it, forget it. Take this time to rest."

Zhao Ji patted Han Shu and other personal soldiers on the shoulders as he spoke, then followed Wei Gu to the side.

Wei Gu took out the water bag and asked directly, "How many people are there in the Hou clan?"

"Including the knights who came later, there are about three hundred of them."

Zhao Ji took the water bag from Wei Gu, not caring that it was raw water. He took a small sip to rinse his mouth, then turned his head and spit it out to the side.

Then he asked, "Brother, how many people are there in the Hou clan?"

"Two thousand households."

Wei Gulue recalled, "It was divided into three parts. Each of the three brothers, Hou Jing, led one, which included a manor, a smelting plant, and a pasture. Hou Jing was in charge of farming and weaving at the manor, which was less than two miles away."

"Aji, the road ahead is quite close. The fire and noise were quite loud, and we were unable to intercept and kill all the enemy cavalry. Our army's strengths and weaknesses have been exposed. This means that a night attack is no longer possible."

Zhao Ji analyzed the situation and said, "We can't delay. We can't let the Hou family gather their brave men for battle, nor can we let them escape. If they do escape, it will create countless hidden dangers. I will lead my men to attack and surround the manor. Once the men are gathered, we will attempt a surprise attack."

After a pause, he continued, "Li Le will attack tomorrow. We must break into the Hou family manor tonight and seize their armor, weapons, and horses. However, if we want to successfully break into the manor, we must take extraordinary measures."

Wei Gu asked in return: "But are you going to set fire?"

"Yes, the Hou clan has suffered heavy losses, and the people are in panic. If we continue to attack without success, the people will become even more difficult to conquer. Our army's fighting spirit has been broken, and if we are threatened by Li Le again, we may collapse."

Zhao Ji said calmly, "We can only set fire to them to increase the chaos and facilitate the attack."

Upon hearing this, Wei Gu raised his hand and bit his thumb. After two or three breaths, he made a decision: "I must defeat them in one blow!"

"Yes, I'll leave the care of the wounded to you, brother. Please free up a vehicle to transport the injured back to the camp. Brother Liang will take care of them properly and escort the lightly wounded captives as well to avoid killing. Our enemy is the Xiongnu. If these people die less, we'll be more helpful in the future."

"I'll take care of it myself. Aji, drink some water and rest first."

"Yes."

Zhao Ji agreed, bowed to Wei Gu, turned around and went back to the caravan, where a bunch of small campfires had been lit.

Tang Xian, the sergeant of the personal guards, was sitting in front of the campfire, wiping a sword. He used the sword to pierce several pieces of Hu cakes and horse meat slices and roasted them over the fire.

Seeing Zhao Ji approaching, Tang Xian moved his buttocks and asked: "Captain, how many people did you behead tonight?"

"After all, those killed are from Hedong. I'd rather kill fewer."

Zhao Ji sat down and took the water bag handed to him by another personal soldier. There was a little wine mixed in it. He took a few sips and handed it back to the other person.

A personal guard sitting across from him grinned and said, "Captain Gao Yi, but how many good men are there in the Hou family's army?"

Tang Xian also said: "Yes, those who dared to charge at us and fight us with weapons, fighting to the death, are no longer ordinary people."

The personal guard opposite Zhao Ji even held up a head that had just been cut off: "Captain, look at the face and teeth, it's a Hu'er."

At this time, another personal guard came over with a bunch of heads, and sat down beside the fire: "Yours is a black head after all, and I have a yellow head."

As if looking for a rare treasure, the man picked out one of the four heads and held it up for display, blood dripping down his palm and seeping into the gaps in his leather wrist guard.

Tang Xiancai said: "The Hou brothers rely most on the mixed barbarians. The knights who are attacking from behind are mostly mixed barbarians from the ranch. Kill them. The people in the mines can smelt iron and forge iron, so they should not be killed."

Zhao Ji nodded and said, "When I was in Jishan, I only heard people say that the Hou family was rich, powerful and domineering, but I never heard that they raised mixed barbarians."

"The Zaohu were also bullied by the Xiongnu, so they took refuge with the Hou family and were able to gain a foothold."

Tang Xian explained, then took off a few slices of hot wheat cakes and meat and handed them to Zhao Ji.

Zhao Ji just nodded. It made sense after thinking about it. Those who were coerced would find it difficult to become armed troops.

If the Hou Group were a sect, the armed troops would at least be outer disciples, while the other troops would at most be menial disciples, and at most they would be slaves.

Things like "letters of allegiance" have existed throughout history and are hardly an exception. At most, the name is changed.

(End of this chapter)