Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 18 Then Let's Fight with Our Backs to the Wall

"What a lucky break!"

Zou Jing saw the mob ahead.

He thought he was going to die.

Because the injured horse he was riding was almost dead; blood was already oozing from its nostrils.

Having spent many years in the border regions, Zou Jing was well aware of the situation. If he continued to urge the horse on so desperately, it would soon perish.

But there was nothing they could do; a large group of Xianbei people were chasing them from behind, and they were Tan Shihuai's followers, the elite of the Xianbei.

If the horse stops or collapses and dies, then the rider's life is over.

When he was ambushed earlier, he thought he was going to die, so he tried to fight for one in return, but he ended up with a body full of knife wounds. Now, Zou Jing no longer has the strength to fight again.

But unexpectedly, just when all hope seemed lost, a group of reinforcements arrived.
Although these guys looked like bandits and mountain brigands, they slipped past themselves and tried to intercept the Xianbei people behind them...

Those are heroes, they are the righteous army.

"I am... Zou Jing, the Protector-General of the Wuhuan... I wonder which hero saved me?"

Zou Jing glanced at the situation, stopped his horse in front of Liu Bei, dismounted, but was unable to stand due to severe pain in his waist. He had no choice but to sit on the ground to support himself and greet him.

To be able to hold such a high position, one must have excellent judgment; he recognized at a glance that Liu Bei was the leader here.

Because Liu Bei did not participate in the battle, he had two guards, one tall and one short, by his side.

"The Protector of Wuhuan...it's actually Commander Zou! I am Liu Bei, the exiled Rong Commandant of Zhuojun."

Liu Bei was still wondering whether he could win the fight and whether he should run away, but when he heard the man he had rescued call himself Zou Jing, he was startled.

The Protector of the Wuhuan was no minor official; he was a high-ranking official with a salary equivalent to two thousand shi (a unit of grain), and was the chief official in charge of managing the Wuhuan tribes that had submitted to the Han Dynasty.

Captains in the Han Dynasty were very valuable.

If Liu Bei remembers correctly, Zou Jing was rescued by Gongsun Zan during a battle with the Hu people in the original history.

But for now, I've managed to save myself... well, if I can defeat those Xianbei people on the other side.

Why was Commander Zou being pursued by the Hu people?

Liu Bei dismounted and helped Zou Jing onto his own horse: "Have the Hu people launched a large-scale invasion?"

"No, it wasn't the Hu people who did it, it was Zhang Sheng, the military commander of Shanggu County..."

Zou Jing, clutching his wounded waist, hurriedly offered an explanation, then pointed to the battlefield: "Now is not the time to talk. Liu Zhe Rong is leading the Cavalry Warriors, isn't he? They're probably no match for those barbarian cavalry..."

In fact, Liu Bei saw through it.

There were about a hundred Hu people chasing Zou Jing, several times more than expected.

Moreover, Jiu Chi said that it was Tan Shihuai's Xianbei cavalry, which means that the enemy was an elite army under the command of the Xianbei leader, not some ordinary nomads.

Therefore, Liu Bei did not participate in the battle, but kept Jiu Chi and Zhang Ba by his side.

A zhang (approximately 1.8 meters) is considered a bodyguard, and a ji (approximately 3.3 meters) is considered a navigator—always ready to run away.

He didn't blame Jiu Chi for the inaccurate information, because it was clearly an accident.

Nine Feet felt somewhat guilty and was currently scratching his head in frustration because his other brothers had already gone up to engage in battle.

The executioners were originally after the fat sheep. When they were far away and couldn't see clearly, they thought most of the animals coming were horses. In order to lasso the horses, they rushed very fast.

But when we got closer, we found that there were people on every single horse...

Actually, the lasso did play a role.

After all, if you can lasso a horse, you can lasso a person.

Several Xianbei soldiers at the front were indeed caught in the ropes, pulled off their horses, and fell dazed and confused. They were then trampled by the other cavalrymen behind them, making the scene even worse than a car accident.

But the problem is, even if you manage to tether a person, the horse won't stop.

The stray horses still charged forward.

Then, the Xianbei men in the rear, brandishing their sabers and short spears, charged into the loose ranks of the executioners, following their stray warhorses. The executioners' ranks were already scattered, and this charge made them even more disorganized.

The lasso was originally used to stop the horse in front, so that the horses behind would gradually stop as well.

But now they haven't been able to stop the Xianbei cavalry at all.

The consequence of failing to stop the cavalry was that the already loosely organized force was directly broken through.

Fortunately, there were about twenty men on horseback on the flanks of the executioners, who could barely be considered cavalry. Seeing that the central route had not been intercepted, they quickly moved towards the middle to provide assistance.

When the Xianbei cavalry saw "cavalry" suddenly approaching from both sides, they stopped advancing and instead circled around to the outer perimeter, trapping the larger number of executioners in the inner circle.

It's likely that they wanted to bring order to the battlefield so they could continue searching for Zou Jing's whereabouts.

Subsequently, the Xianbei cavalry began to circle around the outer edge of the torturers, gradually compressing them into the center.

"We have to make them retreat and then get back to the other side of the river! Otherwise, we'll be worn down!"

Zou Jing, with his rich experience in battle, quickly offered Liu Bei some advice.

Indeed, in this situation, the riverbank should be relied upon to offset the mobility of the Xianbei cavalry. Otherwise, once the Xianbei cavalry circled around them, they would be peeled like an apple, layer by layer.

In those days, cavalry were all light cavalry, not for frontal charges, but for flanking maneuvers. This kind of circling and flank attack was the most common tactic of light cavalry. The executioners were not long spear and crossbow formations and could not deal with cavalry flanking maneuvers.

The problem was, Liu Bei knew that these guys hadn't learned how to retreat slowly on the battlefield... they would just scatter in all directions!

On the battlefield, retreating is much harder than advancing; charging forward requires courage and bravery, while retreating requires discipline.

Discipline is what the executioners lack most.

The reason they haven't fled immediately is that the soldiers on the battlefield haven't seen any signs of defeat yet. After all, both sides have suffered similar losses, and the casualties on both sides are not high.

But if I let them withdraw, then I'm truly doomed.

"We will not retreat! We were formed to drive out the Hu, how can we retreat at the first sign of trouble?! The commander is wounded, so take my horse and leave quickly. I will hold off the Hu here!"

Knowing that retreat was not an option and running away might not be an escape either, Liu Bei spoke with great courage.

This moved Zou Jing deeply: "Lieutenant Liu is a young hero, I admire him greatly! But please don't take any risks, just stall for time, I'll go and ask for reinforcements right away!"

Having said that, he didn't linger, and rode Liu Bei's horse back to Zhuo County.

"My lord, let's retreat. We really shouldn't have taken this risk..."

Nine-foot-tall also tried to persuade him from the side.

"Screw that, there are more of us!"

Liu Bei suddenly shouted, "What are you afraid of? Fight alongside me! Kill the Hu!!"

The sound was so loud that even the Xianbei people in the distance couldn't help but turn around to look.

But after shouting, Liu Bei whispered to Jiu Chi, "They can't escape, their horses are fast... But they were originally heading for Commander Zou, they certainly don't want to fight us to the death. If we fight with all our might, the Hu people will naturally retreat! Shout 'Kill the Hu!' with me!"

"Kill the Hu!"

Nine-foot-tall Liu Bei raised his sword and shouted as he charged forward with Liu Bei.

"Kill the Hu!!!"

Seeing that the nine-foot-tall man was charging forward, Zhang Ba also raised his spiked club and charged forward. He roared even louder, and his voice echoed.

The three of them rushed side by side toward the Hu people.

The executioners on the field were initially hesitant, but seeing Liu Bei and his two companions so brave, they were aroused and shouted "Kill the Hu!" They charged at the nearest Hu people with all sorts of weapons in hand.

They really did swarm in.

The result of rushing in all at once is, of course, a disastrous battle.

But even a bad battle has its advantages—the Xianbei cavalry were unwilling to fight such a bad battle...

(End of this chapter)