I was living in the Five Dynasties period, just after crossing the Zhongdu Bridge.

As the saying goes, on the battlefield, when morale is high, the troops become sharp blades, invincible; when morale is low, the masses become rotten grass, collapsing at the slightest touch.

When the torrential rain on the plains of Mingzhou connected the sky and the earth into one line, the momentum of Shen Lie's five hundred iron cavalry had already reached its peak in that almost miraculous slamming attack.

However, in the art of war, speed is of the essence, and protracted battles are the worst.

At this moment, Yang An, carrying a spiked club, led his entourage of guards and sawed their way in from the chaotic flank.

These barbarian tribes were the remnants of Ma Da's forces, all fierce soldiers who had survived countless battles. They did not seek to defeat the enemy in one move, but only to fight steadily and surely.

Where the mace was swung, even the Han soldiers clad in heavy armor could not escape the sound of bones shattering from the blunt weapon's blows.

"Die!"

With a loud shout from Yang An, a Han cavalryman who couldn't dodge in time had his head smashed by the spiked club, and he and his horse tumbled to the ground.

In a short while, screams of agony echoed from the Han army ranks. Their once unstoppable charge was halted by Yang An's head-on interception.

Shen Lie paused to rest, his chest armor heaving violently.

He looked around and saw that the Han cavalry that had been charging with him were now somewhat disorganized.

Seeing their commander's bravery, they felt as if they were Wei Qing and Huo Qubing reincarnated, daring to change the world.

But now, watching as his comrade beside him had his head smashed by the enemy's spiked club, his white brain matter mixed with red blood splattered in the mud.

Anyone's heart would tremble!

"My lord!"

"The Khitan bastards are launching a fierce counterattack! The brothers are about to lose!"

Zhao Kuangyin spurred his horse forward and casually swept a Liao soldier away with a stick. The stick was covered in red and white substances, making it look even more ferocious.

"The enemy is risking their lives to boost our morale." Zhao Kuangyin stared at the Liao general who was gradually approaching from not far ahead.

The Han army was able to win at the beginning because of the element of surprise and the bravery of its commander.

However, once engaged in this kind of attrition warfare that tests both endurance and resilience, the Han army, with its overwhelming numerical disadvantage, is bound to be defeated.

"Yuen Long! Yeung Ting! Lau Hing!"

Shen Lie nodded, then squeezed his legs together, and Mo Xiao roared out, "Ignore those stragglers! Follow me to meet the enemy general!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Ting and Liu Qing turned their horses around without saying a word and chased after Shen Lie.

Fortunately, just as the scales were about to tip, there was finally some movement on the walls of Mingzhou.

Guo Congyi and Xue Huairang led several thousand Han soldiers who had been trapped for several days, and charged into Yang An's rear from the flank.

"Guo Congyi is here! The barbarians are beheaded!"

Although Guo Congyi's attack could not completely shatter the morale of the Liao army, it did effectively relieve Shen Lie's troops from the predicament of being surrounded.

The battlefield situation is inherently ever-changing, and now it has shifted again.

Yang An became the one who was attacked from both sides.

But Yang An did not back down.

Seeing Shen Lie come to greet him, he was not surprised but delighted.

The two horses were now only a dozen paces apart.

Yang An urged his warhorse forward; it was a Khitan dragon horse with extremely strong explosive power.

Taking advantage of the momentum, he brought his staff down with a blow aimed at killing.

Shen Lie watched the heavy weapon hurtling towards him. Instead of defending with his iron-spined spear, he used his waist and abdomen to prepare for a thrust.

The narrow road meets the brave to win!

However, the disadvantage in numbers was exposed at this moment.

At this moment, one of Yang An's personal guards roared and charged out.

The barbarian didn't care about his own life or death and directly rammed his head into Mo Xiao's neck.

Shen Lie's expression changed.

Yang An was determined to kill him, and using the difference in numbers, he separated Shen Lie's close followers.

"My lord!"

Yang Ting and Liu Qing cried out in alarm from behind, but they were already engaged in battle with several Liao soldiers and were unable to spare any attention.

Zhao Kuangyin was also momentarily blocked in the chaos of battle, unable to provide timely assistance.

The guard smashed the mace in his hand, and Shen Lie's spear was obstructed, deflecting slightly.

In the critical moment, Shen Lie revealed his true martial prowess.

He held the sword horizontally above his head with his left hand, intending to block the immense force.

At the same time, instead of retracting his right hand, he used the momentum to plunge it into the chest of the soldier who had risked his life.

puff!

The long spear pierced through his heart.

But that Khitan personal guard turned out to be ruthless, or perhaps it was the savage nature inherent in the Khitan people that erupted.

He let the blood gush from his mouth, and then gripped the gun barrel that was embedded in his body with both hands.

At that moment, Yang An's spiked club was already at his head, and there was no way to avoid it!

"open!"

Shen Lie roared, only to find that the spear was locked by the soldier's corpse and armor, and he couldn't pull it out for a moment.

In that instant, Shen Lie was forced into a life-or-death situation.

If he abandons the gun, he will lose the advantage of a long weapon; if he doesn't, this blow will be enough to splatter his brains.

But where would we find the time to give him so much time to consider?!

The only hope lies in this sword in my hand.

when!

The sound of metal clashing was so loud it hurt people's eardrums.

Shen Lie felt a sudden weight on his left arm, and his hand instantly split open.

Although the sword was a fine blade, it was smashed into a shocking nick by Yang An's full-force strike.

But this slight deviation caused the fatal blow to miss by an inch, landing heavily on Shen Lie's left shoulder.

The gold shattered, and the iron armor dented.

Shen Lie was thrown so hard that he swayed violently on Mo Xiao's back and almost fell off his horse.

This sudden movement stirred up the ferocity deep within Shen Lie's bones.

Seeing that the guard was dead, his warhorse, startled, galloped wildly, still charging forward with its long spear.

He simply abandoned the half-broken sword with his left hand and instead reached forward to grasp the head of the spiked club!

Shen Lie exerted force with his five fingers, and the veins on his forehead bulged.

Yang An was shocked. He had thought that even if this blow didn't kill Shen Lie, it would at least sever one of his arms.

Who would have thought that this Han general would actually try to take his weapon empty-handed?

At the same time, Shen Lie decisively released his right hand, but did not actually abandon the gun.

Instead, it changed its claws into a palm and slapped the end of the spear hard.

This strike unleashed its full power.

The spear, propelled by the force, pierced through the already lifeless soldier's wound like a string of candied hawthorns, with the shaft even protruding three-tenths of an inch into his back.

The personal guards and their warhorses clashed with Mo Xiao in the blink of an eye.

Taking advantage of the last momentum of the two horses crossing paths, Shen Lie leaned back slightly, grabbed the protruding spear shaft from behind the Liao soldier's back, and pulled it out with force, instantly creating a cloud of blood mist.

Yang An's eyes were now filled with terror.

In the center of the battlefield, the two commanders remained locked in a strange stalemate for a single breath.

Shen Lie could see clearly that Yang An was wearing genuine Khitan heavy armor. In the event of an ordinary assassination attempt, at such close range and without the support of a warhorse, it would be extremely difficult to penetrate the armor and flesh.

So Shen Lie simply used the spear as a club, swung it in a half-circle with his right hand, and used the butt of the spear as a hammer to smash it hard into Yang An's face!

Yang An was terrified and tried to draw his weapon to defend himself, but he found that the spiked club seemed to be born in the opponent's hand. No matter how much he roared and exerted force, he could not budge it even an inch!

boom!

Yang An's helmet was smashed and deformed, and blood flowed down his headband and into his eyes.

boom!

Yang An's skull shattered instantly, and he swayed precariously on the horse, but he couldn't fall because his right hand was still instinctively gripping the stick.

Shen Lie squeezed his legs together, using the momentum of Mo Xiao's stomp, and half-stood on the stirrups, swinging the iron spear solidly for the third time onto Yang An's already deformed helmet.

"Get the hell down here!"

With a loud bang, the helmet was smashed open, and the head that was wrapped in it was dented in!

The red and white objects flashed by in the rain.

Yang An collapsed to the ground, splashing mud and water everywhere.