Ji Han Liu Zhang

"My life and death are in your hands."

As Yan Xing rode his horse at full speed, he recalled Han Sui's sincere and earnest instructions. In today's battle with the Shu army, he was entrusted by Han Sui to lead the elite cavalrymen of Han Sui, Song Jian, and the Xianling Qiang as an assault force to try to directly attack the center of the Shu army.

At the moment when the Shaodang, Canlang and other large Qianghu tribes, as well as most of the small Qianghu tribes, fled, their forces were far less than the Shu army. In terms of combat power, the Shu army was not much inferior to the Liangzhou soldiers, and because of their high morale, they were able to suppress the Liangzhou soldiers.

Therefore, if they want to win today's battle, they have to implement the strategy of beheading. A snake cannot survive without a head. Without a snake head, the core of the Shu army will be destroyed, and the giant python that wants to strangle them will collapse without a fight. And they may have a chance to win today's battle.

Victory or defeat depends on this one move, that’s all.

Thinking of this, Yan Xing tightened his grip on the spear in his hand, lowered his body slightly to reduce the resistance on his galloping horse, and rushed towards the central flag of the Shu army.

Now, Yan Xing's eyes were focused on nothing else but the Shu army's banner and the people under it. He believed that the Grand Marshal Liu Jiyu must be among those people, under the banner.

However, if they wanted to attack the Shu army's banner, they had to deal with the two troops lined up in front of the Shu army's banner. After all, if they went around it, it would take some time, and by then the Shu army would definitely line up around the banner, and they would have no chance.

Yan Xing glanced around and saw that the flags on the left side of the front were marked with the word "Gan", and the flags on the right side were marked with the word "Xi". After thinking for a moment, he pointed the spear in his hand towards the army formation where the flags with the word "Xi" were.

Yan Xing had been getting to know the generals under Liu Jiyu during this period. In terms of bravery and fighting skills, Gan Ning, Gan Xingba, Zhang Ren and Zhang Gongyi were the best among them. The troops under the left side in front with the flag bearing the word "Gan" must be Gan Ning's troops. So Yan Xing led his cavalry towards the formation under the flag bearing the word "Xi", intending to break up the army formation on the right side in one go and kill all the way to the slope where the Shu army's central army was located.

"Kill." Yan Xing shouted, urging his elite cavalry to charge. Under Yan Xing's command, more than a thousand cavalrymen rushed towards the Shu army without hesitation.

Xi Su, who was in the battle formation, saw this abnormal situation. Under normal circumstances, cavalry seldom charged into the battle formation. They usually harassed or attacked from the sides to disrupt the enemy's formation, and then killed them to win.

But the Liangzhou bandits on the opposite side continued to charge towards his army formation with unabated momentum, intending to break through his army formation and attack the central army behind him.

"Raise your spears." Xi Su gave an order, and through the sound of flags and drums, he ordered the soldiers to raise their spears at an angle, with the tips of the spears pointing at the Liangzhou bandits who were running towards them.

Thus, the wall-like spear tips fell into Yan Xing's eyes. He couldn't help but frown. He didn't expect that the Shu general opposite was not frightened by his indomitable momentum and could still take countermeasures.

Not only was the Shu general able to remain so calm, the Shu troops lined up here also carried out the orders issued by the Shu general in an orderly manner, facing them with spears in formation, without the slightest intention of retreating.

Yan Xing suddenly felt a little bit of a toothache. The Shu army on the opposite side must be a well-trained and battle-hardened group of elite soldiers. It would probably not be easy for him to break through the Shu army on the opposite side and reach the center of the Shu army.

"Charge." Yan Xing gritted his teeth. At this point, the momentum of the cavalry's charge was unstoppable. They could only charge towards the Shu army formation that was well prepared in front of them.

In a flash, the Shu army's infantry formations and the Liangzhou bandits who were charging on horseback came into contact, collided, and even merged with each other, and the situation suddenly became chaotic.

As the two teams collided, cries, wails, and screams of the dying instantly resounded across the battlefield.

The front row of infantrymen of the Shu army were charged by the Liangzhou cavalrymen. The infantrymen in formation could not stop the galloping horses and were knocked away by the horses, with a large number of them falling down. The galloping horses, facing the spears that were pushing forward, were inevitably pierced by the sharp spear tips. They rushed forward a few meters and fell to the ground unwillingly after losing the inertia brought by the potential energy. They lost their vitality and hindered the cavalrymen behind them.

Relying on their fearless spirit, the Shu army infantrymen in formation blocked the charge of the Liangzhou cavalrymen, successfully slowed down the momentum of the Liangzhou cavalrymen's charge, and fought fiercely with them.

"Abandon the long spears and use short weapons." When Xi Su saw that the charge of the Liangzhou cavalry was hindered, he knew that the opportunity had come. The cavalry, who had lost the ability to roam and gallop, did not have much advantage over the infantry, and might even be slightly inferior to the infantry.

At Xi Su's command, the front soldiers of his army dropped their spears, took out the ring-handled swords at their waists, raised their swords and charged forward, engaging in close combat with the Liangzhou cavalry.

"Damn it." Yan Xing cursed verbally when he saw the Shu army coming forward and fighting closely with the front cavalry. The cavalry, without the impact and mobility, would be in a dangerous situation once they were surrounded by the infantry.

Especially when Yan Xing saw that Gan Ning's troops on the left had divided more than a thousand men and horses to surround his side, intending to surround him completely.

The situation was not good. Yan Xing suddenly became anxious. His brain was thinking rapidly, trying to come up with a solution. After a moment, he made a decision.

Yan Xing, who was in the rear of the more than a thousand cavalrymen under his command, pointed his spear to the right, intending to lead more than 300 personal guards on his left and right to bypass the army where Xi Su was and attack the center of the Shu army.

As for the front cavalry who were entangled by Xisu's troops, Yan Xing planned to abandon them, and at the same time use them as the tail to hold back Xisu's troops.

When Yan Xing's personal guards saw the movement of the spear in Yan Xing's hand, they understood what Yan Xing meant. They turned their horses to the right, intending to gallop to the right and bypass Xi Su's troops who were blocking the road in front.

However, things did not go as planned. Fa Zheng raised a blue flag at the center of the Shu army and issued an order to Zhang Xiu's troops on the left. When Zhang Xiu saw the flag at the center, he immediately understood the meaning of the order and led more than a thousand cavalrymen under his command to rush to Xi Su's position, intending to join forces with Xi Su's troops to encircle and strangle Yan Xing's troops who were trying to behead him.

"Order Ma Chao's troops on the left to move forward and help Yin Pu defeat the troops of the King of Pinghan in Heshou and remove the enemy's left arm." Liu Zhang did not look at Yan Xing's troops who were trying to behead him, but looked at the army fighting and issued an order. Fa Zheng did not respond, he just silently carried out the order issued by Liu Zhang. Soon, Ma Chao on the left saw the signal from the central army asking him to attack, and his face suddenly became excited.

"Today is the day to avenge the murder of my father and brother." Ma Chao shouted loudly, leading more than a thousand cavalrymen under his command to rush forward. His eyes were bloodshot, and he ignored his position as the commander and rushed to the front.

At this moment, Yan Xing and his guards, who were running to the right, saw a scene that made them unable to open their eyes. In front of them, a group of knights wearing two-piece armor and horses also wearing full body armor were running towards them. Both the knights and horses were wearing armor, and the metal armor reflected the sunlight, making it difficult for them to open their eyes and shocking them.

Even the commander Yan Xing secretly swallowed his saliva at this moment. He knew about the existence of horse armor, but he had never seen a cavalryman covered in armor from head to toe without any flaws.

Yan Xing clenched the spear in his hand, he forced himself to calm down, shouted at his cavalry, urging them to start charging. They could not stay where they were and wait for the Shu cavalry to charge over.

However, Yan Xing's shouts were of little use. Among his 300 personal guards, only a few responded to him. Most of them were frightened by the armored Shu army and were in a state of fear, not daring to act rashly.

"Charge with me." Yan Xing shouted loudly, and stabbed and killed a cavalryman who still disobeyed orders with his spear. Under his encouragement and intimidation, the personal guards cavalry under his command finally took action and began to charge towards the Shu cavalry in front, but the momentum of the charge was not strong enough, and was filled with hesitation and confusion.

Zhang Xiu, who was leading the charge with a stern face, saw the hesitant posture of the Liangzhou cavalrymen on the opposite side. A sneer appeared in the corner of his mouth. He expected the reaction of the Liangzhou bandits. After all, everyone would be shocked to see the armored cavalrymen whom they had never seen before.

When Zhang Xiu first saw this monstrous group of men and horses wearing armor from Ming Gong Liu Ji Yu, he was also shocked and unable to extricate himself. The cavalry were difficult to deal with in the first place, and now even the horses under the cavalry were covered in armor. Now, it was like a moving iron mountain of "armored cavalry" - named by Ming Gong Liu Zhang, it was an irresistible existence.

Besides being shocked, Zhang Xiu was glad that the armor and cavalry equipment were in their hands. The only pity was that the output of armor and cavalry equipment was a bit low, with only 150 sets available now. One reason was that there were not enough skilled blacksmiths, and the other was that the armor and cavalry equipment was very expensive, so only 150 sets were available now.

As war was going on right now, there were one hundred armored cavalry assigned to Zhang Xiu for command. Zhang Xiu made use of them. He divided the hundred armored cavalry into three columns and charged towards Yan Xing's troops who were trying to advance to the central army.

"How could you have the chance to reach the central army?" Zhang Xiu sneered in his heart. Since his uncle's death, he has been under the command of the Lord. He has been trusted by the Lord and promoted. In addition to capturing and killing Li Jue, he was also granted the title of Wansui Tinghou and a fief of 100 households.

My lord, you have encountered such a rare situation, so I will repay you with my life. Zhang Xiu shouted loudly, and led his armored cavalry to collide with Yan Xing's troops.

Relying on the high-end defensive power brought by the armored cavalry, Zhang Xiu, who charged into Yan Xing's troops, was like stepping into an empty land. He rushed left and right, slaughtering Yan Xing's personal cavalry wantonly. The more than one hundred armored cavalry commanded by Zhang Xiu also operated like Zhang Xiu. Both the men and the horses were in armor. Naturally, they did not do any defense, but just launched crazy attacks, killing the Liangzhou cavalry.

This scene made Yan Xing's heart bleed. After thinking it over for a while, Yan Xing suppressed his murderous intention to rush forward with his gun. He knew that defeat was inevitable now. He couldn't win the battle now, so he had to retreat and think about it later.

"Retreat." The situation was impossible. The plan to behead Liu Zhang, the commander of the Shu army, would definitely not succeed. Yan Xing shouted loudly and led his personal guards to evacuate the place.

As Yan Xing retreated, and Ma Chao led his cavalry to attack the Heshou Pinghan King Song Jian's army from the side, Song Jian, who was already gritting his teeth to hold out against the Thunderbolt Captain Yin Pu, could no longer stabilize the morale of his army, and the rebel's right wing collapsed immediately.

The collapse of the right wing was transmitted to Han Sui, who was in the center of the rebel army. Han Sui suddenly fell into despair. Yan Xing failed to complete the task of beheading, and Song Jian, who was in the right wing formation, collapsed again. Now he had only one choice.

"General, victory is impossible. We should leave here quickly and make plans later." Cheng Gongying made timely suggestions. If they did not retreat when the defeat was obvious, they would probably be swept up in the chaos of the retreating large group of troops behind them, and they would have no choice but to escape.

"Retreat." Han Sui gritted his teeth and responded, the sound almost bursting out from between his teeth. He knew that if he was defeated now, he would never be able to rise again in the future, and the land of Liangzhou was not suitable for living. The world was so big, but he didn't know where to go.

Han Sui, who was covered in dust and had a mind as dull as a dead tree, fled westwards surrounded by his personal guards. With Han Sui's departure, the Liangzhou bandits collapsed instantly.

Song Jian, Han Sui's ally, also abandoned his army and fled westward surrounded by his personal guards. However, Han Sui's other loyal ally, Diaohu Jin, the leader of the Xianrong Qiang, was not so lucky. He was killed in battle by Meng Da's nephew Deng Xian. Most of his Qiang and Hu subordinates were killed, and the rest were taken prisoners.

The outcome of the battle was decided. On the one hand, Liu Zhang ordered Meng Da, Yin Pu and others to clean up the battlefield, and on the other hand, he sent Zhang Xiu and Ma Chao to tail and pursue Han Sui, Song Jian and others who were fleeing.

Liu Zhang did not stay in Xiangwu City, but led more than 10,000 people to the west as the successor of Zhang Xiu and Ma Chao, with Gan Ning, Xi Su, Xu Meng and other generals. As the saying goes, "eradicate all evil", he wanted to eliminate Han Sui and Song Jian, the two evil sources, and not give them any chance to survive.

Han Sui and Song Jian fled all the way westward, and luckily they bumped into each other on the way. In addition, Yan Xing, who was fleeing, also caught up with Han Sui and joined forces with him.

The few people who escaped did not feel much relief, after all, the Shu army's pursuers were very close. After a brief discussion on the way, they decided to go to Song Jian's old nest, Fuhan.

Han Sui and Song Jian traveled westward, and the Shu army followed them closely, leaving them no rest. Finally, Han Sui and Song Jian entered the city of Fuhan, where they were able to rest for a while.

However, what made Han Sui and Song Jian uneasy was that the Shu army first chased the cavalry to the city of Fuhan, and then the Shu army divided into several groups and arrived at the city of Fuhan, surrounding the city. The Shu army first dug trenches around the city and set up chevaux de frise to prevent them from escaping, and then began to build siege equipment nearby.

All of these scenes were seen by Han Sui and Song Jian, making them feel desperate. (End of this chapter)