Great Han Empire

Chapter 200
On the battlefield to the east of Juyuan, thousands of horses galloped, roared like a tide, and the sound of war drums shook heaven and earth, and the battle became fierce.

Liang Xing and Ma Wan marched forward from east to west with tens of thousands of cavalry.Their task is to keep killing until they defeat the enemy's central army.

Xu Rong led the cavalry soldiers like a sharp dagger, rushing from left to right in the enemy army, trying to break out of the enemy's formation and break a bloody path.Behind Xu Rong's arrow, Qu Yi and Hua Xiong led troops to charge on the left flank, and Zhou Shen led troops to charge on the right flank.

Sun Jian's rear army finally couldn't hold on, and was on the verge of collapse, and the drums calling for reinforcements sounded hastily.

Almost at the same time, Han Sui's drum to ask Liang Xing and Ma Wan's cavalry to withdraw from the battlefield rang violently.The rebel cavalry soldiers, who were fighting fiercely, suddenly heard the sound of retreating war drums, and were very puzzled, but the military order was like a mountain, and they had to retreat if they did not retreat.Liang Xing immediately organized the soldiers to form a defensive formation, and Ma Wan immediately turned around with the cavalry soldiers who rushed to the front, quickly passed through the defensive formation of the rear army, and disappeared into the night.

Xu Rong heard the sound of the enemy's retreating war drums ringing non-stop in the dark night, his heart was heavy, and he didn't feel happy at all.

Bian Zhang suddenly ordered the cavalry to retreat and give way to the east road when he had the upper hand. His intention is self-evident.Now the raid has turned into a war of encirclement and annihilation. The officers and soldiers have strong combat effectiveness, and the rebels can't overwhelm their opponents for a while. Even if they win with the strength of the rebels, the losses must be staggering.Bian Zhang certainly didn't want to see this happen.The troops have lost too much, and there are not many left. How will they fare in Xiliang in the future.So he immediately changed his annihilation strategy, preparing to annihilate the official army during the pursuit.At this time, it was a very correct move, a sure-fire move.

Xu Rong looked at the soldiers around him, and sighed in his heart.With the current physical strength and morale of the soldiers, if they were chased by the enemy and fled, it would take less than a hundred miles. Except for the cavalry, all infantry soldiers would have to lie down.Moreover, the troops are out of food today, which is fatal.The soldiers had to escape from the enemy's pursuit, and they had nothing to eat. It was a miracle that they could not die.He seemed to see the wreckage of soldiers piled up on the retreating road.Xu Rong felt a sharp pain in his heart, suddenly felt helpless, and looked extremely depressed.

The soldiers following Xu Rong cheered happily when they saw the enemy retreating quickly.

Xu Rong immediately ordered the troops to slow down their advancing speed and slowly approach the enemy.On the opposite side, Liang Xing commanded the defensive cavalry to retreat slowly. He didn't order to speed up until all the cavalry on the battlefield had withdrawn, and quickly submerged into the darkness with the last batch of rebel cavalry.

Qu Yi and Hua Xiong chased after him with cavalry soldiers.

"Where's the general?" Xu Rong glanced at Qu Yi and Hua Xiong and said, "Where's General Zhou?"

"General Zhou was seriously injured." A military commander of the Northern Army cavalry replied loudly, "The general's attendants are watching from behind."

Xu Rong and the others were taken aback, and under the leadership of the army Sima, they rushed to the place where Zhou Shen was injured.

Zhou Shen's horse was stabbed to death by a spear from the enemy's cavalry. He flew out with inertia, but unfortunately ran into a galloping horse.After being knocked into the air by the horse for a dozen steps, he was stepped on by other horses and broke several ribs and injured his internal organs just as he fell to the ground.If his attendants hadn't been quick to snatch it, he would have been trampled to a pulp by the galloping war horses.

Zhou Shen was covered in blood, with a painful expression on his face.When he saw Xu Rong, he said sadly: "The troops are under your command, withdraw...quickly withdraw..."

Xu Rong nodded silently, looked at his injuries, and said to Zhou Shen's personal guards: "Find a stretcher immediately and carry the general to retreat with the Chinese army. His injuries are serious, so don't be too bumpy."

"Ziwei..." Xu Rong stood up, turned around and shouted.

"Brother Zilie..." Hua Xiong stood among a group of officers, waved his hand at Xu Rong, and replied loudly, "What's the matter?"

"Immediately reorganize the cavalry, one team will clear the way to the east, and the other team will leave behind to cover the retreat of the army."

With a promise, Hua Xiong jumped on his horse and assembled the team.

"Yuntian..."

Qu Yi bowed to him, and loudly replied: "Brother Zilie, please tell me..."

"You take the troops and immediately cover the retreat of the rear army."

"Order Master Sun to take over the command of the Northern Army, follow behind the cavalry, and quickly withdraw from the battlefield."

"Withdraw...withdraw..." Xu Rong waved his big hand and shouted at the generals surrounding him, "Everyone, go back to your headquarters and withdraw immediately."

In an instant, the sound of retreating war drums resounded through the night sky of Juyuan.

===
In the early morning, a round of red sun rises slowly, and the gorgeous morning glow is dazzling.

Li Hong was stationed on the hillside, watching the soldiers advancing rapidly along the path next to the woods from a distance.

Li Hong rushed to Pingxiang City with his troops the afternoon before yesterday.That night, he received a letter from Zhou Shen, and learned that Zhou Shen had abandoned his chariots, battles and luggage, and withdrew his troops from Kuishan Road two days ago.Zhou Shen said in the letter that the rebels are more likely to stop him in the Muyuan area. If Li Zhonglang has arrived in Pingxiang City, please help him and send cavalry to Muyuan to meet him.

Li Hong called for a guide, and after carefully inquiring about the conditions of the Kuishan trail and the Muyuan, he immediately ordered the troops to leave their baggage behind, and all the soldiers set off on the road lightly and rushed to the Muyuan.

Li Hong saw Zheng Xin coming galloping on horseback.

"Shouyan, the scouts who rushed to Muyuan yesterday, do you have any news to send back?" Li Hong asked loudly.

"No. It's more than 200 miles away from Muyuan. It's estimated that they can come back this afternoon." Zheng Xin replied.

Li Hong didn't make a sound.He looked up at the sky, pointed to the bright red sun on the horizon and said, "It's another sunny day."

"Soldiers march seventy or eighty miles a day, and they have to stand under the sun on the road, which is very hard." Zheng Xin said, "Why do you have to bring [-] infantry with you?"

Li Hong laughed, "What? Master Sima of the other department has an opinion?"

"We took Fengyun Iron Cavalry and rushed to Muyuan day and night. Isn't the time faster?" Zheng Xin asked puzzledly, "Bringing infantry, we will delay half the time."

Li Hong smiled and said, "Shouyan, do you want to go back to Youzhou early?"

Zheng Xin looked at him in surprise, and said with a smile: "My lord, are you homesick?"

"Think." Li Hong said, "Unfortunately, I don't know where my home is, so I can't remember it even if I think about it."

Zheng Xin laughed, "Your Excellency, you want to take this opportunity to eat the border chapter and end the rebellion earlier?"

"That's what I mean. General Zhou is very resourceful. Under such a bad situation, he can still think of a way to escape, and safely evacuate from Yuzhong City. It is very remarkable. If the rebels fail to achieve their goal, they will definitely become angry and chase them all the way. Li Hong said with a smile, "We came in such a hurry that the rebels would not have expected it. We are considered a surprise soldier. If our timing is right and we join forces with General Zhou's troops, we can definitely hit the rebels hard."

Zheng Xin shook his head and smiled admiringly: "My lord's appetite is getting bigger and bigger. At this time, I still want to plot against others. It will take us at least three days to reach the pastoral garden with infantry. Calculated according to the distance, Lord Zhou is now Muyuan, I think they are fighting with the rebels in full swing." Zheng Xin looked at the smiling Li Hong, and said angrily, "I'm afraid that General Zhou will be dying if we arrive at Muyuan."

Li Hong shook his hand at him, meaning what nonsense are you talking about.

"What? Am I wrong? My lord thinks that General Zhou's troops will be able to withstand it?"

"Of course." Li Hong said, "The difference in strength and numbers between the two sides can be made up for each other. As long as they are not ambushed, General Zhou's troops will definitely be able to withstand it. The key is food. If they receive the food sent by Mr. Fu Xie The first batch of supplies, they will be safe and sound. If they don't receive the supplies and the food is robbed by the rebels in Kuiyuan Gorge, their situation will be very dangerous."

"However." Li Hong patted the horsewhip in his hand lightly, and said with a smile, "If Bian Zhang and Han Sui give up the pursuit in order to preserve their strength, our trip will be considered in vain."

"This possibility is very high. The rebel army just lost Beigong Boyu and Li Wenhou, as well as [-] Qiang cavalry. This is a huge blow to their strength and morale. If they want to preserve their strength, they can take the opportunity to survive The Yellow River retreated directly to the Huangzhong Qiang area..."

Just as Zheng Xin was talking, he suddenly saw several scouts galloping towards him, and immediately shouted loudly: "There is news..."

The scouts brought a wounded soldier of the northern army, and also brought a shocking news: Last night, Bian Zhang led the rebels and attacked Zhou Shen's army in Juyuan.

The soldier of the Northern Army was the mobile secret sentry of Zhou Shen's army at night. After he was attacked, he was not killed.The scouts were very surprised when they found out.Some of them stayed behind to continue to monitor the movement in the direction of Juyuan, and some of them immediately turned back to report the military situation to Li Hong.

"If General Zhou can break through, we will be able to see him at noon today at the latest." Zheng Xin pointed to the map and said to Li Hong, "Will the enemy chase after General Zhou?"

"If the rebels have not lost much and they want to kill General Zhou, they will definitely pursue them. However, if they have lost too much and General Zhou's troops are running low, there is no point in continuing to pursue them." Li Hong He said, "Now we don't know anything about Juyuan. We can only hope that the scouts who stayed in Juyuan will send the news back soon."

Zheng Xin said worriedly: "If General Zhou's troops have been wiped out by the rebels or are still stubbornly resisting in Juyuan, we..."

"In terms of strength, the two sides are almost the same, so it's hard to kill each other. Now that the rebels are using this kind of surprise attack, it's hard to say." Li Hong looked at the map and said without raising his head, "If Zhou The general broke through, and the rebels took advantage of the victory to pursue them, so we will fight the rebels; if General Zhou is still trapped in the Juyuan, we will walk over to show our faces. At this time, don’t fight, the rebels will be honest Withdraw on the spot."

Zheng Xin nodded, and said hopefully: "It's best if they catch up, and we can beat them hard."

Li Hong said with a smile: "Things on the battlefield are changing rapidly, who knows if there is such a good thing."

"Order all parts to speed up." Li Hong shouted at the messenger, "Hurry up, hurry up.

===

Near noon, Li Hong received the latest news: General Zhou Shen's troops had broken through, and the rebels followed closely behind, chasing them all the way.

Li Hong was ecstatic in his heart and grinned loudly.

"How far is it from us?" Zheng Xin asked the scout.

"Going back to my lord, there are still about thirty or forty miles away. General Zhou's troops will arrive here in the afternoon."

"How many troops does General Zhou have?"

"It is estimated that there are still 3 to [-] people." The scout replied, "They are in a terrible state. Many soldiers can't run, and they are all captured by the rebels."

Zheng Xin turned to look at Li Hong.

"Order the troops to turn back immediately." Li Hong said loudly without hesitation.

"Go back?"

"Yes, turn around. Let's just rush up like this. The rebels will definitely not fight, turn around and run away. Order the troops to turn back and rush to Xiaoniu Mountain to set up an ambush. When I passed by just now, I think the terrain there is good, suitable for an ambush."

Zheng Xin looked at him incredulously, and shouted: "My lord, we only have 3 people, and there are at least [-] to [-] enemies in pursuit. They can't eat them in one bite. I think we should save General Next Zhou first... "

Li Hong shook his hand and said with a smile, "There are a lot of rebels, so we eat a little. The enemy is tired from running, so it's easy to fight."

"Invite Mr. Xianyu and Mr. Evergrande to come to my place immediately. Hurry up."

Maverick Mountain has a gentle terrain, and the rolling hills are not big, but the forest on the mountain is very dense.

Wen Chou stood at the foot of the mountain and directed the soldiers to go up the mountain quickly.He saw Yushi coming with a few attendants on flying horses from a distance.

"Master Yu, what did the captain say? What are we doing in the rear?" Wen Chou hurried up to meet him and asked loudly.

Yushi dismounted from his horse and said with a smile, "Ambush, this time it's an ambush. Where's Jun Yi?"

"Junyi has gone up the mountain." Wen Chou smiled, "Brother Congyi, I guessed right. As soon as the troops turned around, I knew that Master Li was going to ambush the rebels."

Yushi patted him on the shoulder appreciatively, and boasted: "Very good. Next time I meet Mr. Li, I will definitely tell him that as soon as the Chinese army's drums sound, our Zijun will know what the army is going to do. Both you and Junyi Innate talent will definitely be the talent of a general in the future."

Wen Chou's handsome face immediately turned red. He smiled very shyly and asked, "How is the military situation?"

"Very bad." Yushi patted his thighs with a horsewhip lightly a few times, and said in a low voice, "Last night, General Zhou Shen's troops were attacked in Juyuan, and now they are being chased by the rebels all the way."

"That would be tragic." Wen Chou said, "General Zhou's troops must have suffered heavy losses."

Yushi nodded with deep sympathy, and continued: "Master Du Wei said that Master Li not only wants to defeat the enemy and rescue General Zhou, but also wants to severely injure the rebels, so Master Li ordered us to ambush in Xiaoniu Mountain, intending to take advantage of the enemy's unpreparedness. , eat some of them."

"The task of the central army and the front and rear armies is to quickly cut off the rebels and divide them into two after the attack. Then we firmly guard here, cutting off the enemy's retreat on the one hand, preventing the enemy from breaking out and escaping, and blocking the rebels on the other hand. The rescue of the follow-up troops of the army."

"The left and right armies of Fengyun cavalry and infantry are responsible for encircling and annihilating the enemies within the encirclement."

Wen Chou smiled excitedly and said, "The rebels from Xiliang met our family, General Lang, and they were dead. Brother Congyi, if Lord Li leads us to wipe out the rebels, will the imperial court make him a general? In that case ,us……"

Yushi looked at him with a smile, and called out maliciously: "Zijun..."

Wen Chou's eyes glowed, and he was still immersed in the dream of getting promoted and getting rich.

Yushi's horsewhip hit him head and face.

===

Standing on the top of the mountain, Li Hong looked at the road stretching straight down to the sky, looking at the blue sky and white clouds, and felt very comfortable.

If he can severely damage the rebels in this battle, General Dong Zhuo can also defeat the Qianghu cavalry in Longxi and Wudu. The situation in Xiliang will basically be reversed, and the crisis in Xiliang will soon disappear.In this way, the day when I bring my troops back to Jizhou is coming soon.

Zheng Xin ran all the way out of breath, followed by Zhao Yun, Hu Ding, Qi Shen, and several black panther Yi Cong who supported an injured Hu Bing followed closely behind.

Seeing Zheng Xin's distorted face due to extreme anger from a distance, Li Hong was taken aback, and rushed to meet him.

Then he saw the injured Xianbei soldier, Li Hong's heart beat violently, and a painful suffocation instantly swept over his body.Li Hong stopped in panic, for fear that he would fall to the ground top-heavy.Brother, it's my brother again.

That was the machete of the head of the Black Panther Yi Cong Battalion, and he had left it in the Pingxiang Camp to protect the grain and supplies and the marching Sima Zuoyan.How did he get here?How did you get hurt?Did the enemy rob the camp?

"My lord, don't fight this battle, don't fight..." Zheng Xin was excited, waving his hands desperately, yelling.

"My lord, our brother did not die by the sword of the enemy, but was hacked to death by our own people..."

"My lord, we want to go back and avenge our dead brother..."

"My lord, we are working hard on the front line, but someone from behind raided our camp and captured our soldiers..."

"Subject, give me the Black Panther Yicong, I will kill him back..."

Li Hong ignored everyone's shouts and hurriedly squatted on the ground to check the machete wound.He was slashed three times and shot by two arrows, but he survived.Seeing that his wounds were not critical, Li Hong felt relieved and sat down on the grass.

"Don't quarrel." Li Hong waved his hands vigorously, and shouted to the surrounding group of people, "Don't quarrel. Shouyan, you are another Sima, not a swordsman. What's your name?"

Zheng Xin had a murderous look on his face, and he yelled loudly: "You let me go back, I will kill them, kill..."

Before he finished speaking, Zhao Yun had already picked him up by the waist and dragged him aside.

"Machete, what's going on?"

Machete is a big Xianbei man in his 30s, with a powerful Kong Wu and bearded face, and looks very honest.

"Yesterday afternoon, Mr. Cheng Qiu, the long-time governor of Liangzhou Governor's Mansion, suddenly rushed into the camp with a thousand cavalry, saying that he was ordered by the Taiwei to search all the property in the camp. The 200 of us were caught off guard. Surrounded by a thousand cavalry in the big tent, their weapons were confiscated, and they were unable to resist. Master Zuo stepped forward to argue, but was caught by Cheng Qiu's command and tied to the flagpole, tortured, and forced Zuo Sima to hand over money."

Li Hong was furious immediately, blood welled up all over his body, and murderous aura came out violently.

He gritted his teeth and shouted loudly: "Can you see the handwriting of Lord Taiwei?"

Machete shook his head, and said angrily: "We were all imprisoned in the big tent. Where did we see any handwriting? Zuo Sima asked that Cheng Qiu for it, but was beaten up. That Cheng Qiu said that the Lord had embezzled the rebels privately." Money violated the laws of the Han Dynasty. He also said that it was Beigong Boyu who reported it. That Beigong Boyu is really nothing, and the dog’s life was saved by adults. I didn’t expect that he would avenge his kindness and frame the adults. Cheng Qiu said that the matter has already been published To the Son of Heaven, Lord Taiwei has already ordered the search for the stolen goods. As long as the stolen goods are found, he will be put into a prison car and escorted back to Beijing for trial."

"How dare the chief minister of his governor's mansion arrest my Sima and disturb my camp?" Li Hong roared, "Even if he has the handwriting of the Taiwei, he has no right to search my camp and torture the officers. This Are people crazy?"

Then he pointed to the wound on the machete and asked, "What's the matter with your wound?"

"I took seven people with me, slipped out of the big tent in the middle of the night, snatched the enemy's war horse and escaped. They chased and killed all six brothers, and I was the only one who fled here. Poor brother They didn't die on the battlefield, but died by their own swords, this... this..." Machete-like tears welled up in his eyes, and he couldn't cry.

"Whose cavalry are they? Are they from the Governor's Mansion?" Li Hong went crazy like a red-eyed leopard.

"It's Ma Teng's cavalry."

"Are you sure?" Li Hong roared.

"They said it themselves. They also laughed at our Fengyun cavalry as barbarians, and scolded Mr. Gongsun, saying that they are all a group of idiots riding on white horses."

"Subject, what are you talking about? Go back, go back, what's the point of this battle? If the fight continues, we'll all die without a place to die."

"My lord, if this matter is known to everyone, it will be difficult to fight this battle, and maybe there will be big troubles, my lord..." Qi Chen said in a low voice, "This matter must be resolved immediately."

"We are on the front line. That Mr. Cheng dares to disturb the camp. That's a capital offense. Your lord, that's a capital offense." Hu Ding said angrily.

Li Hong's anger finally broke out.

"Zi Long……"

Zhao Yun hurried to Li Hong's side.

"You take the Black Panther Yi Cong, all the Black Panther Yi Cong, all of you, Hu Ding, Abandon Shen, you all go back, all of you with armor put on your armor, bring your crossbow, hurry back now, and attack the camp tomorrow morning, All relevant personnel, shoot to kill."

Zhao Yun glanced at Li Hong timidly, and said in a low voice, "My lord, no one in Xiliang would dare to do this without the handwriting of the Taiwei. You, who dares to touch you? My lord..."

"Master Taiwei will definitely not do such a thing at this time." Although Li Hong was mad, he had not lost his reason. He looked at Zhao Yun and said, "This madman must have other backgrounds. You catch them and torture them Torture, let's see who has the guts to do such a thing at such a critical time in Xiliang's suppression of the rebellion, what exactly is he trying to do?"

===

(End of this chapter)