Three Kingdoms: My Strategy Simulator.

Upon hearing this, Sun Jian quickly directed his four generals and personal guards to move aside.

The speed of the white blur in the distance noticeably increased, rapidly approaching Sun Jian's direction.

As the distance between them closed, Sun Jian finally saw clearly that the so-called white blur was actually five hundred White Horse Riders.

White horses and white armor, coupled with the dim night, made them appear as a large white blur from afar in the darkness.

However, seeing that Zhao Yun led only five hundred riders, while the pursuing force was over a thousand Xiliang iron cavalry led by Hua Xiong.

Sun Jian, who had defended against the Qiang rebellion in the Three Auxiliary Regions for several years, and had been attacking Hulao Pass for many days, knew the power of the Xiliang iron cavalry and quickly warned loudly.

"General Zhao, be careful! The enemy general is the fierce Xiliang warrior Hua Xiong, and he leads over a thousand elite Xiliang iron cavalry. Do not engage head-on!"

Zhao Yun did not say much, and the speed of the White Horse Riders he led remained undiminished, continuing to charge forward.

As the White Horse Riders approached, Hua Xiong also noticed a white blur rushing from Sun Jian's direction, accompanied by rapid hoofbeats.

Unlike Sun Jian, Hua Xiong, as an experienced cavalry general, focused and listened intently to distinguish the hoofbeats, and within a few breaths, he judged that the white blur was actually only five hundred riders.

"How bold! Daring to charge against my Xiliang iron cavalry!"

Hua Xiong's eyes narrowed, and a cruel smile appeared on his face.

If one were to discuss the three major cavalry-producing regions of the Han Dynasty: Liang Province, Bing Province, and You Province, the combat styles of the cavalry from these three provinces could be described as different and circuitous.

The three elite forces that assisted Emperor Guangwu in seizing the empire at the end of the Western Han Dynasty, in addition to the crossbowmen of Ji Province, the remaining two were the You Province light cavalry, known for their flexible archery, and the Bing Province heavy cavalry, known for their tenacious attrition.

(PS: The three elite forces under Emperor Guangwu are historical facts, and interestingly, the predecessor of the White Horse Riders was the You Province light cavalry, while the predecessor of the Vanguard Death Soldiers who annihilated the White Horse Riders was the Ji Province crossbowmen.)

However, with the establishment of the Eastern Han Dynasty, the frequency of battles in Liang Province was even greater than in You Province and Bing Province, which gradually led to the formation of a unique cavalry style in Liang Province, namely the Xiliang iron cavalry, known for their fearlessness in breaking through formations.

When narrow roads meet, the brave win!

And what the Xiliang iron cavalry feared the least and were most enthusiastic about was charging into the enemy formation, enjoying the feeling of crushing the enemy's flesh and tearing apart their military formation.

"Xiliang iron cavalry! Follow me, charge! ! !"

Hua Xiong shouted loudly, prompting the thousand-plus Xiliang iron cavalry behind Hua Xiong to respond loudly, and then, almost instinctively, they controlled their warhorses, with Hua Xiong as the spearhead, forming a wedge formation.

The changes in the Xiliang iron cavalry were all seen by Zhao Yun, and his expression became slightly solemn.

If Zhao Yun personally commanded the White Horse Riders, forming a wedge formation during the rapid charge would only be faster and more perfect.

However, how many White Horse Riders were there?

Zhao Yun had only three thousand under his command.

Even Gongsun Zan, who had been continuously expanding the scale of the White Horse Riders in You Province in recent years, now had only about six thousand.

How many Xiliang iron cavalry were there?

Often tens of thousands.

And during the process of the two sides' cavalry charging towards each other, the distance was closing rapidly, and the Xiliang iron cavalry led by Hua Xiong had already subconsciously focused and held their breath, preparing for the moment of impact.

However, just when the distance between the two sides was about thirty paces, which was very close for cavalry.

"Change formation!"

Zhao Yun pointed the Yejiao Spear in his hand towards the sky and shouted loudly.

Immediately, the five hundred White Horse Riders, who had originally maintained a wedge formation and seemed ready for a desperate charge, suddenly began to disperse to the left and right.

In the next moment, the Xiliang iron cavalry and the White Horse Riders passed each other.

From Sun Jian's perspective, it seemed as if the Xiliang iron cavalry had cut through the White Horse Riders like a hot knife through snow, without any resistance.

However, in reality, the two sides did not have any actual collision.

The White Horse Riders displayed amazing agility, and the entire wedge formation spontaneously separated to the left and right, with the two armies passing each other at a distance of about three zhang.

At this distance, the two sides could even see each other's facial features in the dark night.

Hua Xiong and Zhao Yun also exchanged glances with each other.

"There is such an elite force in the world?!"

As a cavalry commander himself, Hua Xiong understood how difficult it was to achieve such a degree of effortless control.

Not only was the commander's level extremely high, but this cavalry was definitely the elite among the elite, and its level of elite even surpassed the Xiliang iron cavalry personally led by Hua Xiong.

However, just as Hua Xiong led the Xiliang iron cavalry to completely pass by the White Horse Riders, and before he had time to think about the next step.

"Deng deng deng… …"

A large sound of bowstrings vibrating entered Hua Xiong's ears, followed by the sound of a large number of arrows piercing through the air.

'Not good!'

Hua Xiong only had time to flash this thought in his mind.

The rain of arrows released by the White Horse Riders with their archery had already fallen into the formation of the Xiliang iron cavalry, which had slowed down a lot.

The dense wedge formation, which was originally good at charging, instead amplified the lethality that the White Horse Riders' arrow rain could cause.

With just one wave of arrow rain falling, more than a hundred screams and wails rang out incessantly within the wedge formation formed by the Xiliang iron cavalry.

"Disperse!"

"Retreat! ! !"

Immediately, Hua Xiong issued two orders in succession without hesitation.

While directing the Xiliang iron cavalry to quickly disperse to avoid subsequent possible arrow rain, he decisively chose to retreat.

Although the number of Xiliang iron cavalry commanded by Hua Xiong far exceeded that of the White Horse Riders, the level of elite displayed by the White Horse Riders shocked Hua Xiong.

In addition, it was a dark night, and Hua Xiong had no idea whether there were any ambushes or reinforcements behind the enemy.

Retreat was undoubtedly the best choice at the moment!

The only thing that Hua Xiong regretted was that he was just a little bit away from taking Sun Jian's head and presenting it to the Prime Minister.

Faced with the retreat of the Xiliang iron cavalry, Zhao Yun only led the White Horse Riders to pursue for a while, and did not intend to pursue deeply or stop them.

This place was not far from Hulao Pass, and it was unwise to pursue deeply or stop them. Zhao Yun was quite satisfied to be able to startle the opponent without causing unnecessary losses.

Immediately, Zhao Yun ordered Tian Yu to lead a small team to return first to report to the lord and military advisor Li Ji, while he led the White Horse Riders to meet Sun Jian.

"General Sun, why were you pursued here along the way by the Xiliang iron cavalry?" Zhao Yun asked.

"The army was cut off from food, and Hua Xiong took the opportunity to launch a surprise attack. I was able to save my life thanks to the desperate efforts of my trusted subordinates and General Zhao's timely arrival… …"

Speaking of this, a trace of suspicion flashed in Sun Jian's eyes, and he asked. "But why is General Zhao here?"

Zhao Yun replied.

"The allied forces have arrived forty miles behind here, and will be able to reach Hulao Pass and join General Sun in two days. Therefore, I was ordered by the military advisor to lead a part of the cavalry in advance to scout the terrain and choose a suitable place for the army to set up camp."

After hearing this, the little suspicion in Sun Jian's heart completely dissipated, replaced by gratitude to Zhao Yun.

If it hadn't been for Zhao Yun's timely assistance, Sun Jian felt that he might not have been able to escape Hua Xiong's pursuit.

It's just… …

Sun Jian turned his head and looked at the remaining hundred-plus personal soldiers behind him, and felt anger and grief in his heart.

Good news: Most of the hundred-plus warhorses that had been accumulated for a long time were saved;

Bad news: Nearly ten thousand soldiers were scattered like this, and even if some of them could be barely gathered later, at least 70% of them would be lost.

In a sense, after this defeat, Sun Jian, whose elite troops had been greatly damaged, could withdraw from this stage of the coalition's campaign against Dong Zhuo in advance.

At this thought, the anger in Sun Jian's heart rose greatly, even completely overwhelming the desolation of defeat, and he roared.

"Yuan Shu, you little brat! ! !"

Immediately, Sun Jian, with red eyes, asked Zhao Yun for the direction of the allied forces' camp, and, carrying the Ancient Tipped Saber, ignored the persuasion of his four generals, and rode his horse towards the camp.

However, before Sun Jian arrived at the camp.

Li Ji was playing chess with Guo Jia at a leisurely pace, but compared to Guo Jia, who was sweating profusely as the game gradually entered the middle stage, Li Ji looked calm and relaxed, occasionally sipping tea, and occasionally looking at the entrance of the camp not far away.

"Sir, can I surrender in the middle game?"

Guo Jia, who habitually called him that, asked with a bitter look on his usually casual face.

Playing chess with Li Ji, how could Guo Jia not know that the winning rate was fifty-fifty?

The so-called fifty-fifty meant that who won completely depended on Li Ji's mood.

In Guo Jia's view, among the few chess players in ancient and modern times, perhaps only Emperor Jing of Han, Liu Qi, who was wearing an imperial robe, could steadily win against Li Ji.

"Play for a while longer."

Li Ji ignored the bitterness on Guo Jia's face, and said while gently rejecting Guo Jia's proposal.

"Furthermore, this can also temper Feng Xiao's mentality in adversity. Do not be impetuous, and look for a chance to win in step-by-step operations."

Guo Jia did not respond, but his brows were almost twisted into a ball. Just as he was thinking about going all out… …

Li Ji suddenly stood up and said.

"The chess game will be postponed, we will play another day."

"Ah?"

This sudden change made Guo Jia feel the urge to vomit blood.

However, seeing Li Ji get up and walk quickly towards the main gate of the camp, realizing that there must be something important, his face became serious, and he quickly followed.

The first to rush back was undoubtedly the small team of White Horse Riders led by Tian Yu.

Looking at Li Ji appearing at the main gate to greet them, Tian Yu was slightly stunned, and a thought could not help but flash in his mind.

'Could it be that the military advisor had expected this to happen?'

Immediately, Tian Yu quickly dismounted ten steps away from Li Ji. He hurried to Li Ji's side, saluted, and succinctly reported what had happened.

A smile appeared on Li Ji's face. He told Tian Yu and the others to go and rest first, then hurried towards Liu Bei's main camp.

Guo Jia, on the other hand, was greatly shocked by the news. He quickly followed and said,

"General Sun is already a brave and skilled general in the allied forces. For his ten thousand elite soldiers to be defeated in such a short period of time, are Dong Zhuo's Xiliang Iron Cavalry really that terrifying?"

(End of chapter)