gnovel Chapter 39 Rain and Soil
Chapter 39 Rain and Soil
Zhang Shixiong leaned on his knife, panting heavily. A bandit soldier's spear had just pierced his shoulder. Although his thick armor had blocked it, he was still out of breath.
He couldn't help but reminisce about his youth, when he would climb the mountains of Bozhou all night and launch an attack at dawn without feeling tired, but he couldn't do that now.
After thwarting Lu Bingzhong's surprise attack, the rebel army's morale soared, and their offensive became even more ferocious.
The bandits charging forward seemed to have no regard for their own lives, jumping onto the grain carts and leaping down, completely oblivious to whether there were people below with knives waiting for them.
These thieves acted like madmen, but Zhang Shixiong knew that just a few months ago, they were honest, hardworking farmers in the fields.
Zhang Shixiong couldn't understand how things had turned out this way, but reality didn't allow him to think about it.
"Lord Chiju, you can't hold on much longer!"
Jiang Jing, holding a knife in his right hand and clutching his bleeding shoulder, leaned towards him.
"Hold on! Commander Guo has sent word that he will come."
Facing his fighting subordinates, Zhang Shixiong could only say things that he himself thought were unlikely to be achieved.
Seeing this, Jiang Jing roared and charged out again.
But by this time, the entire defensive line made of grain carts was riddled with holes, and the rebel army pushed aside the vehicles and surrounded them.
Zhang Shixiong knew that if he ordered a retreat at this time, they would be hunted down and killed, and in the end, no one might survive.
On the contrary, persisting might offer a glimmer of hope.
At this point, he also regretted not having made a proper evacuation plan in advance.
-----------------
Li Chengye watched the entire battle from the city wall and believed that the outcome would be decided soon.
The commander of the government army was not a useless person; on the contrary, he used tactics very cleverly.
Whether it was the initial combination of bows and muskets, the secondary defense within the camp, the concentrated artillery fire, or the final cavalry raid, the timing was impeccable.
But ants devour an elephant.
The government troops were far outnumbered by the rebels, and given the terrain, escape was impossible.
In the middle was a road, three or four miles wide, carved out by rainwater, with loess cliffs on both sides. In such narrow terrain, if you were to lose a battle and flee, you would be caught sooner or later.
The government troops had good tactics and their weapons and equipment were far superior to those of the bandits, but all of this was ineffective against Wang Er's human wave tactics.
The closest the government troops came was a cavalry raid, but they were too few in number. If they had had just thirty more men, they might have been able to kill Wang Er.
Seeing that Wang Er's army had completely surrounded the government troops, Li Chengye felt there was no need to watch any longer.
He summoned stones.
"Tell Master Qin to unload all the vehicles; there's no need to prepare anything."
Stone was a little confused, but he still obediently followed Li Chengye's instructions to pass on the message.
Just as Li Chengye was about to descend from the city wall, he suddenly heard someone mutter:
"Why is it raining dust in the north?" (In the Ming Dynasty, sandstorms were called "raining dust," which literally means: mud/dust falling from the sky like rain.)
Li Chengye suddenly turned his head and stared intently at the main road to the north.
It was a patch of rain-soaked soil, which was initially very small, but it quickly expanded in an instant, and there were some dark shadows leading the rain-soaked soil forward.
In this rain-soaked earth, Li Chengye heard the sound of horses' hooves, a thunderous sound.
"It's cavalry! A large contingent of cavalry!"
Not only him, but anyone with a keen sense of smell on the battlefield sensed the deadly threat coming from the flank and rear at that moment.
The dust and smoke in the rain-soaked soil rolled around extremely fast, and in the blink of an eye, their outlines became clear.
They're cavalry! Hundreds of them!
The ranks were orderly, like a rushing torrent of iron.
The first two rows of cavalrymen were heavily armored. Not only were the men armored, but their warhorses were also covered in cloth armor, making them resemble a moving city wall.
A scarlet banner bearing the character "Han" fluttered at the very front of the column, sweeping across Wang Er's unsuspecting rear with the utmost determination!
A large flag with the character "韩" (Han) on it?
Li Chengye's mind raced. Which group of government troops were they? Or were they the government reinforcements he had suspected? But why were they coming from the north?
A host of questions occupied his mind.
Wang Er's troops, who were launching a full-scale attack on the government army's camp, were mostly composed of auxiliary soldiers, civilian laborers, and vulnerable personnel who had been coerced into joining them. They were simply no match for the fierce attack of such an elite cavalry force that was armed to the teeth.
The battlefield situation changed dramatically in an instant!
Zhang Shixiong, who was already surrounded by the enemy army in a small circle, was stunned at first. But when he saw the character "Han" on the flag and the direction of the cavalry charge, a surge of joy at escaping a desperate situation welled up in his heart.
"Reinforcements! It's our reinforcements! Hold on, men, Commander Han's reinforcements have arrived!"
The morale of the government troops, who were on the verge of collapse, was greatly boosted, and they burst out with amazing fighting spirit, and began to push the enemy troops back towards the camp wall.
Wang Er's army was thrown into unprecedented chaos.
On the front were government troops suddenly launching a fierce counterattack, while from behind came a torrent of armored soldiers crashing down with the force of thunder.
The "Han" cavalry made no attempt to maneuver, directly and aggressively cutting into Wang Er's rear guard. The rear guard offered no resistance, allowing the hundreds of cavalry to trample and crush them all.
Almost instantly, the rear guard collapsed completely, and the fleeing crowd surged back into the central and front lines.
At this moment, Wang Er's eyes were bloodshot as he looked at the cavalry charging straight at him and the miserable state of his own rear guard. A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the top of his head.
to finish.
Yesterday, Li Chengye told him that the government troops were moving slowly, seemingly waiting for reinforcements. He was surprised at first, so he sent a cavalry to scout carefully within a 60-mile radius north and south of Yijun City. The scouts reported back that there was no trace of other government troops.
Only then did he feel at ease leading a large force out of the city to besiege the government army's camp.
But now it seems that the large cavalry force of the government troops that suddenly attacked has probably already avoided his scouts, and is just waiting for the moment when he is about to win the siege of the camp, so that he can launch a surprise attack and bring about his annihilation.
Wang Er tried to rally his troops and turn to meet the government cavalry, but the central formation was thrown into chaos by the fleeing soldiers in the rear. Every time he managed to gather a few dozen men, they were scattered again, making it difficult to regroup.
At the same time, the government cavalry got closer and closer to the large banner beside him, and Wang Er could already see what words were written on the banner carried by the enemy's vanguard cavalry.
As the government cavalry drew near, Wang Er's fear grew. Finally, he mounted his warhorse, called to Zhong Huaidao and a few other old brothers, and galloped south along the main road, leaving only the large "Wang" banner behind.
Li Chengye saw from the city wall that as Wang Er's central army's banner was cut down by the government cavalry, Wang Er's army, which had been somewhat orderly, suddenly scattered like birds and beasts, spreading out like a drop of ink in clear water.
The mountains and plains were filled with fleeing bandits, and the government cavalry showed no mercy, hacking and slashing relentlessly as they chased the fleeing crowd southward.
Some of the rebel troops also fled north and soon arrived at the walls of Yijun City.
Seeing this, Li Chengye opened the city gate, but then led his men to rush towards the north gate.
Cheng'en ran beside him, panting as she spoke to Li Chengye:
"Brother, I see the government troops are coming this way!"