Zhang Niujiao boosted morale and led the troops forward. He was met with a wave of defeated soldiers. He held a seven-foot-long horse-cutting sword. He exerted force with both arms and drew a line with the blade, slashing the deserters in front of him from his shoulders to the ground.
His waist and abdomen were split in two, blood splattered everywhere, and his intestines were rumbling.
He was covered in blood and shouted: "Death to those who run away."
He swung his sword and killed the second deserter. He twisted his body and slashed horizontally with his long sword, cutting the third deserter in half.
He killed three people in an instant, and everyone was shocked by his bravery. A group of deserters in front of him stopped and turned back to fight again.
But how can individual bravery stop the wave of defeat? The deserters behind kept pushing, and those who stopped were also pushed forward.
Zhang Niujiao was so angry that he kept slashing with his horse-cutting sword, and the soldiers following behind him also went to kill them. However, he still could not stop the deserters, but was overwhelmed by the wave of defeated soldiers, making the formation unstable.
Chu Feiyan was anxious but had no choice. The defeat was certain and he had to save his life to make a comeback.
But the commander moved forward. If he dared to run, with Zhang Niujiao's temper, he could rush up and chop him to death. At this time, we should not engage in a fight, as it would only allow the Han army to take advantage. In desperation, we could only lead the troops forward.
They stood in the wave of defeated troops, like rocks in the waves, trying to stop deserters, but in vain.
The soldiers and horses in the rear formation were also blocked by deserters and could not come to support them at all.
Chu Feiyan threw away his spear, pulled out his Huanshou sword, and chopped down the deserters who were close to him with a few blows. These deserters had already started to fight back, and he almost received a knife. Fortunately, he reacted quickly.
Fighting here is just a waste of time.
The Han army was about to attack, and he could already hear the whizzing of arrows flying in the air, the clang of stones hitting the ground, and the rumble of horse hooves.
Before he could persuade the coach to retreat again, a group of armored cavalry broke through the crowd and came straight towards them.
Cui Yiyun made Chang Shan Beng Fei and slash the horse sword. He was so angry that he dared to attack his beloved horse. Just as he was about to stab the enemy general to death, Guan Yu's horse spur next to him plunged into Zhang Niujiao's chest. He shook his arms.
Zhang Niujiao, who was not yet dead, broke away from Zhang Feng and fell to the ground, with a large gash in his chest.
"One of the enemy generals is in battle." Guan Yu shouted loudly.
The enemy general was dead, so Cui Yi would naturally not whip the corpse anymore, so he turned his attention to the fleeing lieutenant.
Chu Feiyan felt bitter in his heart. No matter how fast he moved, he could not outrun the cavalry, but the cavalry charged into the formation and they could not stop them. Many people turned around and ran away, and he could not care about anything else. Life was important, and he hoped not to be targeted by the enemy.
superior.
Then, he was nailed to the ground by Ma Shu.
Cui Yi looked at Guan Yu dumbfounded, his hands were really fast, he was a professional at grabbing heads.
Guan Yu rode forward and reached out to pull back the thrown horse. When he returned to the formation, he looked at Cui Yi and said, "The credit goes to you. I only want the reward."
Cui Yi rolled his eyes: "I can't do without you."
The heroic cavalry drove the defeated troops to the rear formation, disrupted the enemy's formation, and then broke out of the formation.
The war horses were panting violently. Cui Yi knew that the horse power was about to be exhausted. It was too far away from the main formation and there was no way to change horses and fight again, so he took his brothers to find an open space to rest their horses.
Those fleeing enemies can only be pursued and killed later. The armored cavalry are meant to break formations, so chasing down defeated troops is not their original mission.
Not long after, Zhou Cang's troops rushed over and chased after the defeated troops. Cui Yi continued to rest with peace of mind.
The battle lasted for two hours, and more than 60,000 Zhang Niujiao's men were defeated. The Anping army pursued them for ten miles and did not retreat until nightfall.
They killed more than 10,000 enemies and captured more than 40,000 people, while 8,000 or 9,000 people fled.
Liu Xiang quietly reviewed the battle, the battle in the field, and the coordination of the large corps. He still lacked something, otherwise he would not have allowed so many defeated troops to escape.
This kind of knowledge cannot be learned from books. Should I find a teacher to learn it myself?
There is a chance. There is a war going on in Liangzhou. Huangfu Song and Zhang Wen are both good teachers. How about mixing it in by yourself?
I am afraid that I will go out with my life and come back without my life, so I have to be cautious about this matter.
After all the prisoners were handed over to Zhoucang, the Anping army gathered the wounded soldiers and rested in Zhang Niujiao's camp. Cleaning the battlefield could only be done tomorrow.
Guo Dian withdrew his troops and returned to the city. He did not inquire about Zhou Cang's troops, nor did he intend to divide the prisoners, food, grass and baggage. He was very sensible and obedient.
He had experienced the fighting power of the Anping Army and Liu Xiang's military strategy last year. Although he was young, he sincerely admired him. The most important thing is that when people bring troops to help, they must be grateful and defeat the enemy in one day, and they must be respectful.
.
Looking at his back, Liu Xiang wanted to kill him and seize Ying Tao. After thinking about it, he found that the harm outweighed the benefits. The imperial court could tolerate him grabbing some people and food, but it absolutely could not tolerate him attacking and killing two thousand stone officials.
Once this is done, the Han Dynasty court will have to conquer itself regardless of whether it wants to or not. This is equivalent to forcing both itself and the court into a situation with no way out. This is looking for trouble out of nothing and is unwise.
His own reputation will also become bad. Who will dare to form an alliance with him in the future? For the sake of a county, the gains outweigh the losses.
According to Tiqi's feedback, his reputation is actually quite good. Needless to say, the people at the bottom of the society, although they are not considered grateful, they still have a reputation for benevolence and righteousness.
In addition, there are things like loving soldiers like sons.
The Yellow Turbans also have a good impression of him. His status as a divine envoy, his behavior of allocating fields to the people for farming, his loyalty in sending troops to rescue twice, and his banner still have some marketability, which is good.
After wiping out the largest rebel force in Jizhou, he will become the general with the highest military rank, the strongest bandit-suppressing force and the biggest rebel leader. He can paint a few more strokes on Jizhou's drawing board.
What surprised him most was that his reputation among scholars was not bad. Of course, a good reputation was impossible.
The reputations of Killer and Liu Papi have spread, and along with them, they keep their word and never go back on their promises.
The officers of the Northern Army and the aristocratic families in Zhongshan all spread the word like this. I don't know what they think. Liu Xiang doesn't care. The reputation of the people at the bottom and the army is what he needs.
What is most widely spread is that he was brave, good at riding and fighting, and Ming military strategy. This is what Huangfu Song said many times. The officers of the Northern Army also agreed. Some people also revealed his achievements in Jizhou, and I heard that he recognized it.
There are many people.
It seemed that the old man really wanted to drag him onto the so-called "right path", but the "right path" he believed would be broken within a few years.
After reviewing the battle and considering the future situation, Liu Xiang went to rest.
After a good night's sleep, there were many trivial matters the next day. I left the matter of cleaning the battlefield to Zhou Cang and the matter of burying the corpse to Guo Dian.
Zhang Niujiao's camp and Gaoyi's grain and grass baggage were also handed over to Zhou Cang. They went south with them to transport them to him and recruit people. Without food, it was empty talk.
The Anping Army marched north and captured Yang County, completely wiping out the forces of Zhang Niujiao and Chu Feiyan.
Zhou Cang's troops continued to wander around Jizhou. Liu Xiang mixed some food and grass with Guo Dian and went directly south to Handan County, the seat of Zhao State.
Handan was very far away, and Liu Xiang walked very slowly, taking half a month to arrive.
In the past half month, the Anping Army has been collecting food and grass. No one dared to mess with them, and no one dared to refuse to give them. They also saved tens of thousands of dan of food. The profession of begging is very promising.
Zhou Cang made quite a fuss, carrying out multiple raids and annexing various forces. 120,000 people who had just revolted were sent to Youzhou, and his subordinates gathered more than 50,000 people from various Yellow Turban tribes, and they also fought with various mountain bandits and water bandits.
They formed an alliance and formed an alliance of more than 200,000 bandits.
Liu Xiang was not satisfied. With the current situation in Jizhou, who said that only rebellious people could be sent to Youzhou?
There are so many people who have no food to eat. Those who have not rebelled are more stable. Youzhou needs stable people even more.
As for those bandits, Liu Xiang would not let them go to their own territory. These people were restless and went to fight guerrillas in the Taihang Mountains. That kind of life was more suitable for them.
He wrote a letter to Zhou Cang, saying what he meant, and finally encouraged him: