In the devastated earthen fortress of Zhuozhou, the generals of the Zhou army roared in despair. There were corpses and screaming wounded soldiers all around. Several Xi soldiers of the Liao army were holding down a Zhou army soldier and stabbing him with spears. One of the Xi soldiers swung his iron bone and smashed it on the soldier's helmet with a clang, sparks flying.
The red flag of the local army fell to the ground and was trampled back and forth by boots.
The chaotic soldiers were forced to the middle of the houses, some were fighting, some were shooting arrows with crossbows. The gate of the fort was wide open, and the Liao cavalry rushed in frantically. The iron bones and spears in the hands of the cavalry were like the clubs in the hands of the Black and White Impermanence. Death and despair were approaching rapidly with the horses' hooves.
Several soldiers fled into the captain's room, and they hurriedly closed the door, leaning their backs against the wooden door. One person's teeth clattered clearly, and he cried: I know that the emperor's food is not eaten for free.
There's no point hiding here. The entire fortress is so small, there's nowhere to hide.
The captain took out a delicate silk embroidered purse from his bosom, glanced at the soldiers, and said nothing. He quickly blew on a piece of paper on the table, then hurriedly folded it together without paying attention to the wet handwriting, and put the suicide note in the purse. He thought for a while, took out a piece of gold and put it in the purse, then carefully stuffed the purse into the inner bag.
After finishing all these things, the captain grabbed the scabbard on the table, walked to the door, drew the sword, stepped out of his horse's stance, and stared at the door. He turned around and said: Don't be afraid, you will definitely die, everyone will kill one person as a scapegoat.
The door panel did not move for a long time. The captain picked up a helmet from the ground and put it on the disheveled head of a soldier. He then reminded him: Don't hide. We have good armor. If the enemy attacks, we will attack as well. It counts as a victory if we can chop him down.
But after a long time there was still no movement, even the sound of horse hooves and shouting outside became quieter.
The captain carefully opened the door a crack and looked out. He saw the ground was full of corpses and groaning wounded soldiers. There was no sign of the empty gate opposite the enemy troops.
A soldier of the Liao army ran away and said in a trembling voice.
The captain immediately walked out of the room, holding a sword, and ran up the rammed earth steps to the earth wall. His vision suddenly widened. The Liao army nearby had left behind many catapults and ladders, and was retreating like a tide. Large groups of people and horses on the snowfield were surging to the north.
At the end of the sight, there is a faint black line in the white place on the horizon
The captain finally understood and turned around excitedly and shouted: Reinforcements are coming!
The remaining scattered soldiers and the wounded shouted and cheered hoarsely, and some even cried. One soldier said incoherently: I am going back to marry the widow Wang at the entrance of the village. I shouldn't have scolded her before I left.
Shi Yanchao was jogging on his horse in a grand manner. Li Chuyun, who was in front of him on the left, covered his eyebrows with his palms to block the slightly westward sunlight, and stared into the distance with squinting eyes.
Behind them, flags fluttered like clouds and a large group of horses made a rumbling sound.
Li Chuyun looked at it and said: The Liao army will withdraw the siege first, and then gather cavalry to stop us.
Shi Yanchao said happily: Li Dianjian will lead a large group to Zhuozhou from the south, and Shi will lead the troops to fight against the Liao army.
Li Chuyun said: "It's very good. General Shi, after you have defeated the Liao army's cavalry, you must not linger in the battle, but quickly approach Zhuozhou so that I can provide support. Be careful not to be surrounded."
Shi Yanchao immediately clasped his fists and said: "I understand your order."
He immediately raised his hand, turned around and shouted: "Tell Shi's men to follow me."
The Zhou army's horses gradually began to separate like a flood changing its course, with the front army's heavy cavalry heading northwest. When the two armies separated, Shi Yanchao's men and horses gradually slowed down, forming three groups of cavalry, the front of which was like a Chinese character "品" or a cluster of arrows.
Shi Yanchao's personal soldiers held several large square flags with different characters such as "Shi Qianfeng Da Zhou" written on them. The horses started running again, and the armored knights rose and fell on their horses' backs. The horses' hooves gradually raised the snowflakes on the ground like white water splashes, and the roar of the iron hooves was like thunder.
Far ahead, a large number of Liao cavalrymen rushed over. Their broad front gave them a force advantage over Shi Yanchao's troops, and their momentum was overwhelming.
Shi Yanchao was not afraid at all. He patted the horse's strong buttocks, raised his iron spear and began to speed up. The soldiers followed, and the whole herd of horses ran faster and faster. With so many people and horses gathered together, the speed could not be stopped.
The cavalry of both sides gradually approached, seemingly slowly but actually fast. Shi Yanchao covered his ears with fur and mail, but he could still hear the wind whistling in his ears. The things on the ground became more and more blurred, and only the cavalry soldiers on both sides seemed to be still.
The wind rang with the sound of arrows, like beans popping. When Shi Yanchao looked up, the black dots in the sky quickly grew larger. There were a series of ding-ding-ding sounds, and even his shoulder seemed to be hit, but the arrowhead was immediately deflected by the armor.
Kill, kill, Shi Yanchao roared unscrupulously.
The Zhou army cavalry suddenly accelerated, and the three cavalry rushed away like arrows. The speed at this time made Shi Yanchao very excited. The blood in his body was surging. He stared with wide eyes and concentrated. Such excitement was simply a kind of enjoyment. He felt that he was no longer an ordinary person, but an infinitely powerful and omnipotent person.
Hu Shiyanchao aimed at the horseman approaching from the front, and the heavy iron spear in his hand flew straight out of his hand. With a loud bang, the iron spear pierced the horseman's torso, and the cavalryman immediately fell off his horse as if piercing a piece of tofu. Even the mount of a Liao soldier behind him neighed and knelt down. The blood mist splashed in the air soon hit him in the face.
In an instant, a group of iron spears flew out from the air. The iron spears, with their weight and the speed of the horses, were indestructible, and even the Liao soldiers with shields could not stop them. In a moment, a group of enemy soldiers in the center fell off their horses, and screams were heard everywhere. It was as if the enemy soldiers had stepped into a trap.
The soldiers in the front of Huo Zhou's army roared in unison, and the momentum immediately grew, and the roar shook the heaven and earth. The soldiers were in high spirits and rushed forward bravely.
Shi Yanchao switched the other iron spear from his left hand to his right hand, and pulled out another spear from his back with his left hand. Before he could throw it again, he had already rushed into the Liao army's horse group and stabbed a horse on the right with his spear. There was a loud clang of metal colliding, and the violent collision made people around tremble with fear.
Shi Yanchao skillfully loosened his grip, and the iron spear had already penetrated the Liao cavalry's torso. The two cavalrymen charged head-on at extremely fast speeds, and Shi Yanchao's huge arm strength struck forward, causing the Liao cavalryman on the horse to fly backwards in the air with his spear.
After a moment of clang, there was a flash of dazzling sparks, and a broken iron sword flew into the air.
As soon as the two armies came into contact, before the Liao army had time to use the width of the front to encircle Shi Yanchao's troops from the left and right wings, Shi Yanchao had already led his troops to charge directly into the Liao army's cavalry.
The battle was filled with shouts of killing and weapons dancing wildly. The horses were rushing and surging like a turbulent flood. Arrows were flying in the air and sharp spears were running wildly. People kept falling off their horses. The scene was terrifying. The shouts were even louder. There was no coward in the cavalry battle. If they stopped, they would die. Everyone was forced to become an indomitable warrior.
Although the Liao army came to block the attack with a large number of troops, the depth was not enough, and they were quickly penetrated from the middle by Shi Yanchao's troops. The Liao army attacked from the left and right wings and chased from behind, and the bows and arrows of both armies flew around.
Shi Yanchao rushed straight into the fortresses, and the Zhou cavalry entered the fortification area one after another. The Liao army chased them, but the crossbows on the earthen walls of the fortresses had a longer range than the cavalry, and there were even crossbows as thick as arms flying in the air. The Liao cavalry was at a disadvantage when approaching the fortresses, and it was difficult to deploy between the fortresses, so the pursuit was hindered.
At this time, Li Chuyun's troops also supported from the left wing in the south, and the Liao army was unable to prevent the Zhou cavalry from joining forces with the Zhuozhou army.
Outside the city of Zhuozhou, infantry and cavalry gathered at this time, and there were people and horses everywhere. On the plains, city towers and fortresses were faintly visible. The army in formation and the cavalry gathered everywhere made this place look like a huge military camp.
Shi Yanchao saw the huge square flag of Li Chuyun and rode over. His clothes and armor were covered in blood and he was very scary on horseback. When he arrived at Li Chuyun's central army, Han Tong also rode over. He clasped his fists and said, "I have been waiting for Li Dianjian for a long time."
Li Chuyun said directly: There are only more than 20,000 elite cavalry from the Palace Front Department coming to reinforce Zhuozhou.
Han Tong said excitedly: "It's good to have reinforcements. More soldiers can attack, and fewer soldiers can defend. I will divide the infantry into four formations, and station them at the four corners; Li Dianjian's elite cavalry will be in the middle. Wherever the Liao army attacks, the cavalry can quickly reinforce and support the defense of the fortifications, and our defense will be safe."
After Han Tong finished speaking, he paused and clasped his fists and said: Please let Inspector Li make the decision.
In one sentence, the command power of the various tribes in Zhuozhou was clearly divided. Han Tong was still very sensible. Li Chuyun was the boss of the Palace Front Division, and Han Tong was the highest-ranking military officer of the Guards Cavalry and Infantry Division. According to the previous rules, the rank of the Guards Cavalry and Infantry Division should be higher; but now the Palace Front Division is above the commander-in-chief, and there is also the position of inspector, which is actually the highest-level military officer.
Li Chuyun glanced at Han Tong and said, "This is a very good strategy. It is better to protect Zhuozhou first. The fortress covers a very large area, and even hundreds of thousands of people cannot surround the entire place. We can defend it well and attack it."
Taking the initiative to attack was only a possibility, and the actual attack force was obviously insufficient. The small number of soldiers in Zhuozhou could fight the Liao army outside the city, relying on the fulcrum of the fortress fortifications; once they left the vicinity, the gap in field force would be too great.
However, Li Chuyun's reinforcements were only the first batch.
Li Chuyun took out another letter with ugly handwriting, handed it to Han Tong and said: This is a handwritten letter from His Majesty, General Han, please take a look first.
Han Tong quickly read it and looked up and said: We can finally have a big fight with the Liao people.