After her parents passed away, Fan Changyu faced a string of hardships—her childhood sweetheart broke off their engagement, greedy relatives wanted to seize her inheritance, and with a five-year-ol...
Chapter 102
The wind was strong and the yellow sand was everywhere.
The Chongzhou Army, whose formation was broken up by the Jizhou Army, was in chaos on the battlefield. The young generals were still trying to maintain the formation, but the Jizhou Army behind them was too tight, and the gap in the formation became bigger and bigger. Finally, they were divided into small pieces by the Jizhou Army and surrounded.
What matters on the battlefield is the momentum of the fight. Once the fighting spirit is lost, the troops will be defeated step by step by the fierce attack of the Jizhou Army.
The soldiers from Jiuzhou who were at the forefront were so eager to kill that they became more and more courageous as the battle went on.
In the Chongzhou army, from the generals to the soldiers, everyone showed panic on their faces, and the voices of the young generals who shouted to charge didn't sound so confident.
There were even soldiers who often retreated and fled on the battlefield.
The Chongzhou commander who led the troops was so angry that he drew his sword and killed several soldiers who retreated in panic, shouting hoarsely: "Anyone who retreats will be killed without mercy--"
But his voice was drowned out by the louder sounds of fighting and weapons clashing, and did not have much effect.
The commander was about to lead his troops to charge personally when the sound of war drums rang out from the tower of Chongzhou City behind him.
The walls of Chongzhou were built high, and the battlement walls connected to the walls extended to the mountain wings on both sides. Dozens of war drums beat in unison, and after being blocked on three sides, the sound waves pressed towards the only gap like a tidal wave.
The terrain was like the mouth of a trumpet, allowing the sound of war drums to echo throughout the battlefield, shaking people's hearts and chests.
Fan Changyu led the right wing army to charge at the forefront. When he heard the sound of war drums, he subconsciously looked in the direction of the Chongzhou city gate.
The heavy city gate that might not be broken open even after being rammed by a battering ram for half a day, now slowly opened amidst the beacon fires and flags scattered all over the ground.
Smoke filled the sky, long spears and long halberds advanced side by side, the defenders in the city looked frightened, raised their weapons and rushed out roaring, like a flood opening a gate.
After sending out two vanguard troops to maintain the front formation, a burly veteran with half black and half white hair and beard, wearing a golden mountain armor, drove out of the city on his famous horse, drew the sword at his waist, and shouted: "Kill——"
More Chongzhou defenders rushed out from the city gate behind him and rushed towards the battlefield ahead with roars.
Someone on the rebel side started shouting, "The prince is going to the battle in person! Chongzhou will win!"
This sound was like a piece of rubble that stirred up a thousand waves and quickly spread across the battlefield.
With the reinforcements and Prince Changxin personally leading the army to help, the Chongzhou army, which had been in a state of collapse and being suppressed from one side, suddenly regained its fighting spirit.
When Fan Changyu was charging on the battlefield before, she stole a horse. She inserted the vanguard army's battle flag into the stirrup and stepped on the flagpole with one foot to keep the flag from falling.
After this long fight, the warhorse she was riding was already exhausted. When Fan Changyu swung her Mo Dao, her blows were still fierce, but she was a living person after all, and her hands would become sore and weak due to exhaustion.
When he paused for a moment, the hand holding the knife would tremble constantly.
It's not that I'm afraid, but my muscles are too weak and I can't control the tremors.
When they found that the reinforcements of the rebels were heading towards the battlefield, Fan Changyu was sitting on horseback with a wider field of vision. She took a look at the difference in troop strength between the two sides and knew that if they were surrounded from all sides by the rebels at this time, they would never be able to return.
She stepped hard on the stirrup and pulled the reins to turn in the other direction. Her sweaty hair stuck to her face which was covered with sweat and dust. Her eyes were as bright as a tiger or leopard, and she shouted in a deep voice: "Go through the middle of the Chongzhou army that is fighting with us. Don't let them block you here!"
The flags of the vanguard were fluttering behind her. She was wearing tattered soldier armor, but no one thought she was just a soldier.
The soldiers from Suizhou behind her, upon seeing her change direction, almost immediately followed her like a dragon wagging its tail.
The rebels saw that the imperial vanguard troops that had previously broken their own army into pieces were about to leave. They had been suppressed and beaten for a long time. Now that they had reinforcements behind them, they naturally tried to stop them at all costs.
The general even withdrew his rear guard and sent all his troops to encircle the enemy from both sides in order to completely trap and kill the imperial vanguard that had rushed into his own formation.
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He Jingyuan and his generals stood on a high place and had a panoramic view of the battle below.
Tang Pei punched the pine tree beside him out of righteousness, clasped his fists and asked He Jingyuan for help: "General, I am willing to lead the troops to relieve the siege of the right wing army!"
He Jingyuan pondered for a moment and said, "Sui Tuo was also crowned king for his military achievements. Although he is old, the power of the lion-head spear in his hand cannot be underestimated. Select 3,000 soldiers and I will go to meet him in person. General Tang will lead another 2,000 troops to support the right wing army."
Tang Peiyi's worry turned into joy, and he immediately clasped his fists and said, "I have received your order!"
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There were many figures in front of him. Fan Changyu swung the knife almost numbly. A wet, hot and acrid liquid slid from his eyelids into his eyes. He didn't know whether it was sweat or blood.
She clenched her back teeth tightly, and when the blade of the knife passed through the counter-thieves who blocked her way, she couldn't even tell whether their expressions were more ferocious or her own was more ferocious.
There was a time when she couldn't bring herself to fight the anti-thief soldiers on the battlefield.
But now, those who followed her were all brothers who had entrusted their lives to her. If she was soft-hearted towards them, then the next moment the blade might fall on those who followed her without hesitation.
When she was an outsider, she could feel compassion for the lowest-level soldiers on both sides, but she herself became a player in the game, just as she had wielded a knife against the bandits who were looting the town for the sake of her neighbors. Now, protecting her comrades-in-law became her mission.
Fan Changyu was like a mad leopard. Every time he swung the Mo Dao in his hand, a handful of blood spurted out.
The rebels seemed to realize that she was a tough one. When the soldiers were forced to charge towards her horse, there were obvious signs of hesitation and panic on their faces, which allowed their team to retreat slowly but awkwardly.
But soon another team of soldiers dragging scythe spears came up. The weapons in their hands were different from those of ordinary soldiers. In addition to the spear tip, there was also a half-moon shaped scythe knife on the long spear, which could not only stab, but also chop from a distance.
When Xie Wu saw these soldiers holding scythe spears, his face changed drastically and he shouted at Fan Changyu, "Be careful!"
The soldiers were working in a division of labor. One group stood up and stabbed Fan Changyu on horseback with the tips of their spears. When Fan Changyu deflected the slingshot with a knife, another group of soldiers half-knelt on the ground and swept the horses' legs with the slingshots in their hands.
Even though Xie Wu and others behind him tried their best to kill those soldiers, the horse under Fan Changyu still had its legs cut off and fell down with a neigh.
The moment Fan Changyu was blown away, countless counter-thieves surrounded her like hyenas smelling blood on the grassland, raising their guns and stabbing at her.
Fan Changyu propped up the ground with the flag on his horse's back, flew into the air, stepped on the chest armor of the rebel soldiers and kicked them around before landing steadily.
Her hands were covered in blood and were too sticky to hold the black iron handle of the Mo Dao. The flag was about ten feet long, with a sharp spear head on the tip of the flagpole. Fan Changyu simply rolled up the flag and pressed it tightly against the flagpole, and fought while holding the flag.
The soldier who was approaching her was swept away by the flag before he could get within five steps of her.
At this time, Xie Wu also came over. As the tip of the vanguard, Fan Changyu was undoubtedly the most tired, just like the leading goose.
She was exhausted. Xie Wu snatched the flag from her hand. Her originally pretty face was covered in blood and it was unclear whether the blood was his own or someone else's.
He panted and said, "Captain, I will lead the army to retreat!"
He unfurled the flag in his hand and it flew up into the wind again, guiding the Jizhou troops behind him to gather towards them.
Fan Changyu was exhausted and gasping for breath while holding her Mo Dao. A thief tried to attack her from behind, but Captain Guo shouted loudly, and the thief almost split the thief's back in half.
Fan Changyu looked back and saw Captain Guo's face half hidden in his beard, with only a pair of murderous eyes showing fierceness. "I did say I won't care whether you live or die on the battlefield, but you didn't embarrass me! After this battle, it will be worth it even if I die here!"
Without warning, Fan Changyu swung the Mo Dao in his hand at him, and Captain Guo was so scared that he broke out in a cold sweat.
The next moment, a handful of blood soaked half of his shoulder.
His expression froze, and he turned around to look, and saw the thief who was approaching him silently, holding a knife and trying to chop him, but was killed by Fan Changyu with a single blow.
His thick beard moved, and he didn't dare to be distracted anymore. He just yelled at Fan Changyu: "It's even!"
Fan Changyu did not respond. The blood on her hands was still wet, and the Mo Dao she held was still slipping. Her fingers were so sore that she could hardly hold the blade.
My lips were so dry that they were cracked, and I didn't want to waste any more time talking.
She tore off a long strip of cloth from her battle robe, wrapped it around her hands, and then grasped the hilt of the Mo Dao.
Xie Wu, holding the military flag, was undoubtedly a moving target. Countless swords and knives were thrown at him. He tried his best to avoid the fatal ones, but the non-fatal injuries accumulated and made half of his battle robe stained with blood.
When a young anti-bandit general rode up on his horse and aimed his gun at Xie Wu, Xie Wu just waved his flag to force back the soldiers besieging him, leaving him no time to resist or dodge.
Fan Changyu rushed forward, just like he had saved him from Shi Hu's hammer at the First Line Gorge battlefield last time, and blocked the young general's stabbing spear with his Mo Dao.
Xie Wu felt a little dizzy after fighting for so long. He had to follow Fan Changyu closely. In this army, if Fan Changyu was not the one who charged the most vigorously, then Xie Wu would be the second most diligent.
Not only did he have to take care of himself, he also had to keep an eye on the situation around Fan Changyu.
Seeing Fan Changyu taking the bullet for him, he subconsciously called out, "Captain..."
Fan Changyu pushed him back into the group of Jizhou soldiers following behind him and shouted coldly, "Get behind me!"
While they were talking, the blade of the Mo Dao collided violently with the tip of the young general's spear on horseback, sending sparks flying everywhere.
The young man was thrown back by Fan Changyu's force, and his attack lagged behind for half a beat. Before he could get over the shock of this huge force, Fan Changyu had already lowered his body and slashed towards the horse's leg where he was sitting.
The blade of the Mo Dao was long and extremely sharp, and with Fan Changyu's great strength, the warhorse's front legs were almost smoothly cut off. As the horse fell forward with blood gushing out, the young general on the horse's back was also blown away by the inertia.
Fan Changyu swung his sword again, and the young general's head rolled to the ground.
Captain Guo, who was holding a crescent-shaped sword and wanted to go forward to help, swallowed his saliva and said to Xie Wu, "Oh my god, how can she fight so well?"
Xie Wu didn't answer at all. He was worried about Fan Changyu's safety, but it was inconvenient for him to go to Fan Changyu again since he was a live target with the flag. So he stuffed the flag into Captain Guo's hands and said, "I give the flag to you."
Without waiting for Captain Guo to say anything, he picked up a long knife and rushed forward again, clearing the way for the army together with Fan Changyu.
Guo the butcher lowered his eyes and glanced at the banner in his hand, which was stained with the blood of countless people, and cursed loudly: "Do I look like someone who would hide behind a banner?"
He then passed the flag to the soldier behind him and shouted fiercely, "You guys guard the vanguard flag and follow closely!"
Yan Qi raised his sword and chopped down a rebel soldier. He caught up with Fan Changyu and Xie Wu in a few steps, and cursed as he killed them: "I am only a centurion. You two little bastards, you should kill me before I do!"
The soldiers behind him were bewildered at first. Among them, a wounded general understood that the flag was a signpost in the vast sea of people on the battlefield and must not be lost, so he quickly ordered a hundred or so people to protect the flag in the middle.
The others still maintained a cone shape on the periphery, like ants huddled together in a raging fire, closely following the bloody path that Fan Changyu and the others had killed, and slowly squeezed out of the anti-thieves' encirclement.
The author has something to say:
Captain Guo: Oh my god, how come she is so good at fighting?
Left behind,
Captain Guo (raising his sword): No, no, I am a higher-ranking official than them, I cannot hide behind them!
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This is the first update. I’m afraid you guys will be waiting too anxiously, so I’ll post it first. The remaining two updates will be combined into one chapter if nothing goes wrong~