Nian Meihe led his army away from Baoding Prefecture and marched rapidly towards Yizhou.
Eager to save the city and impatient by nature, he urged his troops to speed up, causing the formation to gradually lengthen and the infantry and cavalry to become separated.
They had marched less than thirty li when they encountered trouble ahead.
Murong Chunhua's light cavalry from Hedong appeared like ghosts in front of and on both flanks of Nianmeihe's army.
Instead of engaging in close combat, they used the mobility of their cavalry to constantly harass the enemy from a distance with bows and arrows, specifically targeting lone soldiers and scouts, or destroying supply convoys.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!" Arrows shot out continuously from the woods and behind the earthen slopes beside the road, accurate and ruthless.
"Ah!" A Northern Di cavalryman fell from his horse.
"Protect the grain carts! Shield bearers, advance!" shouted the armored Tartars of the Northern Di.
The march was forced to slow down, and the soldiers were on edge and exhausted.
Nian was furious and yelled loudly, sending out cavalry to pursue him several times.
However, Murong Chunhua did not engage in battle at all. He attacked and then fled. Using his familiarity with the terrain, he easily shook off the pursuers. He even turned the tables and used traps and ambushes to wipe out two hundred-man squads of Nianmeihe.
"You despicable southern barbarians! All you know is petty theft! If you have the guts, come out and fight to the death!"
Nian Meihe brandished his long sword and roared at the empty wilderness, only to be met with a few mocking whistles and cold arrows in response.
This relentless harassment greatly slowed down Nianmeihe's march and gradually eroded the morale and patience of the Northern Di army.
What should have been a one-day journey took a day and a half to complete, and we were only a little over halfway there.
Meanwhile, the battle outside Yizhou City also intensified.
Zhao Muyun dispatched Zhong Meng with 3,000 infantrymen to join the siege.
Meanwhile, Xi Sheng and Liu Yi commanded the infantry to launch a fierce and continuous offensive against Yizhou.
Ladders were repeatedly erected on the city walls, and the soldiers of the Trapped Camp, shields on their heads, climbed upwards fearlessly.
Under Nianbahu's frantic urging, the defenders on the city wall fought desperately, with rolling logs, stones, and molten oil raining down, causing casualties on both sides to rise.
However, the Shenji Battalion of the Hedong Army put enormous pressure on the defending forces.
Those sharpshooters equipped with third-generation composite bows hid within the army formation, specifically targeting officers on the city walls and archers who dared to show their faces.
Almost every few minutes, a Northern Di officer or archer would fall from the city wall with a scream, severely damaging the defenders' command and long-range counterattack capabilities.
Nianbahu personally supervised the battle from the city wall when a cold arrow whizzed past, grazing his neck and taking away a small piece of flesh. Blood immediately stained his armor.
Nianba was so frightened that he dared not show himself again. He could only hide behind the parapet and shout and curse to give orders, which further dampened his morale.
He knew that the city was about to fall.
His only hope now is that his cousin, Zhan Meihe, can arrive as soon as possible.
"General! General Nianmeihe's reinforcements are being held up by the Hedong army's cavalry, and their progress is slow!" A bodyguard came running up to report.
Nianbahu's heart sank to the bottom.
The next afternoon, the exhausted and demoralized Nianmeihe army finally arrived at a place called "Yehuling" about forty miles southwest of Yizhou.
Here the terrain begins to rise and fall, and the official road passes between two rolling hills.
The harassment over the past few days made Nian Meihe more cautious, and he sent out scouts to investigate the mounds on both sides.
The scouts reported: "General, small groups of enemy cavalry have been spotted on the hills on both sides, but no large ambushes have been seen."
Nian Meihe surveyed the terrain. Although he felt the location was suitable for an ambush, he also considered that Yizhou was in imminent danger and that Zhao Muyun's main force was still far away, making it impossible for him to deploy heavy troops here. He deduced that the harassing light cavalry were trying to use the terrain to launch another ambush, buying time for the attack on Yizhou.
"Never mind them! Speed up, all troops, cross Wild Fox Ridge! Once we reach Yizhou City, let's see if these rats dare to come out again!" Nian Mei shouted the order.
Ten thousand Northern Di soldiers formed a relatively dense marching formation and entered the Wild Fox Ridge Valley.
Just as the vanguard was about to emerge from the valley and could already see the outline of Yizhou City in the distance—
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Three earth-shattering roars suddenly erupted from the hill at the entrance to the valley!
It wasn't a signal cannon, but a specially made "Thunderclap Cannon" by the Shenji Battalion, with an extremely loud sound!
A tremendous roar echoed through the valley, making eardrums buzz. Many of the Northern Di soldiers' horses were startled and reared up, causing a commotion in the ranks.
"What's going on? Is it thundering?" Nian Meihe reined in his warhorse and looked up at the sky with surprise and uncertainty. Although the sky was overcast, there was no sign of thunder or rain.
Then, something even more alarming happened.
Dust billowed in the direction of the valley's exit, and a moving steel forest appeared on the horizon!
A huge banner bearing the character "Zhao" and a banner bearing the character "Guo" fluttered in the wind amidst the smoke and dust.
Beneath the banner stood a thousand cavalrymen, their horses and men completely encased in heavy armor!
The Akhal-Teke horse, exhaling thick white vapor, its armor clanging, like a colossal metal beast from ancient times, silently and resolutely began to accelerate.
They formed a tight wedge formation, their long lances laid flat, their sharp tips gleaming with a deathly cold light in the dim daylight.
The sound of iron hooves pounding the ground was initially muffled, but gradually grew louder and louder, eventually turning into a rumbling thunder, making the whole earth tremble!
"Heavy...heavy cavalry!" A knowledgeable Northern Di officer cried out in despair.
The Northern Di army was mainly composed of light cavalry. Although they were armored, neither the thickness of their armor nor the weight of their horses could compare with the truly heavily armored cavalry before them.
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