Chapter 377 Another Battle, Taking the Opportunity to Escape
Two weeks later, the two armies faced off again.
On the front lines of the Great Zhou army, Xiao Xuance stood on horseback, clad in black armor, spear in hand.
On the opposite side, Wanyan Zonglie wore a wolf helmet, and the two looked at each other from a distance.
The Great Jing launched the first attack, with three thousand Xuanjia Iron Cavalry charging forward in unison. The dust behind them billowed up like a yellow dragon, resembling a sandstorm in the desert. Their iron hooves pounded the ground rhythmically, as if the earth were turning over, producing earth-shattering roars, "Bang! Bang! Bang!"
They were in groups of three, both men and horses were heavily armored, with only their eye openings showing.
Countless arrows rained down on them, but none could knock them off their horses. Unless they hit their exposed eye sockets, they could hardly be harmed. However, in the billowing dust where it was almost impossible to see people, hitting their exposed eye sockets was as difficult as climbing to heaven.
At the same time, Wanyan Zonglie ordered his light cavalry to spread out from the left and right flanks respectively, waiting for an opportunity to encircle them.
"Heavy axemen, roll over!"
More than three hundred soldiers of the Great Zhou rushed forward, each wielding a thickened short-handled axe with an iron hook on the back. They rolled forward on the spot and into the belly of their horses.
He slashed and hacked fiercely at the horse's leg joints!
The enemy cavalry's armor could withstand the arrows, but not such a heavy blow. The sound of bones cracking echoed through the ranks, and armored warhorses neighed and collapsed to their knees, "Hiss hiss hiss..."
The chain of leather ropes immediately became a noose; one horse fell, and three others followed suit.
Meanwhile, soldiers who had been lying in ambush in the ditches on the left and right flanks suddenly sprang up from the ground with long spears, and as the enemy's cavalry charged, their blades slashed horizontally at the hoof and ankle of the galloping cavalry.
The cavalry charging up from behind, even knowing that enemy troops were lying in ambush on the ground, were still on their way.
Because of the momentum that caused it to continue lunging forward, I could only squeeze the horse's belly and tighten the reins to get it across the trench where enemy troops were lying in ambush.
However, another row of soldiers was waiting for them, and dozens more soldiers burst out of the flat ground, their sharp blades slicing towards their horses' hooves.
The warhorse, propelled forward by its momentum, threw the northward-bound enemy soldiers off their horses, crying out, "Ah! Ah!..."
Before they could even stand up, they were trampled to death by the iron cavalry rushing up from behind, creating a chaotic scene.
Xiao Xuance gave the order again, "Gu Huai, Kong Wu, Liu Ji!"
"Your subordinates are here!" Several generals who had been waiting for a long time rode forward.
He ordered Gu Huai and several generals to lead light cavalry to meet the enemy's Xuanjia Iron Cavalry, who had broken through the axemen's ambush and escaped.
Light cavalry are as swift as the wind, their advantage lies in their speed and agility. They are lightly armored and fast horses, capable of long-range harassment or flanking maneuvers.
If faced with a heavy cavalry charge, never engage them head-on. Instead, surround them like a pack of wolves, using a hail of arrows to wear them down from a distance and lure them into pursuit.
When the armored cavalry are exhausted and their formation is broken, charge into the heavy cavalry camp and cut them off from the flanks and rear.
After killing one or two, he immediately rode away when the enemy surrounded him.
Unable to catch up, the heavy cavalry repeated this tactic, eventually becoming exhausted and reduced to a cornered beast, falling from their horses in a bloody struggle, their screams echoing endlessly, "Ahhh!!!"
The warhorse neighed in pain, "Neigh, neigh, neigh..."
Their screams sounded like a battle cry to the soldiers of Da Zhou. They charged back and forth through the enemy ranks, showing no fear of death.
They were all bloodthirsty, their eyes bloodshot, roaring like lions, "Kill!! Kill!!!"
For the past few months, the enemy's heavily armored cavalry has been overwhelming them, striking fear into their hearts and causing the soldiers of the Great Zhou to abandon their armor and flee.
But thinking of the people and their families behind them, they dared not flee and could only use their own flesh and blood to block the enemy.
In the past three months, the Hebei army has lost nearly 100,000 soldiers, including their relatives, clansmen, fellow villagers, or close brothers.
They want revenge for their brothers!
Meanwhile, Wanyan Zonglie, who was watching the battle from the other side, saw that his two proud elite troops had been severely damaged, so he once again sent out three thousand light cavalry to charge.
Wanyan Zonglie ordered the Xuanjia Iron Cavalry to withdraw first in order to preserve their strength.
Their light cavalry was no less powerful than the Great Zhou's light cavalry; in a confrontation, the advantage lay with them.
Seeing their proud cavalry routed, Wuyan gritted his teeth and cursed, "Despicable and shameless!"
If you can't defeat them head-on, use ingenious tricks to deal with their divine weapons.
Xiao Xuance is indeed not to be underestimated.
Xiao Xuance spurred his horse forward and led his light cavalry to meet the enemy.
When the brothers Wuyanhe and Wutu saw him go into battle, they immediately asked the second prince for permission to meet him in battle.
As they went out, the other generals, eager to make a name for themselves, also rode out to capture Xiao Xuance.
Xiao Xuance was surrounded and attacked by the enemy's iron cavalry, but he still managed to deal with it with ease.
He swung his spear and swept it across, knocking away two large swords.
A long spear came thrusting towards his chest, but he dodged to the side, and with a swift motion, the spear shaft slammed down, snapping the shaft in two. With a backhand flick, he threw the enemy general off his horse.
The two swords came from the left again. He bent down and pressed himself against the saddle. His spear spun like a full moon. A flash of silver light appeared, and he slashed the opponent's throat, blood splattering everywhere.
With his superb marksmanship, he killed more than a dozen enemy soldiers in the time it takes to drink a cup of tea.
The enemy was so frightened that they dared not approach. They circled around him with their weapons raised, avoiding his sharp edge and not daring to attack first. They only defended when he made his move.
In an instant, he took the lives of five more enemy soldiers.
Then, a heavy axe suddenly came crashing down, but he didn't dodge; he met the axe blade with his spear shaft. "Clang!"
Sparks flew, and the gun spun around using the momentum...
Then, several enemy generals surrounded him and attacked him simultaneously, each move deadly.
"You surnamed Xiao, prepare to die."
"This general will take your head today."
Xiao Xuance sneered, "How arrogant!"
Even if Xiao Xuance was highly skilled in martial arts, he would not be able to escape immediately when facing several experts.
On the other side, almost all the remaining soldiers from both sides poured out, and the battlefield erupted in shouts of "Kill! Kill! Kill!!!"
"Soldiers! Follow me and kill!" On the Great Zhou side, Lu Xiao led his infantry on horseback to meet the enemy infantry. He wielded his double hammers and smashed them down on the enemy soldiers, knocking their heads off, making them stagger, and then they fell to the ground and died!
...
Meanwhile, inside Dingzhou City, Zhao Furou, having evaded the sparse guards, led five women out through a dog hole and escaped.
The streets of the city were filled with patrols of Da Jing soldiers. There were hardly any civilians to be seen; almost all the civilians had been killed. The streets and alleys were littered with corpses.
Some houses were burned to the ground, and the air reeked of rotting flesh, which was nauseating.
The group huddled in the alley, trembling with fear, tears streaming down their faces. "If we're caught and taken back, we'll be humiliated and killed. I don't want to die, sob sob..."
Zhao Zhenrou wiped away her tears, "I... I don't want to die either. How about... we go back before they find out?"
When Zhao Furou heard that they actually wanted to go back, she looked at them with exasperation, "Going back is just asking to die! I risked my life to bring you out of here, not so you could go back and die!"
She grasped Princess Zhenrou's hand and said, "Elder sister, don't be afraid. Our army is just outside the city. If we can't escape Dingzhou, we'll hide in the city and wait for our army to conquer Dingzhou before we join them. Once we find them, we'll be saved. We'll ask them to send us to Lin'an so we can go find our third brother. We're his sisters, and he won't abandon us."
"Really? Can we really escape?"
A woman hugged her knees and sobbed softly, "But we've lost our innocence. What good will it do to run back? They won't tolerate us. Going back will only mean certain death, sob sob..."
Even if she desperately lay back down, she would still be pointed at and gossiped about by the world, violated by the enemy, deemed unchaste and impure, and forced to hang herself with a white silk ribbon.
Zhao Furou continued, "No, don't give up. This is our only chance to survive. We absolutely cannot give up. I've heard that they only occupied the city. The remote villages, our people, and the talented people of Great Zhou are resisting and assassinating their soldiers. Those beasts couldn't find the culprits, so they took their anger out on us. Have you forgotten all that?"
After thinking for a moment, the group said uncertainly, "It seems so..."
They were terrified, afraid of being caught and taken back to be humiliated and killed.
She witnessed others being raped and killed by the enemy in a line, and if it weren't for Fu Rou, she would have suffered the same fate.
“Fu Rou, how did you convince Wanyan Zonglie to save me? You are smarter than my elder sister, and you were able to lead us to escape.”
An unnatural look crossed Zhao Furou's face. "Sister, it's all in the past. We'll definitely escape this time. It'll be dark soon. Let's hide here and escape when it gets dark."
That day, she was slapped unconscious and didn't want to live anymore; she had no will to live.
Wanyan Zonglie wanted to wake her up so he could continue to humiliate her.
They threatened her, saying that if she didn't wake up, they would have her elder sister killed.
If she wakes up, you can grant her one request: help him save people.
She had something to care about and hope for, and she no longer wanted to die.
She woke up. Wanyan Zonglie was a decent human being; he kept his word and helped her rescue Zhao Zhenrou from those beastly soldiers.
However, he had a condition: he demanded that she have a child for him.
A few days ago, she was weak and needed to rest in bed. Then her period came, which prevented that beast Wanyan Zonglie from taking her virginity.
To make her, a princess of the Great Zhou Dynasty, bear a child for a barbaric beast from an enemy country.
He's dreaming!
Even if she were pregnant, she wouldn't give birth.
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