Commander Xiao Po of the Golden Guard immediately accepted the order, turned his horse around, and led more than a hundred of the Prince of Jin's personal guards, all clad in golden armor, away from the Iron Pagoda formation and headed straight for the banner of the Turkic cavalry.
This former flag bearer of the Eighth Regiment of the Po Lu Army, now the personal bodyguard commander of Prince Jin Chen Huai'an, has long been itching to use the ring-pommel dagger in his hand that killed more than ninety enemies in the Battle of Longcheng.
Xiao Po charged into the enemy ranks, rampaging through the Turkic cavalry guarding the banner. His ring-pommel dagger slashed and hacked, striking fear into the hearts of the Turkic cavalry, who could only carry the banner and dodge.
Clang!
puff--
In the blink of an eye, Xiao Po slashed diagonally again, beheading a Turkic cavalryman guarding a flag in mid-air. Blood splattered everywhere, covering Xiao Po's face.
Unwittingly, the Turkic barbarian's blood splattered into Xiao Po's mouth.
He tasted it; it was fishy and smelly!
"Pah—"
Xiao Po spat, spurred his horse, brandished his sword, and shouted domineeringly:
"Those who surrender the flag will be spared!"
"Those who resist to the bitter end will be executed without mercy!"
Having said that, he once again brandished his sword and charged into the Turkic central army's flag-bearing squad, like a wolf among sheep, as if entering an empty field.
Behind him, the hundred or so Golden Guard soldiers, clad in golden armor, were also exceptionally brave, forming ranks to fight the enemy and advancing and retreating with ease.
Soon, the scattered Turkic central army flag guards were almost completely wiped out by Chen Huai'an's personal guards, the Jinwu Guards.
Seeing the Turkic banner so close at hand, Xiao Po kicked his warhorse hard in the belly, and the horse, in pain, accelerated and charged toward the Turkic banner.
Just as Xiao Po's horse brushed past the Turkic banner, he swiftly swung his sword and severed the banner's flagpole.
The next second, the battle flag that had been fluttering in the wind, symbolizing the location of the Turkic Khan, fell to the ground and was trampled over by more than a hundred Imperial Guards who followed closely behind. The hooves, as thick as bowls, mercilessly trampled on the Turkic royal flag.
Xiao Po turned his horse around again and returned to the Dragon City cavalry formation. He took the battle flag, symbolizing the Dragon City army's northern expeditionary force, from the flag bearer on horseback.
Then, with one arm, he raised the four-clawed yellow dragon flag, which weighed dozens of kilograms, high above his head.
As he galloped across the battlefield, near the former site of the Turkic banner, he let out a heroic and exhilarating battle cry:
"The one who seized the flag was Xiao Po, the commander of the Golden Guard of the Northern Expeditionary Army of Longcheng!"
"The one who seized the flag was Xiao Po, the commander of the Golden Guard of the Northern Expeditionary Army of Longcheng!"
On the battlefield, the battle cries of Xiao Po and his Jinwu Guard soldiers echoed again and again, resounding through the heavens and soaring into the sky.
Seeing their command flag captured, the morale of the Turkic cavalry, already terrified and on the verge of collapse under the dual pressure of the Ironclad Cavalry and the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, plummeted in an instant.
"Warriors of the Turkic Empire, hold your formation, do not panic!"
"Han army, the Han army's Iron Pagoda is exhausted. Good lads of the Northern Grasslands, protected by the Eternal Heaven, must not put down their scimitars!"
"Cheer up and continue fighting the Han cavalry to the death!"
At this moment, seeing his banner captured and his morale plummet, Timur, the Great Khan of the Turks, could no longer sit still.
He immediately brandished his curved sword, ready to spur his warhorse forward and fight Chen Huai'an to the death.
"Great Han, you mustn't—"
"Great Khan, as long as the green hills remain, there will always be firewood to burn. The Han army's Iron Pagoda is too strong. The flesh and blood of my Turkic warriors cannot withstand the onslaught of the Han army's Iron Pagoda!"
"Great Khan, let's retreat. Let's go back to the northern grasslands, regroup our troops, and then plan our southward advance!"
The group of Turkic generals around Timur stood firmly in front of him, refusing to let him rush out and fight Chen Huai'an to the death.
At present, the defeat of the 150,000-strong Turkic coalition army in the Battle of Panlong Pass is already certain, so why add unnecessary casualties?
"Guards! Protect the Khan and help him retreat!"
The order to retreat was given by the Turkic strategist Khurlie instead of Timur.
He had just arrived in Shuobei from the northern grasslands early this morning, and had only just met with Timur when he encountered the defeat of the 150,000-strong Turkic coalition army at Panlong Pass.
"Great Khan, let's retreat!"
Hurley personally rode forward, grabbed Timur, and retreated towards the north.
The latter roared to the sky, "Eternal Heaven, I am not reconciled! I am not reconciled!"
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Suddenly, a volley of arrows rained down. It was Chen Huai'an's Xuanjia light cavalry who had surrounded them and were using their manu weapons to shoot down the Turkic cavalry from a distance of two hundred paces.
"Protect the Emperor!"
Upon seeing this, Khurel gave an order, and immediately his personal guards, holding shields, surrounded the Great Khan Timur, raising their shields to protect him.
Timur stopped insisting and, half-heartedly, fled north on horseback under the protection of his personal guards.
"Timur, where do you think you're going!"
A loud shout, like a bolt from the blue, sent a shiver down the spines of the Turkic generals.
Looking back, I saw a golden figure galloping towards me alone.
Its speed was as fast as thunder or lightning.
The newcomer was none other than Chen Huai'an, the Prince of Jin, renowned for his unparalleled bravery.
He knew very well that he must not confuse Timur with the likes of Wu Qingyun and Liang Erhu, and he certainly could not let the tiger return to the mountain.
Otherwise, there will be endless troubles.
Right now, his Imperial Guards have gone to seize the flag and kill the generals;
The eighteen riders of Longcheng were also caught up in a fierce battle with the Turkic cavalry, who were determined to fight them to the death, and were temporarily unable to break away.
Three thousand ironclad warriors, having fought fiercely to this point, were too exhausted for either the men or their horses to withstand another high-speed charge and pursuit.
Left with no other choice, Chen Huai'an had to pursue the enemy alone.
"Kill him!"
"Stop him!"
Two different orders rang out among the busy Turkic generals.
The one who clamored to kill Chen Huai'an was naturally the Turkic Khan Timur, who had a blood feud with two generations of Jin Princes of the Chen family.
The other order was issued by the strategist, Hurlie.
In the end, the Turkic generals and their personal guards chose to obey the orders of their strategist, Hurlie, and sent out a dozen cavalrymen to turn their horses around and intercept Chen Huai'an, who was pursuing them alone.
In the blink of an eye, Chen Huai'an was facing off against these dozen or so Turkic cavalrymen.
With a single, powerful sweep of his halberd, he cut down more than ten Turkic cavalrymen from their horses.
However, this brief delay allowed Timur's remaining group of only ten or so riders to gain a distance of over a hundred paces.
Chen Huai'an spurred his horse to chase for a while longer, but the yellow horse, which had been running and sprinting for a long time, eventually fell behind due to exhaustion and could not shorten the distance between itself and Timur's group.
After a moment's thought, Chen Huai'an held the halberd in one hand, assuming a throwing posture.
Immediately, aiming at Timur's back as he ran for his life, he hurled the halberd with all his might.
Whoosh!
The halberd tip slashed through the sky, accompanied by a piercing sound of wind breaking through the air.
In the blink of an eye, it pierced straight into Timur's back.
Timur, on horseback, was staggered by the sudden halberd, but after struggling a few times, he managed to maintain his riding posture and did not fall off his horse.
However, the halberd fell off Timur's back due to the continuous jolting.
When Chen Huai'an rode his panting, sweating yellow horse to the spot where the halberd had fallen.
He dismounted, picked up the shaft of his halberd from the ground, and gave it a gentle shake.
Only then did they notice a striking crimson hue on the tip of the halberd.
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