Chapter 705
Chapter 705
Although Xu You’s guards desperately protected him, the enemy still managed to reach Xu You. Xu You had to take out his sword to protect himself but his sword obviously faced the same fate as his guards.
Xu You felt disheartened to see his sword break into two. Though it was not a top grade weapon, it was still made with fine iron and had been with Xu You for a long time.
“Haha!” The Yuan soldier who was facing Xu You was very excited. He did not know who Xu You was but the uniform Xu You wore was clearly that of a general. As long as he killed the enemy general, he would be promoted by at least three ranks.
“Your Excellency! Be careful!” One guard threw himself in front of Xu You. As he could not stop the enemy, he could only use his body. His armor was sliced into two and his body fell to the ground.
Blood splashed all over Xu You’s face but Xu You did not feel distressed or sad at all.
“Your Excellency! Go!” The other guards rushed to protect Xu You.
Xu You struggled hard. The guards who thought that Xu You still wanted to fight continued to persuade him. “Milord. We have been tricked! The enemy is too strong! We have to retreat for now! There will be time to fight again!”
“No! The weapons and armor!” Xu You quickly said. Only idiots would fight until the end at this moment. What Xu You wanted was the weapons and armor.
“Weapons and armor?” The captain of the guards still did not understand. At the moment where death is around the corner, why are you still thinking of weapons and armor? Do you really value money over life? “Your Excellency. As long as we retreat, the Prime Minister will definitely give us weapons and armor.”
“It is the enemy’s weapons and armor!” Xu You continued to shout.
Now only did the captain of the guards understood that Xu You wanted to take the enemy’s equipment back for research. It was not that they were incompetent. The enemy’s equipment was simply too powerful.
“Understood!” The captain nodded and immediately commanded eight of his men to surround one to two enemies. After sacrificing the lives of some of his men, they managed to kill two enemies and take their equipment.
Xu You who touched the sword he snatched from the enemy immediately knew how sharp it was. It was still gleaming coldly and despite it being covered in blood, it’s sharpness had not decreased at all.
“Let’s go! Break through!” Xu You shouted loudly to his men. With these weapons and armor, he could explain himself to Cao Cao. The enemy’s equipment was simply too powerful. The result would be the same regardless of who went. Xu You had to find a way out after losing the first battle.
“Xu You is over there! Do not let him escape! Whoever that kills Xu You will become a noble and be rewarded with ten thousand gold!” Yuan Shang shouted loudly from atop of the city walls. He hoped that the soldiers could kill Xu You and solve his headache. Listening to the words of their liege, the morale of the soldiers rose. The enemy army have already collapsed and now they simply need to pursue.
“Stop pursuing!” Yuan Xi was much more rational. He also wanted Xu You dead but he knew that this was not realistic. Besides the fact that Xu You’s guards were protecting him, they were also elites from Jizhou. When the Jizhou Army surrendered to Cao Cao, there were factions. The Yanzhou faction did not surrender while the Hebei faction surrendered. Xu You was the representative of the Hebei faction. With his status and position, there would be no shortage of people willing to sacrifice their lives for him. If they die, they could still receive pension money. If Xu You dies, the Jizhou Army is finished. They would be dispersed and incorporated into one of Cao Cao’s other armies.
If you corner the defeated troops to hard, they would fight like death soldiers. This would not be worth the loss. Besides that, the rest of Cao Cao’s army have also begun to move.
“Let the Tiger Cavalry and the Dajishi abandon fighting the Qingzhou Cavalry and the Xiandengying to rescue Xu You with Xu Huang and the others.” Guo Jia ordered. Cao Cao trusted Guo Jia so much that Guo Jia was able to order Cao Cao’s troops directly.
“Wait!” Cao Cao stopped Guo Jia.
“Huh?” Guo Jia frowned. Although Xu You had broken through with force, he would die sooner or later if no one helps him.
Cao Cao muttered to Guo Jia. “It is time to forget the name Aman.”
After hearing Cao Cao’s words, Guo Jia understood why Cao Cao told him to wait. Cao Cao wanted Xu You to die.
However, Guo Jia shook his head. Xu You was annoying but it was not yet time for him to die. “No, Milord.”
“Fengxiao. Have you forgotten his rudeness towards you?” Cao Cao asked in confusion.
“Milord. The reason why the two of us can be friends is because we share the same ideals. The things you don’t like, I would also naturally don’t like.” Guo Jia replied to Cao Cao. He was saying that he too, hates Xu You and would also want Xu You to die.
“But it is not yet the time. Xu You can die but we cannot lose the vanguard of our army.” Guo Jia added. He was saying that morale would plummet if they lost their army of thirty thousand.
“I understand.” Cao Cao nodded and gave the order. Soon, the Tiger Cavalry and the Dajishi started to struggle to break away from their respective opponents. The Tiger Cavalry were having a hard time as the Xiandengying was Yuan Shang’s trump card. There was also Wen Chou who was difficult to deal with. Shaking him off would definitely cause heavy losses.
On the other hand, the Dajishi fared much better. Though the Qingzhou Cavalry was strong, they were no match for the Dajishi. After all, the Dajishi was Yuan Shao’s elites while the Qingzhou Cavalry were Yuan Tan’s elites. Yuan Shao raised the Dajishi with the entirety of Hebei while Yuan Tan only has one province.
The Dajishi had followed Yuan Shao to many battles while the Qingzhou Cavalry only defended Qingzhou.
This was why at the end of the day, it was easier for Zhang He to break away from his opponent.
Zhang He and the Dajishi then charged towards the heavy infantry. There was not much they needed to do besides accelerate. Even with their heavy armor and shields, being hit by a horse running at full speed would cause heavy internal injuries. There were also many soldiers that were sent flying from the charge.
The Dajishi also suffered losses. After all, the horses were made of flesh, not iron. The cavalry at the front row had no chance of surviving but they managed to tear a small hole in the enemy formation. The others following behind continued to bombard the hole. Meanwhile, Xu Huang’s heavy infantry also arrived to support the Dajishi from the side.
“Why don’t we also swallow up Zhang He’s Dajishi together?” Yuan Tan said greedily. He have not even digested the thirty thousand Jizhou troops yet but he was already thinking of his next meal.
Shen Pei felt embarassed as he looked at his Lord and the Yuan Xi. Besides having superior weapons, the only reason they could defeat Xu You’s army was because both armies were about equal in strength. Three thousand heavy infantries fighting against five thousand heavy infantries and there was even formations to rely on.
However, it would be problematic when another five thousand heavy cavalry thrown into the equation. After all, heavy cavalries have the role of tearing apart the enemy army and killing infantries. Unless the infantries have battle formations ready, they can only wait to die after encountering heavy cavalries. Once the heavy cavalry tears your entire army apart, even the God of War cannot do anything.
Now, Yuan Tan wants to put this heavy cavalry in the middle of his formation? He must be tired of living.
However, Yuan Tan soon forget this intention as his heavy infantry’s formation was starting to break apart after another charge from the heavy cavalry.
“Retreat. Do not fight any longer.” Yuan Xi said seriously.
If they were to fight any longer, it would become a genuine decisive battle. At that scale, both Yuan Xi and Cao Cao would suffer as more soldiers get thrown into the mix. The sky was also beginning to get darker. It would not be beneficial for both sides.
“We are almost there!” Yuan Shang shouted. He really wanted Xu You to die.
Yuan Xi’s words did not reach his brother at all and Yuan Shang continued to order the troops to attack Xu You.
“Ah.” Yuan Xi sighed with regret knowing that he could not stop his third brother. Why did the troops not belong to him? Why was he the weakest of the three brothers?
Yuan Shang who ignored Yuan Xi’s words ordered his three thousand soldiers to chase down Xu You. However, the barrier they used to stop Cao Cao’s army eventually collapsed. Meanwhile, Xu You and his men have already regrouped with Xu Huang’s army.
The three thousand soldiers continued to fight while relying on Yangzhou’s equipment. It would be fine if it was one against two but if it was one against five, even Yuan Shang’s soldiers would be in trouble. Besides that, they also had to fend off the Dajishi attacking them from the back. These soldiers were unable to hold out at all.
“This…” Yuan Shang was dumbstruck. Fortunately, the Qingzhou Cavalry who had been shaken off had returned to the battlefield at this time.
Yuan Xi resolutely glared at his third brother and said. “Men! Beat the drums and signal a retreat!” Yuan Xi then angrily descended the city walls.
“Sound the retreat!” Countless arrows flew from the city walls to cover the retreat of the Yuan Army. The arrows were shot between both armies to separate them. At this time, it was a indiscriminate attack hitting both sides.
Both Cao Cao’s army and the Yuan Army suffered heavy losses by the time an empty space was formed between them.
While being protected by cover fire, a portion of the Yuan Army entered the city while the remaining entered the barracks at the corner of the city wall.
Read Novel Full