My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 640 Blocking Reinforcements and Making Arrangements
"Tiger!"

Li Zheng's cavalry shouted in unison, following closely behind him as they charged forward, seemingly determined to smash through any obstacle in their path.

After Li Zheng charged into Hong Ming's battle formation, the cavalry's speed did indeed slow down considerably. However, the Shanyue army was accustomed to mountain warfare, and although they had undergone some training in cavalry combat, they lacked experience and did not think of slowing down the cavalry at all.

In addition, Li Zheng was brave and his knights were all elites in their respective units. Hong Ming's force of only 1,600 men was easily defeated by Li Zheng, who then broke through from the other side.

"My lads, turn with me."

After breaking through the enemy lines, Li Zheng laughed heartily to boost morale, and was about to turn around and charge into the enemy lines again.

The Yue army's reaction was entirely within Li Zheng's expectations. Although these soldiers were fierce and brave, they had no way to counter them. Li Zheng estimated that after two or three more waves of attacks, the enemy's formation would inevitably become unstable.

The knights behind him echoed in unison, like a thunderclap.

After drawing an arc in front of He Qi's heavily armed guards, Li Zheng charged into Hong Ming's formation again from the southwest.

Hong Ming was frantic, but his mind was blank. He knew that if the enemy continued to charge like this, even the fiercest men in his troops would not be able to hold out for long.

He tried several methods, but none of them could stop Li Zheng.

The enemy cavalry was like a nimble eel, slippery and impossible for him to control.

On the other hand, Cao Jun's Li Mu's troops, who were facing off against Hong Ming, began to concentrate their efforts on clearing out the salient.

Three forces pressed down on the Left Army's armored elite troops, who had penetrated deep into enemy lines, from different directions. Even though the Left Army had an equipment advantage, they were forced to retreat step by step without reinforcements.

With spearmen in front and swordsmen and shield bearers behind, they pressed down on the Wu army like a moving wall. Meanwhile, on the right flank, Hong Jin was locked in fierce combat with the Cao army's left flank. The short axes of the Yue warriors were incredibly powerful in close combat, but the Cao soldiers were well-trained, and both sides suffered heavy losses.

On the battlefield, shouts of battle, the clash of weapons, and the wails of the wounded mingled together, creating a symphony of death. The blazing sun stained the entire battlefield crimson, and more and more soldiers fell, their blood soaking the dry earth and forming patches of dark red mud.

Hong Ming had already killed four enemy soldiers in the melee, including two cavalrymen. His armor was covered in knife marks and bloodstains, both from enemies and his own. His personal guard, the sergeant, had fallen beside him just moments before; a lance had pierced his chest, killing him instantly.

The situation has deteriorated considerably; Hong Ming's army has been disrupted by Li Zheng.

When Li Zheng broke through the formation for the second time, preparing to charge again and tear apart Hongming's battle formation, he was unexpectedly met with a hail of arrows.

The volley of arrows came suddenly and swiftly, catching Li completely off guard. He himself was hit by three arrows, but fortunately, his armor was tough and he wore a chainmail lining, so the arrows only grazed his inner flesh and did not cause any fatal injuries.

While Li Zheng was unharmed, the cavalrymen behind him were not as well-equipped, and more than twenty of them were shot down immediately.

This cavalry unit numbered only two hundred men. In the previous two raids, they had only lost a dozen or so men, but they had inflicted more than a hundred casualties on Hong Ming's troops. Not to mention that once they broke through the enemy lines, they would enter a state of battlefield mopping up.

The casualties in this single wave have already exceeded the total of the previous charges, and it's a one-sided loss.

But the matter wasn't over yet; another hail of arrows came raining down from the opposite side.

The previous wave of arrows was fired by the archers together, while this wave is a rapid burst of arrows from the archers.

The second volley of arrows was fewer in number than the first, as fewer crossbowmen were involved, but it was faster, clearly fired by powerful archers.

This wave of attacks resulted in the deaths of five or six more men, and several others were wounded but remained on their horses. What shocked Li Zheng's cavalry even more was that dozens of armored elite soldiers charged out from He Qi's formation, flanking them from both sides, attempting to slow the cavalry's advance with their own lives.

Once cavalry loses the initiative and speed, they are not much better than infantry.

Knowing that there was no time to hesitate, Li Zheng immediately shouted, "The enemy is adept at sneak attacks; it's an unfair victory. We won't get entangled with them. Men, come back with me!"

Next, Li Zheng led his cavalry, enduring the rappelling from He Qi's archers, and barely managed to break through the encirclement before the armored elites blocked their path. Then, they turned north, circled back to their own battle formation.

This battle resulted in the loss of nearly fifty knights, a quarter of their original strength, but it successfully relieved Li Mu's forces and leveled the battle line again. If He Qi hadn't reacted quickly and sent reinforcements to stop Li Zheng's repeated charges, Hong Ming's troops might have been routed by Li Zheng. In that case, at least half of the more than one thousand routed soldiers would have perished in Li Zheng's pursuit.

However, Hong Ming's troops are also suffering heavy casualties, with more than 200 people lost. These are all experienced veterans, and many of them are Hong Ming's tribal soldiers, the kind of soldiers whose deaths are painful to see.

Judging from the results, the two sides fought to a draw, with a casualty ratio of approximately 1:4 to 1:5. Li Zeng's side suffered more losses because they lost elite cavalry and retreated hastily, failing to recover the horses of the fallen soldiers.

However, considering the benefits Li Mu gained from leveling the battle lines, the two sides are truly evenly matched.

After the battle was over, General Hongming handed over the battle to his deputy and went to He Qi in person to apologize.

He Qi generously helped the other up: "Victory and defeat are common occurrences in war. Even famous generals of the past have stumbled. Moreover, Li Zheng is no ordinary general; he is a veteran of Cao Cao's army. It is already commendable that you were able to maintain the formation without collapsing."

In fact, if He Qi hadn't come to the rescue in time, Hong Ming would have already been planning to lead his personal guards to fight to the death. If they couldn't stop Li Zheng's cavalry from rampaging, their formation would have collapsed in an instant. Once the formation crumbled, it would have been too late for Hong Ming to fight desperately.

After calming Hong Ming down, He Qi ordered him to return to the main force.

Li Zheng's counterattack caused the left wing to break off contact. Although the central and right wings were still fighting, they were also affected by the left wing and could not go all out.

Especially on the right flank, Hong Jin, after receiving He Qi's report and orders, immediately deployed elite crossbowmen and spearmen to the center of the formation to guard against Li Zheng repeating his old tricks.

While this greatly improves security, it also draws away a significant number of elite troops from the front lines, making progress difficult.

**
"General, our army has suffered more than 10% casualties, with the left wing under Hong Ming suffering the heaviest losses, reaching 20%."

One of the recruits reported the compiled information to He Qi.

Don't be fooled by the seemingly low casualty rate of only 10-20%. In reality, a unit that doesn't collapse even after suffering over 30% casualties is considered a relatively elite force. Unless they are the elite direct subordinates of various factions, it's rare to find a unit that can withstand over 50% casualties without breaking down. An army capable of fighting to the death with over 50% casualties requires not only a strong foundation but also the charisma of its commanders and favorable timing and terrain.

While the Yue people were indeed brave and fearless of death, He Qi was not the kind of cold-blooded general who would not waste his soldiers' lives for his own military merits unless absolutely necessary.

But right now, that necessary moment has arrived.

With a cold face, He Qi ordered, "Go and invite Generals Zhou Bin, Han Yan, Yuan Yu, and others to my camp for a meeting."

A moment later, Zhou Bin and the other two generals entered the formation and came to see him.

At this moment, the two armies had disengaged, and the various units of the Shanyue army regrouped and rested on the spot, while the brothers Hongming and Hongjin were already waiting in Heqi's formation.

Once everyone was present, He Qi asked directly, "General Zhou, have your men rested enough?"

Upon hearing this, Zhou Bin and the others immediately realized that the atmosphere was not right and replied, "If the general has any orders, please give them. We have rested enough and the soldiers are willing to go through fire and water for the Left General without hesitation."

"it is good!"

He Qi praised loudly, then gave the order: "General Zhou, I have an important task to entrust to you. This task is the key to this battle. If you feel it is not appropriate, I can hand this person over to someone else."

Upon hearing this, Zhou Bin immediately became angry. He naturally knew that this was He Qi's provocation, but when had Zhou Bin ever been afraid of difficulties?

He Qi could have just given the orders directly; why goad him like this? Anyone who didn't know better would think Zhou Bin was incapable of handling such a heavy responsibility.

Zhou Bin immediately retorted with dissatisfaction: "General, why do you have to provoke me like this? Although I am not a famous general, I have a heart full of patriotism. If I can be used by you, I will not hesitate to sacrifice my life for you."

Zhou Bin's words were somewhat offensive, and the other generals present, all of whom were He Qi's trusted confidants, naturally became dissatisfied and stepped forward to speak, but were stopped by He Qi.

He Qi waved his hand to stop the crowd, walked up to Zhou Bin, took his hand and said, "This is my fault. I underestimated the general. After this battle, I will personally offer him wine to apologize."

Zhou Bin immediately knelt down: "This humble general dares not, please give the order, General!"

"good!"

He Qi was overjoyed and immediately gave the order: "General Zhou, Li Zheng's troops are well-disciplined, the soldiers are brave and fierce, and the officers are valiant. They are truly a formidable enemy of our army. If we allow them to join forces with Cao's reinforcements, they will become a major threat to our army, making the capture of Fucheng even more difficult. Therefore, I intend to take advantage of this opportunity to defeat the enemy here. However, Cao's reinforcements are about to arrive, and we need a wise and brave general to hold them off. I wonder if the general is willing?"

Zhou Bin had already made those boastful claims; how could he possibly refuse now?
Moreover, Zhou Bin had already guessed what the mission entailed and was prepared, so he readily agreed: "This humble general is willing to go! Please rest assured, General, as long as this humble general is here, I will definitely block Cao's reinforcements for you."

Zhou Bin dared to speak so confidently, and he had reason to be so. He currently commanded 6,000 elite soldiers, a third of whom were from Yangxian, and the rest were all elite troops from Jing and Yang. Moreover, they were very well-equipped, with 600 sets of iron armor, 400 large crossbows, 800 crossbows, 500 powerful bows, and even 300 cavalrymen. Furthermore, their weapons, armor, and equipment were all of the highest quality, many of which were transferred to Zhou Yu's troops by Liu Feng from the generals' armory after capturing their commanders.

With such well-equipped and valiant soldiers under his command, Zhou Bin was naturally full of confidence.

"Good! Good! Good!"

He Qi praised him repeatedly, but then cautioned him, "I know that you are wise and brave, resolute and capable of shouldering great responsibilities, which is why I have entrusted you with this important task. However, you must also be careful and cautious. This time, Cao's reinforcements number around ten thousand, including several thousand cavalry. You must be extremely careful. If there is any emergency, you may inform me at any time. Do not act rashly."

He Qi's earnest advice was quite thorough, and Zhou Bin was certainly capable of distinguishing right from wrong. Moreover, He Qi's status and trust with Liu Feng were comparable to Zhou Yu's, so Zhou Bin dared not disobey his advice.

Seeing Zhou Bin solemnly agree, He Qi finally felt relieved.

After receiving the order, Zhou Bin left first. He needed to urge his men to spread out to the north to cover He Qi's troops.

He Qi then began assigning tasks to his generals.

"Han Yan will be the commander-in-chief on the west side, and Yuan Yu will be the deputy commander. Your two units will be transferred to the west side to be the main attacking force. After the battle begins, you must not hesitate to sacrifice yourselves and strive to defeat the enemy as soon as possible."

He Qixian made up his mind and concentrated the two fresh troops together, deploying them to the safest western side.

Looking at the current battlefield situation with Fucheng as the center, to the west is the Fu River, which flows from north to south and forms a natural barrier.

By positioning Han Yan and Yuan Yu to the west, with the Fu River protecting them from behind and Zhou Bin and Hong Jin's allied forces to the north, they could launch a full-scale attack without any worries, maximizing their offensive power.

He Qi then recounted the earlier ambush by Li Zheng's cavalry that Hong Ming had encountered, urging the other party to be extremely careful and not to be careless.

Han Yan and Yuan Yu naturally obeyed.

Next, He Qi placed Hong Jin in the due north position to support Han Yan and his troops, and instructed him: "Your unit is extremely crucial. To the north, it is supported by General Zhou's blocking army, and to the east, it connects with the main attacking forces of Colonels Han Yan and Yuan Yu. To the west, it is connected to my main force. I do not expect your unit to defeat the enemy, but you must retain some mobile forces while containing Li Zheng in the north, so that you can move to support other directions at any time. Can you do that?"

Hong Jin nodded immediately, indicating that he understood.

Finally, He Qi personally took command on the east side and transferred Hong Ming's troops to the main camp to join forces, while leaving Li Zheng's troops undefended on the south side. This was the strategy of surrounding three sides while leaving one side undefended.

If they are surrounded on all sides, Li Zheng's troops will lose all hope of breaking out. As the saying goes, even a cornered beast will fight to the death.

But now an escape route has been opened up, and it is the southern route closest to Fucheng. Even though Li Zheng's troops are fierce and valiant, the will to survive is human nature, and they will inevitably be affected to some extent.

In this way, Li Zheng's entire group, now with a way out, will most likely be shaken.

"In that case, you may all return to your own camps, urge your troops to take their positions, and then launch a joint attack, striving to break through the enemy's formation within an hour and a half."

After the assignments were made, He Qi concluded, "Gentlemen, the outcome hinges on this battle. I only hope that you will not disappoint General Zuo's expectations!"

(End of this chapter)