knife

Chapter 585 Let You Run First
The trenches had long since been filled in, and the Tiger Warriors, armed with heavy shields, advanced slowly.
Although the large shield was made of wood, it was covered with a layer of cowhide and then inlaid with a layer of iron. It was about the height of a person and weighed several tens of kilograms.

When rows of these large shields advanced in unison, it truly resembled a black wall pressing forward, creating an overwhelming sense of oppression.

Ordinary crossbows are useless against such large shields; only heavy crossbows can kill the opponent. However, such crossbows are too cumbersome, and usually not many are carried. Especially since Yang Lixin and his men were not prepared for such a battle, they would not waste time and effort bringing such heavy weapons.

Dozens of powerful crossbows were lined up inside the camp, facing the black wall in front, but they were clearly far from enough to pose a significant threat to the enemy.

"shoot!"

With a roar, dozens of crossbows fired dozens of bolts as thick as a child's arm from behind the fence. The bolts whistled as they slammed into the large shields, the immense force piercing through the shields and the heavily armored Tiger Warriors who were holding the shields up with their shoulders, creating a gap in the shield formation.

But the Tiger Legion did not hesitate at all. They didn't even glance at their fallen comrades, and instead charged forward with their shields in hand.

The crossbows were cocked too slowly; by the time four or five soldiers were working together in a frantic rush to cock them, the shield bearers had already closed in to within fifty paces.

The Tiger Legion seemed to be able to accurately judge the speed at which their crossbows were drawn. Just before the crossbows were fired, they slammed their large shields into the ground and braced them with their shoulders.

Of course, it's impossible to block them, but the enemy only has a few dozen units, and they can fire a few dozen crossbow bolts at a time. Whoever gets hit will be left out of the way.

However, the opponent only had one chance to shoot.

Dozens more people fell.

This time, however, the shield bearers had already rushed to within ten paces of the palisade, and the Tiger Warriors behind them were already throwing their spears forward with great force.

Thousands of spears, accompanied by a whistling sound, blotted out the sky.

The whistling sound was incessant. Most of the soldiers operating the crossbows were impaled on the ground by spears, and most of the crossbows were destroyed immediately.

The shield bearers slammed into the fence with a loud crash.

Some fences were buried deep and thick enough, only slightly deformed. However, many people were lazy when burying the fences. They looked no different from the outside, but when hit heavily by the shield-bearers, they broke with a crack.

The defending soldiers roared and charged forward with their spears.

Hand-to-hand combat is the only option.

Either you die or I die.

As the sun rose high in the sky, the sound of gongs signaling the retreat rang out from the rear of the Tiger Warriors. Accompanied by a volley of arrows raining down on the enemy's defenses, the Tiger Warriors' vanguard became the rearguard and slowly retreated.

Yang Lixin had originally organized a group of skilled men to take advantage of this opportunity to launch a counterattack, but after hearing the rapid sound of horses' hooves, he finally gave up.

His own cavalry were either finished or had fled.

Among the returning cavalry, there were too many skilled warriors. It was easy for them to charge out, but difficult for them to fight their way back.

There is no need to take the risk.

What I need to do now is persevere until nightfall. Then I will have the opportunity to escape under the cover of darkness and retreat towards He Yiming's forces. If we move towards each other, the two armies can meet up by noon tomorrow at the latest.

As long as he could create some distance, he would have a chance to shake off the Tiger Legion in front of him. Wearing heavy armor had its advantages and disadvantages, namely that their marching speed was definitely slower than his own.

The first line of defense held out for half a day. On their side, the cavalry had been completely routed, and the infantry had suffered more than 3,000 casualties in just half a day. Such a casualty ratio was terrifying.

The enemy has now retreated, giving us a rare opportunity to rebuild our defenses.

We must seize every moment and not waste a single instant.

Cao Hui dismounted and walked up to Li Xiu with He Zheng, Gao Wuyang, and the others.

Li Xiu smiled and pointed to the food spread on the felt rug in front of her, "Let's eat and talk!"

The group sat down on the ground without any formalities; they were indeed hungry after fighting for most of the day. "We've captured about a hundred prisoners in the past few days!" Cao Hui tore off a chicken leg and stuffed it into his mouth, chewing it heartily. What was unusual about him was that he chewed the chicken leg and swallowed the bones as well.

"How are you planning to use it?" Li Xiu smiled and pointed to the camp ahead. "How about I borrow it?"

"That would be such a waste!" Cao Hui shook her head repeatedly. "These prisoners are quite obedient! They've already decided to work for us!"

Li Xiu scoffed: "You believe someone jumping around like that?"

"It doesn't matter!" Cao Hui said, "It's just one use. We're leaving now!"

"Where to?" Li Xiu asked in surprise.

"Let's go to Xiangcheng!" Cao Hui tore off another chicken head and stuffed it into her mouth, chewing it noisily. "Xiangcheng is very vulnerable right now, let's go and seize it."

"Just your thousand or so people?"

"That's enough!" Cao Hui said. "We still have some companions in Xiangcheng, and with these hundred or so prisoners to guide us, as long as we enter the city smoothly, then seize key locations by surprise and capture a few key figures, that will be enough!"

"That's true!" Li Xiu nodded thoughtfully. "These prisoners are familiar with the situation, and you also have an inside man. But is it really necessary to be in such a hurry?"

"If we wait until news of Yang Lixin's defeat gets back, we'll inevitably have to put in a lot more effort!"

"Don't worry, Yang Lixin and the others won't be able to escape!" Li Xiu said. "From the moment they arrived in Yong'an County, they were already sentenced to death!"

Cao Hui laughed heartily, stood up, and wiped her greasy hands on her battle robe. "Then farewell!"

May your journey be smooth and prosperous!

The two men bumped fists together, and Cao Hui led a few of her men to mount their horses and leave.

As the sun began to set in the west, the war drums sounded once more.

The Tiger Warriors launched another attack.

The agonizing half-day is finally over.

Fortunately, the Tiger Legion had also exhausted a lot of energy in the morning's fierce attack, and the afternoon's attack was far less ferocious than in the morning. However, when Yang Lixin saw the enemy bringing in rows of powerful crossbows as night fell, he finally made up his mind that he had to leave that night.

This is the advantage the enemy has in controlling the waterways; they can continuously transport the necessary military supplies. Yang Lixin, on the other hand, is now running out of supplies, with his entire army having very few arrows left.

What saddened Yang Lixin was that Xiao Zhongren was seriously injured.

"Old Yang, you guys go ahead. We won't hold you back. Besides, we still need to leave some men on this position to confuse the enemy!" Xiao Zhongren said with a smile. "We'll beat the drums and move around to cover your retreat!"

"When they find you tomorrow, surrender!"

"I will!" Xiao Zhongren chuckled. "I'm shameless anyway, I'm just afraid that my opponents will stab me regardless of whether I surrender or not, but that's fate! If I really can't go back, you have to take good care of my women and children at home. It doesn't matter if my women remarry, but my son can't change his surname!"

Yang Lixin patted Xiao Zhongren on the shoulder and sat down: "Let me sit with you a little longer!"

"This battle was truly inexplicable. I have a bad feeling that things aren't going as we thought!" Xiao Zhongren sighed. "After we get out, we'll find He Yiming and immediately go to meet up with Feng Kuan. There's strength in numbers!"

"got it!"

At midnight, in the Tiger Legion camp, Li Xiu squinted at the distance.

"Yang Lixin should retreat!"

"Let them walk for half an hour before we chase after them!" Li Xiu laughed. "Didn't he think our heavy infantry couldn't catch up? Hehe! We don't even need to catch up. Someone will take care of them, and we can clean up the mess then!"

(End of this chapter)