Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 183 First achievement
"Boom~~~"

The ground was shaking violently, and the whole world seemed to be shaking.

The sun was shining brightly, and strong winds were blowing the weeds on the ground. The distant places had already been covered with sand and dust, like a strong wind, making it difficult to see clearly.

Above the horizon, a large bone slowly appeared.

It seemed to be the skull of an unknown deer, which had been hollowed out and decorated with feathers.

The skull was gradually raised, and the flagpole with the skull hanging on it also appeared.

Next, there are more and more bones.

They rose up from all directions, from every direction that anyone's eyes could reach.

The bones grew higher and higher, and the knight holding the flagpole finally revealed his upper body. The knights holding the skull flag appeared in the front, and following closely behind were the knights who followed the skull flag.

There were more and more knights.

Yao Xiong looked at those people like ants. Standing on a high place, he couldn't see clearly how many there were. He only saw them appearing in an endless stream.

The more than 6,000 people under Liu Taozi's command are now stationed at a flat river mouth. After being washed by the river from time to time, this place has become extremely flat and remains moist all year round. The knights need water, and the war horses under their crotches and the cattle and sheep they carry also need water. This is the best place for horses to drink water.

Liu Taozi held the horse spear in his hand, and the blue lion became irritable, rubbing its front hooves slowly and shaking its head constantly.

At this moment, the blue lion was covered in heavy armor.

It looks like a huge, armored beast, and its owner is the same.

Liu Taozi had worn armor and full armor several times, but this was the first time he wore a full set of heavy armor, which matched the warhorse under his crotch and was extremely precious.

Liu Taozi, who was already tall, now turned into an iron giant.

He was followed by thirty-five people, all dressed in the same manner.

Such heavy armor places extremely high demands on war horses and knights, and is not something that ordinary people can afford.

The Xi people in the distance, after discovering the Qi army stationed here, did not slow down at all, and marched towards here at the same speed as before.

Yao Xiong was sweating profusely.

His voice was low:

"Brother, has the Khan been defeated by the Xi people?"

"Isn't this probably more than 100,000 people? Are they the main force?"

"Run away."

Liu Taozi said softly: "Get ready for battle."

Yao Xiong pursed his lips and looked again at the overwhelming army in the distance. He was stunned for a long time.

Just a few days ago, he was complaining about not encountering the Xi army.

I didn't expect to encounter something of this scale this time.

Liu Taozi only has a thousand real elite soldiers under his command, and the combat effectiveness of the rest of the slaves cannot be said to be very high.

Kou Liu took a deep breath, and his hand holding the bow was shaking slightly.

The generals and soldiers under Taozi's command all had different expressions at this moment.

People like Potala Ku were extremely excited at this moment, feeling that great success was beckoning towards them.

There were also ordinary slaves who were terrified when they saw the terrifying size of the army.

Liu Taozi looked at Kou Liu standing aside.

Kou Liu nodded, then galloped out on his horse.

"The general has ordered!!"

"If a military household beheads five people, he will be rewarded with ten gold coins! He will also be given ten cows and a hundred sheep!!"

"Cangtou beheaded five levels, enter the military household!!"

"Anyone who kills the general and seizes the flag, regardless of whether they are from the army or civilians, will be presented to the Khan and be promoted to general!!"

Kouliu held a large flag, shouted all the way, and led the scouts to gallop past the front of the formation.

The knights were ready for battle.

On the opposite side, Ahui Jijin was driving at the front line, looking at the camp in the distance with fear in his eyes.

The general on the side was reporting the situation of the other side, "They have been waiting here for many days, less than 10,000 people, all elite troops."

Ah Hui Ji Jin was a good businessman and administrator. Under his command, the Xi people accomplished the feat of the Five Tribes Alliance. However, he himself was not good at military affairs. He looked at the general and asked, "Can we go around?"

“We have too many people.”

"If we rashly change direction or slow down our march, it will cause great chaos. Then, if these people charge directly, our people will be defeated."

The general replied.

They were not migrating this time, but marching. In order to avoid colliding with their own people and falling behind, the entire army had to maintain a steady speed and move in one direction.

It's like a hastily assembled chariot. If the front wheel suddenly turns sharply, the entire chariot may collapse in an instant.

Ah Hui Ji Jin asked: "Can we throw out some baggage so that they can grab it?"

"They have already built high slopes and barricades, and we have more people, so I'm afraid we won't fall into their trap."

After learning that his methods were ineffective, Ji Jin panicked.

"What can I do? What can I do?"

The general advised: "Don't worry. Although the enemy is elite, they do not have the advantage in numbers. Please allow me to lead the troops to urge the front army and kill those who retreat. If we can defeat this Qi army, the morale of the army will be greatly boosted, and we can escape safely."

"What if the Khan of Qi comes after us?"

"Let's fight quickly and decisively!"

"Well, then I will appoint the general as the commander-in-chief and supervise the entire army. Anyone who retreats will be killed!"

"only!!"

The man rode out on his horse.

The Xi army continued to approach the Qi army that was waiting in formation in front of them, and the distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer.

Even in such a cold day, the Xi knights were sweating profusely, and their hands holding the spears were shaking constantly, but they could not retreat. As the front wheels of the chariot, they would be knocked over and crushed by their own people even if they slowed down a little.

"Woo~~~~~"

The Xi people blew the order.

The knights in the front army increased their speed and rushed towards the enemy camp.

Kouliu roared angrily, and the light cavalry, armed with bows and arrows, slid down the high slope.

The Xi knights raised their longbows one after another.

"Whoosh~~~"

"Whoosh~~~"

"Bang~~~"

The arrows were like black clouds, covering the sky and the sun. The arrows from both sides drew arcs and landed on both sides.

Kou Liu led the light cavalry and ran away after shooting.

But the Xi people had no chance to retreat.

With just one round of volleys, the Xi people suffered heavy casualties, and both men and horses were wailing. But soon, someone took their place and continued to move forward, and the distance between the two sides was shortened again.

When Kou Liu led the knights back, the second round of knights, led by Yan Heita, launched a second volley.

The Xi people braved the arrows, and some of them even fell off their horses before they had time to fight back, but the entire army was advancing, and these people were used as stepping stones by their own people to continue moving forward.

Still, the bodies caused some confusion.

Under the impact of arrows, they finally overturned the barricades blocking the front.

This gap was not narrow and the defense line was very long. Liu Taozi did not choose to separate the army and completely block the gap, but blocked the middle position. After overturning the chevaux de frise and filling the ditch with corpses, the Xi knights could pass directly from both sides.

Liu Taozi's formation was a large triangular cone formation relying on the high slope, but this cone was different from the traditional cone. The two sides and the rear formation of the cone were composed of heavy cavalry, while the light cavalry was in the middle and the front.

Therefore, the light cavalry can continuously charge out from the middle and shoot, while the heavy cavalry will protect the two sides well and prevent the young men inside from fleeing out of fear.

The Xi people charged continuously, overcoming one obstacle after another. After filling the road with countless corpses, they finally surrounded the Wuchuan soldiers from both sides and finally encountered the heavy cavalry.

"kill!!!"

Liu Taozi gave the order and rushed out with a lance in hand.

The entire formation now seemed like a whole and began to move forward with a bang.

The Xi general who was supervising the army was also extremely frightened at this moment!

He thought that the enemy would cut off the two routes of advance, and that the enemy would use heavy cavalry to block the momentum of the advance, but he never thought that the enemy would maintain the formation and charge directly!
The Xi army was like a huge chariot. The enemy could poke the wheels, poke the body of the chariot, or even turn into rocks and wait for the chariot to hit them. However, the army in front of them chose to speed up and crash into the chariot head-on.

Suicidal style?!

But at this moment the chariot could no longer slow down, and the two sides collided heavily.

Liu Taozi raised his lance and fought fiercely. He was like a small mountain, with his lance flying up and down. People on both sides dared not approach him. Spears collided, armor made a dull sound, and the knights kept killing the enemies in front of them, and countless enemies took their places.

Liu Taozi suddenly knocked the man in front of him off his horse, and a general viciously thrust a spear at his waist.

"Bang!!"

A spear hit the general's head, twisting his helmet. The general fell to the ground with a bang. Yao Xiong retracted the spear, and his whole body seemed to be burning. He roared and rushed forward.

The place where the two sides collided became a real meat grinder at this moment, with corpses falling in piles, war horses wailing, and knights roaring weakly.

Liu Taozi's army still maintained its formation. They were like towering rocks, facing the impact of the torrent. The Xi people's flood kept rushing in, trying to break up their formation, but it was not easy. They were even moving forward, forcing the Xi people's momentum to slow down.

The formation was constantly attacked, Yao Xiong had changed several weapons and was on the verge of exhaustion.

His hands were sore and starting to feel numb. He had no idea how many times he had been hit. There were two arrows stuck in his chest, but he felt no pain at all.

The knights around him fell one after another.

The front wheels of the chariot formed by the Xi army suddenly slowed down, causing the chariot parts to begin to disintegrate and collide.

The Xi people began to show initial confusion. The central and rear armies, which were still charging, collided with each other, and people from different tribes suddenly drew their swords against each other.

Many disadvantages of a large-scale military expedition broke out at the same time.

Ji Jin also sent six trusted generals to various places to restore order.

At this moment, the front armies on both sides that were not hit by Liu Taozi had successfully passed through the plain and reached the vast sky and earth on the opposite side.

At the same time, Ji Jin also lost control of those people. Their first thought after passing Pingchuan was not to turn around and attack the Wuchuan soldiers, but to leave here.

The front army suddenly discovered this gap, which was a gap leading to survival.

They don't need to fight with these enemies here at all. As long as they slightly change direction while their own people are still fighting, they can pass through here safely and smoothly.

When they were forced into a desperate situation, they fought to the death, but the moment they found a way to survive, the smart people in each tribe had their own ideas.

While some people were charging forward to attack the enemy camp, some began to quietly lead their troops to escape from both sides.

They even attacked their own flank troops to seize the escape route.

At first there were only two small streams, but they grew bigger and bigger.

Suddenly, the pressure faced by the Wuchuan soldiers began to decrease, the successive attacks began to weaken, and they were even able to continue moving forward.

I saw that the Xi army in front of me consciously split into two groups, bypassing the cone in front of me and fleeing from the Pingchuan River estuary from both sides.

The two wheels of the chariot suddenly separated and fled to both sides, taking the entire chariot with it, and it was split into two. They no longer cared about the Wuchuan soldiers in front of them, and fled one after another, even killing each other. The entire Xi army was in complete chaos.

The worst thing was that just when Ji Jin discovered that the army was splitting up, when he looked up again, Awl had already appeared in front of him.

"Ow!!!"

Ji Jin let out a roar, and the arrow shot like lightning, piercing his throat.

Ji Jin fell to the ground.

Yan Heita shouted: "The bandit chief is dead!!"

"The thief leader is dead!!"

But this had no effect on the Xi army. Ji Jin did not serve as the commander, and the army continued to flee. However, cheers were heard from the Wuchuan soldiers. Yao Xiong found strength from nowhere and charged forward again.

The awl pierced through the mighty army. The army in a state of chaos was only concerned with escaping. Even the generals were only thinking about their own tribes at this moment and were unwilling to fight for the lives of other tribes. Everyone hoped that other tribes could stand up so that they could leave smoothly.

The Wuchuan soldiers no longer encountered resistance, and they chased them everywhere like a flock of sheep.

The leader of the Xi people was unwilling to fight to the death here, so he led his tribe to the rest of the plains.

The mighty Xi army fell apart.

“Faster!!”

The leading general wore a mask and led an elite army of tens of thousands of soldiers, rushing towards Erhechuan.

They maintained a very fast marching speed, with each person riding three horses, but even at such a speed, they did not fall behind. The general kept issuing military orders and changing the formation during the march. The deputy general was frightened and his face changed drastically. He advised and advised several times, but the changes in formation were exceptionally smooth, and the deputy general looked at the general with a different look in his eyes.

Weird! !
I heard that this was the first battle for this young general who had just been promoted to commander-in-chief of the central army.

Although it was his first time in military service, the young general demonstrated outstanding military talent.

Marching was a piece of cake for him. The marching chores that had so troubled Liu Taozi and others seemed to not exist at all for him.

Changing formations during a march is a big taboo, and it is easy to fail, but this general seemed to have eyes on the back of his head. After a few military orders, he completed the march and changed his equipment. The deputy general was originally arranged by the emperor to teach him, but at this moment, the deputy general actually felt that he could learn a lot from him! !
There was no trace of the awkwardness in him that came from just having come into contact with the army.

As one of the hunters, they moved towards the area where the Wuchuan soldiers were located at a very fast speed.

The general was wearing a mask, so his facial expression could not be seen.

However, the expressions of the generals around him were very serious.

Because they were already very close to the main battlefield, but they did not hear the sound of fighting, the sound of war drums, or even the shaking caused by horse hooves.

The war seemed to be over, but they didn't know the outcome.

This battle could have many outcomes, and most of them are what they don't want to see.

When they appeared on the horizon like the Xi people, the general didn't even order them to put on armor.

They finally saw the battlefield.

There were mountains of corpses and seas of blood everywhere in and around Pingchuan.

Countless corpses were piled up around, forming one high mountain after another, and horses and livestock were running all over the mountains.

From where they stood, as far as the naked eye could see, there were almost corpses and livestock.

Some soldiers were tiredly cleaning up the battlefield, and they also noticed the rapidly approaching troops.

A moment later, a group of scouts blocked their way.

The scout's face was covered in blood, looking hideous and terrifying.

"Who is coming?!"

Facing this elite army of 10,000 people, the scout's words were not polite at all.

The generals did not feel angry. They just stared blankly at the tragic battle in the distance.

"It's me, Gao Changgong. Your name is Kou Liu?"

Kou Liu was startled and lost his arrogance. He quickly dismounted and bowed to greet him.

Gao Changgong looked around and asked, "Where is the main force of the Xi people?"

"Ran."

"There are too many of them, and we can't stop them."

"How much did you run?"

"I don't know. Half of them ran across the river mouth, and the other half ran north."

Gao Changgong looked around again. Just by observing with his naked eyes, he could infer that the number of corpses here was definitely over 30,000, and possibly far more than that. The number of livestock was impossible to count.

"Where's your general?"

"Heading north to chase down the defeated soldiers."

"Who is in charge here now?"

"Deputy General Yao Xiong."

After Kou Liu answered, he hurriedly sent someone to call Yao Xiong over.

Gao Changgong ordered his deputy general to lead his men to the north to assist Liu Taozi, while he himself stayed here.

A moment later, Yao Xiong appeared here limping.

This guy was shirtless, wrapped in silk cloth all over his body, using his spear as a walking stick, and even his face was wrapped in cloth.

"Your Majesty!!"

Yao Xiong walked forward with a smile, threw away the spear in his hand, and bowed to greet him.

Gao Changgong quickly helped him up and looked at his bleeding left face. "What happened to you?"

"I was bitten by an arrow, but it's okay! It's okay!"

"I am lucky. Wang Dameng and Zhang Chong died in the battle. Several others were seriously injured and I don't know if they can survive. I am lucky."

"My lord, please come with me to the camp and rest. How is Mr. Zhang?"

Gao Changgong looked around again and said, "Alas, because of those villains, you have to suffer such a hard battle."

"Why do you say that, Your Majesty? Is it strange to be killed or injured in a war?"

"We have gained great military merit in this battle. I alone have beheaded seventeen people!"

"We killed both Ahuishi Jijin!"

"May I ask your Majesty, how can such a great achievement be achieved?"

"My brother might be rewarded?!"

(End of this chapter)