Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 292: Peach Can Ward Off Evil Spirits
Qi, Mangshan.

Duan Shao was riding a war horse, with elite troops from Jinyang in front and behind him.

Just from their appearance, one can tell that these soldiers are very different from the rest of the soldiers. They are well-trained, well-equipped, and tall.

A cold wind blew, and the trees on both sides of the mountain road shook violently.

The sky was extremely gloomy and the wind was blowing hard. Debris was blown everywhere by the wind and the vision was obstructed.

Duan Shao led the army forward for a long time before they saw the Qi army camp.

Gao Yanzong and Hulugu, who were wrapped up, came out to greet them.

Duan Shao got off his horse and then began to observe the surrounding terrain skillfully, checking the two people's stationed positions, etc.

Hulugu was somewhat displeased, feeling that Duan Shao looked down upon him. He had a stern face and was unwilling to step forward to speak.

Gao Yanzong hurried forward and showed a simple smile.

"Da Sima!"

Duan Shao glanced at him and looked at his injuries.

"Defeated by the Zhou people?"

Gao Yanzong immediately raised his head, his face became serious, "That's not the case!"

"I didn't lose the battle. I even got to Yuwen Xian and almost killed him!!"

"It's just that we don't have enough troops, so we have no choice but to withdraw!"

Gao Yanzong began to find various excuses for himself, such as too few soldiers, the ground was too slippery, the weather was too cold, etc.

Duan Shao simply skipped him and looked directly at Hulugu.

Hulugu then spoke: "We attacked the enemy's formation from Mangshan Mountain, and with the help of the favorable terrain, we killed many and defeated about 3,000 cavalry. The attack was swift, but then the enemy adjusted their formation and outflanked us from both wings, almost trapping us all."

"If I hadn't shot their commander, I'm afraid we would have been detained by force."

Duan Shao was very surprised, "You shot and killed the enemy's commander?"

Hulugu's archery skills were far ahead of the entire Da Qi. If we only considered archery skills, he would be the number one general in Da Qi.

Gao Yanzong said: "We didn't shoot any commander, we just shot the general who was chasing us from the flank."

Hulugu was not angry, and said calmly: "That man seems to be Wang Xiong, the fake Duke of Yong of Zhou. I saw the banner he raised."

"When we attacked Yuwen Xian's army, he attacked from the side and tried to cut off our retreat. I fought and retreated, and shot him in the forehead with an arrow. He was taken away by his left and right, and his army also withdrew. I don't know if he is still alive."

Duan Shao stroked his beard and praised repeatedly, "When it comes to fighting alone, there are few people in the world who can compare to Mingyue."

Duan Shao's words sounded like a compliment, but upon closer thought, it didn't seem to be.

After all, fighting alone is only one aspect of being a general. Leading troops to war is not like fighting in the streets.
Hulugu narrowed his eyes again and ignored him.

Gao Yanzong looked at Hulugu with some envy. This old man was so lucky that he shot the enemy commander off his horse with a single arrow and successfully broke his armor.

I rushed over desperately, but caught nothing and was almost captured.

Duan Shao suddenly laughed, "I'm afraid Yuwen Hu won't be able to sleep."

"Oh?"

"I guess you don't know yet, but Liu Taozi defeated Yang Zhong in Lingwu and killed him, and then defeated Hou Longen in Huizhou, and is now heading to Chang'an."

"what???"

Hulugu and Gao Yanzong showed almost the same expression, both were stunned.

Duan Shao continued, "Lou Rui defeated Yang Yu, and now Ming Yue has shot and killed Wang Xiong."

"Two dukes died in a row, and two great generals were killed."

"Yuwen Hu must kneel before their emperor and plead guilty."

"How did Yang Zhong lose?"

Hulugu interrupted Duan Shao first and couldn't help but ask.

Duan Shao shook his head. "How would I know? I just know that he was killed. Otherwise, why would the enemy retreat?"

Gao Yanzong clapped his hands excitedly, his face flushed, "See, I told you, I told you, Yang Zhong must have been killed, so they retreated!!"

Hulugu was silent for a moment. He thought that Yang Zhong would lose to Liu Taozi, but he didn't expect that he would be killed directly by Liu Taozi.

Has this kid made such great progress?
Duan Shao stopped talking and led the two of them to continue walking up. When they reached a lookout tower, the three of them looked at the enemy in the distance together.

The enemy is retreating in an orderly manner.

Duan Shao laughed and said, "We have to help General Wei buy some more time."

"What does Da Sima mean?"

"Gao Yanzong, can you still charge into the battle?"

"able!!"

at the same time.

In Zhou’s camp at the foot of the mountain, however, the situation was bleak.

The soldiers lowered their heads and their morale was severely damaged.

Fortunately, the generals continued to comfort and encourage them, which allowed them to continue to maintain their fighting spirit.

The soldiers were patrolling back and forth, and in the distance the laborers were loading things onto carts and withdrawing in an orderly manner.

In a large tent, Yuwen Xian looked at Wang Xiong lying on the bed with a grief-stricken face.

Wang Xiong was also from Taiyuan, but he was not the King of Taiyuan, but an old Xianbei from Taiyuan.

This person has a very rich experience. He once followed Heba Yue into the Pass. Later, he made many contributions and was awarded the title of Duke of Yong, with a fief of 10,000 households. He was on the same level as the Duke of Follower, the Duke of Liang and others.

But at this moment, Wang Xiong's face was wrapped and still bleeding.

Wang Xiong was old, and he was already ill when he went on the expedition. He was also chiseled on the forehead by Hulugu. The military doctors were helpless.

Yuwen Xian looked at Wang Xiong in sorrow and whispered, "Duke, it's all my fault that you have fallen to this point."

"I used to think that only Hulugu Guang was worthy of vigilance, and Gao Yanzong was not worth mentioning."

"I never thought that Gao Yanzong was so brave. I was defeated by him and failed to join forces with you in time, so you were killed by the bandits."

Yuwen Xian felt indescribably guilty at this moment.

His line failed to stop Gao Yanzong and was killed by the ugly fat man. This resulted in Wang Xiong dispersing too many troops when he was outflanking the enemy, and he was facing off against Hulugu, resulting in the current tragic situation.

Yuwen Xian lowered his head and clenched his fists.

Wang Xiong gasped for breath and said slowly, "Don't worry about it."

"On the battlefield, life and death are determined by fate."

"It is not a pity to die at the hands of a famous general rather than on a sick bed."

Yuwen Xian looked at him and said, "Old General, I will definitely avenge you."

"Huoluguang, Huoluguang should not be underestimated. Gao Yanzong is also very brave. Duke Qi, right now, there are only us veterans in the country. Among the young people, you are the only one left."

"Huoluguang is still strong, and there are also Liu Taozi, Gao Changgong, Gao Yanzong and others, who are about the same age as the Duke of Qi."

"Duke Qi must remember this lesson and never underestimate the enemy in the future. Alas, you must not underestimate the enemy."

Yuwen Xian nodded, "I'll make a note of it."

"Is there anything else you want to teach me?"

"Liu Taozi is so fierce that he now occupies Linghui and other states. The only one who can defeat him is Wei, Wei Xiao."

Wang Xiong's voice gradually weakened before he finished speaking, and he suddenly became quiet.

Yuwen Xian stepped forward and stretched out his hand to check his breath.

"Ugh"

Wang Xiong was no longer breathing.

Yuwen Xian stood up, bowed deeply to the other party again, and then came out to inform the generals of the unfortunate news.

Wang Xiong still had a very high reputation in the army. The generals were all in great grief, and Yuwen Xian forbad the news to be leaked to the army.

When he returned to his tent, Gao Jiong was already waiting for him.

"Lord."

Yuwen Xian sat in the upper seat with a gloomy look on his face.

"Duke Yong died in battle. What should we do next?"

Gao Jiong frowned. They didn't dare to turn back directly. With hundreds of thousands of troops, doing so would cause big problems. So they could only go back in batches. Yuchi Jiong had already left, and the other generals also left one by one. The remaining troops were not too many, but not too few either.

The scouts said that Duan Shao might have already arrived here with his army.

Now I have to consider how to escape safely from Duan Shao and others.

Gao Jiong said calmly: "My lord, at the moment, we can only let General Quan Jingxuan abandon Yuzhou and Yongzhou and move slightly north to deter the enemy so that we can easily escape danger."

"Give up?" "Even if we don't give up now, we won't be able to hold on in the future. If Duan Shao and Hulugu march together, I'm afraid General Quan won't be able to stop them."

"But with him as a strong support, Duan Shao will not dare to push too far. Duan Shao is a person who always seeks stability in battle and never takes risks. This is why he has some conflicts with Hulugu. We can take advantage of this."

Yuwen Xian and Gao Jiong had been plotting for a long time.

Gao Jiong added: "I am now very worried about the situation in Chang'an. This time, the Duke of Jin led the army away and did not leave a strong general to guard the city. Yuwen Hui is the chief in the city. Although Yuwen Hui has some talent, he has never fought in a war and has no knowledge of military affairs."

"Chang'an is not easy to attack, nor is it easy to defend."

After listening to Gao Jiong's words, Yuwen Xian felt even worse.

"I hope the Duke of Jin can arrive in Chang'an soon and avoid any loss to the country."

Huashan County.

The entire official road was shaking.

Tens of thousands of knights were running wildly, like waves, sweeping in from afar, mighty and powerful, with a huge difference in the positions of the front and rear armies.

Someone was driving a carriage full of baggage at full speed.

The generals kept scolding those who had fallen behind and asked them to catch up quickly.

Occasionally, there were wounded soldiers who were left aside, and a few knights were left to take them to the nearest city to rest.

Yuwen Hu was riding a war horse, wearing heavy armor, and there was no luster in his eyes.

A strong wind blew, and he didn't know whether it was snow or rain that was falling. It was so thin that he couldn't see clearly. He just felt vaguely that something was falling on his body. Yuwen Hu's armor became as cold as ice, and his body under the armor was shaking constantly.

Changan cut off contact directly.

This made Yuwen Hu extremely frightened.

Before he set out, he only thought that the more famous generals around him, the better. Also for safety reasons, he even dragged the sick Wang Xiong to follow him to the expedition.

The result is what it is today.

Liu Taozi led the cavalry to attack Chang'an, but no one could find a useful general to deal with him! !
Is Chang'an still there today?
Is the emperor okay now?
Yuwen Hu thought about these questions over and over again, and his whole body felt weak and numb.

After leaving the front line, Yuwen Hu had been on a forced march, running towards Chang'an regardless of anything. His own body could not bear it, the logistics were a mess, and the soldiers were complaining bitterly.

But Yuwen Hu did not dare to slow down at all.

He won't stop until he sees Chang'an.

At this moment, the vanguard army accelerated into the territory of Huashan County and continued to advance towards Chang'an along the official road at the foot of the mountain.

The army galloped past little by little, and the valleys of Mount Hua in the distance were extremely quiet, with not even a flying bird.

The woods on the left became a little sparse, splitting into several small paths, and the situation seemed a little weird.

But everyone was marching at a forced pace.

The front army had almost all passed safely, and now it was the turn of the central army.

Several knights around Yuwen Hu held high the general's flag
"BOOM!! Boom!! Boom!!!!"

The sound of huge war drums suddenly rang out from the mountains and forests.

Yuwen Hu reined in his horse suddenly and looked to the side in surprise. The army became panicked for a moment, and the experienced officers immediately began to order everyone to defend.

A group of cavalry suddenly rushed out from the forest and charged towards the foot of the mountain.

They charged along two paths, seemingly rushing forward, but in fact they were maintaining a charging speed, with a fierce general leading on each side.

Their purpose was very simple, which was to attack Yuwen Hu who was in the center of the army.

At this moment, Yuwen Hu's mind went blank.

The familiar scene came into his eyes again, but this time, Hou Longen was no longer there to save him.

Yuwen Hu could only ask everyone to stop and form a battle line, and at the same time asked the front and rear troops to come to help.

Being attacked while on a forced march is a very terrifying thing.

A chariot running at full speed suddenly stopped, which could only lead to one thing, parts bursting.

This cavalry unit, which had experienced many days of forced march, suddenly broke up at this moment. The rear army collided with the central army which had suddenly stopped, and the front army was in a mess. Some wanted to turn back, while others continued on their way.

These more than ten thousand elite cavalrymen were now blocked by their own people and could not move.

Two fists came crashing down at them from the mountainside.

Gao Changgong was wearing a broken mask and holding a lance. He looked like a demon. He swung the lance left and right, and the knights who blocked his way flew away. He roared and ran straight towards the general's flag.

Liu Taozi on the other side did not roar. The use of the horse lance was simpler, but the killing was more efficient.

He was not as amazing as Gao Changgong who could knock down several people with one horse. He rushed left and right like a nimble fish, constantly diving into the enemy formation, and the enemies on both sides kept falling. Before Gao Changgong, he had already seen the general's flag in the distance.

Yuwen Hu was distracted and screamed as he retreated under the protection of his personal soldiers.

Some officers organized troops to stop Liu Taozi and Gao Changgong.

The troops led by Yuwen Hu were all elite troops from various military offices, especially the lower-level officers, who were extremely capable. Even in such a bad situation, they were still able to organize the troops to block the enemy.

But after Yuwen Hu's retreat, the entire army was in complete chaos.

These officers struggled to maintain their formation and fought against Liu Taozi and others with their exhausted bodies.

Liu Taozi and Gao Changgong continued to charge towards Yuwen Hu. The entire official road was filled with the wailing of horses and the screams of soldiers.

Yuwen Hu did not give any orders, he just kept running and let the army decide for themselves. If it were an ordinary army, it would have collapsed completely by now, and they could still put up a little resistance.

Yuwen Hu retreated all the way, and the troops behind him fought on their own, but whenever he looked back, he could always see the masked general leading everyone to chase after him.

Yuwen Hu was so frightened that he didn't dare to look back.

The battle lasted for a long time, the sunset rose and the sun set.

However, there was a strong wind and snow fell randomly on the battlefield, interrupting the rhythm of both sides.

Liu Taozi promptly stopped Gao Changgong from pursuing them. They quickly returned, defeated the newly organized army again, and left to the north.

Heavy snow fell, but the scarlet blood on the battlefield could not be covered. The snowflakes fell on the blood and then became the shape of the blood.

The entire Huashan official road was littered with corpses.

The warhorse ran around randomly, searching for its master.

Corpses were piled on top of corpses, armor was scattered all over the ground, and flags were mixed in the blood and mud.

Yuwen Hu fell off his horse, and his personal soldiers jumped down and helped him up.

The knights were organized by the officers to follow Yuwen Hu.

Yuwen Hu was helped up, but he was just gasping for breath, gasping violently. He was terrified and looked around, unable to speak.

"Duke, the enemy has retreated! Retreat!"

After listening to his subordinates' consolation, Yuwen Hu finally came to life, "It's good to retire, it's good to retire."

He looked with difficulty in the direction of the official road, and then looked at the many knights who followed him.

These knights had just experienced a forced march and a hard battle. They had almost lost their combat effectiveness. Without even waiting for the enemy's attack, they were just riding their horses when they suddenly fell off their horses and could never get up again.

Looking at the defeated soldiers around him, Yuwen Hu couldn't help but shed tears.

He couldn't hold it in any longer and started crying with his hands covering his face.

He had never been bullied like this in his life.

Sixteen thousand elite cavalry gathered from various prefectures, the core strength of the Great Zhou! !

After such a bloody battle, he didn't know how many people were left.

He didn't even dare to ask, he didn't want to know how many casualties there were.

Why did Liu Taozi appear on his march?
Why didn't any scouts tell me where they were going?
Yuwen Hu's mind was in a mess at this moment, and he just cried loudly.

The generals stood on both sides, each of them was extremely exhausted. Without Yuwen Hu's orders, some began to gather the defeated soldiers, some began to rescue the wounded, and some sent scouts to prevent Liu Taozi from launching another charge.

They looked at Yuwen Hu who was sitting on the ground crying, and didn't know how to comfort him.

Yuwen Hu had never regretted so much.

He didn't know how long he cried, and finally stopped crying after being comforted by his two confidants.

The sky had become completely dark.

Some knights raised torches, and there was light everywhere.

Yuwen Hu wiped away his tears and looked at the generals, "This defeat is all because of my fault."

"Because of me, such a huge number of casualties have been caused. I no longer have the face to go back to see the emperor."

He immediately drew his sword and pretended to commit suicide.

The generals rushed forward to persuade him and snatched the sword from his hand.

Yuwen Hu's teeth were shaking violently, and there was endless hatred in his eyes.

"Liu Taozi!!!"

(End of this chapter)