Strange Tales from the Northern Qi Dynasty

Chapter 351 Chen Guo Nightmare
This is a small plain.

The view is wide and unobstructed.

Originally it was a large piece of farmland that fed the people of nearly an entire state. However, as one inhuman emperor after another came to power, the farmland here turned into a wilderness, overgrown with weeds, among which were countless dried corpses.

The Chen army and the Qi army advanced from two directions and met head on.

Huang Fachi and Liu Taozi had fought many times. After Wu Mingche was defeated, the two began a long-term struggle.

Huang Fachi saved several ferry crossings and forced Liu Taozi to Shiliang City, thus preserving the logistics, but Liu Taozi also caused many casualties to the Chen people, seriously delaying the Chen people's advance.

At this point, Huang Fachi had to find a way to repel Liu Taozi. If he couldn't defeat him, the army would not dare to retreat no matter where they advanced.

As long as they dare to go back, Liu Taozi can attack these areas again, but if they let the army be stationed in these places, the country's strength will basically not be able to afford it.

Therefore, the key lies in this battle. As long as Liu Taozi can be defeated once and forced to give up the south, the Chen people can go back with peace of mind and manage the territory they have obtained.

Huang Fachu was not afraid.

The advantage is his.

Even if they fail once, as long as they don't die on the spot, they can continue fighting.

But if Liu Taozi fails once, he will have to go back to Gwangju.

"Array!!"

Huang Fate raised the flag.

The army quickly changed their formation. Their formation was a variation of the偃月阵, which was what Huang Fachi was best at. Looking down at the entire formation, one could see a semi-ellipse, with the commander at the very center, the arc facing the enemy.

The swords and shields are on the outermost side, and many spears are set up to form a semicircle to resist the attack of the cavalry. This is a defensive formation.

The elite troops under Huang Fachi's command were able to change formations extremely quickly and had no worries about being attacked by the enemy while changing formations.

Because Huang Fachi was quite familiar with the enemy, he didn't have to consider anything other than the cavalry.

Liu Taozi stood directly opposite them, watching Huang Fachi slowly change his formation.

Lou Rui was fully armed and holding a lance. Looking at the enemy's army, he couldn't help but curse.

"This dog-like bastard has the upper hand but is still setting up a turtle formation here?!"

“They’re not in a hurry.”

Wang Lin said softly, "Xu Du and Chun Yuliang's troops may be approaching. He just wants to hold us back and wait for them to arrive. It is only natural for him to use this formation."

He slowly looked at Liu Taozi standing beside him.

Things have come to this point. It is too late to discuss whether or not to fight. All we can discuss now is how to fight.

After many small-scale clashes, the two sides are finally about to have their first head-on confrontation.

Wang Lin did not hold out much hope for this. Not to mention that Huang Fachuo was not easy to defeat, even if he really defeated Huang Fachuo, how would he deal with Xu Du and Chunyu Liang who would arrive later?
But looking at Liu Taozi's face, he didn't dare to question it.

I always feel that the other party has an inexplicable confidence, as if he had already made arrangements.

What is his confidence?

Relying on the yoke formation that was practiced time and time again? ?
Wang Lin still hadn't thought it through, but he still held the weapon tightly in his hand.

His life had not been easy since he left the south. Since he followed Liu Taozi, he was no longer under surveillance and there were fewer annoying guys around him. He burned food supplies, killed Wu Mingche, and did many big things he had never thought of. If he could win this time, he would have made a judgment on who would own the world.

Liu Taozi raised his lance, the tip of which flashed coldly in the sunlight, and pointed at the enemy in the distance.

"Lord Lou, you lead the troops to supervise the battle. Anyone who retreats will be killed!"

Lou Rui nodded heavily and immediately led his soldiers to retreat.

"Shi Wansui, Yuchi Jia, the two of you lead the Mandrill Camp and go around the enemy's flanks! Shi Wansui goes to the left, Yuchi Jia goes to the right!"

"only!!"

"Everyone else, follow me!!"

Liu Taozi also raised the flag, and the familiar sound of war drums rang out.

Huang Fachi saw that the enemy's most elite cavalry was now divided into two and moving towards his two sides.

This made Huang Fate particularly surprised. Instead of concentrating the elite cavalry, they dispersed them and did not rely on them to charge? Did they want to use those defeated soldiers to charge?
But the enemy had already started to move. Tens of thousands of troops formed a large horizontal formation and pressed towards Huang Fachu.

Huang Fatic stared at the two cavalrymen on his left and right with a frown on his face.

The armies on both sides showed some unusual movements at this moment, and the officers in charge frequently raised flags and demanded a counterattack.

"Don't act rashly!"

Liu Taozi led the newly formed army and was pressing towards Huang Fachi step by step. These soldiers were still somewhat afraid when facing the Chen people.

But they certainly don't run away at the sight of something like they used to.

Lou Rui's scolding voice could be faintly heard from behind: Anyone who retreats will be killed.

Liu Taozi dispersed these defeated soldiers and reorganized them. He used the elite troops under Lou Rui as the lower-level officers and used them as the skeleton and the army of Yangzhou Road as the flesh and blood to reorganize this army of more than 20,000 people.

The people brought by Lou Rui are at least capable of fighting, but they have been decadent for a while, and their past experience is still there.

Thanks to them, otherwise this basic formation change would be difficult to carry out.

"shoot!!"

The moving catapult stopped at this moment, and the soldiers passed by the catapult. As the commander gave the order, the catapult quickly began to fire in turns.

When the huge rocks fell towards the enemy camp, Huang Fachi frowned.

Panzer catapults are usually used to hit the rear army's position. The purpose is not to kill but to disrupt the enemy's organization. However, Liu Taozi's panzer catapult began to bombard without fully covering the range.

Stones kept flying and landed heavily on the front army's position.

Some soldiers fell down with screams and were quickly pulled away by their colleagues, only to be replaced by others.

The rounds of shooting only partially covered the front army, and many of the rest were ineffective hits, which instead blocked the way forward with rocks.

Huang Fachi was a little confused and looked bewildered.

Blocking your own way?
What on earth do you want to do?!

Liu Taozi quickly raised the flag, and the knights on both sides of Huang Fachi increased their speed and began to circle quickly.

They went around from the two corners of this huge semi-ellipse.

They were extremely fast, and Huang Fate had no cavalry that could limit them.

Huang Fachu remained calm, narrowed his eyes slightly, and immediately raised the flag.

At this moment, the swordsman and shieldman suddenly put down their shields, and a group of crossbowmen appeared on both sides.

The crossbowmen didn't have to aim at the enemy, they just started shooting desperately. Behind them, there were actually many catapults.

The cavalry on both sides were covered by a barrage of arrows and huge stones.

Within a moment, the knights fell off their horses one after another, and their horses began to whine.

Shi Wansui lowered his head suddenly and the arrow flew past his eyes, scaring him.

A smile finally appeared on Huang Fate's face.

His archers were not in front or behind, but on both sides.

Want to attack from the weak point in the rear?

You think I can't guess?
Seeing the most elite knights under Liu Taozi being beaten, Huang Fate was quite proud. He had been tormented by this cavalry for many days! !

Shi Wansui did not receive the order to retreat, and continued to charge with his head down.

The Mandrill Camp was not afraid and continued to charge along with the two main generals, leaving their flanks exposed to the enemy.

Watching the enemy passing through the arrows, constantly approaching from behind.

Huang Fachu remained calm.

Liu Taozi raised the flag again, and the infantrymen sped up and kept closing the distance.

Huang Fachi still focused on defense. After paying a lot of price in the mandrill camp, he finally went around the semicircle. When he could see the enemy's back, Huang Fachi suddenly raised the sword in his hand.

"Change!!"

The soldiers behind him waved the flags accordingly and the sound of war drums began.

The semicircle actually began to slowly split apart from the middle, and a huge semicircle was trying to turn into a pair of wings.

If the enemy cavalry continued to circle, their semicircle could turn into a semicircle facing the rear, always ensuring that they were facing the enemy's main force. The Mandrill Camp rushed out for a long time but found that they could not get out of the enemy's shooting range at all! !
Shi Wansui watched the arrows flying past him. He could only use the shield in his hand to protect himself, as several arrows had already stuck on it.

Wang Lin looked at the enemy's changing formation and the situation in the mandrill camp. He was so angry that the warhorse under his crotch couldn't help but get agitated.

Liu Taozi, who had always been indifferent, now widened his eyes and stared at the enemy's formation changes.

At the moment when a pair of wings took shape, Liu Taozi raised the lance high.

"Change formation!!!"

The army heard a familiar command.

Since these defeated soldiers were taken in, they have been practicing the same thing every day, from marching formation to yoke formation.

This is the moment Liu Taozi has been waiting for.

Huang Fachi, Lou Rui, and even everyone else, felt that the Mandrill Camp was the main force, and these defeated soldiers were just cannon fodder, responsible for waving flags and cheering.

If you want to defeat the enemy, you can only start from the enemy's misunderstanding.

The Mandrill Camp was a bait; the main force Liu Taozi really wanted to use were these defeated soldiers.

These people have never won a battle under Wei Pohu, but the current commander is not Wei Pohu.

When the defeated soldiers began to change their formation slowly as usual, Huang Fachi, who was staring at the Mandrill Camp wholeheartedly, was also frightened. The opponent's formation change was extremely slow, and there was even a commotion, but they were indeed changing their formation!
The large horizontal formation turned into a yoke formation used for charging, and a rolling pin suddenly stood up and turned into a spear!
No wonder the car dumper is at the forefront!!
Huang Fachu woke up in shock.

Are these still the defeated soldiers?
"Divide into formations!!"

All he wanted now was to turn his wings into two wings, so that they could fight against the mandrill camp and these defeated soldiers respectively.

However, at this moment, the fleeing soldiers were too close to Huang Fachi.

Liu Taozi, wearing heavy armor, became the iron tip of the spear, and he launched an attack with a roar.

His main attack direction is the most vulnerable point at the moment, the connection between the wings, which is also the location of the enemy's main general.

Perhaps it was the throwing of carts and shooting that just happened that gave the fleeing soldiers some courage, or perhaps it was because of the supervision team behind them, they followed Liu Taozi and launched a stumbling charge.

Liu Taozi charged forward, the black wind neighing, the horse lance whistling, two sword and shield soldiers were knocked away by him and fell into his own formation. The black wind became more and more violent, knocking over the enemies in front of him, and the horse lance flew like a wheel, and soldiers fell down wherever it went.

The two sides officially went to war.

The Chen people's spears stretched out from their shields, and the Qi soldiers were stabbed in the abdomen and fell down one by one. But at this moment they could not retreat, as there were enemies behind them, rushing towards them one after another, and the spears collided violently with the large shields.

Huang Fachi knew that Liu Taozi's target was him.

The pressure from the mandrill camp was too great, so he didn't dare to set up a circular formation. In that case, the density of bows and crossbows and the effectiveness of shields would not be as strong as they are now.

But he didn't expect that Liu Taozi would use the mandrill as bait and lead the defeated soldiers to launch a fierce attack.

It was too late to change the formation of the two wings at this moment. He gritted his teeth and said, "Combining the formations!!"

The two wings moved forward again, ready to slap Liu Taozi and others in their hands and crush them together.

When the two wings began to move inward, the casualties of the Qi people became even faster. The spears were pressed from left and right and trampled on each other. Lou Rui watched as some soldiers began to flee backwards. He killed a few of them, but was unable to stop them.

It was already difficult for these defeated soldiers to follow Liu Taozi in a charge, and it would be difficult for them to face the attack from both sides.

Even Liu Taozi's charge slowed down as there were enemies all around him.

Wang Lin fought desperately and killed everyone around him. Wei Pohu also showed his bravery for once, roaring and killing the enemies.

At this moment, the pressure on the Mandrill Camp disappeared.

The enemy gathered together, and their rear was exposed to the mandrill camp.

Shi Wansui pulled out the arrow from his arm, his eyes full of rage.

"kill!!!"

The mandrill camp slammed into the enemy's formation from the rear on both sides!

The Mandrill Camp was not like those fleeing soldiers, and their charge was not so easy to resist. The soldiers on both sides were knocked to the ground, and their formation began to become chaotic. Shi Wansui rushed left and right, killing many people, and no one could stop him!

The huge commotion on both wings almost made Huang Fachi grit his teeth.

Although he had the advantage, he was attacked from both sides by the enemy!
Isn't Liu Taozi a cavalry general?
When did you learn infantry and cavalry tactics?
Liu Taozi made her way through the crowd with difficulty, getting closer and closer to Huang Fachi.

The chaos on both sides continued to grow, and the formations were struggling to maintain.

Huang Fachi couldn't help but look behind him.

"The central army, listen to my command, retreat, and re-form the battle line!!"

Huang Fatic was not a fierce general, and he could not let Liu Taozi get too close to him. If he died, the entire army would be defeated.

This chaotic formation, which looked like nothing, gathered around the main general and began to retreat.

After losing the fulcrum, the pressure from the two wings was greatly reduced. Lou Rui roared and urged the officers in front of him to launch an attack.

The next moment, the enemy's formation completely collapsed, and the Qi army's formation collapsed at the same time, and the two sides directly entered into a melee.

The two sides no longer had any tactics or formations. Looking around, they were all killing each other. Archers, swordsmen, spearmen, cavalrymen and even the soldiers responsible for loading stones on the catapults were all fighting with the enemy.

Huang Fachi had already retreated to a safe area and was watching the melee unfolding before his eyes.

Liu Taozi had been completely submerged in the sea of ​​people, and it was almost impossible for him to break out and find Huang Fachi.

But it was impossible for Huang Fachi to reorganize his army at this moment.

Such a melee is simply a paradise for cavalry.

Shi Wansui moved back and forth among the enemy. Without any formation to restrain him, he could charge wherever he wanted and the enemy could not stop him.

Huang Fatic's face was pale and his lips trembled slightly.

Pei Ji watched the chaos with sweat all over his forehead. "Retreat! Let's retreat first!"

"The Northern Hu are so tall and strong, and they have elite cavalry. We are no match for them in a melee. We must retreat first. We cannot lose the city we have captured!"

"Let's withdraw first and wait for reinforcements from both directions to arrive. The enemy has suffered many casualties, and we still have reinforcements!! They are too weak to fight anymore!"

Huang Fachi quickly cheered up and raised the last flag.

"retreat!"

Huang Fachi brought a huge number of troops. The central army did not directly participate in the melee. Only the armies on the two wings participated in the melee. The central army still retained its combat effectiveness.

The central army retreated quickly, and there was no dispute about the outcome of the melee.

The armies on the left and right could no longer hold on and began to collapse and flee in all directions.

The Mandrill Camp was chasing and killing everywhere, and the situation was becoming increasingly unfavorable. The Qi soldiers were a little confused when they saw the enemies turning around and running away. They didn't know where they got the courage from, but they actually followed the Mandrill Camp and started chasing and killing them.

The battle lasted from day to night.

The plain was littered with corpses, some from Qi and some from Chen. The entire ground was dyed red. The corpses were spread on the ground, leaving no place to stand. The knights had to move forward by stepping on the corpses.

The sunset glow, which was also dyed red, and the place dyed red by blood reflected each other.

Liu Taozi wiped the blood off his face and looked at the soldiers holding spears, cleaning up the battlefield, chopping off heads, and stripping clothes, the traditional skills of the Qi army.

Wang Lin's sword-holding hand was shaking all the time. Standing next to Liu Taozi, he held the sword-holding hand tightly with one hand, trying to stop it from shaking.

Wang Lin had fought many battles in his life, but never such a thrilling one. He was just one step away from being crushed by the two-wing formation.

After his victory, his hands kept shaking and he couldn't calm down.

"Congratulations, General!"

"From now on, the people of Chen will probably be frightened by the general. Whenever they meet him in the future, they will be three points inferior in momentum."

Wang Lin was very excited. "The general first killed Wu Mingche, and then defeated Huang Fachu. He is so brave! He is so brave and invincible!"

Liu Taozi listened to his flattery, but her face became unusually solemn.

"Raja."

"The war isn't over yet."

"There are still Chunyu Liang and Xu Du. Huang Fachi is not dead either, and he still has troops at his disposal."

"They should have arrived by now, and might be standing there staring at us."

Wang Lin was not worried at all. With some excitement in his eyes, he asked eagerly:
"General, should we defeat Chunyu Liang first, or Xu Du first?"

(End of this chapter)