Establishing a thousand-year family from the nobles of the Western Han Dynasty

Chapter 26 Liu Ruyi Rebellion

These elite Hu cavalry were indeed brave and strong, and were many times stronger than the skinny guys on the grassland. The Han army had no chance of winning in a head-on confrontation, after all, there were tens of thousands of troops supporting them. Once the defense line was torn open, the Han army would collapse completely.

However, Hu Duo still underestimated the enemy and did not send scouts to survey the terrain in advance. As a result, he did not know that the enemy was going uphill. He just blindly led his troops to charge, which of course led to an ambush.

"kill!"

Xu Zhao personally led his troops to charge, holding a spear, intending to pursue the victory, recapture the previously lost positions in one fell swoop, and start a war of attrition with the enemy again.

All of a sudden, the Han army, which had just been defeated, counterattacked. Under the cover of rolling stones, battering rams and archers, the Donghu people were defeated and decimated.

"Damn it, follow me and kill him back!"

Hu Duo could not accept this situation at all, so he turned his horse and rushed towards where Xu Zhao was in the center of the army.

As the Chanyu of Donghu who fought his way through battles with real swords and guns, Hu Duo was at the forefront of the world in terms of personal martial arts and ability to command troops. Dozens of personal soldiers were certainly unable to stop him, and more than a dozen of them died under his butcher knife.

In the blink of an eye, Hu Duo rushed in front of coach Xu Zhao.

"Well done!"

Xu Zhao was not at all panicked. He raised the corner of his mouth, gripped the hilt of the sword tightly, and rode his horse to meet him immediately. The two fought in the chaos, and the sound of cold weapons colliding could be heard one after another.

At this time, Hu Duo was surprised to find that he could not defeat the "weak" young general in front of him. His martial arts were beyond his imagination.

After several rounds, the two men were in a stalemate, with their martial arts skills being comparable.

However, there was obviously no chance to decide the outcome. The Han army took advantage of the situation to defeat the Donghu cavalry and had almost surrounded Hu Duo and his personal soldiers.

No matter how strong his martial arts were or how elite the soldiers around him were, they could not defeat the thousands of elite Han troops. There was no doubt that the winner between the two armies was the Han.

"withdraw…"

Seeing that the situation was hopeless, Hu Duo did not intend to continue fighting. He wiped the sticky blood from his cheek and led his troops to break out.

Because they were armored cavalry, the infantry could not stop them at all, and the Donghu soldiers in the rear were still rushing up, so Xu Zhao did not issue an order to stop them, because he knew that he could not leave the Donghu King behind.

"We won!"

The crowd suddenly cheered loudly. This time, they relied on 50,000 soldiers to repel the Donghu army of 100,000! It was a great victory.

"Don't be too happy, the war is not over yet. Back then, the old Grand Tutor and Emperor Gao led only a hundred thousand men to almost wipe out four hundred thousand Xiongnu cavalry. The Xiongnu never recovered from this defeat. This is a true victory!"

"We have only repelled the enemy. Hu Duo's losses are no more than a few thousand. The next wave of attacks will come soon, and there will be tough battles to fight!"

Xu Zhao was very calm in comparison. His father once warned him that he should not lose his rationality before achieving absolute victory in any matter, otherwise it would likely become the root cause of failure. The principle that arrogant soldiers will eventually be defeated has always been applicable.

Therefore, they must not be paralyzed by temporary victory, but on the contrary, they must be more cautious to prevent the enemy from taking the opportunity to attack the camp.

"Brother is right." Xu Zheng quickly realized his shortcomings.

Xu Zhao nodded, went back to the camp and asked the army doctor to treat the wound, then quickly deployed: "The message is that all armies must strengthen their vigilance. With Hu Duo's personality, he will definitely not swallow this breath, and he will be back soon."

"Yes." All the generals said in unison.

Just when everyone was about to leave, Xu Zhao's face suddenly turned gloomy: "Xu Gong, you stay for a moment." "Yes." The young man named Xu Gong was obviously feeling guilty.

After everyone left, Xu Zhao said coldly: "Xu Gong, are you still a member of the Xu family? Why did you flee when you were about to charge into battle? You are simply unworthy of your father's expectations, your brother's expectations, and your majesty's expectations!"

thump!
Xu Gong knelt on the ground, tears in his eyes: "Brother, I know I was wrong!"

"But for some reason, every time I see the bloody corpses on the battlefield, I become inexplicably timid. I must be sick..."

"Enough! Stop making excuses. You are just afraid of death." Xu Zhao exposed the other party without hesitation.

Xu Gong is the youngest son of Xu Zhen. He is only twenty-one years old. He has been proficient in archery and horse riding and is familiar with military books since childhood. Emperor Wen admires him very much. He can lead an independent army at a young age.

But he had a fatal flaw, which was his fear of death. He was extremely afraid of death. He was fine at commanding his soldiers, but would become cowardly once he started charging. He would always think of escaping when he encountered setbacks in battle. Once his mind was in chaos, he would no longer be able to command.

And he has made these mistakes more than once. If it weren't for his father's consideration, he would have lost ten heads.

"Alas...child, maybe you are really not suitable to lead troops. I will find you a job after the war is over."

Xu Zhao looked at him and didn't know what to say for a moment. After all, he was his younger brother. How could he give up on him?
"Thank...Thank you, brother." Xu Gong had no choice. He wanted to charge into battle and be loyal to his country, but once on the battlefield, his heart would involuntarily become confused.

Maybe he is destined to be neither good at literature nor at martial arts.

"You go down and rest first." Xu Zhao didn't want to see his brother continue kneeling there. He also knew that this habit was difficult to control.

But Xu Gong knew nothing about governing a country, and the feeling of having no way to serve his country was actually very tormenting.

"Yes, I'll take my leave." Xu Gong walked out of the tent disappointed. Perhaps only he himself knew his mood at that moment.

"No, why hasn't the King of Zhao's reinforcements arrived yet?" Xu Zhao calmed down and suddenly realized the problem. Normally, it would take no more than seven days to get here from Zhao.

Even if we add the coordination of food and fodder, fifteen days would be enough to dispatch the troops. At least the vanguard should have arrived long ago.

However, it had been seventeen days since Xu Zhao's march and survey and the launch of the attack. It was impossible that there was no news at all.

"Has something happened to King Zhao?" He couldn't help but worry.

At this time, the guard rushed in and said, "General, there is someone outside who wants to see you. He said his name is Xu Zhou."

"Xu Zhou?" Xu Zhao sat up. This man was none other than his second brother Xu Zhong's eldest son!
"Please come in quickly."

It seems that something really happened in Zhao State. No wonder the reinforcements have not arrived. He guessed which prince had taken the opportunity to rebel. Ever since Liu Heng, under the influence of Xu Zhen, had the intention of reducing the power of the princes, the emotions of the princes have been unstable.

It is actually normal to take advantage of the opportunity to rebel.

"Uncle...Uncle, something terrible has happened. Something terrible has happened!"

Xu Zhou walked in in a very embarrassed state, obviously injured. It seemed that the situation was much more serious than imagined.

"Zhou'er, speak slowly. I'll go find a doctor right away." Xu Zhao hurriedly helped him up.

Xu Zhou tightly grasped his uncle's arm and said tremblingly: "Uncle, the King of Zhao... the King of Zhao has rebelled!!"

(End of this chapter)