Guiyi Fei Tang

Chapter 306: Defeat at Zhuti
"kill!!"

Inside Niutou Gorge, the sounds of shouting and killing filled everyone's eardrums. After a brief collision, the vanguards of the two armies once again became bloodthirsty.

In this situation, the poorly trained party will easily lose control, and loss of control means greater casualties.

Many frontline soldiers could not help but charge forward, but once they were out of the protection of their comrades, they would soon be knocked down by spears coming from all directions, and eventually die on the front line.

The grand ceremony consisted of 2,500 men in one camp, and 10,000 armored soldiers in four camps.

General Zhao Qihuai, who commanded the vanguard army, was stationed in the Iron Armored Army's B Camp, so he could clearly see that the size of the A Camp in front was getting smaller and smaller.

"The A-camp will retreat to Niutouyuan to rest and the B-camp will take over!"

Zhao Qihuai could see that Camp Jia was on the brink of collapse, which meant they had reached the critical point of collapse.

He replaced Camp A with Camp B without hesitation, and the army also reserved a ten-foot-wide retreat valley for the retreating troops.

The barbarians of Camp A were finally freed. They replaced Camp B in rows, and everyone withdrew in panic.

In just two quarters of an hour, less than 60% of the 2,500 people remained.

It can be said that people are dying with every breath, and those who die are their former comrades, or even brothers from the same hometown.

"Zhao Qihuai!"

Suddenly, the sound of horse hooves and calls were heard at the same time. Zhao Qihuai, one of the twelve generals, hurriedly dismounted and saluted.

He didn't even look back, because he knew very well that there was someone in the army who could call him by his name.

Sure enough, You Shilong, who was supposed to be in charge of the central army, appeared in the front army with a sullen face.

"With so many casualties, why is the battle front retreating?!"

"The casualties of the Ironclad Army and the Heavy Armored Soldiers are estimated to be close to 4,000, and the casualties of the Puzi Barbarians and the Naked Barbarians are estimated to be no less than 2,000..."

Zhao Qihuai's voice was low and rapid, and beads of sweat appeared on his forehead.

Without waiting for You Shilong to speak, he lowered his head and continued to report: "Your Majesty, although our army is brave, the Tang army's formation is tight, as solid as an iron wall, and the wind cannot blow in!"

Faced with Zhao Qihuai's explanation, You Shilong, who was not blind, could naturally see the situation on the front line.

He found that what Zhao Qihuai said was right, but this made his face even gloomier.

Looking at the fierce battlefield ahead, he clenched his fists, his nails almost digging into his palms, and a trace of anger and unwillingness flashed in his eyes.

The tenacity of the Dongchuan Army exceeded his expectations, especially Gao Pian's command.

The Dongchuan Army under his command was like a solid wall of steel, with no water or wind to penetrate.

"Waste!" You Shilong shouted angrily, his voice like thunder, shocking the surrounding soldiers to bow their heads.

He suddenly drew out his precious sword, the blade flashing coldly in the sun: "If one battalion of armored soldiers is not enough, then two battalions, if two battalions are not enough, then three battalions, if three battalions are not enough, then four battalions!"

"Pass the order down. Even if we have to kill all the armored troops, we will annihilate the Tang army completely!"

"If we cannot capture Gao Pian alive today, it will be difficult to relieve the hatred in my heart!"

Zhao Qihuai was shocked when he heard this, and he quickly advised: "Your Majesty, the Tang army's formation is solid. If we force our way in, I'm afraid there will be more casualties."

"It is better to withdraw the troops temporarily and find another strategy..."

"Shut up!" You Shilong's eyes widened with anger and he interrupted him:
"With 60,000 troops here, how can they be stopped by only 7,000 people?"

"If I don't capture Gao Pian today, how can I maintain my dignity?"

Zhao Qihuai didn't dare to say anything more. He could only lower his head and obey the order, watching the battle between the Yi Camp and the Dongchuan Army.

Their fate was the same as that of the Jiazi Camp. In less than two quarters of an hour, their formation began to weaken.

"Change the formation!"

Yu Shilong watched for two quarters of an hour with a gloomy face, and then announced a change of formation before the Yi Camp became chaotic.

The B-type camp was replaced by the C-type camp, and the D-type camp was on standby.

After the 2,500-man B Battalion was replaced, the team was visibly smaller.

"Counting casualties..."

You Shilong said in a deep voice, if his face could be used to grind ink, then he would never have to worry about ink in his life.

"General Jie, is this dragon chief planning to wear us out?"

In the front line of the Dongchuan Army, less than 300 steps away from You Shilong, Wang Zhongren asked Gao Pian, and Gao Pian nodded and said:
"They have many times more troops than us, so they would naturally resort to this method."

"But I see that the morale of the barbarian army has dropped. After this battle, the morale of Chief Dragon's elite troops is completely gone. The only way is to withdraw!"

Gao Pian had long anticipated that You Shilong would adopt the tactic of using human waves to attrition, but he did not expect that Dali would have so many heavy armored and iron-clad soldiers.

But even so, he is confident that he can defeat Yu Shilong!
While thinking, he waved his hand and ordered in the battle formation: "The vanguard troops hold their ground and do not retreat. The rest of the soldiers shoot arrows upwards to prevent the barbarian army from taking over!"

Under his command, all the soldiers in the Dongchuan Army except the vanguard team replaced their bows and crossbows, and then quickly adjusted their targets, shooting arrows like rain at the follow-up troops of the barbarian army.

The arrows had limited damage to the armored soldiers, but they still served to disrupt the alternation between front and back.

Since the subsequent camps of soldiers were unable to connect, Dali's battle front was inevitably frustrated.

Fortunately, as time went on, subsequent soldiers continued to come forward to take over, and the army's position was finally stabilized.

"Bam—"

"kill!!"

"Sanlang, be careful!"

"Sida..."

The vanguards of both sides collided fiercely again, with spears interlaced and spear shafts colliding continuously.

The battle entered a white-hot stage. Soldiers fell every moment and their blood gradually dyed the soil red.

Under Gao Pian's command, the soldiers of the Dongchuan Army always maintained a tight formation and never retreated even when facing enemies that outnumbered them by several times.

Yu Shilong stood in the back, looking at the tragic battlefield in front of him, and his heart became more and more anxious.

He thought that he could easily defeat the Dongchuan Army with his military advantage, but he did not expect Gao Pian's command to be so sophisticated and the Dongchuan Army's soldiers to be so tenacious.

While he was thinking about how to defeat the enemy, Daofahan on the front line also dragged his good friend Xida off the front line while taking turns.

Xida was stabbed in the cheek by a soldier from Dongchuan in the vanguard team, and half of his face was covered in blood.

Daofahan carried him on his back and retreated to Niutouyuan. With the support of him and more than 50 members of his team, it took them half an hour to cover the six or seven miles.

Xida was sent to the wounded camp, while Daofahan was surrounded by screams.

He was in a trance and felt dizzy.

"Save me... Don't you just cut off my legs? Cut off my legs..."

A barbarian who fell in the vanguard and was rescued begged the witch doctor for help, but his calves had already been trampled in the vanguard and were twisted beyond recognition.

Before Dao Fa Han could react, he saw the witch doctor draw his knife and slit the soldier's throat.

The soldier covered his neck and could not make any sound. He could only fall to the ground in despair and was dragged into the pile of corpses.

"Why did you kill him?!"

Daofahan suffered a mental breakdown and rushed forward to grab the witch doctor by the collar.

"His legs are broken. Even if we cut off his legs, he might die from the rotting wound. It would be better for him to die now. It would be better..."

Dao Fahan's pupils dilated, he couldn't believe that these words came from the witch doctor's mouth.

He let go of the witch doctor's collar, staggered back a few steps, and fell to the ground.

The pile of corpses in the distance was particularly conspicuous. Thousands of bodies were piled in one place, and some people were digging pits nearby, trying to bury them on the spot.

Suddenly, Daofahan remembered something, quickly got up, and rushed into the wounded camp to look for Xida.

“Kill him…”

"No, he is at least a small leader among the barbarians, he can't..."

"What are you doing?!"

Dao Fahan broke into a tent somewhere and saw Xida, whose hand was half cut off, lying on the bed, already in a coma.

Before the wound on his palm was bandaged, these witch doctors had already started discussing Sidda's life or death.

"Get out of the way, I'll save him myself!"

Daofahan no longer trusts Dali's doctors. He wants to use his own methods to protect all the survivors in both his own team and Xida's team.

There are many people like him, and the reason is that the barbarian army has never encountered a war of such intensity.

In the past, whether they were sieging a city or fighting in the field, it basically took months, with no more than two to three thousand casualties a day, but they were able to cope with it with the help of the more than two hundred witch doctors in the army.

Now, they were fighting against the Dongchuan Army under Gao Pian. In less than an hour, four to five thousand men were killed and nearly ten thousand were injured.

Since the witch doctors couldn't save the patient, they naturally didn't want to leave the medicine for those who they thought were beyond saving.

Their actions aroused public anger, especially the Puzi Man, Wang Man, Luoxing Man and Baiyi Man. They were originally conquered by Dali, and they had gained very little benefit from Dali's continuous wars over the years, so they had long been dissatisfied.

Today, the practice of witch doctors emphasizing the Six Zhaos and neglecting the barbarians has undoubtedly angered the public.

The barbarians started a riot in the wounded soldiers' camp, and the news was quickly sent to the front line.

"Asshole..."

You Shilong's eyes were looking at the battle front, but his ears were listening to General Tang's report.

He didn't expect that with a big war ahead, a fire broke out in his backyard and his plan was disrupted by a group of witch doctors.

"Your Majesty, we can't continue fighting like this!"

Zhao Qihuai advised again: "Our army suffered tens of thousands of casualties, while the Tang army probably suffered only two or three thousand casualties."

"If we continue to fight, even if we win, we won't be able to recapture the cities like Dong'an that we have taken away."

"If we use up all the armored and heavy soldiers, it won't be easy to recover them... Your Majesty!"

You Shilong's face looked ugly. He knew that Zhao Qihuai was right, but he was unwilling to retreat.

If he cannot defeat Gao Pian today, his prestige will be greatly reduced and Dali's strength will also be severely damaged.

Seeing that the T-shaped camp of the Ironclad Army was showing signs of decline, You Shilong finally changed his expression and lowered his voice: "Sound the horn to retreat!"

"Your Majesty the Holy Spirit!!"

Zhao Qihuai quickly agreed, and then ordered the three armies to stabilize their positions and slowly withdraw their troops out of Niutou Gorge.

"Dang-dang-dang-dang..."

When the barbarian army's horn sounded, all the barbarian soldiers breathed a sigh of relief, and the vanguard retreated like a tide.

Gao Pian sat on his horse, staring at the retreating barbarian army.

When marching and fighting, the most difficult thing is not to form a battle array and fight the enemy with a grand formation, nor is it to make changes and assess the situation, but to withdraw troops.

If a general is not good at command and dispatch, it will be easy for him to turn a retreat into a defeat.

Therefore, the withdrawal of troops would undoubtedly test the generals' military strategies, and Gao Pian was also prepared to take advantage of the opportunity to expand the results of the battle when the barbarian army's position became loose.

However, something happened that disappointed him. The barbarian army on the battlefield did not retreat blindly, but formed a tight formation and withdrew slowly.

"Marshal Jie, should we give chase?"

Wang Zhongren bowed and asked, but Gao Pian glanced at him and said, "Organize the troops and count the casualties."

"Yes!" Wang Zhongren breathed a sigh of relief, and the Dongchuan army also stopped advancing because of Gao Pian's military order and withdrew to Dongxiakou.

Two hours later, in the camp filled with wailing, Gao Pian finally took the document from Wang Zhongren.

He frowned and opened it. After glancing through a few pages, he couldn't help but turn directly to the last page.

"In this battle, our army lost more than 1,407 men, 651 were injured or disabled, and 2,818 were slightly injured."

"After this battle, the only troops of our army that can fight east of the Lu River are 3,000 elite cavalry and 5,000 horse infantry."

Three cities were recaptured, and nearly five thousand soldiers were killed or injured.

Thinking of this, Gao Pian's brows did not relax, but he pondered for a moment and said: "Send a message to the states in Dongchuan, each state must recruit 800 soldiers, no mistakes!"

"Yes!" Wang Zhongren agreed, then looked at Gao Pian, seeming to want to say something but stopping himself.

After thinking it over again and again, Wang Zhongren calmed down, bowed and asked, "General, do we still want to continue fighting?"

"How much armor was captured on the battlefield?" Gao Pian did not answer Wang Zhongren's question, but asked back.

"3,327 sets. After retaking three counties, we captured about 6,500 sets of armor..."

Wang Zhongren had already thought of what his commander would do, and Gao Pian spoke as he expected:

"Send someone to write a victory report and tell the court that our army defeated Chief Long and his 100,000 barbarian troops at Niutou Gorge, captured more than 10,000 armored soldiers, and killed 30,000 barbarians!"

"In addition, send more storytellers to Dongchuan, Xichuan, Guanzhong, Henan, Huainan and other places to spread the news of this battle through storytelling, so that the world can know about my achievements."

"Yes..." Wang Zhongren didn't know why, but he seemed to be accustomed to the calculating image of his own commander-in-chief.

He did not argue too much, but just agreed honestly, and then sent someone to draft a victory report.

Soon, more than a hundred elite cavalrymen escorted the victory report northward, but the Dongchuan military camp outside the east entrance of Niutou Gorge was still filled with the wailing of wounded soldiers.

At the same time, You Shilong, who retreated to Xixiakou, also received a count of casualties after nightfall.

"In this battle, our army lost 6,324 men and suffered tens of thousands of injuries..."

"30% of the armored troops were killed or wounded, 20% of the heavy armored troops were killed or wounded, and more than 20% of the barbarian troops were killed or wounded."

"Our army lost about 3,000 armors, I'm afraid they were all captured by Gao Pian..."

Inside the tent of Xixiakou camp, You Shilong listened to Zhao Qihuai's report with a sullen face and said nothing.

In the Battle of Niutou Gorge, judging from casualties alone, Dali was undoubtedly the loser.

More than 6,000 people were killed in the battle, and tens of thousands were injured. Most of those killed were iron-clad and heavily-armored soldiers, who were the elite troops of Dali.

Although a lot of armor was retained, the money and food required to train a new batch of iron-clad and heavy-armored soldiers was enough to make You Shilong feel painful.

Looking at the candlelight on the table, his heart was filled with anger and unwillingness.

The disastrous defeat at Niutou Gorge not only caused him to lose a large number of elite troops, but also dealt a serious blow to his prestige.

The disunity among the barbarians made him feel unprecedented pressure.

"Your Majesty, the barbarian leaders have been waiting outside for a long time."

A general carefully lifted the curtain and bowed to Yu Shilong who was in the main seat to report.

"Please let them in!" You Shilong took a deep breath and suppressed the anger in his heart.

At this moment, he must remain calm and appease these barbarian leaders, otherwise once they withdraw their troops, the situation in Dali will become even more unfavorable.

Soon, the barbarian leaders including Nuxing, Puzi, Jinchi, Baiyi and others walked into the tent, but the look they showed towards Youshilong was no longer as respectful as before.

You Shilong couldn't help but squint his eyes, and his hatred for Gao Pian grew stronger.

"We have gathered everyone today to discuss the next battle."

You Shilong suppressed his unhappiness and tried to speak in a calm tone.

He described the barbarian leader's forcing the emperor to abdicate as him convening everyone to discuss the matter, which can be said to have given the barbarians a full sense of their attitude.

Hearing this, the leader of the Naked Barbarians spoke first, his voice full of dissatisfaction: "Your Majesty, many of our people were killed or injured in Niutou Gorge. The people of our tribe are in a panic, and many of them want to go home."

"If we continue to fight like this, I'm afraid we won't be able to serve your majesty."

Seeing the leader of the Naked Barbarians speak first, the leader of the Puzi Barbarians also echoed: "Your Majesty, our people are also people who bleed and cannot withstand such consumption."

"The war has been going on for three years, and our people have also been outside for three years. They all miss home..."

Seeing the two people forcing the emperor to abdicate, You Shilong's face changed slightly, and he was furious, but he knew that he couldn't lose his temper at this moment.

He suppressed the anger in his heart and said slowly: "My dear leaders, I understand your difficulties."

"The battle at Niutou Gorge was indeed my mistake."

"Gao Pian is a cunning man. This is why I lost a move. This kind of thing will never happen again in the future."

He took a deep breath and said in a deep voice: "My fellow leaders, I can assure you that the next battle will never be as tragic as the battle at Niutou Gorge."

"I will think about it carefully. When we attack Tang in the future, I will definitely try to reduce casualties as much as possible."

"In addition, I will allocate money and food from the national treasury to compensate you for your losses."

Upon hearing this, the barbarian leaders exchanged glances with each other, obviously not fully trusting You Shilong's promise.

But they had no better choice at the moment, so they temporarily suppressed their dissatisfaction and nodded in agreement reluctantly.

Seeing this, You Shilong felt a little relieved, but the vicious look in his eyes became more intense.

He knew that these barbarian leaders were only temporarily stabilized by him. If there were any mistakes in the next battle, they would most likely withdraw without hesitation.

Thinking of this, You Shilong generously rewarded these leaders and then organized a banquet.

After three rounds of drinking, the leaders gradually calmed down.

After they left, Zhao Qihuai looked at You Shilong, saluted and asked: "Your Majesty, do we still want to continue attacking Rongzhou?"

"No need..." You Shilong denied with a dark face, and then ordered:
"Send people to Chief Yang Qing's troops. If they haven't taken Xunzhou yet, tell them to immediately withdraw to Pinzhou, Jingchuan, and Fenxie to garrison there."

"Tomorrow our army will withdraw to Zhuti City. You will lead 10,000 heavily armored soldiers to station here to guard against Gao Pian's surprise attack."

"I obey your order!" Zhao Qihuai responded quickly, and then said worriedly:

"Your Majesty, Gao Pian is the governor of Dongchuan after all, and Dongchuan has over a million people. If Gao Pian continues to recruit soldiers, we may not be his opponent in the future."

"Gao Pian..." You Shilong gritted his teeth and recited this name in his heart, with a hint of murderous intent flashing in his eyes:
"Today's revenge will be paid in the future!"

(End of this chapter)