Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 124: Sudden Stop
March 9th was the fourth day that Zhang Yu became the temporary commander-in-chief and the second day that the Huns attacked.

Because the Xiongnu soldiers' plan to drive the Han soldiers to break the formation failed yesterday, Xubu Chanyu adopted the suggestion of Shi Zhou Zhuye, the leader of the Shanhu tribe, and selected Xiongnu soldiers who were good at infantry to attack the relatively flat left wing of the Han army, destroy the wooden fence, and thus break through the Han army's defense line.

Qu Bei changed his contempt of the past few days. He knew very well that if the Xiongnu could not break through Huangluling early, the Han army guarding the dangerous area would receive reinforcements from various forces in Bingzhou one after another. By then, the Xiongnu would inevitably return in defeat as they had many people but were not well-trained.

In order to defeat the enemy in one fell swoop, Qubei did not hesitate to sacrifice his identity as the Right Wise King and ordered all troops to attack the left wing camp of the Han army today.

On that day, the weather was gloomy and the sun was blocked by dark clouds, so the sunlight appeared and disappeared from time to time.

Because they planned to break into the stronghold in one go, the appearance of the Huns' soldiers today was different from that of yesterday. The Huns' infantry phalanx, composed of Shanhu, Jiehu, and Xiutuhu, were wearing armor, holding bows and crossbows, holding shields in front, and carrying soil in the back. They were nothing like the miscellaneous Huns soldiers of yesterday.

They still used the same method, letting the captured Han soldiers hold wooden shields and walk in front, acting as human shields for the army.

The Han army followed the battle process of yesterday, with two rows of bows and three rows of crossbows, and they kept changing people and shooting in turns in an attempt to suppress the Xiongnu soldiers.

However, in order to break the formation, the Xiongnu did not care about the lives of the captured Han soldiers and drove them forward. If anyone fled, they would be killed immediately. Even if the Xiongnu retreated, the supervisory team sent by Qubei would chop off their heads to warn all those who tried to retreat.

The captured Han soldiers had no choice but to be driven forward even if there were arrows flying in front of them like locusts. If the captured Han soldiers died in battle, the leading Xiongnu soldiers would advance with shields, using their strong armor and thick shields to withstand the rain of arrows from the Han army.

For a while, the Han army fired arrows without stopping, and the Xiongnu soldiers continued to advance. Hundreds of captured Han soldiers and Xiongnu soldiers died on the road, and their bodies were scattered all over the mountains, even piled up in layers, and their blood dyed the soil red.

The Hun soldiers had no mercy. No matter whether the fallen soldiers were Han soldiers or their colleagues, they stepped on the corpses to advance, and it was impossible to stop their advance.

Zhang Yu led his team to retreat to Huangluling on the afternoon of the 5th. They had only two or three days to repair the fortifications. Apart from building wooden fences and digging shallow pits, they could not set up any other fortifications.

And because of the fear that the Hu people would turn to attack the right wing, there were no extra archers to rush to the left wing to assist in defense. Only the infantry led by Wang Ze came to form a battle line under the dispatch of Zhang Yu to prevent the Huns from breaking through the wooden fence and entering.

Soon, after suffering heavy casualties, the Huns' vanguard of iron-armored Shanhu soldiers reached the wooden fence.

According to the previous rehearsal, the Han army slightly changed its formation. Hao Zhao led the archers to retreat to the high point, while Wang Ze deployed the infantry to take over the wooden fence and chevaux de frise.

"kill!"

Seeing that the Shanhu soldiers were about to destroy the wooden fence and chevaux de frise, the Han soldiers rushed forward with spears. Due to the terrain, the Han soldiers had to stab downwards, while the Xiongnu soldiers had to raise their spears and poke upwards. Across the obstacles, the two armies engaged in close hand-to-hand combat.

The spikes of the barricades pointed outwards, which seriously affected the Xiongnu soldiers' fighting. The Han soldiers retreated to avoid being pierced by the Shanhu soldiers. Then, when the Shanhu soldiers were unable to move forward due to the barricades, they took a step forward with their spears and stabbed their opponents directly.

Although the Shanhu soldiers were at a disadvantage, they lived on the plateau and were accustomed to running in the mountains. Relying on their own bravery, they fought back and forth with the Han army.

Having learned from yesterday's failure in breaking the enemy's formation, Qubei placed many Xiongnu soldiers who were good at archery in the ranks, and took advantage of the battle between the Han and Hu armies to look for opportunities to shoot and kill the Han soldiers.

"what!"

A Han soldier had just repelled the Shanhu soldiers when he was hit in the chest by an arrow. It was obviously the work of a Xiongnu archer.

Taking advantage of the death of the Han soldiers, the sturdy Hu soldiers stepped forward, wielding the axes seized from the Han army and chopped hard a few times. With wood chips flying, the simple chevaux de frise was destroyed, and then they rushed in.

Seeing the Hu people breaking through the defense line, the Han soldiers stabbed with short spears, but the Shanhu people dodged them.

"Pfft!"

After the Shanhu dodged, he took advantage of his close combat and chopped off the Han soldier's arm with one axe. While the Han soldier was wailing, he killed him with another axe.

When Shanhu was about to kill, a long knife came across. Shanhu took a step back and found that the short and ugly Meng Ningzhi was standing there with a knife in his hand, his eyes full of murderous light.

The Shanhu soldier grinned fiercely, rushed forward with an axe in hand, and swung the axe with great force, chopping towards Meng Ningzhi's head.

"Den!"

Meng Ningzhi drew his knife and blocked the axe diagonally, changing its direction. At the same time, he stepped sideways, holding the knife in his hand, and cut forward quickly.

"Pfft!"

The Shanhu soldier suddenly felt pain in his abdomen, and his body swayed. He looked down and saw that it was Meng Ningzhi's knife that cut across his abdomen, and blood was oozing out from his armor. If it weren't for the Han army's armor, his stomach would have been torn apart.

Seeing that one sword strike was not enough to kill, Meng Ningzhi quickly changed his moves. Taking advantage of the Shanhu soldier's slowness, he raised the blade with lightning speed and directly broke the Shanhu soldier's throat, causing bright red blood to spurt out.

Although Meng Ningzhi is short, his strength and reaction are far beyond that of ordinary people. In the past, he could not bring out his advantages in cavalry battles, but now climbing mountains and fighting on foot should be his forte.

The appearance of Meng Ningzhi here meant that Zhang Yu was worried that the left wing would be in trouble, so he sent Meng Ningzhi and two hundred warriors to provide support.

Now with the addition of Meng Ningzhi and the warriors he led, the advantage that the Xiongnu soldiers had finally gained was once again suppressed by the Han soldiers.

Moreover, the archers led by Hao Zhao had spread out nearby, and continued to shoot the Shanhu soldiers who were fighting with the Han soldiers with their superiority. With the help of long-range strikes, the Shanhu soldiers suffered more and more losses, and gradually they could not bear the casualties. But Qu Bei was unwilling to give up, and sent Jiehu soldiers into the battlefield, determined to break through the left wing.

The battle on the left wing is becoming more brutal and bloody!
"If the Xiongnu draw another force and march forward, should we send the armored cavalry to dismount and support the left wing?" Guo Yu asked.

"Not urgent!"

Zhang Yu put his hands on his belt and said with confidence, "The archers have arrows and the infantry are firmly guarding the wooden fence. Our army has the advantage of terrain. Although the enemy has many soldiers and horses, it will be difficult for them to attack. Don't worry, Lord Guo!"

We have just sent out Meng Ningzhi and two hundred warriors. Meng Ningzhi's bravery is enough to lead the Han army's infantry. If we follow the Xiongnu's orders, won't we be led by the nose?
Besides, the five hundred armored cavalrymen are Zhang Yu's trump card. How can they be easily sent out unless it is a critical moment or a time to use troops?

Hearing this, Guo Wei glanced at Zhang Yu, and sighed in his heart that although Zhang Yu was young, he was extremely delicate in using troops, or extremely calm. He really did not recommend the wrong person.

Guo Yu couldn't help feeling melancholy. When Zhang Yu was still a young man, he recommended him to study under Wang Hong. Many years have passed, and Zhang Yu is not only a senior official with the same salary as him, but now he has to cooperate with Zhang Yu in commanding troops.

After holding on to today, Feng Bo dispatched Taiyuan's manpower and supplies, and Zhang Yu would most likely be able to turn the tide and repel the Xiongnu soldiers. After this battle, Zhang Yu might be promoted to a higher position than him, and it would be funny then, the master would become a subordinate.

But Guo Yu felt a little relieved. If Zhang Yu could repel the Huns today, he would have the merit of raising a general and repelling the enemy, and he would most likely be promoted to a higher title and be appointed as an official in a large county.

The battle on the left wing was extremely fierce. No matter how the Hun soldiers charged, the Han soldiers held on to the wooden fence tightly. Even when the chevaux de frise was destroyed, the Han soldiers tried their best to control the battle line.

While the two armies were fighting, they heard thunder in the sky. The deafening sound not only frightened everyone on the battlefield, but also affected the soldiers who were fighting, slowing down and then rejoining the battle.

Zhang Yu looked up in the direction of the sound, only to see that the sky was covered with dark clouds and raindrops were hitting his nose.

"Heavy rain!"

Zhang Yu was surprised and delighted, and said it loudly.

Guo Yu wiped the bean-sized raindrops from his face, frowned and said: "It is raining heavily today. Our army's arrows are difficult to use. It will be disadvantageous to our army!"

"No!"

Zhang Yu smiled and said, "Although our arrows are difficult to use, the Xiongnu are climbing mountains in armor. It is raining heavily today, and the mountains are muddy due to the rain. It will be difficult for the enemy to climb the mountains."

Zhang Yu pointed to the river valley and said, "The river valley is low-lying, with water flowing in from all directions. There are tens of thousands of Xiongnu soldiers and horses, and they have camped for miles. How can they stay here for long? If my prediction is correct, the Xiongnu will withdraw soon!"

"The Huns are withdrawing?"

Guo Yu and everyone around him were all delighted. According to their previous pessimistic estimates, everyone thought that the battle would last for several days. However, the battle only lasted until the second day and there was a turning point due to the heavy rain.

Wang Rou glanced at Zhang Yu, his expression showing jealousy. He thought it was a mess, so he didn't take over the position of commander-in-chief. If he knew it would rain today, he would have taken over long ago. After all, with more than 6,000 soldiers, what difficulty would it be to hold on for two days?
Zhang Yu didn't care about Wang Rou's idea. For him, the coming of heavy rain had both advantages and disadvantages. The advantage was that the Huns withdrew, and his mission of leading the defeated army to repel the enemy was completed; the disadvantage was that the Huns withdrew, and his plan to take the opportunity to kill a large number of Huns failed.

The heavy rain fell like a curtain of rain. Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, his hand already on the hilt of the sword. He was not satisfied with the achievement of repelling the enemy!

"uncle!"

Zhang Yu had an idea. He waved at Zhang Yang and whispered into his ear.

Zhang Yang walked quickly forward, listened attentively to Zhang Yu's instructions, and then walked quickly in the heavy rain.

"General, it's raining heavily now, so we should take shelter from the rain for a while!" Li Jin said.

Zhang Yu's expression darkened. He pointed at the battle situation on the left wing and said, "The soldiers are fighting in the rain. As the commander, how can I be afraid of the rain and avoid it?"

"If the Xiongnu troops don't withdraw, I will personally take charge here!"

After these words were spoken, everyone fell silent and followed Zhang Yu into the rain, not daring to avoid it and run into the tent.

It was raining heavily, the water lines were stacked up, the rain flowed freely, and small ponds formed in the low-lying areas.

On the left wing, soldiers from both armies were soaked, their blood mixed with the rain and washed down the ridge. As the terrain became increasingly muddy, the Xiongnu soldiers who climbed the ridge had difficulty standing, and some even nearly fell.

At the foot of the mountain, Qu Bei saw that the infantry had slowed down their offensive due to the heavy rain. He looked at the sky where the rain was getting heavier and heavier and let out a long sigh.

"Order a withdrawal!" Qu Bei said helplessly.

"promise!"

(End of this chapter)