Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 54: Ten Steps Close Shot
After Yuan Mi broke out, under the military order of Zhao Qian, the Han army, after losing some soldiers and horses, formed its battle array on a small hill.

The Han soldiers formed a thick small circle around the small hill, with spears outside and bows and crossbows inside, like a hedgehog, to resist the encirclement and attack of the Yellow Turban bandits.

In addition to the Han troops on the hill, many Han troops were defeated due to the change of formation and fled in a panic, fearing that they would be caught up.

However, the Yellow Turban Army had little interest in hunting down the defeated Han soldiers. Under the command of Peng Tuo, they had already gathered and besieged the Han army in a circular formation on a small hill.

"Whoosh!"

Arrows flew across the sky and fell into the Yellow Turban Army. The soldiers of the Yellow Turban Army held up shields of different sizes and charged forward in the rain of arrows. After suffering casualties, the Yellow Turban Army rushed to the front of the army, and the spearmen of both sides fought again.

However, due to the Han army's tight circular formation and the continuous attacks from bows and crossbows, the Yellow Turban Army could not withstand the casualties and soon retreated again. They retreated about two hundred steps before they were stopped by the Yellow Turban officers and regrouped.

Seeing this, Peng Tuo frowned. He didn't expect that Zhao Qian was willing to make such a bold move and give up some of his elite troops and retreat to the small hill to resist.

"General, there is an urgent matter to report!"

The cavalryman came running and said, "We led our troops to chase and kill four Han cavalrymen for several miles. We shot and killed three of them, and only the leader escaped. When we wanted to pursue them, we unexpectedly encountered Han cavalrymen on the way. The Han cavalrymen are brave and good at shooting, and we are incompetent..."

Hearing this, Peng Tuo's face darkened slightly. He didn't expect the Han army to march so fast. The cavalry appeared ten miles away, and the main force must be between twenty and thirty miles away. If he couldn't defeat Zhao Qian quickly, when the reinforcements arrived, he would be unable to stop them with the state of his troops!
"Somebody come!"

Peng Tuo gritted his teeth and said, "Shorten the spears, order the soldiers to advance towards the arrows, throw the short spears at the Han army, and order the strong men to lead the charge, and see if we can defeat the Han soldiers as soon as possible."

"promise!"

In order to break through the tight military formation, in addition to direct charge, short spears can be thrown. Short spears have a short range and great power, and can play a role against fixed targets.

With Peng Tuo's words, the Yellow Turban soldiers collected the wooden spears in the hands of the old and weak, quickly shortened them into more than 200 spears, and handed them over to the front-row soldiers for use.

Under the command of the Yellow Turban officers, the soldiers raised their shields and spears, braved the arrows, and launched another charge. However, the Han soldiers fired with bows and crossbows, making it difficult for the Yellow Turban soldiers to show their heads.

"cast!"

When they were about 20 steps away, dozens of leading Yellow Turban soldiers raised their short spears and threw them forward fiercely. Due to lack of training, the short spears were less accurate, but the Han army's formation was tight, so the short spears still caused a lot of damage.

"call!"

The short spears, with a sharp sound of wind, were thrown fiercely towards the densely packed army formation. The sudden attack at such a close distance caught the Han soldiers off guard, and the shields in their hands were shattered by the fierce throwing of the short spears.

What's worse, some were pierced through the body by short spears, blood gushed out, and their internal organs were broken, it was a horrible sight.

After two rounds of throwing, chaos broke out in part of the Han army's line!
"kill!"

After the short spears were thrown, the "blessed" Yellow Turban warriors suddenly exerted their strength, rushed out of the formation, and led the Yellow Turban soldiers to charge. The distance of dozens of steps, the fastest was a few seconds, the slowest was more than ten seconds, the footsteps were like thunder, and the shouts of killing shook the sky.

"Oh!"

"puff!"

First there was a collision, then there was the sound of spears or swords breaking through bodies. With Peng Tuo's trick, the Yellow Turban Army and the Han Army engaged in a fight, and the battle line continued to twist. The Yellow Turban Army tried to break through the battle line, while the Han Army kept withdrawing troops to prevent the circular formation from being broken.

If we look down from the sky today, the Han army retreating to the small hill is like a weak lion, surrounded on three sides, and the Yellow Turban soldiers are like a pack of hyenas, biting the lion madly.

At the same time, on the low hill to the side of the battlefield, a cavalry suddenly appeared, with a flaming red flag fluttering in the wind, and the cavalry was neat and solemn. If you look closely, you can clearly feel that this is a cavalry with a strong frontier style.

The cavalrymen wore fur hats in Qiang and Hu style, and wore different lengths and styles of fighting clothes on the outside in addition to the standard cavalry uniforms of the Han army. They rode medium-sized war horses. As for their weapons, they were equipped with saddle bags, waist swords, hook spears, and horse bows.

As the cavalry appeared on the hillside all over the mountains, the leading rider raised his arm slightly, and the following riders, seeing this signal, slowly reined in their horses.

The lead rider was none other than Zhang Yu, who came rushing to the rescue.

But Zhang Yu was seen standing under the flag, his helmet had double pheasant tails, the iron armor on his body was solid and exquisite, and he had a white sleeveless slit cape on his shoulders. His hands were through the cape, one hand firmly grasped the whip, and the other hand firmly held the reins.

Shi Yi lowered his head slightly and asked, "Young Master, shall we launch the attack today?"

Zhang Yu narrowed his eyes slightly, looked at the battle situation on the small hill, and said: "The Han army still has strength, there is no need to rush to use troops."

"Shi Yi led his men to raise the flag high to boost the morale of the besieged soldiers."

"promise!"

Shi Yi took a few people with him and led the riders holding flags and galloped away.

Soon after Shi Yi left, Secretary Yuan came forward quickly and asked, "Mr. Zhang, now that we are here, why don't you send troops to rescue us as soon as possible?"

Zhang Yu raised his whip, pointed at the Han army flag on the hill, and said, "The flags are not in disarray, and the enemy has not broken through the formation. Let's not rush to send troops!"

"The troops in Runan are in trouble, and I have led the cavalry here to wait and see whether the outcome will be a success or a failure. May I ask what your intention is?" Yuan Mi asked angrily.

As soon as these words were spoken, all the riders around Zhang Yu glared at Yuan Mi angrily.

Yuan Mi realized that his words were inappropriate, so he softened his tone and pleaded, "There may be something wrong with the letter from the governor Zhao, but I hope you will put the overall situation first and send troops to relieve the siege of Runan."

Zhang Yu looked calm and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Yuan. I have my own considerations."

After saying that, Zhang Yu waved his hand, signaling Secretary Yuan to leave.

Although Secretary Yuan was not happy, he had to retreat because the situation was stronger than him.

When Zhang Yu led his troops to the battlefield, the battle on the hill had already reached a fever pitch, with corpses scattered all over the hill, including bandits wearing yellow scarves and Han soldiers, who were either shot by arrows or stabbed by swords or spears.

"kill!"

Fan Yi held the spear and thrust it forward on horseback. With a flash of cold light, the Yellow Turban warrior was unable to dodge and was pierced through the chest by the spear.

The Yellow Turban warrior suddenly felt pain in his chest and struggled for a few times. Then his body fell down suddenly as the spear was pulled out.

"Tell the Lord quickly, I'm afraid he can't hold on any longer, tell him to leave!" Fan Yi shouted.

Due to the fierceness of the battle, Fan Yi, who was the commander of Zhao Qian's army, had already led his troops forward and was engaged in a fight with the Yellow Turban soldiers.

Under the military flag, Zhao Qian looked stubborn, and his attendants tried to persuade him.

"My lord, our army has been fighting hard until now, and the soldiers have suffered casualties and are exhausted. We are no match for the moth bandits. It is better for us to break out from the south to keep our bodies useful." Feng Guan pulled Zhao Qian's arm and advised.

Zhao Qian gripped the hilt of his sword tightly and said sternly, "Our army is exhausted, and so are the Moth Bandits. If we hold on now, we still have hope of winning. If we leave now, our army will surely be defeated."

Feng Guan sighed helplessly and said, "Master, without reinforcements coming to our aid, how can we hope to win!"

Zhao Qian remained calm and said in a deep voice: "If there is no reinforcement, I will go with you..."

"coming!"

"Reinforcements are coming!"

Zhao Qian seemed to see something, and instead grabbed Feng Guan's arm and said excitedly: "Yongning has brought back reinforcements!"

Feng Guan looked in the direction of the sound and saw several Han army flags flying in the distance. His spirits were immediately boosted and he murmured, "The reinforcements have really arrived!"

"Clang!"

Zhao Qian drew his sword and shouted enthusiastically, "Announce to the whole army, reinforcements have arrived, and now is the time to defeat the enemy. After victory, everyone will have land, money and food!"

"Quick, you and a few others will lead the others to join the battle. You must hold on!"

"promise!"

Inspired by the reinforcements, the Han army on the hillock exerted their last bit of strength and fought desperately against the attack of the Yellow Turbans. However, the Yellow Turbans who were fighting in the front were unable to take the hillock after a long siege, and the soldiers became riotous and almost retreated from the hillock.

Zhang Yu's aid was an encouragement to the Han army, but it was undoubtedly bad news for the Yellow Turban officers led by Peng Tuo.

"General, the Han army is coming to help. What should we do now?"

Deputy General He Man's expression was filled with anxiety. They couldn't capture the small hill, and reinforcements from the outer Han army arrived.

Peng Tuo frowned deeply, his face full of unwillingness and regret.

"General, why don't we retreat?" He Man suggested.

"If we retreat now, all our previous efforts will be wasted!" Peng Tuo said unwillingly.

"But if we don't retreat, the whole army may be wiped out here!" He Man said, "If we leave now, we can still retain our vitality."

"Withdraw~"

Peng Tuo hesitated for a long time, gritted his teeth and said: "Order the troops to withdraw!"

Shortly after the Yellow Turban Army and the Han Army responded, Zhang Yu quickly received a report from Shi Yi.

"Young Master, the Yellow Turban soldiers are showing signs of withdrawing!" Shi Yi said.

Hearing this, Zhang Yu's mouth curled up slightly. This was the moment he had been waiting for!
Holding his bow high, Zhang Yu shouted to the hundred riders: "Let them see the might of our Yandai men!"

"Wan Sheng!"

Regardless of whether they were Han or Hu, they all raised their horse bows and responded loudly.

"Attack!"

"Woo~"

The horn symbolizing the attack sounded, the triangular red flag fluttered forward, and the hundred cavalrymen marched in two rows of fifty each, starting slowly and then speeding up, urging their horses to slowly speed up.

"嘘嘚~"

Soon, the cavalry led by Zhang Yu moved as fast as lightning, swiftly passing through the weeds on the field, like a scimitar cutting through the earth, slashing at the Yellow Turban troops whose formation was in disarray.

Zhang Yu ran against the wind, shouting at the top of his voice, "Shoot from ten steps away!"

After saying this, regardless of whether his attendants could hear him or not, Zhang Yu urged his horse forward and headed straight for the Yellow Turban army.

In order to take the lead in close shooting, Zhang Yu did not draw his bow even when he reached the shooting range. Instead, he galloped until he was twenty steps away. When he could see the faces of the Yellow Turban soldiers with the naked eye, he drew his bow and shot.

"Whoosh!"

As the loose cavalry whizzed past the army formation, arrows shot out from the cavalry bows, and the sound of the arrows was sharp and thrilling.

The next moment, the arrow shot by Zhang Yu hit the eye of a panicked Yellow Turban soldier.

"what!"

His eyes popped out of his head, and he screamed in agony. He fell to the ground, rolling around until he died in agony.

Not only Zhang Yu, but the dozens of arrows shot by his cavalry all adopted the tactic of close-range shooting. At such a close distance, dozens of arrows exerted their maximum lethality.

With just one round of cavalry passing through the formation, dozens of Yellow Turban soldiers were killed or wounded. Many were shot in the face by arrows, while those who were stronger had their shields shot through, and even the palms of their hands holding up the shields.

This also caused panic outside the Yellow Turban Army. Many soldiers were afraid of being hit by arrows and dodged backwards.

The method of shooting in the face from ten steps is so terrifying!
(End of this chapter)