Late Han Zhao Tang

Chapter 55 Success
The method of shooting in the face from ten steps was Zhang Yu's deliberate attempt to cultivate the habit of horse riding and shooting among his subordinates.

Zhang Yu came from the northeast in his previous life and had learned about horseback archery. In order to maximize the damage of arrows, excellent cavalrymen would use close-range horseback archery.

For example, Mongolian cavalry were good at riding and shooting. They often rode their horses several steps away and shot with bows.

In addition to the Mongolian cavalry, including the Japanese Yabusame, the Eight Banners of the Qing Dynasty, and the Ming Army's Border Cavalry, all are good at close-range explosive shooting.

After all, the close distance of a few to ten steps is outside the killing range of cold weapons, but within the killing range of arrows. And looking at the archery habits, of course, the closer the distance, the higher the accuracy of horseback shooting.

Since Zhang Yu had ambitions for the world, he naturally adopted the advanced horse-riding and archery tactics of later generations to arm his troops. How could he be like the barbarians who met the enemy and rushed forward to shoot in a disorderly manner, and then saw that there was not much result in the battle.

"Whoosh!"

The hundreds of cavalrymen on Zhang Yu's left and right sides kept drawing their bows and arrows, using their horses' speed to shoot deadly arrows at the Yellow Turban soldiers. In order to avoid becoming a sitting duck, the cavalry kept switching formations and maintaining flexibility.

As a sharpshooter among the Xianbei people, Shi Yi led his troops to break away from the troops led by Zhang Yu, turned around and rode back towards the army formation that he had passed by before, and launched another round of archery on horseback. The arrows slanted down and shot down one Yellow Turban soldier after another.

At the same time, Peng Tuo's order to retreat was issued. The withdrawal of his military flag shook all the Yellow Turban soldiers present and caused all the Yellow Turban soldiers involved in the battle to retreat in panic.

The flank of the army, which had been the focus of Zhang Yu's troops, had been shot with fear by the archers of Li Song and Tuli. Seeing their commander's banner wavering, they completely lost their confidence in the battle and either fled in battle or knelt down to surrender.

The defeated Yellow Turban Army did not arouse Zhang Yu's interest. His hawk-like eyes were searching for the most valuable target among the chaotic army.

"Bodao!"

Seeing this, Zhang Yu replaced his bow with a spear and shouted, "Follow me and see if we can find Peng Tuo!"

"promise!"

In order to defeat the Yellow Turban soldiers, Zhang Yu led the charge, and Hao Zhao, who was good at breaking through the enemy lines, and his subordinates followed closely behind Zhang Yu. In order to protect Zhang Yu, Hao Zhao even took the lead and led the charge.

Today, Hao Zhao has experienced fighting on the battlefield and his martial arts have improved a lot compared to last year.

Hao Zhao wielded his long spear and killed two Yellow Turban soldiers in succession. With his extraordinary arm strength, he was even able to lift up the Yellow Turban soldiers and then throw them to the ground. Wherever he killed them, the Yellow Turban soldiers would retreat.

"How is the young master?"

Hao Zhao turned to Zhang Yu and said proudly, "How is it compared to last year's defeat of the cadres?"

Zhang Yu laughed loudly and said, "If you had the martial arts skills you have now, I would not be the only one who would follow me to kill the enemy chieftain!"

"How about I follow you today and defeat the enemy?"

With these bold words, Zhang Yu has confirmed that Hao Zhao is no longer the young boy he was sold at the beginning.

"it is good!"

Zhang Yu held up his spear and urged his horse forward, saying with a smile, "I am going with Bo Dao!"

Under the galloping charge of hundreds of cavalrymen, the Yellow Turban Army fled into the distance like driven cattle and sheep.

The number of a hundred cavalrymen is not large, but if the organized infantry of a hundred or so can remain motionless, rely on spear formations, and prepare bows and crossbows to actively deal with cavalry archery, it will be difficult for the cavalry to do anything to the infantry.

But if the infantry becomes uneasy and retreats, the momentum of a hundred cavalry charging will be extremely terrifying and soul-crushing.

The cavalry swept the Yellow Turban soldiers eastward, and the Han army on the small hill took the opportunity to launch a charge. Under the charge, large groups of Yellow Turban soldiers fled to the northeast.

Zhang Yu led Hao Zhao's troops to charge into the chaotic army in search of Peng Tuo. They sometimes went out into battle and sometimes broke into the enemy lines. Each charge took many lives.

Because the Yellow Turban Army was defeated, the remaining three tribes did not charge into battle, but instead acted as rangers, using horse bows to hunt and kill, trying to force as many Yellow Turban soldiers as possible to surrender, to prevent the remnants from escaping and causing chaos in the countryside.

As Zhang Yu was maneuvering and charging, a group of Han army infantry suddenly rushed out from the northeast direction where the Yellow Turban Army was fleeing, intercepted and killed the fleeing Yellow Turban Army on the spot.

Although Zhang Yu could not see the Han army, he had already determined from the flags and drums that they were infantry from Yingchuan County. Apparently, Yin Xiu, following his advice, abandoned his baggage and rushed to the battlefield with all his strength.

If we look down from the sky, the Yellow Turban Army was attacked from three sides. Zhang Yu led the cavalry to charge from the west, the Runan Han Army attacked from the south, and the Yingchuan Han Army intercepted from the northeast. Under the siege from three sides, the Yellow Turban Army's space for movement was gradually squeezed, so that a large number of Yellow Turbans surrendered.

At this point in the battle, Peng Tuo's hope of leading his troops to retreat and save his troops was completely dashed. Even surrounded by the Han army on three sides, if Peng Tuo was not decisive, he would probably be defeated on the battlefield.

Under such circumstances, Peng Tuo acted decisively. Regardless of his subordinate infantry, he led several cavalrymen to rush out of the crowd and prepare to hide in the mountains and forests in the hope of making a comeback in the future.

When Peng Tuo left the main group, his figure was immediately discovered by Zhang Yu, who had been looking for him for a long time.

"Thief general!"

Zhang Yu led a dozen or so riders to chase after Peng Tuo, preparing to kill him.

Soon, Zhang Yu's troops approached Peng Tuo. Peng Tuo saw that there were many cavalrymen coming, and it was Zhang Yu who led the team, so he dared not fight with them, and immediately turned around and prepared to escape from another direction.

"Kill!" Seeing Peng Tuo leading a few cavalrymen to escape on the battlefield, the surrounding Han army infantry knew that Peng Tuo was of noble status, and they all surrounded and killed Peng Tuo's troops, not caring about the ordinary Yellow Turban soldiers who were fleeing.

The Han soldiers raised their spears and surrounded the direction in which Peng Tuo fled, while Zhang Yu and a group of cavalry were chasing after Peng Tuo, and they were constantly shortening the encirclement.

Peng Tuo looked around and saw that there was still a gap, so he led his cavalry to charge towards the gap.

Five or six spears stabbed over immediately. Peng Tuo's cavalrymen were fearless and swept with their spears and blocked with their bodies, trying their best to protect their commander.

Under the protection of his cavalry, Peng Tuo rushed out of the infantry's spears. Looking at the vast and deserted forest, Peng Tuo didn't care about the fallen cavalry, and ran madly towards the forest.

"Whoosh!"

However, at this moment, a heavy arrow flew through the crowd and accurately hit Peng Tuo's shoulder. Although the iron armor blocked it, the strong impact force was not eliminated, and Peng Tuo was directly knocked off his horse.

"kill!"

Seeing Peng Tuo fall to the ground, the surrounding Han army infantry rushed towards Peng Tuo frantically in order to win credit.

Peng Tuo became drowsy, his eyes filled with fear. Before he could react, a long arrow shot from the hillside and hit his calf. He staggered and knelt on the ground.

When he raised his head, several spears pierced through the air and pierced his body fiercely, and blood flowed down.

"puff!"

The long sword came across and chopped off Peng Tuo's head. As the head fell to the ground, more than a dozen soldiers scrambled frantically for Peng Tuo's head.

On the hillside in the distance, Zhang Yu put away his bow and stopped his horse. He looked at the head that was being robbed by everyone and let out a breath.

Now that Peng Tuo is dead, the Yellow Turbans in Runan should be able to stay quiet for a long time!
-
The autumn wind was biting, the military flags were fluttering, and the Han soldiers from the two counties met up and set up camp.

The battle had already ended. Five or six thousand Yellow Turbans first fought a desperate battle with three thousand Runan County soldiers, then were charged by cavalry led by Zhang Yu and then entangled by seven hundred Yingchuan elite soldiers who arrived. After three rounds of fighting, the Han army was defeated first and then won, while the Yellow Turbans first won and then lost.

The Han army suffered more than a thousand casualties, most of whom were contributed by Runan troops. Only one cavalryman was killed in the battle, and five or six were injured.

Thousands of Yellow Turban soldiers died in the battle, more than 3,000 surrendered, and the rest disappeared in the vast forests. Their leader Peng Tuo died in the battle, and Liu Pi, He Man and other generals saw that the situation was not good, so they left the battle early and led a few cavalrymen into the mountains.

In front of Zhang Yu and Yin Xiu, Zhao Qian no longer had the arrogance he had when he wrote the letter. He now felt ashamed and grateful. After all, if Zhang Yu and Yin Xiu had not come to rescue him, his political career and the lives of so many of his subordinates would have been ruined in Huapi.

"Mr. Yin and Mr. Zhang, thank you both for your help today!" Zhao Qian tilted his head and bowed to the two of them, saying.

In order to vent the resentment in Yin Xiu's heart, he accepted it with ease.

"We are all concerned about the Han Dynasty, so why should I thank you?"

"If Lord Zhao had not climbed the hill and defended it, it would have been difficult to defeat Peng Tuo today."

In order to leave a good impression on Zhao Qian, Zhang Yu did not dare to learn Yin cultivation. Instead, he stepped forward to support Zhao Qian and said.

Zhao Qian was born into an extraordinary family. He was from the Zhao family of Shu County. His grandfather was the Grand Commandant Zhao Jie, and his uncle was the Imperial Guard Zhao Dian. During the reign of Emperor Huan of the Han Dynasty, Zhao Qian was appointed as the Left Fengyi, and his official rank was 2,000 stones. Even Wang Yun had to greet him politely when he saw him.

Yin Xiu relaxed slightly and said, "We won today, so there is no need to mention his affairs."

"it is good!"

Zhao Qian was in a good mood and said, "The reason why we were able to win today is because of the help of Lord Yin and Zhang Congshi. I would like to share the credit with the two of them."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhao!"

Yin Xiu's expression relaxed. Even though Zhao Qian's troops were about to be defeated, Zhao Qian was the one who had beheaded the most soldiers. After all, he had fought against the Yellow Turbans for so long.

Now he is willing to share the credit, which is Zhao Qian's initiative to show goodwill, but Zhang Yu will suffer a little. However, Yin Xiu is the main general, so Zhang Yu must share the credit with him.

But Yin Xiu and Zhao Qian did not dare to let Zhang Yu feel unfair. After all, Wang Yun was behind Zhang Yu, so it was impossible for him to ignore it. And the key to winning this battle was that Zhang Yu led his troops to the battlefield.

"Envoy Wang gave good command. We must not forget it now!" Yin Xiu reminded.

"It's natural!"

Zhao Qian said with a smile: "We have captured a lot of money, food, gold and silver, and Zhang Gongshi's subordinates are mostly cavalrymen, and they have been busy fighting and have lost a lot of horses. Now that we have captured a lot of money, food, cattle and horses, we can use them to reward our subordinates and replenish the losses in the army."

"Thank you, Mr. Zhao, for your kindness!"

Zhang Yu naturally swallowed all of Zhao Qian's sugar-coated bullets. After all, the cavalry had traveled thousands of miles, and if they were not rewarded with money, they would definitely complain!

(End of this chapter)