Destroy Jin and conquer Song, and carry the Northern Expedition through to the end

Chapter 664 Old grudges have just been settled, and new sorrows have arisen.
"Blow the horn! Blow the horn! Let everyone know we've arrived!"

Bi Zaiyu dismounted, and before the armor plates on his body had even stopped rattling, he mounted another main warhorse.

He picked up his longsword and kept giving orders: "Make sure our men, and all the bandits, see clearly that the Flying Tiger Army is here!"

Having said that, Bi Zaiyu pointed his long sword at a group of people outside the fortified village: "This group must be the bandit leader! Follow me and kill him first!"

"Here!"

The warhorses galloped out, the riders shouting incessantly.

One hundred armored cavalrymen formed the most common and easiest-to-use wedge formation, charging towards Cao Jie like a long spear.

"Where...where did these cavalry come from? And so many of them?!" Cao Jie's attention was originally focused on the battle in the fortified village, but he quickly noticed the armored cavalry approaching rapidly.

Such mountain bandits would naturally not be as well-organized as regular armies, nor would they send out scouts and rangers to gather information about the surrounding area.

Therefore, Cao Jie only realized that such a force was attacking when the armored cavalry had already charged right up to him.

Cao Jie panicked, and the other bandit leaders were naturally in an even worse predicament.

"Run! Run! We can't win!" someone shouted.

Some were even more decisive, immediately mounting their horses or mules and scattering in all directions.

In an instant, most of the nearly two hundred mountain bandits and river pirates surrounding Cao Jie had dispersed.

Ignoring the others, Bi Zaiyu stared at the gaudy banner and trampled it with his horse.

After just one charge, Cao Jie, the great official, went down to meet his brothers with great ambition.

With a casual swing of his sword, Bi Zaiyu cut down the large flag. He ignored the fleeing people and instead raised his long sword, pointing it towards the fortified village.

The Flying Tiger Army could still muster seventy or eighty riders at this point, and without a moment's pause, they launched another charge following Bi Zaiyu.

The bandits on the outskirts of the fortress were all trusted confidants of their respective leaders. They would send out the outlying bandits to fight tough battles, while they themselves would lead the elite bandits to the rear to pick up the spoils.

However, they did not expect that before they could even take advantage of the situation, death was already imminent.

The bandits were first dumbfounded as they watched Cao Jie being trampled into the mud, and then they were even more horrified to discover that the cavalry was coming towards them. The more than three hundred bandits outside the fortress were instantly thrown into chaos.

Some wanted to escape, some wanted to rush into the fortified village and use the low walls to slow down the cavalry's impact, and some even thought their side was strong enough to fight back, so under the command of a certain leader, they formed ranks on the ground.

In hindsight, if the bandits had used a formation to counter the attack from the beginning, although they might not have been able to stop the Flying Tiger Army, they could have still inflicted some casualties on the Flying Tiger Cavalry.

But with three hundred people in such a state of chaos, there was no point in resisting.

Bi Zaiyu chose a tricky direction and charged straight into the most chaotic part of the formation. He not only trampled dozens of people in front of him under his horse's hooves, but also drove nearly a hundred fleeing soldiers to expand the chaos.

After Bi Zaiyu split the bandits' formation in two, the elite of the bandits could not withstand the casualties and scattered in all directions.

Led by these bandits, the hundreds of bandits who had stormed into the fortress also panicked. Bi Zaiyu simply led his armored cavalry and fired a volley of arrows from outside the fortress, which caused the bandits to collapse.

Bi Zaiyu still showed no intention of pursuing the routed troops. He immediately led his men into the fortified village, silently praying, "My ancestors from the medical school, please don't get into any trouble! If anything happens to you, who knows how many people in the army will want to eat me alive!"

"I am Bi Zaiyu, a general of the Flying Tigers. Where is Professor Yang?" Upon arriving near the barricade, Bi Zaiyu removed his helmet. He was startled by just one glance at the watership that had been burned to a blaze.

If all the medical school professors were on this ship and were wiped out by the pirates, then Bi Zaiyu's dream of military merit would probably come to an end.

He shouted twice at the top of his lungs, but when no one answered, he simply took two more steps forward: "Where is the captain?!"

"The captain went to the back to deal with those bandits." Finally, someone responded, but the tone was somewhat impolite: "Hey General Bi, if you really have the time, could you lend my captain a hand?"

Bi Zaiyu nodded: "Thirty of you dismount, take plenty of bows and arrows, and follow me! The rest of you go after the fleeing soldiers. I want to see which bastard has the guts to attack our army!"

Having said that, Bi Zaiyu led thirty foot knights, their gleaming armor gleaming, across the barricades littered with corpses, toward the water fortress.

The fighting there has reached a fever pitch.

Although Cao Gui had become a real water ghost, the tradition of water bandits robbing and looting was still established and would not stop just because one or two leaders had disappeared. Eight small boats carrying more than 300 water bandits landed on the east side of the dike and then engaged in a fierce battle with the Han army that was waiting in battle.

Although the river bandits were unarmored and suffered heavy casualties against the armored soldiers, the Han soldiers had been fighting for a long time and had not slept well all night. Moreover, they were outnumbered and quickly fell into a disadvantageous position, allowing more and more river bandits to come ashore.

The Han army had to form small formations to deal with the siege by the river bandits.

At this critical moment, Bi Zaiyu led the Thirty Flying Tigers to join the battle.

Compared to ordinary Han soldiers, the Flying Tiger Army was more robust, had superior martial arts skills, and wore more robust armor. In addition, they had a full range of long and short weapons, making them a veritable meat grinder in the era of cold weapons.

They first fired three volleys of arrows in unison, inflicting more than twenty casualties on the bandits. Then, the thirty Flying Tigers formed a two-row formation, with long weapons in front and short weapons behind, and charged directly into the bandits' ranks.

Like a mischievous child striking a hornet's nest with a stick, the nearly three hundred bandits scattered and fled in disarray after Bi Zaiyu had penetrated their heartland. "Westward! Force them all into the water!" Bi Zaiyu shouted the order, then, relying on his heavy armor, he withstood the bandits' sword strikes and charged forward relentlessly.

Most of the bandits could swim, but when they trampled each other and fell into the water like dumplings being dropped into a pot, even the best swimmers couldn't perform well.

After the Han soldiers on the shore forced the river bandits into the icy water, they vented their anger on the shore with spears and bows.

"Where is the captain?! Where is the captain?!"

Seeing that the situation was already decided, Bi Zai took off his helmet and shouted, "How many soldiers have been killed or wounded? What about the professors from the medical school?!"

The constable finally had a chance to respond. Leaning on his spear and panting, he said, "There are more than twenty soldiers killed or wounded, but the medical school professors are all safe and sound! They're all in that courtyard over there. If you want to go, go see for yourself!"

Bi Zaiyu nodded and pulled a Flying Tiger soldier beside him: "Go tell Luo Erlang to bring the local militia to clean up the mess. They don't need to fight anymore, but I can't capture so many prisoners!"

"Here!"

……

When Hou Anyuan awoke, it was already the morning of the next day.

He opened his eyes, touched his head, and found that it was wrapped in gauze. Although there was still some low ringing in his ears, he could hear the chirping of insects and birds and the voices around him. He was no longer half-deaf like he had been yesterday.

Hou Anyuan turned his head and looked around, finding himself lying in a house, which seemed to be a civilian house. Just as he was about to sit up, he heard a cold voice.

"Don't move around. You've been hit on the head and need to rest."

Hou Anyuan slowly turned his head and saw Xu Erya behind the desk, writing furiously.

"Dr. Xu, are you... are you alright?" Hou Anyuan's usual quick wit had completely disappeared. He racked his brains for a long time before finally managing to utter a few words.

Xu Erya hummed in agreement, wrote the last word in the book, and then looked up with a smile: "I haven't thanked you for saving my life yesterday yet."

Hou Anyuan became even more flustered, his face flushed, and after a long pause, he finally said, "It's my duty, I can't accept a thank you."

Xu Erya said solemnly, "I want to thank you not only for saving my life, but also for saving those books. So many lives and efforts have been saved. This is all thanks to the general."

If it were any other person, given Hou Anyuan's rascal nature, he would probably immediately ask with a grin if he wanted to offer himself to her.

However, Hou Anyuan was even more embarrassed at this moment. After muttering for a long time, he finally said, "Doctor Xu, I...I'm not a general..."

"Hey, don't move around." Seeing Hou Anyuan trying to twist his neck, Xu Erya quickly stepped forward and pressed him down: "You have a hidden injury to your head or neck. Medical schools can't even tell what kind of injury it is, let alone treat it. You can only rest."

Hou Anyuan could only nod repeatedly, then, remembering Xu Erya's instructions, he didn't even dare to move his head.

"Dr. Xu, Dr. Xu!" Before Hou Anyuan could even enjoy this hard-won moment with his wife, someone outside shouted twice.

Then Bi Zaiyu pushed open the door and entered. He was not wearing armor today, but only a black military uniform, which made his figure look even more imposing.

He simply bowed slightly, then smiled and said, "I've been looking for Dr. Xu for ages. Oh, Brother Hou is awake?"

Xu Erya nodded slightly: "He just woke up, but he still needs to rest for a while."

Bi Zaiyu rubbed his hands together: "It's good that you're not injured. Brother Hou, do you know that you've made a great contribution? Professor Yang personally reported your merit. This time, the credit should be above mine for capturing the flag and defeating the enemy general."

Hou Anyuan immediately became somewhat excited.

Despite their mature and composed appearances, these three are actually just teenagers.

However, they were exceptionally gifted in some area, and coupled with either a life of hardship or a sudden change in their family circumstances, they were forced to leave their childhood and mature in this chaotic world where killing was rampant, in order to find a way to survive.

Therefore, the three of them still retained some of their youthful spirit. For example, Hou Anyuan, upon hearing of the merits, immediately began to make plans.

If we could improve our status, would we be able to get closer to Dr. Xu?

However... if I were to be transferred away from the medical school's guard team, wouldn't that be a loss?
"Oh, right, Dr. Xu, I almost forgot about something important. Professor Yang wants to see you." After saying that, Bi Zaiyu took out a letter from his pocket: "Also, this is for you."

Hou Anyuan's eyes sharpened instantly.

Xu Erya glanced at the signature on the envelope, which read "Wang Shiniang," and knew that it was Bi Zaiyu sending a letter for his little lover. Without any hesitation, she stuffed the letter into her bosom and nodded to Hou Anyuan: "Don't move around, I'll be right back."

Bi Zaiyu and Xu Erya left one after the other, leaving Hou Anyuan alone on the bed with a worried expression.

If his opponent were Zhen Baoyu, he might dare to compete, but his opponent was Bi Zaiyu, who was also a martial artist. How could he possibly win against such a person?

This is really worrying.

(End of this chapter)