Tiger Guards

Chapter 289 Great Friendship
The sun was setting in the west, and the sunlight was no longer scorching.

Xiahou Dun's army continued its advance, passing by the old camps of Zhao Ji and Zhang Yang without causing any disturbance.

It means concentrating forces and moving closer to the battlefield.

Without a doubt, this is a fresh force that has come from afar.

When they were five miles away from Zhao Ji's camp, Zhao Ji arrived with more than five hundred cavalry.

When Zhao Ji arrived, Xiahou Dun advanced another two miles and began to change formation, transforming the large column of troops into a horizontal formation with the left and right wings spread out.

Before Xiahou Dun stood Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun relied on the two thousand infantrymen borrowed by Zhang Yang to form a battle formation in the middle of the road, while he led his cavalry to the two ends of the infantry formation, which was a conventional formation.

When Zhao Ji arrived, Zhao Yun came to greet him and pointed to Xiahou Dun, saying, "The enemy first came by boat down the Sui River, and after landing, they traveled about twenty li to get here. Their formation is becoming more and more orderly, which shows that their officers and soldiers are in high spirits and should not be underestimated."

"Cao Cao is waiting for nightfall, intending to use the cover of darkness to break out."

Zhao Ji observed Xiahou Dun's formation and continued, "Xiahou Dun should have divided his forces to harass our camp. The fact that he didn't divide his forces means he has no reinforcements. Now he is standing still in formation, clearly intending to hold out against us. He wants to divide our forces and help Cao Cao break through the encirclement."

Zhao Ji disliked the timing of Xiahou Dun's appearance, but he couldn't simply eliminate Xiahou Dun.

At the same time, we can understand Zhao Yun's behavior. Zhao Yun stood in formation and watched Xiahou Dun change his formation. It wasn't that Zhao Yun didn't want to fight, but the lax fighting strength of Sui Gu and Yang Chou's troops today gave Zhao Yun a very bad impression.

They were again using borrowed Hanoi soldiers, forcing them to engage in battle, which not only resulted in low combat efficiency but also risked causing them to scatter and collapse in the face of enemy fire if they were provoked to rebel.

Rather than risk attacking Xiahou Dun while he is on the march, it would be better to remain stationary and keep Xiahou Dun guessing.

The troops that Xiahou Dun brought were undoubtedly Cao Cao's elite forces, capable of fighting in the open field.

A hasty clash, with a disparity in troop strength of one to three or one to two, would easily lead even the elite troops of Hanoi into a chaotic melee, where they would gradually be suppressed by Xiahou Dun, who had a larger force.

Therefore, Zhao Yun's response was not problematic, which is why Zhao Yun was put in charge of this front.

After observing for a moment, Zhao Ji said, "Cao Cao has many followers. If we cannot defeat his army today, Cao Ren and Ji Yin's troops will join him tomorrow, making it even more difficult to defeat him. When Cao Hong and Xiahou Yuan return with their troops, we will only be able to return empty-handed, experiencing a victory followed by defeat."

Zhao Yun tightened his grip on the reins with his left hand and asked in a low voice, "Then how about we forcefully break through their lines and drive Xiahou Dun away?"

"Wait a little longer, Xu Huang and his men will arrive with the knights."

Xu Huang, Jia Tong, and Wei Xing still have fresh troops here, but there are less than two thousand cavalry left.

As long as Xiahou Dun is defeated, the suppression of Xu Chu and Zhu Ling can still be maintained, and the surrender will not be delayed.

After accepting the surrender, we can then attack and capture Cao Cao's camps one by one.

Having already invested so much, how could we possibly start strong but finish weak?

This trip to the Central Plains must demonstrate the might of the Bingzhou troops; otherwise, if I return to Bingzhou, the imperial court will cause trouble again.

Zhao Ji was determined to fight, since the main force of the Tiger Step Army had already withdrawn to Taiyuan.

With grain stored at home, Zhao Ji naturally dared to take a gamble.

Even after a crushing defeat, they could still gradually recover their strength by integrating the Xiongnu and other nomadic tribes.

To put it bluntly, he can afford to lose, but people like Lü Bu, King Chen, Zhang Yang, Chen Gong, and Sun Ce cannot.

By the same token, Cao Cao, Liu Bei, and Yuan Shu could also afford to lose.

While they were observing, Xu Huang, Jia Tong, and Wei Xing, each leading five or six hundred knights, gradually approached from two or three miles behind.

Without Zhao Ji's command, the three men each led their cavalry in a flanking maneuver, forcing Xiahou Dun to divide his forces and change formation.

Lacking fortifications, Xiahou Dun's troops were gradually surrounded, and their situation became increasingly dire.

Xiahou Dun, in charge of the central command, gradually expanded the three-horizontal formation into a hollow square formation.

He probably didn't come here with the intention of leaving unscathed.

If he arrives when Cao Cao has the advantage, he can naturally cooperate with Cao Ren to severely damage Zhao Ji and Lü Bu; if the two sides on the battlefield are evenly matched, Xiahou Dun can break the balance.

Now that Cao Cao is in a weakened state, he can buy Cao Cao a precious breathing space.

Zhao Ji couldn't help but wonder, if he were surrounded, who would be willing to go to such lengths to come to his aid?
With the movement of cavalry and the encirclement from multiple sides, the morale of the Hanoi soldiers also rose.

People like to fight when things are going well.

Zhao Ji rode his horse to the front of the Hanoi army's formation. Commandant Gou Huan led a dozen or so officers on horseback to meet him. Zhao Ji stretched out his arm, held his whip, and pointed to Xiahou Dun's position half a mile away: "I hope you will charge head-on. Just charge for a while to draw Xiahou Dun's crossbows. When the stalemate is over, my more than three thousand elite cavalry will charge from all sides, and the enemy's formation will collapse on its own."

Gou Huan glanced at Xiahou Dun's position and immediately nodded: "I am willing to fight to the death!"

"I won't treat you unfairly either. After the battle, I'll give you five hundred warhorses and five hundred cavalry. You'll also get sixty percent of the spoils from this battle. Is that alright?"

As Zhao Ji made his promise, Gou Huan asked, "Lord Attendant, what about the prisoners?"

“It will be difficult for you to feed them even if you take them back. I will redeem them with money and grain.”

Zhao Ji looked around at the military officers and said, "Hanoi is short of food this winter. You can bring your families to Taiyuan for food. After the summer harvest next year, you can leave or stay as you please. I think I still have some influence with General Zhang."

Would it be difficult to demand these troops from Zhang Yang?
Gou Huan and the other officers looked at each other, not thinking that this matter was particularly difficult.

Zhao Ji had subdued the various Xiongnu tribes. As long as Zhang Yang was allowed to hire Xiongnu knights, or simply to obtain the right to trade with the Xiongnu tribes, Zhang Yang did not care about the ownership of the two thousand soldiers.

Gou Huan dismounted and bowed deeply to Zhao Ji, saying, "I am willing to serve as your attendant."

“Very good. In the future, if there are any vacancies in the Tiger Step Army, your soldiers will be given priority to be promoted to the Tiger Step Army.”

"Here!"

Gou Huan bowed again, but did not mount his horse. He took the helmet from his personal guard and put it on. He then immediately ordered the officers and soldiers to begin beating the drums. Zhao Ji left the front of the formation and returned to his own cavalry. At this time, the hundred or so iron cavalrymen slowly approached and completed their horses' warm-up.

From the start of the battle, the Iron Cavalry went into battle three times, changing their warhorses each time.

Chang Mao, who was leading the iron cavalry, reined in his horse and asked, "Minister, when shall we charge into battle?"

"Wait for the Hanoi soldiers to attack first."

Zhao Ji also put his heavy full-face helmet back on. Chang Mao glanced at the Hanoi soldiers who were lining up and beating drums: "Can they succeed?"

"I promised them that they would be given priority to be recruited into the Tiger Infantry after the war."

"They got off too easily."

Chang Mao smiled and commented that after the withdrawal of troops, before spring plowing, the Tiger Step Army would distribute the land.

Zhao Ji did not respond, but turned to Zhao Yun and said, "The most important thing is to capture Xiahou Dun's battle flag. I want to use it to intimidate Xu Chu and Cao Cao."

"Here."

Zhao Yun responded, and seeing that there were no further instructions, he led his fellow villagers and cavalry away from Zhao Ji to find a suitable position to charge into battle.

The drums of the Hanoi soldiers beat in unison, and they began to slowly advance towards the Cao army on the opposite side.

Before they had advanced seventy paces, Cao's archers began to fire. The Hanoi soldiers, shields raised, were met with a barrage of crossbow fire from Cao's army when they were about thirty paces away.

Even so, the Hanoi soldiers maintained their advancing formation, slowly closing in on Cao Cao's army, their spears and halberds clashing.

Almost simultaneously, the cavalry units began to run.

First, a small cavalry squad fired arrows at Cao Cao's army formation.

The cavalry squads had no intention of engaging in direct firefights; instead, they moved close to Cao Cao's army formation and fired arrows, maximizing their chances of avoiding Cao Cao's infantry fire.

Within Cao Jun's hollow square formation, over five hundred cavalrymen surrounded Xiahou Dun, whose eyes darted left and right.

He was really bad at commanding troops, and at this moment he could only use the most conservative hollow square formation to waste time.

The surrounding terrain was flat and open, and there were no friendly forces to provide cover, so the entire army was put on the defensive as soon as the battle started.

If he can hold out until nightfall, he will be much safer.

Unfortunately, the hollow square formation was too thin. The archers inside the formation fired less than ten rounds, and as wounded soldiers appeared, some lines of the formation became thin.

Immediately, the Bingzhou cavalry began their charge, two to three hundred riders in a single wave, sweeping over like an earthquake.

Zhao Ji was surrounded by more than 300 riders watching the battle. The iron cavalry was the first to break through the battle line composed of three or four rows of men from the north.

Chang Mao led his hundred-plus cavalrymen without turning and crashed directly into Xiahou Dun's main camp.

Zhao Ji saw this and knew that Chang Mao had no better choice.

If the cavalry close to Xiahou Dun's main force charge into Cao Cao's southern line, they will encounter Xiahou Dun's attack.

But soon, Zhao Yun followed the gap created by the cavalry and poured in.

With Changmao's iron cavalry shielding Xiahou Dun's main force of knights, Zhao Yun suddenly changed direction, leading more than two hundred elite cavalry to charge into Cao Cao's western front army, which was fighting against the Hanoi soldiers, and tearing the battle line apart in the blink of an eye.

Almost simultaneously, the cavalry led by Xu Huang, Jia Tong, and Wei Xing broke through the Cao army's front line.

They disregarded their advantage and charged toward Xiahou Dun's main camp one after another.

Zhao Ji, observing this, said to Han Shu and Gao Yanglong beside him, "They should send men to attack the enemy lines in various places. Once the enemy is in disarray, where can Xiahou Dun escape to?"

Han Shu nodded: "Yes, I will also charge into battle."

Zhao Ji did not refute, but Han Shu raised his spear, turned around and shouted: "Seventh team, follow me!"

Nearly a hundred knights followed Han Shu in a charge. Zhao Ji said to his men, "If Xiahou Dun wants to leave, he will also head northwest to the Bian River. Follow me."

He spurred his horse and rode away, with Gao Yanglong following behind holding a flag. More than two hundred riders also followed and headed north to intercept and kill him.

No matter how loudly Xiahou Dun shouted in the formation, it was useless; he was drowned out by all sorts of noises.

His guards, leading Xiahou Dun's horse, began their breakout, just as Zhao Ji had predicted, heading northwest.

Cao Cao's army has been thrown into disarray on all fronts, and the troops from Hanoi have scattered in pursuit.

The scouts abandoned their harassment tactics and turned to pursue the large group of Cao Cao's routed soldiers.

Where can one run in the wilderness?
Zhao Ji gradually reined in his horse, drew his bow and shot an arrow at Xiahou Dun, who was wearing golden helmet and armor.

A hundred paces away, as Xiahou Dun turned his head to observe, he caught the arrow precisely in the side of his face, striking his left eye socket.

The arrow was extremely powerful, piercing through the corner of the eye and going on to hit another guard.

Xiahou Dun, in pain, lay prone on his horse's back and galloped away recklessly.

Zhao Ji did not pursue, but instead fired six more arrows at Xiahou Dun's bannermen. Finally, the protected bannermen were hit by the arrows.

At this moment, Zhao Yun arrived in pursuit, raised his hand and stabbed the flag bearer in the back with his spear, causing him to fall off his horse along with the battle flag.

As the setting sun cast its glow and Xiahou Dun's battle flag fell, the last vestige of Cao Cao's fighting spirit crumbled. Under the shouts and pressure from the infantry and cavalry, they successively abandoned their weapons and knelt on the ground.

Zhao Ji, clutching his bow, turned to look at the setting sun and sighed, "If we had three thousand elite Tiger Step warriors, why would we have been delayed until now?"

(End of this chapter)