Covering the sky: Starting with the holy body, the immortal Taoist comes to attack

Chapter 165 Close combat
The fire in Chanshan City naturally alerted the heavy cavalry legion of the Jie tribe outside the south gate.

Although they were formidable, they were caught in a three-way attack from cannons, ballistae, and human cavalry, and were unable to advance or retreat for the time being.

It must be said that Jiang Bushi, as a veteran general of the border army, might have found the offensive somewhat difficult.

However, he is an exceptionally skilled player in direct defensive counter-attacking tactics.

Back then, if he had been appointed as the highest military commander of the entire border army, while it would have been impossible to annihilate the Jie tribe, at least the Jie tribe would not have been able to easily harass the border.

Gu Xuan's arrival finally revealed the veteran's talent, allowing him to demonstrate his true value in this battle.

A group of about a thousand Jie heavy cavalrymen, seeing the battle reaching a stalemate, suddenly became desperate and, disregarding their own casualties, attempted to break through the human army's formation to create an opening for more heavy cavalry behind them.

Undoubtedly, such a cost would be devastating, potentially resulting in the deaths or injuries of hundreds of heavy cavalry in an instant.

However, if they succeed, the effect will be immediate. If the momentum of all heavy cavalry charging into the enemy formation is formed, it may even lead to the collapse of the human army's formation.

Over the years, the Jie army has won several battles by relying on this tactic.

however.

Jiang Bushi, standing atop the tall armored chariot at the very back of the center of the formation, had already witnessed this scene.

He was clearly prepared for this.

Boom boom boom!
As the fierce war drums sounded, the central command flag was waved.

A rumbling sound rang out, and dozens of ancient and peculiar vehicles were pushed to the outside of the human race's great formation, forming a circular array.

These vehicles, also known as "King Kong Carts," could be used to transport supplies and weapons during normal marches, and could also be deployed in formation when defense was needed.

The outermost rows of soldiers, under the officers' loud shouts, retreated to the sides or rear of the Vajra vehicle.

Rows of iron halberds and spears stood upright, like a steel forest, inspiring awe and fear. Large shields protected against heavy arrows, making it virtually impenetrable.

Seeing this, even the fiercest Jie heavy cavalry could only retreat in a huff, circling around before withdrawing.

In fact.

Whether it's artillery, ballistae, felt hammer tactics, or the current Vajra vehicle, they are all just conventional tactics and nothing new.

Over the years, there have been frequent conflicts between the Northern Border Army of the Great Zhou and the Jie people, and they have become very familiar with each other's tactics and strategies.

The key to the problem lies in timing!

At this moment, the Jie tribe's Chanshan City is ablaze with flames.

This means that, fatally, their food supplies are at risk of being cut off.

Perhaps the two or three granaries in the city had good enough fire prevention measures to hold out until the fire was extinguished, in which case they might have been able to save half or more of the grain.

But that's only a possibility.

With the fire so large, no one can guarantee that those grain depots will hold out.

Moreover, there were faint oil bombs being launched from a distance, clearly indicating that the small human force in the rear was still refueling.

It is obvious to anyone with discerning eyes that the Jie people's grain reserves must be located in this Chanshan City.

And that's not all.

The nearly 10,000 Jie infantrymen who were originally in the city were one of the key factors in the final victory of the great battle, but they were massacred at the very beginning.

"how so?!"

When the newly enthroned Jie King Dai Shang was desperately protected by his personal guards and made his way to the heavy cavalry legion in the north of the city, he had just caught his breath when he was met with a furious rebuke from his cousin, Mang Gu, the commander of the heavy cavalry legion.

Furthermore, no matter how high Manggu's seniority or how great his position and power, his status could never surpass that of Daishang.

Now, the fact that he was rebuking the Jie King in such a tone stunned all the Jie soldiers present.

This is blatant insubordination!

If it were during the reign of the old Jie King Nuchi, even if Mangu had a hundred times the courage, he would not have dared to be so presumptuous. Instead, he would have been trembling with fear, like a docile kitten.

Dai Shang's eyes instantly turned blood red, and his face, covered with a dozen or so black hairs, alternated between pale and flushed.

He is Nuchi's nephew, and is now over thirty years old. He is considered a promising young nobleman in the Jie tribe, otherwise he would not have been chosen as the new Jie king.

however.

He never expected that at this critical moment of life and death, the one who would bring him the greatest humiliation and sense of threat would be his uncle beside him.

No matter what, he was still a king, and being questioned and reprimanded by his subordinates in such a rude manner was a great insult to his self-esteem.

But circumstances are beyond our control!

At that moment, he racked his brains and found himself unable to refute the argument.

Without a doubt, the loss of supplies and provisions in Chanshan City put their army in a passive, even desperate, situation!

Even the strongest army can only hold out for a few days without food.

At present, the only hope for the Jie tribe to win lies in their remaining heavy cavalry legion.

If they can break through the main human army in the charge and seize their supplies, is there any chance of survival? They might even achieve a great victory.

However, the enemy general Jiang Bushi was exceptionally shrewd and quick-witted, plugging the loopholes almost flawlessly and shattering the Jie heavy cavalry's hopes of defeating them.

Dai Shang, the Jie king, had only been on the throne for a short time and was essentially elected on a temporary basis; his authority had not yet been established.

At this moment, faced with Mang Gu's accusations and the cold stares of his generals, he felt disheartened and even considered rushing to the raging fire in Chanshan City to put it out, but was naturally stopped by his personal guards.

In fact.

Manggu's act of defiance at this time was partly due to his anger at something terrible happening, but to a large extent it was deliberate.

He was one of the candidates when the King of Jie was elected that day.

However, due to his irritable temper and rude and reckless manner, he had a very bad impression among the elders of the Jie tribe.

Therefore, Manggu naturally received far fewer votes than Daishang in the election that day.

However, his strength should not be underestimated. He has been commanding a heavy cavalry battalion of nearly five thousand men and also serves as the commander of the entire heavy cavalry regiment.

This time, the fire in Chanshan City inadvertently helped him eliminate many elders, or perhaps political enemies.

In this way, Manggu almost had a sudden inspiration and realized that the internal power dynamics had completely changed.

His outburst was primarily an attempt to establish his authority, to firmly control the more than ten thousand heavy cavalry troops under his command, and to prevent Dai Shang from issuing orders as the King of Jie.

Moreover, he was the kind of rude and unruly person who would make a scene even when he was being unreasonable. Now that he had something on Dai Shang, he was not about to let it go. Naturally, he would scold and ridicule him severely, even though the other party was the nominal King of Jie.

of course.

Manggu's act of defiance naturally drew angry glares from Daishang's many guards.

They had just risked their lives to protect King Jie from the inferno, and they would not tolerate him being insulted like this. For a moment, the situation became tense, with swords about to be drawn.

However, both sides knew that at this moment, the Jie tribe was facing a life-or-death crisis, and it was impossible for them to actually fight. They could only reluctantly back down.

To some extent, this can also be interpreted as: when a country is about to perish, there will inevitably be monstrous signs.

Dai Shang felt extremely frustrated and resentful.

He wanted to retort angrily, "What can you do when faced with those fire oil bombs from the Great Zhou that splatter and ignite the moment they touch the ground?!"

Moreover, if he were facing other people, he might be able to show some of the magnanimity or breadth of mind of a Capricorn king and take the initiative to take responsibility.

However, he knew Manggu's character well and knew that doing so would not only be useless, but would only provoke Manggu to ridicule and criticize him more fiercely.

Therefore.

Faced with this situation, Dai Shang ultimately chose not to stay there any longer. Instead, he led his personal guards of less than a hundred men away, seemingly intending to turn back and rescue and gather the clansmen who had escaped from Chanshan City.

He really didn't want to be around someone like Manggu anymore!
His actions looked nothing short of suicide.

Because Gu Xuan led two or three thousand elite cavalrymen of the Great Zhou Dynasty, who were pursuing and killing the fleeing enemy under the city of Chanshan, neither the Jie heavy cavalry nor others could stop the attack of these fierce warriors.

Seeing King Jie's actions, even the several generals beside Mang Gu couldn't help but look at each other in bewilderment.

A senior lieutenant, mustering his courage, looked at Manggu and said, "General, this..."

Manggu's eyes were icy cold as he snorted, "Let him go! Losing the grain supplies in Chanshan City is a serious crime. If he weren't the king, I would kill him!"

His words were filled with resentment and rudeness!
Since their commander had said so, the subordinate generals naturally had nothing to say, and they were also worried and angry because the grain supplies had been burned.

After a brief turmoil.

Among the Jie tribe, the newly appointed Jie king actually fell out with the commander of his own largest heavy cavalry legion and ultimately chose to go their separate ways!
Dai Shang was clearly not someone who would simply throw his life away.

As the chosen King of Jie, he did possess some genuine talent.

He led his few personal guard cavalrymen, keeping a safe distance from Gu Xuan's nearly three thousand elite cavalry, and gathered the remaining Jie soldiers at the edge or at a great distance.

In a short time, he managed to gather more than a thousand disheveled and dejected soldiers.

Then, while Gu Xuan and the others were already engaged in battle with Mang Gu's heavy cavalry, he led his soldiers away from the battlefield.

Although they escaped into deep mountains and dense forests.

It's not hard to imagine that they were heading towards the last remaining large settlement of the Jie tribe, namely their third largest city, Kuoju City.

Only there can these people receive proper care and treatment.

Although Gu Xuan had noticed this, he did not pursue the matter.

By this time, the oil in Chanshan City had gradually burned out, and the fire was slowly dying down.

Within the city, it seems that one or two granaries remain standing, likely containing a considerable amount of surplus grain and supplies.

The fact that the Jie people's granary could withstand such a fire for so long speaks volumes about the effectiveness of its waterproofing measures.

Gu Xuan and the others naturally did not want to see this happen.

He gave orders for the rest of his men to continue sweeping away the remaining Jie tribes in the north of the city, while also protecting the more than three hundred camel artillery battalions as much as possible, and for the leading lieutenant to decide for himself what situation to retreat under.

He himself led eight hundred men into the city where the fire was gradually dying down, intending to burn down the remaining one or two granaries completely, leaving not a single grain of food for the Jie heavy cavalry regiment!
And another battlefield.

In the south of the city, Manggu, who was entangled with the main human forces led by Jiang Bushi, also discovered the situation of Chanshan City behind him.

As a heavy cavalry regiment, although they were simultaneously entangled with human artillery, ballistae, and cavalry, they were not in a passive position; in fact, they could be said to be in an active offensive position, only finding it difficult to truly break through.

Manggu and several of his subordinate generals also keenly realized that there should still be one or two granaries that had not been burned down.

This will be their rations for the next few days, and their only hope for retreat!
Therefore.

Without the slightest hesitation, Manggu immediately ordered a capable lieutenant to lead a heavy cavalry force of two thousand men to turn back and rescue the grain depot.

As for the other troops, they continued their charge, trying to find an opportunity to break through the human army formation in front of them.

Now, when Gu Xuan led his men into the burned-down city of Chanshan, completely setting fire to the nearest granary and preparing to move on to the next granary further away, they encountered the Jie tribe's forces.

Enemies are extremely jealous when they meet!
Moreover, this only remaining granary is the hope of the Jie tribe, but it is also a place that the human race must destroy.

"Protect the grain depot!"

The Jie tribe's deputy general issued military orders almost immediately, dividing his troops in two: one half to extinguish the fire and protect the granary, and the other half to charge directly at Gu Xuan and his men.

At such a time, dividing the troops would be a major taboo, but the Jie general had no choice but to do so.

Since they were on the defensive, if their defenses were inadequate and the fire in the granary continued to burn, or if the humans found a weakness, then all their hopes would be dashed.

This is because times have changed.

The Jie people have always been conquering cities and territories within the Great Zhou Dynasty, burning, killing, and looting. When have they ever been in such a helpless and passive defensive position?
But the situation forced them to do it.

Gu Xuan acted decisively, ordering fifty agile knights to dismount, scale the messy wall, and head straight for the granary to set it on fire.

He himself led the remaining seven hundred-plus elite knights to confront the Jie heavy cavalry head-on in order to buy time.

Given the terrain within Chanshan City, it was less a cavalry charge and more a street battle.

The road was far from wide, even somewhat narrow, allowing only four or five knights to walk side by side, and contained many burnt-down roof beams and pillars.

In this terrain, relying on the speed and inertia of warhorses to charge is obviously not very realistic; it is more about relying on the individual strength of the knights.

Therefore, Gu Xuan's unparalleled martial prowess, capable of fighting against a thousand men, was once again brought to its fullest potential.

Rumble!
He activated the Great Zhou Divine King Technique at full power, and several dragon-shaped streams of energy appeared above his head, lifelike and awe-inspiring, shaking all the soldiers.

Needless to say, the morale of the human race soared. What could be more glorious than following a peerless powerhouse like His Majesty the Great Ancestor to fight on the battlefield?
As for the Jie people, many of them had heard the myths and legends of the Great Zhou Dynasty's founding emperor. Now that this miracle has reappeared, how could they not be filled with shock and fear?

"kill!"

Amidst shouts, Gu Xuan wielded a specially made armor-piercing long axe. With each sweep of the axe, at least four or five Jie heavy cavalrymen fell to the ground with muffled groans.

The human warriors around him were also full of fighting spirit, fighting forward and vowing to kill the enemy to the death!
(End of this chapter)