Tang Dynasty Bandits

Chapter 116 Hostages
Zhu Wen spurred his horse and raised his sword, rushing towards an enemy cavalryman who was about to stab Tian Jun's horse with his spear. He cut off the horse's head with one blow of his sword. The man fell to the ground in an instant and was trampled into a pulp by the galloping cavalry.

Tian Jun, armed with a spear, had a much greater range and pressure than Zhu Wen in cavalry combat. However, his weakness was that his weapon was too long, making him vulnerable to close-range sneak attacks.

What Zhu Wen had to do was to move around closely and provide cover for Tian Jun.

Duan Hongyan knew many secrets about Western countries. Unlike Eastern female generals, who mostly came from humble backgrounds, many Western noblewomen, including queens, princesses, and consorts, would personally charge into battle, riding horses and bearing spears.

The loyal and brave knights wielded long swords or giant swords to protect their beloved princess.

Zhu Wen suddenly felt that the current situation was quite consistent with this.

Protection is not just about the strong versus the weak, or the masculine versus the delicate.

Instead, we should stand side by side and move forward hand in hand.

None of the girls Zhu Wen fell in love with were weak. Xingxiang's martial arts skills were even superior to Zhu Wen's. Tian Jun's powerful charge on horseback was also beyond Zhu Wen's reach.

But Zhu Wen still felt very happy when he was able to protect them.

The three brothers Zhang Guiba, Zhang Guihou and Zhang Guibian used their superb riding and archery skills to provide fire support for Zhu Wen and Tian Jun in the rear. The continuous sharp arrows whistled through the sky and shot the future riders off their horses like mowing grass.

These three brothers do not look like Hu people at all, but their strange body shapes of "long on top and short on the bottom" really make people suspect that they have Turkic ancestry.

This physique allowed them to ride with short stirrups and use extremely large horse bows. They used their bow hand to hold the arrow at rest, increasing the burst rate of fire, allowing them to rain arrows down like a torrential rain.

As old friends of Zhu Wen, they cooperated with Zhu Wen very well on the battlefield.

The Laiqi were attacked from both near and far, and with the Cao army's high morale, they were unstoppable and soon defeated.

In the west, Lin Yan had already led another group of heroes to launch an attack, forming a pincer attack with Zhu Wen and his group attacking from the east. Zhu Wen's second brother, Zhu Cun, was also borrowed by Lin Yan to serve as a deputy general to lead the battle.

After defeating the government cavalry who were attacking, Zhu Wen immediately ordered the cavalry to turn left and break into the position of Lei Yinfu's troops from the side and rear, which lacked cavalry cover.

Some knights dismounted, cut the chains connecting the chevaux de frise stakes, and moved the chevaux de frise behind the enemy formation to create space for the charge.

On the front, Lei Yinfu's troops were suppressed by the charge of the Cao army infantry from the high ground, and were then attacked from behind by the knights led by Zhu Wen. They could no longer hold on and collapsed amid waves of loud exclamations.

In this battle, the Cao army took advantage of their home turf and prepared a large number of horses. Zhu Wen, with the advantage of cavalry mobility, was able to evade the strongest formation of Wang Jian's army and attack the relatively vulnerable Lei Yinfu army.

Although he is one of the "Five Swords of Burning Heaven" under Marshal Yan, the combat effectiveness of the soldiers under Lei Yinfu is still significantly inferior to that of Wang Jian's subordinates.

Aside from the 150 elite loyal warriors from the Houlou under Wang Jian's direct command, and the newly recruited troops from Luoyang recently assigned to him by General Yan, who had also been trained to considerable combat effectiveness in a short period of time, the Lei Yinfu troops, temporarily under Wang Jian's command, lagged behind.

"Soldiers, hurry up and don't let the enemy kill us!" Lei Yinfu shouted in a high-pitched voice.

The firearms of the Thunderbolt Hall rained down on the charging Cao Army soldiers as if they were free.

But facing the brave soldiers filled with murderous intent, it did not have much effect, it was like throwing a few sparks into the ocean.

Some incendiary oil canisters were accidentally thrown into the faces of Lei Yinfu's own soldiers. With a sharp crackle, the splattered, scorching oil directly covered the soldiers' faces and ignited. The soldiers cried out in agony, stumbling to the ground, where they were trampled by the Cao army cavalry, breaking their bones and tendons.

Of the Thirty-Six Stratagems, running away is the best. Faced with the imminent threat of death, Lei Yinfu decided to retreat mid-battle, vacating his position along with the retreating troops, looking for an opportunity to counterattack.

But Tian Jun's bright eyes were already fixed on him like an eagle.

Lei Yinfu didn't sense any murderous intent at all.

When he realized the danger, a snake spear had already drawn a smooth arc and flew towards him.

Lei Yinfu hurriedly raised his shield to block, but the spear, as heavy as a mountain, penetrated the wooden shield directly, then went through Lei Yinfu's heart guard and pierced his heart accurately.

Blood spurted out of his mouth like a smashed pomegranate, Lei Yinfu fell to the ground with a look of unwillingness in his eyes.

The surrounding soldiers screamed and fled.

The military inspector and judge of the Tang Dynasty, Zhaoyi, and the third of the Five Burning Sky Swords - Lei Yinfu, died at this moment.

Zhu Wen cheered from the bottom of his heart.

He had to admit that Tian Jun's spear throwing skills were much more reliable than her archery skills, and had even greater explosive power.

Now this performance only makes Zhu Wen proud.

Lei Yinfu's death accelerated the collapse of his team. The position was soon deserted, with broken chevaux de frise and the corpses of government soldiers scattered around.

Tian Jun rode his horse to the body of Lei Yinfu, retrieved his snake spear from the other's chest, and gave Zhu Wen a proud smile.

In the nearby formation, Wang Jian's expression finally changed suddenly.

Flame Marshal's main camp must have also been attacked.

The fact that the enemy was able to tie down Marshal Yan's main formation proved that Marshal Yan had indeed suffered serious injuries at Muling Pass.

Otherwise, Zhen Ranyu, who was turning the Fiery Sky-Burning Blade, was himself an invincible meat-grinder.

The governor Zang Zimian, whose martial power was not much inferior to that of Yan Shuai, also had his right arm broken by Wang Xianzhi in the battle of Qizhou, and his strength was greatly reduced.

"Brother Wang Jian, it's a pity that Deputy Captain Murong was killed by that little bitch..." A personal soldier beside Wang Jian said, "If not, wouldn't it be better for us to directly engage Zhu San'er in a cavalry battle instead of lying low here?"

During the Battle of Songzhou, Wang Jian's former deputy Murong Duanfu raided the Cao army's grain transport team, which accidentally forced out Duan Hongyan's Duan Qingyu personality. He was killed by Duan Hongyan, but Wang Jian lost his cavalry talent.

Wang Jian didn't answer. He wasn't familiar with Tian Jun, but he knew Zhu San'er was fine. But that female cavalry commander was so fierce that even if Captain Murong was still alive, it would be difficult for his own side to gain any advantage against them on horseback. Seeing Zhu Wen and his men, who had crushed Lei Yinfu's forces, about to storm their positions, Wang Jian could only order his soldiers to be on guard, preferring death to retreating.

But at this moment, a sharp and high-pitched voice suddenly sounded.

“Hehehehe… This situation still needs to be resolved by me!”

Zhu Wen's acquaintance, Chen Liqing, who ranked fourth among the "Five Swords of Burning Heaven", seemed to appear out of thin air.

This was not surprising, because there was a three-foot-wide tiankeng on the ground, which both armies had previously deliberately avoided to avoid falling in. The tiankeng was pitch black and unknown how deep it was, and Chen Liqing had apparently crawled out from inside.

She laughed at Wang Jian and said, "General Wang, you are not as good as me in this round!"

Zhu Wen's eyes were bloodshot in an instant.

In Chen Liqing's left hand, she was holding a thin girl whose hands and feet were tied with ropes. She had been strangled by her until her face was as pale as gold paper.

Lan Suting.

When Chen Liqing climbed up, Lan Suting was carried on her back.

Lan Suting was sent to Taishan Sect by Zhu Wen's order Huo Cun, who was protected by Chao Ying. After the people were sent there, Huo Cun could not bear the Cao army and rushed back to join the battle.

Why did she appear in Chen Liqing's hands?

Could it be that Chaoying was a traitor?
It's no wonder that Zhu Wen was so suspicious of a woman like Chaoying who was good at planning for her own future.

But Chaoying's feelings for Lan Suting do not seem fake.

While Zhu Wen was thinking, Lan Suting had already managed to squeeze out some intermittent words from his throat.

"It has nothing to do with...Sister Chaoying... The elders of the Taishan Sect... who were dissatisfied with her... colluded with the government troops... and secretly abducted me... and brought me out..."

"All of you... leave me alone... Even if Su Ting dies... I must not drag down the entire army..."

"Death, then?" Chen Liqing scoffed, then burst into a strange, piercing laugh: "Little girl, do you think death is easy?"

She strangled Lan Suting's throat with her palm, making it difficult for Lan Suting to breathe and her face turned blue.

Chen Liqing really hated girls like Lan Suting, who were as pure and clean as a blank sheet of paper. This reminded her of how her body had become disgusting after being ravaged by the rioters of Qiu Fu's tribe when she was twelve years old.

Not only Zhu Wen, but Tian Jun was also stunned and roared, "That old woman, let Sister Zhizhen go quickly, or I will poke a transparent hole in you!"

Chen Liqing smiled even more smugly: "You guys can be angry. The angrier you are, the more you care about her, the better!"

"Zhu San'er, not only is she doted on by you, but she's also treated like a fairy by your entire battalion, right? If you can't save her and watch her die in front of the three armies, what will your brothers think?"

A vicious light flashed in Chen Liqing's eyes.

Previously, she was humiliated in public by Zhu Wen outside the city of Songzhou, which made her hatred towards Zhu Wen reach the extreme.

What she said really hit the point.

"General Yan has been defeated. I'll use this little girl's life in exchange for our safe retreat." Chen Liqing said coldly, "Otherwise, I'll use her to block the arrows and let her die at your hands. I wonder if your morale will be higher or lower by then?"

This is indeed a vicious conspiracy.

Zhu Wen understood that it didn't matter whether his side was threatened or not.

The important thing is to delay time and find an opportunity for Yan Shuai's army to counterattack.

The soldiers' attack had been forced to stop, and if he ordered to continue the attack, it would mean killing Lan Suting with his own hands.

Lan Suting nursed the wounded, boiled medicine, and cooked for the soldiers, earning her immense respect from the soldiers. Many soldiers even felt that Lan was the wife destined by heaven to be the general's wife, and that she and the general would be a perfect match.

If Zhu Wen disregarded Lan Suting's life, how would his brothers view him?

What's more, it was really difficult for him to get over this hurdle.

"Such a strategy is definitely not something you can come up with on your own." Zhu Wen said gritting his teeth.

Chen Liqing laughed wildly and said, "So what if it is, so what if it isn't?"

She had just mocked Wang Jian, and it was obvious that Wang Jian was completely unaware of this.

Although the thief Wangba is unscrupulous, this despicable trick is still not his style.

A strange figure with long arms and legs, a pale face, and eyeliner on the corners of the eyes immediately appeared in front of Zhu Wen.

Shi Pu, the most beloved general of Zhi Xuan, the governor of Ganhua Army and a hero from Xuzhou.

Shi Pu also had a good understanding of the situation within the Taishan Sect because he had been there once in person.

As for Chen Liqing, the public carriage, there must be a relationship between her and Shi Pu that cannot be revealed to outsiders.

"Shi Pu, you are forcing me to wipe out your entire family in the future..."

Zhu Wen uttered a whisper that seemed to come from the underworld.

(End of this chapter)