Zhutian: Starting from the Space-Time Merchant

Chapter 374 Capture the Flag
The first to engage in battle were the scouts on both sides.

They began fighting as they lined up on both sides and approached each other, continuing until they were about two miles apart.

As the urgent drumbeats sounded, the scouts who had been fighting desperately abandoned their opponents and fled on horseback.

As the large formation drew closer, the first to attack were the crossbowmen.

Staying between the two sides will result in being relentlessly bombarded by a hail of arrows.

The Later Zhou army had already sent a fast messenger to inform Emperor Guo Rong that reinforcements were on their way.

Therefore, all the vanguard troops marched out together, their morale soaring.

On the Northern Han side, Liu Chong was unaware that the main force of the Zhou army was on its way and was determined to first defeat the vanguard of the Zhou army.

Lin Dao, holding the reins in his hand, stood beside the horse and gently stroked its neck.

The distant rumble of war drums and shouts of battle echoed continuously, stirring the blood and making one's blood boil.

"Don't worry."

Holding binoculars, Lin Dao gently patted the horse's neck, soothing the warhorse that was snorting and clearly getting excited, saying, "It's time for us to charge."

The cavalrymen around him were all sitting on the ground to conserve their energy.

Seeing Lin Dao standing there observing the battlefield, some people sneered inwardly, 'Just a lowly tenth general, standing there like a commander-in-chief, concerned about the battlefield's changes. Does he really think he's a general?'

During the late Tang Dynasty, the Ten Generals held a very high position, and some could even command a thousand men.

But a century has passed quickly, and the status of the ten generals has declined along with them, and now they have become insignificant low-ranking officers.

Looking back at the cavalry's encampment, he saw that the more than a thousand cavalrymen were mostly sitting and resting.

After all, in a fight, every extra bit of strength increases the chance of survival.

Those who stand and watch, and those who ride horses, are all high-ranking officers.

Just like Fan Aineng, the commander of the cavalry, who was observing the battlefield from his horse just a few dozen steps away from the forest road.

Lin Dao had neither packhorses nor riding horses, and was unwilling to waste the strength of his warhorses, so he could only stand and watch.

Based on his extensive battlefield experience, Zhou Jun's infantry formation had a slight advantage, but the advantage was not significant.

The real advantage lay in the fact that Zhou's army had over a thousand cavalrymen, while the opposing Northern Han cavalry only numbered a few hundred.

The Khitans supporting the Northern Han were still in Luzhou, and their disadvantage in cavalry would be the key to determining the outcome of the battle.

"almost."

Lin Dao muttered to himself, "The battle between the great formations is fierce and intense; it's time to unleash the decisive move."

'Woo~~~'

As Lin Dao had expected, the bugle sounded, and the Zhou army cavalrymen rose to prepare.

Lin Dao took out the concentrated feed made with salted soybean cakes, cracked an egg into it, and fed it to the warhorse.

After the warhorse had finished eating, they took out the water bag and fed it water.

This was basically the case for all Zhou army cavalry units.

The difference lies in the quantity and quality of the feed; most of the cavalrymen didn't have eggs.

After all, in times of war, even coarse grains to fill one's stomach are hard to find, let alone luxuries like eggs.

The bugle sounded again, and the cavalrymen from all units mounted their horses one after another.

Lin Dao, fully armored, felt his body brimming with power.

He hadn't personally taken to the field in a long time; the shouts of men and the neighing of horses, the smoke and dust of the battlefield, made his blood boil.

As for why Lin Dao is so brave.

Besides the confidence brought by the excellent equipment, what was more important was that he noticed that every time he dreamed of listening to lectures at the dojo, his body seemed to become stronger.

This overwhelming sense of power gave him boundless courage.

He hung the composite pulley bow on the horse's back, carried the armor-piercing straight sword made of alloy steel at his waist, and held a long-barreled heavy hammer that was more than three meters long in both hands.

As one of the ten generals, he also carried a flag on his back, embroidered with a fierce dragon.

Without a doubt, these were products he ordered in the modern world.

As for those distributed before, they are not needed at all.

"My advantages are my strength, good physique, strong impact, and strong endurance."

"You should make full use of your own strengths and not pursue marksmanship or knife skills."

The heavy hammer in his hand has a seamless steel pipe body and machine-drawn threads on the handle.

At the top is a giant hammer, bigger than a fist.

When it's swung around and hits someone, unless the opponent is wearing power armor, they'll be smashed to pieces.

As the long bugle call sounded, Zhou's cavalry units, organized by commandery, slowly advanced, bypassing the main battlefield from the flanks, and headed towards the main camp of the puppet Han army.

Without a doubt, the target was Liu Chong's banner.

The puppet Han army responded accordingly, with hundreds of cavalrymen marching out in a grand procession and gradually accelerating their charge.

When the two sides were less than a mile apart, the horses had already increased their speed to the speed of a charge.

Lin Dao hung the long-handled heavy hammer on the Desheng hook, picked up the pulley bow, drew the bow and nocked an arrow, and together with the others, launched it into the sky.

He quickly fired three arrows, then swiftly put away his pulley bow, lowered his head, and picked up the long-handled heavy hammer, gripping it tightly in his hand.

The next moment, amidst a series of whooshing sounds, numerous arrows whistled down.

The arrows struck the armor with a clanging sound.

Given the speed at which the two sides were charging at that moment, there was only enough time for two or three rounds of arrow rain.

I looked up, and the other side was already right in front of me.

The thunderous sound of horses' hooves pounding the earth and the clash of cavalrymen echoed throughout the heavens and earth.

Lin Dao wielded his long-handled heavy hammer with both hands, smashing down several pseudo-Han cavalrymen in succession.

He would naturally not acknowledge the Northern Han.

Because that bastard Liu Chong, in order to gain the support of the Khitans, recognized the Khitan emperor as his uncle and himself as his nephew.

It was no less than Shi Jingtang's puppet emperor.

This kind of scum is an insult to the Chinese people.

A rider galloped towards them, his lance aimed straight at Lin Dao's large breastplate.

Lin Dao was dressed in fine armor and riding a strong horse, so the person opposite him regarded him as a general.

With lightning-fast reflexes, Lin Dao swung his long-handled hammer and rammed it into the lance, the immense force instantly sending the lance flying.

The immense recoil caused the fake Han cavalryman's hands to tear open, his body trembled violently, and he lost his balance on his horse, tumbling off.

Before he could cry out in pain, the massive hooves of the following horses trampled him. Cavalry charges are extremely brutal; falling from one's horse almost always means death or maiming.

After the hedging, both sides were thrown into chaos, like hot water poured on an anthill.

Lin Dao, however, had a clear purpose. As soon as he broke out of the chaotic battle formation, he headed straight for Liu Chong's banner without any regard for anything else.

Although Liu Chong was utterly devoid of integrity, he was not a spineless coward.

Instead, he did not build ancestral temples or palaces, drastically reduced expenditures such as officials' salaries, and devoted all his efforts to building up the army.

He himself frequently went to the battlefield, daring to fight and kill.

Seeing a rider from the Later Zhou dynasty approaching, he gave a cold laugh and paid no more attention.

The general dispatched seven soldiers from his own troops to ride over and block them.

Yabing refers to personal guards.

Its name originates from Yaqi, which means Yaya.

In ancient times, when a general was stationed in a town, he would raise a banner and march with an imperial insignia.

Their official offices were called "ya," later becoming "ya," and their personal guards were called "ya soldiers." The commander of the ya soldiers was called "ya general."

This was a unique military name from the late Tang Dynasty to the Five Dynasties period.

In a general sense, these were the private armies of the regional military governors.

Those who are selected as soldiers are all brave warriors.

'Hu~'

Lin Dao took a breath and took out a submachine gun from the bag.

The clamor of the battlefield drowned out the gunfire.

The seven soldiers who were preparing to charge into the forest never expected that they would be attacked by gunpowder weapons.

The three men charging ahead were hit by bullets and immediately fell off their horses.

What followed was even worse. Lin Dao shot both men and horses. The soldiers were not hit, but their horses were.

Even horses weighing several hundred kilograms fell to the ground without any surprise when subjected to machine gun fire.

During a high-speed charge, soldiers would fall and be thrown off their feet, crashing to the ground with broken bones and torn tendons, suffering a fate worse than death.

"Your Majesty, leave immediately!"

Upon witnessing this scene, the yaman's eyes widened in fury.

He immediately grabbed the reins of Liu Chong's horse, who was still observing the main battlefield, and spurred the horse to run away.

"The enemy general felled seven of his soldiers in a single encounter!"

"Even if the Overlord were to be resurrected, he would be no better than this!"

"Your Majesty, leave immediately!"

In order to block Zhou Jun's cavalry, Liu Chong had even sent out most of his personal guards.

At this moment, he was only accompanied by a mere thirty horse guards.

Faced with a fierce man who could take down seven soldiers in a single encounter, the best option was to run away immediately.

About twenty soldiers rode forward to intercept the forest road.

Lin Dao, who had quickly changed his magazine, emptied it again, sweeping away more than ten riders, including his horse.

Without time to change the magazine, he picked up the long-handled heavy hammer and engaged the remaining soldiers in close combat.

He has extremely fast reaction speed and immense strength.

Basically, every time he swung his weapon, he could knock down a soldier.

The soldiers around Liu Chong all enjoyed the best treatment of the puppet Han people.

They were also extremely loyal to Liu Chong, fighting desperately to hold off Lin Dao and buy time for Liu Chong's escape.

Although most soldiers in this era are scum, they will truly risk their lives for you if they receive benefits.

Lin Dao spent some time killing the remaining soldiers one by one.

By the time he spurred his horse forward again, Liu Chong was already far away.

"We should use machine guns."

Lin Dao grinned and spurred his horse to gallop after them.

Liu Chong was also riding a fine horse, and his speed was by no means slow.

Moreover, people kept turning back to block the forest path, making the distance between the two sides wider and wider.

Seeing that he couldn't catch up, Lin Dao's gaze fell on Liu Chong's banner.

The man holding the banner is a famous strongman of the pseudo-Han people.

Seeing Lin Dao riding towards him, he vigorously swung his heavy banner and swept it across.

The great banner clashed with the long-handled heavy hammer, producing a muffled thud.

The strongman couldn't withstand the strain, staggered backward, and fell to the ground.

Looking at his torn tiger's mouth, the strongman's face was filled with horror.

He was so strong that he could toss a stone weight weighing two or three hundred pounds around with ease, and he could even grab a cow by the head and throw it to the ground.

But in front of this week's cavalry general, he was defeated in a single exchange!
"A monster!"

Lin Dao rode up on horseback, his long-handled hammer slamming down and striking the strongman on the head.

He rode his strong horse back and forth across the fallen banner, leaving behind numerous hoofprints.

This item must be delivered to Guo Rong; such an honor as trampling on the enemy's banner must naturally be kept.

One advantage of an era dominated by warriors is that the merits you earn in battle are hard to be stolen.

The greater the achievement, the harder it is to seize.

The scenario of Han Shizhong capturing Fang La alive, only to have his merits stolen by his superior, would not have occurred during the Five Dynasties and Ten Kingdoms period.

Martial artists are not blind. They do not acknowledge the credit stolen from them, and they will even band together to fight back.

After all, if you can steal his credit today, you can steal mine tomorrow!
Lin Dao picked up Liu Chong's banner and spurred his horse toward the main battlefield.

He shouted loudly.

Liu Chong has fled.

"You all must surrender immediately!"

(End of this chapter)