Second-hand time travel: Liu Bei, the big-eared bandit

Chapter 367 Only Moving Forward
Tian Yu turned and ran towards another hill behind.

The hill behind is where Yue Jin and Zhang Fei fought before, and Jia Xu is supervising the battle from the top of the hill.

Zhao Yun, along with over a hundred elite cavalry guards, raised their spears and spurred their horses down the hill.

Charging down a gentle slope from a high vantage point is the most lethal maneuver for cavalry.

The horses' hooves pounded the soft earth, kicking up dust that created a long, swirling storm.

Zhao Yun himself was the arrowhead, charging at the very front.

The troops that continued to charge despite their defeat were Gao Lan's personal guards.

On a large-scale battlefield, Zhao Yun and his hundred or so men seemed insignificant, but the dust kicked up by their iron hooves still alerted Gao Lan to the danger.

"Turn left! Spear formation!"

Gao Lan's roar echoed across the battlefield, and his running personal guards quickly changed formation, raising their spears like a forest.

But Zhao Yun's charge route was unexpected.

The hundred or so guards behind Zhao Yun all rode white horses, and their helmets had white tassels. They were usually called the White Horse Cavalry, but they were not the so-called White Horse Righteous Cavalry.

They did not belong to the Xuanjia Army, but were military judges, belonging to the military police force, since Zhao Yun also handled military law affairs.

These military police are a core unit whose skills and character have been tested and proven; they are all outstanding individuals selected from various departments.

They are responsible for training and managing troops in peacetime and supervising and overseeing troops in wartime. If they go into battle, it is to overcome difficulties. Their skills and battlefield awareness are excellent. Only about a hundred people are selected from tens of thousands of troops.

The military police followed behind Zhao Yun, and just as they were about to engage the enemy, they suddenly turned around, bypassed the gun formation in front, and rushed straight towards Gao Lan behind the gun formation.

"Form ranks! Form a circular formation!"

Gao Lan's expression changed drastically, and he hurriedly ordered his subordinates to stop and form a battle formation.

Chen Gong and his men rushed here via mountain trails, of course without any cavalry, as horses simply cannot traverse those mountain paths.

Gao Lan had no horse at this time. If the formation of more than a thousand men that he had managed to maintain was broken up, then he would really have no way to escape.

But at that moment, the archery battalion on the hill directly in front of them also began to advance.

On another hilltop, Tian Yu was using a battle flag to direct his crossbowmen to cooperate with Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun circled around Gao Lan's formation to the side and rear, then inserted himself into the formation from south to north.

Hundreds of crossbowmen advanced rapidly, rushing from north to south to within a hundred paces of Gao Lan's formation, firing their crossbow bolts horizontally.

Gao Lan managed to set up a gun formation under the protection of his personal guards, but he was unable to defend against attacks from both the north and south.

Spear formations can indeed stop cavalry, but they must be clustered together, which is exactly what crossbowmen love, as they can hit targets with almost any shot.

The best way to deal with crossbowmen is for skirmishers to charge quickly with shields, as crossbowmen have a slow reload time, and a fast charge gives you a chance to get close. But cavalry loves chasing skirmishers...

Zhao Yun's white horse cavalry had already penetrated deep into the enemy formation. With each swing of his spear, he took a life, preventing Gao Lan's formation from ever taking shape.

"Spread out... Vanguard, raise your shields and charge the crossbowmen!"

Gao Lan had no choice but to disperse his spear formation and send his troops to charge the crossbowmen to the north, while he turned around with his personal guards to meet Zhao Yun.

"Who is the enemy general?"

Zhao Yun's voice pierced clearly through the clamor of the battlefield: "Surrender, and I will spare your life!"

"...Gao Huan of Hebei! Stop with your empty talk, come and fight!"

Gao Lan shouted loudly, announced his real name, and led his personal guards, armed with halberds, to meet Zhao Yun.

"He's quite a hero... what a pity!"

Zhao Yun sheathed his spear and, taking advantage of the enemy's abandonment of their spear formation, charged swiftly towards Gao Lan.

Two of Gao Lan's personal guards thrust their spears at Zhao Yun's horse, but Zhao Yun's spears accurately deflected them to the left and right, the two spears being swept to the sides and hindering the other enemy troops.

Gao Lan coordinated well with his personal guards. As Zhao Yun parried the two spears, the halberd suddenly thrust forward with a whoosh and great force.

However, Zhao Yun used the reaction force after deflecting the spear to flick it in the middle, causing Gao Lan's halberd to deflect diagonally upwards.

Then Zhao Yun bent down, and using the reaction force from the upward thrust, his spear sank down and thrust forward.

Gao Lan hurriedly retreated, but it was too late.

Zhao Yun's horse never stopped. With just one charge, his spear pierced Gao Lan's chest.

The battlefield is not like a one-on-one duel; a single move can mean life or death. Everything around you, whether enemy or ally, can be a weapon.

Gao Lan stared incredulously at the spear tip in his chest before being knocked away by Zhao Yun's warhorse.

The white-horse riders who had been following Zhao Yun quickly broke through Gao Lan's personal guards.

Zhao Yun spurred his horse, ramming Gao Lan aside and charging a short distance before shouting, "Gao Huan is dead!"

The battlefield seemed quiet for a moment, then the enemy troops scattered in panic.

Zhao Yun led his troops around the enemy formation and headed towards the Xuanjia Army on the west side of the battlefield.

Jia Xu observed the battle from the hilltop. At this time, there were no longer any organized enemy units on the battlefield; they were all scattered and fleeing aimlessly.

Only the routed soldiers who had been heading south into the woods stopped and were reorganized.

"Ming Jin!"

Jia Xu turned and gave the instructions, then quickly descended the mountain.

As the gong sounded, Zhao Yun led his Xuanjia cavalry northward in retreat.

Tian Yu also raised the command flag, and the Shesheng Battalion and Wufeng Battalion quickly withdrew their troops and headed towards Tugu County.

……

Chen Gong was indeed in the woods at that moment, anxiously watching.

Yuan Yi looked flustered. His troops had just left the mountain pass when they were overwhelmed by the Wu Feng Battalion, suffering extremely heavy losses.

Suddenly hearing the sound of gongs from the opposite side and seeing the Wu Feng Camp retreating, Yuan Yi was stunned: "They actually... withdrew their troops? How could this be?"

"There must be danger in Linzi..."

Chen Gong stroked his beard, beads of sweat forming on his forehead: "Where's Gao Lan? Have Gao Lan lead the army to counterattack! Quickly!"

"Report! General Gao has been killed in battle... and his troops have been routed."

Just as Gao Lan was being questioned, a messenger came to deliver a message: "The vanguard has sent word that they have captured Tugu County, but I'm afraid they won't be able to hold it for long. Please send reinforcements, Your Excellency!"

Chen Gong's spirits lifted: "Sound the assembly call! Unite the troops and advance quickly to Tugu County!"

"Gongtai, why don't we withdraw our troops..."

Yuan Yi wiped his sweat: "We have fallen into Liu Bei's trap. His elite troops are all left in Qingzhou. We have suffered heavy losses. Do you still want to attack Linzi?"

"Retreat? Where to retreat to?"

Chen Gong said in a low voice, "Since it's Liu Bei's treacherous scheme, then Liu Bei is conspiring with Cao Cao... We've probably already lost Jiyin and Shanyang. If we can't capture Qingzhou, where can we go?!"

"But now..."

Yuan Yi looked around and said, "We only have three days' worth of rations left, and we have suffered such a crushing defeat. Now our army is in complete disarray and the soldiers have no will to fight... How can we possibly attack Linzi?"

"It is precisely because we only have three days' worth of rations that we cannot retreat... If we are trapped in the dense forest and mountain paths, that would be a dead end!"

Chen Gong shook his head and said, "They could have won a complete victory, but they suddenly withdrew at this time without even cleaning up the battlefield. There must be danger in Linzi. We should immediately reorganize our troops... Is Fan Qiang at Tugu?"

"Yes, it was Mr. Fan who led his troops into the county..."

The messenger replied.

"Then there is great potential... All the families in Qingzhou will surely rise up in response, and we will still have a chance!"

Chen Gong made up his mind: "Sound the horn, burn down this forest, cut off the retreat route... Let each unit take what they have gained on the battlefield and gather in Tugu County!"

"This……"

Upon hearing that Chen Gong intended to burn down the forest, cutting off their own retreat, Yuan Yi panicked: "No! Gongtai! If this forest is burned down, we..."

"We had no way out!"

Chen Gong interrupted Yuan Yi with a furious glare: "Do you think Sun Guan, Zang Ba, and the others will sit idly by and do nothing? The southern route to Mount Tai must have already been blocked. We have no choice but to advance! Tell the whole army! We have nowhere to retreat but to advance!!"

(End of this chapter)