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

Chapter 411 Return of Gift
On the other side of the boundary bridge.

Qu Yi, who was guarding the bridgehead, shouted at the top of his lungs, "Fire the arrows!!"

The arrows were fired and landed among the fleeing soldiers, causing many deaths and injuries, and triggering even greater chaos and curses.

"Don't fire! They're on our side!"

The fleeing soldiers cried and surged onto the bridge.

Qu Yi gritted his teeth and looked at Tian Feng.

Tian Feng shook his head: "We must stop them, or our entire army will be wiped out!"

This was an inevitable choice. If the routed soldiers were allowed to cross the bridge and disrupt the army's formation, Liu Bei, who was in hot pursuit, would be able to take advantage of the situation to defeat Tian Feng and Qu Yi in one fell swoop.

"Fire arrows! Add barricades! Don't let them get any closer!"

Qu Yi knew he couldn't hold back now, so he shouted and fired arrows again.

Qu Yi's troops brought out barricades and formed a crossfire at the bridgehead, killing Yan Liang's men.

"Our own people! Ah..."

The bridge was narrow, crowded with fleeing soldiers, and littered with corpses under a hail of arrows.

Many defeated soldiers abandoned their weapons and armor and jumped into the river to survive, but the river water was icy cold, and even if they didn't drown, they would lose their fighting ability.

"Formation! Formation!"

Wen Chou retreated to the riverbank, where the crowded boundary bridge was packed with people. Knowing he couldn't cross the river, he roared and turned around again.

Zhao Yun, like a demon, had already charged forward, his spear thrusting left and sweeping right, and the fleeing enemies fell one by one.

Liu Bei has already led his troops in pursuit, and Tian Yu's crossbowmen have also arrived from the rear.

Further back came the sound of dense drums, and Guo Jia ordered the reserve troops to keep blowing the bugle call for the entire army to charge.

Some people tried to fight to the death, but in this situation, there was really no difference between resisting and running away.

Wen Chou gritted his teeth and went against the current, raising his halberd and charging towards Zhao Yun.

Zhao Yun didn't care who was in front of him; as long as there was someone in front of him, he would thrust his spear forward.

Wen Chou raised his halberd and swept it fiercely, parrying the spear tip, and was about to strike back.

But Zhao Yun turned his horse around and struck again with one hand, his speed clearly faster than the halberd.

Zhao Yun didn't even turn around before the spear struck, but the spear was already aimed straight at Wen Chou's back. Only when the spear arrived did Zhao Yun turn to look back.

Wen Chou's hair stood on end. He suddenly turned to the side and used the hook on his arm to strike, narrowly blocking the counterattack.

With his left hand hooked around the reins, Wen Chou turned sideways on his horse and struck the spear thrusting from behind. The reins of Wen Chou's warhorse were suddenly taut, and he came to a sudden stop, rearing up.

With this forced pull and block, Wen Chou's left arm immediately went numb and powerless.

"What courage..."

The two horses passed each other, and Zhao Yun's cold voice drifted away into the distance.

Wen Chou turned back with lingering fear, his eyes suddenly filled with despair.

A thousand armored cavalrymen charged toward him.

His numb hands could no longer hold the heavy halberd, and Wen Chou had already stopped his warhorse; there was no way to dodge it.

With a bitter smile, Wen Chou raised his halberd with one hand and thrust it forward with all his might.

In an instant, the Xuanjia cavalry general Wen Chou was submerged in the torrent.

"Commander Wen is dead!"

"The cavalry are charging!"

Wen Chou was indeed a brave warrior, but his final efforts did not stop Zhao Yun's advance, only bringing deeper panic to Yan Liang's troops.

Having lost their battle formation and their most valiant and courageous generals, no one dared to turn back to face the surging tide of armored soldiers.

The vibrations of the iron hooves thundered like a death knell, striking the hearts of every fleeing soldier.

Yan Liang did not see Wen Chou die in battle, but he heard a louder commotion behind him, and in front of him was a crowd of people crammed together at Jieqiao.

Thousands of people crowded at the bridgehead, countless soldiers fell into the river, and corpses piled up on the bridge surface. On the other side of the bridge, there was a crossbow formation of friendly forces. Yan Liang glanced back, led his guards, cut down a few defeated soldiers, and rushed to the bridgehead, shouting, "Qu Yi! Make way!!"

"It's General Yan... Don't fire the arrows!"

The crossbowmen at the bridgehead slowed down for a moment, and several of Qu Yi's men recognized Yan Liang.

Yan Liang led his guards and rushed westward towards the boundary bridge.

Qu Yi also saw him, gripped the command flag tightly in his hand, gritted his teeth and looked at Tian Feng again: "Prefect Tian?"

Tian Feng's face was also pale: "Shoot him dead..."

Qu Yi frowned and raised the command flag, but gritted his teeth and lowered it again: "Withdraw the troops... Sound the retreat! Enter the camp and hold your ground!"

"Qu Yi! Withdrawing now will lead to utter defeat!!"

Tian Feng was furious: "Shoot him to death!"

"So many people recognized General Yan. If I shoot him dead... how could I possibly survive?"

Qu Yi threw down the command flag and personally struck the large gong hanging beside him: "Tian Yuanhao, look at the state of the soldiers! They've killed so many of their own men, their morale is completely shattered! Do you think they can still stop Liu Bei now?!"

Tian Feng turned his head and looked around.

The crossbowmen were all pale-faced and their morale was extremely low. If they were forced to shoot Yan Liang, Qu Yi would probably lose control of the troops.

Tian Feng sighed: "Then let's retreat... but we must not enter Guangzong Camp, nor go north to Xindu... retreat to Boluojin!"

After saying this, Tian Feng led his troops to retreat quickly to the west.

Qu Yi recalled the crossbowmen, ignored the Guangzong camp, and withdrew to Boluojin in Julu.

Boluojin has mountains, rivers, and valleys; only by taking advantage of the complex terrain can one delay or avoid pursuers.

During the Yellow Turban Rebellion, Huangfu Song achieved a surprise victory by burning his own camp after retreating three times at Boluojin. Bai Yao also escaped the pursuit of government troops at Boluojin.

With the bridge no longer blocked, the chaotic and defeated soldiers could not stop Liu Bei's advance, and Zhao Yun's figure had already appeared at the bridgehead.

Tian Feng had no choice but to retreat immediately before his troops were thrown into disarray.

Yan Liang rushed across the boundary bridge and escaped with his life.

However, most of the soldiers who had followed him in the attack on Liu Bei had already scattered, Wen Chou had died in battle, and only a hundred or so had escaped with Yan Liang.

Even after crossing the bridge, they couldn't escape Zhao Yun's pursuit. The routed soldiers who could cross the river fled back to the Guangzong camp, but there were no more friendly troops left in the camp.

Upon seeing this, Yan Liang immediately found another warhorse, but instead of fleeing to Boluojin, he headed north towards Anping Xindu—his hometown was in Anping.

Zhao Yun easily captured the Guangzong camp.

Most of the defeated soldiers near Jieqiao were killed. Liu Bei did not want prisoners, nor did he have time to guard the surrendered soldiers.

But Liu Bei did not kill everyone; instead, he continued to chase after the other fleeing soldiers to see where they would run.

Most of the routed soldiers abandoned their armor and weapons, and after crossing the bridge, they made the same choice as Yan Liang, fleeing towards Xindu.

In this battle, Yan Liang and Wen Chou's troops were completely wiped out. Wen Chou was killed in battle, and more than 6,000 men were either killed or routed. All the baggage was left behind in the Guangzong camp.

Tian Feng's decision to send Qu Yi to Boluojin instead of guarding Guangzong was actually the right one.

If the bridge is blocked indefinitely, Liu Bei's troops might indeed be unable to cross the river. However, the psychological pressure of constantly shooting their own men is already difficult for the soldiers to bear. If Yan Liang is shot, Qu Yi's troops will likely collapse as well.

Besides... now that Yan Liang and Wen Chou have been defeated, what good will it do if Qu Yi manages to hold off Liu Bei for a while at Jieqiao?
The morale of the army had already collapsed, while Liu Bei's troops were in high spirits. Without Yan Liang and Wen Chou's troops, Qu Yi wouldn't be able to hold out for long.

Instead, a swift and organized withdrawal to minimize losses and abandon Guangzong would allow Liu Bei's troops to slow down—the routed soldiers would enter the Guangzong camp, and Liu Bei's troops would have to confirm that the Guangzong camp was no longer a threat before continuing their pursuit.

However, it may not be safe in Boluojin.

Liu Bei was extremely familiar with this area.

After chasing the fleeing soldiers across the river, Zhao Yun pursued them northward for twenty li. He discovered that the number of enemy soldiers was very small, and that there were Hu people in the direction of the county and Xindu. He then sent someone to report the situation to Liu Bei.

"Guorang, send someone to deliver Wen Chou's body to Xindu, saying that I am returning Zhang Yao's gift to them."

At the bridgehead, Liu Bei instructed Tian Yu: "Tell them to wash their necks clean and wait!"

(End of this chapter)