My older brother is Gao Huan.

Chapter 263 Breaking Through the Enemy Line!

Despite being the emperor, Yuan Ziyou personally came to the perilous situation to beat the drum and cheer on his soldiers.

The emperor's act of humbly venturing into danger and taking action speaks louder than any words in the world. The soldiers at the bottom of the ranks did not understand the many hidden stories behind the events in Heyang and Heyin.

All they knew was that Yuan Ziyou, the current emperor of the Great Wei Dynasty, was the most honorable person in the entire world.

Even behind the emperor were high-ranking officials and ministers, figures like gods whom the emperor could not normally approach, all coming to see him off.

How can morale not be boosted?
Yuan Ziyou returned to Gao Yu's side, grabbed Gao Yu's arm and tightened his grip slightly. Although he didn't speak, his eyes conveyed a thousand unspoken words.

"General, I lack the courage to fight on the battlefield, but I wish to present my sword to you, so that it may serve you in my place and fight alongside you!"

Yuan Ziyou took the Emperor's Sword from his waist and personally handed it to Gao Yu.

Gao Yu immediately bowed and accepted the sword with both hands.

Yuan Ziyou helped him up again, saying, "General, I entrust this battle to you!!"

"Your humble servant will never fail Your Majesty's expectations!"

Wearing the Emperor's Sword at his waist, Gao Yu turned around and ordered Mulan to lead the troops out of the city first.

Yuan Ziyou then followed him to the city wall of Dongyang Gate.

The soldiers currently stationed on the city wall were drawn from various counties near Luoyang. They were all extremely excited to see the emperor in armor personally visiting the city wall.

Mulan led five hundred men, each equipped with three warhorses. After leaving the city in a grand procession, they headed southeast as instructed by Gao Yu.

Their departure from the city immediately attracted the attention of the enemy's vanguard.

"General! The garrison of Luoyang has actually taken the initiative to leave the city."

Chen Qingzhi and Lan Qin spotted it from afar. Lan Qin frowned and said, "Instead of holding their ground, they're launching an attack? Where do they get the guts? It must be a small group of cavalry trying to distract us, delay, and disrupt our siege."

Chen Qingzhi was overjoyed, "Pass on my order, give chase!!"

Lan Qin frowned. "General, what's going on?"

"It is perfectly reasonable for our army to pursue the enemy as they leave the city... If our army does not clear the way and give the defenders in the city hope of attacking the central army formation, why would they leave the city?"

"But if that's the case..."

Lanqin immediately came to his senses.

"The military situation is urgent. Our troops went to pursue, but found that the situation was not right, so they went back to reinforce the central army. They were able to attack from both sides, which was also a great achievement."

"General Wuwei... is indeed astute."

Lan Qin couldn't help but glance at him again; no wonder he had been by Xiao Yan's side since childhood.

It makes perfect sense. Yuan Hao, who was behind him, couldn't find fault with it. If they didn't pursue the enemy, what if the enemy went to another place and brought reinforcements?

"Pass on my order! The entire army, follow me and pursue this enemy force!!"

The two sent messengers to give orders, and the soldiers of the White Robe Army and the Guerrilla Battalion mounted their horses, while the infantry formed ranks and followed in the direction their cavalry was pursuing.

Gao Yu, standing atop the city wall, keenly observed this.

He was also somewhat bewildered. He didn't know what had happened. He only knew that, given the current situation, the Southern Liang army's vanguard, originally composed of elite soldiers, would clear a path for them to charge straight into the central camp.

He no longer cared whether it was seduction or not.

In this battle, the two sides were not evenly matched, and the defenders of Luoyang were at a significant disadvantage.

If the losing side wants to turn the tide, they have no choice but to risk everything and forcibly seize a chance to defy fate.

otherwise……

If the weaker side plays steadily and cautiously, how can they possibly win against the stronger side?
"Issue my order: the entire army, follow me out of the city!"

Gao Yu shouted and quickly turned around to go down the city wall. The auxiliary soldiers inside the city had already brought over all the warhorses. After these days of emergency repairs, they had managed to put together nearly seven hundred sets of armor. Adding to the one hundred sets of armor that Gao Yu already had, there were a total of eight hundred sets of armor.

Eight hundred armored cavalrymen were the source of Gao Yu's confidence in breaking through the enemy's formation!
The auxiliary soldiers had already fitted the horse tack onto the warhorses.

Besides.

Gao Yu also ordered that each person bring four warhorses as spares. This was destined to be a difficult charge. He had to break through the enemy's formation repeatedly, just like he had done before to defeat the Gaoche people, in order to completely crush the army that claimed to be 300,000 strong!
Gao Yu habitually took out his ghost mask and put it on his head. He had already had the craftsman make the mask in advance.

Previously, only the most elite hundred men could enjoy this honor, learning from Gao Yu to wear masks and fight the enemy. This time, it was unknown how many of them would return from the charge. So Gao Yu allowed all his soldiers to enjoy this honor, which was also a way to motivate them!
The soldiers followed his example, taking out ghost masks and putting them on their heads.

Gao Yu's final military order was to have branches and other objects tied to the tails of the last soldiers' horses so that they could raise dust and confuse the enemy when they charged.

On top of the city wall.

Yuan Ziyou and the officials all turned to look down.

The Xuanjia soldiers had all mounted their horses, each wearing a ghost mask, making them look extremely eerie.

Mu Shao murmured, "Truly... valiant."

Yuan Ziyou finally understood why the 'Xuanjia and Ghost Face' could intimidate the enemy army, and even felt an urge to join the Xuanjia army!

With such a fierce general and such bravery, how can we not lift the siege of Luoyang?
He snatched the hammer from the soldier beside him and then personally beat the drum!
Boom boom boom!
Gao Yu looked up and immediately proclaimed, "My lads, look! His Majesty is beating the drums to cheer us on!"

"Follow me out of the city to fight the enemy! We will not fail Your Majesty's expectations!"

"We have lived up to Your Majesty's expectations!!"

The city gates swung open, and Gao Yu spurred his warhorse, charging out of the city at the forefront.

Ang Gao, Peng Le, Da Xi Wu, She Di Gan... followed closely behind.

Rumble!
The sound of ten thousand horses galloping resounded, and although the sky was cloudless, muffled thunder rumbled.

During this month, Gao Yu did not spend his days peacefully in the city. He had previously predicted that the Southern Liang army would attack from the east, so he had already thoroughly familiarized himself with the terrain. He could know the location of the enemy's central camp without going to high places!
………………

"Damn it, how many pursuers are coming?"

Mulan galloped away on her horse, glancing back every now and then. The pursuers behind her stretched as far as the eye could see, not to mention the infantry lagging behind.

"General, what should we do?"

"Run! Keep running southeast, don't stay and fight them."

The reason Gao Yu sent Mulan with his troops alone was because he valued this quality. If it were Gao Ang, he might have already turned his horse around and fought the white-robed soldiers.

That would be unwise.

"With a mere five hundred men, we can hold off tens of thousands of enemy troops and draw their vanguard over. As for the rest, leave it to the general."

Mulan gave the order.

The entire army continued its rapid march, only occasionally turning back to unleash a volley of arrows, without stopping at all!
The pursued side has this advantage: even if the enemy behind shoots arrows, it is difficult to pose a real threat. On the contrary, the fleeing people in front can easily turn around and shoot an arrow, taking away an unlucky person at random.

Another volley of arrows rained down.

Yang Zhong was extremely unlucky to be hit by a stray arrow. Although it did not cause great damage, he regarded it as a great humiliation!
"Ah! I will kill you!"

Yang Zhong was furious and continued to urge his horse to pursue them relentlessly.

Just now.

But then someone shouted, "The general has ordered the entire army to cease pursuit!"

Upon hearing this, Yang Zhong's face turned furious, but he could only reluctantly tighten the reins and stop. After gathering the pursuing cavalry, Chen Qing ordered, "Rest for a moment, then follow me back to reinforce the central camp."

………………

Yuan Hao, Xing Gao, and their surrendered generals, including Qiu Daqian, were resting in the central camp he had specially built. They had already ordered people to bring up the fine wine and meat they had prepared, but unfortunately, the beautiful concubines were missing.

"With my army arriving, I imagine the people of Luoyang are in a state of panic!"

Qiu Daqian's eyes darted around, and he quickly raised his cup in congratulations, "If we can capture Luoyang, Your Majesty can ascend the throne and the world can be pacified with a single proclamation!"

"Hahaha."

Yuan Hao laughed heartily, "Luoyang is within our grasp. With my 300,000 troops, there are less than 10,000 soldiers in Luoyang. Even if each soldier spits at us, we can drown them!"

"Come! Let's have a drink together!!"

"If I ascend the throne and become emperor, I will certainly not forget your contributions!"

Before even entering Luoyang, Yuan Hao had already begun to make empty promises to everyone.

however.

He saw the wine in the glass on the table shaking constantly, as if the earth were trembling, and he could faintly hear shouts of killing and bursts of commotion.

"What's going on? Why is it so noisy?"

Yuan Hao frowned and reprimanded him with great displeasure.

But then his personal guards rushed into the tent in a panic, their faces filled with terror. "Your Majesty! Your Majesty! No... something terrible has happened!"

"What exactly happened?"

"That...that...that Xuanjia Army is charging towards our camp!!"

Just as Yuan Hao was about to drink, the wine cup in his hand fell to the ground with a thud, but he tried to remain calm.

"Impossible! Absolutely impossible!!"

"With the White-Robed Army and tens of thousands of elite troops in ambush, how could the Black Armor Army, with only three thousand men, possibly reach our camp?"

But his actions betrayed the inconsistency between his words and deeds.

Yuan Hao hurriedly walked to the outside of the tent. As soon as he opened it, a blinding ray of sunlight shone out, forcing him to shield his eyes with his hand.

After he adjusted, he slowly opened his eyes and saw the scene before him.

He was completely confused.

The thunderous roar of galloping hooves, the shouts of battle, and the chaotic commotion of the soldiers filled the air!
From the west.

A group of elite cavalrymen in black armor and masked figures were charging toward his location.

Wherever you go.

The dust storm raised high, making it impossible to tell how many enemy troops were charging in from the west!

"Damn it! Could it be that reinforcements from Guanzhong have arrived? Otherwise, why are there so many defenders in Luoyang? Has the vanguard been completely routed?"

Yuan Hao completely panicked!
He knew nothing about the situation on the battlefield.

Don't say it's him.

The same goes for his soldiers!

The sounds of battle cries echoed throughout the heavens and earth, and the rising dust made it impossible for them to discern how many armies were charging towards them.

Ten thousand? Twenty thousand? Or even more?
Otherwise, how could the vanguard have collapsed so quickly, without them even having time to regroup, before the enemy was already upon them?
Under the astonished gazes of Yuan Hao's own troops.

A valiant general, clad entirely in iron armor, charged ahead of the enemy lines!

The weather was too hot, and many soldiers had already taken off their armor and put their weapons aside. Now they were scrambling to put their armor back on, but it was clearly too late!

Gao Yu held a horse spear, as if a ghost or god had descended to earth!
He held the spear in one hand, pierced through two soldiers of the Southern Liang army, and then forcibly lifted them into the air. He even flaunted it by raising it high to intimidate all the soldiers!
"Where are the Xuanjia Army?!"

"The Xuanjia Army is here!!"

With Gao Yu's angry shout, the soldiers behind him responded in unison!

Its overwhelming force terrified the surrounding enemy soldiers.

The cavalrymen before me were all wearing masks shaped like demons or gods.

It was as if evil spirits had emerged from the underworld to claim their lives!

"Ahhh!"

"The ghosts and spirits have arrived!"

"The vanguard has collapsed! Our army has collapsed!!"

"It's a ghost or spirit sent by the Eternal Heaven!!"

No one wanted to resist at all; they all scrambled around and tried to run away!
Gao Yu glanced around casually and seemed to see Yuan Hao himself in the distance!

Who told him to be so flamboyant as to set up a temporary tent in the middle of the army for his own rest?
Isn't this obviously telling Gao Yu where he is?
Capture the thief first and capture the king!
"Black Armor Army! Follow me to capture the enemy commander alive!!"

"Kill!!"

What Gao Yu said on the city wall is being proven true little by little.

It went so smoothly.

The Southern Liang army marched all the way from Xuzhou, and their journey was indeed too smooth. The Battle of Xingyang, which should have been a tough battle, was won without bloodshed thanks to Fei Mu's unexpected and divine assistance.

Hulao Pass was also captured without losing a single soldier because of Erzhu Shilong's cowardice.

Once morale collapses, it's simply unstoppable.

Gao Yu was like a god of death, cutting his way through as if he were in an empty field!
Along this route were numerous infantry formations.

Well-trained infantry can indeed withstand a cavalry charge!

however……

This is conditional.

Not only must they be well-trained, but they must also be fearless on the battlefield.

But now, seeing their comrades in front of them turn and run away, the rout spread to Yuan Hao's 'elite' soldiers!

When they realized everyone was running.

Even someone who is normally fearless can be forced into becoming a coward in such an atmosphere!

"The enemy commander is right in front of us, charge!!"

Yuan Hao was terrified. He ordered his personal guards to bring him a warhorse, mounted it, and ran away without stopping to gather his routed troops for a counterattack.

They were terrified that if they ran too late, they would become victims of Gao Yu's spear!

P.S.: I might not be able to finish writing Chapter 3 today, but don't worry, I promised I'd finish the final battle this weekend. If I can't finish it today, I'll update more tomorrow.

(End of this chapter)