nycdaug Chapter 143: Encounter at Zhong'an Fort
Chapter 143: Encounter at Zhong'an Fort
"boom--!"
"boom--!"
"boom--!"
"..."
As the crossbow shot out a huge arrow, the buzzing sound of the empty string echoed across the sky.
The whistling sound of huge arrows tearing through the sky also resounded throughout the wilderness, causing the soldiers at the front of both sides to open their eyes wide and stare intently at the arrow feathers that were like ballistic missiles.
"Tear-!"
As a huge arrow pierced a Xixia cavalry soldier to the ground along with his horse, heart-wrenching wails instantly rang out across the entire battlefield.
"kill--!"
"kill--!"
"kill--!"
"..."
The Western Xia cavalry, well aware of the power of the Song army's crossbows, stared with bloodshot eyes, shouted, and continued to charge towards the Song army's infantry phalanx without hesitation.
Because they knew that once they slowed down, the terrifying arrows in the sky would easily take their lives.
Seeing that the Western Xia cavalry showed no sign of stopping, Yao Xiong immediately swung the long sword in his hand again.
The messenger behind him kept waving the command flag, and the archers behind him quickly drew their bows and arrows, half-knelt on the ground, and looked up at the sky at a 45-degree angle.
"Three volleys—!"
"put--!"
The archery commander swung his weapon.
“Buzz buzz—!”
Countless lightweight arrows flew into the air and then fell madly with inertia.
Seeing the Western Xia cavalry being swept by the rain of arrows, Yao Xiong changed the flag again.
The entire front-line shield soldiers raised their shields and moved forward fifty meters, then fiercely thrust the shields, which were as tall as a person, diagonally into the ground. Then the soldiers behind the shields immediately handed over a large number of small logs from the rear, thrusting them into the ground while holding them behind the shields.
This is to prevent the cavalry from trampling on the infantry formation and causing the impact to kill the shield soldiers.
As a shield formation with a radius of dozens of meters took shape, Yao Xiong jumped down from the command platform and rode a tall horse to the central army camp holding spears.
The Western Xia cavalry flashed past, rushed out from the hail of arrows, and headed straight for Yao Xiong's central army.
The leader, Mo Zang Xiling, was a fierce general. He rushed towards Yao Xiong with a big iron spear in his hand.
“Protect—!”
“Protect—!”
“Protect—!”
"..."
Mo Zang Xiling turned his horse's head, leaped up, and rushed quickly over the shield. The Xixia soldiers behind him did not have such ability, and could only crash into the shield as high as a person.
Upon seeing this, the Song army immediately roared and held the middle of the logs to prevent the shield formation from being broken.
However, the ancient cavalry was like modern land tanks. This collision was like Mars hitting the Earth, and it exploded.
"boom--!"
"boom--!"
"Snapped--!"
"Pfft-!"
The first batch of Xixia cavalrymen crashed directly and fiercely into the shields. The impact of the instantaneous contact between the two sides caused the Xixia soldiers to fly away and fall heavily to the ground. They were then trampled into meat paste by the soldiers and horses behind them.
The shield formation of the Song army on the opposite side was knocked apart by the still galloping horses, and the Song soldiers behind the shields were directly crushed by the double force of the horses and shields.
What’s worse, some people were hit and fell from the air, their faces so badly that they couldn’t be seen clearly.
After the counterattack, the second batch of Western Xia cavalry did not stop at all. They took advantage of the gap torn in the front and rushed straight in, trying to tear a bigger gap and rush into the Song army camp.
The more standby soldiers behind the shield soldiers, upon seeing the torn hole, immediately raised their shields, and relying on the inertia of their own armor and weight, they fiercely dived down to resist the cavalry's charge, slowing down the opponent's speed and blocking the hole at the same time.
Both sides are constantly consuming each other in this cycle of impact and counter-impact.
When Yao Xiong of the Song army's center saw that the front army was entangled with the enemy cavalry, he immediately signaled the messenger to send a message to Yao Gu who was ambushing on the west side.
At this moment, Yao Gu, who was squatting behind a small gentle slope, was walking back and forth anxiously, his eyes occasionally sweeping over the Western Xia cavalry and the Song army who were already fighting each other.
Suddenly, as far as the eye could see, a huge flag was waving wildly, which was the signal for advancement from Yao Xiong.
Without saying a word, Yao Gu jumped on his horse and drew the Song Dynasty standard military sword from his waist.
The three thousand cavalrymen behind him immediately mounted their horses at the same time, their movements in unison, they were the elite among the elite!
"All officers, listen to my orders!"
"Kill the enemy and serve the country in the near future!"
"Follow me to charge the enemy!"
"The head was beheaded and hidden in Xiling!"
"kill--!"
Yao Gu's majestic voice spread in all directions, and then he squeezed his horse's belly hard and rushed out at the lead.
The Song Dynasty cavalry behind him were no less impressive, shouting slogans of "kill the enemy and serve the country" and following Yao Gu to charge out.
Billowing smoke and dust filled the air, and the roars and heavy thuds of horses' hooves changed the expressions of both sides of the battle.
The Song army was pleasantly surprised, while the Western Xia army was horrified.
Mo Zang Xiling never expected that this reinforcement army from the Song Dynasty was actually equipped with cavalry, which made him make a mistake.
After all, no one knew that the support troops of the Song Dynasty were the central imperial guards from Bian Jing, a powerful army built by the Song Dynasty with the strength of the entire country.
"Don't panic, break the entanglement, charge straight into the center, and behead the enemy general—!"
Mo Zang Xiling immediately realized that now was not the time to retreat. Once he retreated, the morale and the entire cavalry phalanx would instantly get out of control.
The only correct thing to do is to charge forward and break through the Song army's infantry phalanx.
Even if they had to settle for the second best and engage in a tangle with the Song Dynasty infantry, the Song Dynasty cavalry would be caught in a dilemma and would not dare to easily use their speed to charge at them.
But Zang Xiling did not understand this truth, and the brothers Yao Xiong and Yao Gu were not fools.
Yao Xiong roared and led the infantry phalanx to charge forward fiercely, clashing with the front of Mo Zang Xiling.
Yao Gu spurred his horse even faster and rushed out from the middle of the Xixia cavalry who had not yet rushed into the front line, and in one fell swoop, he split the Xixia cavalry into two.
Then he quickly made a detour and rushed out from the rear of the Western Xia cavalry, directly tearing apart the somewhat scattered Western Xia rear.
As for the cavalry in the front, they were forcibly stopped by Yao Xiong with manpower, and the two sides engaged in a fierce hand-to-hand combat.
Mo Zang Xiling took the lead and frantically swept through the Song army's infantry.
Seeing this, Yao Xiong shouted, "Stop being so arrogant, you traitor! I'm here to meet you!"
He kicked the horse's belly and swung out the spear in his hand, piercing Mei Zang Xiling's chest.
"Hmph! You don't understand!"
Mo Zang Xiling's big iron spear swept through the army and clashed head-on with them fiercely.
"boom--!"
The crisp explosion resounded throughout the army, and the two men and their horses were shocked and retreated repeatedly.
Then Yao Xiong turned the gun around, and it shot out from his waist like a snake again, heading straight for Mo Zang Xiling's neck.
Seeing this, Mei Zang Xiling was not afraid at all. He swept the big iron spear from bottom to top again, easily breaking Yao Xiong's spear technique.
The two of them fought on horseback, causing the surrounding soldiers to disperse and not dare to gather together to join in.
After a long time, Yao Xiong and Mo Zang Xiling faced each other with their guns again, quickly separated, and stared at each other while breathing lightly.
"What a great strength!" Yao Xiong's eyes narrowed and he was a little surprised.
"What amazing skills!" Mei Zang Xiling did not dare to underestimate the opponent's young-looking commander.
"I will not kill nameless people. Tell me your name!"
Mo Zang Xiling's powerful aura hit Yao Xiong's face, making his hand holding the gun feel a little painful because of the collision just now.
"Yao Xiong, the Chief of the Imperial Guards of the Great Song Dynasty! Are you the powerful general Mo Zang Xiling, who is famous in the Western Regions?!"
This was the title given to Mo Zang Xiling by the Western Region Uighurs when he was guarding Dunhuang in Western Xia Shazhou. They believed that he had great power and was a great military hero.
“Hahahaha! It’s me!”
"But your last name is Yao? I've only heard of one famous person with the surname Yao. Who are you, Yao Si?"
Mo Zang Xiling's eyes lit up and he kept looking at the majestic young general in front of him.
"Yao Si is my father!"
The spear in Yao Xiong's hand kept spinning, seemingly to defend against the opponent, but in fact he was constantly eliminating the numbness in the base of his right hand.
"Not bad, not bad. Who is Wu Dao? It's actually the general of the Yao family!"
"Hahaha! Alright, back then, your father and I fought a draw at Tiandu Mountain. Today, I will chop off your head and bring it to the front lines for your father to see."
Mo Zang Xiling's dark face was filled with murderous intent as he rushed towards Yao Xiong, wielding the big iron spear like a stick.
When Yao Xiong saw the opponent exerting force, he couldn't help but get angry and frantically used his family's spear skills to counter each move.
Unfortunately, the Yao family spears tended to be flexible and light, while Mo Zang Xiling was the type who could defeat ten opponents with one force. Each of his moves was powerful and heavy, making Yao Xiong miserable for a while.
Seeing that Yao Xiong was gradually losing strength, Mo Zang Xiling was ready to quickly understand the other party, but an angry shout came, which made him frown deeply.
"Don't panic, brother. Erlang is here to help!"
It turned out that Yao Gu came from behind the Western Xia cavalry and rushed straight towards Mo Zang Xiling's back with a long spear in his hand.
"Hmph! Such a trifle!"
Mo Zang Xiling made a sudden counterattack, deflected Yao Gu's sneak attack, and then went straight for the opponent's head.
Yao Gu was not at all panicked. With a move of "Raising Fire to Start a Prairie", he directly swept away the big iron spear of Mo Zang Xiling. However, this move also made the horse under his crotch tremble, and it fell to the ground and threw Yao Gu out.
"Jiro——!"
Yao Xiong roared, holding his gun and fighting Mo Zang Xiling again.
Seeing that he had a chance to catch his breath, Yao Gu immediately picked up his warhorse, leaped forward, and attacked Mo Zang Xiling together with his brother.
Mo Zang Xiling was not at a disadvantage when fighting one against two. His fighting power at the level of a fierce general made the Yao brothers a little frightened.
The two sides fought fiercely from noon to dusk, until both sides were somewhat exhausted. Mo Zang Xiling noticed that his cavalry had been divided and surrounded by the Song army and was engaged in heavy hand-to-hand combat.
"Damn it! Two brothers working together are not heroes. I'll come back to see you after I've dealt with you!"
Mo Zang Xiling knew that this was Song territory and he could not stay here for long. Once reinforcements arrived, his few remaining men would be wiped out here.
After taking a look at the face that looked similar to Yao Si's, Mo Zang Xiling spat, forced the Yao brothers back with his big iron spear, turned his horse around, and went straight out from the east side.
"retreat--!"
As Mo Zang Xiling retreated quickly and efficiently, the Western Xia cavalry did not hesitate to fight at all. They made a few quick moves and quickly broke through the Song army.
Seeing that less than half of the troops of Mo Zang Xiling had retreated, Yao Gu wanted to lead his troops in pursuit, but was stopped by Yao Xiong.
"We don't have enough troops, and we also have to defend Zhong'an Fort. If we fail to make a big move, neither you nor I will be able to explain to the governor."
"Being able to force the other party to retreat is already the best outcome!"
Yao Xiong breathed heavily and ordered his men to clean up the battlefield quickly.
"It's a bit hard to let him go just like that!"
Yao Gu looked at the smoke and dust billowing in the distance and sighed.
"You and I, brothers, are definitely not capable of defeating him. Only General Yang from back then could rival him in terms of martial arts prowess."
Yao Xiong also patted his brother's shoulder unwillingly.
"We must clean up the battlefield as quickly as possible and move into Zhong'an Fort. This battle has delayed us for quite some time."
"One more thing. Send someone to deliver a message to the governor as soon as possible, informing him of the Xixia army's recent movements and asking him to prepare."
Yao Xiong composed himself and gave instructions to Yao Gu.
"Yes, I'll do it right now!"
Watching his brother's departing figure, Yao Xiong pinched his numb palms and said helplessly, "I hope I can make it in time..."