My father Liu Xuande

Chapter 141: Equal
Pan Zhang, who was on the opposite side, had already spotted Huang Gai when he appeared.

Seeing Huang Gai begin to mobilize the cavalry and armored soldiers behind him, Pan Zhang sensed a threat and ordered the Rushan Camp to stop and cease their pursuit of Sun's army.

At the same time, he immediately ordered the second and third teams of armored soldiers who were resting to come up and fill the battle line, increasing its thickness.

Meanwhile, the fourth and fifth squads of armored soldiers behind them began to don their armor again.

It's impossible for armored warriors to wear their armor indefinitely during battle; the heavy armor itself is a huge burden, and a person's physical strength simply cannot withstand it.

After assessing that the battle line only needed thirty men to fill, Pan Zhang decisively divided his Rushan Battalion into seven teams of thirty men each. The last twenty men were divided into two squads, each led by a squad leader, and then led over a hundred auxiliary archers and swordsmen and shieldmen to the city wall to prevent the enemy from launching a surprise attack from the city wall.

The first team engages in combat, the second team is on guard, ready to provide support and rotate at any time, while the third team sits on the ground and replenishes their water under the care of the auxiliary soldiers.

The three teams behind them sat on the ground, removed their armor, and ate or drank water to maintain or replenish their strength.

Apart from the first two teams, the distance between each team after that was thirty paces, and they were sheltered by the houses on both sides of the road, thus escaping the threat of arrows.

Just as Huang Gai was about to launch a cavalry charge, the armored soldiers were too thin and could easily be scattered.

Once the front line collapses, the rear may be completely overwhelmed because they won't have time to don armor.

Pan Zhang dared not be careless, issuing orders while keeping a close eye on Huang Gai opposite him.

Just as the second and third squads of armored soldiers entered the ranks and formed three battle lines, Huang Gai's cavalry had already rushed up to them.

If Pan Zhang hadn't reacted quickly, how could a mere row of armored soldiers have stopped Huang Gai's cavalry charge?
For heavy infantry to effectively counter cavalry, three key elements are required.

First, the cavalry could not flank and harass from the sidelines.

Second, the heavy infantry line should be thick, with at least five or six ranks.

Third, the morale of the heavily armored infantry must be high, and they must remain steadfast and hold their ground.

If a heavily armored infantryman can hold his ground, even with only short weapons like swords and hammers, he can still repel cavalry.

On the main battlefield, cavalry can only exchange blows with heavy infantry, rather than have a counter-relationship.

However, once the cavalry breaks through the heavy infantry's battle line, causing the enemy's formation to collapse, it's a complete annihilation.

The reason why Huang Gai's surprise attack was so swift was because he saw an opportunity.

Thirty armored soldiers could only form a thin battle line at a distance of twenty paces.

Once Huang Gai breaks through this layer, he doesn't need to worry about what's behind him. He can continue his assault into the depths, leaving the torn armored soldiers to be dealt with by the infantry behind him. That would be a resounding victory.

But can Huang Gai break through?
That's too simple. A single line of armored soldiers can't stop a cavalry charge at all. The best they can do is exchange casualties.

Unfortunately, Pan Zhang reacted extremely quickly and made the correct deployment, and the three rows of armored soldiers had already undergone a fundamental change.

A hint of hesitation flashed in Huang Gai's eyes, but it quickly turned into determination.

At this point, there's no turning back.

The warhorse had already gained speed and could not stop immediately; the limited space also prevented it from making a sudden turn.

Rather than losing our composure and suffering casualties, we should launch a direct attack.

The warhorse, with tremendous force, slammed into the armored warrior.

Some of the heavily armored soldiers, along with their comrades behind them, were knocked away by the force of the impact.

The once densely packed armored soldiers were instantly knocked away, with more than a dozen flying and crashing to the ground. More than half of the armored soldiers got up again, though they were still dazed, while many others remained motionless, their fates unknown.

Of course, Huang Gai's cavalry did not fare well either. Three or four of their warhorses were overturned. Moreover, once a warhorse loses speed, the rider on it cannot even cover himself, let alone protect the warhorse beneath him.

The armored soldiers were all experienced elites, and after blocking Sun Ce's cavalry, they immediately swarmed forward.

Some chopped off the horse's legs, others stabbed the knight, and still others grabbed the knight's legs and pulled him down.

Huang Gai broke through the enemy lines and saw that he only had three or five cavalrymen around him. The armored soldiers following in the distance had already put their breastplates back on quickly. With just these few riders, they would be easy prey if they went over.

"Turn back! Turn back!"

Huang Gai shouted loudly, feeling annoyed that he had almost missed.

At the same time, he spurred his warhorse to turn around and charge again toward the place where his cavalry had the most troops.

This time, there was no acceleration distance as before, and the speed at which it pulled up was far less than before.

However, the horses' immense strength allowed them to break through the armored soldiers, rescue their fellow cavalrymen, and escape the battle.

In this charge, Huang Gai's side lost seven cavalrymen and six warhorses, while Pan Zhang's side suffered nine armored soldiers killed and seventeen wounded on the spot.

The exchange ratio was close to 1 to 2, but considering the factor of infantry fighting cavalry, Pan Zhang's side clearly had a slight advantage.

However, if Pan Zhang had reacted even a fraction slower, Huang Gai would likely already be chasing after Rushan Camp, and the snowball effect would have already begun.

"A thief general who enters the dog's territory."

Pan Zhang spat viciously. Of the seven cavalrymen lost by Sun Ce's army, two were killed on the spot by him, and another had his arm cut off by him before being dealt with by other armored soldiers.

Pan Zhang didn't even glance at the severed heads on the ground. He issued orders: "Drag the wounded and fallen brothers to the back and let the Li family's troops take good care of the wounded. Also, tell the fourth and fifth teams to put on their armor quickly and come up to replace the first and second teams once they're ready."

"Oh, and make sure you keep a close eye on these warhorses, don't let them get lost!"

Of the six warhorses lost by Huang Gai's army, half were cut down on the spot, another horse had its leg cut, but two were intact and were treasured by Pan Zhang.

Even if a horse has a leg injury, you should take it down and take good care of it; it might just recover completely.

This is a genuine warhorse, capable of charging into battle.

One horse is worth over 100,000 yuan, and there's still no market for it.

Huang Gai's cavalry retreated, but the organized armored soldiers had already moved up.

Although their numbers were fewer than Pan Zhang's, there were at least twenty or thirty men, dressed in iron lamellar armor and armed with armor-piercing weapons such as gourds and awls.

The second match between the two sides is about to begin.

Looking at the overall battle situation in Guangling City, the battle lines between the two sides became relatively calm because Sun Ce, in his moment of madness, took the initiative to duel with Taishi Ci.

Pan Zhang on the left wing narrowly defeated Huang Gai, and the second game began.

Only the right wing, without strong support, suffered repeated defeats and was forced to retreat step by step by Cheng Pu, despite having a force of 1,500 men.

If Liu Ye hadn't been secretly drawing reinforcements from the other two lines, allowing the Li brothers to fight and retreat while simultaneously creating fire barriers to hinder Cheng Pu's advance, the right flank might have already been breached.

After another crisis emerged on the right wing, Liu Ye reassigned the two hundred men he had just transferred from the central and left wing regions to fill the gap.

At the same time, he kept looking out of the city.

Even before Pan Zhang set out, he had already ordered the carriages to turn back and follow the official road to meet the following troops, so that the following troops only needed to carry weapons and did not need to bring anything else.

After the Li family troops occupied the Guangling Armory, they obtained a large amount of military equipment, weapons, and armor. Just near the city gate, hundreds of wounded soldiers had their full sets of leather armor replaced.

The key is to have fresh troops, not weapons and equipment.

"Go to Pan Sima's place and ask if he can spare a squad of armored soldiers for me. If not, then two squads, or even one squad, will do."

Liu Ye grabbed one of the guards beside him and gave an urgent order.

After a fierce battle that lasted most of the night, his throat was parched and burning, and his whole body was filthy and disheveled, completely devoid of any scholarly demeanor.

However, neither he nor his guards cared. After receiving the order, the guard ran towards the left flank where Pan Zhang was located.

Liu Ye arrived at the high point of the city gate and looked out over the various battlefronts.

In the middle lane, Taishi Ci and Sun Ce were still locked in a fierce battle. Both sides had slowed down considerably, recovering their strength while searching for an opportunity to strike decisively.

Pan Zhang on the left wing had gained the upper hand and, with the help of five hundred of Li's troops, suppressed Huang Gai, but was unable to make a breakthrough.

The other five hundred Li family retainers originally assigned to Pan Zhang were mostly transferred to the right wing by Liu Ye, while a small number were wounded or killed in battle.

The right wing was in the most danger, and the Lee brothers were fighting desperately at this point.

With a great victory in sight, the two brothers personally took command, risking serious injury, in order to allow their heavily wounded troops to barely resist Cheng Pu's relentless attacks.

However, the defensive line kept retreating, and after retreating another ten meters, it would enter the square at the city gate.

By then, Cheng Pu's forces will be able to spread out a wider front, making it even less likely that Li's troops will be able to stop them.

Liu Ye turned around and looked at the dark city outside, hoping desperately that a glimmer of light could emerge from the darkness.

This light represents the reinforcements from Xuzhou, it represents hope. Yes, just like these torches.

Torch?

Liu Ye suddenly realized what was happening and rubbed his eyes.

"Hahaha!"

The next moment, Liu Ye burst into loud laughter: "Reinforcements have arrived!"

"Someone! Someone!"

Liu Ye turned around and shouted to the guards, "Go immediately and inform Li Gongcao and Li Sima that reinforcements from Xuzhou have arrived. Tell them to hold out for this last quarter of an hour!"

Upon receiving news that reinforcements were on their way, Li Luo and Li Zhang were overjoyed and frantically encouraged their troops, promising them rewards.

The morale of Li's troops also soared, and they gradually stabilized the battle line.

Cheng Pu on the other side was also a veteran of many battles. He had followed Sun Jian in his campaigns in the north and south, and had defeated Dong Zhuo and Lü Bu in Luoyang. He was extremely experienced.

The unusual behavior of the Li family's troops on the other side immediately alerted him.

"Go quickly and tell Bo Fu and Gong Fu that the situation has changed and reinforcements from Xuzhou are likely to arrive soon. Tell them to prepare immediately. I will launch another attack here. If we can take the city gate, that would be good. If we can't, we'll have to consider retreating."

In fact, Cheng Pu was already exhausted at this point.

Despite his relentless attacks on Li's troops from beginning to end, Sun Ce's army was actually at its last gasp.

After a day of forced march, they only slept for a few hours, then rushed several kilometers before engaging in fierce fighting for half a night.

All the soldiers were exhausted, hungry, and parched; they simply couldn't continue fighting.

If the Xuzhou army arrives at this time, Sun Ce's army should be thinking about how to protect themselves, rather than fighting for Guangling City.

"Attack again! Gentlemen, attack again! The enemy is about to give out!"

Cheng Pu loudly encouraged his soldiers in the army formation, cheering them on.

To his disappointment, morale is something that often ebbs and flows.

The enemy's morale rose, while our own morale began to decline due to the prolonged siege.

Cheng Pu smiled bitterly, knowing that the best opportunity had already been missed.

Left with no other choice, Cheng Pu had to step back slightly, temporarily handing over command to his deputy, and then spur his horse toward the center line.

Cheng Pu did consider drawing troops from the central line, but he ultimately did not do so. The reason was simple: what he lacked was not troops, but places to deploy them.

Even if troops are transferred from the central line, they can only deploy 30 meters, so what's the point?

This is why the Li brothers were willing to endure some long-range fire from the city walls, but they were determined to hold their ground on the streets.

When Cheng Pu arrived at the center line, he found that Huang Gai had also arrived and was anxiously discussing something with Song Qian.

Huang Gai secretly withdrew several hundred elite troops from the center line, but he still couldn't suppress the enemy's armored battalion; he only made his own lines look less bad.

Huang Gai earnestly advised, "We must retreat, Jing Xun. Let the young master retreat. Once the reinforcements from Xuzhou arrive, we won't be able to leave."

"This……"

Song Qian looked troubled and glanced at Sun Ce, who was still having a great fight with Taishi Ci: "Bo Fu is definitely not going to retreat right now."

"Make him come down!"

Cheng Pu walked over at this moment and said loudly, "Gongfu and I have come to persuade him, and he has to listen."

Seeing that Cheng Pu and Huang Gai had reached an agreement, Song Qian realized the seriousness of the problem.

"Okay, I'll bring him back right away."

Sun Ce was currently fighting Taishi Ci and was already quite exhausted. He couldn't shout anything at this moment, or he might lose focus and make a mistake, which would be a big problem.

So Song Qian not only didn't call out to Sun Ce, but instead shouted to Taishi Ci, "General Taishi, let's stop here for today. Our two armies have been fighting for half the night. Let's rest first and fight again tomorrow!"

Taishi Ci heard the shouts but paid no attention to them, not even listening to what Song Qian was saying.

But a thought struck him, and he deliberately looked up at Song Qian, while his mind was actually focused on Sun Ce's actions.

When Sun Ce saw that Taishi Ci was distracted, he was overjoyed. He quietly moved towards the corner of Taishi Ci's eye and then pounced on him.

Sun Ce thought he was launching a sneak attack, but he didn't expect it to be a trap deliberately set by Taishi Ci.

Taishi Ci didn't let Sun Ce out of his sight at all. Without moving his right foot, he lightly pushed off the ground with his left foot, and his whole body turned dozens of degrees, facing Sun Ce who was rushing towards him again. At the same time, he thrust his short weapon upwards from below.

If Sun Ce hadn't yielded, this awl could have pierced the opponent's waist and abdomen, severely injuring him.

Sun Ce quickly adjusted his body and flipped to the side, narrowly dodging the attack. However, his body crashed heavily to the ground, and the armor on his abdomen was torn open, oozing bright red blood.

Upon seeing this, Taishi Ci pounced forward, intending to finish off the attacker.

Upon seeing this, Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Song Qian dared not wait any longer and rushed out to try and rescue Sun Ce.

As Sun Ce's army made its move, Tai Shi Ci's side was naturally not to be outdone. More than ten archers drew their bows and nocked arrows, while the rest drew their swords and charged into the arena.

However, seeing that Taishi Ci had already pounced on them, Cheng Pu and the others had no time to arrive.

Unexpectedly, Sun Ce remained calm and seized the opportunity, suddenly raising both legs and delivering a powerful kick to Taishi Ci's chest and abdomen, sending the man flying.

Cheng Pu and the others breathed a sigh of relief and quickly rushed forward to pull Sun Ce back.

Taishi Ci's side was already outnumbered, so they didn't dare to cause trouble. They followed suit and pulled Taishi Ci back.

Sun Ce relaxed completely, letting Cheng Pu and the others carry him away, while shouting to Taishi Ci, "Old man Taishi, you'd better find a doctor to take a good look at you when you get back, or I'll kick your internal organs out."

Taishi Ci was helped up by his men. Hearing Sun Ce's mockery, he laughed loudly: "How much strength can a child's kick have? This Jiangdong brat has injured a vital point. How come his leg is so weak and powerless?"

After saying this, Taishi Ci wanted to laugh a few more times, but it aggravated his injuries, and he coughed violently.

Upon hearing this, Sun Ce on the other side also burst into laughter, but he only managed a few laughs before aggravating the wound on his waist, and his face instantly contorted in pain.

Sun Ce was rushed to the rear, where he removed his armor and examined himself carefully.

It was discovered that the wound was only pierced by the tip of the cone, leaving a small opening. All that was needed was to clean the wound and stitch it up; it was not a serious injury.

Cheng Pu and the others breathed a sigh of relief, and while they had the doctor treat their wounds, they began preparations for the withdrawal of their troops.

Although Guangling City is very important, it wouldn't belong to the Sun family if they actually took it. There's no need to squander all their resources on Guangling.

However, Cheng Pu and the others were quite reluctant to part with the valuables in the city's treasury and the grain in the granaries.

"Move as much as you can, and don't worry about the rest."

Cheng Pu made a decisive move, throwing away all the grain from the logistics and supply vehicles and then loading the goods onto the vehicles. Even so, he only managed to move less than 10%.

Meanwhile, Yuan Sui and others would definitely leave together, since the Guangling County soldiers couldn't stay anyway.

Under Cheng Pu's arrangement, all these people left first.

Sun Jiajun was responsible for covering the rear.

Cheng Pu, Huang Gai, and Song Qian were all unsure how to deal with the remaining goods and grain.

In the end, Sun Ce made the decision: "Leave them all."

"Bo Fu?"

Cheng Pu was stunned, not expecting Sun Ce to decide to stay so easily.

He thought for a moment, then asked, half-persuading and half-questioning, "That's hundreds of thousands of bushels of grain, Bo Fu, aren't you afraid...?"

"What are you afraid of?"

Sun Ce revealed a strange smile: "If we could take Guangling, that would naturally be a great achievement. But now that we can't take Guangling, why make a mortal enemy of Liu Bei's army?"

I originally wanted to say a lot, but after seeing so many readers posting to support the old man, as well as those quietly reading to support him, I felt instantly healed, so I have nothing more to say.

Thank you all for your support and for your understanding of the elderly man. It's so good to have you all. Thank you.

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(End of this chapter)