The emperor would rather have a

Chapter 12 The commander ran away?

The army of the Later Zhou Dynasty had just deployed its troops when a strong north wind suddenly blew up.

The soldiers were so blown by the wind that they couldn't even open their eyes, and had no idea of ​​the movements of the Northern Han coalition forces. At this moment, the vanguard of the Northern Han launched an attack.

The vanguard commander of the Northern Han army was Zhang Yuanhui, who was the commander-in-chief of the cavalry and infantry of the Northern Han and the governor of Wuning.

This person had a high status in the Northern Han Dynasty. He was once the deputy general of Liu Chong, the ruler of the Northern Han Dynasty. After Liu Chong became emperor, he let him command the cavalry and infantry of the Northern Han Dynasty.

Zhang Yuanhui was considered a fierce general. When Li Yun, the governor of Zhaoyi Army of Later Zhou Dynasty, led his troops to stop the coalition forces of Northern Han Dynasty, he was defeated by him.

He even killed Li Yun's capable general Mu Lingjun in battle.

Zhang Yuanhui led a thousand cavalrymen to attack the right phalanx of the Later Zhou army, and the left army of the Northern Han also launched an attack behind him.

On the undulating wilderness, the troops of the Northern Han Dynasty were like a black swarm of ants, and they rushed into the army of the Later Zhou Dynasty without hesitation.

In an instant, a brutal fight broke out between the two sides...

Li Yi and his men were guarding the emperor, and they happened to be in a high position, so they had a clear view of the battle situation.

Looking around, the armies of the Later Zhou Dynasty and the Northern Han Dynasty were fighting in a melee, a sea of ​​swords, weapons and armor, and the rolling dust covered the sky.

Emperor Chai Rong was able to keep his composure. Seeing that the central and right armies of the Northern Han Dynasty had not moved, he did not rush to send the left and central armies to support the right route.

However, although Chai Rong appeared calm, he might not be so calm inside.

After all, when arranging the military formation, out of fear of the Khitan cavalry, most of the cavalry of the Later Zhou Dynasty were deployed in the left and middle routes to guard against the Khitans lined up on the right side of the Northern Han army.

The right-wing army led by the commander-in-chief of the cavalry, Fan Ainen, and the commander-in-chief of the infantry, He Hui, was relatively weaker in strength than the left and center armies.

Perhaps the Northern Han ruler Liu Chong also saw this clearly, so he ordered the vanguard commander Zhang Yuanhui to use the right flank of the Zhou army as a breakthrough point and launch the first attack.

Chai Rong could only pray in his heart that the right wing led by Fan and He could hold on a little longer.

As long as we can withstand the first wave of attacks from the Northern Han, it will be our turn to make the next move.

However, things went counterproductive...

Not long after the battle began, the situation on the battlefield took a sharp turn for the worse, and the right army of the Later Zhou Dynasty showed signs of defeat.

Zhang Yuanhui was worthy of being the most powerful general of Northern Han. He led a thousand cavalrymen with great momentum and almost killed through the right wing of Later Zhou army.

What's even more outrageous is that the lower-level soldiers of the Zhou army were still fighting bravely and resisting stubbornly, but the main general couldn't hold on any longer.

I don’t know what stimulated Fan Ainen and He Hui, but they suddenly turned around and fled with hundreds of cavalrymen, disappearing in a flash.

They ran away so fast that even the Northern Han army couldn't react.

When the soldiers saw that their commander had run away, they naturally lost the will to resist, and the remaining cavalry quickly withdrew from the battlefield.

As for those infantrymen who could not escape, they could only kneel down and surrender, throwing away their weapons and armor. More than 2,000 people shouted "Long live the Lord of Northern Han".

For a moment, the sound resounded throughout the battlefield.

"What a drunkard! Damn it, damn it..." Chai Rong saw this scene from a high place while riding a horse, and was so angry that he cursed several times.

The actions of Fan and He not only left the Northern Han army confused, but also stunned the Later Zhou army who were their own people.

However, now was not the time to think about these things. Chai Rong made a prompt decision and ordered all units of the central army to advance with all their strength.

In this situation, we absolutely cannot retreat, otherwise it will be a total defeat. The only way to survive is to bite the bullet and push forward.

War often relies on willpower, and whoever can hold on to the end will be the ultimate winner.

At the same time, on the other side of the Northern Han army, Zhang Yuanhui led the cavalry that was charging back to the Northern Han leader to report.

Some of his men were killed in this charge, but the loss was not too great, and they still had the strength to fight another battle.

"Envoy Zhang Du is truly my capable general!" Liu Chong was delighted and praised Zhang Yuanhui. As he spoke, he looked up and saw the central army of the Later Zhou Dynasty advancing, a large banner embroidered with the word "Zhou" fluttering in the wind, and the Zhou emperor's ceremonial guard faintly visible among the army.

Liu Chong immediately cursed, "Why don't you just flee back to Tokyo and wait for me to personally take your head? Are you still trying to hit a rock with an egg?"

Perhaps just cursing was not enough to vent his anger, and the other party couldn't hear him now, so he turned to look at Zhang Yuanhui.

"I will give you another 500 cavalrymen. Go and capture Guo Rong for me!"

"promise!"

Zhang Yuanhui took the order and immediately led his troops to attack the central army of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

……

The vanguard of the Later Zhou central army soon engaged in close combat with the Northern Han army. Li Yi, who was guarding the emperor on horseback, could already see the fierce battle ahead.

A forest of spears and armor collided with each other, the sound of swords clashing was endless, and the close combat between cold weapons was indeed visually impactful.

Li Yi had not been on the battlefield before. When Guo Wei rebelled against the Han Dynasty, he also followed the army to attack Tokyo.

But that battle was almost one-sided, and Guo Wei's military strength and prestige were not comparable to those of Liu Chengyou, the Emperor Yin of the Later Han Dynasty.

Attacking Tokyo didn't take much effort at all. The only head Li Yi took was shot by an arrow from a long distance.

The bloodiness of that battle cannot be compared to this one.

The people who suffered the most casualties that time were the ordinary people in the city, because in order to win over the morale of the troops, Guo Wei promised to plunder Kaifeng for a day after entering it.

However, Li Yi did not participate in the robbery... He could not prevent the tragedy from happening, the only thing he could do was not to be an accomplice.

"Precisely because this battle is difficult enough, the rewards for meritorious service will be even greater. I absolutely cannot retreat..."

Li Yi secretly warned himself in his heart.

It has been several years since he joined the army. He has adapted to the role of a warrior and is not averse to killing people.

Besides, he had indeed killed someone before. Although he shot him from a long distance, it did not affect the fact of murder.

However, this was the first time he had personally experienced such a brutal battle as today's, so it was inevitable that he would feel a little uneasy and have a desire to survive.

This is due to the innate fear of death deep within our hearts.

Not being afraid of death and not wanting to die often seem to be in conflict, but they are not.

Li Yi was not afraid of death for the sake of his future and wealth, but he did not want to be shot to death in vain by an arrow or a gun.

There is nothing to lose in death, and there is something to gain in death... Damn it, what's there to be afraid of!
However, the ever-changing situation on the battlefield did not allow Li Yi to think any further.

While he was stunned, the army of Later Zhou had already fallen into a disadvantage.

A rain of arrows covered the sky above the Zhou army. Due to the rapid defeat of the right-wing army, everyone's morale was greatly affected.

In addition, the Northern Han army was twice as large as their own, and the advance of the Later Zhou central army was greatly frustrated.

Chai Rong no longer cared about guarding against the Khitan cavalry and ordered the left-wing army to outflank the Northern Han army from the flank.

Unfortunately, it was too late. The Northern Han army took advantage of its numerical advantage to tie down the left wing army of the Later Zhou Dynasty.

It seems that Liu Chong, the ruler of Northern Han, was determined to capture the Zhou emperor first, and only sent a small part of his troops to hold back Li Chongjin and others on the right.

The main force of the Northern Han army all pressed towards the central army where Chai Rong was.

There was nothing wrong with Liu Chong's idea. Once the central army of the Later Zhou Dynasty was defeated, or even Chai Rong was captured, the Later Zhou army would basically be finished.

It can be said that both sides are going all in!

(End of this chapter)