Chapter 199

All the mountains, rivers and streams outside the Great Wall have changed color due to the heavy rain, and are now only muddy.

Nearly a thousand knights were trying to find a way forward in the rain. The rain was heavy, and although there was no more rumbling thunder, it was dark at night and the road was muddy. Even if they managed to run with torches, the knights with night blindness could only move forward in the dark, and they could not speed up at all.

In fact, the incidence of night blindness among people on the grassland is much higher than that of people in the Central Plains. After all, the nomadic people on the grassland lack common sense of farming, and naturally cannot grow vegetables, fruits and melons all year round like people in the Central Plains. Even if they can eat mutton every day, they will still suffer from night blindness.

Although most people can alleviate this symptom by practicing martial arts and cultivating internal strength, for ordinary people, they have no military pay and it is already difficult to ensure that their families have pastures for grazing, so where can they find the money to practice martial arts or martial arts...

Therefore, for the people in Mobei, a night attack is absolutely a fantasy. This is why no matter how anxious Yelu Lage is, he can only attack the village during the day.

But at the moment, the problem of not being able to see clearly at night had long been forgotten. He had to hold a torch and grope his way blindly. Whether he would fall to death depended entirely on his horsemanship. What he could see was that Shulido, who was closely guarding the front army, continued to gallop southward.

Because the current situation is critical, the team cannot afford to waste time because of a few people with night blindness.

In the heavy rain, the bows and arrows in the hands of these elite knights of Mobei had lost their power. They could only rely on their horsemanship to fight against the royal court's pursuers who were chasing them closely.

But when it comes to horsemanship, how can the Han army under Zhao Siwen and the tribal armies such as the Dangxiang compare with Wang Ting's Yuanlanzi?

At this time, Yuanlanzi, who was chasing closely behind, was riding two horses. If the horses were a little exhausted, these people could actually jump from one horse to another in such heavy rain. There was no need to form a formation or shout. They just drew out their long swords and fought directly with the Dangxiang, Tatar and other tribal troops who were following them.

They even gave up on fire in pursuit of speed, because the group that had broken through in front of them were holding torches, so they just kept on firing.

In the cavalry, Zhao Siwen turned around and could hear the sounds of shouting and fighting coming from the end of the brigade. He couldn't tell whether it was his own army or Yuanlanzi's that were at a disadvantage, but based on his understanding, Yuanlanzi should not suffer a loss in a cavalry battle, especially in this kind of pursuit battle.

In the heavy rain, the sound of horse hooves almost drowned out the sound of rain. There was a constant sound of weapons clashing, mixed with the screams of people before death. These sounds only disturbed the nerves of the group that was breaking out to the south. The cavalrymen caught in the middle looked back from time to time, and the speed of the horses was naturally reduced more or less.

However, on the way south, among the tribal army following behind, there were only a few people holding torches. Many of the torches fell off their horses because their owners had died. The empty war horses ran around in panic, neighing incessantly.

"No, how come these long-range blockers caught up so quickly!"

Zhao Siwen saw another group of chasing cavalry approaching from the left rear, as if they were going to bite them tightly through wave after wave of fighting and slow down their progress, so he cursed fiercely: "Don't let them be so reckless! The first and second teams of the left army, go and stop them!"

Among the Han army, several voices of response were heard immediately, and then nearly a hundred riders reined in their horses and turned around, rushing straight towards the forty or fifty riders who were attacking from a distance. For a moment, there was another burst of fighting.

In fact, each team of the first Yuanlanzi who came up had only 20 to 30 riders, which happened to be the organization of a team of the Mobei royal court patrolling outside at night. However, these soldiers had been scattered outside and were the fastest to react. They almost broke out of the encirclement as soon as Shuliduo broke out. Under the leadership of their respective generals, these Yuanlanzi teams kept rushing over from other places and joined the ranks of those chasing Shuliduo.

At the beginning, the first few teams were still lagging behind, not too far away, and were unwilling to launch an attack easily. When the distant blockade slowly increased to about one or two hundred riders, they began to speed up their horses and attack the lagging troops in Shulido's army from several directions.

They were well-trained and had excellent horsemanship. They would always spread out from both wings, passing by the large group that was constantly moving southward, and inflicting casualties on the cavalry outside the column.

Almost every time a distant barrier whizzed by, more than a dozen Han or tribal cavalrymen would fall off their horses. Then they would actually be able to turn around at high speed on this muddy ground and charge back for another round. The casualties caused by these two attacks were secondary, but they were extremely effective in slowing down the speed.

However, the two teams of Han soldiers released by Zhao Siwen also had a foundation in cavalry warfare. As soon as they left the main group, they quickly gathered together, formed a sharp attack formation, and then tried their best to control their mounts to charge at high speed. A single charge was enough to break through the scattered and shallow pursuit troops, and then swept into battle on both wings.

Although this brief engagement curbed the pursuit and harassment, the casualties were also staggering. Both sides were light cavalry, and if they strayed from each other, nearly half of them would be killed or wounded. Dozens of corpses fell from the horses, and the ownerless war horses fled in all directions, neighing loudly. The smell of blood was mixed in the rain, and it almost dispersed suddenly.

The battle between cavalry is different from that between infantry and cavalry.

In an infantry battle, even if one side is inferior to the other, as long as the general has an average level of control ability and his troops have some training, after the two sides fight, they can still fight for a while with a much more powerful elite infantry that is also in formation just by sacrificing their lives. After all, as individuals, infantrymen do not have much free space to move in the formation and can only rely on the formation to protect themselves and fight.

When infantry is defeated, it is often because the generals cannot control it and it breaks apart. However, when the two sides fight in formation, there is actually very little casualties on each other. It is only after the infantry breaks apart and is pursued by the enemy that the bulk of casualties in a battle occur.

Therefore, when the infantry formed a battle formation, even if their battle formation experience was far less than that of the enemy and their fighting ability was weaker than that of the enemy, the outcome would not be easily determined.

But the battle between cavalry is completely different, especially the fight between two groups of light cavalry. It all depends on their horsemanship, whether they can control the horse to the fullest, and the cavalry combat experience of both sides.

In cavalry warfare, even the most powerful generals will find it difficult to control their subordinates. In cavalry warfare, there is a huge space for maneuver, and both advance and retreat are swift. It almost all depends on personal riding skills and cooperation between colleagues. Once you are inferior to others in this aspect, you will be immediately dispersed and defeated by the enemy. Your subordinates will act on their own and it will be difficult for them to stay together in a battle group.

These rangers in the royal court were the most elite scout cavalry in terms of horsemanship and equestrianism in the entire Mobei region. In their early years, they followed Abaoji in his campaigns and had fought in countless cavalry battles. They were almost born on horseback and could gather and disperse freely. Their horseback fighting skills were precise and stable, which made them much more skilled than the Han army's cavalry.

Although their small group of twenty or thirty cavalrymen were slightly dispersed at this time, they were still able to roar and turn around in the vast wilderness, and had already bitten on the one or two teams of Han troops that were sent out.

Then, another team of distant blockers that had fallen behind immediately caught up and continued to harass the flank and rear of Zhao Siwen's command on behalf of the previous team. It was obvious that they wanted to forcibly delay the large team heading south.

Zhao Siwen had been keeping an eye on the movements of these troublesome Yuanlanzi. At this time, he was completely powerless. He could clearly sense that behind the Yuanlanzi, there was a large group of pursuers from Yelu Lage approaching, so now was not the time to slow down the group and fight against the Yuanlanzi's pursuers.

In this extreme anxiety, he could only grit his teeth and send out team after team of his elite cavalrymen, repeatedly curbing the invasion of the pursuing cavalry. If they were a little lucky, they might be able to come back and catch their breath, but basically, if he sent out a team, they would be entangled by the distant enemy and be killed outside.

The defeated far-reaching troops would basically return to the queue at the back immediately, replace their damaged weapons, change to mounts with sufficient horsepower, take a short rest, and wait to pounce on the battle again.

It was just this long-range blockade of nearly three or four hundred cavalrymen that dragged down their thousands of cavalrymen to the point of being almost physically and mentally exhausted. They were chased and killed all the way, and no one knew how many of them were scattered outside. As for whether they could come back alive, only God knew.

Zhao Siwen was very anxious, knowing that he could not go on like this, so he increased the speed of his horse and rushed to the front of the team.

"Queen, Queen!"

Shuliduo looked back from her horseback. She was completely covered in armor, and the rain was pouring down her helmet. It was really freezing cold, but she remained calm and said calmly, "General Zhao, this won't work. We must change our plan immediately."

This is also what Zhao Siwen wanted to say.

According to the original plan, their Han army would protect the queen and break out, while Shili Qixiang, who was attracting fire from behind, would continue to block the pursuers from behind. The losses there could be ignored in order to protect Shuliduo's safety and this last elite Han army, as well as some Mobei cavalrymen who were absolutely loyal to Shuliduo.

But at the moment, it seemed that something had gone wrong with Shili Qixiang, who just let these pursuers chase him straight away. Even the Yelu Lage and other troops behind him, Zhao Siwen seemed to have heard the thunderous sound of horse hooves.

He glanced back vigilantly, as if trying to see through the rain and fog in the night. As the number one Han general in Mobei, he had abundant experience in both infantry and cavalry combat, and he sensed the danger immediately.

"Queen, we can't let these distant blockers hinder us any longer. They have two horses each, and their horsepower is much more abundant than ours. They have nothing to worry about, just entangle us. When the majority of the people behind catch up, if they attack us from both wings, it will be dangerous! My men have been delayed for two hours and are already quite tired. By then, even if we bypass them, we will definitely not be able to escape far!"

Shuliduo narrowed her beautiful eyes and said loudly, "General Zhao, what do you want to do?"

A look of determination flashed across Zhao Siwen's face, and he suddenly shouted in a loud voice: "Queen, I will take care of the pursuers behind me! Although I am not talented, I am more than capable of turning back to stop them and fighting Yelu Lage to the death! But I must take most of the troops with me. I am afraid that there is no army to protect the queen, and I am also afraid that these elite soldiers will all be killed..."

Shuliduo's beautiful eyes narrowed, and she said in a deep voice: "I don't need a large army to protect me, and I can only take the men out with all my strength. However, I can't lose General Zhao!"

Zhao Siwen just smiled and said, "I am a Han Chinese. I surrendered to Mobei several years ago. I was a dying surrenderer. It was the queen who recommended me to the king. I gained the trust of the king and the queen, and became a trainer of the Han army. I have realized more ambitions than when I was in Han territory. What I regret is that I was not able to help the king to make Mobei rise earlier. However, I know very well that as long as the queen and the king are alive, Mobei will eventually be no weaker than the heroes of the Central Plains!
Today is the day I will die for the King and Queen!"

After saying this, he bowed on horseback, then suddenly reined in his warhorse and loudly called out to several cavalry generals. With several responses, the decision to divide the troops was made.

In an instant, the entire brigade was cut in half, and most of the Han soldiers turned their horses around with constant sighs, as if they had voluntarily stayed behind.

Shulido looked back and could only vaguely see that Zhao Siwen's troops gradually slowed down their horse speed and turned to a walk, forming a black line that blocked the pursuing cavalry.

The so-called breakout is to keep charging forward, using speed to fight speed, because as long as you rush out, you will have a chance. But if you stay behind to cover the rear, the horse speed will be reduced, and facing an enemy that is several times larger than you, it will be extremely difficult to escape.

It was not until this moment that Shuliduo suddenly realized that these Haner troops under her command also had a sense of pride that was far inferior to that of the Mobei Army.

As Han'er, they can become the main force of the royal court, take deep roots in this grassland, and create a great reputation in this grassland. They are even relied upon by her, the queen, as her absolute personal guards at the last moment.

Of course, they no longer belonged to the Central Plains, but many of the Han soldiers were born in the grasslands, or they could not survive in the Central Plains and went to the grasslands. Coincidentally, they also happened to meet the King and Queen of Mobei, who had been particularly respectful to the Han people for hundreds of years.

As an army that was incompatible with the other tribes on the grassland, the Han army was filled with absolute pride at this time, a kind of glory that made them feel prouder than the people in Mobei.

The people of Mobei have always looked down on the Han army, but could it be that the Han army looks down on the people of Mobei?

In any case, at this moment, no matter what Shulido had thought before, she was shocked by the Han army in front of her who were willing to sacrifice their lives for her.

It is lamentable and hateful that this elite army, which is worthy of great use and almost relied upon as her last resort, is going to be lost here.

But she had no time to sigh, as she knew she could not waste time. She could only lead the remaining one or two hundred riders to increase their speed and head south.

……

Zhao Siwen stood coldly in the middle of hundreds of Han soldiers, looking forward through the rain, and saw a black line in the distance. The men and horses were breathing out long white air in the rain and were coming slowly.

Obviously, seeing that there was a large group of more than 500 cavalrymen staying behind to cover their retreat, even the 300 or 400-meter-long soldiers who were blocking the way did not want to charge recklessly anymore. At this time, they just stayed in place to recover their strength and breathed heavily.

In between the two parts, there were countless corpses lying on the muddy ground, ownerless mounts were scattered all over the mountains and plains, and there were neighing sounds everywhere.

Zhao Siwen and his war horses were also panting heavily. The horses' belly bands, which had been fed for a long time, became loose due to excessive consumption. But everyone knew that this battle would be a fight to the death, so those who had dry food would eat it, or throw away some equipment to reduce weight, preparing for a fight to the death.

At this moment, we have been running for about two hours in a row since we came out from Hengshan Mountain. Although the rain has not stopped, the sky is gradually getting brighter. In the rain and fog, the sound of thunder can finally be heard.

An extremely large cavalry force is approaching.

At the same time, the horses three or four hundred meters away began to get agitated, paddling the ground with their horses' hooves, as if they were about to charge over.

Zhao Siwen said nothing, but slowly raised his arm.

In the rain and fog, countless waves of cavalry finally emerged.

The next moment, he pressed his arm down, and the two teams composed entirely of cavalrymen immediately sped up their horses and collided fiercely.

However, how could thousands of pursuers be delayed for a long time because of such a few hundred cavalry? Zhao Siwen's troops could only contain the entanglement of the distant blockers. When the two armies engaged in battle, countless royal cavalry immediately divided into three, one group entangled Zhao Siwen's Haner army, and the other two groups just stopped for a while and then went around to the south.

……

Yelu Huago, holding a long-handled broadsword, did not waste even a moment with Zhao Siwen. He could tell at a glance that Shulido was definitely not there, so he just rushed south.

At this moment, he had actually rushed to the front of all the pursuers, because as the commander of the vanguard army, he had the most cavalry horses under his command. At this time, half of his men and horses had already been sent to chase Shulido. The rest of the people were riding two horses, and some even had three horses. They chased for more than two hours, changing horses but not people. If a mount was tired and foaming, he would simply abandon it and head south.

At this moment, the number of cavalrymen around him had dropped from the initial two thousand to only five or six hundred.

But it was precisely because of this that he relied on his super high mobility to rush to the front of the pursuing troops, and even Yelu Lage was left far behind by him without knowing when.

The obsession in his heart made him want to capture Shulido at all costs, even if it meant risking his life!

"Hua Ge Khan! Look ahead!"

One general pointed straight ahead.

Yelu Huage opened his eyes wide and saw that in the layers of rain and fog, the shadows of a group of people finally appeared.

Behind them, there were some exhausted mounts that had fallen to the ground, as well as some soldiers who had switched from riding to walking, and were rushing forward with swords drawn.

"Ha! It's Shulido, it's this bitch!"

As soon as Yelu Huago saw the slim and heroic figure at the front of the group, his whole body trembled with excitement. Without even looking at the soldiers rushing over, he pulled the reins, exerted all his strength, and immediately controlled the tall divine horse he was sitting on to rush forward.

At the same time, he did not forget to laugh crazily: "The queen has lost her power. We will surround her from both sides and cut off her retreat. I will see how she escapes!"

Yelu Huage’s shout was so loud that it almost echoed throughout the wilderness.

The faces of the maids guarding Shulido on both sides changed, and they all looked back in fear.

The queen remained very calm. She let out a long breath and could already sense that two units of cavalry were approaching from both wings, almost cutting off her retreat.

Behind them, the sound of weapons clashing could be heard, and it was obvious that they had broken out into a fight again.

Behind him, Yelu Huage's laughter could still be heard.

"Sister-in-law, your brother is here to see you. Do you still recognize Benhaner?"

"Sister-in-law, please go quickly. We sisters will go meet him!" On the side, Qingguo Qingcheng finally couldn't help it. They actually couldn't understand why a breakout would end up like this. So they just left this sentence, patted their chests, reined in their horses and turned away.

But Shuliduo did not seem to be at ease. She slowly reined in her mount, remained calm, and drew out a Tang sword from her waist.

Several maids and dozens of riders guarded her, and they all drew their swords.

In the heavy rain, a small team of dozens of riders had already arrived ahead of them after losing several horses.

In fact, even if they didn't catch up, Shulido and the others could no longer run. They were constantly entangled on the road, and the loss of horsepower was much higher than that of the pursuers. They had changed horses once in the middle, and now the horsepower had reached its last limit, but there was no time for them to catch their breath.

According to the plan, Shulido and his companions should have time to shake off the pursuers, find a place to rest and then move south.

But even she herself did not expect that Shili Qixiang would not stop her at all. Perhaps Shili Qixiang would not have thought that Yaoyan would not fight and just run away...

"Fifty miles...

"I remember that another fifty miles is the area controlled by Gubeikou..."

Shuliduo's face was calm, and she just talked to herself quietly.

Fifty miles is neither long nor short. If we run out of horsepower in two hours, we might be able to rush through it.

But the current situation is that there is no horsepower...

She slowly looked at the sharp Tang sword in her hand, still remembering that this was the token she asked Xiao Yan for when they separated in Youzhou.

However, the only use of this thing for her now may be to use it to commit suicide at the last moment.

"Queen, I will fight to the death to disperse them, you hurry up!" A maid saw that the cavalry in front neither came to fight nor continued to move, but just blocked the front, and she was very clear about their intentions.

"Do not."

Shuliduo held up the Tang sword, and her beautiful eyes under the iron helmet were extremely heroic.

"This queen can also charge and kill."

"It may be my fate that this matter has not been accomplished. I hope you will not blame me."

A few maids could only sob quietly, and even the dozens of riders were speechless at this moment.

One after another, pursuers came around from both wings, and Yelu Huago's laughter seemed to be getting closer and closer, almost killing through the guards blocking behind.

Shulido smiled coldly, reined in his horse and turned around, his fingers tightly gripping the hilt of the knife, as if he was not going to be easily humiliated.

As a queen, how could she bow to a scum like Yelu Huage?

……

The rumbling sound of horse hooves was getting closer and closer, almost ringing next to my ears.

Shulido's eyes were sharp, she just narrowed them slightly and did not retreat a single step.

During the fight, she could already see Yelu Huago's ugly face only a few dozen steps away from her, but he seemed to be coming straight at her, waving the big knife in his hand non-stop, and was able to fight a little with the beautiful woman.

But he was not in a hurry. He just slowly commanded his subordinates to tease the two stunningly beautiful women, while he himself just laughed crazily in the distance, joined the battle from time to time, and killed a few people.

In a blink of an eye, 50% of the remaining guards had been killed.

Shulido had a calm expression, just staring ahead with his eyes closed.

However, she was immediately stunned.

The sound of horse hooves did not seem to come from the rain and fog ahead.

In the heavy rain, Yelu Hua'ge's troops were obviously stunned and looked towards the south in confusion.

The sound of rain was so loud that the sounds of fighting almost slowed down, and the only sound in my ears was the pattering rain.

But apart from that, the sound of horse hooves, like muffled thunder, continued to come from the south.

Getting closer and heavier.

The sound of horse hooves filled the surrounding area.

A moment——

"Hey, do you really want to fight?"

Shulido, who had originally closed her eyes and was about to commit suicide at the last moment, suddenly opened her beautiful eyes.

At this moment, she didn't care at all that Yelu Hua Ge seemed to be within twenty steps of her, and she didn't care about life or death at all. She just turned her eyes away and looked towards the south.

Under the rain and fog, on a low hill in the south, layers of heavily armored cavalry were rolling over the hill. Rows of rain-hardened horse lances were raised straight up, shining with cold light.

Countless knights in helmets and armor surrounded a tall figure riding a horse in the front.

"Southerner?"

Yelu Huago was also stunned. He stopped his horse suddenly and took a breath subconsciously.

Looking up, one can see that the heavy cavalry is endless. Just by sweeping horizontally, there are at least a thousand cavalry. Countless horse spears are raised high, pointing straight into the sky, exuding endless murderous aura, which makes people tremble.

Everything in the world seemed to have paused in this glance, whether it was the sound of fighting or the sound of weapons clashing, they were all drowned out. The heavy rain fell, but it only made the surrounding area silent.

At this moment, in the figure's hand, a huge bow was drawn like a full moon, and an arrow was emitting a cold and sinister aura, heading directly in the direction of Yelu Huage.

I don’t know if it was because he saw Shulido looking at him, but he smiled and shot an arrow.

"Then, let's fight."

(End of this chapter)