Volume 3 Chapter 23 It's Him, Not Him
Not to mention how these two core civil and military officials of the Great Qi State had their own ulterior motives and pretended to be so.
At this moment, Li Cheng was determined to give it another try, so he led his personal guards with long swords and cavalry forward with bare hands. Soon, thousands of Qingzhou headquarters troops who had rested well last night rushed up from the rear. Even the Mizhou army that had been scattered before regrouped and moved forward under the pressure of the commander-in-chief, the supervisory team, and the rear center army.
The situation on the battlefield changed immediately.
"This Li Cheng is indeed quite capable."
As Yang Yizhong spoke, he instinctively glanced at the arm of his armor. There was a clear red blood stain on the armor. It was obvious that the other party had acted quickly, and the blood stain from killing Du Yan had not yet been washed away by the rain. "You came so fast!"
“This knife is so fast.”
Zhai Biao, who was a little out of breath next to him, couldn't help but take a few deep breaths in the rain, and then sighed at each other.
The officers on duty around them certainly knew what Zhai Biao meant... because right in front of them, those cavalrymen with long swords had already dismounted and formed a battle line, preparing to charge forward on foot, and those shining long swords were truly terrifying.
Of course it's horrifying!
You know, the long-handled broadsword is a very basic weapon shape, but the two-foot-long blade means that the length of the blade and the weight of the tail are equally amazing. Anyone who can use this broadsword on horseback is undoubtedly extremely strong.
However, Yang Yizhong immediately shook his head: "This kind of weapon is destined to not last long. It is only the power of the first three swords. Pass the order down. If necessary, you can abandon part of the camp and wait for the enemy to penetrate deep into the country. Their momentum will surely slow down, and then counterattack!"
The officers around nodded, accepting the order and agreeing with it, not thinking it was forced comfort from their commander.
By the way, weapons and armor are different. Armor can be repaired and cleaned, and can last for a long time if well preserved. Even if it has some damage, it can still be used normally. The only difference is that its defensive power will be impaired... But weapons in wartime are, to some extent, more like consumables.
The knife is very long, and it is fast, accurate and fierce. It may be able to cut a person in half. But if it is slightly off, it may hit a hard bone and get stuck, and another cut may leave a gap.
Therefore, it is entirely conceivable that this kind of long sword would be difficult to use, not to mention for a long time, even in a protracted war.
In fact, everyone in the Imperial Guard knew that when they returned to Tokyo, a minister had submitted a memorial suggesting that the emperor restore the special imperial formations such as the Golden Spear Squad and the Archery Squad, but Emperor Zhao thought it was impractical and rejected them all. So far, the entire Imperial Guard has been organized like ordinary cavalry and infantry, except that the armor rate and actual number can be 100%.
Today, the Imperial Guard encountered a guard troop of a local warlord of the Pseudo-Qi Dynasty. The ones wearing armor and carrying sharp weapons were the royal guards, while the flashy troops, which should only be able to take three actions, were the guard troop of the warlord.
It is also amazing.
Of course, back to the present, no matter how surprised or sighed we are, the war is like the rain overhead and cannot be stopped.
After a moment, as Li Cheng gave the order without hesitation, hundreds of armored soldiers with long swords raised like a forest slowly moved forward. Behind these armored soldiers were not the Qingzhou central army, but the reorganized remnants of Mizhou.
Prime Minister Hong Ya of the Great Qi Dynasty watched this scene from afar and sneered in his heart... After all, Li Cheng seemed to be heroic and was indeed ready to give it another try, but in the end he was still reluctant to put all his effort into it, and instead seemed to be taking shortcuts.
Of course, this doesn't mean that Li Cheng is petty, but in the overall situation between Song and Jin, if this guy wants to maneuver, he really has to protect his family's foundation.
Hong Ya would do the same if he were in his place.
But no matter what, just when the two sides had different thoughts, at the foot of Wu Mountain, in the rain, on the edge of the Song army camp standing on the official road, the battle had broken out again .
Just as the generals of both sides had expected, the armored soldiers with long swords were unstoppable. Hundreds of them rushed forward like a forest, with a strict formation and calmly hacking and killing. However, they caused dozens of casualties to the Song army as soon as they met... Moreover, this kind of casualties was almost equivalent to death in battle, because the wounds caused by the long swords were almost impossible to recover in the current state.
So, after witnessing with his own eyes a familiar squad leader having his arm chopped off alive and then being hacked to pieces by the enemy in the mud, Yang Yi Zhong no longer hesitated but immediately issued an order to retreat.
The squad officers who had been prepared led their troops to retreat in an orderly manner, handing over the edge areas of the camp which had already been in a mess.
Next, the battle went just as Yang Yi had expected, with messy fences and barracks, corpses all over the ground, and muddy ground. As the Song army took the initiative to retreat, the armored soldiers with long swords quickly became disconnected and could no longer maintain their formation. Once the formation was lost, the lethality of the armored soldiers wielding long swords was greatly reduced, allowing the squadrons who mainly fought with short weapons to regain some of the initiative.
It can be imagined that if this continues, these long sword armored soldiers will not fall into trouble quickly, but will gradually lose their previous sharpness in the complex and chaotic terrain. And if they lose their sharpness, how can they force away this extremely resilient imperial guard?
Unexpectedly, at this moment, Li Cheng, the commander-in-chief of Qi State and the lord of three states, not only did not order the Mizhou soldiers to attack, but instead stepped forward as the commander-in-chief, reined in his horse, and personally charged into the Song army camp.
Li Cheng stepped forward personally. Although he said nothing, the effect was very good. The long-sword guards, who had originally lost some momentum, were almost instantly cheered up. Everyone fought bravely. Many guards who were slightly behind even crossed the obstacles regardless of everything. Among them, the officers shouted questions, gave orders and commands while shouting and killing, trying to form a formation again... For a moment, these long-sword soldiers actually felt that they had seized the opportunity of the Song army's active retreat and took advantage of the situation to completely push the front line.
Yang Yizhong was both shocked and angry, but without any hesitation, he immediately shouted and ordered the whole army to turn around and counterattack! From yesterday to now, the number of soldiers in the imperial guards has been reduced to a dangerous level, but with the order from the commander-in-chief, these soldiers still turned around and counterattacked... It was not just because of the awareness of the emperor's personal army, nor was it just because the Zhao emperor had sufficient support, but also because the imperial guards were generally of clean origin and dared not disobey orders, and also because they were helpless to set up camp with their backs to the water and might not be able to escape.
Of course, there must also be the fact that Yang Yizhong himself usually behaves in a dignified and calm manner in front of his subordinates, which is due to his accumulated prestige.
Therefore, as Li Cheng silently reined in his horse and entered the camp, Yang Yizhong gave an order and the battle was immediately repeated in an extremely tragic manner. Both sides were elite soldiers. One side held a long sword but was restricted by the terrain of the camp, while the other side was familiar with the camp and flexible in combat, but could not ignore the opponent's advantage in weapon length.
Often, a single strike from a soldier with a long sword could directly cause casualties, but in order to deliver this winning strike, he would first have to endure the flexible siege of multiple soldiers with short weapons, and then directly lose his combat effectiveness.
Generally speaking, this is the camp of the Banzhi after all. With Yang Yizhong's order, the number of Banzhi directly participating in the battle is far greater than those of the long-sword armored soldiers, so the balance of the war is showing a trend of reversing again.
But this does not mean that the danger caused by the advance and retreat just now has stopped. On the contrary, it is because Li Cheng has more than just these soldiers! As long as Li Cheng invests in core combat power again, the Song army will still be in trouble.
Yang Yizhong also realized this problem, so after hesitating for a moment, he once again tightened his grip on the precious sword at his waist, and then softly called out to his most useful captain in front of him: "Zhai Biao!"
"control!"
Zhai Biao had been waiting for orders nearby and responded immediately after hearing the words.
"Do it again." Yang Yizhong took a deep breath.
Of course Zhai Biao knew what "one more try" meant, but when he heard the military order, he first glanced at the very obvious figure on horseback in the distance, and then obviously hesitated... Because as the rain became lighter and lighter, and it was getting closer to noon, the light behind the light clouds had already become more and more sufficient, and Zhai Biao had very sharp eyesight, and he could see clearly that the enemy commander was holding the reins with both hands, acting casually, and standing behind the slightly sparse battle group like a big horse and a golden sword, which seemed a little inappropriate.
But no matter how inappropriate it was, after a brief discussion in a low voice, the two decided to try again - although they didn't know whether this person was Li Cheng, it was obvious that it was him riding into the camp that excited those soldiers with long swords, so no matter what, if they killed this person or drove him away, they would be able to get through this afternoon, or even the whole day.
The only thing is that Yang Yizhong is not as skilled in martial arts as Han Shizhong and Yue Fei, and he can't find a particularly safe bow and arrow in the rain, not to mention the chaos in the camp? Therefore, he can only concentrate some elite soldiers to carry out a surprise attack and behead.
The opportunity to fight is fleeting, and once the decision is made, there is no way to delay.
So, soon, an operation that was more like a assault than a decapitation began.
Nearly a hundred soldiers who had not participated in the battle, at least half of whom were wearing the most representative lamellar armor of this era, suddenly came out from the back of the tent and almost immediately formed a relatively tight attack formation.
"That man is Li Cheng. Follow me to kill this beast to repay the emperor's kindness!" As soon as the formation was formed, a general in a silver helmet and armor suddenly drew his sword and pointed it at Li Cheng, then turned around and shouted loudly.
After one call, hundreds of people responded in unison, and the sound of shouting and killing immediately drowned out other parts of the battlefield.
After the response was given, the general with the silver helmet put down the silver visor on his helmet, leaving only his eyes exposed. Then he held a broadsword upside down and charged forward bravely.
Moreover, for the Song army, they were not sure that the man was Li Cheng, but for the long-sword soldiers, there was no need to hesitate at all. They almost put aside the battle in front of them and even sold their backs to the Song army behind them. They swarmed back and tried to protect their own commander-in-chief.
However, since the Song army had decided to launch such a surprise attack, how could they just let it go?
Not to mention that the Song army soldiers who were originally fighting were trying hard to engage, even most of the armored soldiers who were in the camp and forming a strong attack formation were originally trying to block and separate these troops... One side rushed straight to the north and attacked Li Cheng, while the other side turned around from both sides and attacked from both sides. The two sides almost disregarded everything and collided with each other.
In the brief battle, blood and flesh flew everywhere, and wailing suddenly sounded, but it could not cover up the shouts and cries of both sides.
Only the Song army had great momentum, and this 100-man army was the elite among the elite, not to mention the silver-helmeted general and several surrounding warriors were extremely brave, killing and slashing continuously? So although those long-sword armored soldiers tried their best, they still saw this wave of strong attacks gradually approaching their own general.
However, Li Cheng, the Grand Commander of Qi State and the focal point of the battlefield, looked at this scene with a blank expression and no movement... It was unknown whether he was extremely calm or just frightened for a moment.
Before they knew it, the silver-helmeted general was only twenty steps away from Li Cheng, with only three or five people between them.
It happened in a flash. The last few Song soldiers who still had momentum mustered up their courage and rushed forward. The leading general with a silver helmet and a guard beside him each took a sword and killed a long-sword armored soldier who was blocking the way. The rest of the people also blocked the nearest reinforcements from the Qi army.
At this moment, the general in the silver helmet strode forward, but suddenly stopped and threw the machete in his hand directly at the man on horseback.
But Li Cheng, who was sitting upright on the horse, just turned his body suddenly and easily avoided the sudden attack, even with both hands still holding the reins.
The general in the silver helmet and silver face was not panicked, but took the opportunity to snatch a single sword from the hand of the Zhajiabanzhi beside him, and then rushed forward bravely, attacking the opponent directly... Obviously, that throw was just to attract Li Cheng's attention.
But unexpectedly, Li Cheng still reacted calmly and responded amazingly. He watched as the silver-helmeted general took advantage of the gap between the thrown broadsword to jump several steps in front of him, but he suddenly let go of the reins, then crossed his hands left and right, and drew out a single sword on each side of the horse's back.
Two single swords, naturally, are double swords! They are exactly the two swords that Li Cheng relied on to dominate the world during the Jingkang Rebellion!
The two swords were unsheathed as fast as lightning. While the man was drawing the sword with his right hand, he took advantage of the momentum and swung it with all his might, and he faced off against the silver-helmeted general who was rushing towards him!
Just one knife, Li Cheng's expression remained unchanged, but the warhorse under his crotch began to neigh, and the general in the silver helmet also suddenly stopped in front of the horse, and then his body seemed to be slightly out of control.
Li Cheng's expression remained unchanged, but under the sunlight that appeared out of nowhere, he calmly swung his sword to the left. The sword's force was still as fast as lightning, and it formed a continuous momentum with the previous sword, and then hit the shoulder of the out-of-control silver-helmeted general!
The lamellar armor shoulder guards were excellent, and with one slash of the sword, sparks flew everywhere. Although the silver-helmeted Song general did not have his arm chopped off on the spot, he still had difficulty moving... From the look of him, his arm was either dislocated or weak.
Therefore, there is no doubt that when the two sides fought hard face to face, the gap between them was obvious and the outcome was clear - Li Cheng was better.
In fact, Li Benben became alert because of Du Yan's death, and because he was unwilling to commit large-scale troops to fight to the death, he had other ideas - he rode into the camp alone before, not only to urge his personal guards to fight hard, but also to lure the enemy.
After all, after the war, he ran rampant in the north and south for several years. Except for the time when he was slightly inferior to Yue Fei in Dingtao City, his overall military power was unquestionable.
And this was his initial reliance as a low-level soldier when he developed his ambitions in the troubled times!
After the victory was decided, Li Cheng finally stopped pretending and grinned grimly on the spot. He then used his right hand to wield the sword again and chopped down hard at the Song general with the silver helmet and silver mask who was losing strength in front of him, as if he was ready to use his own method to return the favor and end the battle once and for all.
But at this moment, under the bright sun after the rain, a white light suddenly slashed across his vital abdomen. Li Cheng was so flustered that he abandoned his two swords on the spot and hurriedly rolled off the horse from the other side. When he raised his head again, he saw that the ears of the warhorse under his crotch had been cut off by Ping Ping, and then he fled with a pair of bald ears and a neigh. The white light swung across the horse quickly, but then stopped steadily. It was exactly the long-handled broadsword held by his personal guards.
Such a stunning and free-handed sword is definitely not an ordinary martial art. Li Cheng realized almost instantly that the owner of this sword is better than the silver-helmeted general, even to the point of entering the hall... At this point, it is not to say that he is definitely stronger than himself, but it is definitely not possible to determine the winner in the short term. In this situation, how could there be such a person in the Song army besides the main general Yang Yizhong?
When Li Cheng looked again in astonishment, he found that it was the 'ordinary armored squad leader' who had been following the silver-helmeted general and had his weapon taken away!
This is Yang Yizhong! He is the commander of the imperial guards, but he actually cheats?!
General Li was so inspired that he shouted loudly in his heart.
At the same time, he did not hesitate, immediately climbed up from the muddy ground, turned around and fled to the official road outside the camp to the north... There was no other way. It was not that his martial arts were worse than Yang Yi's, but since he had fallen into the opponent's trap and lost his two swords and his horse, if he was forced to stay here and face such a martial arts man, his life would be in danger. But he, Li Cheng, was a man who wanted to do great things in troubled times!
How can I die here for the sake of Jin, Song or Qi?
"The man who escaped was Li Cheng!" At this moment, the silver-helmeted general on the ground behind him suddenly shouted, just like what he, Zhai Biao, had shouted in the morning. "The one who defeated Li Cheng was the imperial commander, Yang Yizhong, who led the Imperial City Division!"
