kingnovel Chapter 2167 Unstoppable
Chapter 2167 Unstoppable
The order was given, and the Chu army began its counterattack.
The cavalry circled around from both sides, attempting to cut off the retreat of the five thousand Tang soldiers; archers lined up behind the main force, and a rain of arrows began to cover the battlefield.
However, Li Guangbi's troops disregarded casualties and continued to charge forward, actually tearing a gap more than a hundred paces wide in the Chu army's line.
Beyond the gap lies the bank of the Huai River, and there are those 120 fast boats hidden in the reeds.
"General! They're not trying to break out, they're trying to cross the river!" The lieutenant finally understood.
Wang Yanzhang's expression changed drastically.
Crossing the river? Where did the Tang army get their boats?
But now is not the time to dwell on this issue.
He knew that if the main force of the Tang army were allowed to cross the Huai River, it would be like releasing a tiger back into the mountains.
If Guo Ziyi escapes with tens of thousands of remaining troops, the situation in the northern frontier may change again.
"We must not let them cross the river!" Wang Yanzhang roared hoarsely. "All troops, advance! Block the breach!"
He personally led 3,000 elite troops to rush towards the breach, attempting to re-seal it.
But Li Guangbi's five thousand elite soldiers were exceptionally tenacious; they formed a human wall with their bodies and used their lives to buy time.
For every person who falls, another person takes their place.
At the breach, corpses piled up like mountains, and blood soaked the sand, forming a dark red stream that flowed into the Huai River.
The battle entered its most intense phase.
Although the Chu army had superior numbers, the Tang army occupied the gap and fought with their backs to the river, actually managing to hold off an enemy several times their size.
Wang Yanzhang launched three consecutive charges, all of which were repelled by the Tang army in a desperate fight to the death.
His own personal guard was also reduced to more than half its strength, and his left arm was grazed by a stray arrow, with blood staining half of his sleeve.
Time passes little by little.
Yanzhang looked up at the sky; the east was already showing the first light of dawn.
No more delay!
Once daybreak, the Chu army's naval warships will be able to see the situation on the river, and the Tang army's crossing operation will be completely exposed.
At that time, a single volley from the naval warships would be enough to sink all those small boats.
However, he was unable to defeat these five thousand elite soldiers.
"General! The second wave of Tang troops has left the city!" the lookout shouted hoarsely.
Wang Yanzhang looked back and saw that the North Gate had opened again—this time it wasn't the sluice gate, but the main gate.
Approximately ten thousand Tang soldiers marched out in formation and formed a defensive array below the city walls, clearly to buy time for the troops crossing the river.
Five thousand elite soldiers blocked the breach in front, while more than ten thousand soldiers were arrayed behind. His own twenty thousand troops were caught in the middle, unable to advance or retreat.
Wang Yanzhang gritted his teeth and made a decision.
He dismounted and took a specially made whistling arrow from his personal guard.
The arrow shaft is hollow and contains gunpowder. Once fired, it will emit a sharp, explosive sound that can be heard for miles—it is the highest level of distress signal.
"Everyone, cover me!" Wang Yanzhang roared.
Dozens of guards immediately formed a human wall, shields facing outwards.
Wang Yanzhang drew his bow and nocked an arrow, the arrowhead pointing diagonally to the sky, and pulled the bowstring taut with all his might.
Whoosh—bang!
The whistle-piercing arrow shot into the sky, leaving a trail of fire in the pre-dawn night sky before exploding into a dazzling white light. The sharp explosion silenced the entire battlefield.
A distress signal has been sent.
Ten miles away, Chu Ning's central army camp.
Inside the imperial tent, Chu Ning had just finished listening to the battle reports from the east and south gates and was discussing the next attack plan with his generals. Suddenly, a shout of alarm came from outside the tent:
"Your Majesty! A distress signal has been sent from the north gate!"
Chu Ning abruptly stood up and strode out of the imperial tent. The afterglow of that white light had not yet faded in the eastern sky.
"This is Wang Yanzhang's strongest distress signal." Han Xing's expression was grave: "Something has happened at the North Gate."
Chu Ning narrowed his eyes. The North Gate… Guo Ziyi had indeed chosen that path.
He immediately ordered: "Han Xing, lead 30,000 cavalry to reinforce the north gate! Tell Wang Yanzhang to hold off the Tang army at all costs!"
"According to the order!"
Han Xing mounted his horse and led his army away at full speed.
Chu Ning stood still, gazing towards the north gate, a cold smile slowly creeping onto his lips.
Guo Ziyi, Guo Ziyi, did you think you could escape by crossing the river?
Across the Huai River, I have already laid a net that can neither be cast nor broken.
What you crossed was not the path to survival.
It's another dead end.
Before dawn, the south bank of the Huai River had become a battlefield.
Wang Yanzhang's 20,000 Chu troops completely collapsed under the relentless assault of Li Guangbi's 5,000 elite soldiers and the subsequent Tang troops.
At first, only the left wing was breached, but the breach spread and expanded rapidly, like an anthill on a dam.
The Tang soldiers charged in like mad tigers, not seeking to kill, but only to create chaos.
They used knives and axes to cut down the Chu army's flagpoles, used their bodies to knock over the Chu army's war drums, and used their roars to drown out the Chu army's commands.
"Hold on! Don't retreat!"
Amidst the chaos of battle, Wang Yanzhang roared and cleaved a fleeing captain in two with a single sword stroke.
"Behead those who retreat!"
But the defeat was swift and devastating.
When the first organized unit began to turn and flee, the rout spread like a plague.
First came the crossbowmen—these ranged units are the most vulnerable in close-quarters combat. They abandoned their crossbows, dropped their quivers, and ran away.
Next came the spearmen, who were supposed to form a defensive formation, but without the cover of crossbows and seeing their comrades fleeing, their morale collapsed instantly.
"General! The central army is in chaos!"
The lieutenant came running with his face covered in blood, his helmet nowhere to be seen, and his disheveled hair stuck to his forehead.
Wang Yanzhang looked up and felt a chill in his heart.
His most relied-upon force of three thousand elite troops in the central army was now beginning to waver.
The soldiers in the front ranks were still fighting to the death, but some in the back ranks had already turned around—not to flee, but to instinctively try to escape this vortex of death.
Even more fatal was that Li Guangbi seized the opportunity.
This renowned Tang general, who had been fighting fiercely on the battlefield, suddenly leaped onto a stray warhorse, raised his long spear high, and roared:
"The Chu army has collapsed! My men—follow me and charge through their lines to take Wang Yanzhang's head!"
Thousands of Tang soldiers responded in unison, and their offensive suddenly intensified by three times.
Instead of attacking in a scattered manner, they coalesced into a sharp dagger and thrust it straight at the location of Wang Yanzhang's command flag.
"Protect the general!" the captain of the personal guard roared, leading the last three hundred guards to form a human wall.
But the human wall proved as fragile as paper in the face of the Tang army's desperate charge.
The first rank of guards was pierced by spears, the second rank was chopped down by swords and axes, the third rank... Wang Yanzhang watched helplessly as his guards, who had followed him for ten years, fell one by one into pools of blood.
"General! Let's go!"
The lieutenant grabbed Wang Yanzhang's reins, his voice shrill: "If we don't leave now, it will be too late!"
Wang Yanzhang's eyes were bloodshot, and he still wanted to fight to the death, but reason told him: he had lost, utterly lost.
The 20,000-strong army has already collapsed, and the commander's flag is about to be captured. Staying here would only add another corpse to the pile.
The word "withdraw..." was squeezed out from between his teeth, as heavy as a thousand pounds.
He turned his horse around and, under the cover of his last few dozen guards, broke through to the southeast.
That's the direction of the Chu army's main camp, the direction from which reinforcements might arrive.