Chapter 335
Chapter 335 – Death of Tao Qian
= West of Hulao Gate =
Tao Qian and his 30,000 escort soldiers encountered with Yan Liang's 50,000 men . Instead of letting Tao Qian's men pass, Yan Liang launched an attack .
"KILL! GET ME TAO QIAN'S HEAD!"
The prepared formations of Yan Liang sent three battalions of 15,000 soldiers to attack Tao Qian unprepared soldiers . As they were not in a battle formation, the long marching lines of Tao Qian's soldiers were devoured by the direct charge .
Soon, Tao Qian was captured along with his retainers . They were brought to Yan Liang .
Zhang Kai, the former Yellow Turban bandit imposter, was one of these captives as well . He screamed in desperation, "I surrender! Please don't kill me! I'll do anything!"
Yan Liang laughed as he liked this situation .
"Really? If I tell you that you will have to kill your former lord so that you can live, can you do it?"
"I WILL! I WILL!"
Tao Qian and his retainers glared at Zhang Kai with hatred, "You ingrate!"
Yan Liang gestured, and a soldier released Zhang Kai .
"Give him a sword . I want him to kill Tao Qian and his colleagues . "
Zhang Kai accepted a sword from a nearby soldier . Without hesitation, he killed Tao Qian and all of his subordinates without blinking .
Seeing the cruelty of this former bandit, Yan Liang clapped, "Very good! I like it . You can live and serve me!"
"T-THANK YOU, SIR!!"
After Tao Qian died, 10,000 surviving soldiers of this lord also surrendered to Yan Liang .
With this, the Xu Province in the eastern area of China would be without a lord, and many cities were free for the taking .
However, this was not the time to rush to Xu Province, yet as Yuan Shao was still in danger . A messenger had told him that Yuan Shao requested his aid ASAP .
"Take all new prisoners to Hulao Gate . As for the cavalries, we'll head west! Go!"
…
An hour later, all minor warlords arrived at the battle site . Seeing the trail of dead bodies and the aftermath of a battle, they sighed a relief that they did not have to fight .
They had received Yuan Shao's emergency summons, but they chose to ignore it . Though they were small-timers, they were not stupid enough to risk their lives for the sake of others .
Still, their outward actions could be hypocrisy .
"Lord Yuan Shao is talented! He killed many of Zhang Tong's retreating soldiers!"
"No, I think Zhang Tong is an idiot! He overestimated himself, and this is the result . "
"Hahaha! Serve him right! Who needs an immortal to rule our country when we can rule it ourselves?"
Zhang Miao, Qiao Mao, and Kong Zhuo were delighted by the result of this battle . None of them even noticed that the dead bodies were Tao Qian's men .
"Oh well, since Lord Yuan is generous enough to leave these dead bodies intact, are we going to share the profits?"
Zhang Miao proposed that they should share the loots . Since all three of them were minor governors with limited influence, looting corpses of soldiers could profit them a bit of supply .
"Let's do that . We'll have our soldiers taking care of these armors and weaponry . "
…
3 PM .
Yan Liang finally regrouped with Yuan Shao .
Seeing the exhausted soldiers and Tian Feng's pale face, Yan Liang noticed that something was not right .
"What happened, My Lord?"
"Wen Chou is probably dead, and we're being harassed by Tong's cavalries . We have to leave this place now!"
Hearing that his best friend was dead, Yan Liang's eyes became bloodshot .
Looking at the western horizon, where Tong's troops were following them, Yan Liang had the urge to command all of his men to charge at them .
Fortunately, Tian Feng stopped Yan Liang on time .
"Don't bother trying to get your revenge . Zhang Tong should have sent another army chasing us from somewhere else . We haven't detected them yet, but we know that they are there . "
Although Yan Liang was unwilling to comply with the order, he swallowed his anger and followed Tian Feng's instruction .
As they marched toward the east, they ran into the armies of three minor lords . They were picking the loots from the corpses .
Yuan Shao peered at these poverty warlords with disgust, "Leave them . We're heading toward Xu Province as soon as possible! We're going to claim Tao Qian's territory before Zhang Tong or Cao Cao notice his death!"
As usual, the three lazy governors threw flattery at Yuan Shao for his achievement .
"A magnificent job getting rid of Zhang Tong's soldiers . I'm amazed by your lightning speed army maneuvering . "
"You have a very talented general, Lord Yuan . I wish my generals could have half of his skills . "
"It was a clean job, Lord Yuan . Zhang Tong's soldiers didn't have a chance . "
Yuan Shao's frown deepened as his disgust toward these useless warlords grew stronger . They did not comply with his summon when he was in a perilous situation, yet they showed up when the fight was over .
In frustration, Yuan Shao whispered to Tian Feng, "We should have killed all of these bastards . "
Tian Feng shook his head, "We can't . We need them as a buffer against Cao Cao and Zhang Tong . Once we take Xu Province, our territories will connect to theirs, and we can save our resources by having them fight Zhang Tong or Cao Cao in our stead . "
"They will lose for sure . "
"Yes . But they will buy us some times, so we can pacify our cities and train more soldiers . "
Yuan Shao groaned . The more he fought against Tong, the more potential enemies appeared .
Not only he had to be wary of Tong, but Cao Cao was also untrustworthy .
"Annoying . "
"I'm sorry, my lord . For the sake of hegemony, no one is our true ally . They are all our rivals . "
"Indeed . Very annoying . "
…
3 . 10 PM .
Zhang He and his 20,000 light horsemen arrived at Hulao Gate .
Zhang He had another goal for coming here . Under the instruction of Ju Shou, they used their fastest units to harass Yuan Shao's soldiers at Hulao Gate . As a result, they arrived here to set an ambush .
Although he had 30,000 more soldiers, Zhang He entrusted all of them to Qu Yi, Han Hao, and Gao Lan, so they could be the backup force within Li Feihong's dimension .
Along the way, Zhang He detected both Yuan Shao's fleeing troops and Yan Liang's 30,000 heavy cavalries, but he chose not to engage in a battle .
Upon arrival, footmen of Yan Liang, who were escorting Tao Qian's former soldiers, were about to reach the gate .
Zhang He put his ninja mask on, "Men, we'll get rid of these soldiers, and we'll retreat . Get into raid formation . "
"RAID FORMATION! KILL!"
*BWOOOO*
"SHAA!"
All riders got into formation in a flash and charged at the marching soldiers .
Seeing the oncoming ambushing enemies, all footmen were in a panic .
Zhang Kai stole a horse and galloped eastward right away, abandoning all of his new friends and colleagues .
Yuan Shao's soldiers grabbed spears and weapons, trying to form a phalanx formation to resist the sudden cavalry charge . However, they were too late .
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
*BOOM*
Horses ran over the unprepared soldiers, and the following warhorses stomped on the fallen soldiers, killing them without dirtying the hands of riders .
Zhang He was different than the rest of his troops as he wielded dual glaives, cutting everything in his path .
The image of Lu Bu's charge implanted within Zhang He's mind while he was mimicking this God of War's signature rampaging charge . Because Zhang He was still young and his speed could not match with Lu Bu's inhuman agility, he used dual-weapon instead of using one halberd to make up for the speed .
This knock-off version of Lu Bu's charge worked for Zhang He . No footmen could even touch his warhorse as he led the chargers .
Zhang He was also quick with his decision . Upon seeing the preparing formation at the rear end of Yuan Shao's troops, he sent his retreating signal .
"Withdraw! Do not push it!"
The cavalry charge lasted for only three minutes, yet they slaughtered 10,000 soldiers in a flash .
The remaining 20,000 footmen of Yuan Shao, including the newly recruited men from Tao Qian Army, stared at the fleeing Zhang He Army in a daze .
When they were unprepared, they were killed like animals . But when they were ready, the enemies retreated .
It was a vexing situation!
"Damn it! Come back and fight like a man!"
"Get back here!"
The troops bellowed in anger .
Zhang He and his men did not go far . As if they were testing Yuan Shao Army's patient, they stood 500 meters away from the prepared formation of spearmen .
This angered the footmen more than the earlier disgrace .
"Let's charge at them! They're taunting us!"
"Don't! This is a trap . We can't outrun horses!"
The spearmen could not move, so they could only stare at Zhang He Army and prepare for any assault at any moment .
While they were at it, Zhang He watched these footmen in silence as he typed in the clan chat .
Zhang He: "Sir Li, Do you see any bow or crossbow in their army?"
Li Feihong: "Yes . Don't approach! They are ready for your charge . "
Zhang He scratched his nose in embarrassment before he sent his command to his men .
"That's enough . We'll withdraw from the battlefield . "
"Huh? We only fought for a few minutes, sir . "
"Just retreat . Our lord said he wants us to practice in the real combat once in a while, but he didn't say we have to wipe out our enemies . "
"Eh? This is just a drill? But those are real enemies . "
"This is nothing but a drill . We've trained enough, we have a story to tell our friends and family . Let's go home . "
"Yes, sir . "
In an anti-climactic fashion, Zhang He and his men turned around and rode away in peace, ignoring the frustrated footmen .
"SON OF A #@!$!!"
"COME BACK HERE!!"
Zhang He did not retreat toward the west where Tong and the others were . Instead, they headed east, going to Hulao Gate .
As Yan Liang left only a portion of his troops here, Zhang He Army killed all of them and moved on, exiting Hulao Gate and traveled North, finding another location to ambush Yuan Shao .
While Zhang He was setting his men for an ambush, he had a hard time to decide which method he could use to troll Yuan Shao's soldiers .
.
Meanwhile, Liu Bei, Guan Yu, and Zhang Fei managed to scrap away with their life along with their 3,000 militias .
As they did not have a place to go, they wondered where they could reside .
Zhang Fei staggered with his injured leg, "Where to, Xuande?"
"I don't know . Maybe west?"
"Going toward the Xiongnu!? Are we going to fight them or what?"
Guan Yu stroked his beard as he had an absurd idea, "How about we join forces with the Xiongnu? They are the only one that can fight Zhang Tong on equal ground . Actually, I think they might be even stronger than Zhang Tong . "
