Chapter 62: The Pitiful Yang Chou

  Pounce on the street, red ticket!

  That night, Taishi Ci led three hundred elite cavalry to intercept Yang Yu, while Li Chong and others stayed in Mayi to suppress the garrison of Mayi and prevent them from coming out to respond to Yang Yu.

  Taishi Ci led three hundred elite cavalrymen along the official road, searching for an ambush location. Finally, Taishi Ci set up an ambush at a small hill sixty li from Mayi and sent out scouts to investigate Yang Chou's movements. On the second day at noon, the scouts returned to report that Yang Chou was only fifty li away and would pass by this place tonight.

  The soldiers under Taishi Ci immediately became excited, rubbing their fists and palms, ready for battle.

  Li Chong's most elite soldiers were these men, all of whom had been trained in the wilderness beyond the Great Wall and could be described as ruthless thugs who would kill without batting an eye.

  The terrain around Mayi is relatively flat, which is suitable for cavalry battles. He didn't plan to kill Yang Chou in a surprise attack either, as long as Yang Chou doesn't turtle up, Taishi Ci has the confidence to win.

  At dusk, the sky had already darkened, and Taishi Ci stood on a mound of earth, gazing far into the distance. He saw a fiery dragon winding its way along the official road, and upon closer inspection, he couldn't help but let out a snort of laughter. He discovered that Yang Chou's army was extremely undisciplined, with scattered fires burning haphazardly everywhere.

  To say the least, Taishi Ci had seen the most disciplined army was Li Chong's troops. When infantry marched on flat roads, their pace could be consistent, that's what we called majestic and powerful. Taishi Ci trained for a long time but couldn't train his war horses to keep pace consistently, so he was depressed for a long time.

  As soon as his cavalry came out, the horses' hooves rose and fell in unison, just like human footsteps, the ground trembled slightly, the onlookers were extremely amazed, with eyes full of envy, Taishi Ci burst out laughing.

  Taishi Ci was lost in thought, completely unaware of the passage of time. The deputy general looked at Taishi Ci with a puzzled expression, thinking to himself: "What's wrong with the general? Ha ha, could it be that he has discovered a weakness in the enemy's formation?"

  The deputy general said in a low voice: "General Ta Shi... General Ta Shi..."

  "What's going on!" Taishi Ci was startled awake from his wonderful daydream by the deputy general and asked in a bad mood.

  The deputy general couldn't help but swallow his saliva, thinking it was strange, the general's tone didn't seem right, as if he had been interrupted in the middle of something. Seeing that Taishi Ci was about to get angry, the deputy general hastily diverted the attention, saying in a low voice: "General Taishi, Yang Chou's army has arrived."

  "Damn it!" Tai Shi Ci cursed and walked down from the mountain bag.

  To prevent it from being too dark to see his own men, Taishi Ci ordered his soldiers to tie white cloth around their right arms and inspect their weapons and armor. Only then did Taishi Ci mount his horse, calm and focused, waiting for Yang Chou's arrival.

  The weather in February was very cold, and Yang Jiao's army did not move quickly. As soon as night fell, the breath turned to ice, and the soldiers were even more reluctant to march, only wanting to set up their tents, eat a hot meal, and sleep soundly.

  Yang Chou also wanted to sleep, but he was afraid that Ma Yi would not be able to hold on, and camping in the wilderness was not safe. This place was too close to Ma Yi, it was hard to prevent Li Zhong's cavalry from coming to steal an attack. So Yang Chou shouted loudly: "Listen up everyone, what's good about sleeping in a tent? Are there any women to warm your beds for you? Tonight we'll march under the moonlight, and by dawn we can reach Ma Yi. Once we get to Ma Yi, ten people will share a woman to play with, how does that sound?"

  Upon hearing that there were women available, the soldiers immediately became excited and no longer complained about the cold weather. They hurried along, chattering loudly and quickening their pace.

  Just then, a dull sound of horseshoes came from afar. Yang Chou tilted his head to listen and suddenly changed color, hastily shouting loudly: "Form an array, quickly form an array, there are cavalry making a sneak attack."

  Yang Chou had suffered a defeat once before, and this time he came to support Ma Yi with ample preparation. He was well-equipped with long spears and large shields to counter the cavalry, and as long as he formed his battle array properly, Taishi Ci's cavalry could only retreat in disarray.

  But the soldiers under Yang Chou's command were too poor, and Yang Chou gave several orders in a row. These people started to set up their positions in a hurry, a simple circular defense formation, but they spent several minutes and still couldn't get into formation.

  There's a saying that goes like this: "Sweat more in peacetime, bleed less in wartime." This saying is particularly effective in specific situations, such as the current one.

  Taishi Ci charged to the front of the army formation, and with one glance, he saw a gap. Without thinking twice, he galloped in, his horse leading the way. The cavalry behind him followed closely, pouring in like fish, slashing their swords wildly at anyone they saw.

  The military formation is all spearheads pointing outward. Once the cavalry breaks into the formation, it takes a long time to adjust. In open spaces, infantry does not have dense formations and has no way to counter the cavalry.

  The soldiers targeted by Taishi Ci's cavalry began to flee in all directions, shouting wildly. Yang Chou angrily shouted repeatedly and beheaded several fleeing soldiers before the rout was halted.

  "Form an array... Form an array..." Yang Cong shouted loudly and continuously.

  As the commander-in-chief shouted, after a moment of chaos, the bewildered soldiers began to instinctively move closer to Yang Ugly. Before long, most of the soldiers had gathered around Yang Ugly, making it easier for him to command them. Under Yang Ugly's constant shouting, these soldiers gradually formed into an array.

  But also nearly a hundred soldiers were cut out by Taishi Ci in the big array, and Yang Chou did not dare to come forward to rescue them, fearing that they would disrupt the formation, and could only watch as these hundreds of people were slaughtered by Taishi Ci's cavalry.

  Tai Shi Zi also ignored Yang Chou, focusing on devouring the hundred infantrymen. The three hundred cavalrymen swirled around the enemy army, forming a massive whirlpool. Within the whirlpool, all that could be seen was the glint of swords, and any enemy soldier who approached this sword light would instantly be hacked to pieces. The cries of agony in the dark night chilled people's hearts.

  Yang Chou's heart is bleeding!

  In an instant, Taishi Ci slaughtered over a hundred enemy soldiers, and the 300 elite cavalry swiftly retreated from the battlefield, stopping at a distance of a hundred paces, staring intently at Yang Chou, leaving behind only a scene of carnage and a strong smell of blood.

  Yang Chou gazed at the enemy faintly visible in the darkness, and suddenly felt a chill run through his entire body. He involuntarily swallowed a mouthful of saliva, his Adam's apple bobbing up and down, and his two hands began to tremble.

  "Form a phalanx and advance..." Yang Chou shouted in a trembling voice, the surviving troops immediately moved their feet, wanting to get away from these whistling death gods.

  Tai Shi Ci's cavalry was like a pack of hungry wolves, lurking not far nor near behind Yang Yu's army, waiting for him to reveal an opening before pouncing forward and tearing him apart with a vicious bite.

  Yang Chou also knew Tai Shi Ci's mind, but he had no way to do anything about it. He could only hope to arrive at Mai Yi quickly and shake off the hungry wolves behind him. As they rushed through the dark night, Yang Chou felt that the journey was endless. The sixty-mile distance seemed like an eternity, as if they would never reach their destination.

  As the night deepened, Taishi Ci's cavalry all lit torches to illuminate the road. Yang Chou turned his head and took a look at Taishi Ci's army, only to see that the flames were like a steady stream, their momentum was like a long snake, it was clear that the soldiers were also marching in an orderly manner. Looking at the chaotic appearance of his own army, Yang Chou couldn't help but feel somewhat disheartened.

  Around midnight, Yang Jue's army was surrounded and finally unable to move.

  Helpless, Yang Ugly had to order the troops to stop and rest on the spot, light a bonfire, melt some snow, let the soldiers drink some hot water, and eat some dry rations.

  Taishi Ci, who was also exhausted outside the city, ordered his entire army to rest. As the pursuing side, Taishi Ci's soldiers could rest with ease and some had already started piling up snow to build a wall to block the wind. As an army that had been fighting against foreign tribes beyond the border for years, their welfare and treatment were exceptionally good. Yang Chou's soldiers ate dry rations, while Taishi Ci's soldiers roasted meat.

  After having a midnight snack, the soldiers under Taishi Ci's command actually took out their felt mats from under the horse's belly and leaned against the snow wall to take a nap.

  Tai Shi Zi didn't stop the movements of his subordinates, he really wasn't afraid that Yang Ugly would launch a sneak attack. At worst, he could just ride his warhorse and escape, as if infantry had ever been able to catch up to cavalry.

  Yang Chou would never have thought of making a surprise attack on Taishi Ci, and if Taishi Ci did not come to make a surprise attack on him, Yang Chou would be shouting loudly for Heaven to bless him.

  Taishi Ci's soldiers rested for a while, regained some strength, and Taishi Ci immediately organized an ambush. It was called an ambush, but it was not much different from a direct attack. Taishi Ci took advantage of the low morale of Yang Yu's army, shot a round of arrows, killed more than ten people, and then left quickly.

  The loss of over a dozen men is nothing, but the psychological panic it causes is extremely severe. Taishi Ci just wants to remind these soldiers that the road is very dangerous and they must be on high alert.

  Yang Chou's violent temper was like thunder, but he had no way to deal with Taishi Ci. To be honest, Yang Chou had the idea of dying together with Taishi Ci in his heart.

  Under the huge mental pressure, Yang Ugly's soldiers finally started to flee. By dawn, Yang Ugly took stock and found that more than 200 soldiers were lost, which means that nearly half of the lost soldiers disappeared on the way, equivalent to the number of deaths in battle.

  The sky was getting brighter, and Yang Chou finally felt at ease. The walls of Maiyi City were already faintly visible in the distance. As long as they could bypass Li Zhong's siege troops, they could safely enter the city. If they let these 800 people rest for a night, by tomorrow, their combat effectiveness would be equivalent to that of the 2,000 besiegers.

  However, this is also the most dangerous time. Taishi Ci also understands this truth, so before Yang Chou enters the city, Taishi Ci suddenly launches an attack.

  This time Yang Chou was well-prepared and engaged in a bloody battle with Taishi Ci three miles away from Mayi.

  This time it was a fierce and intense battle, Taishi Ci's cavalry finally suffered heavy casualties, with soldiers constantly falling off their horses and being trampled to death by the enemy.

  Tai Shi Zi's eyes widened in anger, these cavalrymen were all trained by him one by one, and the death or injury of any one of them could make his heart ache for half a day. His heart suddenly became ruthless, and the steel spear in his hand let out a mournful whistling sound, sweeping wildly in all directions, and any enemy soldier who was hit would have their bones broken and tendons torn apart.

  It was then that one could see just how much damage a top-notch general gone mad could cause.

  Taishi Ci's steel spear was like a black python, rolling and biting in the crowd, occasionally Taishi Ci also picked up the sword on the ground to shoot and kill the enemy army far away. The momentum of Taishi Ci made the enemy afraid to escape, wherever he went, the enemy fled in all directions.

  Seeing the general being so brave, the soldiers under Taishi Ci also became frenzied and killed the enemy like mad demons.