Warring States Odyssey

  The eastern sky gradually turned a pale white color, also bringing the first ray of light to the dark world.

  Huan Yi stood on the chariot, looking back at what was behind him. At this time, in front of and behind him, were Qin army troops that stretched as far as the eye could see, forming a long, dark dragon in the dim light. In his heart, Huan Yi also silently estimated that after a night of rapid marching, the Qin army had already covered nearly three shes (one she being thirty li), and should have left the Zhao army far behind, so he could probably let out a sigh of relief now.

  After receiving the news of Qin Jun's defeat at Jinyong yesterday, Huan Yi was shocked at first, but soon realized that the Qin army had fallen into an extremely dangerous situation. Although there were still tens of thousands of troops in the Qin army, after the loss of Jinyong, they had been caught in a pincer movement by the Zhao army, making it difficult to advance or retreat, and leaving them isolated and unsupported. Moreover, the Qin army's camp had been plundered, their food and supplies had all been burned by the Zhao army, and the rations they carried with them would only last for two or three days. The morale of the Qin army was low, and they lacked the will to fight. Even if the Zhao army simply held out against them for a few days, it was likely that the Qin army would collapse on its own.

  Huan Yi immediately made a decisive decision, and ordered the Qin army to withdraw overnight, leaving Fanwu far behind and retreating to Chouyu to guard. At the same time, orders were also sent to other Qin armies stationed in various places, all of which retreated to Chouyu to gather.

  The large army of Qin, which was attacking the Zhao army, also set out overnight, abandoning all heavy baggage such as beds, catapults, stone-throwing machines, grain carts, and drums. They only brought essential supplies like food, water, and fodder, traveling light and hurrying along the road. After a night of rapid marching, by dawn they had already covered over 100 miles, exceeding the distance of three stages.

  At this time, Huan Gong was slightly relieved. However, the Qin army had already fought for a day yesterday and had been rushing overnight, so they were all tired and hungry, and some were even dozing off. The infantry was walking forward step by step, while some cavalrymen fell asleep on their horses and fell to the ground. The soldiers in the war chariots were slightly better off because they didn't have to walk, but they could secretly take a nap in the chariot. However, the war horses couldn't hold on, and as they walked, they suddenly lost their footing, causing the horse to fall and the chariot to overturn. Such incidents occurred multiple times, and the speed of the march was getting slower and slower.

  However, the Qin army's military law was extremely strict, and they had undergone rigorous training. Therefore, although the Qin soldiers were already exhausted at this time, they did not dare to stop and continued to advance with gritted teeth. If it were another country's army, someone would have lain down and pretended to be dead by now, but in private, there were already many complaints among the Qin soldiers.

  At this time, a general of Qin came to the front of Huan Yi's chariot and said: "General, now the soldiers are all exhausted and tired. Why not rest first, bury the pot and cook rice, have a full meal, and then march again?"

  The Qin army is now very exhausted, and Huan Yi is also very clear. Looking at Huan Yi standing upright on the chariot, he is actually very tired and wants to sleep well. As the commander of the entire army, he has to hold on somehow.

  After listening to Qin Jiang's suggestion, Huanzi looked around and saw that the sky was just beginning to brighten up. The surroundings were still dark and unclear, so Huanzi asked: "What place is this?"

  Someone on either side said: "Report to the general, this place is called Luoshi Slope."

  Huan Yu nodded, of course he knew what this place was. After thinking for a moment, he said: "Let's walk forward for another ten or so miles, and we'll reach the banks of the Lüshui River. There's water to drink there, and also river dikes that can be used as a defensive position. Let the soldiers hold on for a little while longer, and after we arrive at Lüshui, we can rest and cook food."

  Although the Qin army was already very exhausted, they had been trained rigorously and had not yet reached the point of collapse. Moreover, the military discipline of the Qin army was strict, so after Huan Yi's order was passed down, the soldiers did not dare to disobey it and could only grit their teeth and continue advancing. Furthermore, knowing that they would be able to rest once they arrived at the Lüshi River, the soldiers also had something to look forward to in their hearts, which gave them some strength, and the speed of their march quickened a bit.

  Huan Gong's heart also relaxed a little, with one hand supporting the chariot's crossbeam and closing his eyes, wanting to take a nap. But just then, a dense and urgent sound of horse hooves echoed on both sides of the Qin army's formation, growing louder and closer from afar.

  Huan Zhu's heart suddenly shocked, instantly sleepy, looking around, at this time the sky was slightly higher, and it could be vaguely seen that on both sides of the Qin army, countless cavalry shadows were waving guns, spears, and swords, rushing towards the Qin army.

  At this time, Huan Yi couldn't help but feel a chill in his heart. The Zhao army actually launched an attack on the Qin army at this moment. It seems that he still underestimated Li Mu's military ability, and this time the Qin army was in a precarious situation.

  Dividing line Dividing line

  After receiving the news of Zhao Jun's occupation of Qin Jun's Jingxing Dazhen, Li Mu also immediately predicted that the Qin army would definitely withdraw overnight. After all, Huan Yi was a master of military strategy and would not stay in place to wait for death. The Qin army had no choice but to retreat to Chou You, with no way out. The Zhao army must also take advantage of the situation to pursue the Qin army, in order to thoroughly defeat the northern Qin army and completely win this battle. Therefore, Li Mu ordered Gao Yuan and other cavalrymen to rest while sending out a large number of scouts to investigate the movements of the Qin army.

  The Qin army retreated overnight, just as Li Mu had expected. However, Li Mu did not immediately pursue them, but instead sent scouts to closely follow the Qin army and mark their route. It wasn't until the second half of the night that Li Mu ordered a counterattack, personally leading 8,000 cavalrymen, including 1,000 elite cavalrymen from Gaoyuan. Each cavalryman was equipped with two warhorses, which they switched along the way to maintain their strength. He also ordered Yuan Xue to lead 30,000 infantrymen in support.

  Actually, as Li Mu's identity, it is not necessary to lead the army in person as the vanguard, but this time Zhao's victory was within their grasp, and Li Mu also wanted to see with his own eyes the combat effectiveness of the elite cavalry, so he still decided to lead the army in person.

  Although Zhao's army set out later than Qin's by several hours, because the Zhao army was a full cavalry force and each soldier had two horses to ride, they could hurry along without sparing their mounts. Moreover, the Qin army's movements were completely under Zhao's control. By dawn, the Zhao cavalry caught up with the main body of the Qin army.

  Li Mu immediately ordered the cavalry of the Zhao army to change horses, and a portion of the cavalry dismounted to fight. They were then divided into two routes, attacking the Qin army from both sides. The cavalry of the Zhao army was divided into several teams, each killing their way towards the main force of the Qin army from both sides. First, there was a rain of arrows, shooting and wounding many Qin soldiers. Then, the cavalry of the Zhao army rushed into the Qin army's formation, stabbing with spears and chopping with swords, immediately killing the Qin army until they were overturned, with countless dead and wounded.

  Although the total strength of the Qin army was still 120,000 to 130,000 men, far more than that of Zhao, the Qin army's troops were now stretched out in a long line, with the front and rear unable to support each other, while the Zhao army was making a surprise attack on the Qin army. Moreover, after a night of rapid marching, the Qin army was already exhausted, with low morale and no will to fight. They could barely continue marching, but when it came to fighting, they were simply no match for the enemy. And the Zhao army was a fully mounted force, making a surprise attack, so the Qin army was naturally even less of a match.

  In the blink of an eye, Zhao's army repeatedly charged and broke through the Qin army's formation, which was thrown into great disorder. Despite the strict military discipline of the Qin army, it could no longer restrain its soldiers at this point. Except for a small portion of the Qin army that still managed to engage in combat with the Zhao army, the vast majority of the Qin army had lost all will to fight and were fleeing in disarray, abandoning their weapons and armor. At this moment, preserving one's own life was paramount, and military law could only be set aside.

  But the Zhao army was all cavalry, and although some of the cavalry dismounted to fight at this time, there were still a considerable number who remained on horseback, so as long as the Zhao army pursued, the Qin army would not be able to escape.

  The cavalry led by Gao Yuan naturally fought on horseback, and having gone through a baptism of battle, this cavalry was now even more adept at it. At first, they still formed a cohesive unit, charging back and forth twice, disrupting the Qin army's formation. After that, the cavalry immediately dispersed into small groups of fifty or a hundred men, pursuing and cutting down the Qin soldiers on the battlefield. Their focus was on eliminating the remaining pockets of resistance from the Qin army, while pursuing those who had already fled in defeat was left to other Zhao troops.

  At this time, the Qin army had already been divided into dozens of segments by the Zhao army, so the strength of the resistance was only a few hundred people, with a scale of over a thousand people, and they were still scattered in various parts of the battlefield, fighting separately to resist the attack of the Zhao army, while most of the Qin army had already dispersed.

  When they encountered such a Qin army, there would be two to three teams of Zhao cavalry troops attacking from different directions. Moreover, the attack by the Zhao army was not simply a strong attack on the Qin army's formation, but rather surrounded the outer perimeter of the Qin army, with one part of the cavalry opening bows and shooting arrows at the Qin army, trying to disrupt the Qin army's formation first. If the arrow attacks could make the Qin army's formation relax, the Zhao army would immediately launch a frontal strong attack on the Qin army, using long spears and long halberds to strike, quickly disrupting the Qin army's formation, and then breaking it down one by one.

  While some of the Qin army was being struck by the Zhao army's bows and arrows, they were still able to maintain their formation without loosening up. The Zhao army would then, under the continued strike of bows and arrows, dispatch small groups of cavalry in an arc-shaped charge, mostly switching to long swords for slashing, relying on the impact force of war horses, layer by layer reducing the Qin army's array, splitting the Qin army into blocks, until the Qin army's formation was thoroughly disrupted.

  Zhao Jun used this method to thoroughly defeat the remaining resistance forces of the Qin army, and in a relatively short period of time, the Zhao army had already dissolved six or seven small-scale resistances of the Qin army. However, the Qin army was not completely invincible, and its mid-level generals also had considerable command capabilities, so on the one hand, they formed their own arrays, relying on war chariots and other tools to defend themselves against the Zhao army's attacks. At the same time, they tried to merge with other nearby Qin armies to expand their resistance forces. This still showed the Qin army's usual rigorous training. Moreover, several resistance forces of two or three thousand people were formed on the battlefield.

  So the battle was also formed in such mutual restraint and counter-restraint, and for a time it was also back and forth in a thrilling manner.