Chapter 1046: Just Run Away Would Be Fine

The facts prove that when the Uyghur cavalry entered their area of expertise, this bunch were still quite capable fighters.

No wonder they are the cavalry that pressed the famed archers of the Qiang people into the ground and rubbed them.

Their combat instincts are strong; in small-unit fighting, their subjectivity and mobility on the battlefield are both very strong.

Chen Wuji was leading them on a chase, and after using the circling arrow formation, the Uyghur cavalry turned around and began to lead the Nan Jun cavalry on a chase.

The biggest difference between them is that Chen Wuji's chase is over long distances.

While the Uyghur cavalry's chase takes place on the battlefield of close combat.

If you don't look at the battle results, the Uyghur cavalry's performance right now is quite fierce.

But if you don't look at the battle results in war, it also loses any meaning.

The Uyghur cavalry's maneuver was fierce as a tiger, but a quick glance shows they merely scratched the Nan Jun cavalry's skin.

Chen Wuji's central army, though not heavy armored cavalry, was nonetheless nearly armed to the teeth; ordinary arrows could wound horses, but when they hit soldiers they basically just left a mark on the armor, making it hard to cause serious harm.

This result made Song Bo's defenses collapse instantly.

"Stop hitting people, shoot the horses! Shoot all the horses!"

Song Bo galloped across the battlefield, shouting at the top of his lungs.

He couldn't pierce the enemy's armor, so he stopped shooting.

A warhorse is such a big target; there shouldn't be any problem, right?

As long as the warhorses are gone, once reinforcements arrive Chen Wuji will truly be a turtle in a jar.

"Withdraw!"

Chen Wushuang glanced at the battlefield, then spurred his horse and withdrew.

Chen Wuji's ordered battle results have already been achieved; there's no need to continue entangling.

The army let out a roar, quickly regrouping into a black torrent, then withdrew from the battlefield.

Seeing this, Song Bo let out a huge sigh of relief: "Great, we got away!"

He no longer hoped to rely on his few men to keep Chen Wuji from escaping.

As long as he could hold Chen Wuji off until reinforcements arrived, that would be enough.

Whether or not they earned merit no longer mattered; just keeping their heads on their shoulders was enough.

Afterward, Song Bo feigned retreat while sending scouts to monitor the movements of Chen Wuji's cavalry.

The two cavalry forces suddenly seemed like a couple in their first love.

Everyone had the same idea, but none showed it openly; they just kept probing, various cautious probes—today you pretend to accidentally touch me, tomorrow I feign an unintentional hug.

Chen Wuji wasn't wary of Song Bo's pursuing force's strength; a unit of exhausted men and horses whose mounts had reached their limit, the Jīnwèi yíng could easily devour them.

He was probing because he feared ruining Chen Li's overall plan.

After all, he and the Jīnwèi yíng had no combat mission today; their only goal was to escape.

Getting entangled with Song Bo's pursuing force would easily trigger a chain reaction where pulling one thread moves the whole body.

He needed to wait!

He needed to keep this pursuing force hanging, awaiting the battle report from the rear.

In this "you run I chase, run a bit fight a bit" lovers' break‑off style of combat, the rear battle situation finally arrived before Chen Wuji.

Chen Li deployed his vanguard camp and five battalions at a strategic point, soundly defeated the enemy, killing over seven thousand; the Uyghurs have already contracted their forces and withdrawn from the western line of Yǐnmǎchuān.

According to Chen Li's estimate, the enemy's remaining forces are under thirty thousand, enough for a decisive battle!

Chen Wuji made a swift decision, ordering first to wipe out this pursuing force that had been engaging in break‑off combat with them, then to rush to the western line of Yǐnmǎchuān.

Chen Wuji received the news he had been waiting for, but Song Bo's mindset collapsed again.

"What do you mean no reinforcements? Our army has fifty thousand elite troops, and behind us we still have at least ten thousand cavalry. Where are the people? The laborers tasked with chasing Chen Wuji are just the vanguard, not the whole force—what does this mean now?"

In order to completely pin down Chen Wuji, the Grand Prince and the Left General deployed two forces.

One force consists of Song Bo and another ten‑thousand‑strong cavalry.

These two ten‑thousand cavalry are positioned one ahead of the other; Song Bo in front is responsible for rear‑guard pursuit, cutting off Chen Wuji, while the other force covers the rear to prevent Chen Wuji from breaking out.

Besides these two ten‑thousand cavalry, there is another force taking a detour south to block Chen Wuji's southern retreat route.

With thirty thousand pursuers, now they tell him there are no troops—how can Song Bo bear that?

The orderly ran like a dog panting outside in the dog days of summer, mouth slightly open, huffing and puffing, "General, Chen Wuji has ambush troops; he has already buried forces at the eastern end and southern parts of Yǐnmǎchuān. When our pursuers went out, they ran into his ambush and suffered heavy losses."

"The Eldest Prince, on a whim, also led troops to follow behind, barely escaping himself."

Song Bo drew a deep breath, looked up and let out a long sigh, "So… we can only rely on ourselves now, is that right?"

"Yes!" the orderly said, "I just happened to overhear a bit—the Eldest Prince might withdraw his troops. The Left General suspects Chen Wuji still has other tricks up his sleeve, worried about harming the Eldest Prince; the Third Prince has already been worn down by Chen Wuji into a useless wreck, and the Left General dares not gamble on the Eldest Prince's safety."

"…"

Song Bo twisted the corner of his mouth grimly, "Let me think… that means we now have Chen Wuji behind us, Chen Wuji's ambush troops ahead of us, and our main army still needs to withdraw from Yǐnmǎchuān—is that right?"

"... Yes!"

Song Bo slapped his forehead, then looked up speechless and choked.

"What the hell kind of fight is this? I've long said the prince should just sit in his proper place, worrying about what war to fight? Not all princes are the Third Prince, but he insists on proving something to the world, proving your mother's egg!" Song Bo burst out in foul language.

The Vice General, eyes on nose, nose on heart, waited until Song Bo had finished his outburst, then after it slightly subsided, he said, "General, the situation isn't that bad; we still have a chance!"

"Chen Wuji's ambush troops are about to lunge at the Eldest Prince's face—how is that not bad? You'd better spit out any ideas quick, no holding back at this juncture!" Song Bo urged.

The Vice General chuckled, "General, you should quickly express loyalty to the Great King and the prince; though our troops are exhausted, for the Great King's eternal foundation we are willing to stay here and continue to contend with Chen Wuji, hoping to find a chance to capture and kill this scoundrel."

"Staying here? We'll become the walnut meat stuck in a crisp biscuit, destined to be eaten in one bite. I don't believe you haven't noticed that Chen Wuji hasn't been using his full strength—after all those battles, our casualties are huge, but what has he been doing?" Song Bo's voice rose sharply, "He's toying with us! Toying with us!"

The Vice General nodded, "So from now on we just need to run away—no need to engage the enemy. General, aren't you familiar with this Yǐnmǎchuān area?"

"Chen Wuji's ambush troops should now be busy dealing with the Eldest Prince and the Left General, after all their heads are worth far more than ours. As for whether Chen Wuji will chase us, it depends on his mood—maybe yes, maybe no; but even if he does, his forces certainly won't be large."

"As for us, we just need to run out, and that will count as having finished our contention with Chen Wuji."