Chapter 1160

First Volume, Chapter 1160: Nan Jing's First Open Field Battle

The messenger could no longer establish any contact with Sun Bo.

But Sun Bo, having fought countless battles and possessing immense experience, could judge just how desperate the situation was merely by the number of enemy troops surrounding him.

"Damn it!"

"The Beixi Light Cavalry had already arrived to reinforce us, holding the perimeter against the Rebel Army all this time—likely already shattered."

Sun Bo's emotions were profoundly complex.

It turned out the Beixi Light Cavalry had not abandoned their comrades—they had fought relentlessly.

But what good was knowing this now?

Light cavalry, after all, were light cavalry—their effectiveness on a direct battlefield was severely limited.

Just as Sun Bo had descended into utter despair, a shout from his bodyguard reached his ears.

"General, the enemy… the enemy seems to be retreating."

What?!

Sun Bo froze. Leaning on his Great Axe, he gasped for breath and surveyed his surroundings—sure enough, the enemy's assault had lost its former ferocity.

Could reinforcements have arrived?!

Impossible!

Sun Bo had already contacted Liu Ming and learned from him that although the Northern Border Army had sent ten thousand cavalry, their massive scale had stripped them of their greatest advantage: speed.

Only five days had passed; at least another five days were needed for the Northern Border Army to reach the battlefield.

At this moment, any reinforcements appearing could not possibly be the Northern Border Army.

Moreover, this new force possessed extraordinary combat effectiveness—enough to make the Rebel Army flee in panic.

Just as Sun Bo was utterly baffled, under Zhao Zhenhai's escort, the Black Cavalry arrived on the battlefield and immediately launched a charge against the Enemy Army.

A full thousand Black Cavalry, like an impregnable Iron Barrel, slammed into the enemy ranks and tore their formation apart on impact.

With their formation shattered, the advantage of Zhao Zhenhai's Light Cavalry became evident.

Arrows rained down indiscriminately; countless enemies fell.

The Black Cavalry never fought alone; their coordination with the Beixi Light Cavalry was the greatest and most seamless.

The Black Cavalry never engaged the enemy directly—once they shattered the formation, they withdrew immediately, leaving the Beixi Light Cavalry to hunt and slaughter.

Together, these two forces of heavy and light cavalry created an advantage greater than the sum of their parts.

The Black Cavalry broke the lines; the Beixi Light Cavalry harvested the fallen. The Rebel Army retreated step by step until they reached the DefensiveLine of the Heavy Armor troops, where the situation stabilized once more.

For this operation to eliminate Sun Bo's vanguard, Gusu City had spared no cost.

They had deployed a full two thousand Heavy Armor troops!

These two thousand Heavy Armor troops maintained a tight formation, advancing steadily forward, killing gods if they met gods, killing Buddhas if they met Buddhas.

Neither Sun Bo's vanguard nor the Beixi Light Cavalry could stand against them—they could only retreat continuously, avoiding any direct confrontation with these Armed to the Teeth Heavy Armor troops.

Now, with the arrival of the Black Cavalry, the two sides inevitably collided.

Heavy Armor troops, of course, could not compare to Heavy Cavalry; facing the Black Cavalry's charge, the front-line soldiers were instantly scattered.

But that was all!

Because these Heavy Armor troops stood shoulder to shoulder, either wielding Great Shields or raising Chang Mao or Great Axes.

Even the Black Cavalry could only break through the first line—upon reaching the rear ranks, they instantly lost momentum.

Instead, they were gradually surrounded.

These Heavy Armor troops first used Great Shields or Armor to forcibly halt the Warhorses, then struck upward with their weapons.

The armor-piercing power of Chang Mao and Great Axes was simply too strong—even the sturdy Black Cavalry could not withstand it.

After only a few exchanges, both sides suffered horrific losses.

The Heavy Armor troops lost over three hundred men; the Black Cavalry lost nearly one hundred.

If the fighting continued, the Black Cavalry and the Heavy Armor troops would inevitably annihilate each other—this would naturally benefit Sun Bo.

Once the enemy's Heavy Armor troops were wiped out, he could lead his men to turn the tide and drive back the remaining Light Armor Rebel Army.

But for Qin Feng, this would be a devastating blow.

The Black Cavalry were not only expensive to equip but also the premier force for breaking enemy lines in open battle.

Ultimately, this brutal "Line-Breaking Battle" ended in victory for the Rebel Army's Heavy Armor troops.

The Black Cavalry were forced to withdraw, barely escaping the bloody melee under the cover of the Beixi Light Cavalry.

Zhao Zhenhai knew well: as long as the enemy's Heavy Armor troops could hold their DefensiveLine, crushing this army was unrealistic.

Yet, compared to the Heavy Armor troops, the Black Cavalry possessed one enormous advantage: stamina!

Human stamina could not possibly match that of Warhorses.

After the brutal, head-on clash, the Rebel Party's Heavy Armor troops moved noticeably slower.

After withdrawing from the battlefield, under Zhao Zhenhai's signal, the Black Cavalry executed a Yuan Hui maneuver, bypassing the Heavy Armor troops entirely and striking directly at the weaker flanks.

The Black Cavalry could not break the Heavy Armor line—but they could break the Light Armor!

Facing the thousand-jin heavy cavalry, the Light Armor Rebel Army lacked even the courage to fight—they fled in panic, seeking shelter behind the Heavy Armor troops.

Even when a few Spearman dared attempt a Stealth attack on the Black Cavalry, Zhao Zhenhai's Light Cavalry intercepted them.

After several charges, although the Black Cavalry could not crush the enemy army, they successfully reached Sun Bo's side.

At this point, Sun Bo was utterly exhausted; only a handful of twenty-odd bodyguards remained around him.

Zhao Zhenhai immediately dispatched troops to rescue Sun Bo and his men, while using messengers and scouts to continuously monitor battlefield developments.

With Sun Bo withdrawn, Zhao Zhenhai became the temporary commander of the battlefield.

He changed tactics, strictly avoiding contact with the enemy's Heavy Armor troops, and instead coordinated with the Black Cavalry to relentlessly drive back the Light Armor Rebel Army.

The objective was a single one: to rescue those vanguard soldiers who were surrounded and on the verge of collapse.

As batch after batch of vanguard soldiers withdrew from the battlefield, in the end, almost only Zhao Zhenhai's cavalry remained, still skirmishing and holding a standoff with the Enemy Army.

Just as Zhao Zhenhai's Warhorse was nearly unable to hold on, the Enemy Army finally began an orderly Military Retreat.

Clearly, the other side had realized that the strategy of Total Annihilation against Sun Bo had failed.

To avoid wearing down their precious Heavy Armor infantry, retreating at this moment was undoubtedly the wisest choice.

The moment the Enemy Army retreats is undoubtedly the best opportunity to pursue and cut them down!

But unfortunately, Zhao Zhenhai could only watch helplessly as the Enemy Army withdrew, unable to summon even the slightest thought of pursuit.

After all, both men and horses were nearly exhausted, and with the Enemy Army's Heavy Armor infantry constantly covering the Rear Guard, the retreat was slow, maintaining an unbroken formation the entire time.

They gave Zhao Zhenhai not the slightest opening to exploit.

After this brutal Open Field Battle, Sun Bo's vanguard army, from its initial twenty thousand, had been reduced to… two thousand!

And that was with the premise of being Elite Troops, aided by the Beixi Light Cavalry.

If fighting alone, let alone having two thousand left, the army would likely have collapsed when it still had ten thousand men.