Chapter 440: First Volume, Chapter 440: Intense Battle

First Volume, Chapter 440: Intense Battle

The Beixi County Garrison was now less than three li from Chen Si!

Chen Si could clearly hear the distant cries of battle; his surrounding guards knelt and begged him to retreat from combat, but he ignored them, his gaze unwavering.

"If I bleed upon this battlefield, then Heaven does not favor Great Di!"

Almost as soon as the words left his mouth, a rapid, dense clatter of hooves came from behind Chen Si.

Five thousand light cavalry surged forward, racing past Chen Si's position and directly charging toward the Beixi County Garrison.

The Beidi Light Cavalry moved with extreme speed, arriving on the battlefield in the blink of an eye, yet they did not engage head-on; instead, they split into two wings and flanked the Beixi County Garrison from left and right, constantly ambushing and wearing them down. Nearly all Beidi cavalry had grown up on horseback and possessed extraordinary equestrian skills.

Despite the wild galloping, the cavalry archers' accuracy remained terrifyingly high.

This light cavalry unit excelled at countering heavy cavalry, each soldier equipped with armor-piercing arrowheads, using their speed advantage to harass and shoot at the Beixi Heavy Armor Black Cavalry.

In just one incense stick time, dozens of Beixi Black Cavalry were shot down!

The fallen black cavalrymen lay like hedgehogs, their bodies bristling with countless arrows.

Faced with the Beidi Light Cavalry's pinpoint archery and blazing speed, even Zhao Yuxiong was helpless; he could only order his black cavalry to tighten their formation and return fire with bows. The black cavalry's bow range was longer, and in pure archery exchanges, they held no disadvantage—but between exchanges, small groups of light cavalry, armed with horse lances, would suddenly charge at the black cavalry.

Relying on their speed and the lance's devastating armor-piercing power, a single hit was enough to kill even a black cavalryman outright.

"General Zhao! This light cavalry unit is the Beidi Eagle Brigade, masters of mounted combat. Even with our heavy armor, we cannot withstand this attrition!"

Zhao Yuxiong's gaze turned grim.

The ten thousand troops of the Sanggan Army stationed in Beixi County had nearly been wiped out; they were on the verge of breaking through the border and charging straight into the Beidi main camp—only to be pinned down by the swift-arriving Eagle Brigade. The battle was heavily unfavorable for the black cavalry; if they fought on, they would suffer catastrophic losses. But if they retreated, it would be total annihilation for them.

Heavy cavalry pursued by light cavalry was little more than slaughter—they could not escape.

Zhao Yuxiong took a deep breath, his eyes resolute: "The Crown Prince has ordered us! At all costs, we must break through the border and penetrate the Beidi main camp to protect the rear civilians' autumn harvest. Transmit my order: not a single step back. Only exchange arrows with the enemy and wait for reinforcements!"

At the same moment, the Beidi messenger returned to Chen Si's side.

"General! The Beixi Heavy Armor Black Cavalry has not retreated—they are holding their ground and exchanging arrows with our light cavalry!"

Hearing this, Chen Si frowned again: "Who commands this enemy force?!"

"Report, General: the enemy black cavalry commander is Zhao Yuxiong, son of Zhao Li, Commander of the Imperial Capital Garrison's Longhu Army."

Learning the enemy commander's identity, Chen Si shook his head with a sigh.

"How can such a small place as Beixi County have so many capable ministers and generals?!"

"Zhao Yuxiong is truly Zhao Li's son—facing our flanking light cavalry, he remains so calm. If the Beixi Black Cavalry refuses to retreat, they will be extremely difficult to dislodge."

Chen Si felt deep frustration: Beixi County had too many capable men; he stood alone—how could two hands fend off four? He could only grit his teeth and hold on; whoever retreated today would lose the initiative!

The exchange of attrition between the Beixi Black Cavalry and the Eagle Brigade was brutal; in just a few incense stick times, the Eagle Brigade had lost hundreds, while the Beixi Black Cavalry had fifty-plus fallen and over a hundred wounded.

Just as neither side would yield, exchanging arrows and lives, Xu Mo arrived with his light cavalry after having shattered the Sanggan Army's left flank of one thousand men.

The Eagle Brigade reacted instantly, abandoning their encirclement of the black cavalry, splitting into small units—three to five men, or up to ten-plus—and engaging in brutal, chaotic combat with both Zhao Yuxiong and Xu Mo.

By dusk, human and horse corpses littered the hills and valleys.

But Chen Si finally received reinforcements: three thousand more light cavalry entered the battle. On the other side, Zhao Yuxiong and Xu Mo also received infantry reinforcements.

Li Zhang led the infantry into tight formations, outer ranks armed with long spears and pikes to block cavalry charges, inner ranks filled with bow infantry and crossbowmen, raining arrows on surrounding light cavalry. Cavalry archers were at a severe disadvantage against foot archers, and the light cavalry lacked the power to charge. Even though the Eagle Brigade and the three thousand Snow Wolf Brigade reinforcements were all hundred-battle veterans with exceptional tactical advantage.

Yet they still steadily retreated before the coordinated assault of Beixi County's infantry, light cavalry, and heavy cavalry.

At this critical deadline, Chen Si heard a surge of battle cries; turning his head, he saw a squad of ten Tianji Camp Guards, now less than two hundred steps away!

Chen Si's forty guards split to intercept them, yet still could not halt the Tianji Camp Guards' advance.

Whoosh!

A sharp whistle of air— an arrow grazed Chen Si's scalp as it flew past.

Chen Si's face turned ashen; he had once been assassinated by Tianji Camp Guards, losing an arm and abandoning a favorable battle to retreat to Wang Du. Now, facing another ambush by the Tianji Camp Guards, he did not retreat—he coldly roared: "Tianji Camp Guards? You've come at the perfect time!"

As soon as the words left his mouth, over a dozen night-owl assassins burst from Chen Si's ying zhang, clad in armor and carrying bows, charging straight toward the Tianji Camp Guards.

Seeing the situation turn dire, the Tianji Camp Guards instantly abandoned their assassination attempt and retreated under mutual cover.

This assassination attempt lasted less than one incense stick time from start to finish.

The Night Owl Captain returned to the ying zhang and said grimly: "The Tianji Camp Guards have withdrawn; we lack the strength to pursue."

Chen Si waved his hand coldly: "You need only prevent their assassinations—no pursuit. Without cavalry, trying to eliminate the Tianji Camp Guards is like chasing a mirage."

The battle raged until dawn the next day.

As Beidi reinforcements kept arriving, Li Zhang ultimately chose to retreat; if they fought on, they risked being tactically encircled, and the Beixi County Garrison would face total annihilation. They would withdraw to regroup and seek another opportunity.

This battle ended in Chen Si's victory.

Including the Sanggan Army's siege forces, the Beidi army suffered over eighteen thousand casualties.

The Beixi County Garrison also suffered heavy losses: over one thousand dead, over sixteen hundred wounded.

Although the casualty ratio reached nearly one to ten, Beixi County had lost the strategic initiative; tactically, they won, but strategically, they lost.

As Chen Si repelled the Beixi County Garrison, he redirected his troops to the Vanguard Camp to assist in attacking the Liang Kingdom Border Army!

Facing the numerically superior Beidi army, the Border Army and Piao Cavalry could only retreat, retreating once more into the city to defend.