Chapter 820

First Volume, Chapter 820: Relief Army for the King

At that moment, the chaotic faction's Main General, Li Yuxiu, had already learned that reinforcements had arrived.

He furrowed his brow: "Reinforcements? This is Taishan—the Jingji Garrison hasn't moved a single soldier. Where did these reinforcements come from?!"

Deputy General Ma Chu was equally tense: "Before we marched, His Highness sent scouts repeatedly to verify—the troops under Qin Feng's command have not left the Northern Border."

"This sudden reinforcement is neither the Longhu Army nor the Northern Border Troops—could they have sprung out of a crack in the stone?!"

Just as they were about to breach the Mount Tai Foot Defense Line, a reinforcement force of five thousand men appeared out of nowhere—both Li Yuxiu and Ma Chu found it utterly unbelievable.

Though the enemy's numbers were small, their surprise attack forced the entire army into hasty combat, making it impossible to fully leverage their numerical advantage.

Li Yuxiu did not dare hesitate a moment—he shouted to the officers around him: "According to the Imperial Spy's report, the reinforcements include at least one thousand cavalry, likely arriving on the battlefield any moment!"

"Quickly issue orders—send the Right Vanguard to hold them off!"

Despite seeming to hold absolute superiority, Li Yuxiu showed no arrogance or underestimation—because he needed to conceal his movements, his entire army consisted solely of infantry. After all, cavalry movements were too conspicuous and would easily leak their plans.

Li Yuxiu, entrusted with the mission of Forced Palace Coup, did not wish to be intercepted halfway by potential Loyal Imperial Party forces before even reaching Taishan.

Even though he had prepared for defense, Li Yuxiu still felt disbelief.

"This is unnatural—utterly unnatural!"

"A full thousand cavalry, and we detected nothing? How is that possible?"

Meanwhile, Xu Zhangqing had led the vanguard of one thousand cavalry, slowly advancing to within less than Ten Li of the battlefield.

Following Qin Feng's orders, these one thousand warhorses had disguised themselves as cargo animals since leaving the Northern Border; now, with their packs removed and scale horse armor donned, they once again revealed their fierce martial presence.

And the so-called merchant caravan's cargo was not actual commodity—it was weapons and armor!

Primarily arrows and heavy armor.

Along the way, they were frequently checked, but as soon as they invoked Qin Feng's name, almost no one dared to stop them. When they encountered stubborn officials who insisted on inspecting the cargo, Xu Zhangqing simply ordered them imprisoned, tortured until they submitted in fear, then released after compensating them with a little silver.

At this moment, Xu Zhangqing's gaze was more resolute than ever.

He bore not only Qin Feng's trust but also the mission to Reinforce the King—this was the heaviest burden he had shouldered since joining Xu Mo, and he dared not falter for a moment.

Far off, Xu Zhangqing could already see the dense glow of fire torches.

He remained calm, did not order a ChargeOrder, and growled: "Keep advancing. Don't waste energy. Listen carefully to my orders!"

While scouts had scouted ahead and cleared potential traps and ambushes, Xu Zhangqing's one thousand cavalry advanced at a leisurely pace, reaching a distance of one bowshot from the enemy.

Xu Zhangqing immediately roared: "Flank maneuvers—harass the enemy army!"

At his command, the one thousand cavalry immediately scattered—not into two groups, but into ten plus small units.

This was a hard-won tactical insight Xu Zhangqing had gained from frequent battles against the Di.

It was extremely difficult for cavalry to break through infantry lines—even risking their own annihilation.

Only by employing Harassment Tactic to exhaust the enemy until their formation collapsed could they launch a ChargeOrder and maximize their advantage.

The chaotic faction's defenders, who had lined up their Chang Mao and waited like hunters, faced not a suicidal cavalry charge—but… a continuous barrage of ArrowRain.

As the saying goes: Know your enemy and know yourself, and you will not be imperiled in a hundred battles.

Xu Zhangqing had already sent scouts to gather intelligence—he knew the chaotic faction's troop composition, morale, and the exact number of heavy and light armor they possessed.

The defenders on the First Line were all Heavy Armor Soldiers.

Xu Zhangqing's cavalry were equipped with two arrow quivers—one filled with Armor-Piercing Arrowhead, the other with Special-Shaped Arrow designed specifically for Light Infantry.

Facing the Armor-Piercing Arrowhead, the front-line chaotic faction's Heavy Armor Soldiers kept falling.

The Deputy General in command hastily ordered: "Bow Infantry—return fire! Return fire!"

Over a thousand Bow Infantry fired at the scattered cavalry, but the casualties were wildly disproportionate.

The chaotic faction's defenders, fixed in position to hold their DefensiveLine, were stationary targets. The reinforcement cavalry employed Harassment Tactic, moving unpredictably. Combined with the darkness, visibility was severely impaired.

The Bow Infantry, who should have held the advantage, were instead being crushed by the cavalry.

Less than half a Envoy later, the chaotic faction's DefensiveLine neared collapse. As the Heavy Infantry with Chang Mao broke and fled, the order passed through multiple layers of messengers—the cavalry immediately regrouped, lowered their bows, raised their horse spears, and charged the enemy.

The hastily returning Bow Infantry shot down dozens of cavalry, but the tide had already turned.

Facing the cavalry charge, these unelite Bow Infantry dropped their bows in panic, grabbed their secondary weapons—but it was too late. In moments, a massive breach tore open.

Countless were impaled by horse spears or trampled under hooves.

As Xu Zhangqing broke through the enemy line, he felt no triumph—he remained cautious and ordered again: "Retreat! Quick retreat! Do not let yourselves be surrounded!"

Under Xu Zhangqing's lead, the cavalry charged westward, slicing through the already disorganized chaotic faction's right flank, retreating hundreds of steps before turning their horses to prepare to charge again.

The chaotic faction's only chance against such fierce cavalry was to let them charge into their ranks, then encircle them—only by halting the cavalry could they gain the upper hand.

Unfortunately, Xu Zhangqing's experience was too vast—he gave the chaotic faction no chance for Tactical Encirclement.

The cavalry remained in constant high-speed motion; even when they halted, it was always hundreds of steps away, turning their horses—never slowing down before the enemy.

The five thousand men of the chaotic faction's right flank had no defense against the one thousand cavalry's assault.

At that moment, an even more desperate scene unfolded.

With a dense rumble of footsteps, the remaining four thousand infantry reinforcements had also arrived on the battlefield.

Or rather, the infantry had arrived far earlier than the cavalry—but they had remained stationary, resting, refusing to join the battle with exhausted bodies fresh from marching.

It was only when Xu Zhangqing saw the Mount Tai Foot Defense Line on the verge of collapse that he decisively ordered the attack.

These so-called chaotic faction troops were merely pampered garrison soldiers from various ZhuZhen—facing the fierce Northern Border Troops, they had completely lost their will to fight and began to scatter.