Chapter 970: Rampaging Through

970. Chapter 970: Rampaging Through

"This battle is surely won, but who knows if we can capture the bandit chief?" someone else said. By now, dust had risen into the sky, obscuring their vision, and the battlefield was no longer clearly visible.

"How many horses do those roving bandits even have, compared to our Zhao Character Battalion? On this flat, open terrain, where can they run? It only depends on whether they can make it back to the city," someone remarked.

The left and right wings of the Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army had already bypassed the main force of the Zhao Character Battalion and reached its rear formation. From the temporary camp encircled by heavy supply wagons, enemy troops could now be seen appearing. The Li brothers, the Shi family members, and the other militia and local levies immediately tensed up, hastily grabbing their weapons and preparing for a bloody fight. The vast battlefield was now utterly chaotic, and everyone could only fend for themselves. The Li brothers were even somewhat excited—at last, a chance for merit had come. Cutting down a few heads would let them display their family's martial valor. They never expected that, as they stood ready in strict formation, the charging Smelling Incense Sect soldiers who rushed over had no intention of attacking them at all. They threw away their weapons and fled headlong without looking back. Only then did the men guarding the wagons and supplies understand: the Smelling Incense Sect rebels' frenzied assault and charge was never meant to decide the battle, but a desperate, life-or-death escape. By now, the outcome was already settled!

After the Zhao Character Battalion's cavalry, led by Zhao Jin, charged in, the refugee formation completely collapsed. The rebel army could no longer speak of any formation or battle line. Under the cavalry's pressure, every man ran wildly, each trying to flee as far away as possible. A thousand horsemen spread out in a horizontal line—what an immense width that was. The entire formation of the Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army was churned up by them, thoroughly shattered.

And in such a situation, many of the mounted retainers' weapons had yet to taste blood. The cavalry's formation remained unbroken throughout, pressing forward like an unceasing wall, churning the Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army into as much chaos as possible. A motley mob like this, once it lost its formation and order, was worth less than nothing. Before the Zhao Character Battalion, they were like pigs and sheep awaiting slaughter.

"Ahead, ahead! Break that unit in front, and the Smelling Incense Sect will collapse!" The Zhao Character Battalion's cavalry had finally charged deep enough to see a unit that looked somewhat different from the rest of the rebel army.

Everywhere else, men were fleeing in wild panic, desperately dodging the Zhao Character Battalion's cavalry pursuit. Yet not far away, within the great formation of the Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army, there was one unit still holding together. The most conspicuous thing there was a few dozen horsemen. The Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army had vast numbers, but they were all infantry; cavalry was extremely rare. When the battle lines first clashed, the dust had risen sky-high, and though the front lines were visible, the interior of the formation could not be seen. Moreover, the clothing of these few dozen riders was bright and vivid, far too neat and conspicuous compared to the ragged commoner refugees around them.

Surrounding these few dozen riders were over a thousand men. Looking from horseback, one could tell this unit was different from the others. Their uniforms were orderly, their weapons were all regulation spears of the government army, and their formation had still not scattered. One could see the routed refugee commoners constantly crashing against this thousand-man force, yet they could never shake it. Around this unit, they were even continuously gathering fleeing rebel infantry. By now, they numbered a scattered two thousand or so. But with a bit of care, one could deduce that the several thousand being gathered were mostly the so-called "Divine Army of the Faith." Only troops trained through that method could barely maintain order in such a rout.

If they were allowed to keep gathering like this, in the end, though they might not reverse the defeat, they could still salvage the most basic core of officers and men, and a counterattack might not be impossible. The true veteran retainers of the Zhao Character Battalion had all experienced similar scenes. Back then, beneath the walls of Xuzhou City, they had clearly routed the main refugee force, yet from within the chaos, the Smelling Incense Sect's backbone forces had charged back just like that, nearly causing the Zhao Character Battalion to collapse.

But this time, there was no such possibility. Back then, the Zhao Character Battalion had only a few hundred men, no cavalry, no firearms, and certainly not these mountain-and-sea-like regiments and companies. Zhao Jin raised his spear from horseback. His spear was entirely vermilion, extremely conspicuous on the battlefield. Raising the spear with one hand, he swung it left and right. The various companies of mounted retainers, already gradually picking up speed, began to steady their formations. Zhao Jin's spear slowly tilted forward, and the mounted retainer companies watched the angle of the spear's tilt to control their mounts' speed.

The formation of these thousand-plus horsemen had originally become a horizontal line. Amidst this chaos, the two companies clad in armor and holding spears began to push forward again, while the remaining companies once more formed a wild-goose-wing formation, following behind Zhao Jin's company on both flanks.

"Big Brother, cavalry charging a spear square formation—I fear there's danger!" Liu Yong shouted loudly from horseback. Though he adjusted according to Zhao Jin's orders, he was still deeply worried.

Zhao Jin had already leveled his spear and gripped it. The two companies of mounted retainers with him also began to spread out their spacing. Keeping his posture unchanged, Zhao Jin fastened his face guard and replied in a muffled voice: "If these men before us could withstand a cavalry charge without breaking, they would have destroyed our Xuzhou long ago. Why would they need to go through so much trickery?"

With the face guard already in the way, the thunder of hooves, and the clamor of voices, even Liu Yong did not hear Zhao Jin's words clearly. But at this moment, there was no time to care about such things. The Zhao Character Battalion's cavalry began to accelerate now. From the moment they set out, the riders had been holding back their horses' speed, keeping the mounts' stamina ample. And in the noisy environment, always unable to catch up to the men ahead, the horses had grown restless. Now, given a little rein, they immediately sped up.

Once the cavalry's speed increased, the distance to the routed refugee force ahead began to shrink continuously. A leveled spear could not reach the enemy in front of the mount. If it struck an enemy at such speed, with the combined force of man and horse, the spear would snap. But in such a pursuit, the collision and trampling of the horses were already enough. The Smelling Incense Sect rebels with their backs to the cavalry were directly bowled over or trampled down, then trampled to death on the ground.

Like a hot knife cutting through congealed lard, the Zhao Character Battalion's cavalry charged into the routed rebel crowd, utterly unstoppable, cleaving straight through as they rushed toward that gradually steadying Smelling Incense Sect unit ahead.

Xu Hongju and Xia Zhongjin both had ashen faces. Xia Zhongjin was roaring there, issuing constant orders for his followers to grab every able-bodied fleeing soldier who passed by and make them stand in front of the formation. Though the situation before them could barely be maintained, everyone knew there was no chance left. In the sky-churning dust, they could see large units of cavalry charging left and thrusting right, making it utterly impossible for the main army's forces to regroup. There was simply no way to turn the tide. And Xu Hongju was not only unable to utter a single word—his whole body trembled uncontrollably as he muttered to himself: "We can't win. How could we possibly win? Big Brother was relying on this Divine Army of the Faith to conquer the realm. What do we do now? It's all over now. It's all over!"

At the last sentence, he lost all control and nearly wailed aloud from horseback. So many calculations, so sure of victory in hand—who would have thought that when it came to fighting, their own side would be a complete joke, letting the enemy fight however they pleased.

"Second Master, let us return to the city first. This Zhao Character Battalion cannot break through Jining City. Let us hold the city first, then make further plans," Xia Zhongjin shouted at the top of his lungs.

Xu Hongju, of humble origins, shuddered and did not react for a moment. Xia Zhongjin no longer cared for titles like "Prince Equal to a Word." From horseback, he abruptly grabbed Xu Hongju, shook him hard several times, and bellowed: "Second Master, we can't hold on!"

By the time the Zhao Character Battalion's cavalry charged before this rebel unit that could still maintain its formation, the horses had already picked up speed. The riders' spears pointed diagonally downward as they spurred their horses together and crashed in.

Without having been tempered on the battlefield, facing such a coordinated cavalry charge, they truly could not even stand steady. The Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army had been able to hold out against government cavalry in the past because they still had formation and order to restrain and support them. But now, the outer perimeter had already scattered, and the core had not formed ranks either. They looked like a tight cluster, but in reality, they were scattered.

Not to mention, the Zhao Character Battalion's cavalry had orderly formations and excellent equipment. The mounted retainers, with even their heads and faces wrapped in iron armor, looked like monsters. The spears in their hands were more than two feet longer than the government-issue weapons their own side used. Every man had long since been struck with terror—how could they possibly hold on?

When the cavalry drew near, this steady unit became just like the routed masses outside: immediately scattering and fleeing in all directions. But at this juncture, they could no longer run.

The mounted retainers all held their spears with a loose grip. The moment they stabbed an enemy, they had to let go quickly; otherwise, the tremendous force of such a collision would shatter the rider's arm. Though the grip was loose, with the combined force of man and horse plus the speed of the charge, after the spear pierced through one man, its momentum often did not diminish, and the man behind him could not escape either.

The unit that had been gathered with such difficulty was directly punched through. The front rows were stabbed to death by the cavalry spears; those behind had no time to react before the horses crashed into them. The Zhao Character Battalion's mounted retainers had already drawn their long blades and began hacking down from their elevated position.

If they could form ranks and resist at this moment, they could still inflict casualties on the Zhao Character Battalion's cavalry. But stricken with terror and fear, who still had the courage not to flee? Who still had the mind to form ranks?

The rebel soldiers gathered on the outer perimeter scattered under this charge, leaving only that core thousand or so elite troops surrounding Xu Hongju and Xia Zhongjin.

Yet these men were even more useless than those on the outer perimeter. They indeed possessed a measure of fierce courage, even an extra air of desperate recklessness. Facing the mounted retainers' charge, they actually dared to throw themselves forward. But infantry facing cavalry, if they did not form ranks to resist, if they did not coordinate with one another, relying on individual martial valor alone could never bridge the gap between infantry and cavalry.

By this point, layer upon layer of bodies had already blunted the mounted retainers' charging momentum. However, the mounted retainers could now calmly form up and fight in coordination. Riders who still had spears were at the front, those wielding blades and axes covered the flanks, and in the middle were those drawing bows and loosing arrows.

The thousand-plus cavalry had effectively formed a half-circle, intent on devouring this core foundation of the Smelling Incense Sect's rebel army.

"Second Master, Master Xia, the brothers can hold them a while longer! You must flee quickly!" someone howled. These core fighting men of the Smelling Incense Sect brandished their weapons and threw themselves forward continuously, just to buy time for Xu Hongju and Xia Zhongjin to escape.

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