Chapter 373
Chapter 373
Chapter 373 – Zhao Yun VS Budugen - Part 2
Gongsun Zan's two thousand white riders followed Zhao Yun outside of the city, chasing the unprepared Budugen's soldiers .
The retreating soldiers turned around and tried to form an array to counter the horse charge, but they could not react in time . Zhao Yun spearheaded and broke the incomplete formation within a few thrusts of his spear .
As Budugen's soldiers had geared for the siege, they did not bring their horses . As such, the 5,000 soldiers were crushed and routed within one charge!
Although they could not kill every single of Budugen's remaining 5,000 men, the damages were significant enough for Budugen to call for a full retreat .
.
The news about the sudden defeat reached Budugen at his command tent .
"What did you just say!?"
"Sir, the enemies came out of the city and defeated the remaining soldiers . We lost most of them . "
Out of 5,000 men, only 500 survived to tell a tale . As for the rest, they either died in the battle or deserted the army .
"Who is their general? Any spy or scout get his name?"
"It's Zhao Yun, sir . "
"Zhao Yun, Zhao Zilong? The one that used to be with Gongsun Zan?"
"Yes, sir!"
"Don't lie, you dumb fuck! How can an incompetent idiot be their general!?"
To Budugen, Zhao Yun was a low-rank officer who did not deserve to be promoted . He had learned about Zhao Yun's failure as a royal bodyguard, and Budugen believed that Zhao Yun was inept .
"B-But it's the truth, sir!"
"… Fine . It's my fault for not checking the enemy's banners beforehand . Tell everyone that we'll go through with the night assault plan . Cancel the ballistae construction order and tell workers to get a good rest . If we can't take Beiping by the sunrise, we'll leave this place . "
15,200 Soldiers were not a match for 12,000 garrison forces behind the walls . Budugen was not foolish enough to keep fighting in a direct siege in day-time .
He decided to test his luck for one last time with this night raid!
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Nightfall, 11 PM .
Budugen and all of his soldiers had crafted wooden ladders to climb the wall, and they marched toward the city without lighting a torch .
The darkness became their cover as they managed to reach the bottom of Beiping City wall undetected . Soldiers began climbing the ladders to the top of the wall in glee .
However, the night raid was not perfect . Soon, the garrison guards found their ladders and Budugen's soldiers .
"WE'RE UNDER ATTACK!"
As Zhao Yun had prepared a unit of night shift guards to patrol the walls, five thousand soldiers formed ranks and charged at the invaders right away .
The other 5,000 also woke up from the commotion . They climbed the wall to join the fight as well .
However, Zhao Yun and his 2,000 white riders were not here!
The night raid turned into melee combats on the top of the wall, but several garrison soldiers on the back used their repeating crossbows to fire randomly at the soldiers on the ground .
The battle of attrition continued for only five minutes before another incident occurred .
Five hundred meters away, Budugen's camp was in flame!
Zhao Yun and his 2,000 white riders raided the camp again . Because of the lack of defense, the white horsemen burnt everything to ashes, including horse stables, granaries, and all tents .
Zhao Yun was ruthless enough . He spared nothing for Budugen to take home even if he could retreat . As they had scouted the areas yesterday, Zhao Yun went for thorough destruction .
After the white rider unit had finished with their tasks, they headed back to the city, where the fight was still ongoing .
20 Minutes passed since Budugen and the garrison forces were in a melee fight .
Budugen turned around to look at his burning camp in shock . He had planned to go all-out in this battle, so he did not leave behind any troop to guard the camp .
This was his mistake!
"Fuck! Hurry and capture the wall! We'll fight to the death!"
Budugen spread his troops to other walls to speed up his siege . However, they did not have enough wooden ladders for every battalion, so the attack was slow .
The melee battle on the top of the walls was in chaos . As Budugen had not climbed the wall yet and he was at the bottom of it, he had no idea how the fight was going .
In reality, the garrison forces had the advantage because of their pieces of equipment and their repeating crossbows . In the beginning, they faltered to the sudden emergence of enemy troops, but they recovered their wall spaces and pushed back 70% of the invading soldiers .
Budugen's men wore leather armor, while Beiping police forces had the standard Imperial armor set, lamellar suits, as their lowest class armor type . Some of the soldiers with rich background bought steel plate armor from the black market As a result, the Xianbei's dead bodies piled on the wall more than the garrison soldiers .
9,000 remaining police officers were still fighting on top of the walls, while Budugen was left with 7,500 soldiers without realizing it . Furthermore, Budugen's soldiers continued to fall from the repeating crossbow arrows .
Night arrows were deadly against strategists and commanders in a battle as they camouflaged the number of their casualties .
Half an hour after Zhao Yun had ignited the fire at Budugen's camp, he returned to flank the barbarian soldiers .
As Zhao Yun Army carried torches, Budugen could see the oncoming horsemen .
The Xianbei general kicked his horse and returned to the flank, planning to counter-attack . He led his remaining bodyguards, which were the only cavalries that Budugen brought, with him .
Soon, 2,000 white riders clashed with Budugen's 2,000 light cavalries .
Zhao Yun's white riders consisted of semi-heavy knights . As Zhao Yun favored efficiency over safety and the full set of knight armors took times to wear, Zhao Yun abandoned complicated parts, such as arm parts or leg parts to save time for their deployment .
Still, their vital spots were covered, and these armors were better than the Xianbei's leather type .
The competition of equipment concluded within the first five minutes as Budugen's soldiers fell from their horse on after another . Meanwhile, one of Zhao Yun's men only fell from their horse for every 10 soldiers killed .
During the clash, Budugen also ran into Zhao Yun .
Seeing the enemy general, Budugen rejoiced, "Brat, you'll be honored to get killed by the great me!"
Zhao Yun snorted, "Noisy . "
Budugen's spear and Zhao Yun's spear crossed .
Zhao Yun was hit at the chest, but Budugen's spear grazed his plate armor .
On the other hand, Zhao Yun's spear pierced through the barbarian general's heart, ending the jousting contest in one blow!
Although Zhao Yun killed the enemy general, he was not even aware of it . As his focus was on the overall situation, he continued killing all enemies he found .
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May 25th .
The sun rose, revealing the carnage of last night battle .
Wang Yun and his 10,000 police officers arrived today to reinforce the city . However, his presence was no longer necessary .
Still, his forces came in handy as Beiping could use some laborers .
The battle concluded with Zhao Yun's victory by a landslide . He lost 2,500 soldiers in the siege battle, but he vanquished 18,000 soldiers and captured 2,000 prisoners .
These prisoners would be transferred to Julu's department of justice, so they could determine their fate .
"Thank you for your hard work, general . "
Wang Yun praised this young general, but Zhao Yun just nodded and thanked the old officer .
Wang Yun had grown numb of Tong's elite generals . Many of them were so young that could be his grandson, yet they thrived and proved themselves in many battles already .
He was amazed by their talents and Tong's discern abilities . Wang Yun was glad that he had a connection with Tong via Diaochan .
Also, he had reread the chat logs between Tong, Dong Bai, and Diaochan . As there was no direct message feature in the chat, everything that Tong and his demon family chatted was recorded there in public .
Wang Yun was excited that Diaochan would soon be Tong's prime consort in a few years . This would raise his status by many tiers .
'I'm so lucky . Well, I hope that Zhang Tong can maintain the Han Dynasty's legacy, though . It would be better if Diaochan can give birth to his sons . Eh, that might be impossible . '
Zhao Yun gazed at the pile of corpses and glanced at the north . His mind wondered if there would be a day that he could venture into Xiongnu's territory and achieved heroic deeds like Huo Qubing, a great general of the West Han Dynasty .
'Lu Bu and his men will soon deploy to counter-attack against the Xiongnu . Too bad, I'm still too early to call myself a great general like him . '
As Zhao Yun always looked at other legion commanders with envy, he tried his best to prove himself that he could be like them .
One day, he hoped that he could be a great general as well .
.
Wang Yun reported the Battle of Beiping's result to Tong . As if Tong had predicted this, he was not surprised .
Tong: "Well done, Zilong . Take your riders to Linyu County and assist Xu Huang and Tian Yu . As for the policemen, leave them to Wang Yun . "
Zhao Yun: "Understood, your majesty . "
.
May 27th .
Zhen Yi Army reached Ji Commandery and occupied it without resistance . Instead, the town people opened the gates and welcomed them with open arms .
Some of the elders shed a tear of joy as they kowtowed to the soldiers .
For the first time, Zhen Yi got to enjoy the privilege of serving Tong .
Still, he thought of his 7-year-old daughter, Zhen Fu .
'I should send her to Ye Palace soon . Zhang Tong has already taken in two consorts, and he already impregnated both of them . No, I should train her a bit more, so she won't lose to that Cai Yan . From the rumors, his majesty loves high-class women . I should train the girl to be like that . '
While Zhen Yi continued managing Ji people, he did not stop plotting as he still wanted Tong as his son-in-law . He betted everything on his youngest daughter .
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July 1st .
Xu Huang finished reinforcing his fortification . As Gongsun Du and Kebineng did not attack them and Xu Huang heard that they were still in Xiangping, he decided to mobilize east .
At the same time, the news about Budugen's death reached Kebineng . As Budugen's rival, Kebineng rejoiced . He could not wait to go back to his territory to claim the chieftain position from everyone .
He glanced at Gongsun Du, who was living without the care about the threat of Xu Huang .
'Should I discard this idiot and head home? Nah, I should earn some gold and food for my future army . '
Planning to embezzle Gongsun Du's resources, Kebineng came up with a plan .
"My lord, I have a plan to propose . "
"What is it?"
"Right now, Xu Huang has been staying still for too long . I want to head out and probe them . Please grant me provision and supplies to mobilize my troops . "
"How long are you planning to go this time?"
"We're fighting in a prolonged war, so I estimate five to six months . "
"Good, I'll construct a granary base for you . I can't give you that many foods, but I can at least give you enough to last for three months at least . As for more, we have to wait for the harvest this year . "
"Oh, thank you very much!"
With Gongsun Du's promise, Kebineng smirked .
'Once I got all the supplies, I'll return home and leave them to rot . Hahaha!'