Chinese New Year

Chapter 504 Chaoge
On May 314, , the eighth year of the Yongjia reign of the Jin Dynasty, a strong south wind blew and the sky was covered with dark clouds.

The wormwood seemed to have human nature, swaying in the wind, just like people who were afraid.

The little bird was happily eating insects on the ground. Suddenly, it jumped onto the half-collapsed wall and looked to the south.

Countless horse legs appeared in the weeds.

The horse moved forward slowly, neither fast nor slow.

Looking up, the horses were snorting and occasionally neighing.

The knight carried a horn bow, held the reins with one hand, and chewed cheese, jerky, or something like that with the other hand.

Looking back, there were rows of knights stretching into the distance.

In the abandoned farmland on both sides of the archer knight, a team of knights suddenly accelerated and rushed forward.

They held the reins in one hand and held thick lances and long spears in the other, and slowly disappeared in the smoke and dust.

The mounted archers didn't even blink, they just put away the food they were eating, raised their heads and looked forward, continuing to maintain a leisurely pace.

After rows of knights passed by, there came one baggage cart after another.

The cart was fully loaded with food and equipment, and a few auxiliary soldiers accompanied the cart and helped push it when it encountered difficult sections of the road.

The cavalry passed quickly.

"Boom, boom, boom..." A dull drum sound suddenly rang out in the wilderness.

There was an uphill road at the other end of the post road. From afar, several armored soldiers appeared in sight.

Almost at the same time, a side carriage appeared on each side of the soldiers.

The mules and horses panted and dragged hard.

There were several soldiers sitting in the side carriage, looking relaxed, whispering and chatting with each other.

Among them, some were archers, some were sword and shield fighters, and some had black lances at their feet.

After dozens of rows of soldiers and vehicles had passed, a large cart full of trumpeters appeared.

The drummer, with his upper body bared, beat the drum with all his might.

The horn bearer sat in the carriage, holding the ox horns in his arms, swaying.

The birds were startled by the sound of the drums, flew up into the sky, and immediately got a full view of the scene.

In the boundless wilderness, the post road runs from north to south.

On both sides of the avenue are farmlands overgrown with weeds, dotted with abandoned villages covered with thorns.

On the jade-belt-like river, the boats go upstream, drafting very deep water.

The trackers shouted in unison and towed the boat upstream.

There were many soldiers sitting on the deck of the ship, looking at the land of Hebei with curious eyes and commenting on the mountains and rivers here.

On the east bank of the river, there was also a large infantry army advancing.

Carriages and baggage wagons covered one side, while a large group of cavalry galloped in the wilderness to cover the outer area for them.

The drumbeats stopped for a moment.

A rider appeared on the uphill slope.

The man was nearly forty years old, riding a majestic white horse. He would put his hands on his head and look forward from time to time.

The south wind blew gently, and the cloak behind the white horse knight fluttered lightly.

Dozens of knights followed closely behind.

They held high their banners and followed the Knight on the White Horse in neat rows.

Behind them were a large group of soldiers and side carriages...

The scene of the march of two or three thousand men, including boats, chariots, infantry and cavalry, was so shocking.

In the wilderness far away from the main road, there are scattered forts standing.

At this time, all the farmers who were working in the fields were withdrawn as if they were facing a great enemy.

They are like bystanders on the land of Hebei, witnessing one war after another.

Sima Ying, Sima Yue, Sima Mo, Sima Teng, Wang Jun, Xianbei, Gong Shifan, Ji Sang, Gou Xi, Shi Chao, Shi Le... Too many people were killed here.

Now another man from Henan has arrived, and his army is marching towards Chaoge with great momentum.

******
On the west bank of the Qi River east of Chaoge County, a rough camp has been built. Camping is secondary. Unloading the cargo on the ship bit by bit is more important.

They were busy until May 16th, when all the supplies, enough to last the army for two months, were unloaded and loaded into a temporary wooden warehouse.

In the past few days, the 5,000 cavalrymen of the Yicong Army fought a series of bloody battles on the outskirts. Even the deputy governor Yin Qi was hit by a stray arrow and fell off his horse, seriously injured.

There is no doubt that they played a huge role.

Without these large-scale cavalry, if we only rely on infantry, the risk factor will increase greatly and the unloading speed will be much slower.

Even during the march, there were already a large number of gullies, earth walls and even muddy ground on the road ahead, which seriously hindered the army's forward speed - if you don't send cavalry to open the way, you will have to endure the snail's pace of less than ten miles a day, which is obviously unacceptable to Li Zhong who is racing against time.

On May 17, the entire army had another good meal and then rushed westward.

The cavalry set out again.

To the east of Chaoge City, countless cavalrymen appeared in the wilderness.

The leader performed miraculous skills. He stood up on the horse and waved his hands, which caused the crowd to cheer continuously.

After a moment, he waved his hand.

"Woo--" A horn sounded that shook the earth and heaven, as if countless evil spirits were released from the ground.

In the queue, knights with lances and halberds raised diagonally kept rushing out, forming a loose formation, and following closely behind them at a quick trot.

Their speed increased and their shouts continued.

"Kill!" The leading cavalry general still raised his arms to boost morale.

"Kill!" The knights raised their lances and halberds in response. Arrows flew from the opposite side.

A horse in the formation was shot and it stood up and raised its hooves, crying out in pain.

Countless comrades passed by him from front to back and from left to right, with their morale high.

Another group of people rushed out from the cavalry formation in the distance.

They rushed to the two wings at a very fast speed, drawing arrows from their quivers as they rushed.

On the top of Chaoge City, the county magistrate and others were trembling with fear and kept looking around.

There was a cloud of dust in the field, and the cavalry of both sides had already started fighting.

The people who met earlier used guns against guns and knives against knives. When they passed each other on the wrong horses, the empty horse ran around helplessly.

There were also those who failed to kill their opponents in one round, and they fought entangled in a fierce battle, with the speed of their horses approaching a standstill, and then they fought on horseback using skills that were extremely ridiculous and clumsy in the eyes of the infantry.

Some cavalrymen were shot on their horses and fell to the ground. After getting up, they picked up the scattered weapons, rushed into the group of enemy and friendly cavalry fighting, and killed them with all their might.

There were endless screams, corpses fell like rain, and the scene was extremely bloody.

The light cavalry on both sides also started fighting each other.

They had no clear formation, no obvious close combat, arrows flew in the air, and the hissing of pain and the screaming of sorrow resounded throughout the earth.

Everyone on the city wall looked pale.

The cavalry sent by the Dahu were actually smaller in number than the Jin army. This was the first time they had seen such a large number in the years of fighting.

The Jie cavalry, some holding lances, some holding round shields in one hand and iron swords in the other, had been dispersed.

The Jin cavalry shouted loudly and fought fiercely. They rushed forward swiftly, stabbing and attacking with their spears and halberds non-stop, and soon turned the scattered enemy into a retreat.

"This..." The defenders of Chaoge looked at each other, at a loss as to what to do.

They were all young men from the nearby fortresses, a total of more than 3,000 people, a very disorganized group, and their morale was just so-so.

It would have been fine if the Da Hu cavalry had won the battle, but after this encounter, they didn't resist for long before they were defeated. What do you think of the infantry guarding the city?
At this time, some smart people would steal a glance at others.

Have any of them met Yu Chen? Have they secretly surrendered to him? Are they planning to use my head to gain credit?
No one knows, but the seeds of doubt have been planted.

We are all locals, who can deceive whom? Do you really think I don't know what I did in private?

Amid mutual suspicion, the cavalry fighting outside the city was coming to an end.

Zhi Quliu did not even dare to enter Chaoge City. He fled with his remaining troops and disappeared into the wilderness.

The Jin cavalry chased for a long distance before they withdrew.

Soon, an arrow was shot onto the top of the city wall, with a letter tied to the shaft.

******
On May 18th, without the harassment of enemy cavalry, the Jin army's infantry advanced rapidly, arriving east of Chaoge in one day and setting up camp.

Early in the morning of the 19th, drums rumbled in the camp, and countless infantrymen lined up in the wilderness east of the city.

There were 7,000 Nanyang soldiers under Yang Dan, 8,000 Guanxi soldiers under Liang Su, and 3,000 Heiliang soldiers. Except for those who stayed behind to guard the camp and make siege equipment, all the main forces were deployed.

With nearly 20,000 people lined up in battle formation, the visual impact is amazing.

The defenders on the city wall had solemn expressions and confused minds, not knowing what to do - it was not that they did not dare to fight, but that their superiors could not reach a consensus, which made them at a loss.

The Jin cavalry galloped around the city, and soon headed north again, heading straight for the Qi River.

Is this heading towards Dangyin?

So brave? Dare to leave the Yellow River and go so far inland?

What if the main force of the Dahu army came back to help? By then, it would not be just two or three big cats and small cats under the six tents.

No one could answer their questions.

Instead, the Jin army lined up in the east of the city began to shout and curse, inviting them to go out of the city for a fight in the field.

They even picked out a hundred or so loud-mouthed people, speaking with accents from somewhere unknown, and repeatedly challenged them.

"Do you dare to fight?"

"You are as coy as a woman. What kind of war are you fighting?"

"You are so delicate and fragile, why don't you clean your butt as soon as possible!"

"I just like white butts, both men and women, haha!"

"If you don't surrender, after the city is conquered, your wives and daughters will be mine."

And so on.

The defenders were angry and frightened when they heard this.

Some people subconsciously turned their heads to look inside the city, but no one whose words could have any effect had come up yet.

The officers were also unable to suppress the soldiers. In fact, they were also very annoyed. They didn't want to fight back, and they didn't want to surrender either. What was the reason?
Suddenly, there were fierce shouts and sounds of weapons clashing in the city.

Everyone was startled at first, then quickly looked around.

Many people moved their feet subconsciously. The defenders on the city walls gradually formed several groups, keeping watch on each other.

The sounds of killing in the city became more and more intense, and screams echoed in every corner.

It was obvious that the fort owners had different opinions and had started fighting each other.

The sounds of killing continued for a full half hour.

At the beginning of the morning hour, the south gate of Chaoge suddenly opened. First, a group of people fled in a panic and rushed into the wilderness. Then, more than a thousand people chased after them, hacking and killing people.

When the Jin army's cavalry saw this, they immediately went back to report.

A moment later, Yang Dan personally led two thousand elite soldiers to the South Gate and captured it.

The rest of the troops arrived one after another. By this point, there was no doubt about the fate of Chaoge.

(End of this chapter)