Chapter 318 The Pursuit

He had no mind to care about these things anymore; sitting on his horse on a nearby hillside, Gao Yuan's phoenix eyes swiftly scanned the entire formation of the Qian Army.

He knew that Xiao Heng was a scholar who was not skilled in battlefield charges, so it was highly likely that he would be at the rear.

Sure enough, Gao Yuan quickly found his target, located in the rear of the Qian Army's central position.

Seeing that Xia Luqi had already stabilized the front line and even showed signs of pushing back, Gao Yuan knew the opportunity had arrived.

"Whew… Pop…"

A firework screamed as it shot into the sky, erupting with a loud bang.

This was the signal Gao Yuan had sent, and soon Xiao Heng witnessed a scene that terrified him to the core.

A black line appeared on both the left and right flanks, and he soon realized what those black lines represented: the dark iron armor of the Beiwei Army.

Just as Xiao Heng prepared to adjust his formation to deal with the enemies on both wings, the ground began to tremble again.

"Rumble… Rumble…"

Every step of the warhorses seemed to trample on Xiao Heng's heart, causing his own heart to vibrate along with it.

Xiao Heng was completely stunned; after repeated, fruitless warnings from those around him, they had no choice but to overstep their authority and issue the orders.

"Cavalry… Cavalry… Form up quickly!"

The inexperience of these new recruits was displayed in full force at this moment, as repeated adjustments to the formation began to cause chaos.

This chaos quickly spread, and for a moment, the Qian Army's left wing was in complete disarray.

"Swish, swish, swish…"

The Cavalry swiftly swept past the flank of the Qian Army, and a massive barrage of bolts from repeating crossbows was fired from the hands of the cavalrymen.

Leather armor could reduce the damage taken, but that was limited to just reducing it.

Although the power of these repeating crossbows was not great, they excelled in their sheer quantity; this single round alone caused hundreds of casualties.

The chaos intensified, and no matter how hard the several vice-generals tried, they could not contain it.

Gao Yuan led the Cavalry in a painless, probing round, and when he turned his horse around, he saw the enemy army in complete chaos.

"Good opportunity! Wedge formation!"

Gao Yuan took a sip of water to moisten his throat and put his iron mask back on.

With a wave of the battle flag, the three thousand soldiers of the Xiaoguo Army charged out once again, heading straight for the center of the Qian Army.

This time they did not use repeating crossbows, but instead raised the Cavalry spears in their hands, aiming to pierce straight through the enemy's formation.

"Bang… Splat…"

As the sharp arrowheads broke through the Qian Army's formation, the sounds of flesh colliding and blades tearing through flesh echoed across the battlefield, followed immediately by incessant screams.

Although these new recruits had trained for a long time, they had never truly been on a battlefield, nor had they seen blood; suddenly facing such a situation, they had absolutely no courage to resist.

"We can't stop them! Run! If we don't run, we're dead!"

Not knowing who had shouted it, the soldiers, who were already terrified, threw down their weapons and began to flee.

Seeing this, Xiao Heng was also greatly alarmed and hurriedly shouted at the top of his lungs,

"Supervisory team, move forward! Anyone who retreats, execute them!"

The cold and ruthless supervisory team did indeed have some effect, and the momentum of the rout halted slightly, but soon Gao Yuan led the Cavalry to charge in again.

It was another collision of flying flesh and blood; this time there were no Cavalry spears, but the long-handled Golden Gourd Maces in the hands of the Xiaoguo Army, aided by the impact force of the warhorses, were even more terrifying in their lethality.

As long as the cavalrymen gripped the Golden Gourd Maces tightly, the impact of the galloping warhorses meant that any soldier struck would immediately suffer broken bones and tendons, ruptured internal organs, and die on the spot, bleeding from all seven orifices.

A tremendous sense of fear enveloped the hearts of every Qian Army soldier, and at this moment, they were no longer afraid of the mere few dozen men in the supervisory team before them.

"Brothers, there are only a few dozen of them; they can't stop us! Only by charging through can we find a way to survive."

Not knowing who shouted it again, the soldiers suddenly realized, and they surged like a tide toward those supervisory team soldiers, quickly engulfing their own men who were brandishing blades at them.

Watching the completely out-of-control scene, Xiao Heng simply could not believe his eyes; he stood there like a wooden chicken, muttering incessantly,

"How could it be like this? How could it be like this?"

Those around him had long realized that the situation was lost, and if they continued to persist, they would become prisoners; a vice-general immediately stepped forward, grabbed Xiao Heng's arms, and shook him.

"Commander, Commander, retreat quickly! If we don't retreat, the entire army will be annihilated."

Xiao Heng came to his senses slightly and looked at his subordinates with a bewildered expression.

"Retreat? Where to? If we retreat, what happens to Changsha? What about Jiangnan West Circuit? How will I answer to the Family Head?"

"As long as we aren't captured, it will be easy to answer to anyone!"

Seeing from afar that the large standard with the character "Xiao" had turned around, Gao Yuan guessed that Xiao Heng might run, so he immediately ignored everything else, turned his horse around, and charged in the direction of Xiao Heng.

In Gao Yuan's eyes, everyone before him was an obstacle preventing him from getting his reward, so he became ruthless; his long spear, like a swimming dragon, thrust left and right, slaughtering the enemy until they were terrified.

The rout of the Qian Army did not last long; the Beiwei Army on both sides had already flanked them, and with Xia Luqi pushing from the front, the tens of thousands of troops under Xiao Heng were now being besieged from three sides.

The only way to survive seemed to be in the direction of retreat, and for a moment, everyone surged in that direction.

However, since they had entered this encounter while on the march, there were a large number of laborers, auxiliary troops, and ox carts transporting supplies and provisions behind them, and the rear path was almost completely blocked.

It was truly a case of having no way to heaven and no door to the earth; many people finally saw the situation clearly and stopped struggling, throwing down their weapons and collapsing on the ground, awaiting the fate of becoming prisoners.

"Those who surrender, stand on both sides of the road! Do not block my path!"

Looking at the surrendered soldiers collapsing all over the ground, Gao Yuan reined in his warhorse and roared.

Those surrendered soldiers immediately scrambled to both sides, clearing a path for Gao Yuan that led straight to Xiao Heng.

Without stopping, Gao Yuan slapped his horse's rump and rode off, leaving dust in his wake; the soldiers, seeing the fierce Cavalry, very consciously cleared a path one by one.

Xiao Heng, having come to his senses, was running for his life; seeing that the main road was impassable, he and his retainers abandoned their horses and attempted to escape on foot through the forest.

Seeing this, Gao Yuan also abandoned his horse, slung his Lingbao Bow on his back, and chased after them with his long spear in hand; by the time Mu Qing arrived, Gao Yuan had already disappeared into the forest without a trace.

Seeing that Gao Yuan had chased them down alone, Xiao Heng's retainers suddenly regained their confidence.

"Commander, that Gao Yuan has chased us down alone; why don't we capture him alive, and we can turn defeat into victory."

"That's right, Commander! We have more men; we can definitely do it!"

The suggestion from the group gave Xiao Heng a glimmer of hope to turn defeat into victory, and he gritted his teeth.

"Alright, let's all attack together!"

Seeing that this group actually dared to turn around, Gao Yuan was overjoyed; he stopped, unslung his Lingbao Bow, drew the bow, nocked an arrow, and aimed at someone's throat.

"Swish… Splat!"

For Gao Yuan, whose foot archery reached A-rank, a distance of dozens of paces meant he could hit exactly where he aimed; he fired five arrows in succession, and except for one that was dodged, the other four hit their marks perfectly.

The killing of four retainers actually ignited Xiao Heng's fighting spirit, and he roared and howled as he charged toward Gao Yuan.

A long spear was not easy to wield in the forest, so Gao Yuan first used the system to scan the area, confirmed there were no tough opponents, and then drew the four-edged Golden Gilded Mace from his waist and met Xiao Heng and his group.

A chaotic fight immediately broke out in the forest, and from time to time someone would be struck by Gao Yuan's mace and fall to the ground, life or death unknown.

Gao Yuan also took a few hits, but thanks to the treasure armor rewarded by the system, these attacks couldn't even break his defense; he only suffered a few minor abrasions in a few places, which only ignited an even stronger fighting spirit in Gao Yuan.