dognovel Chapter 102 A Battle of Wits, Quan Cong Captured
Chapter 102 A Battle of Wits, Quan Cong Captured
Guan Xing was delighted to see Quan Cong charging towards him.
This kid didn't run away. Instead, he charged forward like Zhang Cheng had done that day, trying to hold his ground and buy time for Wu's army to surround him.
What else is there to say? Let's fight to the death! As long as we take Quan Cong, this battle will be over.
If, unfortunately, Quan Cong defeats him, then it's all over.
Both Guan Xing and Quan Cong were determined to take down their opponent first before engaging in a full-scale battle, so they ruthlessly swung their swords at each other.
Zila...
Accompanied by a screeching sound, a string of sparks flew from where the blades clashed.
At the same time, both of them felt the immense force carried by the other's blade, and were forced to retreat. Staring at each other, they thought to themselves, "This guy has tremendous strength."
After a moment of reflection, they charged forward again, and soon a fierce battle ensued.
As for their battle, Guan Xing was not Guan Yu, who famously killed Hua Xiong while the wine was still warm, nor was Quan Cong a fierce general like one of the Twelve Tiger Generals of Jiangdong. Their martial prowess was roughly equal, and neither could gain the upper hand in a short period of time. It was somewhat like two weaklings fighting each other.
Nevertheless, no one dared to approach them within a radius of three zhang, and the personal guards of both sides had to find another battlefield.
Quan Cong's personal guards were all family private soldiers, the most elite small group in the Wu army. Guan Xing's personal guards were no match in terms of combat strength, but they had the advantage of sheer numbers.
At this moment, there were five or six hundred soldiers gathered around Guan Xing, more than twice the number of Quan Cong's personal guards.
Moreover, there were also experts in the Han army. Zhou Shan and Zhu Chao each led a team, charging ruthlessly at the enemy like mad bulls, using a desperate fighting style that was willing to perish together with their opponents.
Zhou Shan was a ruthless man who killed his superior Zhou Qi and traveled thousands of miles to join Guan Xing. As soon as the battle started, he went into a berserk state, cutting down one person without even looking at the next, only caring about moving forward and not caring about what was behind him.
Zhu Chao was no less formidable; he was a ruthless man who burned Wu's army's supplies. He dared to set fire to the place right under Zhang Cheng's nose, so what was a mere Quan Cong?
The two men's bravery greatly boosted the morale of the Han army. Their high morale made up for their lack of combat strength, suppressing the Wu army's most elite private troops and preventing them from making any progress.
But tied up with his private troops, they could do nothing else and could only watch helplessly as Wu's army, having realized what was happening, converged on their side.
Fortunately, the Han army was not just the number of people in front of them. Meng Jun was ordered to seize the horses, but when he led his troops to the stable, he was dismayed to find that the Wu army had already rushed into the stable before them.
Meng Jun, who came from the Central Plains, knew the dangers of cavalry. Seeing this, he didn't have time to think and quickly drew his bow and shot arrows, killing all the Wu soldiers who were near the stable with one arrow each. At the same time, he rushed to the stable, threw away his bow and arrows, and charged at the Wu soldiers.
Meng Jun was tall and strong, and wore heavy armor. In front of Wu Jun, who was not heavily armored, he was like a human tank. He charged straight at Wu Jun and successfully forced them to retreat.
They then rushed into the stables, mounted their horses, and charged. Jiangdong was short of horses; neither the Wu nor the Han army had any warhorses. These so-called warhorses were merely dung horses used for transporting supplies, and there were not many of them, less than a hundred.
But even a worn-out horse is still a horse. Meng Jun ordered his men to mount up quickly, and soon assembled more than eighty cavalrymen. He personally led the charge towards the densely populated area, while the soldiers without horses could only follow on foot.
As Meng Jun ran, he observed the surroundings and saw that Wu's army was rapidly gathering under the command of their general, numbering five or six hundred men. Without thinking, he charged towards them.
The most terrifying thing about an army is its organizational ability. When organized and under unified command, it is invincible. But if it cannot be organized, no matter how many people there are, they are just a disorganized mess.
Therefore, we must not give Wu's army a chance to organize; we must break them up before they can unleash their full fighting power.
With this thought in mind, Meng Jun disregarded the enemy's superior numbers and relentlessly charged towards them. Seeing this, the Wu army general urgently shouted, "Fire arrows! Fire arrows! Block them! Block them!"
Although his idea was good, he had previously planned to gather troops to charge at the Han army, so he had not set up a defensive formation. When he was suddenly attacked by the Han army, he had no time to react.
Moreover, compared to infantry, cavalry is much faster. Before the Wu army could even form a battle formation, Meng Jun led his cavalry to charge forward. With just one charge, the hundreds of Wu soldiers who had finally managed to gather were scattered and broken.
Meng Jun did not linger in battle and immediately turned to attack the next group of Wu soldiers who were gathering.
His idea was simple: use the mobility of cavalry to charge continuously, preventing the Wu army from gathering together. This was equivalent to interrupting the Wu army's chanting, denying them the opportunity to cast spells, thereby keeping the Wu army in a state of disarray and unable to gather into a fighting force.
Rewind to the moment Meng Jun rushed into the stable. Deng Hong, the assault team leader who was watching from the arrow tower, saw the battlefield between Guan Xing and Quan Cong. After learning Quan Cong's location, he immediately shouted, "Assault team, assemble!"
While shouting, he jumped over the railing, slid down the ladder to the ground, and led the assault team to rush towards Guan Xing at top speed. Along the way, he encountered groups of Wu soldiers and, like Meng Jun, decisively went up to disperse them.
The commando team was already a select group of elite soldiers, and after ten days of grueling training, their combat strength was not much worse than that of Quan Cong's private troops. Under Deng Hong's leadership, they quickly arrived at the main battlefield where Guan Xing and Quan Cong were located.
After a quick assessment of the situation, Deng Hong immediately bypassed the Han army and charged towards the rear of Quan Cong's personal guards.
At this moment, some of the Wu army also arrived and joined Quan Cong's personal guards to fight, and more Wu army was on its way.
Seeing this, Deng Hong acted decisively, ruthlessly slipping through the gap between Quan Cong's personal guards and the arriving Wu army. He then divided the assault team into two groups, ordering two garrisons to block the Wu army while he personally led the other two garrisons to attack Quan Cong's personal guards from behind, forming an encirclement with Zhou Shan and Zhu Chao, preparing to eliminate Quan Cong's personal guards first.
Deng Hong charged into the enemy ranks and swung his sword. Wu Jun, standing in front of him, hurriedly raised his sword to parry. In the instant the two swords clashed, Wu Jun's sword broke... broke...
Deng Hong and Wu Jun were completely stunned. After a moment of confusion, Deng Hong exclaimed in surprise, "General Guan is right. The steel mill's products are indeed top-notch. Let's kill them!"
After saying that, he swung his knife again, easily taking down his opponent and rushing to the next one. The assault team behind him also realized the advantage of their weaponry and became even more unrestrained, attacking and charging wildly.
Seeing that his weapons were inferior to his opponent's, Wu Jun dared not use his sword to fight back. He became hesitant and timid in the fight, and gradually fell into a disadvantageous position.
Zhou Shan and Zhu Chao were so shocked by this scene that their eyes almost popped out. After the initial shock, their morale soared, and they quickly adjusted their formation, switching from offense to defense, surrounding Quan Cong's personal guards and creating an opportunity for the assault team to annihilate them.
Quan Cong's personal guards, unwilling to be slaughtered, launched a desperate counterattack, attempting to break through the encirclement by opening a gap from Zhu Chao. Zhu Chao was beaten until he vomited blood, but he did not retreat an inch.
After holding out for half an hour, Quan Cong's personal guards suffered more than half their casualties and began to collapse. Some could not withstand the pressure of death and threw down their weapons to surrender.
His surrender triggered a chain reaction, with all of Cong's personal guards surrendering one after another.
The Han army did not possess the iron will of later generations' soldiers. Under normal circumstances, they would collapse after suffering 20-30% casualties. Quan Cong's personal guards only collapsed after suffering more than half of their casualties, which was already quite remarkable.
Seeing this, Deng Hong did not make things difficult for him. He ordered Zhou Shan to receive the surrendered soldiers, and then led the assault team to surround the battlefield between Guan Xing and Quan Cong. When they got closer, they were dumbfounded.
At this moment, the battle between Guan Xing and Quan Cong was nearing its end. The two lay side by side, Guan Xing holding Quan Cong's right leg with both hands, while his left leg was bent and tightly hooked around Quan Cong's neck, almost suffocating Quan Cong.
Deng Hong quickly patted Guan Xing, who was also in a berserk state, and whispered, "General, let go, it's over."
Guan Xing suddenly woke up, turned his head and found that Quan Cong was almost strangled to death. He quickly let go and shouted, "Tie him up!"
Deng Hong lifted Quan Cong from under his feet and reached out his hand, saying, "General, let me help you up."
Guan Xing, panting heavily, said, "I'm out of strength. Let me lie down for a while."