Yu Zhujian fell heavily to the ground, even more painful than the day before when he was crushed under a horse outside the city of Mayi.
However, Yu Zhujian had no time to cry out in pain. Before he could even stand up with the help of his guards, he sat down on the ground and shouted loudly, "Southwest and northwest are under attack. Taking advantage of the fact that they haven't yet surrounded us, don't stop the Wu Liubu from advancing any further. Quickly retreat to the east!"
The close personal guard next to him asked: "Sir, Wu Liubu is right in the east."
The Xianbei were divided into three parts, namely the Western Xianbei, Central Xianbei, and Eastern Xianbei. The term "Daadan" is used to refer to the leader of one of the three Xianbei tribes.
Clearly, Yu Zhujian was not yet qualified for such a title. He was used to being called by this name out of vanity, forcing his subordinates to do the same.
Yu Zhujian had already stood up, waving his horsewhip and calling out, "No more fighting against Wu Liubu! No more fighting! Let Wu Liubu cross the river, and we will go around behind them to the east to the Great King!"
The close guard once again asked, "But the Great King has ordered us to block Wu Liubu..."
Before he could finish his sentence, Yu Zhujian slapped the close guard. As the son-in-law of Ke Binei, the close guards around Yu Zhujian were all handpicked by Ke Binei.
Yu Zhujian couldn't afford to consider Ke Binei's feelings anymore. If he delayed any longer, he feared that once the Wuhuan people merged with this unknown Wei army, he would be completely unable to break through.
If the damage to his own tribe was too great, he might not be able to blame Ke Binei for it, and the people of his tribe would probably tear him apart!
At this moment, Yu Zhujian had already begun to mobilize his troops to charge eastward. Meanwhile, Guan Qiuxian, who led a hundred cavalry to charge into the battlefield, had already pierced through the loose formation of Yu Zhujian and arrived at the camp of Xianbei near the southern gate of Mayi.
The noise on the battlefield was growing louder, with smoke, horse neighs, roars, and the clashing of weapons, plus the low terrain here. It made the troops of Guan Qiuxian, who were at the very center of the entire battle formation, feel as if they were in a fog.
"Adjutant, what should we do now?" Du Bao Chen Dang, who had followed Guan Qiuxian from Luoyang and was riding by Guan Qiuxian's side, shouted loudly.
Guan Qiuxian pointed towards the northwest direction, indicating the gap between the Wuhuan loyalists and the southwest corner of Mayi city, and said: "We will pass through here! After we get out, find a high place to observe the situation, and then choose a suitable opportunity to provide support!"
"Yes!" Chen Dang bowed and replied, but just a moment later, his excited expression dimmed significantly: "Adjutant, we have already lost fifteen of our brothers in this charge."
Although Chen Dang was nearly five years older than Guan Qiuxian, Guan Qiuxian's eyes were filled with confidence at this moment. He patted Chen Dang's shoulder and said, "So we must leave quickly and look for an opportunity to charge again. We must kill more Xianbei dogs and give our brothers a good revenge!"
Chen Dang nodded heavily, and his eyes seemed to glisten with tears.
Yu Zhujian's troops did not want to be surrounded and actively retreated eastward, sparing the Wu Liubu who was heading south to cross the Sanggan River.
At this moment, Liu Ye and Feng Po, who led the Manhua infantrymen from Yannin, had not yet engaged in battle with Yu Zhujian's troops. They had only thrown a few arrows.
But the Wuhuan loyalist cavalry had already taken hold of the tail end of Yu Zhujian's troops.
Riding horseback, wielding swords, hacking and slashing.
The Wuhuan loyalists loved such combat tasks. In fact, at this moment, the Hu people on the grasslands were most adept at fighting in this way. It was an easy battle, so who couldn't fight a battle in their favor?
Ti Du, leading the Wuhuan loyalists, was now pursuing Yu Zhujian's troops with great enthusiasm.
Yu Zhujian came quickly, and ran quickly too, but this statement referred only to himself.
The 5,000 Xianbei light cavalry of Yu Zhujian's troops suffered losses of less than 300 when they intercepted Wu Liubu. However, during their retreat and with Wuhuan loyalists biting at their heels, their casualties surpassed the previous losses within a short period of time.
Faced with no choice, Yu Zhujian had to keep retreating eastward until he reached the vicinity of Ke Binei's grand banner.
Ke Binei, seeing the disarray in front of him, had no choice but to order the entire army to halt.
As for Wu Liubu?
Wu Liubu had just been allowed to pass by Yu Zhujian. Now, with more than half having crossed the water, what's there to fight for?
Upon seeing Yu Zhujian running towards him, Ke Binei's eyes darkened even more.
Before he reached the horse, Ke Binei loudly rebuked: "Yu Zhujian! I ordered you to intercept Wu Liubu. Why did you run away in the middle of the battle and bring so many Wuhuan loyalists with you?"
Yu Zhujian called out in distress: "Great King! From the southwest, there has been an unexpected influx of Han infantry, numbering several thousand! If I had delayed my retreat any longer, I might have been surrounded by the Han people, the Wuhuan dogs, and Wu Liubu's troops!"
Ke Binei's face contorted in rage as he swung his horsewhip and struck Yu Zhujian across the face, leaving a trail of blood from the middle of his eyebrow to his chin. Blood gushed out immediately.
Ke Binei cursed, "Surrounded? What difference does it make! I'm already here. Can't you see my grand banner and stay and defend a little longer? If you had stayed for just one more moment, how could Wu Liubu have escaped?"
"Take your tribe's people! Go to the camp south of the city and help Chi Li hold it. Tian Yu's attack is fierce, and they're almost defenseless."
With his sharp eagle eyes staring intently at Yu Zhujian's face, Ke Binei spoke in a low voice, "If you dare to retreat again, I'll cut off your head first, before the Han people or myself!"
"Do you know?"
Intimidated by Ke Binei's accumulated power over the years, Yu Zhujian, with blood streaming down his face, dared not say anything more. He turned around and led his troops northward, towards the direction of the Xianbei camp south of the city.
While Ke Binei's 100,000-strong army briefly paused, they continued to advance westward.
The Wuhuan loyalists trailing behind Yu Zhujian's troops also slowed down and stopped, aligning themselves with the Manhua infantrymen from Yannin who had already arrived at the battlefield. They stood several hundred steps apart, facing the 100,000-strong army of Ke Binei who had arrived from the east. At this moment, there was only one area on the battlefield where fighting was still taking place.
If viewed from south to north, the southernmost force is Wu Liubu's troops.
Wu Liubu's troops, sustaining over a thousand casualties, managed to cross the Sanggan River. At this point on the southern bank of the Sanggan River, Wu Liubu saw his tribe suffer such heavy losses and had collapsed on the ground, embracing his younger brother Su Ti in sobs.
On the north bank of the Sanggan River, Ke Binei's troops were on the east side, opposite the Manhua infantrymen and Wuhuan loyalists on the west side, facing each other from a distance.
Ke Binei has already issued an order for the 5,000 Uighur troops on the north to hurry here as quickly as possible. Meanwhile, the 5,000 troops on the east side are marching out of camp to guard Ke Binei's retreat route.
And further north, there was the Xianbei camp outside the southern gate of Mayi city.
Tian Yu led his army from the north, alternating between archery and crossbow fire. The lightly armored Wuhuan people, with little protection in their camp, suffered heavy losses.
Tian Yu wore double layers of armor, with Cao Shuang and He Xin on his left and right. He held a shield in his left hand and a knife in his right hand. After the first wave of troops attacked the camp, he personally charged into it in the second wave.
The Ci Li in the camp had already been startled by the arrows fired by Tian Yu's forces. How could there be so many high-quality iron arrowheads, so straight arrow shafts, and so white arrow fletching raining down on them for free?
By the time it came down to using the lives of all the tribe members as a gamble, Ci Li had already started to waver in his resolve. If it wasn't for Ke Binei's grand banner still within sight, Ci Li would have run away for sure!
"Master, look! Supporters have arrived! It's Yu Zhujian!" One of the close guards shouted to Ci Li.
Ci Li felt relieved only then.
Yu Zhujian was Ke Binei's son-in-law. As for himself, he was merely an outsider. If it weren't for Yu Zhujian coming to reinforce, Ci Li had already been preparing to flee.
As Ci Li prepared to encourage his men, one of the close guards shouted again, "Master, master! The reinforcements seem to be about to run away!"
Ci Li's face turned white instantly. He ran a few steps and stood on a wooden cart to look out into the camp.
The process of Yu Zhujian's grand banner falling was watched by Ci Li with his own eyes.
Right now, Guan Qiuxian noticed that the Wuhuan loyalists were slowing down and were facing Ke Binei's troops from across several hundred feet.
Liu Ye's 3,000 infantrymen and Wu Huan's 3,000 cavalrymen were confronting Ke Binei's 10,000 cavalry, still with a slight disadvantage.
The key to the battlefield at this moment, besides the 10,000 Xianbei soldiers who had not yet arrived nearby, lay only in the area where Tian Yu was fighting against the Xianbei soldiers south of Mayi city.
Noticing that Yu Zhujian's troops were turning around and seemed to be preparing to reinforce the Xianbei troops in the southern camp, Guan Qiuxian turned his head to ask Chen Dang: "Dare you to charge again with me?"
"This group of Xianbei people has been pierced through by us once, chased and fled by the Wuhuan people and Marquis Liu, and even Wu Liubu couldn't keep up. I reckon they are already frightened by now!"
"Charge them, scare them, maybe it will help Tian Yu greatly!"
Chen Dang, who had already lost his temper and smiled, "If Adjutant dares to charge, I will follow Adjutant and chop the Xianbei dogs!"
Guan Qiuxian nodded and thundered, "My Yueqi camp is not inferior to the Hu Bao cavalry!"
"Hold your weapons!"
The eighty-plus cavalry behind them also followed their Adjutant's lead, tightly gripping their long spears with their right hands and folding them under their armpits. They gradually sped up, following the lead of Guan Qiuxian.
Chen Dang took care to protect his own Adjutant, and spurred his horse to gradually ride in front of Guan Qiuxian.
The cavalry of Yueqi camp were equipped with fine horses raised in Liangzhou, fully armored, which was not comparable to the equipment of the Xianbei people.
At full speed, they were drawing closer to the rapidly retreating Yu Zhujian.
The blood flowing down his forehead had already completely blocked Yu Zhujian's right eye. Only when one of his close guards reminded him and Yu Zhujian himself realized it, did Guan Qiuxian's cavalry almost reach the horse's front.
With a large group of people following him, Yu Zhujian wanted to turn around and pull his horse back, but it was too late.
Just as the Xianbei people around Yu Zhujian had crowded together but were still being pushed back by the incoming cavalry behind, the Yueqi cavalry had arrived.
As Chen Dang was the arrowhead of the piercing array, he charged ahead as the spearhead, aiming his long spear at Yu Zhujian's back in the confusion.
After the first strike, he loosened his grip and continued to charge forward.
Seeing this, Guan Qiuxian immediately discarded his spear and picked up a short spear from his horse's side. After charging several steps past Yu Zhujian, he turned around on his horse and threw the short spear forcefully behind him at Yu Zhujian.
As expected, the sharp short spear easily pierced Yu Zhujian's neck. The easily cut artery caused a burst of blood to gush out instantly, spraying blood on the flagbearer beside him.
With their leader dead, how could this group of Xianbei have any remaining morale?
The banner was thrown down, and Yu Zhujian's still bleeding corpse was abandoned. The Xianbei people here, filled with panic, all rushed to Ke Binei's large banner to flee. (This chapter concludes)
