C286

When Yuan Fu's scouts discovered the whereabouts of Gongsun Xu's group, Gongsun Xu had also noticed them. Even though he did not know how many troops were chasing after them, he still ordered them to escape quickly.

When the White Horse Camp s did not fight, their troops did not wear heavy armor, but only a helmet. The armor was folded and placed in a bag, and only when they were charging they would wear helmets, and when they heard Gongsun Xu's orders, they immediately increased their speed and rushed forward.

At the start, they were separated by about four to five li, but because of the burden of the remnants of the Bingzhou Army, the speed of Gongsun Xu and the underlings gradually slowed down. Very quickly, Yuan Fu's entourage caught up to them, and they only needed to raise their heads to catch up to them.

Chen Gong looked at the forest in front of him, and said to Gongsun Xu in a low voice: "General Gongsun, you can't go on like this, or else the enemy will catch up sooner or later! It would be better to let the injured soldiers hide in the forest. They do not have many people, and the enemy's main targets are Wen Hou and the General, they should not waste time searching for them! "

"I guess that's the only way!" Gongsun Xu nodded helplessly, pointed to the woods two miles away and said in a deep voice: "When we turn that corner, this one will block the pursuers, and let them take the opportunity to escape into the mountain forest!"

"Block?" Chen Gong was shocked, and anxiously advised: "General, think twice! If we get entangled by them, it is very likely that we will be surrounded by the Huainan Army and the Xuzhou Army who rushed over later. At that time, I am afraid it would be hard for us to escape from their grasp! "

Gongsun Xu smiled confidently: "Mr. Gong Tai does not need to worry, just take Wen Hou and leave, I guarantee that I will catch up quickly!"

Chen Gong was skeptical, but if he wanted to let Bingzhou Army's 300 plus defeated soldiers escape successfully, Gongsun Xu's suggestion was the best method at the moment. Chen Gong was both moved and guilty at the same time. He solemnly cupped his hands to Gongsun Xu and passed Gongsun Xu's orders to the handicapped veterans that he had led.

Even if they did not agree, they could only listen to orders. Under Chen Gong's lead, the mounted soldiers that were passing through the White Horse Camp could only follow suit and rush forward.

Gongsun Xu reined in his horse, looked at the pursuers, and saw that they were already two to three kilometers away. He quickly gave the order, "Hou Yong, bring 200 people with you so we can attack the enemy forces!"

Hou Yong cupped his fists in reply, shook his arms, and shouted: "Dismount, armed!"

The two hundred men in the rear dismounted, opened their packs and took out the armors of their men. Their hands and feet swiftly dressed themselves and their war horses. For example, regarding the issue of donning armor, Gongsun Xu's requirement was that everyone must wear their armor and be on standby within the span of a hundred breaths. If they were unable to meet the requirements, they would be sent back to their original troop. The treatment of heavy cavalry was three times that of an ordinary cavalry unit. Once they were sent back, not only would they lose a large amount of money, they would also be looked down upon and mocked by their fellow soldiers. Because of this, these cavalry soldiers were able to equip their men in armor within the span of a hundred breaths, and many of them didn't even need that much time.

By the time Yuan Fu and his troops had chased them 300 to 400 steps away, Hou Yong, his two hundred cavalrymen and his warhorses were already neatly dressed. As the road was not wide enough, they had formed a phalanx of eight people, ready to launch a deadly attack at any time.

Gongsun Xu led the remaining two hundred plus people forward without worrying about the safety of Hou Yong and the others. Most of them only wore leather armour, and the roads were very narrow. It was very difficult for them to use the advantage of numbers to face off against heavy cavalry who was armed to the teeth, and the only result of that was that they were stomped on.

Chen Gong had already led the group to the corner of the forest, he ordered everyone to quickly hide in the depths of the forest, he also had a few guards take care of Lv Bu, then turned his horse and rushed back, prepared to lend a hand to Gongsun Xu.

He did not expect that only two hundred people would be sent to block the enemy troops and furthermore, there was no intention to help them. Chen Gong immediately became anxious, without bothering about etiquette, he asked loudly: "General Gongsun, why are only two hundred people left to block the enemy troops? "Although I am not talented, I am willing to sacrifice my meager strength!"

Gongsun Xu laughed and waved his hand: "Don't be impatient, Mr. Gong Tai, I guarantee that they can defeat the pursuers!"

Chen Gong frowned as he looked at the heavy cavalry in front of him. He realised that their troops were all dressed in armor, making them look extremely mighty. He secretly shook his head. He was prepared to charge forward and help if the 'iron shell' failed to stop the pursuers even if he had to die in battle.

Gongsun Xu didn't know what Chen Gong was thinking, he looked forward calmly, but his thoughts were not on the upcoming battle, but rather, how to deal with the aftermath. If Lv Bu did not listen to the warning, the entire Bingzhou Army would have been annihilated. Fortunately, Gao Shun's xianzhen camp was safe and sound, otherwise, he would have the urge to run away. After defeating the cavalry that was chasing them, Yuan Shu and Liu Bei would definitely be shaken. Furthermore, there weren't many of them in Xuzhou Army and his cavalry so the possibility of them sending a large group to kill them was not high. The greatest possibility was that the ten thousand strong army would chase after them at the same time. This meant that as long as they could defeat the enemy cavalry in front of them and return to the Xiao Pei City, there shouldn't be a problem. At that time, they would break through Guan Yu's encirclement, protecting Gao Shun and the others as they leave the city.

By this time, the Huainan Army's pursuers were already two hundred steps away. Hou Yong's right hand clenched into a fist and raised, as the two hundred heavy cavalry s all pulled down their sinister masks, holding their crossbow s as they prepared to charge forward.

At first, Yuan Fu did not think much of it. How could a mere few hundred cavalrymen be able to stop his two thousand men! When he got closer and saw the attire of the other party's men, he could not help but exclaim, "How can there be such a cavalry? How much Refined Iron would that cost! Could it be that the Youzhou has an inexhaustible supply of fine iron? "

Just a moment ago, they were still full of confidence, but now, they were somewhat discouraged. Not to mention what the enemy's riding skills and martial arts were, even if they relied on just their heavy armor, they would still be able to block their own attacks!

Yuan Fu's heart was thumping, he slowed down and ordered the two military lord s beside him: "The two of you, bring three hundred people up for a test!"

The two of them had no choice but to obey and lead the three hundred men over.

Hou Yong and the two hundred cavalrymen did not move, as if they did not see the enemy rushing over.

Chen Gong became anxious again, he pointed at Hou Yong and shouted: General Gongsun, the enemy is charging, why is he not giving the order to attack?

Gongsun Xu laughed indifferently: "My cavalry armor alone is fifty to sixty kilograms, so I can only sprint for a short distance to ensure strong lethality! Mr. Gong Tai just needs to watch. Wait until the enemy army is within 50 steps, then they will be dead! "

"Fifty to sixty catties!" Chen Gong was shocked, for a moment he had actually forgotten that the battle was about to begin, he started to calculate in his heart, one cavalryman wearing fifty or sixty kilograms of fine iron armor, a hundred of them would be five or six hundred kilograms, and a thousand would be five or six thousand kilograms. It was said that White Horse Camp had more than twenty thousand cavalrymen, wouldn't it cost more than a hundred of thousands of kilograms of fine iron? Youzhou was actually so rich?

There were indeed more than twenty thousand cavalrymen in the White Horse Camp, but the cost of the heavy cavalry was simply too high. Therefore, only the thousand men that Gongsun Xu had brought along were heavy cavalry. However, the size of the twenty thousand riders was already very big. Other than the Xiliang Army, there was no other troop in the world that had a higher number of riders than the Youzhou Army.

The two military lord s of the Huainan Army led their team and ran forward. In order to strengthen their courage, they shouted non-stop. On the other hand, the enemies facing them were as silent as a city wall, but their killing intent was so strong that even with their heavy armor, the majority of the Huainan Army's cavalry soldiers were still trembling in fear. They did not have the confidence to use the weapons in their hands to cut through the enemy's armor.

Soon, both sides were within thirty paces.

"Crossbow!" Shoot! " Just then, Hou Yong suddenly shouted out and took the initiative to shoot his crossbow.

In a split-second, arrows rained down like rain from the sky, straight towards the Huainan Army cavalry soldiers who were just inches away from them.