They fought this battle for three days. Zhao Ju, Ji Ping, Wei You, and Mi Ce all successively sent divisions to reinforce, while they each led armies to intercept Shi forces coming to support Shi Lei.

The Shi army naturally had reinforcements coming, so the battlefield was full of people. Within the large encirclement were several smaller circles—you surround me, I surround you…

Zhao Hanzhang and Zu Ti were both determined to kill Shi Lei, but how easy was Shi Lei to kill?

He himself was brave, and due to years as a slave and refugee, he was also extremely skilled at escaping. After three days of effort, he gradually shifted the battlefield bit by bit, finally killing his way to the edge with over a thousand men desperately creating an opening and breaking through the encirclement.

Zhao Hanzhang, blocked by Wang Yang, watched helplessly as he departed. Unwilling to accept this, though already fatigued, this stimulation made the spear in her hands dance fiercely again. After a dozen moves, one thrust pierced Wang Yang through the heart.

Lu Ming and Wu Yu, who after being captured had been ordinary foot soldiers in the Zhao Family Army, saw this and their hearts went cold. Alarmed, they directly abandoned their pretense, killing the Shi soldiers fighting them with one stroke, then turned to flee.

Zhao Hanzhang raised her head, her gaze going to pursue Shi Lei’s trail, but saw a force of about a thousand men rapidly circling the battlefield from the southwest to chase Shi Lei fleeing northwest.

The battlefield was vast. They were directly very distant, but seeing that vague flying banner, she still recognized at once that the leader was Fu Tinghan.

Zhao Hanzhang’s pupils contracted. She immediately turned her horse around, bringing her personal guards to fight their way out of the battlefield with effort, following behind in pursuit. As she chased, she had a messenger go notify Zu Ti. “I’m pursuing Shi Lei. Have Zu Ti drive the Shi army north and recover all cities in Guangping Jun.”

The messenger acknowledged and departed.

Fu Tinghan had been staying outside the battlefield, managing logistics for her and Zu Ti, overseeing the wounded camp, and occasionally filling gaps and controlling the overall situation.

After all, being in the battlefield, sometimes when caught up in fighting, one couldn’t perceive battlefield changes.

He had never intended to personally enter the field, but Shi Lei had broken through, with only Zeng Yue leading over a hundred pursuit troops catching up behind.

He knew Wu’an County was the burial ground Zhao Hanzhang had specially chosen for Shi Lei. This place was very suitable for surrounding and killing Shi Lei, and this was their closest approach to success. Missing this chance, they might miss the opportunity to set things right.

Historically, Shi Lei would eventually establish the Zhao state and proclaim himself emperor. When he was emperor, he wasn’t as willful as now, but his successor plunged the entire north into a quagmire.

After the Yongjia Rebellion, the northern people were already destitute. After Shi Lei proclaimed himself emperor, they rested and recovered for only a few years before Shi Hu ascended the throne and directly destroyed everything, dragging the northern people into hell again—the irredeemable kind.

After Shi Hu, the Han people in the Central Plains and north were nearly exterminated, while the Jie tribe was completely annihilated.

Zhao Hanzhang had always wanted to prevent the north from falling into war again, which required destroying the Xiongnu Han state and killing Shi Lei.

She didn’t care whether killing them would result in Zhao Lei, Zhou Lei, or others appearing. She only knew that such people, if they couldn’t be recruited, should be eliminated early.

She believed that as long as she remained in this position, the north wouldn’t fall into the historical hell mode.

Fu Tinghan knew her urgent desire to kill Shi Lei. They had sacrificed so many people for this, step by step driving Shi Lei here. If he escaped, this time Zhao Hanzhang could be said to have suffered a great defeat.

So seeing Shi Lei break through the encirclement, Fu Tinghan acted without thinking, directly selecting a thousand men to pursue.

This was the most elite force he could deploy. The rest still needed to protect the medical tents and logistics.

When Zhao Hanzhang broke through the encirclement, three quarters of a shichen had already passed. Forget Shi Lei—even Fu Tinghan’s shadow was invisible.

She could only lead troops following the traces to pursue.

Fu Tinghan had a clear understanding of himself, so he left markers along the way for reinforcements to follow.

When Zhao Hanzhang caught up and found Fu Tinghan, they had already clashed with Shi Lei.

Shi Lei hadn’t wanted to stop and fight Fu Tinghan. Since he’d escaped, he should focus on fleeing for his life. If he stopped, wouldn’t being caught by Zhao Hanzhang mean falling back into the battlefield?

But he led exhausted troops, while Fu Tinghan brought his guard army. They had been very obedient to Zhao Hanzhang—no matter how the battlefield changed, they stood unmoved guarding Fu Tinghan’s side.

So these three days, except for the medical tent personnel, everyone had entered the battlefield, all exhausted to the point where curling a finger was difficult. Yet Fu Tinghan still had a thousand spirited guards beside him.

They waited at ease for the fatigued, and even having to run a very long distance, they quickly caught up with Shi Lei.

Shi Lei ran while looking back at Fu Tinghan’s sleek, well-fed horse, immediately deciding to seize his horse—mainly because he couldn’t outrun him anyway.

So Shi Lei stopped to ambush.

But Fu Tinghan was a master at reading terrain. He might not excel at other things, but identifying traces was first-rate. Looking ahead and seeing no dust rising in the distance, he knew Shi Lei had hidden himself, and moreover was nearby.

Shi Lei failed to ambush Fu Tinghan and could only fight head-on.

Jie cavalry were formidable, so they naturally knew various combat methods against cavalry. Before Fu Tinghan could find their location, the Jie people hidden in forests on both sides rushed out with curved sabers, bodies low, specifically slashing at horse legs…

Shi Hongtu and Lu Daxuan, whom Zhao Hanzhang had placed beside Fu Tinghan, both had excellent martial skills, even better than Qiu Wu and others. They had attended the troop deployment and logistics courses offered in the army for squad leaders and above.

When the Commissioner came to watch the young master draw maps, she would discuss what tactics suited various terrains. The two had perhaps insufficient experience, but plenty of theoretical knowledge. Combined with their superior martial skills, they didn’t fear facing Shi Lei.

Suddenly attacked with people continuously falling from horses around them, they didn’t panic. Knowing this terrain was unfavorable for cavalry charges, they decisively leaped from their horses. Shi Hongtu pulled Fu Tinghan down by the arm to protect him behind, while Lu Daxuan organized the formation to resist…

Fu An saw this and quickly jumped from his horse too, running to Fu Tinghan’s side. But before he could reach him, Shi Lei led men charging from the forest…

When Zhao Hanzhang arrived, even Fu Tinghan, who had been very well protected, was gripping a longsword, half his body stained with blood, his eyes sharp as blades as he killed enemies. Hearing hoofbeats, he turned to look, his expression fierce as a knife.

Zhao Hanzhang couldn’t help smiling. She pulled the reins, directly leaping over the crowd. Passing him, one spear thrust killed a Shi soldier swinging his blade, then she charged straight for Shi Lei.

With people too densely packed, horse combat was disadvantageous. After Zhao Hanzhang’s spear harvested several heads and she closed in on Shi Lei, the spear dropped to block Shi Lei’s blade aimed at her horse’s legs. She exerted force and flung Shi Lei away, then dismounted…

When flung away, Shi Lei used the momentum to leap backward, leaving her attack range. Seeing her finally dismount, he smiled. “Commissioner Zhao has such courage. Without your warhorse, do you think you can kill me?”

Zhao Hanzhang patted the horse’s rump, letting it leave, then smiled at Shi Lei. “When you had a warhorse, you still couldn’t defeat me. What gives you the confidence that you can defeat me on foot?”