The soldiers were deeply moved, their morale soaring. They immediately waited in place, sweeping away the arrows that flew down. When the rolling rocks and logs stopped falling, they immediately charged into the forest.
Seeing this, Ji Ping had people send out signals for urgent attack and rescue, while personally leading troops to meet the enemy.
The Zhao Family Army had won battle after battle. Before this expedition, Zhao Hanzhang personally boosted their morale, telling them in person that after this battle, they could go home. Because they had destroyed the Xiongnu state, for a very long time they wouldn’t be invaded again and wouldn’t have to fight anymore.
They could farm in the military settlements, perhaps even find a wife, be allocated land, have a chubby son…
So even facing an enemy three times their number, their morale was high.
Every soldier of the Zhao Family Army stared fiercely at these people—once they finished this battle, they could go home!
Ji Ping knew they didn’t have numerical superiority, so he ordered the entire army to form battle formations, using small formations to kill the enemy.
Zhao Hanzhang loved using military formations because she knew that Han people’s physical constitution couldn’t match the Xiongnu, Jie, and Xianbei peoples. This was caused by different dietary structures and living environments, and changing it was not the work of a day.
These minority peoples were horse-borne nations. Even an ordinary herdsman was skilled with bow and horse, but could you expect Central Plains farmers who tilled the land to have the same skills?
Ordinary farmers went their entire lives without touching a horse, let alone riding and shooting.
Wielding a hoe to fight over water was the most intense struggle most farmers experienced in peacetime.
So on the battlefield, Central Plains soldiers might need two, three, or even more lives to exchange for one Xiongnu, Jie, or Xianbei soldier. Therefore, Zhao Hanzhang particularly liked using military formations.
Two people could form a formation. As long as they coordinated properly, one plus one was definitely greater than two—this was the significance of military formations.
Since the Battle of Xiping Fortress, Zhao Hanzhang had realized the disparity in strength between Han people and the minority peoples, so she had devoted herself to researching variations of military formations. Those who, through her training, could grasp the essence of military formations were the Zhao Family Army.
This division of the Zhao Family Army consisted of veterans who had been enlisted for at least a year. Since their enlistment, they had been training. Setting aside other things, they all knew the most basic military formations.
At this moment, when Ji Ping ordered them to form formations and called out the formation name, a squad of ten immediately formed three small formations—three people to a formation, with the squad leader standing in a special position. Advancing, he could be the vanguard’s sharp blade; retreating, he could be protected by other comrades. Moreover, the three small formations were nested within each other, able to support each other and change formations at any time.
The Zhao Family Army formed up and charged out. The ambushed Xiongnu soldiers also furiously wanted to charge into the forest. The two sides met at the edge. The Zhao Family Army had practiced formations in mountain forests and had even practiced on bandits, so they quickly changed formations, incorporating the ubiquitous trees into their arrays. When one person retreated, another advanced, stabbing from the side with one blade. After killing one enemy, they charged straight forward…
At the same time, with a whistling sound like a signal arrow ascending into the sky, it exploded into a light red flare in mid-air.
Liu Jie felt uneasy and asked, “This is the second one. It seems like a signal arrow, yet it’s not. What is this thing, and what does it mean?”
Those around him didn’t know and couldn’t answer Liu Jie.
Li Tianhe, who was still crouching and waiting for the Xiongnu army to arrive, saw this flare and jumped up in shock. “Requesting aid? Didn’t Old Ji say he was going to let people through?”
Those beside him speculated, “He let them through, but the enemy won’t come?”
This was also possible. Li Tianhe pondered briefly, then immediately said, “Cheng Da!”
“This subordinate is here!”
“Immediately take three thousand men to provide aid. Lead the enemy to me!”
“Yes.”
Li Tianhe frowned and paced in circles, feeling it still wasn’t secure enough. He had scouts follow along to gather information.
At the same time, Liu Kun, who was pursuing forward, also saw the two flares before and after. He was only stunned for a moment before his eyes brightened, and he said to Linghu Sheng, “It’s the Zhao Family Army. I’ve seen this thing before—the Zhao Family Army uses it to transmit signals.”
Having said this, he ordered the entire army to speed up.
Ji Ping and Liu Jie finally faced each other directly. Unlike four years ago, Ji Ping at this moment would no longer be intimidated. Even when a blade pressed down, nearly touching his skin, he stared back unflinchingly, holding firm without the slightest fear.
A personal guard of Ji Ping finished off a Xiongnu guard and immediately stepped forward to strike at Liu Jie. Liu Jie could only leap aside to dodge the attack.
After escaping, Ji Ping didn’t retreat but instead pursued closely. His personal guards also moved forward to protect him, forming a formation with him to prevent anyone from attacking him from behind.
Just as they were locked in fierce battle, Cheng Da arrived with troops, immediately drawing his blade and charging into the battlefield with loud shouts…
Cheng Da planned to charge fiercely first, attract enough aggression, then feign defeat and retreat, leading them away. But before he could fake his defeat, Liu Kun arrived.
Of course, at this time, neither Cheng Da nor Ji Ping knew. They were killing madly. Liu Kun was three or four li away from them—still quite far.
When Liu Kun arrived and saw the Xiongnu soldiers blocked here, he was delighted. He immediately drew his sword and ordered everyone to charge forward.
Linghu Sheng immediately took command, leading a division to outflank and kill their way into the battlefield from behind.
Liu Kun also wanted to charge in but was blocked by Ji Dan, who said, “Please, General, remain and command.”
Command was impossible—Ji Dan simply didn’t want him to go up and cause trouble. It was better to leave the fighting to Linghu Sheng.
But Liu Kun believed that as a general, he should lead from the front. How could he let soldiers fight ahead while he remained behind?
So he didn’t listen. He personally led a division of troops and charged in, rushing forward to start fighting.
It must be said that although Liu Kun was poor at commanding battles, his personal combat ability was quite good. Not only was his dismounted fighting skill excellent, his mounted skill was also impressive. Combined with his personal guards, who were all exceptional warriors selected from hundreds, they charged to the very front first. Because they were so far forward, Ji Ping noticed them.
Seeing Liu Kun, Ji Ping knew the Jinyang Army had arrived. After cutting down a Xiongnu soldier with one blade, he grabbed the battle-obsessed Cheng Da and said, “Open a gap and let them go!”
Too many people had arrived, with large numbers of Jinyang troops blocked behind. They needed to expand the battlefield and extend the battle line further, preferably cutting off communication among the Xiongnu forces so their front and rear couldn’t connect.
Cheng Da indicated he understood and led his division of troops, fighting while gradually shifting position to create an opening.
Liu Jie also spotted Liu Kun. His heart went cold. When he had previously fought Liu Kun, the enemy hadn’t lost many men. Now he still had large forces, and although Liu Kun was foolish, they were surrounded here with Zhao Family Army commanders present. If they didn’t leave now, they might truly be unable to escape.
Liu Jie’s subordinates thought the same. They immediately gave the order, and the Xiongnu soldiers converged on Liu Jie, then protected him as they fought their way out. At this point, they couldn’t worry about gathering the troops behind them.
Liu Kun, mounted on his horse, saw Liu Jie about to escape again. He immediately spurred his horse in pursuit, shouting as he chased, “Quickly stop them, don’t let them charge through, quick!”
Liu Kun’s personal guards immediately fought desperately forward, trying to block the escaping Liu Jie.
Ji Ping and Cheng Da: …There’s really no need to work quite that hard.
—