The messenger was responsible for passing down the order.
Unfortunately, the messenger was killed by the cavalry in the blink of an eye. Hou Junji's order had been passed down, but the soldiers in the army had been struck dumb by the gunpowder. All of them were brave men who dared to fight and kill in their daily training. But when the gunpowder exploded, all of them were scared out of their wits. They didn't have the courage to charge forward, only to retreat.
After all, even Hou Junji was retreating.
Hou Junji continued to organize his soldiers to counterattack, but alas, very few responded, and almost no one counterattacked.
Everyone was retreating.
In this situation, Hou Junji had no hope of counterattacking. He thought quickly and made a decision in the blink of an eye. What he needed to do now was retreat, and he could only retreat to Guazhou City.
His soldiers had been completely scattered.
Du Qi also had cavalry with him.
If he retreated to the rear of Guazhou City, he would definitely be caught by the well-prepared Du Qi and captured. Therefore, now that he was retreating to Guazhou City, as long as he retreated into the city, he would be able to escape this calamity and be able to defend the city with Su Dingfang.
With the city there, Du Qi's gunpowder would be useless. Although Xiao Yuanqi's army was in the rear, Hou Junji still had to retreat, because he had no other choice.
Hou Junji made his decision and began to order the retreat to Guazhou City. All the soldiers retreated. When they broke out of the rear camp, they were met with a barrage of attacks, but Hou Junji quickly killed his way out. The distance between the camp and Guazhou City wasn't very far, so they quickly approached the city.
Xiao Yuanqi had been stationed outside the city this entire time. When he heard that Hou Junji was coming, he immediately became excited.
In the past, it was Xue Rengui and Ma Yuan who did the work.
He had always been in charge of defending the city.
Now, his chance had come.
Xiao Yuanqi immediately mobilized ten thousand elites to defend the city against any reinforcements that might come from the city. Xiao Yuanqi then mobilized his army to attack Hou Junji's fleeing army.
At the same time, on the city gate tower.
Su Dingfang was clad in armor, and his face was even more solemn.
Fu Junheng was at Su Dingfang's side, and when he saw the clamor outside the city, the approaching army, and even the banners of the Tang army, he knew that Hou Junji had been defeated and was retreating back to Guazhou.
Fu Junheng said, "Governor Su, Hou Junji should have lost to Du Qi's army and is already on his way back. Right now, they are retreating in the direction of the city. What should we do? Should we immediately send someone to receive Hou Junji? "
"No!"
Su Dingfang shook his head and replied.
Fu Junheng was rather surprised. After all, Su Dingfang had always been concerned about the big picture. Even if Su Dingfang and Hou Junji had clashed, Fu Junheng understood that Su Dingfang wouldn't just stand by and watch him die.
Fu Junheng paused for a moment before saying, "Governor Su, if we don't save Hou Junji, once Hou Junji falls into Du Qi's hands and the news gets back to the court, it will be bad for you."
Su Dingfang clenched his fists and firmly declared, "Even if public opinion is against me, what does it matter? I have no other choice. Du Qi has more than one hundred thousand soldiers outside the city, and Hou Junji's fifty thousand soldiers have been defeated. We only have twenty to thirty thousand soldiers left.
"If we use them for defense, it's fine. But if we fight outside the city, we have no chance of winning.
"Crucially, Du Qi has already set up a camp outside the city to stop us and prevent us from going to Hou Junji's aid. At the same time, if we go out to fight, they will hold us back.
"Once Du Qi finishes off Hou Junji, Du Qi's army will launch a fierce assault and try to get into the city. If we fail to save Hou Junji and end up losing our lives, all of Guazhou will fall.
"I won't allow that to happen."
Su Dingfang said, "Even if the Imperial Court wants to blame me, so be it. At the very least, I have a clear conscience."
Fu Junheng sighed and said nothing.
If Su Dingfang did not go to Hou Junji's aid, Hou Junji would be alone outside the city. Even if Hou Junji were to lead his army toward Guazhou, there would be nowhere to run.
While Su Dingfang had decided not to go to Hou Junji's aid, Hou Junji's army was getting closer and closer to the city. He had already ordered his soldiers to shout for Su Dingfang to come out and meet him, hoping that Su Dingfang would come to his aid.
But there was no sign of movement from the gate tower.
As Hou Junji retreated, he looked up at the gate tower and saw that it was still as quiet as ever. The gate was still tightly shut. Hou Junji's heart instantly chilled.
Damn it!
Damn Su Dingfang.
He was just watching someone die.
But Hou Junji did not dare to give up, nor could he give up, so he continued to retreat. But while Hou Junji was retreating, Xiao Yuanqi was already charging at him. Xiao Yuanqi recognized Hou Junji, and when he saw Hou Junji charging at the front, a hint of excitement appeared on his face.
His martial arts were not as good as Ma Yuan's, Xue Rengui's, or Mordor's.
But Xiao Yuanqi's martial arts were not weak, and after following Du Qi for so many years, he often sparred with Ma Yuan and Xue Rengui, and his strength had increased. His current weapon was a large saber with a golden back. There were iron rings on the back of the saber, and when the saber was swung, the iron rings would jingle and disturb the mind.
This golden-backed broadsword was reforged by Tang Zhongsheng using the latest iron ore. The blade was extremely sharp and the blade was indestructible and extremely tough.
Xiao Yuanqi urged his horse forward, and when he reached Hou Junji, he shouted, "Hou Junji, give me your life!"
Hou Junji's martial arts were not as good as before, but he was still a martial artist. When he was captured by Du Qi, he did not have any impression of Xiao Yuanqi. The person in front of him was not Mordor, nor was it Xue Rengui or Ma Yuan, so Hou Junji immediately charged forward with his sword.
He swung his sword down.
Xiao Yuanqi's golden saber also came at him.
Clang!
When the sword and saber collided, a powerful force surged out. Hou Junji's expression changed, and he felt that this force was unstoppable. His sword was knocked out of his hand, and Hou Junji found it hard to stabilize himself. He was thrown off his horse and plopped to the ground.
"Take him down!"
Xiao Yuanqi ordered.
The soldiers beside him quickly took Hou Junji down. After winning easily, Xiao Yuanqi looked around and shouted, "Hou Junji is captured. Those who surrender will be spared."
"Hou Junji is captured. Those who surrender will be spared!"
The soldiers around Xiao Yuanqi also shouted.
"Hou Junji is captured. Those who surrender will be spared!"
"Hou Junji is captured. Those who surrender will be spared!"
… …
More and more people were shouting, and the shouts were getting louder and louder. Their voices echoed outside the city and were heard by all the soldiers under Hou Junji's command. These soldiers were originally being chased, and they were already fleeing in panic. Now that they heard that Hou Junji was captured and that there were no reinforcements coming from the city, some of them surrendered.
One after another, they kneeled down and surrendered.
More and more people surrendered, and soon, the road outside the city was filled with Tang soldiers kneeling on the ground.
No one was willing to resist.
You've already exceeded your reading limit for today. If you want to read more, please log in.
Login
Select text and click 'Report' to let us know about any bad translation.
