bookrebus Chapter 308 No winner or loser
Chapter 308 No winner or loser
Ustuku, his blood boiling with rage, roared, "Give me your life!" He spurred his horse and charged at Zhao Yun, a sharp sword aimed at Zhao Yun, seemingly intent on tearing him in two.
"Giddy up!" Zhao Yun shouted, spurring his horse forward to meet the attack. His right hand, holding his spear, swung forward, clashing violently with Ustuku's sword. A metallic clang echoed for a long time. It turned out that Ustuku's sword was no ordinary iron; it was forged from extraterrestrial meteorite iron through countless hammerings, its hardness not much less than Zhao Yun's alloy steel spear.
The two weapons were evenly matched.
However, the difference in fighting prowess between the two generals was immediately apparent. Zhao Yun's martial arts were already superior, and Ustuk had fought Ma Teng and Li Yan alone for nearly half an hour, exhausting himself considerably. When Zhao Yun unleashed a full-force attack, Ustuk's wrist nearly broke, and his sword almost flew out of his hand. Zhao Yun, on the other hand, merely felt that Ustuk was indeed a fierce general capable of fighting Zhang Fei, and that his strength was considerable.
But it didn't cause him any harm. The two brushed past each other, were carried more than ten meters away by inertia, and then stopped and turned to face each other.
Unable to see if Ustuku was injured in the darkness, Zhao Yun gave a cold shout, spurred his horse, and charged at Ustuku again.
Ustuku shook his wrist, dispelling the effects of the shock Zhao Yun had inflicted. Seeing Zhao Yun charging forward again, he roared and charged forward as well, his gleaming sword flashing in a blur as it clashed with Zhao Yun's spear.
This time, knowing he was outmatched, Ustuku didn't fight Zhao Yun head-on. Instead, he ducked to avoid the spear tip while using his sword to slash along the shaft of Zhao Yun's spear from below towards Zhao Yun's palm, intending to cut off a few of Zhao Yun's fingers or force him to drop the spear.
In a flash, Zhao Yun didn't drop his spear. Instead, he pressed down with his hand, flicked his wrist, and the entire spear stood upright, perfectly blocking Usutuk's sword. In the swift movement, Zhao Yun blocked the sword, preventing injury. Usutuk bent his wrist backward, the sword scraping against Zhao Yun's spear shaft with a series of hissing sounds, and the two passed each other again.
A soldier happened to be blocking Ustuku's path. Seeing Ustuku charging towards him, sword trailing behind him, and learning from the experience of other soldiers who had failed in their sneak attacks and were killed instead, he threw his spear at Ustuku's horse's head, attempting to wound his mount. Then he turned and fled, seeking the protection of his comrades.
Ustuku had just dragged his sword away from Zhao Yun's spear and turned to look ahead when a spear flew towards him like a javelin. Ustuku, crouching low, had no time to turn his horse. Fortunately, his mount was clever; in the blink of an eye, it veered to the right, and the spear pierced Ustuku's waist, giving him a fright. He stood up and looked at the enemy soldiers who had already disappeared into the battle formation.
Ustuku did not get too distracted and turned his horse to look at Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun experienced an even more perilous situation than Wustuku. Three Dayuan Imperial Guard cavalrymen seized the opportunity, raised their spears, and charged at Zhao Yun, determined to make him pay the price even if it meant mutual destruction.
Holding his steel spear upright to parry Ustuku's sword, the two passed each other, and then saw three enemy cavalrymen charging straight at them, less than 10 meters away. Without time to thrust at the enemy soldiers, he instantly turned his spear upside down, grabbed the shaft with his other hand, held it horizontally, and crouched low, spurring his horse to squeeze between two enemy horses. The long shaft of his spear blocked the two enemy lances, just enough to knock the two cavalrymen into the ground.
He flew and crashed to the ground. The soldier on the left was slashed across the abdomen by the gun barrel, leaving a wound more than ten centimeters deep. He fell to the ground and screamed for more than ten seconds before becoming a corpse, his internal organs and intestines scattered all over the ground.
Zhao Yun pushed aside two enemy soldiers. The horses were slowed by the resistance of the two bodies. Zhao Yun squeezed past the two enemy riders. The rider on the right had just fallen to the ground when Zhao Yun straightened up. With a flick of his wrist, the spearhead drew an arc and pierced the enemy soldier's chest. The barbs on the spearhead tore a bowl-sized hole in the soldier's chest. He struggled and rolled on the ground for a few seconds before slowly dying.
Zhao Yun turned his horse around, flicked his right hand to shake off the flesh and blood from the spearhead, and stared intently at Ustuku and another enemy cavalryman who had overshot his mark.
Seeing the two gruesome corpses on the ground, Ustuku shouted for the guard cavalryman to retreat. In a battle of this magnitude, sending ordinary soldiers to help would be useless; it would only be a waste of their lives. Raising his sword, Ustuku yelled and spurred his horse forward again towards Zhao Yun.
Zhao Yun's expression turned serious, and he charged forward with his spear raised.
The two top generals fought fiercely for ten minutes without a clear victor, while dozens of soldiers attempting to ambush and aid their commanders were killed. Because Zhao Yun had gained the upper hand, Ma Teng's remaining soldiers did not rush to attack Wustuku, resulting in fewer casualties. Seeing Wustuku at a disadvantage, the Dayuan Imperial Guards, desperate to save their commander, attacked Zhao Yun, but were defeated.
After killing more than twenty people, they realized how formidable Zhao Yun was and dared not approach him again.
Zhao Yun was now fully mobilized and fighting with increasing ferocity; Ustuku, on the other hand, was exhausted and gradually losing ground. Had it not been for the fact that his own cavalry had pushed the Chinese infantry's front line several dozen meters further east, with victory in sight, Ustuku might very well have turned his horse around and fled, abandoning this terrifying enemy commander.
Just as the two generals were fighting fiercely and about to determine a victor, Xun Yuyu, who was watching from the rear platform, noticed the signal sent by Sun Ce on the northern front and shouted, "It's done!" He then immediately ordered dozens of drummers on both sides of the platform to beat the war drums.
Suddenly, the stirring sound of war drums rang out, and the 2700-strong cavalry battalion, which had been waiting in battle, roared and charged out from in front of the observation platform, heading towards the stalemate on the battlefield.
Upon seeing the success signal explode in the northern sky and hearing the drums of the counterattack, the morale of the Chinese soldiers in the center of the battlefield changed dramatically. It was as if they had become a different troop, and they inflicted heavy casualties on the Dayuan cavalry, who had just forced them to "retreat," causing them to suffer repeated defeats.
The 1st and 2nd Brigades of the 131st Company, positioned on both flanks of the battle line, launched a full-scale attack, beginning to close the encirclement. Once the two brigades connected, the entire Dayuan cavalry battalion would be annihilated here.
Upon hearing the sound of the Chinese soldiers' war drums, Ustuku, who had just passed Zhao Yun, felt a chill run down his spine. He saw the already formidable Chinese soldiers around him suddenly unleash their power, not only repelling his own cavalry charge but also forcing them to retreat repeatedly. Furthermore, a cavalry force of over 2000 men charged into the fray from the enemy rear, advancing towards them. Ustuku's expression changed drastically.
Realizing they had fallen into an enemy trap, he shouted to his guards, "We've been ambushed! Retreat!" He then prepared to lead his troops in retreat.