As the Xiongnu chieftain led his troops almost out of the valley, the Xiongnu scouts ahead galloped back, reporting that they had discovered enemies in front of the woods.
Upon hearing this, the Xiongnu chieftain spurred his horse forward, arriving at the head of the column. After clearly assessing the situation several miles away, his expression turned grim.
Ahead lay a dense forest, in front of which two groups of soldiers in distinctly different uniforms stood in formation!
Their numbers weren't large, only about a hundred or so. In the front were swordsmen and shield-bearers, and in the rear were archers.
However, what made the Xiongnu chieftain feel uneasy and uncertain was that the colors of the banners these two groups carried were those of Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan!
How could these two be together?
For a moment, the Xiongnu chieftain had the urge to turn around and flee.
If Yuan Shao and Gongsun Zan were truly joining forces to deal with him, how could he possibly survive?
Moreover, were there any ambushes hidden within the woods behind?
While the Xiongnu chieftain hesitated, Qu Yi was preparing to lead his troops out of the forest.
He looked at Zhao Yun a few yards away and said, "General Zhao, although your martial skills are superb, I made my move early last night, and I am now ahead of you by quite a few heads."
Zhao Yun, upon hearing this, calmly replied, "It doesn't matter; I will catch up."
Qu Yi, seeing this, felt a sense of admiration. Of course, he wanted to disrupt Zhao Yun's focus, but the other remained completely composed and didn't even refute him.
This young man's ability to maintain his composure before a major battle is so remarkable. Given time, what heights might he reach?
A phrase flashed through Qu Yi's mind.
A latent dragon emerging from the abyss!
Such a figure, with no prominent reputation in Gongsun Zan's army, how did the Second Young Master know about him?
He withdrew his thoughts, shook his head, and smiled, "Then let's see who wins in the end!"
In front of the woods, Yuan Xi led seventy or eighty men in the left flank, while one of Zhao Yun's adjutants led seventy or eighty men in the right flank, both with swordsmen and shield-bearers in the front and archers in the rear.
At this moment, the Xiongnu chieftain had already urged his entire army to rush out of the valley and form a battle formation.
Seeing the enemy infantry and archers slowly approaching, he gritted his teeth and immediately ordered all his cavalry to charge and break through the enemy formation!
Even if there were ambushes in the woods, as long as they could kill this group of infantry and archers before the ambushes arrived, they would be fine!
Instantly, hundreds of Xiongnu cavalry poured out, flanking Yuan Xi and Zhao Yun's formations from both the left and right, while simultaneously bending their bows and shooting arrows from horseback, attacking the flanks.
This was the classic tactic of the Xiongnu light cavalry, not for charging into formations, but for constantly harassing with long-range arrows, gradually exhausting the enemy formation until it collapsed.
As a barrage of arrows rained down, Yuan Xi directed his men to raise their shields to defend the flanks, while his own archers began to return fire.
He looked towards Zhao Zilong's right flank and found that they were also responding effectively, nodding secretly in approval.
His troops were the result of Qu Yi's two years of training, so it was normal for them to be able to handle it, but Zhao Yun's side was clearly well-disciplined as well.
He felt a burning desire in his heart, he must not let a talent like Zhao Yun slip away!
The Xiongnu cavalry raiding Yuan Xi's left flank numbered about seventy or eighty, and they had already fired three volleys of arrows, but they had not achieved the desired effect. Only a few opponents were hit by arrows, and even then, they were blocked by armor. On the other hand, five or six of their own men had fallen from their horses under the counterattack of the enemy's dozens of archers.
The barbarian general leading the team was also experienced. Braving the flying arrows, he led his troops in a half-circle, and was about to bypass the enemy's rear near the woods.
As long as they maintained their mobility, the enemy would be thrown into chaos, and a huge flaw would be exposed in the front!
Just then, the sound of hooves came from the woods.
The next moment, the barbarian general was horrified to discover that a unit of heavily armored iron cavalry charged out of the woods, holding extremely long horse spears, charging towards the side and rear of his own troops!
A heavy cavalry ambush!
The barbarian general's mind flashed with these words that made him tremble. In front of heavy cavalry, light cavalry would be slaughtered unless they kept their distance!
But it was too late!
He roared, "Shoot arrows, and keep your distance from them!"
Hundreds of arrows shot towards Qu Yi's twenty heavy cavalry, the arrows hitting their armor and helmets, making a clanging sound, and then bouncing off.
Faced with the arrow rain, Qu Yi not only did not slow down, but accelerated his horse, extremely violently breaking into the enemy formation!
The tip of the spear pierced the back of a Xiongnu soldier, piercing his leather armor, and the whole person was thrown into the air!
When he fell to the ground, he had already lost his life.
The iron cavalry advanced extremely recklessly and unreasonably in the crowd, and the Xiongnu soldiers were stabbed off their horses one after another. They were holding ring-pommel knives, which were simply not long enough to compare with the horse spears. Even if they occasionally hit, they were blocked by the other party's iron armor and could not cause much damage!
Seeing this, the barbarian general roared, "Scatter, everyone scatter!"
The only plan for now was to avoid the enemy's charge and then make other plans!
Seeing the Xiongnu soldiers in front of his horse avoiding him, and the horse spear stabbing was difficult to aim, Qu Yi roared, "Horizontal!"
The remaining twenty or so people, upon hearing this, immediately, like Qu Yi, put their horse spears horizontally in front of them.
A Xiongnu cavalryman in front of Qu Yi had just spurred his horse to flee sideways, and was secretly rejoicing, but saw Qu Yi pull his horse spear horizontally, unreasonably scratching past him!
With a puff, his thigh was cut off by the horse spear, and the horse's body was cut with a deep gash. The man screamed, the horse neighed, and both fell to the ground.
The twenty iron cavalry broke through the Xiongnu cavalry formation in this way, reaping the lives of the Xiongnu soldiers as ruthlessly as a sickle cutting wheat.
In this charge alone, twenty or thirty Xiongnu cavalry fell from their horses, and with those who had fallen from their horses before, nearly half of them were killed or wounded!
The Xiongnu barbarian general felt cold in his hands and feet, and desperately fled forward with his subordinates.
He did not dare to look back, if he was caught up by the other party, he would die!
He led the remaining light cavalry, ignoring the arrows constantly shot by the enemy archers, and desperately spurred his horse to flee.
The only plan now was to join forces with the cavalry team that was attacking the right flank, so that they could work together to block these dozens of iron cavalry!
He saw that he had bypassed a large circle from the rear of the enemy, and came to the right flank, but was stunned by the scene in front of him.
The friendly cavalry on the right flank had also been ambushed!
The leader was not heavy cavalry, but twenty or thirty light cavalry with long spears. The lethality was not as great as the heavy cavalry just now, but under the leadership of the white-robed young general, they were also quickly reaping heads.
The white-robed young general charged into the formation, his spear like a dragon, a silver spear flying up and down, charging left and right in the crowd. Wherever he went, the Xiongnu cavalry fell from their horses.
He alone seemed to be worth a thousand troops!
Seeing Zhao Yun as if he was in no man's land, the barbarian general chased by Qu Yi felt cold in his hands and feet. The right flank of his own army had obviously suffered the same ambush as himself.
And the barbarian general who led the team and whose martial arts were a little higher than his own was now nowhere to be seen. Obviously, he had been killed, so the remaining people were leaderless and scattered everywhere.
Qu Yi, who was closely following behind, naturally saw this scene.
The other party was leading light cavalry, and he had penetrated the formation by his own strength, and killed even faster than himself!
He finally understood why the Second Young Master wanted to get Zhao Yun so much.
If you get this person, why worry about a place that is not peaceful?
Qu Yi suddenly felt a sense of loss.
Was he really getting old?
He suddenly shook himself. On the battlefield, what was he thinking about?
He used to be a famous person in You and Ji, did he go back the more he lived?
The outcome was still undecided, and it was not yet known who would win. How could he be robbed of his mind?
His chest suddenly filled with pride, he raised his long spear and roared, "Kill!"