"Go away, we want to see Mr. Zhao."
Not far behind Zhao Shujiao, there was noisy movement.
Zhao Shujiao turned around and looked at the crowded place behind him, and said with a sullen face: "What's going on with the chaos on the battlefield? Bring everyone here."
A soldier on the side walked towards the noisy place.
Not long after, several guards commanders were brought over by the soldier.
"General Zhao, what do you mean? Why do you want our people to be cannon fodder for you?" One of the guard commanders asked angrily before the people came closer.
"Yes, why should we serve as cannon fodder for your Liaodong troops?"
"You have to give us an explanation."
Several other guards commanders reprimanded Zhao Lijiao in unison.
Nominally, they were temporarily under the command of Zhao Lijiao, entirely because of the order of Governor Xuan. In fact, they were not afraid of Zhao Lijiao, nor were they worried about offending Zhao Lijiao.
In the final analysis, Zhao Shujiao is just the commander-in-chief of Datong and has no control over their Wandu commander.
Zhao Shujiao's face sank, he stared at the guard commander who spoke first, and said coldly: "What explanation do you want?"
"Our Wandu Division is only temporarily following your orders. We will pacify the Liu thieves of Xuanda in the future. You have no power to mobilize the guards and horses of our Wandu Division." The guard commander faced Zhao Ledjiao without giving in.
Zhao Shujiao said in a cold voice: "I am not discussing with you guys to immediately send your troops out to attack the rebel bandit's artillery formation. Otherwise, don't blame me for my marching method."
Zhao led his soldiers to surround these guards commanders.
The personal servants brought by several guards commanders were separated by the generals and people under Zhao Shujiao.
"What do you mean?" one of the guards commanders said with an ugly expression.
Zhao led the teaching and said: "Either send your troops to charge immediately, or I will enforce military laws on you. I believe that even if I kill you, as long as Liu thieves are eliminated, the court will not blame me. At worst, I will go back to Liaodong to deal with the slave thieves."
"You!" The guard commander glared at Zhao Shujiao angrily.
Zhao Lijiao withdrew his gaze and said calmly: "I don't have time to waste with you. Let's decide now whether I will enforce military law or you will send your own soldiers and horses to be the vanguard of the army and charge into the formation."
None of the several guards commanders answered the call.
They didn't doubt whether Zhao Ledjiao would kill them, because anything could happen on the battlefield. As long as Zhao Ledjiao defeated the rebel bandits and then told the court that several of them died at the hands of the rebel bandits, as long as there was no evidence, the court wanted to quell the bandits. In terms of merit, I wouldn’t really blame Zhao Lijiao.
After all, the Liu thieves occupied many prefectures and counties in Xuanda, but their commander-in-chief Wan Du was unable to do anything about it. The imperial court was already dissatisfied.
"It seems that you guys are determined to fight this general to the end. Come, pull them down and chop them down." Zhao Shujiao directly ordered his soldiers to take action.
Several soldiers stepped forward.
When several guard commanders on the side saw that Zhao Lijiao was really going to take action, one of them hurriedly said: "General Zhao, don't be anxious. We will go back and send soldiers and horses to be the vanguard of the army."
After saying that, he looked at Zhao Shujiao nervously.
Zhao Shujiao waved his hand and signaled the surrounding soldiers to step back, and said to the guard commanders: "You just stay here and send someone to pass on the order."
Now that he had offended, he didn't want to give these people a chance to go back.
Once these people go back, they may leave with their soldiers and horses at any time. It is impossible for him to really attack the soldiers and horses of several guards on the battlefield, so he might as well keep them as hostages.
"General Zhao allowed us to go and explain to the men we brought." One of the guard commanders said.
Zhao Shujiao nodded and arranged for his own soldiers to accompany them.
Several guards commanders, accompanied by Zhao's personal soldiers, exchanged a few words with the subordinates they brought, and gave these people the military symbols for troop deployment.
Not long after, thousands of soldiers and horses from the guard station appeared at the forefront of the army and rushed towards the tiger-shaped banner army in front.
Zhao led a general under his opponent and said: "The soldiers and horses of the guard station rush to the rebel artillery array. You lead a battalion of soldiers and horses to follow behind and cover them up."
"I will obey the general's orders." The general turned his horse's head and left.
The few guards commanders who stayed aside secretly breathed a sigh of relief when they heard Zhao Shujiao's order.
With the support of a group of soldiers and horses from Liaodong, even if their guard posts suffered greater losses, they might be able to defeat the rebel army in one fell swoop, and the first success would be from their guards posts.
The sound of gunfire rang out again on the bank of the Hun River.
One after another, the cannonballs fell on the guards and horses rushing towards the artillery array on the bank of the Hun River.
Every cannon is a deadly sickle, harvesting lives and plowing canals of blood.
In addition to the personal servants, most of the soldiers and horses in the guard station were ordinary military households who could not train twice a year. They were good at farming but knew nothing about fighting.
When I came to the battlefield, I was forcibly recruited by the guards' officers and soldiers, so I had to come.
Faced with the sound of artillery and the casualties of the surrounding comrades who were rushing forward, some of the guardsmen could not bear the impact. They were timid and simply collapsed on the ground, with their crotches soaked.
More guards soldiers began to change from charging to retreating, trying to escape back and save their lives from the shelling.
Someone took the lead to escape, and the people around him also fled back.
Whoosh!
An arrow was shot from behind the guards. A guard soldier who was running back was shot in the face and fell to the ground.
"Everyone go back. Anyone who dares to escape will be killed without mercy." Zuo Fu hung another feather arrow on the bowstring in his hand and shot at the soldiers at another guard station.
The guard soldier fell down in response.
Two lives, and a group of archers behind them, forced the guardsmen who were about to escape back to stop.
"Go back, go back immediately. If you don't take down the rebel bandits' artillery array, whoever dares to retreat will be like them." Zuo Fu pointed at the two corpses shot by feather arrows.
Many of the guardsmen did not move, with hesitant expressions on their faces.
"Bow!" Zuo Fu raised the bow and arrow in his hand.
A group of archers behind them all opened their bows and arrows.
"Shoot!" Zuo Fu was the first to shoot the feather arrow in his hand.
Other archers also shot the arrows in their hands.
The guardsmen in the front row were cut down in pieces like wheat. At least dozens of them lost their lives in the hail of arrows just now.
The guardsmen who were still hesitating were so frightened that they rushed towards the artillery array on the bank of the Hun River again.
"General Zhao, your people have gone too far!" A guard commander in the rear looked very ugly when he saw that his own soldier Zuo Fu and his men were shot and wounded.
Zhao Shujiao said in a calm tone: "If we can't take down this traitor in front of us, you and I will both be punished by the court."
Several guards commanders who wanted to question Zhao Shujiao were immediately silenced.
