Uncle Detective Di Renjie, I build a crime-solving team

Chapter 1023 Stone Fortress Reinforcements Arrive

Zhou He pursed his lips: "How do we bet?"

"Give me all your cavalry, I'll hold off the Tibetan reinforcements from Shibao City!!"

Faced with Li Bushang's crazy idea, Zhou He obviously dared not agree to it easily.

He led five armies totaling 25,000 men, but it's unclear how many are still alive.

The cavalry had a total strength of about five thousand men, but Guo Yuanzhen transferred two thousand away, leaving only three thousand.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to give all these cavalrymen to Li Bushang, but even with the five thousand cavalrymen under Li Bushang's command, there would only be eight thousand cavalrymen.

The reinforcements from Shibao City must be quite numerous cavalry, and they certainly won't have the upper hand in a head-on fight. Moreover, the enemy also has well-equipped infantry, making it extremely difficult for Li Bushang to stop them all.

Li Bushang was impatient. Seeing that Zhou He hadn't spoken, he assumed that Zhou He was afraid of taking responsibility for defeat, so he patted his chest heavily.

"Rest assured, Vice General Zhou!"

"If we succeed in blocking the reinforcements from Stone Fortress this time, the credit will be shared between us!"

"If we are defeated, I, Li Bushang, will personally go to His Majesty the Emperor to apologize, and I will absolutely not let Vice General Zhou take the blame!"

Zhou He waved his hand, looking rather helpless:

"What are you saying, General?"

“How could I, Zhou He, be the kind of trash who takes credit for everything and leaves others to bear the responsibility?”

"I'm just worried that the old general, with only eight thousand cavalry, will find it difficult to stop the enemy's advance."

"If the old general insists on going, he must do as I say."

Li Bushang laughed heartily and asked:

"Please speak frankly, Vice General Zhou."

Zhou He glanced at the musketeers who hadn't yet made a move, then turned to Li Bushang and said:

"Bring all the firearms you can carry. Even if we can't kill those reinforcements, we can at least scare them."

……

The reinforcements from Stone Castle were still on their way. The first batch to arrive consisted entirely of light cavalry, led by Stone Castle's deputy commander, Fran.

Just as Lun Gongren had guessed, the garrison in Shibao City did indeed have the permission of Qinuxi to send troops to reinforce Supi in times of crisis.

They are already a step too late. Fortunately, Supi's army has not been completely wiped out. They can still gather their defeated troops and fight a decisive battle with the Tang army.

In order to provide immediate support to Supi's Lunke, Fran urged the soldiers to speed up their advance once again.

After traveling less than five li, the scouts who had gone ahead to explore returned. The leader of the scouts looked anxious and bowed with clasped hands.

"Reporting to the Vice Commander: Before we even reached the Supi camp, we saw cavalry charging towards us from all over the mountains. Please give the order immediately to form a defensive formation!"

Fran's eyes widened.

"what!"

"Cavalry covering the mountains and plains!"

"What a joke! The war has progressed to this point, where would we find a cavalry force strong enough to cover the entire mountainside?"

"The Tang Dynasty has such a large army?"

Fran's mind raced, and he quickly came up with another possibility.

"No, I heard that the commander-in-chief leading this army is Guo Yuanzhen. He would never have reserved so many troops."

"So they must have been urgently mobilized to block our reinforcements."

He immediately waved his hand and commanded, "On my orders, the entire army shall advance at full speed and engage the enemy cavalry in battle!"

Li Bushang rode up, followed closely by eight thousand cavalrymen. Amidst the billowing dust, he saw a large number of cavalrymen in the distance.

Unlike Fran, he merely sneered when he saw the reaction of the large number of cavalry.

"Men, take your muskets, hold your reins tight, and keep them within thirty meters, wearing them down as much as possible."

"We are outnumbered, our goal is simply to stop them, and we must preserve our own usefulness!"

He glanced back and then growled:

"kill!"

Two cavalry units charged towards them. When they were nearly 200 meters apart, Li Bushang led his cavalry into two groups, advancing to the left and right.

Surrounded by his personal guards, Fran immediately saw through Li Bushang's thoughts and gave the order.

"We will meet the enemy on the left and right flanks and charge straight to support Lun Ke."

Li Bushang, who was positioned to the left, had a clear view of the movements of the reinforcements from Shibao City.

Two cavalry units were engaged in battle, but the movement of the middle unit was unclear. It could be either flanking or supporting Supi, which posed a significant risk.

If they were to outflank and encircle them, their forces would certainly be insufficient, and it would only be a matter of time before they were surrounded and killed. If they were to support Su Pi, Zhou He's side would definitely collapse.

The battlefield is ever-changing, and he must not cause trouble for Zhou He at this crucial moment.

He made a decisive move and shouted to his men, "All cavalry, follow me and charge straight for the enemy's banner!"

"The Left Guard Cavalry will exhaust their forces as much as possible according to the pre-planned strategy!"

He turned his horse around, leading his remaining two thousand elite cavalrymen.

Fran stood on horseback, watching as Li Bushang turned his horse around and charged at him. He immediately glanced back at the banner.

For Li Bushang to be willing to take such a risk, it must be something extremely important, and that something is either his head or his banner.

If the banner falls, it's almost the same as his head falling to the ground.

"Push them down!"

He calmly gave the order, and then took the last position, protecting everyone in front of him.

As one of the Turkic nobles, he led a large number of noble warrior cavalry and auxiliary troops, so he didn't need to personally charge to the front... except when it came to vying for credit.

His Gui cavalry charged towards Li Bushang's mere two thousand elite cavalry with unstoppable momentum, as if they intended to annihilate Li Bushang and his entire army.

Even the Gui cavalry thought so. Their cavalry were well-equipped and could easily crush the enemy cavalry.

But as soon as they faced each other, they realized their mistake. The cavalrymen opposite them were all menacing and their aura alone far surpassed that of their own Gui cavalry.

The equipment on the other side was also ridiculous. They were only fifty meters away when the other side took out an unknown weapon. Within thirty meters, the other side's weapon started to make noise.

Their cavalrymen fell instantly; their supposedly superior equipment was utterly useless against such weapons.

Li Bushang roared to the sky, "My men, kill!"

The cavalrymen behind him roared in Khitan, "Kill!"

After two volleys of musket fire, the first two ranks of cavalry drew their swords. The cavalry in the rear nocked their arrows and fired at the rear of the Gui cavalry.

A major battle was about to break out between the two sides. The Gui cavalry charged forward with howling cries, only to be instantly routed. Li Bushang, leading nearly a hundred personal guards, carved out a huge gap in front of the Gui cavalry.

As they continued their slaughter, the gap widened, and the surrounding Gui cavalry were routed and soon tried to turn their horses around and retreat.

In the Gui cavalry, Fran stared ahead, his voice trembling as he spoke:

"Are these guys human or ghosts? Are these guys human or ghosts?"