Water Margin: Lu Bu sits on Mount Liang

"Those without arrows, go forward, charge them in the front, and cover them from the rear!"

The words of adjustment came from the mouth of the commander-in-chief of the Dadan tribe. Due to the pursuit and harassment by the Qi army along the way, most of their quivers were empty.

At one moment, many knights put away their longbows, replaced them with spears, and rode their horses into battle. Suddenly, there were screams and horse neighs. The charging figures suddenly became shorter. The sound of flesh rubbing against the ground could be heard in the darkness, and the sound of bones breaking could be heard continuously.

"It's caltrops—"

The shouts that erupted from the cavalry formation caused many cavalrymen who had not experienced much fighting to instinctively pull the reins, which immediately startled the people and horses behind them, and they hurriedly turned around or slowed down their horses to avoid colliding with the people in front.

"Go over there quickly——"

General Dadan was shocked and angry when he saw this, but it was too late. Wang Jun in the opposite Qi army formation keenly noticed the enemy's chaos, and he waved his arms, and his deep voice echoed between heaven and earth.

"Release the arrows, release the arrows——"

Hundreds of archers stood in positions with bows in front and crossbows behind, taking turns to shoot horizontally. The sharp arrows shot from the rows of bows and crossbows broke through the air in the air, rushed into the bodies of people and horses, and then broke through the skin and flesh and rushed out with blood.

Some of the crossbows fired arrows that penetrated the human body, flew backwards, and penetrated into the next figure in the darkness, completing the achievement of killing two people with one arrow.

People and horses fell to the ground, and screams were heard.

The battle line was more than ten miles long, and it was definitely not just this part. The soldiers lined up in a row and fought with the charging cavalry amid shouts.

The shouts and sounds of killing roared like the tide, spears and iron spears swept over like a forest, flesh and blood flew off the bodies of men and horses, shouts, screams, and the sound of metal clashing exploded everywhere, boiling violently in the crowd.

"The barbarians in the northwest killed my brothers and sisters. If we break through here, your parents and relatives at home will also be killed. How can we let such a tragedy happen again!"

Wang Jun's voice resounded throughout the battlefield. The cavalry in front rushed forward one after another at the urging of the enemy commander. The spears and iron guns in the front line were erected like a forest, and the soldiers of the Qi army stabbed at the enemy frantically.

The Dadan cavalry abandoned their bows and arrows and charged forward with spears and scimitars, only to be met with countless tall and sharp weapons.

The flesh and blood were pierced through, the war horses neighed, the Dadan cavalrymen who were flying due to inertia above screamed, and then fell into the forest of spears and thorns. They struggled unconsciously, and then lay motionless, and the warm and smelly blood splattered all over the heads and faces of the soldiers below.

The heavy corpses of horses and people fell to the ground in the darkness because of the Qi army's sufficient preparation. Some people stepped on caltrops that had moved out of place during the charge, or were shot off their horses by Qi army's archers, and then trampled on by the tribesmen who followed behind on horseback.

In the middle of the Qi army formation of 2,000 soldiers, General Dadan, with an angry face, led more than a hundred cavalry guards to madly charge into the Qi army formation in front, and the front row was instantly dented inwards.

"Go up and kill them in the formation!"

Wang Jun rode on his horse, holding the reins and walking back and forth a few steps under the general's flag. The messenger rushed out and shouted loudly.

The officers shouted in the ranks, and their soldiers rushed forward madly, holding up their spears and lances to fight back. More and more cavalrymen from the Recruiting Division rushed forward.

Falling off their horses and breaking through the battle lines, the number of cavalrymen on horseback from the Northwest Recruiting Division continued to decrease, but they still stubbornly rushed forward under the leadership of the commander-in-chief in the front. The herdsmen and tribal soldiers in the rear accelerated, but were then pushed back by the forest of guns.

"You bastard! You're looking for death—"

Wang Jun cursed angrily, and his honest face became ferocious. He reached out for the longbow, put an arrow on it, ran two steps forward on his horse, aimed at the commander-in-chief over there and shot an arrow.

The Dadan warrior who was roaring and shouting suddenly stopped moving, then was picked up from his horse by three spears and thrown aside.

Cries of surprise came from the mouths of the tribal cavalry. They were stunned for a moment as the Qi soldiers rushed up madly. Several shields squeezed the horses, and long spears and iron spears stabbed out and stabbed the people down fiercely.

The bowstrings of powerful bows and crossbows were ringing in the rear, and lives were being lost under the long black arrows.

The two sides, attacking and defending, were frantically pressing, pushing, and hacking at each other in a small space. The cold wind blew the flags and a strong smell of blood filled the air.

The battle lines were filled with fighting figures, with cavalry charging and rangers providing cover.

Wuwuwu——

The sound of a horn suddenly tore through the sky, and fire lit up on the west side of the battlefield. A large number of cavalrymen with torches broke through the darkness and spread like a tide. The cavalrymen of the Zubu tribe replaced the leading cavalrymen of the Dadan tribe.

On the battlefield stretching from north to south, fighting was not only happening here in Wang Jun's place. Many light cavalrymen who had lost their bows and arrows were replaced, and the cavalry of the Ulia tribe wanted to take a detour and attack the rear of the Qi army.

When the scout brought back the news, Lu Bu looked down and handed it to Wang Zheng without saying anything. Then he raised his arm and gave the order for the messenger to run. Han Chang and Shangguan Yi led a total of 3,000 infantrymen under their command and ran into the battlefield.

The two of them were the only two infantry units among the five schools of the Northern Army, each with 1,500 men, equipped with a large number of bows and crossbows, armor-piercing spikes, and four-foot-long ground spears. Now that the front was in an emergency, it was time for them to take over as replacements.

Further behind, Zhao Liangsi, who was separated by a distance, looked at the dots of light in the darkness with trepidation. This was different from the war he knew.

In this kind of battle, shouldn't the army be mobilized northward, and then the two armies face off, with you dispatching one part and I dispatching another, and the battle going back and forth? And as an emperor, shouldn't you sit in the rear and watch those warriors fighting to the death on the battlefield? How could you go to the battlefield yourself?

I was also out of my mind. Why did I chase after the Emperor of Qi and ask to watch?

Zhao Liangsi's face was pale. He raised his hand nervously and rubbed the sweat on his leg habitually, but he felt a cold and hard nail.

"Gudu——"

He swallowed hard and looked around. He saw armored knights holding bows in front, behind, and on both sides.

Running at this time...

Afraid he would be killed?

……

On the field, the ground was shaking under the feet of both sides.

The Qi army's cavalry relied on the infantry to roam and fight on both sides. The newly joined Zhubu cavalry were somewhat unaccustomed to this style of fighting, so they mobilized the light cavalry to cover with bows and arrows on both sides, while the two thousand cavalry in the middle whipped their horses bravely, preparing to charge.

With a hoarse shout of all his might, he rushed towards the Qi army's formation like an arrow shot from a bow. In front of him, not only was there a forest of spears aimed at the horses under his crotch, but also a rain of arrows shot from the opposite side.

Many knights on the northwest road were shot to death by arrows on horseback while they were still charging. Some horses were injured and fell to the ground, throwing the knights off and tripping the cavalry behind them.

However, the dead were only a minority on the battlefield. The remaining cavalry trampled over the corpses of their comrades below and were faced with a dense array of spears. The sharp spears of the Zubu cavalry that rushed over had their hard leather coats pierced directly.

The horses neighed and screamed, and the soldiers held the spears that pierced through them tightly, and blood spurted onto their faces. A huge thrust came from the front, and the knights on horseback were lifted up by several spears, and the leather coats on their backs were pierced from the front and sides, and blood dripped onto the ground, and the fishy smell was immediately strong. The cavalry on the northwest route had an advantage in numbers, but they were not better than the soldiers of the Qi army in fighting and morale. When they encountered a setback, many herdsmen turned their horses and wanted to escape, but were scolded by the tribal commander and had no choice but to move forward.

But in the end, they tore through the lines under the cover of more Zubu cavalry and fought their way in from the gaps in the array. In just a stick of incense, more than a dozen grassland warriors broke through the battle formation and rushed non-stop to the Qi army in the rear.

After running for several miles, they could see the fluttering flag of Qi in the darkness, and the cavalrymen running in front excitedly raised their bows.

Just as he had put the arrow on the horse, he heard a sound of breaking air in the darkness, and was hit in the face by the arrow. He fell backwards off his horse, with one foot caught in the stirrup. He was dragged to the side by the horse, dead.

"Tsk..." Wang Yin put down the bow he had raised and spat, "Where did these bugs come from in the middle of the night?"

Beside him, Bai Yanshou looked up and said, "They are soldiers from nearby counties. It is understandable that they were killed." He lowered his arm and held the bow arm, "Brother Wang, don't be too harsh on them."

"Ah?" Wang Yin stuck out his tongue and made a "spitting" sound. He looked at his companion and suddenly understood something: "That... uh..."

Bai Yanshou looked at him in confusion.

"Just now, a flying insect flew into my mouth when I was shooting the bow..." Wang Yin looked a little embarrassed and scratched his cheek with his hand: "I'm not talking about those grassland barbarians."

"..."

Bai Yanshou tightened his grip on the bow, his face burning with anger, and he turned his head to look to the west.

The sound of fighting could be heard from afar. In front and behind the fighting line, there were dense scouts constantly moving back and forth between the front line and the main camp. The flags of the leaders of various tribes and Xiao Yixue were thirty miles away.

In the somewhat chilly night wind, a group of strong men in luxurious clothes and armor rode on horseback. Looking at the knights who were coming one after another and listening to the endless news, more than a dozen tribal leaders gradually showed some unnatural expressions on their faces.

"More than 20,000 people have stopped our tribe's warriors on the north-south front. The Qi army is not a superpower. If there are more of them, we don't have to fight and can just surrender."

"I heard that they have 100,000 armored soldiers, which means there are still... uh... five such troops?"

"That's 120,000, idiot. It should be four."

"Don't talk about these useless things, just rush to reinforce the front."

"We have suffered heavy losses and need to rest. How about the Damiri tribe move forward?"

"I think the Zhubu tribe should continue to send troops. Our fighting power is not good enough..."

Xiao Yixiu listened to their words and watched coldly. From the very beginning he felt that this matter would not go so smoothly.

The Dadan tribe served as the vanguard, but their 10,000 soldiers failed to achieve any success and instead suffered heavy casualties. The subsequent 20,000 cavalry from the Zubu tribe were still blocked by the enemy.

As the war went on, news from the front kept coming back. The leaders who were sitting on horseback dismounted and gathered in a circle, arguing about who should go forward to support. However, unlike when the troops were sent out, when they all competed to be in the vanguard, now they were all shrinking back.

What a bunch of rubbish! If they keep fighting like this they'll fall apart.

After glaring at the leaders fiercely, Xiao Yixue urged his horse forward a few steps and said, "Stop arguing. According to the spies, the Qi army has 20,000 cavalrymen. Now, including the infantry, there are only more than 20,000. Do you want to know where the rest of the cavalrymen have gone?"

The night wind blew, and the noisy voices suddenly quieted down. The leaders turned their heads to look at Xiao Yixue on his horse. Zu Bugudu's expression changed several times, and he slapped his thigh, "Are you still thinking? They must have attacked from behind."

"It's bad. There are too few soldiers in the rear. Quickly send back some of the soldiers who haven't set out yet!"

"Someone, someone! Send more scouts out, quickly—"

Amid the chaotic roars, several cavalrymen carrying messages ran out quickly, and then there were roaring sounds coming from afar.

Xiao Yixue raised his hand and pinched the bridge of his nose. His original intention was to calm these people down, but his words...

It seems to have had the opposite effect.

The tactic of cavalry attacking from behind was not uncommon on the grassland, but he did not expect that the Qi troops were more than 20 miles away from their flag at this time.

In the darkness, the sound of iron hooves tore through the sky and earth, and figures rose and fell with the galloping war horses.

The white tents were dark, with only a few scattered cavalrymen lowering their heads and pulling their armor, swaying slightly with the horses. When they heard the roar of the cavalry, they raised their sleepy heads and looked over there with some confusion, as if wondering why their own troops came back at this time.

Under the cold moonlight, vaguely visible figures began to separate. Looking down from the night sky, the cavalry split into two groups and ran like open pliers, closing towards the huge grassland tent.

"Which cavalry unit is this from?"

"It's so dark, I can't see clearly..."

"Wait, why aren't you slowing down?"

Several herdsmen on night patrol stretched their necks on their horses. There seemed to be a cold light flashing where the sound of horse hooves came from. When they got closer, the black armor could be clearly seen in the dim moonlight.

"Enemy attack!"

"Run!"

Several cavalrymen were immediately frightened out of their wits and quickly pulled the reins to run backwards. The roaring sounds resounded through the night sky. The remaining commander-in-chief Kui Nu quickly opened the tent curtain.

The various tribes on the grassland launched a large-scale attack, but the camp still had to be guarded by someone. Kuinu was the commander-in-chief of the Beizubu tribe, with two thousand cavalry under his command. The other tribes also left behind a thousand or eight hundred of them when they left, making up a total of eight thousand for him to lead.

The man roared and jumped onto his horse, ordering the remaining soldiers and herdsmen to intercept them. However, he did not know how the cavalrymen in front of him who were charging frantically and forming a momentum could not be stopped by his tribal soldiers with different mindsets.

In the camp, herdsmen and tribal soldiers rushed out, mounted their horses, and there were about three thousand of them scattered around. Many of them took out their bows and wanted to shoot an arrow first.

Before he could draw his arrows, cavalrymen from both sides broke through the darkness. In the light of the campfire, they looked like two black spears piercing straight at him.

Kui Nu had just shouted "Run!" when he was chopped into two by Wanyan Loushi who rushed towards him. The Jurchen general, whose face was stained with blood, did not even wipe it, but raised his knife to chop forward.

"Kill——" (End of this chapter)