I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1000 Thunderous Roar, Death Knell, Han Army's Great Victory (4K8)

The following morning, the sun was blazing.

In the valley where the two armies had just clashed, the Kushan army, with its banners fluttering like a forest, had already gained complete control of the entire valley.

From the eastern hilltop where Zhang Liao and his men were stationed, they could see the Kushan army already encamped on the east side of the Kizil River. About ten miles below their hill, they were arrayed in formation, with nearly a hundred armored war elephants at the very front, like a mobile fortress.

"Report! The enemy has doubled its troops compared to yesterday, now numbering 30,000!" a scout reported on horseback.

"General, should we retreat first?" Yufuluo Chanyu's face turned pale.

To date, his troops have fought three battles against the Kushans.

Besides the surprise attack the night before last, they fought two more matches yesterday during the day.

It is clear that the Kushans did not exert their full strength in yesterday's attack; they merely wanted to keep them outside the valley and gain control of it.

Even so, they fought very hard.

The clash between the two sides' rangers was manageable, but the key issue was that his Hunnic knights simply couldn't break through the enemy's lines.

The Kushan infantry phalanx was led by war elephants, and as they advanced layer by layer, their space was gradually eroded.

Right now, the Kushans have taken control of the valley and are arrayed below their mountains, clearly intending to launch a major attack on them today.

How can our vanguard, mainly composed of light cavalry and archer cavalry, fight a positional war against the enemy's well-equipped infantry, cavalry, and elephant forces?

That would be tantamount to suicide, attacking the enemy's strength with one's own weakness!

"But we absolutely cannot give up at the valley entrance like this!"

Zhang Liao clenched his fist:

"If we lose this place, our main force will be forced to fight the enemy in the narrow valley. At that time, the war elephants will charge, and our army will have nowhere to retreat!"

"But we only have six thousand men capable of fighting!" Chanyu Yufuluo stamped his feet in frustration. "How can we possibly withstand an army of thirty thousand? Not to mention those damned war elephants!"

"Hold on a little longer!"

Zhang Liao's gaze was resolute:

"The General's main force is already on its way and will surely arrive today."

"As long as the General arrives, those chickens and dogs will be no match for us!"

Zhang Liao still had confidence.

Besides Su Yao's own exceptional combat prowess, the armor coverage rate of the main cavalry force of the Han army's rear guard was also alarmingly high.

There were 3,000 heavily armored cavalrymen, both men and horses, and the other 20,000 men were all wearing breastplates.

This demonstrates the terrifying industrial capacity of the Han Dynasty.

After unifying the country, Su Yao summoned artisans from all over the country to Luoyang and selected a large number of skilled craftsmen to specialize in military manufacturing.

It was at this moment that Su Yao realized that he had always underestimated the industrial power of the Han Dynasty.

At this time, the Han Dynasty not only had a large number of blast furnace iron smelting facilities, but also had a unique steelmaking method that was 1900 years ahead of the world!
The application of the steelmaking method enabled the Han Dynasty to mass-produce iron farm tools and rapidly equip a large army.

With these skilled craftsmen gathering in Luoyang, and the establishment of the engineering college, Su Yao was able to build a high-quality army in a very short time.

Zhang Liao was confident that as long as he and his men held the valley entrance, their cavalry would not be at a disadvantage in the bloody battle on the plains upon their return.

However, executing such an order meant that the Xiongnu light cavalry had to dismount and form ranks in the valley, temporarily acting as infantry to withstand the enemy's attack.

Without a doubt, Hufro knew that his men would suffer heavy casualties.

Can this be fought?

It seems like we can't win this battle!

These Han people don't value our lives at all!
Thus, under the pressure of the Kushan army, Yufuluo and Zhang Liao had a fierce argument.

On one side, the morale of the Hunnic knights was questionable, and on the other side, the Kushan army was pressing forward step by step.

Although Zhang Liao consistently commanded the Chanyu to obey orders under the guise of military discipline, a shadow inevitably fell over his heart as he looked at the wavering morale of the Xiongnu soldiers.

Just then, as the two were arguing,

Suddenly, a rider came from behind with news of Su Yao.

"Hahaha!"

"General, you are wise! General, you are brave!"

"Look at those Han soldiers! They're nothing but stray dogs! Do they even deserve to compete with my Great Kushan for supremacy?"

In the Kushan army formation, several generals pointed at the fleeing Han soldiers on the hillside and laughed heartily.

The general offensive had only just begun, and the Han army was utterly defeated.

"Honestly, with this level of skill, I don't know what the prince is worried about."

“Those small countries in the east are a bunch of useless fools. They believe everything they hear and easily let the Han Kingdom benefit from them.”

"In my opinion, General Suren, why don't we take this opportunity to launch a counterattack, use the momentum of our great victory to expand our territory, and conquer the Shule Kingdom in one fell swoop?"

After the great victory, the Kushan soldiers were in high spirits, but General Suren, known as the "Iron Wall," showed little joy: "Don't be careless!"

"They are merely the vanguard of the Han state."

"How can a group of kept servants represent the true strength of the Han state?"

"That's what the general taught me."

Another strategist, who looked mature and experienced, replied:
"However, now that our army has achieved a great victory, why not send the main force of war elephants into the valley and push the front line to the other side of the valley in one go, thus seizing the initiative in the battle?"

General Suren was silent for a moment, then shook his head slightly: "There is no need for that. The prince's task for me is to defend Dayuan, not to launch a counterattack on Shule."

"As long as we drive the Han army out and hold this valley, we will have accomplished our mission."

"As for those Huns, they are nothing but stray dogs. Let them escape; we don't need to pursue them relentlessly."

“General, you are being far too cautious!” a young general couldn’t help but retort. “Our war elephants are unstoppable; the Han army is utterly powerless to resist. If we don’t pursue our victory now, when will we?”

"Yes, yes, this is an opportunity not to be missed, General!"

The soldiers all volunteered to fight, wanting to deliver a crushing blow to the fleeing enemy.

Even the seasoned strategist offered his advice:
"General Suren, according to our informant in Shule, the main force of the Han army still has about 20,000 men. We have just dealt a heavy blow to their vanguard, and I'm afraid they will not give up easily."

"Since that's the case, let's take this opportunity to use our war elephants as the vanguard to penetrate deep into the valley and wipe out the Han army."

"If their main force doesn't come to the rescue, this vanguard will suffer heavy casualties; if their main force enters the valley to provide relief..."

A glint of cunning flashed in the strategist's eyes, and he grinned maliciously, saying:
"The mountain road is narrow, and my war elephants can charge around freely. Even if the enemy forces come ten times our size, they are no match for us!"

General Suren frowned, his gaze sweeping over the eager faces of his generals, and sighed.

It is true.

In the valley, their war elephants were indeed invincible.

However, in the battle on the plains, when he fought against the Han cavalry, he found that the enemy's archery skills were quite good, and his side had no advantage.

Thus, amidst the fervor of the generals urging to fight, General Sulun ordered the main force to pursue, preparing to push forward in one fell swoop and advance the battle line to the plains of Shule.

Soon, behind the light cavalry that had been pursuing the Han army, dozens of war elephants led tens of thousands of infantrymen into the valley and headed east.

Then, they played right into Su Yao's hands.

"Coming, coming, coming!"

"Tell everyone to get ready!"

In the afternoon valley, Su Yao stood on the mountain, looking down at the soldiers filling the valley below, his eyes shining with excitement.

Following his orders, Zhang Liao's army collapsed at the first encounter with Yufuluo's forces, and he feigned defeat and fled.

He was initially worried that if the Kushans didn't pursue the matter further, he would have to spend another day on it.

But clearly, these Kushans were acting rashly, so don't blame him for being impolite.

"Does this 'General' thing really work?"

Beside Su Yao, Zhang Fei gripped the object known as the "Palm Thunder" in his hand, his heart pounding with apprehension.

After returning to the capital from his mission in Yizhou, he gained some understanding of the new things Su Yao had come up with.

This "palm grenade" is the latest masterpiece of the School of Engineering. It is shaped like a fist-sized iron ball, filled with gunpowder and iron sheets, and has a fuse on the outside. When used, the fuse is lit and it is thrown. After the explosion, it can cause area damage, so the general also calls it a hand grenade.

That's right, a grenade!
Having acquired gunpowder, Su Yao naturally wouldn't abandon it.

After conquering the Western Regions, the problem of gunpowder production was solved.

Thus, before muskets and cannons could be mass-produced due to various technological limitations, Su Yao first developed this simple hand grenade.

With grenades, his army not only gained powerful area-of-effect damage, but also greatly deterred the enemy's morale.

Is there anything more demoralizing than throwing a volley of grenades before close combat?
Therefore, Su Yao immediately equipped his personal guards with these weapons and secretly trained them in throwing techniques. Today was the day to test their combat effectiveness.

“However,” Guan Yu said with concern, “no matter what, the throwing distance of this palm thunder is limited. Even if it can disturb the war elephants, our army will inevitably be affected at close range.”

"That's why we're fighting in the valley," Su Yao chuckled.

While they were chatting and laughing, the main force of the Kushan army had penetrated even deeper into the enemy territory.

Their vanguard cavalry pursued the Xiongnu cavalry and soon entered the Han army's ambush zone.

At Su Yao's command, a cannon boomed from the mountains, and hundreds of Han archers who had been lying in ambush on the cliffs on both sides revealed themselves and unleashed a volley of arrows.

"No! There's an ambush!"

Arrows rained down on their heads, and the pursuing Kushan vanguard knew they had finally met their match.

However, they weren't entirely unprepared. They raised their shields, sought cover, and drew their bows to return fire. Once the war elephants arrived with the main army, defeating Xu Han'er would be a piece of cake.

"Attack! All troops, attack!"

General Suren brandished his sword high on the seat of the war elephant in the center of the army.

As he had predicted, the Han army indeed laid an ambush in the valley.

However, his warriors will destroy everything under the charge of the war elephants!
Under the commander's orders, the main force of the Kushan army began to accelerate.

One war elephant after another pounded their way into the battlefield, where arrows rained down.

Beside them were rows of Kushan infantrymen clad in armor. With war elephants leading the way, they would cut through the undergrowth, charge up the hillside, and wipe out the Han rabble who dared to ambush them.

"Come on!"

"Kill!"

"Kill them all!"

The Kushan army was in high spirits and was ready to fight.

They had already seen that although the Han army had switched to rockets, they were no match for their own armored war elephants.

Victory is within reach. As long as they charge up the hill and engage in hand-to-hand combat, they can sweep away the Han soldiers and seize complete victory!
until
call out--

Above their heads, a jet-black iron disc streaked across the sky, crossed their battle line, and hurtled straight toward the war elephants on the mountain path.

"what?"

"What the hell?"

"What good is this little gadget?"

The Kushan soldiers looked up at the discus that had suddenly flown in, their faces blank with confusion.

Some even laughed, thinking that the Han soldiers were facing certain death and were just throwing something around to vent their anger.

However, just as their laughter began, the next second—

boom! ! !
A loud bang exploded in the valley, flames shot into the sky, and iron pieces flew everywhere.

The war elephant at the very front, despite being clad in iron armor, was also blown to smithereens.

It let out a mournful howl, frantically swung its trunk, and threw the elephant driver off its back to the ground.

"what happened?!"

"what happened?!"

General Suren swayed on his war elephant, staring in astonishment at the distant explosion, completely bewildered.

The explosion was so sudden that even from a distance, his war elephant was quite startled, snorting nervously.

Before he could react, another discus flew through the air and caused an explosion in the same way.

"Heavenly lightning! This is heavenly lightning!"

"The people of Shule Kingdom said that some members of the Han army know the art of using heavenly thunder. This must be their sorcerers who have been dispatched!"

Beside General Suren, an advisor shouted in panic:

"General! Look over there! It's that man!"

Following the strategist's guidance, General Suren craned his neck and finally caught a glimpse of a figure in a red robe on a distant hillside.

"what?!"

"It's that far?!"

General Suren's eyes widened.

He never expected that the man could throw that explosive discus so accurately into the war elephant herd from hundreds of steps away!

Even considering the height difference between the two sides, that distance is beyond the range of an arrow!
Outrageous! Absolutely outrageous!
In an instant, General Suren was deeply shocked.

But that shock was nothing compared to the damage his troops had suffered.

"Come on, come on!"

"If you don't want to die, come over here right now!"

On the hillside, Su Yao threw the "disco ball" while laughing heartily.

Beside him was a basket filled with these large hand grenades specially made for him.

Using his immense power, Su Yao launched a devastating attack on the Kushan war elephants from a distance.

One loud explosion after another startled the war elephants, causing them to howl in terror.

The Kushan army is in big trouble now.

The reason why elephant cavalry eventually withdrew from the battlefield was due to the widespread use of gunpowder weapons.

Compared to warhorses, elephants are less tolerant of the impact of the explosion and quickly went berserk.

A raging elephant poses a far greater threat to one's own side than to its enemy.

In an instant, the vanguard of the Kushan army was in complete chaos.

"Oh no!"

"The elephant has gone mad!"

"Run!"

The vanguard of war elephants panicked, swinging their trunks, letting out long howls, and running away uncontrollably.

On the narrow mountain path, the Kushan infantry, arrayed before the war elephants, were violently trampled, and countless men perished beneath their hooves.

"dash forward!"

"Kill that pitcher!"

In the midst of the crisis, General Suren let out a shout.

This time he saw it clearly: the root of all the trouble was the sorcerer on the mountain who kept throwing lightning bolts!
If left unchecked, and he continues to unleash the heavenly thunder, our tens of thousands of troops will likely be destroyed.

How could he possibly allow such an unreasonable thing to happen?!
So, before the elephant cavalry could go completely berserk, countless Kushan warriors in the central army broke through their own central ranks, clearing a path and charging toward the cliffs on both sides.

"Hu-hu-"

General Suren's advisor let out a series of heavy breaths and sighed:
"Fortunately, the Han people chose a bad ambush point. Although the slope is steep, people can still climb it."

"If they choose to ambush us on a cliff, we're likely in grave danger."

General Suren also deeply agreed with this.

But he didn't know that Su Yao had his own reasons for choosing this position.

"Hahaha!"

"The General is a master strategist; these fools have delivered themselves right to our doorstep!"

Zhang Fei laughed loudly and charged out from behind the hillside:

"Follow me and kill! The time to prove yourself has come!"

While sheer cliffs can prevent counterattacks, they also deprive one's own side of the opportunity to pursue and expand the gains.

Zhang Fei shouted loudly, and he and Guan Yu charged out from behind the hillsides on either side.

Facing the Kushan warriors charging up the hillside, they threw grenades in unison.

boom--

Boom boom boom boom——

Hundreds of grenades exploded at once, tolling the death knell for the Kushans.

"Mom!"

"What kind of sorcery is this?!"

"kill!"

After the violent explosions and billowing smoke, the Han soldiers charged down.

Guan Yu and Zhang Fei led the elite Han army like tigers descending the mountain, instantly crushing the enemies attacking the mountain.

The grenade explosion not only caused massive casualties, but also completely destroyed the morale of the enemy troops.

"There are so many Heavenly Thunder Sorcerers???"

General Suren was dumbfounded.

Before his eyes, Kushan soldiers were fleeing in all directions, filling the mountains and valleys.

These elite warriors he brought were thrown into a panic by this sudden attack, like stray dogs. Terrified, they abandoned their armor and fled in all directions.

Meanwhile, those once-mighty war elephants that he relied on had now become the biggest source of disaster.

The failed attempt to breach the mountain meant that the sorcerer on the mountain could still continuously summon heavenly lightning to bombard them.

One after another, war elephants went mad amidst the explosions, charging and trampling wildly, shattering the Kushan army's formation.

"It's over. It's all over."

In this battle, the Han army won a great victory.

(End of this chapter)