I rode and slashed unparalleled in the Three Kingdoms

Chapter 998 First Encounter with the War Elephant
The banks of the Kizil River are dotted with stars.

In the northwest corner of the Xiongnu camp, a campfire blazed brightly.

"Wow, young man, this outfit must have cost a lot of money, right? You really went all out."

Beside the campfire, an older Xiongnu officer named Huyan Wu spoke to the new recruits beside him.

Clearly, the new recruits' brand-new leather armor and scimitars caught the officers' attention.

The new recruit smiled shyly and scratched the back of his head:
"As for returning to the tribe, I did spend a lot of money. However, I heard from the people in the tribe that those who fought with General Tian before all became rich, and some even received pastures."

"I was too young back then and missed out on that good thing. Now that General Tian has summoned us again, we're thinking of giving it our all."

"Not bad, not bad." Huyan Wu patted the recruit on the shoulder, his eyes gleaming with approval. "You've got potential! General Tian never shortchanges the warriors who risk their lives for him. Last time I was conscripted, I got three good horses and a bag of gold!"

The recruit's eyes lit up, and he was about to ask something else when suddenly...
Dongdong——dongdong——

The earth is shaking.

"An earthquake?!" The new recruit looked around in terror.

All the Xiongnu soldiers around him stood up and gripped their weapons.

"No, this is an enemy attack!" Huyan Wu shouted.

Before the words were finished, a melodious horn sounded—it was the scouts' alarm.

Immediately afterwards, the earth trembled more violently, as if a vast army was approaching.

"Get on your horses! Everyone, prepare for battle!"

Under Huyan Wu's command, the Xiongnu warriors in the camp sprang into action.

They grabbed their weapons and rushed toward the warhorses tied to the tent, ready to fight the enemy to the death.

Indeed, they did not panic in the face of the sudden night attack.

After all, they were proud Xiongnu warriors. How could the Yuezhi, who were defeated by them hundreds of years ago, be a match for them?

In the poems that were sung, the Yuezhi people were portrayed as cowards who were defeated by them and forced to migrate westward.

Upon hearing that the Great General was going to lead them to fight the Yuezhi, everyone was incredibly excited and eager to be at the forefront. Some even said that they didn't need the Heavenly General to take action, as they could handle these useless people on their own.

But they soon discovered that there was a significant gap between their imagination and reality.

"What the hell is that?!"

When waves of Xiongnu warriors charged into the night with torches in hand, everyone stared in astonishment at the sight of the attackers.

Dozens of enormous creatures lined up in a row, pressing towards the camp like moving hills.

Their long noses were held high, their fangs were like knives, and every step they took made the earth tremble.

"Monster, there's a monster!"

These Xiongnu people from the northern grasslands had never seen an elephant before.

Even in their simple vocabulary, there is no word for 'elephant'.

The warhorses had never received any training to fight against war elephants.

Thus, faced with this suddenly appearing behemoth, the Hun knights were terrified the moment they got close.

After a series of neighing warhorses, the Hun knights halted and descended into chaos.

The warriors desperately tried to control their warhorses and calm their companions, attempting a probing attack to gauge the strength of the monster before them.

The slightly more timid one let out a loud shout and ran away without looking back.

However, this does not mean they are safe.

Even worse things happened soon after.

Under the cover of night, none of the Xiongnu noticed that each war elephant carried a wooden tower on its back, with several archers standing on top.

On either side of the war elephants, countless Kushan infantry and knights stood ready for battle.

Faced with the chaos among the Huns, the Kushan commander sneered and immediately waved his hand to order the entire army to charge.

"Fire arrows!"

In an instant, countless arrows rained down like a storm, catching the Xiongnu soldiers off guard, and they were all struck by arrows and fell from their horses.

Immediately following, the Kushan knights, under the cover of their war elephants, launched a two-pronged attack, utterly crushing the Hunnic vanguard. Torches fell to the ground one by one, and under the moonlight, the Hunnic knights scattered in all directions.
"Hold on! Don't mess up!"

Amidst the chaos, Chanyu Yufuluo shouted orders, attempting to organize an effective defense. However, faced with an unprecedented war elephant charge, terror quickly spread among the Xiongnu cavalry.

"It's over."

"This is how to do ah!"

Uvro looked utterly desperate and was already contemplating fleeing.

This Xiongnu Chanyu never expected that his first battle would be so disastrous.

"Fire rockets! Aim at those monsters!"

In the midst of the crisis, Zhang Liao grabbed Yufuluo, who was about to turn and run away, and shouted for him to give the order.

"Fire, rocket???"

"That's right! Even beasts are afraid of fire. Have your men launch rockets!"

At this moment, Zhang Liao's diligent study and hard work finally paid off.

Furthermore, Zhang Liao, being a northerner who had been stationed on the Bingzhou grasslands for a long time, should not have had a clear understanding of war elephants.

However, thanks to the policies of Su Yao's Grand Commandery, Zhang Liao, as one of Su Yao's senior generals, also received the battle report of Sun Ce's crushing defeat against the war elephants last year.

At that time, Su Yao specifically ordered the Grand Commander's Office to hold a study session to learn from Sun Ce's defeat and study tactics to deal with elephant troops.

Although Zhang Liao couldn't understand why the northern grasslands needed to be wary of such a monster, he still memorized the information that had been copied down.

Among them, although the war elephant was incredibly strong, its fear of fire and loud noises immediately led him to think of a strategy of using fire arrows to counterattack.

Yufuluo was captured by Zhang Liao and could not escape, so he had no choice but to grit his teeth and order: "Fire fire arrows! Fire fire fire arrows now!"

It must be said that the royal guards around Huvro were quite well-mannered.

Even when the front lines had collapsed, they were still able to obey orders, gather their men, ignite arrows, and unleash a dense barrage of fire arrows.

"Swish swish——"

Hundreds of rockets streaked across the night sky, shooting towards the war elephant herd like meteors.

"Moo Hum—"

Amidst the blazing firelight, the elephant herd let out a deafening roar.

Flames streaked across their thick skin, and these behemoths finally stopped in their tracks. Two of them even went berserk, charging at their teammates to the sides.

However, this is the limit of what can be achieved.

Rockets are not very accurate in the night sky, and the chaos of the attack prevented them from organizing large-scale firing.

At the same time, the Kushan army, having sensed the Hun counterattack, also pressed forward in large numbers, advancing layer by layer with infantry and cavalry, giving them little chance.

However, this slowed down the war elephants, buying the army some time to regroup. Seeing that even elephants could cause fear, many Hun knights regained some of their composure.

"Withdraw! The entire army retreats!"

As the mournful horns sounded, the Xiongnu cavalrymen, as if granted a pardon, turned their horses around and fled downstream along the Kizil River.

However, the Kushans would not easily let these defeated soldiers go.

After their resounding victory in the surprise attack, the Kushan army was in high spirits. Their cavalrymen launched attacks one after another, overtaking war elephants and relentlessly pursuing the fleeing Huns to expand their gains.

"No, General!"

"If we keep chasing them like this, I'm afraid all my men will die."

Amidst the whistling rain of arrows, Yufuluo lay prone on his horse, shouting.

"Let them come!"

Zhang Liao shouted, pointing to a dark, open space ahead:

"Remember that bend in the river ahead? Tell your men to prepare for a counterattack!"

Faced with the relentless pursuit of the Kushans, Zhang Liao once again stepped forward, leading the royal guards to personally cover the rear together with Yufuluo.

(End of this chapter)