I was living in the Five Dynasties period, just after crossing the Zhongdu Bridge.

The Khitan cavalry was able to roam the world and treat the Central Plains as nothing, not only because of their large numbers and strong horses.

This surprise attack was crucial for saving lives; it relied on the element of surprise and the element of speed.

However, if one thinks that taking advantage of the enemy dismounting and launching a surprise attack will lead to an easy victory, then one is underestimating the strongest army in Asia today.

Although Xiang Wen lost the initiative and had more than a dozen men killed by Shen Lie's charge, he was still an old soldier who had crawled out of mountains of corpses and seas of blood.

After the initial panic, this fellow actually kicked over the fire next to him and managed to lead the remaining thirty-odd Khitan soldiers to retreat to a few supply wagons.

"Form a circular formation! Use bows!"

Xiangwen roared and slashed down a Xi tribe auxiliary soldier who was trying to escape with his scimitar, thus establishing his authority.

This move was extremely ruthless, but also extremely effective.

The Khitans were a nomadic people, but that doesn't mean they were weaklings when they dismounted.

On the contrary, the Khitan archery technique is powerful and vigorous, and they are particularly good at close-quarters rapid-fire shooting.

The remaining thirty-odd regular soldiers quickly formed a hedgehog formation, relying on the large carts.

Instead of trying to mount their horses, they removed the horn bows from their backs.

"Shoot their horses! Shoot their horses!"

Xiangwen roared wildly in Khitan.

collapse!collapse!collapse!

The sound of the bowstring vibrating was incessant.

This counterattack was swift and ruthless, immediately striking at Fuweidu's weak point.

The first few Fuwei cavalrymen, due to their poor horsemanship or their greed for merit and recklessness, were instantly shot down by the arrows and fell to the ground along with their horses.

Shen Lie felt the wind whistling past his ears as a spear-shaped arrow grazed his neck, leaving a drop of blood.

The situation on the battlefield is as unpredictable as water.

One moment the Han army was hunting, the next, with the fall of several corpses, fear spread through the crowd.

"Hold your ground! No retreating!"

Liu Qing waved the banner, his eyes red, and roared, even slashing down a soldier who was trying to turn and run away.

But it didn't work.

For these bandits who had just cleaned up their act and come ashore, their lives were their own, but their official positions belonged to Shen Lie.

He lost his life for someone else's official position; he certainly understood the consequences.

The situation quickly became tense.

This is the difference between a regular army and a half-baked one.

The group under Shen Lie consisted of a few dozen veterans from the original Fuwei Capital who were somewhat organized, but the rest were either new recruits from Daizhou or surrendered soldiers recently taken from Zhangjiawu.

Essentially, they are still bandits who ride the wave when it's favorable and flee when it's unfavorable.

It was fine when we were in the heat of the moment killing in the chaos, but now that the enemy has stabilized their position and the rain of arrows is so heavy that people can't even lift their heads, that cowardice of fearing battle has resurfaced.

Some people began to hesitate, and some began to quietly retreat. The original siege was showing signs of loosening.

This is morale.

The so-called one blast, then decay, and exhaustion.

If this momentum is broken, even though the Han army is currently large, if some soldiers start to flee, they will be like a group of pigs being chased and killed by dozens of wolves!

This is not an exaggeration. On the battlefield, there are countless examples of cavalrymen chasing and killing infantrymen who outnumber them several times over.

On one side of the battlefield, Zhao Kuangyin had just ducked to avoid a stray arrow.

He was quite clear about the current situation.

If we can't suppress this volley of arrows, the battle will turn into a mess.

"Liu Qing!" Zhao Kuangyin roared, "Get up there and hold the shield for me!"

After shouting this, Zhao Kuangyin immediately threw away the brain-splattered cudgel in his hand, then reached for the water horn bow at his waist and pulled it out.

"You son of a bitch! All you do is hide inside and act like a turtle?!"

He took a deep breath, exerted force with both arms, and instantly drew the horn bow to its full length.

"Go!"

The arrow flew like a shooting star.

A Khitan archer, who was hiding behind a cart and about to fire an arrow, had just peeked out when he felt a chill on his face as an arrow pierced his brain.

Once the arrow was fired, Zhao Kuangyin did not stop.

He didn't look at the results of the battle; he just kept repeating the same thing.

Drawing the arrow, nocking the string, and drawing the bow—the movements were fluid and graceful.

A barrage of arrows!

In just a few breaths, seven or eight arrows whistled out, and screams erupted from the opposing chariot formation. The originally dense rain of arrows finally thinned out.

"Excellent archery!"

Shen Yu, who was on the other side of the battlefield, saw it clearly and secretly praised it.

Since Zhao Kuangyin had used his skills to suppress the enemy's firepower, the courage to break the deadlock had to be borne by him, the commander-in-chief.

He did not choose to order the infantry to besiege the enemy, because at this point any complicated military orders would be pointless.

Shen Lie chose the most primitive, yet most effective, move.

Decapitation!

"Royal Guard Battalion! Charge with me!"

Shen Lie squeezed the horse's belly hard with his legs. The warhorse, in pain, let out a long, drawn-out neigh and stopped wandering around the perimeter. Instead, it charged straight toward the back of the carriage!

This is a gamble.

They gambled on Shen Lie's life, but in return, they gained the soul of this team that was dedicated to helping those in distress.

Upon seeing this, Xiangwen did not get angry but laughed instead.

He also threw down his longbow, drew his eggplant-handled knife from his waist, and his eyes were full of contempt.

In his view, these southerners were only relying on their numbers; if it came down to a real fight, even ten Han Chinese wouldn't be enough for him to kill.

"court death!"

With a roar, Xiangwen charged forward instead of retreating, leading his men on foot to meet Shen Lie's warhorse.

He wanted to use his scimitar to cut the horse's legs.

This is a common tactic used by infantry against cavalry.

But Shen Lie didn't give him that chance.

At the moment the two armies clashed, Shen Lie did not swing his sword to strike.

If he were to simply swing his sword at this moment, his warhorse would inevitably have its legs severed by Xiang Wen's steady movements. At that point, Shen Lie would lose his balance and fall, inevitably ending up with a flurry of blows.

Shen Lie suddenly loosened the reins and leaped off the horse.

Using the momentum of his warhorse, he charged straight at the man named Xiang Wen.

Xiang Wen was calculating when to swing his sword. He did swing the sword, but there was no time left to strike the Han army commander who was rushing towards him.

It's not that Xiang Wen lacks experience; it's just that this kind of reckless fighting style is truly rare!

boom!

The two collided heavily and rolled around in a heap.

At this point, neither side dared to make another move. It was one thing to strike the enemy commander, but if they injured their own commander, they would truly be willing to die a thousand deaths.

With this collision, Xiang Wen was caught off guard by Shen Lie's deliberate attack, and the eggplant-handled knife in his hand fell to the ground. His mind was blank for a moment.

But Shen Lie would never give him another chance, and he raised his knee and pressed it down on his chest.

Immediately afterwards, he held the horizontal knife in his hand to Xiang Wen's throat.

"Call me Dad!"

Shen Lie was panting heavily, his face covered in dust and blood, but his eyes were bloodshot!

He returned the insults the Khitan had used to humiliate the Han people verbatim.

Xiangwen stared wide-eyed, opening his mouth as if to say something.

"Forget it, I don't have a son like you."

Shen Lie swung his right hand across the blade, while his left hand reached for Xiang Wen's head, intending to grab his hair and use it to chop off his head.

But they found nothing.

"What the hell is this shaved head?!"

Shen Lie cursed inwardly, but he exerted all his strength with his right hand.

puff!

The head rolled off.

Shen Lie picked up the severed head and stood up unsteadily.

The shouts of battle all around suddenly ceased.