Chapter 412: Could it be that all are the king's subjects?

The walls of Fan Yang City also became lively, as soon as the people inside the city learned that reinforcements had arrived outside, officials big and small all ran here to see for themselves.

They had been living like years in fear of the bandits killing their way in, and now with a glimmer of hope they rushed over to confirm.

Among them were people from the Fan Yang Lu clan, including the clan's decision-makers and young juniors who followed their elders up, no matter their age, they were all collectively dumbfounded.

"A Xiu, Uncle Six is old, his eyesight is poor, look at those coming from afar—are they really our reinforcements?"

"Uncle Six, you're only twenty-eight."

"Cut the nonsense! How could an army uniformly ride white horses? What kind of strength is this? Even with the whole world's power for three hundred years, I've never seen Long Peace produce such a formidable army; if it really existed, it would already be famous worldwide."

"This really is the army coming to rescue them, not some fancy honor guard, right?!"

The white horses wore silver armor, and the soldiers on them also wore matching silver armor, armed to the teeth with only their eyes showing.

In the scorching summer heat, carrying a body of warmth, I climbed the city wall, glanced at the opposing cavalry, and the sweat on my body suddenly dissipated.

"Maybe they're flower-patterned horses, maybe the flower pattern is pressed under the armor…… Well, I also find it hard to believe that the Northern Border actually has such cavalry, the Northern Border's world-renowned cavalry actually looks like this." Indeed they look like they know how to fight.

While they were speaking, the eldest son of the Lu family came in person.

This person could be considered half an acquaintance of the Great King, Lu Tong— the Great King once personally ordered the Owl Cavalry to throw him out of the Northern Border Academy.

So Lu Tong came up, took a look, and confirmed, "The people of the Northern Border King have arrived. This flashy getup is the Northern Border King's favorite." Back then it was also a group of mystic-armored riders wearing owl-faced coverings like wolves and tigers who threw him out... hum!

Upon hearing his confirmation on the city wall, they immediately erupted in excitement— they were saved!

Lu Xiu exclaimed, "I didn't expect the Northern Border King to be so generous! Earlier, Third Uncle suggested we directly seek aid from the Northern Border, but you opposed it…… coming……." He spoke softer and softer under Lu Tong's glare.

Lu Tong had no idea that that unreasonable brat would actually send troops to rescue Fan Yang.

When half an hour passed, the Snow Cavalry moved.

Chang Li raised the long spear in his hand, "Infantry Strangulation Formation, form up!"

"Kill!"

The three-thousand-strong unit moved, the formation changed, and those holding long spears shifted to the very front.

Chang Li positioned the Snow Cavalry as pure assault cavalry, the whole unit had no shield bearers, he wouldn't let the Great King's armor money go to waste, relying on the armor to take the hit head-on.

Raising the long spear again, the Snow Cavalry sounded the attack horn crisply and began the assault.

Chen Hu had thought through the outcomes of seven or eight positional battle processes, but unfortunately there was no formation, no dueling generals, no room for maneuver or negotiation—the enemy simply raised their swords and charged over.

At a distance of about a hundred meters, the warhorses reached the enemy formation before they even sped up. How to put it? This battle can't be called a mismatch in strength; if you put them together, the other side seems a bit outmatched.

It was a dimensional strike from heaven and earth.

Chen Hu initially hoped the enemy side wasn't more numerous than theirs, even if they were all cavalry they still had the strength to fight back. Before engaging, he only feared that the Fan Yang City Guard behind would fire cold arrows and join the battle, leaving him attacked from both sides.

After a single encounter, he didn't think of anything else, only wanting to survive and flee back to his Lu State.

This battle ended as soon as the enemy charged over.

Infantry Strangulation Formation, as the name suggests, is designed to strangle infantry. Nowadays infantry are more mainstream on the battlefield; for many years prior, aside from the Xiongnu iron cavalry, there were no decent cavalry in the world.

If there were someone experienced and knowledgeable on the scene, like Bai Yang, they could see that this strangulation formation bears some resemblance to the once world-famous Macedonian Phalanx.

The Macedonian Phalanx was once called one of the strongest military tactics of the ancient world; Chang Li's is infinitely similar to it.

Although the opponent isn't up to par, this drill is still important, and they carried it out according to the trained formation.

Three thousand cavalry strangled five thousand disorganized rabble; the fast-moving people on the opposing city wall hadn't even come to their senses before a sea of blood filled their vision, and then everything ended.

Amid a flock of sparrows, a flock of snow eagles rushed in?

Chen Hu was forced to retreat again and again, all the way to the vicinity of the city gate; he could no longer worry about Fan Yang behind him, and before he could beg for mercy, Chang Li personally speared him, pinning him to the gate of Fan Yang City, prompting his comrades behind to shout in approval.

The newly crowned Lu King who had been domineering in Peng City for two years was sent off after a single encounter.

Outside Fan Yang City, blood flowed like rivers; the five thousand rebels paid with their lives for their village-slaughtering atrocities.

The gate of Fan Yang City opened; the hands of the city guards coming to open the gate were trembling, and the besieging archvillain was still bloody, nailed to the left gate!

The situation was settled; Fan Yang's officials couldn't afford to be oblivious, they immediately opened the city gate to welcome the Northern Border army that came to save them.

Chang Li removed his mask, sat on his horse, and loudly declared: "Taking Chen Hu as the leader, the Peng City rebel army slaughtered the villages around Fan Yang, oppressed the people, forcibly seized women, their crimes filled to the brim; this commander, obeying the order of the Northern Border King's Highness, has already executed them on the spot!"

The Fan Yang Prefect wiped the sweat from his forehead, led the officials in a deep bow, "The Fan Yang Prefect, on behalf of the entire city's populace, thanks the Northern Border King's Highness for lifting the siege of Fan Yang."

He wasn't sweating from heat; it was a cold sweat all over. Fan Yang had escaped disaster, but he himself was unable to escape it.

Today, after welcoming the Northern Border cavalry into the city, Long Peace will certainly not let him off.

However, the speed at which the Northern Border cavalry rushed over and that recent 'performance' made him even more certain that seeking aid from the Northern Border was correct.

Only the Northern Border could truly save Fan Yang. Even if Long Peace agreed to send reinforcements, by the time Long Peace's relief troops arrived, his head would probably already be hanging on the city gate tower. As for how Long Peace will deal with him afterward, that's another story.

How could there be so many perfect-win situations in the world?

Chang Li also spoke politely, "Our Highness often says, 'Under heaven, all land is the king's; within the borders of the land, all are the king's subjects.' Fan Yang is the land of the Bai Li clan, and the people of Fan Yang are the subjects of the Bai Li clan. Since the Northern Border King's Highness knows this, as long as he has the ability, he will certainly come to rescue Fan Yang."

Even Lu Tong, who was secretly paying attention from the city tower, let out a sigh, "These words are beautiful."

Skipping the awkward part, not a word mentioned about everyone's opposing identities nowadays. One side had set up independent feudal states, the other also counted as old ministers of the former state; in a blunt sentence, the Bai Li clan covered it all.

Look at how moved the officials and commoners behind the city gate are; they practically want to kneel on the spot and kowtow northward a few times!

Upon listening more closely, well, someone had already done that; the prefect, however, didn't dare.

The Northern Border also arrived just in time; right now many households have already run out of grain, the Lu family's storable grain from opening the granary is exhausted— how could the Northern Border King not be considered heavenly troops arriving just in time to save lives! The populace originally had little insight, but being swayed by this rhetoric, they were practically moved to tears.

The old emperor still has such a meticulous son, who would place all the people of the world in his heart— how moving is that! Although our Fan Yang is not the Northern Border King's fief, where could one find a feudal lord with such a sense of family, country, and world?

Tsk tsk! No wonder he's a clever Bai Li Jing; wherever he goes, he never forgets to cultivate that bit of reputation.

The Fan Yang Prefect was indeed moved; Chang Li's words were pleasing and dignified. They gave him a line of sophistry— no, rather, a line for apologizing to Long Peace.

The prefect asked the cavalry to enter the city to rest, and had the city guard take care of the aftermath.

"No rush to rest. The weather is hot; untreated corpses will breed plague. Please have the prefect send people to dig a large pit, move the corpses there for unified cremation—that's the best strategy."

The prefect began to sweat again, here it comes, here it comes— burn the corpses!

The Northern Border King really knows how to burn corpses and scatter ashes!

The prefect, obedient and compliant, dared not voice any opinion, and immediately ordered all the city guards and the temporary conscripts who had come up to guard the city to go out together and dig pits.

They dug pits, and the Snow Cavalry helped move the corpses over.

Those few leaders who could be identified all had their heads cut off and preserved; Changli said they would be useful.

Not long after, a plume of black smoke rose from a wasteland outside Fanyang City.

One can imagine that in the near future this land will become a legend, and everyone will detour around it.