Chapter 638: Southwest Punch King

When the soldiers behind thought Feng Linchuan was trying to seize a warhorse to fight, he actually abandoned that horse and leapt onto another warhorse.

Still bare-fisted, he punched that Qiang soldier's head with his fist, then single-handedly threw him down.

The soldiers behind, seeing this, were like baboons that had taken some drug, excitedly shouting at the top of their lungs.

"Brigade Commander is mighty, strike him!"

"Strike him!"

"Beat him to death!"

Feng Linchuan didn't lose focus because of those cheers; he kept a stern face, skillfully riding his horse through the Qiang soldiers, spotting an opportunity he leapt onto another Qiang person's warhorse, then threw a punch.

In a short moment, seven or eight Qiang soldiers lay dead beneath his fists.

Though his movements were as agile as Qin Zhanhong's, his pair of fists were incredibly heavy—no Qiang soldier could survive a blow to the head from him.

Feng Linchuan's strikes were steady, yet they also successfully aroused the Qiang people's hatred toward him.

Countless Qiang soldiers brandished curved blades, closing in on him and narrowing his room to maneuver.

Fortunately, Feng Linchuan was not fighting alone; he still had six hundred soldiers behind him.

Seeing their brigade commander surrounded, the soldiers rushed over from all sides.

Some cut horses, some cut people.

The two sides clashed back and forth, and the scene once descended into chaotic mess like a pot of porridge.

But after the chaos erupted, Feng Linchuan again found room to maneuver.

Like a nimble monkey, he leapt onto the Qiang people's warhorses, his weapons being his pair of fists.

Time and again he staged the daring act of catching blades barehanded, then smashing the enemy's brains with a punch.

The fighting here reached a stalemate; neither the Qiang people nor the Nan Jun soldiers had any chance to escape.

This small battlefield quickly drew the attention of Xie Fengxian ahead.

"Who is the commander of that brigade?"

Xie Fengxian, whose visage bore a touch of yin softness and Confucian elegance, reined in his warhorse and asked those beside him.

"Reporting, General, it seems to be the former County Assistant of Anding, Feng Linchuan." The orderly peered forward, examined him closely, and then said uncertainly.

Xie Fengxian chuckled in praise: "Good lad, fighting cavalry bare-fisted—damn, you've opened my eyes. How did someone like this become a county assistant? Pass my order: the whole army shall envelop and kill; that dog's nearly fled, but we can't let this brat steal my thunder."

"Yes!"

At Xie Fengxian's command, the war drums sounded; the soldiers who had just been crying for their fathers and mothers, shouting not to pursue anymore and not to kill them, instantly changed expression, a ferocious-looking one brandishing a knife and raising a bow.

Archers extended their arms and drew bows; a volley of arrow rain poured forth, and spearmen and sword-and-shield troops instantly split into two streams, flanking left and right to envelop and kill the Qiang pursuers.

At the same time, the other ambush troops hidden on the left and right also executed a revolving horse spear, turning back to kill.

Xie Fengxian took the lead, brandishing his long spear as he charged straight in, intending to meet the enemy commander.

As a result, after circling once on his horse within the enemy formation, he suddenly realized in shock that the enemy commander had already been dead.

"Which bastard did this? He dares to steal the credit for killing the enemy commander from me!"

Xie Fengxian instantly grew displeased, raising his hand to cut down several Qiang soldiers lunging at him, and amidst the chaotic ranks he found the enemy commander's corpse, as well as an ownerless long spear.

He bent over, pulled the long spear stuck in the enemy commander's corpse, and remarked, "This spear looks somewhat familiar—whose is it?"

Xie Fengxian thought for a moment but couldn't recall.

He loosened the reins, then simply controlled the warhorse with his legs while wielding two spears in his hands, like a precise, sharp surgical knife, cutting vertically into the enemy formation single-handedly on horseback.

The warhorse only cared about charging forward; he only cared about killing.

Man and horse each did their own thing, yet not a moment was wasted.

……

Since ancient times, it has been rare for infantry to easily defeat cavalry.

But Xie Fengxian's battle this time was not considered difficult.

With an absolute advantage of eight thousand troops, he left nearly five thousand Qiang cavalrymen all on the battlefield.

Some warhorses ran away, but not a single enemy soldier escaped.

Xie Fengxian, who is somewhat petty in warfare, even if he sees an enemy soldier flee, will dispatch a unit to pursue.

The only regret is that the battlefield is somewhat long.

All told, it stretches nearly three li, making battlefield cleanup somewhat troublesome.

Moreover, too many warhorses have died.

More than half of the warhorses have been hacked lame, making it basically impossible to put them back on the battlefield.

This once made Xie Fengxian feel heartbroken.

But there's no alternative; when infantry fights cavalry, cutting down horses is somewhat easier than cutting down people.

"Seize the opportunity to loot the corpses—whoever loots a corpse is responsible for tearing off the head!" Xie Fengxian, holding two spears in his right hand, galloped across the battlefield, shouting the order loudly.

"No snatching—whoever gets there first owns it; whoever is blind-eyed and starts a fight over this trash will give the laborers a headache in their hearts, and I'll make each of you feel that headache."

"Say it again: the head must be torn off; our brigade commander likes to pile Qiang people's heads into a mound, not a single one should be wasted, damn it."

After the battle ended, looting corpses became customary.

It was also a time when soldiers could legally earn extra income and open blind boxes—anything useful or valuable could be taken.

Feng Linchuan, his hands stained with blood, did not take part in looting corpses; instead, he rode his horse up to Xie Fengxian.

"General, this spear… is mine."

Xie Fengxian reined in his warhorse, sized up Feng Linchuan from head to toe, and laughed: "You kid, you can do it—bare-fisted against cavalry, tsk tsk, you really opened my eyes."

"I dare not accept the general's praise; I merely had no suitable weapon in hand, so I had to use my fists." Feng Linchuan said.

"What the hell are you being modest for me? Your modesty is glaring in my eyes, you know?" Xie Fengxian cursed: "I damn well charged over just to meet the enemy commander, but after circling on my horse I only found a corpse—it nearly brought me bad luck."

"General, I don't know about this." Feng Linchuan said.

Xie Fengxian said disdainfully, "You, a tough guy who beats enemies' heads with your fists, why do you speak so soft and weak?"

"I dare not be rude before the General!" Feng Linchuan clasped his hands.

"Damn it!" Xie Fengxian cursed, "With such ability, why are you just a County Assistant?"

Just to make a living.

"Damn it!" Xie Fengxian instantly lost interest in speaking further with Feng Linchuan, he flung the Long Spear to Feng Linchuan, "We're both spear players; let's spar when we have time."

Yes!

Hurry up and rest; we still have another match to catch. This time you must personally demonstrate to me how to beat an enemy's head barehanded.

General, I now have a handy weapon.

Xie Fengxian glared angrily and said, "Then just spear another enemy commander and beat him barehanded. Laborers won't take any heads today; I'll give you all the credit, how about that?"

... Yes!