Chapter 20: Great Victory

"Get them back!"

Li Nong, his face pale as death, shouted the order.

The gong sounded, flags unfurled.

The surviving Flying Cavalry in the distance swiftly turned their horses and ran back.

Earlier, the Flying Cavalry had closed in to shoot, only to face return fire from foot bows and strong crossbows.

Mounted archery versus foot archery—the result was naturally heavy losses for the mounted archers.

These were elites handpicked by Shi Hu; Li Nong dared not let them be wasted so pointlessly.

"Damn it!"

Li Nong's eyes turned red. "Where did the Gluttonous Army get so many armored men!"

Armor-piercing heavy arrows couldn't pierce the armor; defeat was inevitable.

Many Flying Cavalry had their warhorses shot, causing them to fall and be injured, not yet dead for the moment.

These Flying Cavalry struggling and moaning on the ground were, in the eyes of the approaching Gluttonous Army soldiers, nothing but heavy rations~~~

The Gluttonous Army's swollen company officers brandished their weapons, roaring hoarsely, shouting at the soldiers not to rush out to harvest heads.

Once the soldiers all rushed out to plunder heads, the great formation would soon fall into disorder.

The opposing Qianghu seized the opportunity to charge over, and it was immediately a crushing defeat.

After the officers beheaded several soldiers who couldn't resist rushing out to seize heads, to serve as a warning, the chaos was finally brought under control.

The Gluttonous Army advanced step by step, their feet trampling over the Qianghu Flying Cavalry wounded lying on the ground.

Their ice awls stabbed down in succession, poking the Flying Cavalry wounded full of holes.

Some Flying Cavalry not yet dead crawled desperately on the ground toward the Main Camp direction.

On the mud beneath them, long trails of blood were dragged out.

Their will to live was very strong, but it was of little use.

The Gluttonous Army soldiers kept advancing, dense footsteps trampling over.

After brief, shrill screams, all returned to calm.

The light infantry following behind the soldiers drew their knives and cut off the Flying Cavalry heads one by one.

These heads were all to be counted against the bow and crossbowmen.

Lin Dao rode a tricycle, slowly following at the rear of the formation.

He knew his own limits, understanding that he knew nothing of warfare in the Cold Weapon Era.

Blind command would bring no good result.

He felt deeply that he should entrust all matters of fighting to the Gluttonous Army's officers and generals.

As for Lin Dao himself, he was responsible for overseeing the battle.

That is, following behind to watch the excitement.

"I can't see anything at all." Lin Dao, riding the tricycle, raised his head and looked forward. "Too many people."

Before him, dense crowds of people filled everything.

He could only hear the sounds of slaughter from afar, but the specific battle situation was completely invisible.

Lin Dao simply stopped the vehicle, turned his head and instructed, "Give me the Drone box."

Can't see? No problem—just use technology.

The Drone flew high into the sky, and the situation on the battlefield was fully visible at a glance.

The guards beside him wore expressions of astonishment.

"Master." Sun Dalang, his expression wavering, looked at the Control Tablet in Lin Dao's hand and trembled all over. "Mo School Divine Technique, terrifying indeed~~~"

"Mo School~~~"

Lin Dao, operating the Drone, didn't even look up. "Just treat it as Mo School's."

Through the Drone's Surveillance Camera, the two sides on the battlefield were already entangled together.

Among the Five Barbarians who brought chaos to the Central Plains, only the Qianghu cavalry were not strong.

It was only after they destroyed the Former Zhao established by the Xiongnu that they obtained the powerful Xiongnu Cataphracts.

The earlier Imperial Guard Flying Cavalry were selected from among the Xiongnu cavalry as outstanding individuals.

The Jie people's true core strength was their foot soldiers, mainly Central Asians from their own tribe.

The outstanding among them was the Gao Li Imperial Guard.

Although the Gao Li Imperial Guard also rode horses, they used foot bows and grappling spears as their main weapons, belonging to Mounted Infantry.

The Qianghu core now slaughtering with the Gluttonous Army was the Gao Li Imperial Guard of over three thousand men.

Several years ago, the Gao Li Imperial Guard twice dealt heavy blows to the Xianbei great army in the Hetao Region, beheading over seventy thousand.

They utterly destroyed the Hetao Xianbei tribe, and their fame spread far and wide.

These Gao Li Imperial Guard joined the battlefield with strong confidence, and were immediately given a lesson in how to behave.

Their pride, the strong bows that at close range could even pierce Cataphract battle armor and horse armor, dimmed and failed before the lamellar armor Lin Dao sent.

Even at a distance of only ten-plus steps, their strong bows still could not pierce the lamellar armor!

Their most powerful weapon lost its effect, dealing a great blow to Qianghu morale.

When the two sides engaged, the Gao Li Imperial Guard arrayed in Spear Formation suffered tragedy once more.

They used grappling spears, while the Gluttonous Army soldiers used Ice-breaking Awls with extended iron tubes welded on.

In length, the Ice-breaking Awl was more than twice as long as the grappling spear.

The sharp Ice-breaking Awl thrusting forward could easily pierce the Gao Li Imperial Guard's armor.

But the Gao Li Imperial Guard's grappling spears simply could not reach the Gluttonous Army.

This formed a one-sided massacre.

The Gao Li Imperial Guard, unable to maintain their spear formation any longer, were forced to launch a crushing charge to close the distance between the two sides.

After enduring massive casualties to close in, their grappling spears were finally able to reach the Qihuo Army.

But the result was that their grappling spears sparked against the armor, yet could not pierce it at all!

Li Nong on the Observation Platform was pale with rage.

He never imagined that the Gao Li Imperial Guard, who had made the Xianbei cry for their fathers and mothers, would be so utterly helpless before the Qihuo Army.

In all of Great Zhao, there were only ten thousand or so carefully selected Gao Li Imperial Guard.

He had brought half of them on this expedition, over six thousand men.

Half of them were here at the Main Camp, while the other half were assigned to besiege other settlements elsewhere.

These soldiers, mostly Qianghu of pale complexion, were the core strength of the Qianghu.

Watching them being slaughtered in broad daylight, Li Nong could no longer maintain his composure.

"Damn it!"

Li Nong was so angry his third leg was about to swell from slapping: "The Crown Prince has misled me!"

Before the expedition, Later Zhao Crown Prince Shi Xuan stated that attacking the Qihuo Army would focus on sieges.

Using the Gao Li Imperial Guard as the core, with a large number of Military Household Auxiliary Soldiers as cannon fodder, it would be enough to breach the city.

There was no need to bring a large number of cavalry, especially the armored cavalry primarily composed of Xiongnu.

After all, each cavalryman required multiple horses, and grain and grass consumption was too great during battle.

It was Shi Hu who actively dispatched several hundred Palace Guards, namely the Flying Cavalry, to follow the expedition.

"If only the armored cavalry were here."

Li Nong gritted his teeth in hatred: "Flanking the Qihuo Army's wing by a detour—why has it come to this!"

He regretted it; he should not have been overconfident and looked down on the Qihuo Army.

He should have brought enough cavalry.

But this regret was useless now.

The Flying Cavalry, previously severely wounded, were now powerless to charge into the formation.

They could only rely on the Gao Li Imperial Guard to face them head-on.

"Sikong."

A staff member advised: "Why not recall the troops first and hold the camp?"

"Guard what fart!" Li Nong, who usually believed in Buddha and emphasized self-cultivation, could no longer contain his anger: "Their rear is the Main Camp!"

All able-bodied soldiers had already gone out to fight, while the entrance and exit of the Main Camp were not large.

If they retreated now, it would inevitably be a rout.

When the time came, the fleeing soldiers would crowd before the Main Camp gate; if one out of ten could escape into the Main Camp, they would be lucky!

Having lost their fighting soldiers, how could the Main Camp possibly be held?

"One wrong step, and every step is wrong."

Li Nong raised a hand to his forehead, his face full of disbelief: "First underestimating the enemy, then concentrating the remaining grain and grass in the Main Camp—how could I be so foolish, making blunder after blunder!"

After the grain and grass were burned, Li Nong gathered all the remaining grain and grass, as well as the grain and grass scraped from nearby states and counties, into his own Main Camp.

Concentrated for supervision and protection, to avoid being raided and burned again.

As for the food problem at the other camps, men and horses were arranged to transport supplies every day.

This was originally a stable arrangement.

But now, the Qihuo Army was about to seize the Main Camp, and these grain and grass would fall into the hands of the Qihuo Army.

In that case, tens of thousands of men and horses would either die in battle or starve to death.

No wonder Li Nong's mindset was unbalanced, and he was at a loss whether to advance or retreat.

"There's no way."

Li Nong glared with round eyes: "I only hope the Vanguard can hold out."

A moment later, he lowered his voice to instruct the staff member beside him: "Order the remaining Flying Cavalry to prepare."

"Once the battle goes badly, escort this official to withdraw."

On the battlefield, the Gao Li Imperial Guard with curled beards and pale green eyes displayed strong combat will.

They suffered heavy casualties but still resisted to the death.

After all, they were professional martial artists, and all were veterans who had been on the battlefield.

But the gap in equipment could not be offset by willpower.

Especially on the Qihuo Army's side, they were equally determined.

When the Gao Li Imperial Guard's casualties exceeded thirty percent, they collapsed.

The fleeing soldiers threw away their weapons and shields, turned around, and routed toward the camp gate.

The Gao Li Imperial Guard, as the core main force, routed first, directly causing the auxiliary soldiers to scatter.

The entire Qianghu army formation almost collapsed in a one-sided manner.

At this time, the role of wisdom was revealed.

Those with brains would flee toward the two sides of the Main Camp.

The Qihuo Army lacked cavalry and could hardly catch and kill all the fleeing routed soldiers.

The chance of escaping with their lives was high.

But those without brains would only run toward the camp gate, which was not large to begin with.

When tens of thousands of people crowded before the camp gate, tragedy followed.

The camp gate was blocked.

As the Beggar Army pursued them relentlessly, a large-scale trampling broke out outside the camp gate.

Many defeated soldiers who had lost their will to fight were shoved to the ground, and countless pairs of large feet trampled over them immediately.

Even more terrifyingly, many Qianghu defeated soldiers were squeezed into the moat outside the camp.

The defeated soldiers who fell in first were pierced through the body by wooden stakes.

For a time they could not die; the shrill cries of lamentation rose, enough to make one's hair stand on end.

As more and more defeated soldiers were pushed and fell in afterward, the deep moat was nearly filled up.

In despair, large numbers of defeated soldiers knelt on the ground begging for mercy.

But the Beggar Army kept Lin Dao's instructions firmly in mind.

Take no prisoners, only heads!

The Qianghu, who once slaughtered countless and even brought no grain or grass when setting out on campaign, only women,

were now like castrated dead dogs, slaughtered and hammered to death without resistance.

Once an army is routed, it also loses the courage to resist.

Even if a few fought to the death, they were like stones thrown into the sea, quickly swallowed up.

The vast majority of Qianghu defeated soldiers wept and begged, muddledly being slaughtered.

"A glorious victory."

Lin Dao, watching the battlefield through the drone, gave a satisfied nod.

Piloting the drone into the Qianghu main camp, he was astonished to see that the high observation platform was already empty.

When the Qianghu collapsed, Li Nong had already fled from the other side of the main camp under the protection of the flying cavalry.

When a thing cannot be done, preserve a useful body to await later matters.

This was Li Nong's way of survival.

End of Chapter