Chapter 40

Ye City, Xianyang Hall.

Beauties adorned in pearls and jade knelt prostrate on the ground.

No one dared move without permission, let alone speak a word.

*Clang-clang-clang~~~*

Exquisitely crafted, expensive gold vessels crashed heavily onto the golden bricks.

The Great Zhao Heavenly King's furious roar reverberated within the great hall.

"You two useless trash!"

"Stupid as pigs and sheep!"

"I sent you to secure their surrender, you didn't bring the man back, instead you brought back useless food!"

"The Jin envoy just arrived and you immediately defected to the Jin State!"

"Trash, you're nothing but trash!"

Shi Hu cursed until he was panting heavily, then sat back down gasping for breath.

He took the canned yellow peaches a beautiful palace maid handed over and gulped down a mouthful of syrup.

As for those being scolded, it was naturally Li Nong and Shi Min.

The two went to recruit Lin Dao but were instead hoodwinked into doing business.

They had originally returned to Ye City in high spirits carrying samples, and had even spoken many good words on Lin Dao's behalf.

But then, news arrived one after another that Lin Dao had surrendered to the Jiangzuo Court and sent troops to launch a surprise attack, seizing Xiangguo City.

Without a doubt, this was a major diplomatic failure.

Shi Min felt deeply aggrieved.

He had merely gone along to watch the excitement; this matter should be Li Nong's to answer for.

At the same time, he was extremely dissatisfied with Lin Dao.

He turns hostile faster than flipping a book.

"Heavenly King, it is we ministers who have been derelict in our duties; please punish us~~~"

Facing the tyrannical Shi Hu, they dared not argue, only confess their crimes and beg for mercy.

Shi Hu was tyrannical; he could torture and kill even his own sons.

Adopted grandsons who were ministers were naturally beneath mention.

However, a great war was about to begin; it was precisely the time to employ people.

"Each of you take twenty lashes, reflect well on your actions!"

"After the troops deploy, redeem yourselves through merit!"

Li Nong and Shi Min bowed in unison, saluting, "Thank you, Heavenly King~~~"

Chubby fingers picked up a small knife, stabbed into the glass bottle, fished out a piece of yellow peach, stuffed it into his mouth, and chewed.

Under the stimulation of the sweet taste, Shi Hu's expression gradually softened; his gaze swept across the crowd.

"Speak. How do we fight."

Fighting was a certainty; Xiangguo City was the secondary capital, and so close to Ye City.

It had to be retaken; otherwise all face would be lost.

Shi Zun, Shi Jian, Yao Yizhong, Fu Hong, Ma Qiu, and others all spoke of mobilizing troops and horses to counterattack the Qihuo Army and retake Xiangguo City.

Champion General Fu Hong advised, "Heavenly King, the Qihuo Army are but wandering bandits."

"After plundering Xiangguo City, they will surely transport the loot and flee far away."

"We can dispatch elite cavalry to pursue them and crush them in a single battle."

The consensus of this era was that in field battles, powerful cavalry could shatter infantry formations.

Thirty years ago at the Battle of Ningping City, over a hundred thousand Jin troops were crushed by tens of thousands of Hu cavalry.

Thirty-six princes of the Sima imperial clan were all captured and then beheaded.

That battle fully demonstrated the formidable combat power of cavalry in the field.

Shi Hu nodded, expressing agreement.

"Since it is so, the Crown Prince shall command the army, with Fu Hong and Ma Qiu as deputies; deploy troops to Xiangguo City immediately and annihilate the Qihuo Army."

"Remember, that strange man in the Qihuo Army must not be harmed; he must be captured alive and brought before Us!"

Although the Qianghu have sinicized through integration, in essence they still retain the characteristics of a nomadic people.

Their various tribal forces are mainly controlled by their respective tribal leaders.

The current Crown Prince Shi Xuan holds the elite Donggong troops, the High-Power Forbidden Guards.

Fu Hong is the Di tribe chieftain, with tens of thousands of elite followers under his command.

His son is named Fu Jian, and he has a grandson named Fu Jian.

The Di tribe later established the Former Qin, which almost unified the world.

Ma Qiu's name is not prominent in history books, yet he is a fierce general of Later Zhao.

He successively defeated powerful enemies such as Fu Hong and the Xianbei Duan Clan.

As a great general favored by Shi Hu, his command is the renowned Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army.

The Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army, constantly maintained at combat readiness, struck first.

They led the similarly mounted auxiliary soldiers, changing horses and galloping all the way, rushing swiftly to the exterior of Xiangguo City.

"General~~~"

A Colonel pointed a finger toward the roadside ahead. "Look!"

Ma Qiu followed the voice and looked; instantly he flew into a towering rage!

A Jia Guan!

A Jia Guan built from the heads of several thousand Jiehu stood towering on one side of the Avenue!

Curly hair, yellow teeth, high brows, deep-set eyes.

The features of these heads were distinct; Ma Qiu, being a Jie person himself, naturally recognized them.

"Damn it~! Beasts!!"

The Jiehu of the Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army were all jumping with rage.

People are always like this.

When these Jiehu slaughtered the Northern Lands, killing countless, they never considered themselves beasts, never thought they deserved to die.

But when such a thing fell upon themselves, they could not accept it.

Isn't this just double standards.

The enraged Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army rushed toward Xiangguo City.

Countless hooves trampled, and the Great Earth trembled.

The sentries outside the City had long since relayed the news inside.

At this moment, all the Da Men of Xiangguo City were tightly shut, and the City towers were packed with people.

Lin Dao, upon hearing the news, also hurried up to the City tower to observe.

At a glance, he saw tens of thousands of Cavalry outside the City, galloping back and forth in crisscrossing patterns, dust flying, movement extremely great.

The Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army are heavy Cavalry, that is, Armored Cavalry.

Their Equipment is extremely luxurious; both man and horse are fully armored.

They use extra-long Horse Lances, carry Strong Bows on their backs, bring Armor-piercing Heavy Arrows, capable of long-range shooting and close combat, possessing extremely powerful array-breaking ability.

This Cavalry is Shi Hu's trusted elite troops, his Imperial Guard Army.

Members are all carefully selected veteran elites.

Their treatment is extremely generous; daily they don't eat millet, but eat Refined Rice.

Total number is about three thousand Cavalry, plus auxiliary Cavalry, nearly ten thousand strong.

"As expected."

Lin Dao on the City tower nodded repeatedly: "The decision to hold Xiangguo City is correct."

If we brought the captured supplies and ran, we would be blocked by these Jiehu Cavalry in the Cang Ye outside the City.

With so many powerful Cavalry charging over, the consequences are unthinkable.

After all, the Gluttonous Army Soldiers currently have many people, but among them are also many women and children.

Many Military Households have not yet undergone strict training.

Even Lin Dao, with little experience, can see that the Gluttonous Army Soldiers in a field march Condition simply cannot stop them.

"Historically, this army~~~"

Lin Dao carefully recalled: "Right, it was defeated by Former Liang."

"Foot Soldiers held Long Spears, using terrain to form ranks, bracing against the Armored Cavalry charge."

"Liangzhou Great Horses circled around to flank, crushing them!"

Listening to the cursing of the Jiehu Cavalry outside the City, Lin Dao looked around: "Exit the City to form ranks, test their mettle."

With Lin Dao's prestige, naturally no one opposed.

And letting these Jiehu Cavalry swagger outside the City hurts Morale.

A City gate was opened, large batches of Armored Soldiers poured out like a tide.

The Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army detected the movement, gathered their troops and began to assemble.

They did not take the opportunity to charge the City, but waited quietly.

The Gluttonous Army Soldiers exiting the City numbered about three thousand.

In front were Military Households holding Threaded Steel Long Spears, at the rear were elites wearing Lamellar Armor holding the line.

"Don't go out too far." Lin Dao instructed: "Stay within the protective range of the archers and crossbowmen on the City tower."

"When the Jiehu Cavalry attack, bows and crossbows fire simultaneously without pause."

Undisturbed, a knightly frontal duel?

Cut the crap!

Ever since some grandson invented all sorts of underhanded strategic tactics, there has been no such thing as a knightly duel in the Central Plains.

It's all about killing the enemy by any means necessary.

Seeing the Gluttonous Army Soldiers exiting the City no longer advance.

Ma Qiu also understood the opposite side's meaning.

He cursed a few times, but didn't pay it excessive mind.

He had absolute confidence in the Armored Cavalry under his command.

Auxiliary Cavalry advanced to harass, throwing Arrows.

This kind of soft, limp attack naturally wouldn't achieve any decent effect; it was merely harassment.

Because the Gluttonous Army Soldiers had their backs to the City, the Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army had no chance to circle and flank, they could only charge head-on.

They first ate Dry Rations and drank water to replenish strength, then fed the charging horses refined feed mixed with Salt.

True Cavalry, when marching, ride riding horses; Armor, Weapons and other supplies are carried by pack horses.

The strongest War Horses are only ridden when charging.

Fed and watered, the Jiehu knights put armor on the War Horses, then donned armor and mounted themselves.

Three thousand Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army assembled, gradually picking up speed.

Lin Dao on the city tower looked out, and it was just like a metal wave, dark and dense, pressing over.

*Bang! Bang! Bang! *

The bed crossbows began firing; bed crossbow bolts thick as arms shot out, continuously burying themselves into the Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army formation.

No matter how thick the armor, it couldn't withstand bed crossbows.

Immediately quite a few armored cavalry, men and horses together, fell to the ground.

However, bed crossbows load too slowly; there was only time for one volley.

As for the arrows falling from the city tower, they had almost no use.

The front-rank Qihuo troops planted their iron shields into the ground.

The threaded steel long spears in their hands, rear ends thrust into the earth, shafts slanting forward resting on the shields.

The military households half-kneeled on the ground, using their shoulders to brace the iron shields with all their might.

Tens of thousands of hooves flew; the great earth seemed to tremble.

The fierce armored cavalry, just like that, braved the arrows and slammed straight into the forest of threaded steel long spears!

In an instant, men tumbled and horses overturned~~~

Under the tremendous impact force boosted by the horses' rapid charge, the Qihuo troops' spear formation was quickly smashed apart.

Although quite a few Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army men, men and horses together, were pierced by threaded steel, the formation was undoubtedly destroyed.

Large amounts of human and horse corpses, wounded soldiers, weapons and such formed obstacles, finally slowing the armored cavalry's charge momentum.

The elite Qihuo troops behind pressed forward bravely.

They raised shields and swung hammers, smashing horse heads and hooves, dragging the Jurchen cavalry off their mounts.

Pouncing on top of the Jurchen cavalry, they swung hammers and fiercely smashed skulls.

"This impact force, truly fierce."

Lin Dao on the city tower, brows tightly knit.

Armored cavalry this overbearing; if encountered in a field battle, what to do?

Can't just defend the city forever.

This is only Later Zhao's armored cavalry.

Better than them are the Liangzhou Great Horses, and the Murong Clan's armored cavalry — how to respond?

Lin Dao fell into deep thought: *Driving a heavy truck, ramming them head-on? *

*An ordinary truck won't do; at least a hundred-ton king class. *

"Lord?"

The colonel's call at his side brought Lin Dao back to his senses.

He glanced at the battlefield outside the city, and nodded firmly.

Beside the ten-odd catapults on the city tower, military households used torches to ignite the cloth strips sealing the clay pots on the throwing arms.

Amid the sound of triggers releasing, these clay pots were hurled out, landing among the follow-up Black Lance Dragon Soaring Army.

Clay pots shattered; terrifying flames instantly soared skyward, engulfing everything nearby.

Ma Qiu observing the battle personally witnessed Jiehu ablaze all over; even rolling on the ground couldn't extinguish the flames on their bodies.

They could only, amid wails, fall in agony.

He abruptly stood up, eyes wide and round.

"Extinguishing Divine Fire, it's actually real?!"

(End of Chapter)