Chapter 87: Banks of the Yi Shui

"Crown Prince Eldest Brother."

On horseback, the ten-year-old Murong De nervously swallowed his saliva.

"There are so many people opposite."

Murong Jun turned his head to look at him. "Don't be afraid, they have few horses, they can't catch up to us."

"Crown Prince Eldest Brother."

Murong De asked in a low voice, "Why do we have to fight them?"

If it were another brother, Murong Jun would have already slapped him.

For the young Murong De, he was still somewhat tolerant, and some words that could not be spoken in front of others could be said to him.

"Because the Murong Clan must survive."

Murong Jun's gaze shifted. "The Murong Clan has reached a critical moment of life and death."

"Crown Prince Eldest Brother." Murong De asked again, "Why not leave? We can return to the grassland, return to the White Mountains and Black Waters."

"We can't go back." Murong Jun sighed and shook his head.

"We built cities, constructed houses, reclaimed fields, and planted mulberry and hemp."

"The tribesmen have eaten grain, put on warm clothes, and moved into houses that can shelter from wind and rain."

"They were distributed cattle, sheep, slaves, pastures, and farmland, living a good life they had never even dreamed of."

"Who else is willing to return to Xianbei Mountain to eat grass?"

The nomadic people lived the good life of the agricultural people.

They obtained a stable source of grain.

They no longer needed to fear the white disaster of winter.

They had slaves to drive to work.

To make the tribesmen abandon all this and return to the days of following water and grass, living in uncertainty day by day.

Whoever dares to propose it will be abandoned.

Murong De half-understood, looking at his elder brother, wanting to hear more.

Murong Jun, whose mood was depressed, lowered his voice.

"Do you know, the Longcheng Armored Cavalry is gone."

Murong De nodded repeatedly.

"The Longcheng Armored Cavalry is the bone of our Murong Clan."

"Those Han have pulled out our bone!"

"Without bones, can a person still live?"

These words left Murong De extremely doubtful.

If even the Longcheng Armored Cavalry cannot be defeated, why come to fight?

"Our Murong tribe has only tens of thousands of able-bodied men."

"If we do not come to fight, those surrendered Doba tribe, Duan tribe, Yuwen tribe, Goguryeo people, Buyeo people, Bohai people, Han, Xianbei various tribes, and even other miscellaneous Hu tribes."

Murong Jun took a deep breath. "They will devour our Murong tribe alive, skin them raw, chew them to pieces and swallow them into their bellies!"

"Even if we want to leave, we must let these tribes die out before we can leave."

Inside and outside the Great Wall, there are two different sets of survival rules.

Once the Murong tribe loses power, the various tribes will turn into a pack of wolves and tear them apart.

This is the true reason why Murong Huang ordered one able-bodied man per household and swept the ground to make soldiers.

Winning is best.

If we cannot win, then we must also let the able-bodied men of the various tribes all die on the battlefield.

Otherwise, even if the Murong Clan runs away, the various tribes following the flight will absolutely not let them go.

Murong De half-understood.

But he could also feel the sorrow on Murong Jun's body.

"Crown Prince Eldest Brother, this is feeling that we can't win~~~"

The sun was high at noon, ten thousand li without clouds.

"Report~~~"

In the Bu Jun army, a scout came to report: "Xianbei troops have arrived five li away."

Murong Huang swept the ground to make soldiers; the able-bodied youth of the various tribes who could go to the battlefield were basically all brought to the battlefield.

The remaining, more numerous elderly, weak, women, and children served as civilian laborers, staying in the camp to defend.

Both sides set out from camp almost simultaneously, marching toward each other until noon, meeting at the banks of the Yi Shui River.

Lin Dao operated the drone to take off, observing the battlefield from a high position.

By the banks of the Yi Shui River, a sea of people, black and dense, were all people and livestock.

"Yong Zeng."

He called Ran Min over to look: "Why are the Xianbei cavalry in front, while the foot soldiers are far behind?"

Lin Dao was very clear that his ability to command warfare in the cold weapon era was mediocre.

So when fighting, he highly valued Ran Min's opinion.

"This is to guard against the lord's God Carriage."

Ran Min, experienced, said: "Cavalry is fast; on flat and open terrain, they can avoid the God Carriage."

"In this battle." Lin Dao humbly asked for advice: "What is your view?"

Ran Min immediately spoke out generously: "The Xianbei foot soldiers are slow and not worth fearing."

"Only cavalry can maneuver freely; we must lure them near the riverbank and block them there."

The Xianbei foot soldiers have little combat power, and since they are far from the battlefield, there is no need to bother with them.

To deal with their cavalry, it is best to drive them into a position near the Yi River.

Using the terrain to restrict them, the Qihuo Army, which is primarily composed of foot soldiers, will have a chance to blockade the Xianbei.

"I will handle driving the Xianbei reinforcements."

Lin Dao piloted the drone back. "Commanding the foot soldiers to fight, that is your job."

"Order received!"

The scouting outriders of both sides engaged in crazy killing right before the two great armies.

The Qihuo Army had few cavalry, yet their equipment was extremely fine, and they fought with reckless disregard for death.

The Xianbei scout cavalry possessed superb horsemanship and greater numbers; for a time they clashed back and forth, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

Lin Dao ordered the drums beaten, announcing the Battle Kill Order.

This signified formally entering a state of war; a fight to the death was imminent.

The officers and soldiers donned armor, wore short blades at their waists, and gripped long weapons in their hands.

Officers of the various departments scolded and beat the men, gradually forming battle arrays.

Taking the squad as the basic combat unit, the squads drew close and assembled into zhuang.

The zhuangzhu were all colonels, qualified to fly banners.

The zhuang gradually closed in, forming a One-Character Long Snake Array and advancing.

Murong Ke gripped the horse whip in his hand tightly.

"This is to lure us into charging the formation."

"They look down on us!"

Having lost the armored cavalry, relying on light cavalry to charge the formation is extremely difficult.

Since the battle began, it has consisted mainly of harassment and missile throwing.

Yet the Qihuo Army not only all wear armor, but are also equipped with large numbers of strong bows and heavy crossbows with longer range; the Xianbei side suffered heavier casualties.

"The Qihuo Army is heading for the foot soldiers." His uncle Murong Ping advised, "Why don't we go raid the Qihuo Army's main camp?"

Toward this uncle who was extravagant and greedy yet had little ability, Murong Ke was also speechless.

A main camp that can be easily breached — can it still be called a main camp?

Cavalry attacking a main camp — how could it be that easy!

He did not respond, which only left Murong Ping deeply embarrassed.

"Fourth Lord." Murong Jun rode up. "Do we fight or not?"

Regarding Murong Ke's military command ability, the various Murongs still acknowledged it.

Nominal command lay with the Yan King Murong Huang; in reality, it was still Murong Ke directing.

"Wait a bit longer."

Murong Ke gritted his teeth. "I refuse to believe they can march twenty li in armor and still be able to fight!"

"But if the Qihuo Army advances further, they will run into the foot soldiers." Murong Ping spoke up again. "We can't just let them keep charging all the way to the main camp."

"Uncle, hold your tongue." Murong Jun rudely retorted. "Just do your own job properly."

Murong Ping flew into a great rage, his face darkening as he turned his horse and left.

Over here, Murong Jun and Murong Ke, the two brothers, did not care in the least, waiting for a change in the battlefield situation.

"What is Fourth Lord waiting for?"

"Waiting for that God Carriage to appear."

After the time of one incense stick, the God Carriage finally appeared.

However, it was not the one Murong Ke had been waiting for.

"This is the Giant Object?" Murong Jun widened his eyes, his gaze full of disbelief. "There actually exists such a divine thing in the world?!"

"No, not this one!"

Murong Ke gnashed his teeth. "The Qihuo Army has not just one Giant Object!"

Lin Dao drove the Hundred-Ton King Mining Truck, charging straight at the nearest Xianbei cavalry.

The cavalry scattered in a hubbub; Lin Dao stepped on the accelerator and pursued.

Watching that Giant Object gradually move away from the battlefield, Murong Ke, coming to his senses, advised Murong Jun, "Crown Prince, it is enough."

"Fourth Lord." Murong Jun raised his horse whip, pointing at him. "You arrange it yourself."

The cow horn bugle sounded.

Large batches of cavalry surged forth.

Nomadic cavalry warfare is not like in film and television dramas, directly charging formations.

That kind of task is usually the job of armored cavalry.

Light cavalry mainly harass, interpenetrate and divide, forcing the enemy formation to collapse into chaos, then follow up to slaughter.

Xianbei cavalry, in units of hundreds and thousands, charged into the gaps between the Qihuo Army's zhuang.

They charged through to reach the Yi River bank, then turned and charged back.

Repeating this back and forth, attempting to scatter the Qihuo Army's army formation.

Under the continuous, unrelenting impacts, both sides suffered losses.

Seeing the Qihuo Army's army formation gradually loosen, Murong Ke unleashed his killer move.

He used iron chains to link the cavalry, seeking an opening to charge and break the formation with the Linked Horse Array.

On the Qihuo Army side, under Ran Min's command, they also continuously adjusted and maneuvered.

Through the drone's perspective, looking down from above, one could see the Qi Huo Army gradually leaving the Yi Shui riverbank.

Meanwhile, the Xianbei cavalry charging back and forth were being squeezed toward the riverbank in ever greater numbers.

Murong Ke keenly perceived this.

But at this moment the battlefield situation was favorable to them.

The giant object had been lured far away, and the Qi Huo Army's formation was gradually falling into disorder.

Even if the Xianbei cavalry were forced to the riverside, they could just turn around and charge back.

"The wind blows toward the riverbank." Watching the wind vane in his bodyguard's hand, Ran Min confirmed the wind direction and finally gave the order: "Beat the drums."

As the drum sound resounded across the riverbank, large batches of men surged out from every unit of the Qi Huo Army.

They carried iron wire nets, deploying and stretching them in the gaps between the various zhuang.

Murong Ke immediately ordered the units at the riverbank to charge back.

The gaps between the Qi Huo Army's units were large, and deploying the iron wire nets also took time.

Wanting the whole army to charge across was not difficult.

However at this moment, from within the Qi Huo Army's units, a group of sturdy men carrying cloth bags, their mouths and noses wrapped up, rushed out.

They used knives to slash open the cloth bags, running and shaking the bags continuously.

Large amounts of red powder drifted toward the riverbank with the wind.

"What is this?!"

Murong Ke coughed repeatedly, tears and snot streaming down together.

The fine steed he was riding also kept shaking its head, snorting and rearing.

The Xianbei cavalry fell into chaos.

The Qi Huo Army seized the opportunity, swiftly reorganizing their formation and accelerating the deployment of the iron wire nets.

One iron wire net after another stretched out, fixed inside with wooden stakes, forming an encirclement that looked loose but was actually deadly.

Inside the encirclement, there were over ten thousand cavalry blocked at the Yi Shui riverbank.

Outside the encirclement, Murong Jun hurriedly led over ten thousand cavalry to attack, trying to break open a gap to rescue them.

Those surrounded were all the core able-bodied men of their Murong tribe; they had to be rescued.

The Qi Huo Army appeared to be attacked from front and rear, but when Murong Jun charged the formation, a sudden crackling explosion sound rang out from the front of the Qi Huo Army's formation.

The sound was like a thunderclap, deafening.

Murong Jun's men were thrown into disarray, men and horses toppling over.

The unprecedented piercing sound frightened the warhorses, and the charging momentum was thereby checked.

Ran Min immediately led his troops forward to charge and kill.

Cavalry that has lost its speed — that's just meat.

The Yan King Murong Huang, commanding the foot soldiers, was greatly shocked and hurriedly urged the various units of foot soldiers forward to rescue them.

"It's my turn to appear."

Lin Dao in the driver's cab maneuvered the drone back into the truck bed.

No longer needing to deliberately suppress the vehicle's speed, ignoring those Xianbei cavalry circling and chasing around, Lin Dao stomped the accelerator to the floor.

The Hundred-Ton King Mining Truck roared and accelerated out.

Tires taller than a man crushed the earth, heading straight for the Xianbei foot soldiers' formation.

When the Hundred-Ton King came charging with overwhelming momentum.

From Murong Huang at the top down to ordinary herdsmen.

Everyone's faces wore the same expression.

Terror, despair!

(End of Chapter)