Chapter 164

The two armies clashed for the first time, and the Jie Tribe's world-renowned heavy arrows displayed tremendous effectiveness.

Puff puff puff!

With those terrifying sounds of arrows piercing flesh, Human Border Army soldiers fell one after another.

"Hold the line, hold the line!"

Accompanied by the middle-rank officers' shrill roars.

The first row of shield soldiers desperately braced their shield stakes, driving them firmly into the muddy ground to prevent the Jie Tribe from seizing the chance to tear open a gap.

If that happened, it would cause casualties far greater than those from the heavy arrow volleys.

For once the Jie Tribe's heavy arrows opened a breach, the heavy cavalry regiments behind them would surge like bloodthirsty beasts along the perimeter of the gap, carving away a swath of soldiers as if gouging flesh.

Repeating this cycle, layer by layer, until the enemy's morale collapsed.

This was the tactic the Jie Tribe heavy cavalry corps had employed for many years.

It could not be called particularly brilliant; it was even somewhat crude.

Yet countering this tactic was actually not difficult.

Under current conditions where there was no weapon disparity, one either countered with heavy cavalry charges of one's own, or one's own formation was strong enough to encircle the Jie Tribe in turn.

Unfortunately, all northern armies, including the Great Zhou Dynasty, could achieve neither.

And it was by relying on just such a crude tactic that the Jie Tribe had defeated countless small tribes across the northern border for decades, had even defeated the suzerain Great Zhou Dynasty, forcing them to pinch their noses and acknowledge the Jie Tribe's hegemony in the north.

As the Jie Tribe won more and more, more small tribes chose to join them, their strength growing ever greater, until they now faintly possessed the power to bully the Great Zhou Dynasty.

But Gu Xuan's proactive expedition with the Border Army this time clearly also had preparations in place long ago.

Hum hum hum!

From behind the Great Zhou formation rose a strange twanging of bowstrings.

It was the cannon cart camp behind the main formation, launching a counterattack the instant the Jie Tribe attacked.

Then came the rumbling roar of wind.

One saw over a hundred cannon carts fire simultaneously; dense masses of stone blocks crashed heavily onto the Jie heavy cavalry, and under the action of gravitational torque, hundreds were instantly killed.

This also created a gap of roughly a hundred paces between the Jie Tribe and Great Zhou.

At this very moment, the front several ranks of the Great Zhou formation suddenly split open a dozen small gaps under the direction of flag signals and officers.

Clearly, this was an extremely abnormal situation.

For if the Jie Tribe seized this opportunity, similarly sized detachments of heavy cavalry would instantly charge in, using their high-mobility inertia to slash and kill many soldiers along the perimeter.

However.

On the Jie Tribe side, those heavy cavalry who had suddenly accelerated to close this gap instinctively sensed something was wrong.

Only, under this overwhelming momentum, they simply could not retreat or turn; doing so would only cause them to collide with or trip their comrades.

And in their suspicious and terrified gazes.

Within the Great Zhou formation, a dozen bed crossbows flashing with dark, cold, sharp light once again revealed their bloodthirsty aura like visitors from hell.

Thwack thwack thwack!

With those dull sounds of torsion release, dozens upon hundreds of bed crossbow bolts, like the will of the Grim Reaper, instantly pierced through the bodies of nearly a hundred Jie cavalrymen.

Some bolts even carried enough force to continue on and strike the warhorses of the cavalrymen behind.

The scene instantly became bloody and desperate beyond compare; warhorses screamed, cavalrymen shrieked, killing cries rose in waves!

And the Human Border Army likewise had cavalry regiments, attacking from both flanks like two great felt hammers, crashing heavily into the three Jie corps that had struck first.

But immediately after, following flag signals from the city walls, two small Jie reinforcement units, each no fewer than a thousand men, galloped out from the city to counter-flank the Humans.

They had clashed for barely a quarter-hour, and there were already at least over a thousand casualties!

However, the scene might look bloody, but with both sides' armor having reached the current degree of sturdiness, these casualties could only be called an appetizer.

True large-scale casualties generally occur only after one side completely collapses, during the pursuit and rout — that is the real harvest battle.

This is also one of the reasons the Jie Tribe endures bitter battles.

Over these years, they have relied on charging for over a hundred rounds, stubbornly winning through one great battle after another, enduring to the end to claim the final harvest rights.

The armies of other tribes or the Great Zhou Dynasty, though they know this point, always fail due to various reasons — morale collapse, formation shattered, etc. — and ultimately suffer helpless slaughter.

Therefore.

In this great battle.

Whether it was the Jie high command led by Dai Shang, or the Human commanders centered on Jiang Bu Shi, all issued orders one by one with faces calm as iron; though their hearts were extremely tense, not a trace showed on their faces.

For a time, the battle presented a kind of deadlocked state.

And thus.

The true decisive factor would be determined by the reinforcement units of their respective armies.

……

And speaking of.

On the Jie Tribe side, after paying the price of dozens of elite scouts, they had scouted out the Human elite force behind them.

The core high command led by Dai Shang naturally also took targeted defensive measures.

In Chanshan City, they deliberately left a full ten thousand garrison troops.

Among them, although at least half were white-haired veterans or half-grown boys, the other half were the Jie Tribe's long-famed heavy infantry.

The reason the Jie Tribe left so many reserve forces.

On one hand, it was to guard the grain, supplies, and baggage in Chanshan City.

On the other hand, it was also out of regard for the three-thousand-odd elite force led by Gu Xuan.

The current situation was indeed different from the past; even Old Jie King Nu Chi had been beheaded; the Jie Tribe had perhaps reached a life-or-death juncture, leaving no room for them not to be cautious.

A full ten thousand strong heavy force blocking that Human elite force of no great numbers — it should be no problem, right.

This is the view in the hearts of all the Jie.

However.

The development of the war still surpassed their expectations.

Gu Xuan led his three thousand Tiger Ben Warriors, almost sweeping away the Jie's remnant forces outside Chanshan City in a destroy-withered-pull-rotten manner, and arrived straight at the North Gate of this city.

One could see, behind the city walls over three meters high, an unknown number of Jie heavy archers lurked shadowily, staring dead at the arriving human army like snakes and scorpions.

If they assaulted, even with the strong army led by Gu Xuan, they would inevitably have to pay a tragic price.

But obviously, Gu Xuan had no intention of assaulting.

Following his one command, the three thousand men stationed there, formed a battle array, as if they completely had no intention of taking the city in one go.

Could it be they intend to do a long-term siege?!

This is the suspicion that rose in the mind of every Jie soldier after seeing this scene.

But soon, their doubts disappeared, because they saw a strange and terrifying scene!

One saw, from the rear center of the human battle array below, arcs trailing black smoke soared skyward, smashing toward Chanshan City.

"Fire attack!"

Watching this unknown scene, the Jie soldiers almost subconsciously, hysterically shrieked.

Although city construction has developed to this day, Chanshan City naturally has certain fire prevention measures, such as damp clay layers covering roofs, such as city warehouses being separate from each other, etc.

But these only achieved effects against the fire arrows of the past; now it is different.

The facts also prove this.

When the small fireballs thrown by the humans smashed into the city, those damp clay layers, stone slabs, etc., did not play any fire prevention role.

Almost in an instant, half of Chanshan City began to burn.

"How could it be like this?!"

Dai Shang and the other Jie high-ranking officials' gazes were incomparably cold; while in a panic, they hurriedly ordered firefighting.

Soon, the truth finally came to light.

It turned out, the small fireballs thrown by the humans all came from a camel camp of several hundred men hidden in the army, fired by torsion crossbow cannons on the camels' bodies.

These were all solid bullets infused with special fire oil; once they landed, the fire oil splashed in all directions, like a bone-clinging pestle, burning crazily on the bodies of the Jie soldiers in the city, on the granaries, etc.

The Jie in the city, even frantically fighting the fire, found it hard to prevent the spread of the fire.

Needless to say, this was naturally one of the preparations the humans made for this active conquest.

To maximize the killing of the Jie, this fierce and stubborn enemy, and to maximize the reduction of their own soldiers' casualties.

Simultaneously, even more to target the Jie's possible heavy infantry holding the city to the death.

Gu Xuan proposed this concept, and then with the cooperation of old generals like Jiang Bu Shi, mobilized almost all the veteran craftsmen in the Northern Frontier Army, finally assembling the fire oil bombs used for this expedition before setting out.

And this time Gu Xuan led three thousand tiger-wolf warriors, among whom were included three hundred Camel Fire Bullet Camp soldiers.

And for this special operation, every soldier not only brought fifteen days' rations of jerky etc., but also carried at least one fire oil bomb on their horse, carefully wrapped in waterproof cloth.

After firing commenced, the three thousand Tiger Ben Warriors automatically formed an array, guarding the Camel Fire Bullet Camp at the very center.

And under their officers' command, they orderly transported the fire oil bombs from their own horses toward the center.

And indeed, at this moment, this Camel Fire Bullet Camp ultimately still displayed a miraculous effect.

One saw, as the raging fire in Chanshan City blazed up, an unknown number of Jie soldiers protected by heavy armor howled miserably, rolled about, and ultimately still could not extinguish the fire oil clinging to their bodies, finally dying silently.

In no more than half a quarter-hour's effort, just those burned to death numbered four to five hundred.

That smell of charred flesh burning made one want to vomit upon smelling it, incomparably eerie.

Not only the surviving Jie in the city, but even the heavy cavalry attacking outside the South Gate smelled it, only feeling extremely nauseous and irritable in their hearts.

Even a few of the human side's own soldiers vomited.

But comparatively speaking, these burned-dead Jie soldiers were only the smallest part of their losses.

The real loss lay in the burning of those several large granaries and armories in Chanshan City!

As a result, almost all Jie armies inside and outside the city instantly fell into a desperate situation!

Without grain and armament supplies, they would face starving as early as tomorrow; what continued fighting, what long-term holding out against the human army?

No one expected that the Great Zhou side's suddenly produced fire oil bombs would actually have such terrifying power!

Woo woo woo!

With the wind sound in midair, a full nearly two thousand fire oil bombs were all poured into Chanshan City, instantly causing a sea of fire.

This can almost be said to be the latest drill of a military revolution, which will lead to the further development of siege warfare on this land.

After this, it is estimated all countries, tribes, or forces will ponder deeply how to avoid being easily breached by such terrifying fire oil bombs.

However.

At this very moment, the Jie simply had no time to think about all this.

In the city there were nearly ten thousand Jie soldiers; besides several hundred to over a thousand burned to death, the vast majority could no longer endure the fire in the city growing larger and larger, spreading more and more.

Therefore, a full several thousand Jie soldiers fled to outside the city in utter disarray.

Among them, many were once veteran heavy infantry who had participated in incursions into Great Zhou territory, but now many had beards and hair scorched yellow, even faces covered in burn blisters, very bedraggled.

Facing such a good opportunity, the human elite troops led by Gu Xuan naturally would not let it pass.

And the reason they first attacked with camel fire oil bombs was for this very moment!

Except for the several hundred men of the camel camp forming a round formation, blades facing outward for self-preservation.

Rumble!

The remaining two thousand plus human soldiers all mounted horses, then split into two columns of cavalry, like two incomparably sharp blades, killing toward those Jie soldiers in utter chaos outside Chanshan City!

These human knights, every one was a brave warrior selected from the border army, skilled in archery and horsemanship, capable of fighting multiple opponents alone.

Among them, there were even one or two hundred who were the hundred-battle warriors that followed Gu Xuan to kill the Jie King Nu Chi that day.

Hum—!

Several dense volleys of arrows shot forth, tearing through the air, emitting a hair-raising sound in midair.

Just a single volley of arrows alone, and several hundred Jie Tribe soldiers screamed as they fell, mouths gaping wide, right hands clamped tight over their throats, bearing a distinct air of dying with eyes unclosed.

This moment, just as in days past when they committed killing karma against countless Human Race people within the Great Zhou Dynasty's borders, now it happened upon themselves.

Of course.

More Jie Tribe still reacted swiftly; the instant the arrow volleys were loosed, they dodged in various ways, relying on obstacles to shield themselves.

But their efforts still had little great effect, merely delaying their moment of death.

For following the first volley of arrows, the Human Race heavy cavalry also rushed to their side.

Puff puff puff!

One iron lance after another pierced flesh, bringing forth a sound that involuntarily struck fear into the heart.

Those were the Human Race's unique Zhi Clan Long Weapons; with the warhorses' speed augmenting them, they madly stabbed into the gaps of the Jie Tribe's armor, every thrust taking a Jie Tribe soldier's life.

After one charge ended, the Human Race heavy cavalry restarted, accelerated, like plowing a field, dividing and encircling several thousand Jie Tribe, slaying them one by one.

Seeing this desperate and bloody massacre scene.

In the distance, the temporarily hiding New Jie King Dai Shang and the others, eyes all red!

They never in their wildest dreams expected that the Human Race elite force behind them would actually, in such a manner, easily breach Chanshan City, force them out of the city's shelter, and then slaughter them wholesale.

You must know, these ten thousand plus Jie Tribe heavy infantry were both a force to guard against being attacked from front and rear, and could also count as their final win-or-lose trump card prepared for an all-or-nothing gamble, yet unexpectedly they met with ill fortune right from the start.

And their grain supplies and baggage trains were also almost entirely destroyed in one fell swoop.

Can say, this one battle, from this moment on, had already decided the Jie Tribe's passive situation!

(Chapter End)