Chapter 165

A fire broke out in Chanshan City, naturally startling the Jie Tribe's Heavy Cavalry Corps outside the South Gate.

Although they were fierce, they were also currently suffering a three-sided pincer attack from cannon carts, bed crossbows, and human cavalry, leaving them unable to advance or retreat for the moment.

One must admit, as a veteran general of the Border Army, Jiang Bu Shi found offense somewhat difficult.

But in defensive counterattack warfare on the front lines, he was a top-tier expert.

Back then, if he had been made the supreme military commander of the entire border army, although exterminating the Jie Tribe would have been impossible, at least he would not have let the Jie Tribe easily harass the border.

And Gu Xuan's arrival ultimately came to understand this old general's talent, and let him display his due value in this battle.

One could see a group of roughly a thousand Jie heavy cavalry, seeing the battle situation critical, suddenly turn ruthless, disregarding their own casualties, intending to bore through the human army formation to open a breach for the more heavy cavalry behind them.

Without doubt, such a price was tragic, very likely causing hundreds of heavy cavalry casualties in an instant.

But once they succeeded, the effect would also be immediate; if the momentum of all heavy cavalry charging into formation formed, it could even cause the collapse of the human army formation.

Over these years, the Jie army had relied on this one move to win several campaigns.

However.

Jiang Bu Shi stood on that tall armored cart at the very center rear of the great array, and had long since seen this scene.

And regarding this, he had obviously long been prepared.

Dong dong dong!

As the fierce war drums sounded, the central command flag then waved.

A rumbling sound rang out, and dozens of ancient, oddly shaped vehicles were pushed to the outer side of the human great array, forming a round formation.

These vehicles were also called Vajra Chariots; normally on the march they could transport baggage and ordnance, but once defense was needed, they could form an array.

And the outermost several ranks of soldiers, under the officers' loud shouts, also retreated back to the sides or rear of the Vajra Chariots.

Row upon row of iron ge and long spears stood erect, like a forest of steel, inspiring dread at first sight, and with great shields to stop heavy arrows, it could be called airtight.

Seeing this scene, even the fiercest Jie heavy cavalry could only return dejectedly, circling an arc before retreating.

In fact.

Whether cannon carts, bed crossbows, or the Felt Hammer Tactic, and now the Vajra Chariots, all only count as conventional tactics, not anything novel.

Over these years, the Great Zhou Northern Border Army and the Jie Tribe have had frequent conflicts, and are already very familiar with each other's tactics and methods.

The crux of the problem lies in timing!

At this moment, the Jie Tribe's Chanshan City was burning with raging fire.

This signified a fatal point: their grain and fodder supply faced the risk of being cut off.

Perhaps the two or three granaries in the city had good enough fire prevention measures to hold out until the fire died down under such a blaze; if so, perhaps half or more of the grain could remain.

But that was only a possibility.

The fire was this big; no one dared guarantee those few granaries could hold firm.

Moreover, fire oil bombs could still be faintly seen being hurled from afar; obviously that small human unit in the rear was still adding fuel.

Because anyone with eyes could see the Jie Tribe's grain reserves were necessarily inside this Chanshan City.

And not only that.

The nearly ten thousand Jie infantry originally in the city, originally one of the final trump cards for victory or defeat in the great battle, were subjected to massacre right from the start.

"How could this happen?!"

When the new Jie King Dai Shang was escorted by his personal guards at the cost of their lives to the heavy cavalry corps in the city north, and had just caught a slight breather, he was met with a furious rebuke from his paternal uncle, who was also the heavy cavalry corps commander Mangu.

And say what you will, no matter how high Mangu's seniority or how great his power and authority, his status could not possibly surpass Dai Shang's.

Yet now, he actually used such a tone to rebuke the Jie King, causing all Jie officers and soldiers present to be stunned.

This was an obvious offense against a superior!

If it were the days when Old Jie King Nu Chi was in power, even given Mangu a hundred courages, he would not dare be so presumptuous, but would be trembling with fear, like a docile little cat.

Dai Shang's eyes instantly turned blood-red, his face grown with ten-odd black hairs alternating between pale and white.

He was Nu Chi's direct nephew, now over thirty years old, counted as a promising young noble in the Jie Tribe, otherwise he would not have been chosen as the new Jie King.

However.

He never dreamed that at this moment of life and death, the one bringing him the greatest humiliation and sense of threat would actually be this paternal uncle by his side.

No matter what, he was still the King; being questioned and rebuked by a subordinate in such a rude manner, his self-esteem also suffered extreme insult.

But the situation is stronger than the man!

At this moment, his mind spun several circles, yet he discovered he had no way to refute.

Because without a shred of doubt, losing the baggage and grain in Chanshan City meant their great army instantly fell into a kind of passivity, even to the point of a dead end!

No matter how strong an army, without grain, how many days can it last?

Right now, the Jie Tribe's only hope of victory lay in the heavy cavalry corps they had left.

If they could, in the charge, first rout the opposing human main force army, seize their grain and baggage, then there would still be a thread of life, perhaps even a great victory.

However, the opposing Jiang Bu Shi was exceptionally cunning and veteran, and reacted extremely fast, plugging the leaks almost watertight, turning the Jie heavy cavalry corps' hope of breaking through into a bubble.

This Jie King Dai Shang had not been enthroned long; he was simply a stopgap recommendation, his prestige not yet established.

At this moment, facing Mangu's accusation, and the cold sidelong glances of the generals under his command, he couldn't help but feel disheartened, even somewhat desperately wanting to rush to the fire-soaring Chanshan City to fight the fire, but was naturally stopped by the personal guards beside him.

In fact.

Mangu's offense against a superior at this time naturally had a part truly born of anger at things going badly, but to a large extent was deliberate.

Because when the Jie King was recommended that day, he was also one of the candidates.

But due to his violent temper and crude, reckless character, his impression in the minds of the Jie elders was very poor.

Therefore, Mangu naturally lost the vote count to Dai Shang by a wide margin in that day's selection.

However, his strength is not to be underestimated; he has always commanded a heavy cavalry battalion of nearly five thousand, and concurrently serves as commander of the entire heavy cavalry corps.

This time the Chanshan City fire, unexpectedly helped him eliminate many elders, or rather political enemies, unintentionally.

As a result, Mangu seemed to have a sudden flash of insight, realizing that the internal power situation had completely changed at this moment.

His outburst was more for the sake of establishing authority, to firmly control the ten-thousand-strong Heavy Cavalry Corps in his hands, and to prevent Dai Shang from issuing orders in his capacity as Jie King.

Moreover, he was originally the kind of crude, overbearing person who would make trouble even when in the wrong.

Now that he had leverage over Dai Shang, how could he let it go? Naturally he had to harshly rebuke and mock him, and even though the other party was the nominal Jie King, it was still the same.

Of course.

Mangu's insubordinate action naturally drew the glare of many of Dai Shang's personal guards.

They had just risked their lives protecting the Jie King to break out of the sea of fire; how could they tolerate him being insulted like this? For a moment, the situation actually reached the point where swords were drawn and bows bent.

However, both sides knew that at this moment, it had come to the Jie Tribe's life-or-death juncture; they could not really fight, and could only each retreat a step in resentment.

To a certain extent, this can also be said to be: when a state is about to perish, there must be monsters.

And in Dai Shang's heart, he also felt extremely stifled and resentful.

He really wanted to retort: You face Great Zhou's fire oil bombs that splash and burn the moment they touch the ground — what method do you have?!

And if facing others, he might still have been able to show some of the courage and magnanimity of a Jie King, voluntarily taking responsibility.

However, he deeply knew Mangu's character, and knew that doing so would not only be useless, but would only invite even more fierce mockery and harsh criticism from Mangu.

Therefore.

Faced with this situation, Dai Shang ultimately chose not to stay here any longer, but led his personal guard cavalry of less than a hundred men to leave; from the look of it, he was actually going to turn back to rescue and win over those clansmen who had escaped from Chanshan City.

He really did not want to stay together with a person like Mangu any longer!

And his action looked no different from suicidal behavior.

Because the two to three thousand Great Zhou elite cavalry led by Gu Xuan were pursuing and routing the enemy beneath Chanshan City, hacking and killing heavily; whether Jie Heavy Armor cavalry or others, none could block the charge of these Tiger Ben Warriors.

Seeing the Jie King act like this, even the several Partial Generals beside Mangu could not help but look at each other in dismay.

A senior Partial General plucked up courage and looked at Mangu: "General, this..."

But Mangu's gaze was cold beyond compare; he snorted gruffly: "Let him go! Losing the grain and fodder in Chanshan City is no small crime; if he were not the King, I would hate not to slaughter him!"

His words were filled with resentment and disrespect!

Since their own Family Head had already spoken like this, these several Partial Generals naturally had nothing more to say; and they themselves were also worried and indignant because the grain had been burned.

After a brief disturbance.

Within the Jie Tribe, the newly appointed Jie King actually fell out with his own side's Heavy Cavalry Corps commander, and in the end chose to go their separate ways!

And Dai Shang obviously was not simply someone who only knew how to send himself to death.

As the Jie King who had been elected, he actually possessed some genuine talent.

Only to see, he led his not-numerous personal guard cavalry, far avoiding Gu Xuan's nearly three thousand shock cavalry, only on the edges or from a great distance, gathering the remaining Jie Tribe soldiers.

After a moment's effort, he actually managed to gather over a thousand bedraggled soldiers.

Then, taking advantage of the time when Gu Xuan and the others had already engaged Mangu's Heavy Cavalry, he led these soldiers and actually left the battlefield.

Although they fled into deep mountains and dense forests.

But it is not hard to imagine that the direction they headed should be the Jie Tribe's last remaining large settlement, which is also their third largest city, Kuju City.

For only there would these people have a chance to get good protection and heal wounds.

And although Gu Xuan had already noticed this point, he did not pursue.

Because at this time, the fire oil in Chanshan City had already gradually burned out, and the fire was gradually dying down.

And in the city, there seemed to still be one or two granaries holding firm; inside there might still be quite a lot of remaining grain and baggage.

To be able to persist to this degree under such a fire, one must say, the Jie Tribe granaries' waterproof measures indeed have a set.

And Gu Xuan and the others naturally did not want to see this situation happen.

He issued an order, letting his other subordinates continue sweeping up the Jie Tribe remnants on this city north side, while also protecting those three hundred-plus Camel Cannon Camp as best they could, letting the leading Partial General decide for himself under what circumstances to retreat.

And he himself led eight hundred men, charging into the city where the fire was dying down, intending to thoroughly burn down the remaining one or two granaries, not leaving a single grain of food for the Jie Tribe Heavy Cavalry Corps!

And another battlefield.

That is the city south, where Mangu, currently entangled with Jiang Bu Shi and the other Jin Ren main force army formation, also discovered the situation in Chanshan City behind him.

As a Heavy Cavalry Corps, although they simultaneously encountered Jin Ren cannon carts, bed crossbows, and cavalry entanglement, they were not in a passive position; one could even say they were in an active attacking position, merely unable to truly break through.

And Mangu and his several Partial Generals also keenly discovered that there should still be one or two granaries not burned down.

This would be their rations for the coming days, and also the hope for their retreat!

Therefore.

Mangu almost without the slightest hesitation immediately ordered a capable Partial General to lead a two-thousand-man Heavy Cavalry unit to turn back and rescue the granaries.

As for the other troops, they continued charging the formation, trying to find an opportunity to shatter the Jin Ren army formation before them.

And to speak of when Gu Xuan led men into the Chanshan City where the gates had been burned down, thoroughly ignited the nearest granary, and prepared to go to the next granary farther away, they encountered the Jie Tribe unit.

Enemies meeting, eyes especially red!

And this sole remaining granary was the Jie Tribe's hope, yet also the place the Jin Ren must destroy.

"Protect the granary!"

The Jie Tribe's leading Partial General almost at the first moment issued a military order; he had his troops split in two, half to fight the fire while also protecting the granary, the other half directly charging fiercely at Gu Xuan and the others.

At this juncture, dividing forces is a major taboo, yet the Jie Tribe Partial General had no choice but to do so.

Because they were on the defending side; if a single defense was improper, letting the granary fire continue burning, or letting the Jin Ren seize a flaw, then their hope would be gone.

This is also times changing and world transforming.

The Jie Tribe has always been attacking cities and seizing territory within the Great Zhou Dynasty, burning, killing, looting; when have they ever had such a helpless passive defense like today?

But the situation presses, they have no choice but to do so.

And Gu Xuan also decided promptly, ordering fifty agile Knights in the army to dismount, climb over those chaotic walls, and go straight to the granary to set fire.

And he himself led the remaining seven hundred-plus elite Knights, facing the Jie Tribe Heavy Cavalry head-on, to delay time.

In the terrain within Chanshan City, rather than calling it a cavalry clash, it would be more accurate to call it street fighting.

Because the roads could not be called wide at all, some were even narrow, at most allowing four or five Knights to ride abreast, and there were many burned and collapsed roof beams and pillars.

In this kind of terrain, relying on the warhorses' speed and momentum to charge was obviously not very realistic; instead, it relied more on the Knights' individual martial power.

Therefore, Gu Xuan's peerless martial power that could contend against a thousand men was once again brought to its utmost.

Rumble—!

One saw him operate the Great Zhou Divine King Art at full power, and above his head several dragon-shaped qi streams instantly appeared, lifelike and awe-inspiring, shaking all the soldiers.

On the Jin Ren side, needless to say, morale soared; what could be more glorious than following a peerless expert like Emperor Gaozu to conquer the battlefield?

And on the Jie Tribe side, there were actually quite a few who had heard the mythical stories of the Great Zhou Dynasty's High Ancestor; now that this miracle was reappearing, how could they not be inexplicably panic-stricken?

"Kill!"

Amidst the resounding shouts, Gu Xuan wielded his specially made Armor-Breaking Long Axe; with every horizontal sweep of the axe, at least four or five Jie Cavalry heavily groaned and fell.

And the Tiger Ben Warriors of the Jin Ren beside him, each and every one with high battle intent, fought bloodily forward, vowing to kill the enemy to the death!

(Chapter End)