Chapter 153: First Volume, Chapter 153: Strike When the Enemy Is Weary

First Volume, Chapter 153: Strike When the Enemy Is Weary

Due to the extreme chaos on the battlefield, the Mobile Battalion was highly dispersed and constantly weaving in and out of the lines; despite the Ninghu Archer Battalion's numerical superiority, their effectiveness was severely limited by the risk of friendly fire and difficulty in acquiring clear targets.

The Cavalry Battalion, suffering equally heavy losses, could only grit their teeth and charge forward to pursue the Mobile Battalion—but chasing light cavalry with heavy cavalry was always a fantasy.

Moreover, the Mobile Battalion consisted entirely of "Cavalry Archers," who fired backward while retreating; after this pursuit, it was the Ninghu Army's cavalry that suffered catastrophic losses, reduced to barely a dozen riders.

Seeing the Ninghu Army's Cavalry Battalion and Light Infantry Battalion reduced to utter chaos by the Mobile Battalion's harassment, Qin Feng's furrowed brow finally relaxed completely.

Without further hesitation, he sharply raised his flag!

The Firepower Battalion obeyed, slinging their bows onto their backs, discarding their dao blades, drawing their waist sabers, switching from formation to close combat, and circling around from the flank like a sharp blade, stabbing straight into the rear of the Ninghu Archer Battalion.

Due to the Liang Kingdom's empty national treasury, archers were barely armed at all—unlike Qin Feng, who could afford to arm his archers armed to the teeth.

The gap between Ninghu's archers and Xu Mo's archers was even wider than that between heavy infantry and light infantry.

Faced with the sudden assault of the Firepower Battalion, the numerically superior Archer Battalion could not organize any effective resistance—it was a one-sided massacre.

The Light Infantry Battalion attempted several times to reinforce, but was pinned down by the Mobile Battalion and could not break free.

In barely one cup of tea time, the Archer Battalion was totally annihilated!

Ning Hu, deeply entrenched in the chaos of the central formation, remained utterly unaware.

Qin Feng stood atop the City Wall, fully aware of battlefield developments; the instant the enemy archers were wiped out, he gave his order.

The Firepower Battalion dropped their waist sabers, drew their bows and arrows, and finally unleashed the true strength of their archers.

With the Mobile Battalion harassing and tying down the front, and the Firepower Battalion raining arrows from behind, the Ninghu Army's Light Infantry Battalion was slowly attrited until it finally collapsed.

The remaining dozen Ninghu heavy cavalry launched a suicidal charge.

Yet they remained constrained by terrain, unable to build up sufficient speed to generate meaningful impact, and were instead surrounded and picked off by the Firepower Battalion—either shot down by arrows or dragged off their horses and beaten to death.

This left only Ning Hu's Heavy Infantry Battalion.

But at the same time, Xu Mo's Armored Battalion was nearly exhausted, reduced to only eight men led by Xu Mo himself, huddled together, struggling desperately.

And since the Ninghu Army had always held a numerical advantage, this imbalance now left them with over a hundred men still standing.

Facing an enemy force more than ten times their size, Xu Mo's temples bulged with veins as he screamed hysterically: "Our tactical objective has been achieved—we die without regret!"

"Kill one, we break even; kill two, we profit! Comrades, fight to the death!"

Inspired by Xu Mo, the remaining eight men fought without fear, trading lives with the enemy and killing three or four more before being totally surrounded and annihilated by the Ninghu Army.

Xu Mo took a hammer blow to the chest, nearly blacking out; gripping his axe handle tightly, he knelt on one knee, staring at Ning Hu, each word deliberate: "No wonder you're the Little Marquis—your martial skill is unmatched; no noble youth in Jingzhong can surpass you!"

Though victorious, Ning Hu showed no arrogance; instead, his gaze burned with admiration as he looked at Xu Mo: "Outnumbered, you still held out this long—Xu Mo, you are a true hero… but the central formation has fallen; the battle is decided."

Xu Mo's lips curled into a bitter smile: "Correct. Everything unfolded exactly as Brother Qin predicted—you won tactically, but lost strategically… you sacrificed tactics to secure strategic victory."

Hearing this, Ning Hu's heart lurched; he immediately looked up at the City Wall—only to find Qin Feng had already dropped his flag and returned to his Tengyi Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair Chair, comfortably munching on raw sugarcane.

Ning Hu was baffled: "My heavy infantry has been annihilated, the central formation lost—why is Qin Feng so calm? Those bow infantry may be formidable, but they lack numbers and equipment—could they possibly turn defeat into victory?"

At that moment, a chorus of horse neighs echoed across the field.

Ning Hu's face turned ashen; he slowly turned—and saw enemy cavalry had encircled him completely, riding in three concentric rings, occasionally loosing cold arrows.

Watching his heavy armor soldiers being steadily eliminated and consumed.

Ning Hu's heart burned with resentment; he rallied his men and roared: "We are not defeated—kill!"

Ning Hu led his remaining heavy infantry in a counterattack against the Mobile Battalion—but heavy infantry chasing raiding cavalry was harder than a turtle catching a cheetah.

What followed was an extremely brutal scene.

The Raiding Cavalry employed "kite-flying" tactics: when the enemy advanced, they retreated; when the enemy retreated, they pursued; when the enemy grew weary, they struck.

Under the relentless attrition of the Raiding Cavalry, Ning Hu, despite his peerless martial skill, was powerless.

And what filled him with even greater despair were dozens of Firepower Battalion bow infantry, fully armed to the teeth, carrying bows, waist sabers capable of piercing armor, and dao blades, resting calmly on the perimeter.

In barely one incense stick time, Ning Hu's prized Heavy Infantry Battalion was consumed to nothing—throughout the entire process, the Firepower Battalion never lifted a finger.

Sitting atop the City Wall, chewing sugarcane to moisten his throat, Qin Feng couldn't help but laugh: "Without support from other units, heavy infantry are just hung out to dry by mounted archers? Charging? Impossible. Never in this lifetime. Cavalry are golden treasures—how could they be wasted on such crude work?"

As the last heavy infantryman was struck down by arrows, only Ning Hu remained.

The Mobile Battalion surrounded him but did not press—seemingly to toy with him.

Ning Hu's martial prowess was extraordinary, his Small Golden Mace a terrifying threat—but before the Mobile Battalion, he could only offer his neck to be cut, with no chance to unleash his skills.

At that moment, the repaired Firepower Battalion closed in, dozens of dao blades advancing from all sides, their voices dripping with cold mockery: "Little Marquis, won't you drop your Gold Mace? A final strike might trade your life for one of ours—but the next second, you'll be turned into meat paste."

Ning Hu cursed the Small Golden Mace in his hand—if only he'd wielded a ji spear, he might still have had a chance!

Thud…

The Small Golden Mace fell to the ground.

Dozens of bow infantry surged forward, pinned Ning Hu down, bound him tightly, and dragged him toward the City Wall.

The court officials, both civil and military, fell utterly silent, their faces frozen in expressions of utter disbelief.

Qin Tianhu alternated between shock and excitement: "Outnumbered, yet annihilated the entire enemy force and captured the enemy commander?! This tactical application—even this old man might…"

Li Xu stared in astonishment: "One thousand Imperial Guard, led by Ning Hu, defeated by three hundred palace guards? Qin Feng Xiao'er—is he the Wuqu Star reincarnated?!"

The Liang Emperor remained silent for a long time, his deep eyes fixed on Qin Feng atop the City Wall, his heart torn between love and fear.

He loved him—this youth's talent was peerless; possessing him was a blessing for Liang! He feared him—this youth's power was too great; he might overshadow his sovereign…

Too weak is unacceptable; too strong is equally unacceptable!