Chapter 731

First Volume, Chapter 731: Clash Between Cavalry Archers and Bow Infantry

Unfortunately, separated by two hundred steps and with the noise of the battlefield overwhelming, Ma Tingyun screamed until his throat cracked, but Lü Ci heard nothing.

If he sent troops to reinforce, Qin Feng would inevitably send reinforcements in return, and the two sides would inevitably become entangled—a scenario Ma Tingyun absolutely did not want.

What he didn't know was that at this very moment, Qin Feng was not in the Middle Array Main Camp—he was right inside the FrontlineCampOne!

Qin Feng stood inside the central tent, watching Lü Ci through the gap in the tent flap, coldly saying: "One hundred steps—even a woman could shoot an arrow that far."

"All FrontlineInfantryArchers, FreeShootingOrder."

As soon as the order was given, the thousand FrontlineInfantryArchers of FrontlineCampOne drew their bows and launched parabolic shots; since they were only one hundred steps apart, no steep angle was needed.

These specially trained Bow Infantry had exceptional accuracy—on the first volley, a dense ArrowRain felled ten plus Beidi Cavalry.

At that moment, the SecondTeamCavalry, who had been patrolling nearby, noticed Lü Ci was under attack and immediately charged toward FrontlineCampOne.

Over two hundred cavalry, when still less than fifty steps from the Vanguard Camp, began ambush shooting.

Unfortunately, Qin Feng's FrontlineInfantryArchers, the moment they spotted the Raiding Cavalry approaching, had already turned and retreated back into their tents.

These tents, built by Tianji Camp craftsmen, each rivaled the Shuaizhang in size.

From the outside, they looked ordinary, but inside they concealed hidden structures—except for the specially designed windows and doors, all other surfaces were sealed shut with wooden planks.

Cavalry Archers' bows were inherently weak; amid a clatter of metallic pings, every arrow embedded itself into the wooden planks.

The tent windows were deliberately designed low, their bottom edges aligned precisely with the soldiers' waists.

Thus, the Bow Infantry merely needed to lift the curtain and stand by the window to return fire at the patrolling cavalry outside.

Cavalry Archers versus Bow Infantry, with the latter sheltered inside tents—the outcome was inevitable.

The two hundred cavalry launched several ambush rounds but inflicted almost no real casualties; instead, any cavalryman who drew within thirtyPlusSteps of the tents became the target of PreciseShooting.

Lü Ci's SecondTeamCavalry lost thirtyPlus corpses after just three passes.

The SecondTeamCaptain immediately realized: even if they exhausted every arrow and replaced every cavalryman, they could never inflict meaningful damage on Qin Feng's FrontlineInfantryArchers.

Finally, the SecondTeamCaptain gave the decisive order: "ChargeOrder!"

The remaining fewer than two hundred cavalry seized their horse lances and charged toward the tents; seeing the dense clusters of arrows stuck in the fabric, they knew these tents had been specially reinforced and did not attempt to ram them down as they normally would.

Instead, they rushed straight into the tents or to the windows, using the length of their lances to thrust wildly inside.

In the SecondTeamCaptain's mind, cavalry against Bow Infantry was pure slaughter—but as continuous Scream erupted, he realized something was wrong.

The ones screaming were all his own cavalrymen!

What the hell was going on?!

The SecondTeamCaptain looked closer and realized—disaster! The FrontlineInfantryArchers had already dropped their bows and pulled out horse lances nearly two zhang long, stabbing cavalrymen off their mounts.

Often, a single cavalryman faced five or six, even seven or eight Bow Infantrymen attacking at once.

In an instant, the cavalry's numbers were halved again—fewer than one hundred remained.

Seeing the situation turn dire, the captain gave the urgent order: "Military Retreat! Everyone, retreat!"

Unfortunately, he overlooked one thing: these FrontlineInfantryArchers could instantly drop their lances and switch weapons.

As the cavalry turned to flee, the Bow Infantry immediately swapped arms, burst from the tents, and fired precise shots at the fleeing cavalry's backs.

By the time the SecondTeamCavalry returned to Lü Ci's side, fewer than fifty remained.

Seeing the horrific losses of the SecondTeam, Lü Ci flew into a rage, yanking the SecondTeamCaptain off his horse and screaming: "Worthless! Are you brain-dead?!"

"With so few men, you dared charge the enemy's main camp? I think you're braver than Chen Si, Grand General!"

The SecondTeamCaptain looked wounded: "General, if I hadn't charged, those Bow Infantry would've kept peppering us with arrows—eventually…"

Before he could finish, Lü Ci shoved him aside.

Because Lü Ci knew perfectly well: at one hundred steps, for Bow Infantry, even blindfolded, they could shoot an arrow over—accuracy didn't matter. Long-range shooting always followed the principle of a blind cat stumbling upon a dead rat.

As long as enough arrows were fired toward the general area, some unlucky bastard would inevitably be hit.

"How much longer until the BodyBurial is complete?" Lü Ci roared.

The Deputy General glowered, resentful but forced to feign reverence: "General, we haven't even finished DugTrenches—how could we possibly bury them yet?"

"So many corpses, and not a single proper tool—our soldiers have to dig trenches with their Swords."

At that moment, Ma Tingyun had already sent someone to intervene.

"General Lü, return to the city—unless you hurry, Qin Feng's Second Battalion Cavalry will arrive."

Lü Ci was caught between a rock and a hard place: if he retreated now, abandoning two hundred corpses, he wouldn't boost Military Morale—he'd accelerate its collapse.

If he stubbornly pressed on to bury the bodies, even if the enemy's FrontlineInfantryArchers shot blindly, they'd still inflict heavy casualties on his cavalry.

As Lü Ci struggled to decide, the SecondTeamCaptain suddenly pointed toward the Vanguard Camp and growled: "General, the enemy's Bow Infantry are advancing!"

What?

Lü Ci turned—and saw it: over a hundred Liang Kingdom Bow Infantry had left their camp and closed to thirtyPlusSteps.

Lü Ci burst into laughter: "Hahahaha, total fools!"

"Got a slight advantage and started getting cocky—daring to leave their camp and advance?"

Lü Ci waved his hand: "First Battalion, crush those reckless Bow Infantry under your horses' hooves!"