Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 25

  At this time, the eagle head of the Black Iron Cavalry had already crossed over the enemy's blocking cavalry and was facing southwest, five hundred steps away from the enemy army. Mongli Zhe rode his horse at the forefront of the troops, coldly gazing at the charging Black Iron Cavalry. The three thousand soldiers behind him were rapidly shifting their formation in the direction directly opposite to southeast.

  Monte Cristo did not know why heaven suddenly favored him. He had almost despaired. The Black Hawk Iron Cavalry changed direction due to the turn, and Monte Cristo's troops also had just enough time to adjust their formation to face the Black Hawk Iron Cavalry. However, Monte Cristo was about to suffer greatly.

  The two sides were three hundred paces apart.

  Tie E again shouted wildly: "Right turn..." The loud and clear sound of the ox horn suddenly covered up the sound of horse hooves like thunder, echoing across the battlefield once more. The Black Eagle Iron Cavalry began to perform again. Perfect turning, perfect arc, perfect Black Eagle warriors. The direction of attack was adjusted again to the enemy's northwest.

  The warriors of the Rising Clan were in disarray, preparing to shift their formation once more. Mong Ruo Zhe stopped them. There was no time for that now; they could only fight with all their might.

  "The central army changed to the front line. The vanguard changed to the right wing, attacking and breaking through the enemy cavalry of the central army. The right-wing troops changed to the central army, supplementing the vanguard at any time. The left-wing troops immediately withdrew and supplemented the rear army. The rear army changed to the left wing, assisting in defense." Montreuil immediately issued an order, changing formation on the spot. Although the defensive power was greatly discounted, it was still better than being captured without a fight.

  The two sides were one hundred and fifty steps apart.

  "Advance...!" Montrezh shouted loudly as he entered the rear army formation and stood under the commander's flag.

  The Black Hawk Iron Cavalry is still galloping wildly.

  The two sides were one hundred and twenty steps apart.

  “Charge……” Meng Rizhe let out a loud roar, the ox horn blared loudly, and a dark cloud of arrows shot up into the sky. Tieshang casually plucked off his shield from the horse's belly. The Xianbei people's shields were large and round, simple yet practical. Accompanied by the urgent sound of the ox horns, the sky above the Black Eagle Iron Riders was covered by a layer of gray shields. From up high, it looked like a moving patch of grass on the green plain, densely packed with gray mushrooms, beautiful and enticing. The black arrow rain let out an ear-piercing screech, like a ferocious beast waiting to pounce, shooting towards them.

  "Whoosh……whoosh……thud……thud……" The long arrows hit the thick and elastic rawhide, either bouncing off or embedding themselves in the circular wooden blocks hidden beneath. Interspersed among them were those that shot into the horse's back, pinning themselves to the soldiers' limbs. The Black Eagle Iron Cavalry had reached the limits of their warhorses' speed. The "huffing and puffing" sound of the three thousand warhorses' labored breathing accompanied the already deafening thunder of hooves, drowning out the entire battlefield.

  The two sides were one hundred paces apart. The bugler could only see Montreuil's mouth open wide, his hand waving vigorously, but couldn't hear what he was saying. However, the bugler resolutely blew the signal to fire on command.

  The two sides were eighty paces apart. The second wave of arrows shot out. The vanguard cavalry of the Black Eagle Iron Riders suffered some casualties, but it didn't affect their speed at all.

  There is no time for the third round of arrows anymore.

  Tie Gong put down his round shield, held up his war knife, and shouted loudly with a hoarse voice: "Hū jiào... hū jiào..." The soldiers of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry saw their commander's mouth opening and closing, knowing that he was making a loud shout to inspire the courage of the warriors in the last moment of contact with the enemy. They responded in unison, and the angry roar of three thousand people instantly covered up the huge rumbling sound, as if they were going to call down the sky on the battlefield.

  "Huff... huff... huff..."

  The soldiers of Mongreze were shocked by the majestic momentum of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry. They had never known that the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry was so brave, they had only heard about it. Their morale suddenly disappeared in the face of the enemy's roar. The soldiers who were arrayed at the front began to panic and retreat backwards.

  Mong Ruo Zhe discovered the fear of the soldiers, hastily urged his horse forward, galloping in the formation while shouting loudly: "Warriors of the Rising Dragon tribe, muster your courage and fight for the Rising Dragon!"

  "Raise your spears, draw your swords, and string your bows, for the war cry has sounded..."

  The two sides were fifty paces apart. The vanguard of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry suddenly raised their crossbows. This type of small crossbow had a long loading time, could only be fired once during a charge, and had a short attack range, so it was not used by many tribes. Unexpectedly, however, the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry had cleverly put them to use.

  The nightmare of the Qimor tribe has begun.

  The soldiers of the Rising Sparrow tribe were shot down mercilessly. They had not expected the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry to shoot at such close range. Hundreds of unsuspecting soldiers were hit by dense arrows, and in a burst of mournful cries, the formation of the long spear blocking troops in the front row was greatly disrupted.

  At this moment, the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry swarmed up, war horses soared into the sky, battle knives fell from heaven, long spears stabbed straight ahead, and batches of long arrows shot forward, a bloody massacre unfolded once again.

  Like a long dike that has burst its banks, or a herd of enraged wild bison, the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry immediately broke through the defensive lines of the Rising Sparrow tribe. The combat strength of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry was too powerful. They were organized in groups of ten and rows of one hundred. The long spear team charged forward, the war knife teams covered the flanks, and the bow and crossbow teams shot from behind. The soldiers skillfully utilized their advantages to complement each other, protecting each other as they bravely fought the enemy, advancing without hesitation.

  Montluc loudly called on the soldiers to reorganize their defense, and the horn players continuously blew supporting calls. The soldiers who came from the right wing fearlessly rushed forward, determined to stop the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry outside the central army formation. Montluc gathered about two hundred cavalrymen, and in a loud shout, they charged towards the flank of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry.

  The Black Eagle Iron Cavalry was heavily hit in the waist, and immediately they were cut into the rear of the vanguard by Mongli's cavalry. Mongli wielded his great sword, cutting horizontally across the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry's flank, advancing with unstoppable force. Tieguo led the central army to the battlefield. He pointed his war knife at Mongli's small unit and shouted loudly: "Kill them, kill them..." Immediately, hundreds of people surrounded them. The warriors of the Qizhen tribe were like meat on a chopping board, cut down by hundreds of knives, hundreds of long spears, and hundreds of long arrows, devoured in an instant. Mongli used all his strength to kill four Black Eagle Iron Cavalry warriors in a row, but he was immediately pierced by a long spear, beheaded by a sword, and even his warhorse had its head chopped off by the enraged warriors.

  Due to the reinforcement of right-wing troops and the desperate resistance of rear soldiers, although the Black Iron Cavalry broke through the central defense line of the Rising Phoenix tribe, they had already fallen into a crazy melee.

  Houlu and his vanguard tribe warriors finally completed the task of covering the Black Eagle Iron Riders' turning to attack the main force of Mongerje at the cost of over 400 people. After the last row of Black Eagle soldiers brushed past the blocking army of Mongerje, Houlu ordered the blowing of the abandonment of the blocking horn, adopting a guerrilla warfare tactic to entangle the Mingre tribe, and must not let them return to reinforce the main force of Mongerje.

  Two of Monluc's centurions were killed in the charge, and more than 500 soldiers lost their lives. They launched a frenzied reprisal against the scattered troops under the leadership of several centurions. The warriors of the two armies chased each other in groups of three or five on the empty plain.

  The fiery red sun had unknowingly hung itself on the treetops. The surrounding clouds were dazzling, and half of the sky was a deep crimson. A lone eagle from the Black Eagle tribe soared and circled in the air above the steppes. On the steppes, the sound of slaughter shook the heavens, and the air was filled with the pungent smell of blood, as if one could feel the thickness of fresh blood.

  Gongsun Hu's body had already been hit by several knives, with many long arrows inserted in his chest and back. Fresh blood had dyed his entire body red. He had exhausted all his strength and blood, slowly kneeling to the ground. He struggled to keep his eyes open, not letting them close.

  He saw a group of Longyou soldiers running past his back. He saw the remaining dozen or so warriors being surrounded by the enemy, hacked to pieces and turned into blood clots. He saw Duan Song being pierced through the chest by over a dozen long spears, nailed to a dead horse. He saw Murong Feng's command flag being cut down by the enemy, the crimson great banner trampled under the enemy's feet, soaked in the bloody grassland.

  He heard someone calling him, a very familiar voice was calling him. But he no longer had the strength to turn his head. He remembered, it was Iron Wolf who was calling him, it was Iron Wolf. He saw the azure sky.

  The sound gradually moved further and further away from him.

  Iron Wolf led the soldiers to finally gnaw down the last bone. The two thousand enemies they surrounded were all annihilated. The soldiers were no longer just tired, many could hardly lift their knives. A miserable victory, that's all it was. Killing a thousand enemies, losing eight hundred of their own. Iron Wolf's soldiers were left with only thirteen or fourteen hundred men, the wounded taking up almost half.

  Iron Wolf knelt on the ground, calling out to the horned soldier lying beside him: "Quick, blow the assembly call." Within a short span of over two hours, he had blown the assembly call nearly a hundred times. The soldier lay there, blowing the horn again. Many mobile soldiers stood up once more, mounting their horses at the fastest speed they could muster and picking up their weapons. Iron Wolf gazed out at the battlefield a hundred paces away from him, silently muttering to himself: "Gongsun Hu, you must survive, I'm coming to rescue you."

  Tie Lang raised Murong Feng's commander flag, a large red banner with an eagle emblem.

  "Charge..." He kicked his horse's belly violently. The warhorse, in pain, immediately charged forward. More than 600 soldiers closely followed behind him, under the leadership of the high-flying great flag, and rushed towards the central battlefield. The enemy immediately came to meet them. Both sides clashed again. The soldiers on both sides had already been numbed by blood and death. They did not say a word, like two ferocious wolves, tearing at each other.

  Iron Wolf handed the large flag to the horned soldier behind him, picked up a strong bow and shot continuously. He charged forward while shouting loudly: "Gongsun Hu... Gongsun Hu..."

  But he didn't hear the familiar roar of his comrades, nor did he see the figures of the fierce warriors. All he saw was enemy soldiers constantly coming towards him from all directions. His heart sank.

  The iron wolf's hand, stretched out behind his back, stopped. He had shot all the arrows in his quiver. At this moment, he saw a young enemy soldier not far away, rushing towards him with a smile. Then he felt a severe pain in his chest, a sharp pain. He lowered his head and looked down, a black long arrow was already inserted into his chest, and there was still blood on the black feathers of the arrow tail. He slowly raised his head to look at the soldier. The young man was already dead, lying on the horseback, with seven or eight arrows shot into his back.

  The iron wolf slowly rode his horse forward. Blood had already flowed out, flowing down from the chest. Warm blood. Gentle sunset. Azure sky. The iron wolf suddenly felt very relaxed, very calm, with a feeling of drifting away with the wind.

  He saw Gong Sunhu. Gong Sunhu straightened his body, knelt on the grass and looked up at the sky.

  Tie Lang knew he was already dead. He slowly slid down from his horse and sat beside Gong Sun Hu. He looked at Gong Sun Hu, silently staring. Tie Lang slowly lay down on the grass.

  Murong Feng slumped down on the dead warhorse.

  The phalanx formation has disintegrated. In the end, it was still broken by the soldiers of the Niu Tou tribe with their lives and blood. The battlefield is full of soldiers from both sides killing each other.

  Li Hongjing was bare-chested, his hair disheveled, and he held a knife in one hand. He fought with all his might, slashing left and right around Murong Feng. His powerful and majestic demeanor, the aura of killing that surrounded him, and his unbeatable martial arts skills did not intimidate the soldiers of the Niu Tou tribe. Instead, they provoked them to charge forward like a group of madmen, as if they would not rest until they had killed him.

  Murong Feng was shot in the leg with an arrow, shot in the back with an arrow, and stabbed in the waist with a knife, and can no longer fight.

  He stared blankly at the northwest battlefield that was gradually falling silent, his heart as heavy as lead. The battle over there seemed to have ended already. A few scattered war horses were still running aimlessly, the shouts of the warriors and the clashing of swords had slowly become sparse and almost inaudible. The only thing that stood out was the giant crimson banner still standing upright on the battlefield.

  He believed that his subordinates would definitely defeat the enemy. The battlefield on this side had already been won, and all that was needed was time to completely annihilate the Niu Tou tribe. Both sides were fighting madly, without reason or possibility of surrender. Tie E's Black Eagle Iron Cavalry was invincible in the world, and no one in the Xianbei tribe could match them. Just by listening to the increasingly sparse sounds of battle from the northeast battlefield, you would know that victory was not far away. But what if the outcome of the northwest battlefield was different? What if it was a miserable victory? Would it be worth it to harm the interests of the Xianbei state itself?