Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 7

  Iron Wolf was chased by three enemy soldiers and hit continuously, finally falling off the horse. Immediately, two long knives and three axes came over to greet him. Iron Wolf exerted himself to kick one down with his foot, and the long arrow in his hand inserted itself into the chest of an enemy soldier who was rushing up fiercely. However, there were still three weapons falling towards Iron Wolf's body. Iron Wolf let out a loud cry, using all his strength to sweep the longbow outwards.

  Gongsun Hu saw him from afar and shouted loudly at his own soldiers: "Shoot him dead, shoot him dead..."

  Soldiers immediately targeted the enemy soldiers surrounding Iron Wolf, throwing out the sharp axes in their hands. At the same time, four long arrows whizzed out. Iron Wolf's longbow blocked a knife stabbing towards his heart, and the enemy soldier was beheaded by an axe flying over with a strange cry. The remaining two soldiers were shot in the back, and the long axe held high fell to the ground, unable to hold on. Two bodies crashed to the ground. However, in order to cover one person throwing an axe, two people shooting arrows, Gong Sunhu's four subordinates were immediately killed by more enemies.

  Iron Wolf sprang up, his longbow magically loaded with four arrows. "Thwip..." A muffled sound, the four arrows flew off the string. The two enemies who were galloping and slashing at him were immediately hit by the arrows, letting out blood-curdling screams as they flew off their rapidly speeding horses.

  Murong Feng's personal guards had all sacrificed themselves, and the weapon in his hand had also changed several times. Now he was holding a strong bow. His mount had been killed by three or four enemy soldiers who disregarded their own lives. Murong Feng walked on foot on the battlefield filled with corpses, organizing the soldiers who lost their mounts to form two circular formations, desperately resisting. He stood in the center of one of the circular arrays, directing and accurately shooting out arrow after arrow, killing the enemy cavalry that was about to charge into the formation.

  Li Hong was knocked off his horse by the Tiger Tribe's soldiers at the beginning of the battle. His horsemanship skills were indeed very poor, but once he got on the ground, he became a soul caller. He wielded his knife, killing from east to west and from south to north, and it was unknown how many enemies he killed or injured. Even when an arrow hit his back, he didn't know. His only goal was to find Kuye and kill him. Along the way, he rescued many soldiers, who followed behind him, forming a small team that charged left and right on the chaotic battlefield with razor-sharp precision. More than a dozen wounded soldiers with broken arms and legs were also rescued by Li Hong's team. Under his command, they supported each other, with the other soldiers in the team covering them from all sides, gradually retreating as the Iron Riders were squeezed back.

  The enemy is full of killing intent, advancing step by step.

  Li Hong saw from a distance that Wu Bao was engaged in a fierce battle, surrounded by five or six enemies as ferocious as wolves and tigers. His cries for help were hoarse and weak, and he was on his last legs, unable to hold out much longer. Li Hong immediately led the small squad to turn around and charge towards Wu Bao.

  Li Hong wielded a large sword at the front, slashing wildly in all directions, with no one able to withstand him. The soldiers behind him used long spears to drive back the enemy cavalry, and bows and arrows to kill or wound those who tried to block their way. In between were men armed with swords and axes, ready to clear a path through any enemies who charged forward. The troops quickly approached Wujiao.

  "What about the general?" Wu Bao wiped the sweat and blood from his face with his hand, asking. If Li Hong had arrived a little later to rescue him, Wu Bao estimated he would have been chopped into minced meat. Li Hong shook his head. In such an intense battlefield, getting separated was a common occurrence.

  "Wu Daren, we can't hold on anymore. The entire front line is retreating." a hundred paces away, someone yelled loudly, panting heavily.

  The black leopard looked out onto the battlefield. The enemy was already swarming up, their morale high as a rainbow, while on our side, we had been surrounded and split into several sections, suffering from the enemy's fierce encirclement and slaughter, defeat was just around the corner.

  Li Hong suddenly saw Koye, he burst into a loud scolding, like a madman, regardless of life and death, rushing into the enemy formation, completely ignoring Wu Bao's shouting.

  Everyone was shocked by Li Hong's momentum.

  The wolverine gazed at Li Hong's robust back, spat a mouthful of bloody saliva on the ground, raised its sword and shouted: "Kill!" Then it chased after Li Hong.

  The soldiers shouted in unison: "Kill..." Then, regardless of life or death, they followed Li Hong and Wu Bao without hesitation, charging deep into the enemy army.

  "Uggghhh..."

  Suddenly, both sides immersed in the bloody melee on the battlefield were awakened by a long and low cow horn sound. In this instant, everyone turned their heads to look towards the mountain where the horn sounded.

  On the hills on both sides of Ma Zui Slope, two cavalry troops appeared simultaneously. The dense cavalry occupied the entire hilltop. On the high-flying large flag, a huge fire-red eagle was prominently displayed.

  Murong Feng and his soldiers, who were in a desperate battle, involuntarily let out a thunderous roar.

  That is Murong Feng's emblem, that is Murong Feng's glory. Murong Feng's ambush troops have appeared. Murong Feng is the undefeated war god of Xianbei.

  Kai immediately understood that he had fallen into Murong Feng's trap. Now that he was surrounded, there was only one way out - to break through the encirclement. Kai suddenly turned around, opened his mouth to order his troops to retreat, but he didn't call out. He saw Li Hong grasping a bloody battle knife in both hands, standing on the corpse of his messenger soldier, and furiously charging towards him.

  Koehler's troops were in disarray, some wanting to retreat, others preparing to flee, and others directing the command center to regroup for defense. Although all the soldiers were still fighting desperately, they no longer had the conviction of certain victory that they had before. Several of Koehler's subordinates found it strange that in this emergency situation, they did not see Koehler issue any orders. They immediately sounded the bugle call, asking if Koehler wanted to retreat.

  The cavalry on the hill began to drive their horses down the mountain, and launched a charge amidst the sound of bugles echoing through the mountains.

  Murong Feng's two thousand cavalrymen, who had been hiding in the mountains for several days, finally came into play today. With a loud roar, they charged down from the southern mountain, their spirits soaring. The sound of horseshoes grew denser and more deafening, until it became a thunderous rumble that shook the earth.

  Kou Ye was now being killed by Li Hong, his heart racing and sweating profusely. He had always thought of himself as a great general, even among the Xianbei's many fierce warriors he could be considered a notable figure, but now this confidence was shattered by Li Hong's fierce offensive.

  "Laozi will kill you today, and cut off your head to make a chamber pot." Li Hongyi was excited, speaking in the language of the Han people, Ke Ye couldn't understand it, he saw Li Hongyi's face twisted with hatred, for the first time in his life, he felt that death was so close to him.

  Li Hong used all his strength to block the slash from Kuye's knife. The two were on horseback, one above and one below, Li Hong at a disadvantage. Kuye's arms were numb from the shock, he quickly spurred his horse away from Li Hong, adjusted his energy, and circled back. Immediately, he found Li Hong standing beside him like a ghost, only three steps away. He saw that Li Hong no longer held a knife, but a two-meter-long spear, with a brown blood clot stuck on the tip. He stared at the spear as if it were a venomous snake spitting its tongue, entering from his left ribcage and exiting from his right lung. A massive pain accompanied by splashing blood made Kuye scream heart-wrenchingly from his mouth.

  Ko Ye is dead.

  The surrounding soldiers were stunned, for a moment unable to believe their eyes.

  The snow leopard let out a thunderous roar: "Koye is dead..."

  When this news was shouted out by both sides on the battlefield at the same time, the reactions produced were vastly different. The morale of Murong Feng's army was greatly boosted, while Ke Ye's army was in disarray, with everyone fearing for their own safety.

  Murong Feng's two iron cavalry ambushed into the already chaotic battlefield.

  Kuye's army and Murong Feng's soldiers were entangled, unable to extricate themselves. Even if they could mobilize a portion of the Iron Cavalry, there was no time to organize an effective counterattack. Kuye's death directly resulted in the loss of unified command among the Tiger Tribe's Iron Cavalry. His subordinates fought separately, and the intermittent sound of cow horn signals left the soldiers bewildered, unsure which leader to follow. Consequently, their defeat was like a mountain collapse, and the Tiger Tribe's Iron Cavalry collapsed.

  The subsequent battlefield was a bloody massacre. Murong Feng's two thousand iron knights were like wolves and tigers, their war knives and long spears devouring the enemy's lives at will. The dense crowd on the battlefield became sparse in an instant. With the pursuing troops closing in, it was impossible for Murong Feng to allow prisoners to be taken.

  The cruelty and bloodiness of war left Li Hong, riding on the back of a black leopard horse, stunned and at a loss.

  Murong Feng ordered someone to call Li Hong to his side, and in front of several of his subordinates, he praised him for a while, then introduced him to the two young generals who led the ambush troops, one named Yuwen Shang and the other was Ruan Zhan.

  Murong Feng had dozens of great generals under his command in the past, but after so many years, except for those who died, only Gong Sunhu, Wuma, Duan Zhen, Yuwen Shang, Bianbiao, Tielan and a brave warrior named Xiong Ba from Xianbei were still loyal to him. Except for Xiong Ba, Li Hong knew all of them.

  Murong Feng gave the black leopard to Li Hong. After thanking him, Li Hong left them and stood far away, taking on the responsibility of guarding Murong Feng.

  The troops collected and sorted out the captured horses, swords and other spoils of war at Ma Zui Slope before setting off immediately.

  Li Hong stood on horseback at the top of Ma Zui Slope, looking back at the desolate and bloody battlefield below.

  Corpses lay scattered all over the three-mile radius of grassland, a foul stench filled the air, tattered flags and abandoned weapons were strewn everywhere, some still stuck in the bodies of soldiers. Amidst them, wildflowers swayed gently in the breeze, accompanied by the rustling of small trees on the hills, the howling mountain wind seemed to be mourning for these departed souls.

  Iron Wolf yelled from behind him: "Let's go, Leopard. There is nothing to see here. One day we will also die like them."

  Li Hong withdrew his gaze and spurred on his horse to catch up.

  "Where are we going, old wolf?"

  "I don't know. Wherever General leads us, we'll go."