Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 21

  Murong Feng's army, with an invincible aura as swift as thunder, charged straight at the Bull Head tribe's army led by Feng Lie.

  Murong Feng clearly knew the advantages of Feng Lie. He was able to bring his troops here without anyone knowing, which meant that today's decisive battle could not be avoided. If he didn't know that Feng Lie had betrayed him and saw Feng Lie bringing such a large army to assist him now, he would definitely be grateful. The advantage of Feng Lie was that no one knew he was the enemy. Once Murong Feng's army launched a charge, Feng Lie's troops would attack from behind, and it would be a disaster. Murong Feng's army would not have the opportunity to turn back, nor would they have any way to turn back. The galloping war horses, several thousand soldiers, anyone who stopped halfway would be trampled to death by the war horses rushing from behind, and could only wait for their fate to be slaughtered, just like on the Plains of Charging Bulls, Murong Feng's army had no chance to fight back.

  Murong Feng is going to turn the tables this time, taking the initiative to challenge these shameless nomads. The defeat at Beiniu Plains was a lifelong pain for him. He thought he would never be able to wash away the shame in his lifetime. Who would have thought that heaven would treat him so kindly and give him such an opportunity to clear his name?

  He wanted to attack, he could no longer bear his brother being slaughtered alive like a helpless animal. Murong Feng did not hesitate for a moment and immediately launched the attack.

  He wants to tell those shameless people that heroes are heroes, and even if they die, they must die with dignity. He wants to use the most primitive, most aggressive, most lethal, and most magnificent iron hammer array to crush these despicable villains, flatten these ugly creatures in the world.

  Li Hong still held up the giant commander flag and closely followed behind Murong Feng.

  "Leopard, put away the banner." Murong Feng turned his head occasionally and saw Li Hong's face flushed red, using all his might to hold the flagpole in his arms. Because the horse was galloping too fast, the resistance generated by the surface of the big flag was no longer something that a person could hold onto.

  "No!"

  Murong Feng suddenly scolded: "You idiot, using a small flag at this time, do you know or not?"

  Li Hong shook his head in dismay. Murong Feng was too lazy to bother with him, pointing behind him and telling him to take a look himself. Li Hong turned around, and his face immediately became even redder. Among the second row of rapidly advancing troops, ten flag bearers were each effortlessly holding up a small red pennant. The guards behind Li Hong gave him a thumbs-up, praising him for his strength. Li Hong hastily put down the large flag, rolling it up while riding on horseback. Murong Feng turned to look at him sideways. Li Hong smiled awkwardly at him.

  The troops' speed grew faster and faster, the soldiers' ears seemed to be deafened by the thundering sound of horseshoes. The war horses ran more and more excitedly, their four hooves gradually began to leave the ground.

  Feng Lie was excitedly riding on horseback, constantly urging his subordinates to form a queue. The cavalry on the mountain had already begun to accelerate towards the gathering place at the foot of the mountain. The assembly call, the formation call, and the preparation call sounded in unison at the foot of the mountain.

  Feng Lie hadn't expected that Murong Feng would charge towards him at the fastest speed, with the most unimaginative formation, as if he hadn't heard his confirmation signal. Feng Lie saw that his own army was still deploying, and couldn't help but feel anxious, like an ant on a hot pot. He knew that if he didn't launch a charge soon, he would immediately lose the initiative in terms of speed. But the right-wing troops were still forming up, and the rear army was still on the mountain.

  "Blow the horn again, tell them we're the Ox Head Tribe, and that we're reinforcements." He still didn't believe that Murong Feng had seen through his plan, and thought it was possible that Murong Feng wasn't with this group. So he asked to blow the horn again, trying to stall for time.

  The bugler sounded again.

  Murong Feng's ears were filled with the whistling of the wind and the thunder-like sound of horse hooves, and he couldn't hear the sound of the horn blowing from two miles away.

  Murong Feng raised his hand and swung it down forcefully. The horn-blowing soldiers behind him immediately sounded the acceleration signal, and more than a dozen horns blew in unison. All the cavalry instinctively leaned forward, pressing their bodies against the horse's back, shifting their center of gravity forward to reduce air resistance. The speed increased again.

  The face of Feng Lie had gone somewhat awry. He shouted loudly at the horned soldiers: "Sound the charge!"

  One of the chiliarchs beside him cried out, "Sir, the right wing troops have not yet formed up."

  "Never mind, order them to charge in this loose formation. If we don't charge, we'll be beaten to death by the enemy."

  At this time, the Charge had already "Wooo... Wooo..." rang out.

  Feng Lie led the charge with a whirlwind-like momentum to the front lines of the troops. He raised his long spear and let out a loud roar: "Huuu..."

  The soldiers all picked up their weapons, held them high overhead and shouted in unison: "Hurray..."

  Feng Lie used all his strength to swing the spear again, and the soldiers shouted once more: "Huuu..." The sound was like thunder, exploding in the small village of Ju Tun.

  On the battlefield in the northwest of Jiu Tuan, Tie Lang and his men were overjoyed. Some soldiers had already shouted with excitement: "They're here, they're here..." As the main force was about to arrive soon, Tie Lang did not reorganize his forces to launch a decisive attack on the remaining three encircled enemy groups, but instead strengthened the siege.

  Gongsun Hu was pulled into a temporary triangular defensive formation by Duan Song. Two soldiers helped Gongsun Hu take off his upper garment and were using a small knife to dig out the arrowheads that had become embedded in his flesh. The enemy seemed to have been shocked by the continuous shouting from the southwest direction, and their offensive momentum had clearly weakened. The vanguard and rearguard combined had only over 700 soldiers left. They took advantage of the enemy's slowing attack rhythm to immediately collect and sort out their weapons, redeploy their formation, and prepare to prevent being mistakenly injured and dispersed when the main cavalry force rushed over. A flag bearer suddenly took down the large flag from his horseback, re-erected it, and firmly planted it in the ground.

  The army of Wind Crack began to move, accelerating. Wind Crack's entire body was almost lying on the horseback. The wind blowing in his face was so strong that he couldn't open his eyes. He had to put his head on the side of the horse's neck. He saw that his subordinates were unable to withstand the strong winds brought by the high speed, and they were all tilting their heads. Wind Crack thought of a fatal problem: today's wind direction was very unfavorable for his cavalry, and now the wind seemed to have grown stronger.

  He gave up accelerating again. If he accelerated again, the soldiers might not even be able to shoot arrows.

  The distance between them is five hundred paces.

  The war horses of the Murong Feng's cavalry had basically reached their speed limit. Countless hooves rose and fell on the overgrown grassy plain, sending wild grasses and mud dancing in the air. As the troops passed by, the originally upright green grass and large areas of shrubs were no longer visible, leaving only a scene of devastation.

  Iron Wolf and several subordinates stood still at the edge of the battlefield, gazing out at the two large armies speeding across the plain, unclear why the general didn't come to support them but instead attacked the Wind Split Army that should have been supporting them. Three messengers rushed towards Iron Wolf and his men at top speed. Murong Feng was worried they would get trapped in the internal battlefield and orders wouldn't be able to reach them, so he specially dispatched three people simultaneously. As a result, the three were extremely lucky and spotted Iron Wolf from afar.

  Iron Wolf was stunned. Feng Lie betrayed Murong Feng. Impossible. Feng Lie had once saved Murong Feng on the battlefield, and Murong Feng had also saved Feng Lie; they were bound by a life-and-death friendship. Why would Feng Lie betray Murong Feng? For power? He didn't even want the position of Grand General that Tan Shi Huai gave him. For wealth? His Niuhou tribe was famous for its riches among the Xianbei people. What reason did he have to betray Murong Feng? In the Xianbei, only he openly supported Murong Feng's rebellion and had been funding him all along. An army of four or five thousand, how could they survive without money? He would betray Murong Feng? Unless he was crazy.

  The Iron Wolf no longer had the heart to pay attention to the battlefield in the southwest direction. He gazed at the two armies approaching each other in the distance, feeling the slight tremors transmitted from the ground, and listening to the thunderous sound of horseshoes, his mood was exceptionally heavy, without the excitement before the battle, without the hope of defeating the enemy. A famous pair of Xianbei people's life-and-death friendship had broken up, facing each other, killing each other until one side died. This was a sad thing for the Xianbei people.

  "Send word to Gong Sunhu and Duan Song, telling them to hold their ground and wait for reinforcements. Issue the order to attack the right flank of the encirclement." Iron Wolf gave the command as he turned his horse's head and galloped towards the center of the battlefield to gather his troops.

  The two sides were three hundred paces apart.

  The army of Feng Lie has been advancing at a steady pace. Feng Lie is very sad. Why does he always lose to Murong Yu every time in critical moments? This time, the game that seemed to have won was also problematic. Murong Yu saw through his plan at the most critical moment, and the result was a serious defeat. The consequences are severe, not only did the army fail to complete its gathering, but it was also forced to fight hastily by Murong Yu, even the wind in the sky didn't help. Fighting against the wind is truly seeking death. If I die, then so be it. What's the point of living anyway?

  "Full speed ahead..." Feng Lie shouted loudly.

  The sound of the horn pierced through the loud rumble, one after another. The speed of the troops suddenly accelerated. The neighing of war horses was clearly audible.

  His subordinate, who was beside him, hastily reminded him, "Sir, the wind is too strong, it will affect the arrow's flight."

  The madman's laughter cracked with thunder: "No more shooting! Kill!"

  The two sides were two hundred paces apart.

  Murong Feng has already seen that the army of Feng Lie is approaching against the wind, and the strong winds generated by the high speed have seriously affected the speed of the troops' advance, and tactical reactions will also be greatly affected. Similarly, the strong winds will make Feng Lie's soldiers react slowly in battle.

  He suddenly made a decision, in order to ensure speed, to guarantee the power of this iron hammer formation, cancel the arrow array shooting. Speed, need speed. The horned soldier sent out the information.

  The two sides were one hundred paces apart. Neither side had to wait for the terrifying rain of arrows. The soldiers on both sides simultaneously let out a sigh of relief.

  The two sides were fifty steps apart. Murong Feng and Feng Lie saw each other at the same time. There was no anger in either of their eyes, nor hatred. Only sadness.

  The soldiers who were about to be torn apart suddenly became terrified, as if they had seen the god of death suddenly rush out from the opposing troops and reveal a miserable smile towards them.

  The iron hammer formation doesn't look like an iron hammer at all, but rather a hundred bloodthirsty tigers with their mouths wide open, waiting to pounce on people. Two hundred cavalrymen are lined up vertically and horizontally, each pair forming a unit, with only enough space between them for one horse to pass through. When charging at high speed, if you don't want to crash directly into the two soldiers facing you, you'll be forced to enter one of the hundred channels. The channels are six hundred steps long. The soldiers in the channels will use various weapons to carry out bloody slaughter on the enemy without mercy. And yet, each pair of cavalrymen can effectively protect themselves from attacks from left and right, preserve their own lives, and kill the enemy.

  The two sides came into contact in an instant. The soldiers who collided head-on were thrown to the ground, their flesh and blood flying everywhere. The Wind Splitting Riders, due to their insufficient speed, had a much smaller impact force. However, Murong Feng's Iron Cavalry had reached a frenzied state of speed, colliding with and sending flying whatever they encountered, be it man or ghost, unstoppable in their advance. Once one of their own was lost, another rider immediately took their place, not giving the enemy any opportunity to take advantage. The cavalrymen on horseback wielded war knives, either to the left or right, shouting wildly as they slaughtered with abandon, reveling in the carnage. The soldiers who entered the passageway felt as if they had rushed into a road of death, where countless sword and knife shadows danced, like malevolent spirits, seemingly without end. No soldier could escape this 600-step long road of death. Unless the entire road was packed with people, there would be no end to the slaughter.