Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 24

  Montreich felt that his warhorse was suddenly restless, shaking its head and tail, and continuously neighing loudly. Moreover, the other horses around him were also like this, each with a different expression, some stamping their hooves as if wanting to run, others raising their necks and whinnying loudly, as if something was about to happen.

  Years of battlefield experience suddenly made him realize that in a certain direction on the battlefield, there were large numbers of troops moving at high speed. Due to the many war horses and their rapid movement, it caused a slight vibration on the ground. This kind of vibration could only be sensed by animals. In an instant, his triumphant mood vanished, replaced by a feeling that he was being targeted by a cunning hunter in hiding. A chill ran down his entire body.

  "He opened his mouth and shouted loudly: 'Form a defensive array, form a defensive array...'"

  The horned soldiers looked back in confusion, not knowing why the adults had suddenly issued this strange order. The generals around Montreij also looked at Montreij with incredulous eyes, as if looking at a madman.

  The troops had just finished forming the charging formation, and suddenly they were asked to change to a defensive formation. This not only contradicts itself but also affects everyone's morale. In terms of troop strength and type, redeployment is needed, and positions need to be moved, which will inevitably cause a small commotion. What's the point of doing this?

  Montreuil's warhorse grew increasingly restless, almost to the point of bolting. Montreuil pulled hard on the reins, his fear and tension nearly choking him.

  If at this time a cavalry of the enemy ambushes nearby and launches a high-speed impact, his troops will not only suffer heavy losses, but even escaping will be a problem. He knows that his exhausted army is enough to beat the dog in the water, but it's hard to deal with a large-scale surprise attack by an enemy who has been waiting for a chance. Suddenly, Murong Feng's plain face appeared in his mind. The general's strategy is indeed unmatched.

  Looking at Mongli Zhe's eyes that seemed to devour people, the horned soldier was shocked and blew hard with all his might. Suddenly, the sound of the horn echoed through the sky, low and urgent. The soldiers of the Rising Phoenix tribe were initially confused, but they were well-trained and immediately began to adjust their formation in an orderly manner under the command of their officers.

  A majestic eagle suddenly spread its wings and flew out of the crimson sun.

  Meng Rui Zhe's heart sank like it had fallen into an ice cave, cold and numb. He silently gazed at the battlefield where the faintly visible crimson banner of the Iron Eagle Cavalry fluttered in the wind, and said with a bitter smile: "General, you really want to use the Black Eagles against me?"

  The ground has already clearly felt the vibration. Now even a fool knows that the enemy's iron cavalry is rushing towards oneself.

  The soldiers became flustered. The generals bid farewell to Montreuil with reverent eyes, each returning to their own troops. The speed of the formation adjustments immediately quickened. But Montreuil knew it was already too late. Because he saw the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry appearing on the eastern horizon, less than 1,500 steps away from himself.

  His troops are now arrayed in a north-south formation. If he had time, he would change the formation to an east-west one, so that the focus of defense is directly ahead, with light cavalry on both wings effectively protecting the defensive troops and the rear army providing strong support. This way, when facing the enemy head-on, they will be in a position of invincibility. However, he no longer has time to adjust his entire formation. It's not something that can be accomplished by simply turning the horses' heads around. A large army of 5,000 men requires precise and uniform commands to change formations, which takes considerable time.

  His entire flank has now become the focal point of the enemy's impact. The weak defense on the flank will immediately collapse after being hit head-on by the enemy, and then it will be broken through to the central army. Once the central army's defense is breached, the entire army will be cut in two, leaving only the possibility of being surrounded and annihilated by the enemy.

  Montcalm saw the urgency of the situation, as did the generals familiar with cavalry battles and even some old soldiers. The entire corps was in a state of panic.

  Meng Ruzhe made a decisive decision to abandon his chariot and save his commander. He immediately ordered the rear army and left wing troops to detach from the main force, in a scattered array formation, to meet the enemy who was rushing over like a tide of elephants. The remaining 3,000-strong army immediately adjusted its formation direction on the spot.

  Two thousand cavalrymen, regardless of life or death, regardless of injury or loss, even if they all die in battle, the task is to hold back the Black Eagle Iron Riders for a certain period of time. This time is just what the main force needs to adjust its formation. Meng Li Zhe never intended for them to come back alive. There is no army that can resist the Black Eagle Iron Riders. In those years, in the desert, the Black Eagle Iron Riders, with three thousand men and horses, launched a surprise attack on the Xiongnu army, killing twenty thousand Xiongnu people and forcing them to flee in defeat. Moreover, eight years ago, on the grasslands, the Black Eagle Iron Riders broke through the encirclement of the five-million-strong Dingling tribe's army and successfully rescued Tan Shi Huai, the Great King. This is the Black Eagle Iron Riders, the awe-inspiring Black Eagle Iron Riders.

  "The fate of the entire Morin Khur tribe is now in your hands." Mongolje said solemnly to the two chiliarchs.

  Tie E saw the opponent use a portion of their troops to form a dense skirmish line and begin charging, with the main force still remaining in place. A cold smile involuntarily appeared on his face. Meng Rui Zhe was indeed a great general, his decision to cut off his arm was made ruthlessly and quickly.

  If we follow the tactics of Mongke Khan, Iron Crutch or concentrated main force to annihilate one wing, and then concentrate troops to attack the heavily defended main force, it will only end in mutual destruction. Or, facing the enemy's blocking formation, with a strong advantage, regardless of casualties, forcing a breakthrough, but the speed will inevitably be affected, morale will inevitably be hit, and once the main force's defensive formation is basically completed, it will fall into a difficult situation of being attacked from both sides.

  Meng Rui Zhe was very clever, he just wanted to use this method to force Tie E to give up his adventure and choose a more acceptable and realistic tactic, which was to surround and annihilate his blocking troops. But he really underestimated the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry. The Black Eagle Iron Cavalry was not an ordinary Xianbei cavalry, but the most elite cavalry among them.

  Tiegu immediately used a horn to inform the rear guard, and his right-wing troops immediately prepared to intercept Mongolie's blocking cavalry.

  Montreuil's rear and left wing troops, 2,000 cavalrymen, gradually detached from the main force. Under the leadership of their respective commanders, they slowly concentrated and reorganized their formation while galloping at high speed. About three hundred paces later, a loose charging formation of about one hundred horses wide and twenty horses deep was formed. The so-called looseness refers to the fact that the distance between front, back, left, and right can be large or small, without emphasizing dense defense, but with excellent mobility, most suitable for pursuit and annihilation battles or melee battles. Montreuil's intention was to have them entangle the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry, mix with them in battle, and slow down their speed. Even if the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry wanted to annihilate them completely, they would have to spend a lot of effort.

  The Black Eagle Iron Riders' speed control was excellent, and the First Tooth tribe's right wing had gradually surpassed them. The thousand-man army stretched out long and narrow.

  The two sides were five hundred paces apart.

  The Black Eagle Iron Cavalry sounded the charge. The long and low bugle call echoed across the empty plain. The soldiers of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry were silent, each with a focused expression, riding their horses at full gallop.

  On the contrary, the right-wing vanguard troops were already shouting and yelling, wishing they could step into the enemy's position in one stride.

  The two sides were three hundred paces apart.

  Tie Gong suddenly let out a loud roar: "Accelerate." The sound of the horn instantly became a cacophony. The entire army suddenly became like a tightly wound spring, madly urging their horses to gallop wildly.

  The army of Mong Riep immediately sounded the charge and a mighty shout went up: "Hoo-ah... Hoo-ah..."

  The thunder of hooves on the northeastern battlefield, the shouts of soldiers have already surged one after another, and the hot battlefield immediately attracted all the soldiers from the southwestern and northwestern battlefields.

  Gongsun Hu began to curse loudly. Duan Song burst out laughing, "Today we have to rely on ourselves." The soldiers surrounding them once again saw the hope of victory. If they could annihilate them, victory might be theirs. The instinct for survival tightly bound Gongsun Hu and Duan Song together with more than 300 other warriors. Hold on, just hold on.

  Iron Wolf panted heavily, having been forced out by the enemy soldiers who were holding their ground. Immediately afterwards, he saw the bustling scene on the northeastern battlefield. Iron Wolf looked around at his warriors, each one swaying unsteadily on horseback, truly unable to hold on any longer.

  "Brothers, we are tired, but the enemy is even more exhausted. Whoever can hold on to the end will be the winner." He swung his battle knife in his hand with force and shouted loudly: "Assemble, assemble!"

  The battlefield has become a big stage, the enemy and our side are fighting fiercely, neither side wants to give in. Now both sides have the possibility of defeating each other, it depends on who can hold out until the end.

  Montrez saw a scene that almost collapsed him.

  The two sides were 250 paces apart.

  Tie E roared: "Left turn..." With the sound of the horn continuously ringing out, the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry performed a high-difficulty collective action on the battlefield that left both friend and foe agog: they turned.

  Like the eagles soaring freely in the sky, like the rivers flowing freely on earth, the Black Eagle Iron Riders were like the wind, speeding across the plains. Three thousand men became one giant knight, three thousand horses became one gigantic heavenly steed. Their movements were as one, their control effortless, with flawless and unparalleled horsemanship they drew a beautiful arc on the open plain, disappearing into the distance from the side of the Xiongnu tribe.

  Montreuil and his men let out a cry of astonishment, and immediately felt unwell. Their blocking troops had no way to stop the Black Eagle Iron Riders, who had bypassed the blocking troops at an incredible speed, with incredible tactics, and incredible horsemanship, like a high-held curved moon knife, slashing towards the main force that was still adjusting its formation. Montreuil squeezed out a mournful cry from his throat.

  The warriors of the Houluo tribe's vanguard let out thunderous cheers. A knight can easily make a big turn while speeding along, as long as your riding skills are superb. Ten knights making a turn together at full gallop is not an uncommon sight, as long as there are ten skilled knights. What's impossible is for three thousand people to simultaneously make a smooth, large turn while speeding along, no tribe can have that many highly skilled, brave and meticulous, well-coordinated knights. Only the Black Eagle Tribe can. A seemingly simple move, three thousand people, three thousand knights, who knows how much sweat they shed to complete this flawless arc.

  The warriors almost hung their entire body on the left side of the war horse, with both hands tightly embracing the horse's neck, forcing the running horse to tilt its body and change direction. Not a single warrior was allowed to make a mistake. If one horse lost balance due to excessive tilting and fell, the following horses would inevitably fall, leading to a chain reaction where warriors in dense formation behind and on both sides would collide and fall at high speed, suffering heavy losses without even being hit by the enemy.

  Montreuil's two thousand horsemen watched them clinging to their right wing, and they went away in a cloud of dust. They didn't have the technique, and they couldn't stop the war horses that were galloping wildly. The helpless and desperate pain in their hearts made their fighting spirit, which had just risen, immediately turn into nothingness.

  The warriors of the Xian Zhi tribe, in order to gain speed and time to protect the actions of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry, adopted a formation like a long snake, encircling the enemy's right wing, trying to delay the enemy's counterattack on the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry. They had no time for shooting, they gave up their arrow array attack. The enemy cavalry seemed to want to use its last bit of strength to block the tail of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry which was still turning around. They also gave up their arrow array attack and launched a crazy charge.

  Contact between the two sides.

  The vanguard tribe was immediately breached due to its thin formation, but the warriors behind it charged forward without hesitation, determined to block the enemy's gunfire and intercept the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry. In an instant, people and horses were overturned, and flesh and blood flew everywhere. The soldiers fought fiercely, with no survivors, either you die or I perish. The warriors of the Jiying tribe continued to attack crazily, trampling on the bodies of their comrades. While the warriors of the Xianchi tribe refused to yield an inch, determined, and without hesitation, they used their warhorses to charge, their bodies to block, and even jumped high into the air, using their flesh and blood to fill in the gaps in the formation.

  The warriors of the Black Eagle Iron Cavalry faced the brutal and bloody scene in front of them, each with an expressionless face, seeing but not seeing, still galloping relentlessly.