Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 20

  The air above the camp was filled with the sound of bugles blowing in succession. Long and short, urgent and melodious, low and high-pitched sounds intertwined together, revealing the tension and busyness before the great battle without a single thread missing.

  On the small hill southeast of Jun Tun, dense cavalry troops began to appear, advancing in a tense and orderly manner through the tall and dense forest. From a distance, it looked like small insects crawling under green leaves, or like the green grass on the prairie being blown by a gentle breeze, creating ripples that spread out in all directions.

  Murong Feng's great army finally appeared on the horizon. The tall, fiery red banner fluttered in the wind, surrounded by countless colorful flags of various colors. Then, from the edge of the sky, a long, giant cavalry slowly emerged.

  Iron Wolf, Gong Sunhu, and Duan Song's expressions were solemn, as the three of them looked towards a small, unassuming hill in the distance from different locations. What method did Qu Que use to hide so many troops here without being discovered? They had overlooked it, and the scouts had also overlooked it. Murong Feng was right, humans will make mistakes. The scouts were ordinary soldiers, they weren't battlefield commanders, it's impossible for them to investigate every detail accurately. In an area where the enemy is concentrated, no one has the ability to infiltrate the enemy's interior to gather intelligence. However, a commander's mental oversight can lead them to intuitively think that this region is safe. The result was disastrous. Immediately afterwards, they heard the familiar yet extremely distant sound of drums.

  "He is the Wind Splitter of the Ox Head Tribe."

  Tie Lang and Gong Sun Hu were very familiar with the drumbeat. They had charged into battle alongside this drumbeat before. Feng Lie was a close friend of the Grand Marshal's.

  The two of them suddenly felt an overwhelming joy in their hearts. With General Fēng Liè joining forces with the Grand Commander, how many more opponents could there be under the Xianbei sky?

  Murong Feng was in extreme pain. He heard the sound of cowhide drums unique to the Niutou tribe from afar. In the Xianbei tribe, only the Niutou tribe used both ox horns and drums to command. Because Feng Lie liked it. He learned it during the battle with the people of the Great Han. Feng Lie was wise and intelligent. King Tan Shi Huai praised him more than once in front of a large crowd. He was one of the few people that Murong Feng considered as his confidant throughout his life. They were good friends.

  Murong Feng didn't know why Feng Lie betrayed him. He couldn't find a reason. Although he told Li Hong that Feng Lie and Que Yu were relatives, he knew it was just an excuse to deceive himself. Feng Lie was arrogant. This was the fundamental reason why he couldn't gain Tan Shi Huai's trust. After defeating the Xiongnu, Tan Shi Huai had a fierce conflict with Feng Lie over whether to attack the Northern Dianluo tribe. Feng Lie was full of arrogance and didn't take Tan Shi Huai seriously, speaking out of turn. Tan Shi Huai was furious and banished him back to the Niutou tribe more than 2,000 miles away, vowing never to use him again. But Tan Shi Huai was wrong. The first attack on the Dianluo tribe ended in a crushing defeat. Although they later defeated the Dianluo people for the second time under the careful planning of Murong Feng, Luo Zhan and others, this was one of the most humiliating events in Tan Shi Huai's life. Both men were proud and arrogant, so they bore a deep grudge against each other.

  He thought of his good friend who had fought alongside him, now turned into an opponent, and he couldn't help but feel downhearted. Just three days ago, he still considered Feng Lie to be a lifelong friend. If not for Bao Zi casually mentioning the loophole in their plot, allowing him to deduce Feng Lie's betrayal, he would have suffered the same fate as before: his subordinates suddenly turning against him, launching a surprise attack, and his entire army being annihilated at Ben Niu Yuan.

  The cavalry on the small hill surged down to the foot of the mountain like a tide and formed up in line.

  Feng Lie rode on horseback, loudly commanding the signaler: "Sound all the horns, tell him that good friend Feng Lie has arrived."

  Murong Feng gazed at the Niu Tou tribe's army two miles away, listening to the information they transmitted over, and his facial muscles twitched involuntarily. Good friend... He sighed from the bottom of his heart.

  "General..." Li Hong suddenly shouted loudly beside his ear, "All departments are waiting for your orders!"

  Murong Feng stabilized his emotions, looking at the young man in front of him who was full of vitality, and a warmth rose up in his heart. It was this silly kid's unintentional words that saved himself, saved the tens of thousands of soldiers who followed him.

  Murong Feng pointed at the commander flag and said to Li Hong, "Take it." Li Hong didn't know what the commander was going to do, but he still resolutely took the large flag from the flag-bearing soldier's hand.

  Murong Feng turned around and ordered the messenger: "Immediately notify Tie E and Hou Lü, the two marshals, that Feng Lie is an enemy. It's possible that He Lian's troops will rush over from the direction of Wei Creek, tell them to set up camp with their backs against the southern side of Ju Tun. Even if my command flag falls, don't send a single soldier to come and support."

  The orderly saluted, mounted his horse and galloped away in a cloud of dust.

  Murong Feng immediately ordered the horned soldier: "Tell Tie Lang and Gong Sun Hu, tell them to hold on."

  He pointed at the three messengers and said, "You go find Iron Wolf or any one of those three, tell them that Wind Crack is an enemy, there's no reinforcement to help him. Let them hold back the Long Deer tribe's army. Even if they all die in battle, don't let the Long Deer tribe's soldiers enter the southwest battlefield."

  Three soldiers saluted and each whipped their horses with a lash, galloping towards the northwest battlefield like three arrows shot out.

  "Leopard, raise the great flag and follow me!" Murong Feng whipped his horse's back with a loud crack, galloping out of formation along the cavalry troops lined up in columns, rushing towards the left wing of the army. Li Hong raised the great flag high, closely following behind him.

  The bird friend Xiao Shuai of the Wushan tribe, and Fei Ji Xiao Shuai of the Sumu tribe stood at the forefront of the left wing of the great army, facing Muyong Feng who was running towards them. They bowed and shouted: "Great General."

  "The Niu tribe's Wind Split has betrayed us. The final battle is about to begin, you two lead the left wing troops in a charge." Jiyou and Fei nearly doubted their own ears. But seeing the commander-in-chief's resolute expression, the two hastily responded in unison and each mounted their horses to rush towards their respective troops.

  Murong Feng finished speaking and immediately turned his horse's head, galloping towards the right wing army. The small commander of the Li Kan tribe, Xi Zang tribe's commander, came to meet him.

  "The Windbreakers of the Bullhead Clan are our enemies. After the decisive battle begins, you will lead your troops in a charge on the right flank."

  "Yes, General." The two immediately turned their horses around and ran back to their respective units.

  Murong Feng turned his head again and galloped forward in front of the formation. Li Hong fell behind him by a zhang, closely following. Due to the speed of the horse being fast, the resistance of the large flag was extremely great, requiring all one's strength to lift it up. He knew that this was the commander using his command flag to inform the soldiers lined up in the back that the commander was arranging troops and deploying formations, and the big battle would start soon.

  Murong Feng fiercely drew out his battle knife.

  He used all his strength to raise the war knife high on horseback, galloping wildly while facing the faces looking at him one by one, shouting loudly: "Hū hu..."

  The soldiers beside him heard the general's battle cry before charging and immediately raised their weapons, shouting in unison: "Hū jiào..."

  Murong Feng suddenly tightened the reins, stopping the warhorse's frantic gallop. The horse couldn't stop its momentum and had to rear up on its hind legs, its front legs still bent in mid-air as if about to take off into the void. An angry whinny echoed through the plains along with the high-pitched neigh of the horse's head. Murong Feng was suspended in mid-air, his body following the horse's movement. He raised his sword again and shouted: "Huuuuu..."

  More soldiers heard the commander's shout, more warriors raised their own weapons and shouted loudly with the commander: "Charge..."

  Murong Feng stood on horseback, facing his own warriors, waving the battle knife in his hand, and bursting out the anger and deep feelings in his heart: "Hoooo... Haaaa..."

  All the warriors, including those in the last row, had heard the call. They were excited and hot-blooded, using all their strength to raise their weapons high and let out a thunderous roar: "Hoooo..."

  Murong Feng turned his horse's head and raised his battle knife, "Soldiers, kill..."

  More than ten hornblowers standing behind him blew the charge simultaneously.

  "Wooo... wooo..."

  Four thousand soldiers, fifty in each row, eighty rows, like a massive iron rock. This massive iron rock, under Murong Feng's command, slowly began to move forward in formation.

  The five thousand strong army that had been split apart still had a portion on the mountain. Over three thousand troops had already formed up at the foot of the mountain. The troops on the mountain were swiftly gathering down the mountain in an endless stream.

  "The vanguard, front army, center army and left army are all in position. The right army is gathering hastily. The rear army is still on the mountain."

  "Damn it, hurry up, hurry up!"

  Murong Feng was extremely unusual in not responding to him, which made him feel a strong sense of unease. Had Murong Feng seen through his plan? Feng Lie thought it impossible. All the plans had been arranged by him personally and were absolutely foolproof.

  "What if something goes wrong? What if Murong Feng sees through it? My plan is perfect, everything has been laid out, and there's no room for change. This Xianbei world has already lost its original face." Feng Lie almost went crazy, shouting "Come on, all of you, come and kill me!"

  The subordinates standing around him all looked worried and didn't know how their superior had suddenly become like this. Wasn't he fine just yesterday?

  "Don't bother me, go and mind your own business. I'm going to die. I'm happy, I'm delighted, so I've gone mad. The General is invincible in the world. On the battlefield, no one can be the General's opponent. We will all die, we will all die!" Feng Lie shouted hoarsely with all his might.

  A thunderous roar suddenly burst forth from the army of Murong Feng, shaking the entire Yunxiao like a blast of thunder, stunning all living things in the entire Juntu.

  Tie Lang and his men knew that Murong Feng's army was about to launch a surprise attack, and everyone was excited, as if they had suddenly gained infinite strength. Tie Lang raised his knife and shouted: "Brothers, reinforcements have arrived, let's kill!"

  The soldiers of the Changluo tribe were frightened and uneasy, but since their commander had not given the order to retreat, they could only fight to the end and would never retreat.

  Gongsun Hu's body had already been hit by two long arrows, but he couldn't stop, as all around him were enemies, and a slight carelessness would be a matter of life and death. In the distance, Duan Song had also been shot off his horse, and with great effort, he blocked an arrow shot by an enemy soldier, shouting loudly to Gongsun Hu: "Old Tiger, the general has begun to attack."

  Gongsun Hu's ears were filled with the distant sound of thunder, and he shouted excitedly: "Hold on, hold on! Form a battle array to await reinforcements, form a battle array to await reinforcements!"

  Duan Song and his troops had already cleared the inner circle of enemies, but they themselves were also severely damaged, with only over 700 people left. The enemy still had over 1,200 people. Everyone wanted to devour each other, so there was only attrition, more attrition, until one side's numbers dwindled to the point where they could no longer resist.

  Feng Lie was startled awake by this muffled thunder. He immediately stopped his frantic performance and regained his usual calmness and composure.

  "Order the troops to accelerate assembly. The vanguard advances one hundred steps."

  "Great General, Murong Feng's army has begun to move." A chiliarch who had been observing the enemy's movements suddenly turned around and shouted at Feng Lie: "Heavens! He's charging towards us!"

  The wind was splitting his head, but he didn't turn back. He pointed at the horn-blowing soldier and said, "Blow the assembly call, prepare to charge."