Chapter 1: The Sun Rises for the First Time Section 6

  Kou Ye's troops numbered over three thousand as the various leaders arrived. Kou Ye feared Mu Rong Fu. Before the main army arrived, he was unwilling to take the initiative to attack, so he followed Mu Rong Fu's iron cavalry from a distance, not daring to get too close.

  Today, the scout returned to report that Murong Feng's army suddenly accelerated its marching speed and appeared extremely flustered. Muye immediately convened several leaders to discuss whether to continue pursuing at the original speed or accelerate the pursuit.

  "Xiao Shuai, Murong Feng has probably found out that the great king himself is leading a large army to hurry over, so he accelerated his escape speed." A thousand long said, "Murong Feng now only has more than 1,000 people, and his follow-up troops have not had time to meet with him. If we immediately catch up, we will have an absolute advantage in numbers and can take him by surprise. Killing Murong Feng would be a great achievement for Xiao Shuai."

  "Murong Feng has been fighting for decades, he's a deep and cunning strategist, we should still be cautious." Another Qian Chang said.

  "Murong Feng has grown old and no longer has the bravery of his youth." One of Kuye's trusted subordinates waved his hand, saying, "Young General, let's chase after him and kill him off. We must make the Xianbei people know that the Tiger Tribe is not just about Kuye being the greatest and most skilled in battle."

  This remark was made at the most inopportune moment. Koye's face immediately turned much uglier. He swung his whip with force and lashed it fiercely on the bushes by the side of the road.

  "Xiao Shuai, no matter what you say, Murong Feng has only a little over 1,000 men. We have 3,000 men attacking him, and even if we don't wipe them out completely, victory is still absolutely guaranteed."

  Kaiye turned his back on his subordinates, bowed his head and calculated his gains and losses. In the end, the idea of making a meritorious achievement still took precedence.

  "Full speed pursuit." Koye suddenly turned around and said resolutely.

  "General, Colonel Koye's troops have all caught up." A scout came galloping from the rear of the army. The soldier didn't dismount and after loudly reporting, immediately turned his horse around and galloped away.

  "General, Koyla's troops are advancing at an extremely fast pace and have already reached Chátún."

  "General, Koyla's troops are twenty miles away from our army."

  "General, Koye's troops have crossed Pingtun."

  One after another, the messengers rode on horseback, rushing back and forth, instantly conveying a message to the soldiers: it's time to go into battle.

  The soldiers became excited, everyone started whispering to each other, and the marching speed obviously accelerated.

  Murong Feng sat calmly and elegantly on his horse, with a hint of excitement in his eyes.

  Li Hong rode a red horse, following behind Murong Feng, nervously looking around. It was his first time participating in a large-scale battle with a big army, and to say he wasn't nervous would be a lie. As the scouts came and went more frequently, Li Hong's muscles were all tense, even his breathing became somewhat difficult.

  "Take a deep breath..." Murong Feng heard his heavy breathing, like a bellows, and turned back to smile at him. "Deep breathing can ease the tension in your heart." Li Hong scratched his head awkwardly, took a few deep breaths, and his breathing became smoother, but his heart continued to beat wildly out of control.

  "Fighting a big war is not like fighting a small skirmish. Fighting a big war requires careful preparation from both sides, so the atmosphere before the battle is usually very tense. An encounter battle, like what you experienced in the past few days, is a hasty response to an unexpected situation, relying on individual bravery and teamwork, so it generally doesn't give you time to feel tense, the fight has already begun."

  Li Hong nodded. Murong Feng slowed down his horse and walked alongside Li Hong. Seeing that Li Hong was still very tense, he pointed to the surroundings and said: "This place is called Horse Mouth Slope. You see, the mountain ridge from here is flat and wide, especially suitable for cavalry units to accelerate during a charge, greatly increasing the impact of the cavalry." As he spoke, Murong Feng had already galloped out of line and stood at the top of the mountain ridge. Li Hong followed closely behind him.

  Both of them looked down at the mountain ridge. At the foot of Horse Mouth Slope, there was a crescent-shaped grassland, about three or four miles in circumference. On the top and waist of the crescent were two small hills with dense trees.

  "General, if we can ambush 500 cavalrymen on each of the two small hills over there, Cao Ye's 3,000 iron cavalry will surely be annihilated." Li Hong pointed to the opposite hill with his horse whip and said casually to Murong Feng.

  Murong Feng did not make a sound, silently gazing ahead.

  Kaiya stopped his horse and gazed at the distant Ma Zui Slope. The scout had just come to report that Murong Feng's troops had already crossed Ma Zui Slope, three miles away from their own troops. After running hard for half a day, they finally caught up with Murong Feng.

  "Tell all departments to speed up. Murong Feng is just ahead, and the opportunity for merit and wealth is right in front of us." Kuye excitedly said to the messenger behind him:

  Murong Feng, Tie Lang, Gong Sun Hu, and Wu Bao were at the front of the formation. Behind them were one thousand men divided into ten squads, each squad consisting of one hundred cavalrymen standing in a line, waiting to charge. The first three rows were archers, the middle three rows were long spear soldiers. The last four rows were the main force for charging and breaking through enemy lines, with varied weapons including knives, swords, axes, and wolf-tooth clubs.

  Li Hong was placed in the middle of the first row. The atmosphere on the battlefield was extremely tense and oppressive, making him feel suffocated. He followed the method taught by Murong Feng, taking deep breaths and then exhaling through his mouth. His accordion-like breathing attracted the attention of a nearby soldier. That soldier was probably a veteran, silently laughing at Li Hong. Li Hong felt extremely embarrassed, his face immediately turning red.

  No one made a sound. Even the horses sensed the impending battle, each raising its head high, perking up its ears, ready to accept commands from their masters.

  In Murong Feng's field of vision, the great army of the Tiger Tribe finally appeared. First was the large flag embroidered with a golden tiger head, then came the knights rushing out like a whirlwind, one, several, a group, and in the blink of an eye, a vast expanse surged out to cover the sky and earth.

  The enemy's hoofbeats were like a small drum being beaten, first faintly audible, then gradually growing louder and more intense, deafening, the ground beneath their feet also began to shake violently, everything was like a mountain flood bursting forth, the arrogant god of death brought with it an aura of mortality, making one's heart and soul shatter.

  Murong Feng was calm and composed, a pleased smile even appeared on his face.

  The horses of the troops began to toss their heads and stamp their feet, becoming restless, their four hooves constantly moving in a frantic manner, snorting and whinnying nonstop, with some even bursting out of line by half a body length.

  Li Hong's violently racing heart seemed to have slowly adapted to the suffocating atmosphere, his slightly trembling hands could now firmly grasp the reins, and his bellows-like breathing had also returned to normal without him realizing it. But his attention was completely absorbed by the endless enemy cavalry below the mountain ridge, utterly forgetting that he still felt tense.

  Murong Feng finally raised his right hand amidst everyone's anticipation. The hornblower sandwiched in the first row immediately puffed out a big cheek, blowing the Suona horn that had been placed at the corner of his mouth. The long and sonorous sound of the charge horn suddenly echoed throughout the entire Horse Mouth Slope.

  "Hoo-ah, hoo-ah……" The soldiers raised their weapons and let out a thunderous roar from the depths of their chests. All the warriors were momentarily filled with boiling blood, and their entire bodies were stirred up by this deafening battle cry. Fear, panic, cowardice - all vanished into thin air in an instant.

  Li Hong was infected with this atmosphere, his whole body filled with infinite strength. He opened his mouth wide, his face flushed red, using all his might to raise the war knife high, shouting loudly and hoarsely. For the first time, he felt that war also had such a fascinating and tempting side.

  "Kill...!" Murong Feng raised his long spear high, riding on the white horse that was rearing up on its hind legs and letting out a long whinny. He turned around to give a battle cry to his troops, and then the white horse shot out like the wind.

  Kor and his men didn't realize they had caught up with the enemy until they heard the thunderous sound of the cow horn. Although the enemy was well-rested and launched a surprise attack, seizing the initiative, Kor's side had an overwhelming numerical advantage, which made this initial success relatively insignificant.

  "Charge!" Colonel Keir shouted to his men around him.

  A chiliarch beside him immediately reminded him, "Young general, our pursuit speed is too fast, the formation has been greatly disordered. Shouldn't we reorganize the troops first and then engage in a decisive battle with the enemy?"

  "We three thousand against his one thousand, we can trample him to death." K'Oy exclaimed excitedly, "Kill!"

  The slope of Ma Zui Po helped Murong Feng's cavalry to accelerate to the limit in a very short period of time. The warriors shouted loudly, rushing towards the enemy at high speed.

  Li Hong gazed at the approaching enemy army, and his mind involuntarily recalled the severe torture inflicted on him by Koye.

  "Kaiye, I'm going to kill you today." The memory of the wounds all over his body and the astonishing pain filled his heart with hatred.

  The sound of the ox horn suddenly rang out again.

  The howling of Iron Wolf came faintly from the left, "Draw... your... bow..."

  "Let go..."

  The sky was filled with a dense, dark mass of arrows, like the ominous clouds that precede a violent storm, striking fear into the hearts of all who saw them. The high-speed flying arrows tore through the air with a piercing whistling sound, like the cold laughter of the god of death. A breath of death suddenly enveloped the empty space above Horse's Mouth Slope.

  The "hissing" sound of the arrow cluster entering the body was drowned out by the rumbling sound of horseshoes, and only a cruel scene of people and horses rolling over could be seen. At this speed, falling off a horse would not kill you, but it would definitely cause serious injury. The most frightening thing is that when the warhorse is shot in the vital spot, both the rider and the horse suddenly lose control and fly out, often resulting in the death of both the horse and its rider. Then, the following soldiers, in order to quickly avoid the range of the arrow, generally gallop at extreme speed, trampling to death or causing serious injury to fallen soldiers, which is absolutely unavoidable.

  Kolchak's cavalry immediately returned a volley. But because their formation was scattered, the arrows they shot out were in disarray and greatly discounted in power.

  Iron Wolf was still shouting at the top of his lungs: "Fire...!"

  Under the command of the horn's call, even Mu Rongfeng, who was charging at the forefront, drew his bow and arrow according to orders.

  "Let go..."

  The two sides were sixty paces apart. The war cry rose again.

  Gongsun Hu, the black leopard, shouted loudly on both sides of the formation: "Long spears at the ready..."

  The three rows of archers at the front suddenly opened up a loose formation, with a passageway for one horse to pass through between every two people. The three rows of long spear soldiers accelerated again, surpassing the archers and forming a phalanx of long spear soldiers in the front row charging forward.

  The vast majority of archers put away their bows and took out the weapons they used for close combat. Only soldiers with exceptionally high marksmanship continued to use bows and arrows as their attacking weapon.

  The two sides were thirty steps apart. The shout rose again.

  The long spear soldiers reformed, forming a diamond-shaped impact array. This formation allowed every soldier to face the enemy simultaneously in the first time, making the lethality increase exponentially. But it also had depth, with each soldier getting full protection from comrades on both sides and behind.

  The long spearman charged out with a three-zhang-long long spear in hand, and any enemy riding on horseback would find it extremely difficult to dodge its fierce strike.

  Koya's cavalry this time were all ordinary warriors, and only the main force of the Iron Cavalry had such long spear soldiers equipped. As soon as they came into contact with each other, Koya's soldiers suffered a big loss.

  Looking at the soldiers pierced by long spears, or being knocked down or lifted up, and hearing countless mournful cries around his ears, Koye's anger burst out like splashing blood, uncontrollably.

  "Kill... kill..." He swung his long knife, shouting hoarsely.

  Kai is extremely formidable; there are no Three Harmony practitioners under his hand.

  The battlefield was filled with the sound of killing, everywhere were soldiers fighting in pairs. Horseback warriors flew back and forth, bow-wielding soldiers shot at each other, while soldiers without horses fought in groups of three or five, sacrificing their lives to fight hand-to-hand.

  Murong Feng's long spear had already broken after killing four enemies, he drew his own war knife and led a group of imperial guards to continue fighting.

  Kai's iron cavalry finally withstood the fierce attack launched by Murong Feng after losing more than a thousand men. Gradually, their advantage in numbers began to emerge. Murong Feng's more than a thousand cavalrymen, who had been fighting hard for more than half a day, slowly became unable to hold on due to excessive personnel losses.