Chapter 4: Iron Arm Shows Off His Might

  The sun rises slowly from the east, and the sunlight pierces through the thick clouds, another fine day for hunting.

  The scouts of the two armies, Ji and You, rode their horses near the border bridge, patrolling back and forth. After a day of fierce battle and nighttime patrols, they were all extremely exhausted. Some people even tied their bodies to the saddle with ropes and fell asleep hugging the horse's neck. Occasionally, the enemy troops crossed paths, but these scouts had no intention of engaging in combat. They tacitly kept their distance from each other. It wasn't until the opposing side gradually disappeared from view that they let out a sigh of relief.

  Under the whip and spear, civilians drove open-top ox carts to collect corpses. One by one, the ox carts emerged from the morning fog, rolling over the lush green grassy plains, their wheels rumbling on the uneven ground, making a gurgling sound. After the fierce battle, the fields, valleys, and hills were littered with headless bodies, sometimes the wheels would roll over severed limbs, or even half a skull, the wheel hubs splashing dark blood and white brain matter. Many civilians who saw such a bloody and terrifying scene for the first time were shocked and turned pale, some even vomited while holding onto the cart shaft.

  On the north bank of the river, smoke and dust filled the air, and it was clear that a small group of cavalrymen were engaged in a fierce battle. From time to time, someone would fall from their horse and tumble into the dust. The Youzhou cavalry intended to regain yesterday's ground, and each one was fiercely fearless of death. They charged westward from the east, galloping on horseback while shooting arrows with their bows, firing three arrows in a row at a distance of fifty paces. When encountering the enemy, they immediately put away their bows, drew their knives, and thrust their spears to strike, and those who were hit fell from their horses one after another.

  Compared to the Youzhou Iron Cavalry, the Jizhou army's war horses were fewer in number, and their archery and horsemanship skills were far inferior. In single combat, they were at a disadvantage. Relying solely on yesterday's great victory, morale was high, but this advantage was offset by that disadvantage, barely managing to fight to a draw.

  More and more cavalrymen came from all directions to join this confusing battle. After a long fierce battle, the cavalry of both sides stopped fighting at the same time, they each retreated over 100 steps, and then let the unarmed infantry and civilians enter the array to collect the dead and rescue the wounded. When the battlefield was cleaned up, they rushed to kill again. From time to time, there were knights who came down after losing strength, they gasped like a bellows while shouting loudly for their own side.

  On the low hillside to the northeast, a team of newly arrived cavalry rushed up the slope, reined in their horses, and fluttered their flags. Dozens of cavalrymen were arrayed along the contour of the hillside, gazing intently at the intense battle unfolding on the plain below.

  Looking at the flag, this is a Youzhou army belonging to Gongsun Zan's side. The highest commander of the cavalry was only a hundred generals, and there was also a team leader. The number of cavalrymen was only fifty or sixty people. In the Han military system, one hundred people formed a village, with a village head, also known as a hundred generals or hundred generals. Underneath were team leaders, then squad leaders, and finally platoon leaders. Although one hundred people formed a village, excluding auxiliary soldiers and laborers, there could be fifty or sixty soldiers who could actually go to battle in a village, which was already quite good, so this was considered a "full-strength" village.

  This cavalry team is one of the joint patrol cavalry teams of Youzhou Army and Heishan Army, with Deng Tong, a hundred officials from Heishan Army, as the chief officer, and Qu Que, who has just taken office on horseback, as the deputy officer.

  "Hard to distinguish and hard to resolve!" Deng Tong raised his whip and pointed at the battlefield, turning his head to Ma Hao and saying, "Brother Ma, you are a fierce warrior who can take the head of an enemy general in the midst of a thousand soldiers. Why not go forward and show off your bravery to boost our army's morale?"

  Deng Tong was thirty years old, with a yellow face and black beard, slightly thin in build but with very solid muscles, one look and you could tell he was the agile and powerful type. Although he was a Bai Jiang, his position was one level higher than Ma Han's, but Hei Shan Jun's status couldn't compare to that of the rising You Zhou Jun. The Bai Jiang of Hei Shan Jun were actually on the same level as the team leaders of You Zhou Jun, so this way of speaking was quite polite.

  Ma Huan did not see anything unusual in Deng Tong's eyes, and thought that Deng Tong really wanted to see his own skills, but he knew that he couldn't handle the high-tech job of riding and shooting.

  In fact, Ma Huan was able to sit steadily on the back of the Mercedes horse, which is already quite good. This is entirely due to his fondness for riding horses when he was the head of the gang, and there were two British thoroughbreds in his private estate stable. In theory, as an amateur equestrian, riding a horse should not be a problem, but the bad thing is that the horse assigned to him had no stirrups. And it's not just his horse that didn't have stirrups, none of the horses did.

  On one side of the horse's body, there is a wooden stirrup without a fixed footrest function, which can only be used to support the foot when mounting. After the cavalry mounts, the soles of their feet will stretch into two leather or rope loops attached to the girth strap, using this as a fulcrum, plus the longitudinal fixation of the saddle, they can wield swords and shoot arrows left and right without falling off the horse, but cannot perform high-difficulty movements such as turning around to shoot.

  Ma Huan took one look and saw that this was actually a sprout state stirrup, with some initial functions, but of course it was still very imperfect. Stepping on this "rope stirrup" that couldn't even be called a stirrup, Ma Huan felt extremely uncomfortable! At most, 100% riding skills could only be exerted to 50%.

  Riding and shooting, Ma Yun had also played with it before, to be honest, it was very bad, basically five arrows hit one or ten arrows hit three. However, in the Guatemalan jungle these years, he used a crossbow more often than a gun. Locally, you can carry a crossbow around, but you can't carry a gun openly, and when visiting local tribes, you can't bring weapons at all. But he couldn't not carry self-defense weapons, so the crossbow became the best choice.

  As a former gang leader, Ma Han has very strict requirements for his proficiency with the weapons in his hands. His motto is: In any dangerous moment, the best partner that can protect your life is always the weapon in your hand.

  When he was a low-ranking thug in the gang, the only thing that could protect him was his fists, so he trained himself into a human-shaped weapon; when he rose to become the leader, he no longer needed to use his hands, at most just playing with guns, and he became a master shooter; in the jungles of Guatemala, where his once invincible fists were left with only one, and his gun turned into a crossbow, so he used just three years to become a godly archer - within 100 yards of flying disc targets, arrows never miss, even at 50 yards away, doing reverse motion with the flying disc target, can also hit ten in a row.

  Due to being one-armed, Ma Chao used a specially made large military repeating crossbow, with a drawstring on the lever, which was very labor-saving. Moreover, it could also be connected to a quiver, which could hold ten arrows at a time, and shoot them in sequence. As long as the operation is familiar, it's not difficult for one arm to use, except that the range is not as good as a single-shot crossbow.

  Ma Hu's riding skills were not bad, and his crossbow shooting was top-notch. However, he had never tried combining horseback riding with shooting before. What was even more unbelievable was that the bow hanging from his saddle was a regular bow, not a crossbow. Compared to a crossbow, a regular bow was much harder to use and less accurate. Based on his experience with crossbows, Ma Hu estimated that if he used a regular bow, he could hit any moving object larger than a frisbee from eighty paces (seventy meters) away, but anything farther than that would be uncertain. But if he were riding a horse... whether or not he could hit a moving target thirty meters away was already in question.

  After seeing the flash of cold light in Deng Tong's eyes behind his smiling face, Ma Jian knew that as a superior officer, Deng Tong had every right to order him to attack. Since he didn't do so, Ma Jian couldn't be unreasonable either. Most importantly, since he had already joined the Youzhou army, especially under Xie Hou Quan, horseback archery was an essential skill for survival and advancement. Fine, since heaven gave him a second chance at life and brought him back to his youth, he still had plenty of time. As long as he had determination, perseverance, and most importantly, talent, what couldn't he learn? What couldn't he master?

  Young, great!

  Ma Hu seems to have a feeling of returning to when he was a young gangster, his blood boiling, the bow in his hand, and with a loud shout: "Who will go with me?"

  Seven cavalrymen galloped out immediately, shouting in unison: "Together! Together!"

  The sound of hooves was like thunder, eight riders stirred up a cloud of dust and galloped towards the battlefield.

  On the hillside, Deng Tong's thin eyes narrowed, his gaze as sharp as a needle.

  Ma Chao led eight riders onto the battlefield, immediately attracting the attention of the Ji Province cavalry. They promptly dispatched over a dozen riders to gallop out and meet them. While still fifty paces apart, both sides simultaneously drew their bows and fired at an angle. The bowstrings vibrated loudly, arrows intersecting in mid-air before falling towards their targets.

  Charging and shooting arrows, if there is no requirement for accuracy, most cavalry can do it. However, when used to shoot at a small group of scattered cavalry, the effect is not very good. At this moment, after two rounds of arrow shots, only three enemy soldiers were shot off their horses, while on Ma Hu's side, two men fell off their horses.

  Ma Hu shot two arrows, the first one was a ranging shot and fell short; the second arrow hit a cavalryman's helmet but at an angle, so the helmet fell off and the enemy was unharmed. Now, with still thirty paces between them, there was time for one last shot.

  In fact, if Ma Hu wanted to, he could use rapid shooting, that is, consecutive arrows. Continuous archery was not a problem for him, the problem lay in aiming, and what he needed to do now was to improve his accuracy rate.

  The bowstring has been drawn, the arrow is ready to be released, and Ma Hu is constantly feeling the rhythm of the horse's gallop, judging the best opportunity to shoot. Pulling the bow for such a long time, it's like using the bow as a crossbow, although the accuracy is greatly improved, but it's extremely exhausting, which is taboo for mounted archers. In general, a physically normal cavalryman can shoot about twenty arrows in a row before having to exit the battlefield to rest and recover. If he pulls the string for such a long time like Ma Hu, he might not even be able to shoot ten arrows before running out of strength.

  Ma Hu did not have this problem at all. If he wanted to, he could pull the string and open the bow for a whole day, without his arms trembling at all. What he wanted was accuracy, and because he used several times more aiming time than others, the arrows he shot had a naturally higher hit rate than others.

  Whoosh! The third arrow shot out, targeting the armored cavalry general among the enemy riders. Puff! The arrow hit the enemy general's neck below the gorget (a ring of leather armor protecting the throat).

  Ma Huan's arrow was originally aimed at the enemy general's neck, but unfortunately due to a calculation error, the enemy general happened to jump up on his horse at that moment, and as a result, it only hit the clavicle position of Yidun.

  That general was shot in the body, and though he reeled, he kept his feet. He grasped the shaft of the arrow with one hand, broke it off, glared round him fiercely, brandished his spear, and rushed at Ma Heng with a loud yell.

  The position of the collarbone, no matter what, is a vital spot on the human body. Having been shot by an arrow, he can still sit steadily on horseback and even counterattack? Is it that his opponent is too powerful or is this bow not strong enough?

  Ma Hu's estimation when drawing the bow was that it was a 70-pound (60 jin) bow, equivalent to one dan of the Han Dynasty, which is the standard cavalry bow. Even with this standard cavalry bow, after penetrating armor at 30 paces, it would get stuck in the collarbone and only cause minor injury. No wonder many ancient generals were shot like hedgehogs but still managed to charge forward alive.

  After the third round of arrows, both sides lost one rider. Ma Xun's side still had five riders, while the enemy had nine riders, with nearly twice as many men and horses.

  On the hillside, a cavalry captain of Youzhou was about to lead his five men to charge into battle when Deng Tong stopped him: "A cavalry captain is a brave warrior who can capture flags and behead generals. Don't waste his merits."

  "But the enemy cavalry is numerous..."

  "It's just a small number of cavalry, and judging from the banner, there is a Lieutenant General among the enemy cavalry (a mid-level military officer in the Han army), who must have seen that our side has few people and personally led the charge. Heh heh, this is a great opportunity for Ma Chao to make a big contribution. If you lead troops to reinforce, the enemy cavalry will retreat, missing the good chance, and Ma Chao will only blame you instead of being grateful."

  It seems like that's what happened, but somehow it doesn't feel right. As I hesitated, the enemy and our cavalry had already clashed and passed each other by, with victory and defeat already decided.

  Ma Huan arrived yesterday and doesn't know what the general's banner, the lieutenant's flag, or the military marquis' recognition flag look like. He only knows that most of the people with flags on their backs are low-ranking officers, just like him. And above the hundred generals, there are attendants holding flags. The military officer he shot just now had an attendant holding a flag close to his left and right, this person is at least a hundred generals, must be killed.

  The sound of hooves was urgent, the flash of knives suddenly appeared, and the cavalry of Yu and Ji simultaneously raised their guns and flashed their knives, intersecting and slashing. For a time, the clanging sound did not stop at one's ears, and the sound of the cavalry falling to the ground made people's hearts jump with fright.

  Horseback riding is not only about technique, but also about numbers. If the ratio of people to horses is less than half that of the opponent, it means that each person has to withstand at least two consecutive attacks from the opponent. If they cannot adjust their offense and defense in time, they can block the first attack but not the second; or, they may cut down an enemy on horseback one moment, only to be stabbed off their horse and fall into the dust the next.

  Ma Xun was in a particularly precarious situation, locked down by the enraged general. The general had three men on horseback, one holding a flag closely behind him, two holding spears guarding his left and right flanks, plus the general charging forward head-on. In this instant, Ma Xun faced a triple threat from left, right, and center, with three enemy riders forming a "?" shape in a triple strike.

  There's no chance to shoot arrows anymore, Ma Hu took the bow and hung it beside the saddle, quickly put on the cavalry round shield on his left arm, pulled out the knife with his right hand, and suddenly threw it out. The knife spun rapidly like a wheel, flying to cut down the riders on the right side, making a "pu" sound as it pierced through the chest and sank in until only the handle was visible. The riders let out a heart-wrenching scream, rolling and falling into the dust.

  At this time, the left side of the cavalry had rushed over, waving their spears and stabbing fiercely. With a loud crack, the wooden round shield of the cavalry was split into four or five pieces under the iron spearhead, and the two horses crossed each other.

  Although the blow was blocked by the shield, Ma Huan's entire left arm went numb and he almost fell off his horse. At this moment, Ma Huan couldn't care less about checking if his arm was injured, because the most fatal blow was coming straight at him.

  It was also a 2.5-meter long spear, but this strike was more ferocious and sharp than the previous one from the cavalry. Ma Chao believed that if the enemy general had not been hit by his arrow before, the force of the strike would have been discounted - but even if the opponent were ten times more ferocious, it would be useless, because in front of Ma Chao there was only this one opponent, and he could concentrate his energy to respond. As long as Ma Chao went all out, who under the sky could be his opponent?

  Time seems to slow down at this moment, the earth-shattering killings, the cavalry's majestic appearance, the flashing of knives and swords, the fluttering of flags - all of these seem to have become the background.

  At noon, the sunlight rendered the battlefield golden. Two knights, as if donning golden armor, charged at each other on horseback. Just before they collided, the unarmed knight suddenly reached out and grabbed the spear-wielding knight's arm, lifting him off his horse along with his spear. The knight drew a deadly arc in mid-air before crashing heavily to the muddy ground, his bones shattering with a sound that even Deng Tong on the hillside could hear clearly.

  Ma Hu rushed to a halt, swiftly turned around, and galloped to the enemy general who was paralyzed on the ground. With an expressionless face, he reversed the long spear he had seized and pointed it at the enemy general's throat.

  The enemy commander's mouth and nose were overflowing with blood, his entire body convulsing non-stop. With great effort, he spoke: "Who... killed me?"

  "Julu Horse Startles Dragon."

  "Oh... come on, give... me one... satisfying..."

  Pffft! The long spear pierced through his throat, and angry blood splattered everywhere.

  Suddenly on the battlefield came a cry of panic: "General Sui's formation has been defeated! The Youzhou soldiers have killed General Sui!"

  As the cries surged like a flood, the Jizhou cavalry scattered and fled.

  On the hillside, Deng Tong was stunned, while Ma Xian's army of soldiers cheered loudly.

  This is Ma Chao's second day of arrival in the Three Kingdoms, after Kou Yi, another general was beheaded - Ji Zhou Jun Bu Jun Hou, General Sui Yuanjin.