Chapter 64: Cavalry Clash

  On the hillside of Chìyá village, a new grave is built on top of another one.

  "Uncle, I'm late." Gong Sun Ce wore a hemp garment and knelt in front of the grave. He hadn't expected that his uncle would be so excited to see his large army that he wouldn't be able to withstand it and would suddenly die from heart failure.

  "But I have to go again, when I come back, I will build a grand mausoleum for you all!" After saying that, he knocked his head on the ground. The gods and the Gongsun family members behind him all knelt down one after another, while a group of elderly people from the clan who had escaped by luck stood not far away.

  Gongsun Zhi arrived at the group of old men, drew out the Wushan sword from his waist and flung it into the ground, with one foot of the blade entering the earth.

  "I don't have any feelings for you all, I gathered you here today just to clarify one thing. I am Gong Sun Ce, the collateral branch among your collateral branches, the illegitimate child among your illegitimate children. Now, I want to become the main stream, do you have any opinions?"

  A group of old people, some with anxious expressions, some with sorrowful faces, others with uncontrollable anger, and finally, there are those with dull eyes, who have given up on life.

  Two or three hundred young men and four or five hundred women looked on, none of them showing anger, some only fear and a glimmer of hope.

  "Impossible! You people have already fallen and separated from our clan, now..." An old man puffed out his chest, eyes wide with indignation, pointing at Gong Sun Zhan as he began to scold.

  This is a family matter of Gong Sun Ce, and the divine generals under his command are not good at intervening. They just kept a safe distance and watched with an air of displeasure. Gong Sun Ce's elder cousin, Gong Sun Huaiying, who had just lost his father, walked out from behind Gong Sun Ce, drew the Wushan sword from the ground, and struck out with one slash.

  "My father earned a meager income every year, most of which was handed over to the Zong family in hopes of gaining their support. You took the money but thought it was only natural and didn't lift a finger. A Zong family like this doesn't need to exist anymore!" Gong Sun Huaiying wiped the remaining blood on her sword with the deceased elder's clothes, her expression fierce.

  "Gao Shun, take out the direct descendants of this old man and execute them." Gong Sun Ce waved his hand, his voice calm. A group of old men heard this, their withered bodies trembling violently, but not one dared to speak up.

  Gao Shun took out the flower register, led the trapped soldiers, and picked out one by one the relatives of the deceased old man. The group of young men and women, over 700 people, suddenly panicked, those who were picked out wailed and cried, begging for mercy. The remaining lucky ones trembled all over, looking at their own family's old man, full of pleading.

  Gongsun Ce saw more than thirty men, women, and children being pulled out from the crowd and forced to kneel in front of their ancestors' graves. The soldiers surrounding them drew their swords, waiting for a single order.

  "Spare them, you are the head of the clan!" An old man spoke up, his expression very bitter.

  When he saw Gongsun Zan, he seemed to see the young and ruthless Gongsun Zan's father, and also seemed to have seen Gongsun Zan's grandfather, that madman who was killed by a whole army of the previous dynasty in the deep mountains.

  Gongsun Zan let out a disappointed sigh and said, "When my father was framed and forced to leave his hometown, where were you? If your family had just spoken up at the time, things could have been resolved. Why did I have to leave this land and suffer humiliation in a strange place?"

  "You should be grateful, if it weren't for the fact that our Sun family has suffered too much loss, I wouldn't even bother with you. I'm questioning you just to go through the motions, and that foolish old man actually believed it? Democracy? Ha... " Gong Sun Ce lowered his head and sneered coldly as he lightly waved his hand.

  That tall and majestic figure shouted in a cold voice: "Behead!"

  A group of old men closed their eyes, and the young people were even more chaotic, with some even fainting. Gong Sun Ce was very disappointed by this. He had not expected that those young people would be so incompetent.

  "At first, we restored our original surname, and you just laughed and made fun of us. So, I have to do something, or the ancestors under the ground will think that I am not doing anything." Gong Sun Ce said with a smile.

  The soldiers behind him were dragging away the headless corpses one by one, and arranging the skulls in a row. Therefore, the old man standing in front of him thought that Gong Sun's smile was very cruel, like a madman.

  "In the future, you will still be surnamed Sun, but just as a vassal of my GongSun family! Those with exceptional abilities will be granted the surname GongSun. So, all the previous rules of your clan are abolished! The middle name with a ranking character, I find it annoying to look at." GongSun Ce didn't like that 'Huai' character very much, and when he left earlier, he didn't let his uncle go to the clan to ask for it.

  "The four words sound uncomfortable, troublesome! The original Gong Sunying is now better. The 'Huai' character in his name has brought him more trouble than the so-called family honor."

  As for his cousin's words, Gong Sun Ce just smiled and continued: "As for you, it's not suitable to stay here. Go to Xianyang, where food and drink are plentiful and safe. When you arrive in Xianyang, remember to learn something, don't lose the face of my Gong Sun family."

  On the way down the mountain, Gong Sun Ce said to Guo Liang: "You are in charge of sending them to Xianyang. This time, Du Yuan's troops will be assigned to you. Hurry up and come back quickly, the Battle of Jin City is about to begin. Don't be late again, without military merit, your title won't be promoted, Old Dong will bother me."

  "Jincheng is the capital of Former Liang, capturing it is equivalent to destroying a country. Even I will be greatly promoted, you little brat will surely rise to the top!" Gong Sun Ce knew that Dong Zhuo handed over Guo Liang to him, still hoping that Guo Liang would follow him to take credit for capturing Jincheng.

  "Huh, why didn't they send Liu Wei this time? Afraid that Li Si would find another excuse to leave me in Xianyang and I'd be stuck with a huge loss? Besides, my 500 Flying Bears are quite sharp during the siege!" Guo Liang was still haggling over the price, he missed the battle of breaking through Pingliang Prefecture's city walls, and his heart still had some lingering regrets.

  "Liu Weina, you're not unaware of this. I don't bother with his family affairs, but I won't let him cause trouble for no reason. As for Li Si, if you take a tough stance, he'll naturally soften up. You're my younger brother, the son of Old Dong, and your attitude represents the attitude of our Northwestern Qin military!"

  "Alright, I'll set off now. Time is of the essence. Do you have anything to bring back for your family, Big Brother?" Guo Liang was a man who acted on his words, and this was something Gong Sun Ce liked about him.

  As for what to bring to Xue Ling and the others, Gong Sun Ce could only think of food and clothing. He buried his head in thought and said: "Bring a batch of jewelry back, not too many or too ostentatious, Li Si won't care about that. Just say it's from my family, no one can prove it's our spoils of war!"

  The rules of the Qin army are very rigid, and all spoils of war belong to the state during battles. Gongsun Zhi's actions in the early period were clearly intended to undermine the foundation of the Qin state. Although those things were won by him, the rules of the Qin state are like that. It is possible to violate them, but one must do a good job on the surface and not reveal any flaws.

  Guo Liang set out again, with 800 soldiers, protecting more than 3,000 civilians, heading towards Xianyang. To increase Guo Liang's marching speed, Gong Sun Ce provided 500 carts of oxen and horses to transport the baggage.

  Gongsun Zan led his troops out of the abandoned village and headed towards Jincheng.

  Gongsun En, also known as Gongsun Ce's cousin, followed Guo Liang back to Xianyang. Gongsun Ce arranged for him to go to Xianyang to manage the mansion on his behalf. Accompanying him were a hundred heavenly soldiers belonging to Gongsun En, whose quality was only slightly better than Du Yuanzheng's Du family heavenly soldiers, barely second-rate. They were not good at fighting, but they were fine for guarding the house and courtyard.

  On September 20, Gongsun Zan led his troops to rush to the Yu Zhong area.

  "Report! A large cavalry unit is approaching from the front, with approximately three thousand men!" Just as a scout finished reporting and fell off his horse. Gong Sun Ce took a look and saw that this scout had seven or eight sharp arrows inserted in his back!

  Gongsun Zan saw that the terrain here was very advantageous to himself, with high ground in the south and low ground in the north, and a broad terrain of about 500-600 meters, which was suitable for cavalry to launch a charge.

  "Rise! The enemy has archer cavalry, don't give them a chance, bite down hard later!" Gong Sun Ce said. Ma Chao nodded and gathered the Xiliang elite cavalry to form a triangular formation in front of the array.

  The scout on the ground was pulled back by the military doctor for emergency treatment, and soon more scouts came back to report on the military situation, most of whom were shot with arrows. They were all heavenly soldiers under Zhuge Shuang's command, and Zhuge Shuang's condensed war soul riding technique was not bad, so this unit of heavenly soldiers was often assigned as scouts.

  Yuzhong area is where the Xianbei Qifu Guoren established the Western Qin, which was attached to the Northern Liang at that time. This group of Western Qin cavalry was going to Tianshui to reinforce Song Hui's unit, but unexpectedly encountered the vanguard of the Qin army before leaving their homeland far away.

  The Xianbei Western Qin iron cavalry was led by Qifu Gongfu, a jinx in history. His father Qifu Guoren established the Western Qin, but the successor was Guoren's brother Qifu Gan gui. Later, Qifu Gongfu usurped the throne and killed his uncle, but was defeated by his uncle's son and sent someone to kill him.

  Qifu Gongfu fled to his brother Qifu Achai, but was pursued by the enemy troops and had his cauldron overturned. This guy can be said to have a big temper, so when he saw an unidentified scout, he immediately gave chase!

  "Xi Qin? What a pity for such a good national title! The ruler's surname is Qifu, it sounds like a short-lived dynasty!" Gong Sun Ce ridiculed as the troops were all ready. The vanguard was Ma Chao's one thousand Western Liang elite cavalry, followed by three thousand halberdiers forming a halberd array, and behind them were seven hundred five-linked light crossbows! Behind the five-linked light crossbows were over a thousand Yuqi cavalry, along with Gong Sun Ce's Tianbing troops.

  "Trample them!" The troops of Xiqin naturally wouldn't fight under the military flag with the words "Xiqin" on it, but also under a Qin character military flag. Under the great flag, Qifu Gongfu saw Ma Chao's thousand cavalry blocking the gentle slope and immediately let out a loud roar, leading his army to charge!

  Xiqin was established by the Xianbei people, and its cavalry was naturally composed of skilled Xianbei archers. One by one, the Xianbei riders drew their bows and nocked their arrows, planning to give the Western Liang elite cavalry a bath in arrow rain first.

  "Burst through it!" Ma Chao saw the opponent's charge, and coldly sneered in his heart. Even Ma Li didn't know that he had been cultivating a cavalry general, who was the most foolish of all. Leading the cavalry to launch a charge from low to high, it was even more foolish!

  The elite cavalry of the Western Liang were mostly composed of Qiang people, and the Qiang people's archery skills may not be as good as those of the Xianbei people. However, the Qiang people are best at spears and shields, spear infantry and spear cavalry!

  Each Western Xia cavalryman held the reins of his horse in one hand and a short spear in the other, with three or four more short spears attached to his saddle, and also had a long lance at the ready.

  Ma Chao calculated the distance between them, and when he saw that the Xiqin Xianbei archers were only 300 meters away, he pointed his tiger-headed spear forward and shouted: "Kill!"

  "Kill!" The Western Xia elite cavalry shouted in unison, advancing and charging at the same time. Not a single mistake was seen, this is the style of elite cavalry! Unlike the Yu riders, group charges are difficult to complete, they can only be divided into small groups to launch charges.

  "What a fine cavalry!" Qifu Gongfu was also a connoisseur, seeing the opponent's neat charge, he knew he had kicked an iron plate. But he was several times more than his opponent, and still a bow-riding horseman, didn't believe he couldn't mess with his opponent!

  "Release the arrow!" Qifu Gongfu shouted loudly, but in fact he didn't need to give orders. The Xianbei cavalrymen would release their arrows at the right moment on their own. For them, mounted archery had become an instinct, and they could calculate the most suitable timing very well.

  "Charge!" When both sides were about a hundred meters apart, the Xianbei cavalry released their arrows, and a black rain of arrows swept towards the Western Liang elite cavalry. Ma Chao let out a loud roar, deflecting an arrow in front of him with his spear, and charged forward on horseback.

  The Xianbei cavalrymen with excellent archery skills continued to shoot out a second arrow, while the rest of the cavalrymen drew their curved knives and charged at the Western Liang elite cavalry, which had lost 300 men, ready for close combat.

  "Go to hell!" Ma Chao was like a precise killing machine, his tiger-headed spear dancing in a whirlwind, the Xianbei cavalrymen in front of him were knocked off their warhorses one after another, not a single one survived.

  Ma Chao's rear Western Liang elite cavalry suddenly threw short spears at the Western Qin Xianbei cavalry, and the Western Qin Xianbei cavalry fell off their horses one after another, with countless deaths and injuries!

  "Where to go!" Ma Chao killed the first wave of Xianbei cavalry, and saw that the opponent was about to turn around and ride into the second wave of Xianbei cavalry with a general under his command. How could Ma Chao be willing?

  Ma Chao was so brave and powerful, the elite cavalry of Xiliang behind him were even more spirited. Following Ma Chao's breakthrough, they quickly tore apart the first wave of Xianbei cavalry formation.

  "An individual's martial skills can indeed turn the tide of battle!" Gong Sun Ce's intention was to consume the Western Liang elite cavalry, anyway these cavalrymen truly belonged to Great Qin after their surrender, and had nothing to do with him; if he didn't use them well, he would regret it.

  "Fire!" Seeing the first wave of Xianbei cavalry charging straight at him, Gongsun Zan ordered the crossbowmen to shoot. For a moment, countless crossbow arrows flew out from behind the halberdiers' battle array, and all Gongsun Zan could hear was the sound of crossbow arrows piercing the air.

  The first wave of Xianbei cavalry was about to open fire on the unprotected halberdiers, but they slowed down their horses one after another, not wanting to be swept away by five rounds of arrow rain.

  Gongsun Zan saw Ma Chao's cavalry break through the Xianbei's second wave of riders once again, but at great cost to himself. He immediately gave the order: "Symbolic Riders, charge!"

  Cheng Shen's symbol cavalry appeared in front of the array when shooting arrows, and when they heard the command, they rushed fiercely towards the Xianbei second wave of cavalry. As for the first wave of Xianbei cavalry, there were only a few left, and they were directly overwhelmed by the symbol cavalry, along with their horses.

  "Cavalry is very powerful, and it requires talent and rich experience to use them." Gong Sunying stood beside Gong Sunce, sighed.

  "Big brother is right, cavalry battles are decided in an instant. The situation can be determined in an instant, and excellent commanders are very important for cavalry troops!" Gong Sun brothers began to discuss cavalry tactics.

  On the battlefield, Ma Chao broke through the third row of Xianbei troops alone and caught up with Qifu Gongfu from behind, stabbing him to death. The morale of the Xianbei soldiers plummeted, and they fled in disorder, pursued and killed by the elite cavalry of Western Liang and the Symbolic Cavalry.

  Only less than one tenth of the 3,000 Western Qin Xianbei cavalrymen escaped with their lives.