Chapter Fourteen: Good Fortune Arrives

  "Waaaahhhh~~~~"

  Even if half of their companions had fallen in battle, the Xiongnu cavalry still charged towards the Han army's cavalry array with a loud howl, waving their long knives on their heads with a fierce wind.

  At this moment, they began to have the same hatred as the Han army in their hearts.

  That is the hatred of losing loved ones and companions.

  Among this group of Xiongnu cavalrymen, a batch of sturdy men locked their eyes tightly on Li Guang in the opposing army formation.

  Li Guang was in good control of the war horse, with one hand holding the reins and the other tightly gripping the long knife, which pointed directly at the Xiongnu elite soldiers in front of him, as if indicating the direction for the Han cavalry on his side. This great god of war of the Han Dynasty's border army appeared exceptionally striking at this moment. It was not only because he wore a different general's battle gown, but also because of the murderous aura and the air of a great general that surrounded him.

  Eyes like an eagle, figure like lightning, momentum like a rainbow!

  Behind Li Guang, following only twenty or thirty riders, Li Gan stood out in the lineup, including a thirty-year-old Han man who had stood behind Li Guang during the trial in the capital, and an extremely uncoordinated thin figure. If Qin Cheng saw this young man, he would recognize him at a glance - he was the pale-faced young servant who had conceded defeat after launching three fierce attacks on himself in the knife technique event, because what he held in his hand was not a long knife, but a long sword!

  "Kill!"

  Li Guang let out a loud roar, prompting countless soldiers to join in with a thunderous shout. The next moment, the two cavalry armies clashed again, their positions mixed up and chaotic!

  Flying dust suddenly slammed into the faces of the cavalrymen on both sides, and what followed was the enemy's long sword!

  This time, the Xiongnu elite troops charging at Li Guang were more than twice as many as before. Those Xiongnu cavalrymen who had almost intentionally formed a line during the charge, one by one, fell forward and continued to charge at Li Guang, slashing down with their long knives!

  Li Guang felt the pressure increasing, the long knives flashing before his eyes one after another, seemingly endless, but he remained calm and composed, his hand holding the long knife as agile as a swimming dragon and as fierce as a tiger wolf, while resolving crisis after crisis, coldly cutting into the bodies of the Xiongnu people!

  The twenty or thirty cavalrymen behind Li Guang saw this, and their eyes turned even redder. They urged on their war horses with all their might, rushing to Li Guang's side to share some of the pressure with him. To these twenty or thirty horsemen, Li Guang's life was more important than anything else, even more important than their own lives.

  Because they are Imperial Guards!

  After several of his guards had paid with their lives, Li Guang's pressure was finally alleviated. By this time, the cavalry of both armies had almost crossed each other.

  Fresh blood and life once again dyed the earth red.

  "Hiss~~"

  "Hiss~~"

  "Hiss~~"

  “……”

  The war horses neighed as the Han cavalry charged through the Xiongnu cavalry formation, began to turn their heads and prepare to face the Xiongnu again for another charge.

  They had just killed nearly two-thirds of the Xiongnu cavalry in a charge. The Han cavalry believed that with just two more charges, these Xiongnu cavalry would be annihilated!

  But as they turned their horses' heads, they saw a shocking scene!

  The Xiongnu cavalry that had charged through the Han army's cavalry formation did not turn their horses' heads, but instead galloped straight into the mountain pass from which they had come!

  "Father, they're going to run away, chase them!" Li Gan exclaimed as he saw the Xiongnu preparing to flee, and since there weren't many of them left, he anxiously shouted to Li Guang.

  Li Dang finished speaking, and the surrounding Han army cavalry looked at Li Guang one after another, their eyes burning with unspoken meaning.

  "Shut up!" Li Guang watched as over a hundred Xiongnu cavalrymen galloped away in the distance, his old face covered in blood and his expression changing unpredictably.

  "Father, the Xiongnu are fleeing, now is the perfect time to pursue them! I only need a hundred or so cavalrymen and I will definitely be able to cut off the heads of those Xiongnu people and make great contributions to the Han!" Li Gan's blood was boiling even more fiercely due to the killing, his pair of bright red eyes were full of ferocity and bloodlust.

  "Li Gan!" Li Guang shouted loudly, "Dare to discuss military strategy again, and you will be dealt with by military law!"

  Having said that, the long sword returned to its scabbard, and he turned around to order: "Quickly clean up the battlefield and treat the wounded. After that, leave a portion of infantry behind to bury the fallen officers, while the rest will depart with their commander in half an hour's time, marching towards the capital, and must arrive before sundown!

  "Promise!"

  Li Gan sighed in dismay, sheathed his long sword, reined in his horse and turned around to follow Li Guang.

  This battle, the Han army with nearly two thousand cavalrymen arrayed against a few hundred Xiongnu cavalrymen. When the Xiongnu retreated with over a hundred horsemen, the Han cavalry suffered casualties of almost one-third. Even in Li Guang's decades-long military career, such a large-scale battle was rare. The loss of five or six hundred cavalrymen made his face unsightly again.

  The strength of the Xiongnu cavalry can be seen from this.

  This nation, which has lived on horseback since childhood, is a born warrior for every adult male. More than a decade of living with horses has made their equestrian skills perfect. Engaging in mounted combat with such an enemy would undoubtedly be a difficult and unrewarding task for the Han army cavalry, whose weapons, equipment, and tactics have no advantage.

  The sun was shining brightly, and the Han army began to clear the battlefield. It has to be said that from any point of view, this is not a pleasant thing.

  Unfortunately, the Heavy Infantry Second Regiment 18th Company, where Qin Cheng was in, encountered this situation. In fact, all one hundred men of the Heavy Infantry Second Regiment were left behind, and apart from cleaning up the battlefield with other garrison troops for now, they would also have to stay behind later to bury the fallen officers and soldiers.

  That is to say, the second battalion of heavy infantry cannot follow Li Guang to Shangdu. According to the arrangement, after burying the fallen generals on the spot, they had to return to Qiansang City obediently.

  Li Guang hastened to lead the army to rush to Shangdu, especially after the battle just now. Therefore, the main force cannot stay and can only divide a small part to deal with the aftermath.

  Qin Cheng led the eighteen Shi of garrison soldiers, along with other garrison soldiers, to start cleaning up the battlefield under the scorching sun.

  A scorching sun, dust and dirt lingering in the low air, the atmosphere seems to be distorted in bloodiness, a land of blood, staining the yellow earth red, with countless severed limbs and entrails scattered among them, the sunlight reflecting off the ravaged ground with piercing glints, highlighting the expressions of the dead warriors' reluctance, unwillingness, and fear, making them even more gruesome.

  Qin Cheng knelt down beside the stiff corpse of the guard, whose intestines had spilled out all over the ground, and tried to move his hands away from his abdomen. However, no matter how hard Qin Cheng tried, the rigid body didn't budge even a little bit. He couldn't help but let out a long sigh in his heart. With both hands, Qin Cheng carefully picked up the guard's intestines from the ground and slowly stuffed them back into his abdominal cavity. After doing all this, even Qin Cheng, who was used to seeing life and death, couldn't help but feel a lump in his throat, and a sense of reverence rose up in his heart.

  They are the purest warriors and the greatest warriors. For what they guard, they go all out, and finally die for it.

  A horsehide-wrapped corpse, what a tragic and heroic phrase!

  Bones by the river with no fixed abode, a person in the spring boudoir dream.

  Qin Cheng was momentarily stunned.

  "What's wrong, are you okay? Do you want to throw up?" Wu Daliang squatted down beside Qin Cheng, one hand on his back, and asked with concern.

  "It's nothing." Qin Cheng flashed a reassuring smile at Wu Daliang and forcibly calmed himself down.

  "When new recruits first go to the battlefield, they all vomit. This smell is unbearable for those who see it for the first time." Wu Dalang comforted Qin Cheng, fearing that he would force himself to endure.

  "I'm really fine." Qin Cheng walked up to the front of the array of fallen soldiers and gestured for Wu Daliang to help lift him up.

  One after another, the soldiers who were still full of energy just a moment ago are now completely lifeless. Wu Dalang couldn't help but say: "I didn't expect that this time we set out, we'd have to turn back halfway through without even touching a single Xiongnu person's hair. Alas! It's really disheartening!"

  After two quarters of cleaning, some corpses blocking the mountain pass have been cleaned up. At this time, the Han army has assembled in a marching formation, and it seems that they are about to set off immediately.

  Qin Cheng looked up at the thousands of soldiers in front of him, fully armed and ready to depart. The sense of loss in his heart grew heavier. "Yes, I didn't expect that this lifetime's first time following the army into battle would be just to collect the bodies of my companions."

  "If I were a cavalryman, I'd have fought the Xiongnu three hundred rounds by now! Damn it, if I had known this would happen today, I wouldn't have become an infantryman back then. It's so suffocating!" Dong Zhu's voice carried far and wide, reaching Qin Cheng and Wu Daliang's ears, "Suffocate to death, you big boss!"

  Qin Cheng and Wu Dalang exchanged a smile, saying: "Dong Zhuo's words are indeed correct."

  "What's wrong? I heard that General Li Guang summoned you during the trial in the capital, didn't you mention to him your desire to become a cavalryman?" Wu Dalang asked, recalling what Qin Cheng had said earlier.

  "I'm completely innocent, without any military achievements, how can I make such a request to the general? Originally, I still hoped to gain something on the battlefield this time and then think about it again. Now it seems that the possibility is also very small. It's really unknown whether it's my bad luck or not." Qin Cheng shook his head helplessly.

  "That's true, but it's a waste of your skills." Wu Daliang said sincerely.

  "Who can tell what's going on?" Qin Cheng could only laugh at himself.

  Wu Daliang paused for a moment and also smiled: "However, I think that Shi Chang's fate is not so miserable."

  "Is it? I hope so!" Qin Cheng said casually, and then he and Wu Daliang looked at each other and smiled.

  Suddenly, a faint tremor came from the ground, accompanied by a low and distant rumbling sound.

  Qin Cheng's smile was cut off halfway, and he motioned to Wu Daliang to stop. He concentrated for a moment, then bent down, his ear close to the ground, listening intently.

  Wu Daliang was taken aback for a moment, then he also reacted and made the same movement as Qin Cheng.

  After a while, Qin Cheng stood up, his eyes looking in the direction where the more than 100 remaining Xiongnu soldiers had retreated earlier, his expression solemn.

  "Did you hear it too?"

  "I heard it."

  Qin Cheng looked around again and said, "Such a terrain is quite rare in Shanggu, isn't it?"

  "It's indeed a rare find. Not only is it rare, but it's also very suitable." Wu Daliang's eyes had already begun to shine with excitement. "I had a vague feeling that something was strange earlier, but I couldn't quite put my finger on what it was. The Xiongnu have always been the type to fight if they can win, and run if they can't. Why did they insist on colliding head-on with our nearly 2,000 cavalry with just a few hundred men this time? Now that I think about it, I finally understand."

  "It's not too late to understand."

  Wu Daliang's eyes shone brightly as he gazed at Qin Cheng and said, "It seems what I said earlier was right, your fate won't be so miserable after all."

  Qin Cheng smiled slightly, "Thanks for your kind words, same to you."

  Qin Cheng and Wu Daliang laughed at the same time.

  "Second battalion of heavy infantry, all assemble in full gear!" Qin City suddenly roared.

  Almost at the same time, a thick and loud horn sounded in the Han army camp that was about to depart.