Chapter Fifteen: The Two Armies Face Off, Small Soldiers Await Orders

  The soldiers who were clearing the battlefield heard the sound of the horn and quickly withdrew from their original positions, rushing back to their ranks.

  In this process, the previously inaudible horseshoes sounded like thunder, and the entire gourd belly was trembling.

  Its momentum is huge, and it's absolutely impossible for the previous few hundred cavalrymen to compare with it.

  Before the Xiongnu cavalry appeared at the mountain pass turn, Li Guang had already given the order to prepare for battle.

  As the flag waved, the messenger had already run back and forth on both sides of the formation. The assembled Han army immediately began to move in an orderly and rapid manner. A line of troops immediately dispersed and began to form a semicircle. The chariots were at the front, with the war chariot taking the lead, the light infantry was in the middle, the heavy infantry followed closely behind the light infantry, while the cavalry divided into two groups and moved to the sides of the semicircle. A standard defensive joint battle formation had barely been formed before the Xiongnu cavalry arrived.

  With the earth shaking and the deafening sound of horseshoes, the figures of Xiongnu cavalry finally appeared from the bend of the mountain pass.

  "Waaaah~~"

  "Waaaah~~"

  "Waaaah~~"

  “……”

  The Xiongnu cavalry will never forget the desperate wolf howls when they charge, which undoubtedly boosts their morale and intimidates the enemy, especially when there are more than 4,000 of them. As far as the eye can see, the postal road is filled with Xiongnu cavalry rushing out from the bend, these men who grew up in the harsh environment of the north since childhood, are indeed living up to the saying "the poor mountains and evil waters produce outlaws". Each Xiongnu cavalryman exudes a fierce and untamed aura, and the endless cavalry troops pouring out from the mountain pass is absolutely visually shocking.

  The Han army soldiers who were forming an array three hundred zhang away from the mountain pass had their hearts violently trembling with every beat of the Xiongnu cavalry's hooves. This was not because they did not want to block the mountain pass, but rather that under the current circumstances, they no longer had time to do so; at this moment, there were still some Han army soldiers running to take their positions in the large array.

  The charioteers at the forefront of the Han army's formation were desperately controlling their heartbeats and breathing, facing the Xiongnu cavalry like a raging torrent. It was unrealistic to say they weren't nervous. Their hands gripping the reins and weapons were already drenched in sweat. Before this, they had mostly been galloping on training grounds; the Han dynasty's previous policy towards the Xiongnu meant that most of the soldiers here had never truly faced death on the battlefield.

  Now, the opportunity has come.

  But heaven knows, this is not a good opportunity. Because the other side has more than 4,000 cavalrymen, and they are still holding the mentality of avenging the previous few hundred Xiongnu cavalrymen, all of which are their calculations.

  The numerous soldiers guarding the border stared intently at the Xiongnu cavalry, and for a moment, it seemed as if the horses' hooves were not trampling on the ground, but rather, on their hearts!

  Behind the cavalrymen, a thousand lightly armed infantrymen (archers) had already planted their arrows in the ground, waiting to be launched. Although many of the soldiers' bodies were still trembling slightly, their usual strict training had not made them forget what they should do.

  At last, the Xiongnu cavalry marched in a "clanging" pace under the driving of smoke and dust to a position one hundred and fifty zhang away from the chariots.

  "Whoosh!"

  "Whoosh!"

  The light infantry colonel and the cavalry colonel simultaneously drew their swords and pointed them at the sky.

  One thousand bowmen drew their bows and placed arrows on the strings, shaking iron arrows pointing towards the sky above the heads of the Xiongnu cavalry.

  The sunlight shone on the sweat on their faces, sparkling and translucent.

  Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang, clang...

  The Xiongnu cavalry finally advanced to a distance of only 100 zhang from them.

  "Let go!"

  The company commander gave an order, and with a long knife in his hand, he led the way forward.

  "Bang bang bang bang bang bang......"

  The arrow left the string, one thousand iron arrows suddenly shot towards the sky, the air seemed to be torn apart in an instant. These one thousand messengers of death charged into the Xiongnu cavalry formation!

  Charge!

  Almost at the same time as the light infantry lieutenant gave the order, the cavalry lieutenant also pulled out the long knife in his hand!

  "Go! Go! Go!......"

  The charioteer grasped the reins tightly and slapped them hard on the warhorse's back, causing it to whinny loudly as the chariot charged forward!

  In front of Chebing, the Xiongnu cavalry charging in the front row were all overturned! That was the result of the first round of shooting by the archers.

  "Kill..."

  As they saw this, the charioteers' morale was boosted, and they let out a loud roar, charging fearlessly towards the Xiongnu cavalry formation! Meanwhile, the soldiers on the war chariots holding long spears gripped their weapons tightly, assuming the killing postures that had been deeply ingrained in their minds.

  "Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar! Roar......"

  After the chariots charged out, the heavy infantry quickly passed through the gaps in the light infantry's formation and stood at the forefront, with shields held high and spears at the ready. The sharp tips of their long spears protruded from the shields like the quills on a porcupine's back, pointing directly at the Xiongnu cavalry!

  Qin Cheng was now standing in the midst of a phalanx of heavy infantry, grasping his long spear with one hand and wearing a serious expression. Because his view was blocked by the tall shields, he couldn't see the situation ahead, but at this moment, like every other heavy infantryman, Qin Cheng held his breath and listened intently.

  The unique sounds of horseshoes, shouts to kill, mournful cries, whinnies and rumbling sounds on the battlefield all pierced into Qin's ears without exception.

  "Let go!"

  The light infantry centurion's command echoed again behind him.

  Another round of gunfire, without a doubt, after a breath, in the Huns cavalry phalanx, there should be another scene of people and horses turning over!

  The battlefield in front of the heavy infantry suddenly became chaotic, and without seeing Qin City, it was known that the chariots had already clashed with the Xiongnu cavalry!

  At this time, the light infantry could no longer fire in volleys, as that would be likely to hit their own men. Of course, their task was far from over.

  "What's to be done now?" Qin Cheng asked Wu Daliang beside him, having no way out, he didn't know what to do at the moment, but he also didn't want to be at a loss later on, so he let Wu Daliang give himself a crash course. This was also a case of grasping at straws.

  "Wait!" Wu Daliang shouted, but the noise on the battlefield ahead was too loud and his voice was drowned out, Qin Cheng still couldn't hear him.

  "What's next?" Qin Cheng asked loudly.

  "Kill the enemy!" Wu Dalang replied tersely.

  "Damn it!" Qin Cheng was so angry he wanted to kick Wu Daliang, and under his anxious and speechless state, he couldn't help but curse habitually. "Can you be more specific?"

  "With your long spear and long sword in hand, kill the enemy!" Wu Dalang shouted loudly.

  "Damn it!" Qin Cheng was truly enraged now, this was a real battlefield! The danger level was not comparable to the street fights before, and the opponent was cavalry, while he was just an infantryman. At this moment, this old soldier with a belly full of goods actually gave him a riddle, "Wu Daliang, after this battle is over, I'll skin you alive!"

  "What was that? I didn't hear it!" Wu Dalang threw out this sentence and suddenly said: "It's coming, get ready!"

  Wu Dalang had just finished speaking when Qin Cheng felt an iron arrow fly in, sticking close to his ear. Qin Cheng turned around, still in shock, and saw that the soldier standing behind him had an arrow stuck in his head, his eyes bulging out, and his body already falling to the ground.

  He couldn't help but take a sharp breath in, and Qin Cheng lowered his body even further.

  Qin Cheng naturally thought that these were the Xiongnu cavalry who had charged through the chariot array and began to shoot arrows at them from outside the heavy infantry formation!

  On the real battlefield, there would naturally be no cavalry that dared to die by directly riding war horses into a wall of shields filled with long spears. This is no different from sending oneself to death! When there are no other measures available, these Xiongnu cavalrymen will run around the outside of the shield wall and continuously shoot arrows inside until they exhaust their arrows and perish.

  It depends on the situation now.

  Now, the archers behind the heavy infantry of the Han army could no longer shoot in unison, for there were also chariots outside their formation.

  But this does not mean that the Han army will wait for death with folded arms.

  "Heavy infantry, advance!"

  The heavy infantry captain finally drew his long knife and gave a decisive order.

  Upon hearing this command, Qin Cheng let out a sigh of relief in his heart. No matter what, it was better than staying still and waiting for death like a cat.

  At this time, the archers who were originally half-kneeling also stood up under the command of the light infantry captain, aimed at the Xiongnu cavalry outside the shield wall, and began to exchange fire with them!

  Arrows came and went, the Xiongnu cavalry fell one after another, while in the Han army's infantry formation, not a single person fell! Blood was shed at the same time as lives were lost.

  However, at this time, there were not many Xiongnu cavalry outside the heavy infantry shield wall. The main purpose of the chariot's charge was to restrict, hinder and slow down the action of the Xiongnu cavalry. These first wave of Xiongnu cavalry who rushed over were almost all shot dead by the archers in the battle array.

  Of course, after the first wave of soldiers was shot dead, the second and third waves of Xiongnu cavalry rushed over again.

  "Keep going!"

  The heavy infantry commander continued to command, and the entire Han army formation was like a uniformly advancing machine, constantly advancing under the strong push of the shields!

  The iron arrows in the hands of the archers shot out continuously, like machine gun bullets, towards the Xiongnu cavalry that kept appearing outside the shield wall.

  Both sides suffered casualties.

  There were over a thousand archers in the Han army formation, while the Xiongnu cavalry charging forward could not reach hundreds even with continuous losses and replenishment. As a result, these Xiongnu cavalrymen could only be consumed bit by bit under the shooting of the Han army's professional archers.

  Even so, the losses of the Han army's archers were not insignificant.

  Qin Cheng followed the heavy infantry in front of him, observing the battles inside and outside the shield walls of both sides. Apart from understanding the battlefield situation, it was more important to avoid arrows.

  However, Qin Cheng was not just limited to being beaten. As the heavy infantry advanced forward, occasionally there were a few Xiongnu cavalrymen who could not retreat in time or were hot-headed and unwilling to retreat, even charging towards the shield wall with bloodshot eyes, and they were beheaded by him and his companions together.

  It is unknown how long the battle has been going on, but Qin Cheng's sense of time has been completely disrupted. In short, the first abandoned war chariot was just a few steps ahead of them, and at this moment, the heavy infantry's performance finally arrived!

  "Long live!"

  "Charge!"

  As the command of the heavy infantry centurion was given, the shield wall that had completed its mission was withdrawn, and the heavy infantrymen holding long spears charged out from within the shield wall!