Chapter 35: The First Kill is for Hunting

  Zhou Yuji started to turn back.

  He knew he had succeeded because the leader of the Jian slave cavalry, who was sitting in the middle of the road, did not see him even after passing by all the Jian slaves. The leader of the Jian slave cavalry would not disappear without reason, which meant that he had been successfully killed by his own brave warriors.

  "Regroup! Report casualties!"

  Take down the Jian Nu leader, now. It must be temporarily stopped to attack. Experience tells Zhou Yuji that when fighting with Jian Nu, killing their leader cannot continue to pursue relentlessly. The military discipline of Jian Nu is extremely strict. When the leader is killed, according to the military discipline, soldiers are not allowed to escape and return. Losing their own leader, these soldiers will be beheaded when they return because they abandoned their superiors, even if it was a dead superior, which is not allowed. Therefore, Zhou Yuji needs to wait instead of continuing to fight with Jian Nu.

  The war horse walked slowly, and the two sides stood facing each other from a distance.

  Just like Zhou Yuji's judgment, Jian Nu's army was indeed powerful. Despite losing their highest leader, these Jian Nu cavalry remained completely unflappable and maintained their formation extremely well. This was truly the mark of seasoned warriors. Zhou Yuji couldn't help but admire these Jian Nu soldiers, who were indeed very disciplined.

  For a long time, Zhou Yuji remained motionless, still waiting. Sure enough, before long, a Jin slave cavalryman galloped away in the direction of the main Jin army. A smile spread across Zhou Yuji's face...

  Deumaile got the news and was dizzy for a while, Duomaile died, Duomaile, known as the first hero of the Plain White Banner, died like this.

  "Order Gniev to temporarily take command of the cavalry, have them fall back and let the Mongols hold off the enemy for a while. If they don't obey orders, kill them! Have Gnie supervise from behind!" Tulo's mind was already somewhat muddled, now he had the cavalry fall back and let the Mongols hold off the enemy, but those Mongols, they weren't even cavalry, just herders on horseback, letting them go up against an enemy that even the Jin state cavalry couldn't handle was undoubtedly sending them to their deaths.

  Several riders galloped away, Tuluo thought for a moment, can't stop, once the Ming army's reinforcements arrive, the consequences are obvious, he decided to hurry up and run. "Speed up, don't leave the riverbank, keep moving forward!"

  Now, the main force of Jian Nu is advancing along the Zi Ya River, also known as Wei He. The Zi Ya River and Yongding River to the north are the two main rivers in Tianjin Wei. Tuluo is now short of water and afraid, and the defeat at Wuqing Lake is still fresh in his memory. Anyway, he will not leave the riverbank, and following the riverbank will never be short of water again. Moreover, the Zi Ya River is also a barrier, so he doesn't have to worry about enemies coming from the south. The cavalry is most afraid of muddy ground and icy surfaces, so Tuluo will absolutely not leave the riverbank.

  Two thousand Mongolian herdsmen were wandering, they had been frightened by the brave Ming army cavalry, and now they were asked to attack those killing god-like Ming army cavalry. Although unwilling, under the threat of the blade, these herdsmen still surrendered, facing Zhou Yuji who was slowly approaching them, these Mongolians didn't even have a basic formation, they started accelerating.

  "Disperse them, and victory will be ours!" Zhou Yuji was full of confidence. These Mongolians who had been driven here were nothing to be feared. As long as he started charging forward, it would probably only take one impact for these herdsmen to collapse.

  The fact is that Zhou Yuji overestimated these herdsmen. At a very, very far distance, the sons of this horseback nation shamefully fled again, heading north, all the way north, as if the north was their paradise, but in reality, it was their home - the grasslands.

  Genghis Khan, who had just been promoted to cavalry commander, was shocked to discover that the Mongols had run again without making any contact with the Ming army.

  Genghis would never run; he was a proud Jinzhou warrior and would not shamefully flee from battle. Now, Genghis had to go into battle.

  The Ming army cavalrymen across from him were getting closer and closer, and as the war horses accelerated, Genghis's heart began to thump wildly. He knew about Dumaileer's ferocity and that he was far from being a match for him. If these Ming army cavalrymen could kill Dumaileer, they could certainly also kill him.

  "Brave warriors of Jianzhou, wipe out these Ming dogs!"

  Although he knew it was a false show of strength, and that they were no match for the enemy, Gerni had no choice. The harsh military discipline and the honor of being a warrior left him with only one option: to fight to the death.

  Still it was Liu Qi who led the charge, and the warhorses were very fast. In an instant, both sides collided with each other, just as Guni had anticipated for himself. He was no match at all, and in just two or three contacts, the newly appointed cavalry commander Guni fell off his horse cleanly.

  Tuluo made another mistake, or it can be said that he overtrusted his cavalry and his ability to command large troops. The infantry in motion could not form an effective defense in a short period of time. When the Ming army's cavalry led by Liu Qi appeared behind them, as the distance approached, Jian Nu's infantry corps was in chaos, they had already started running wildly, so many people running together meant that it was the prelude to collapse.

  The infantry will never outrun the cavalry, and the disorganized slave infantry began to abandon vehicles loaded with various supplies in order to escape. Tullo was also fleeing, trying to stop and organize a defense, but when he turned around and saw the scene behind him, he closed his eyes in pain. The difference between the attendants and the warriors was too great, they simply did not know how to fight while retreating, this disorganized retreat seriously disrupted the combat of the warriors, there were too many attendants, it was their disorganization that created a wave of panic among the main troops.

  As a large number of supplies were abandoned, Jian Nu's infantry had already fallen into disarray. Even if Tu Luo gave the order to defend, it would probably be too late now.

  "Charge!"

  Zhou Yuji had participated in many battles like this before, with hundreds of people against tens of thousands. Of course, it wasn't facing the Jian Nu, but rather the rioting troops within the Great Ming borders. In such a situation, Zhou Yuji was familiar with the tactics, knowing that cavalry couldn't stop or charge into the chaotic infantry. He only needed to continuously slaughter those who fell behind on the periphery. The goal was to drive the enemy to flee, create fear among them, and make them even more chaotic.

  This is what is called "driving sheep", and the purpose of "driving sheep" is to cause a landslide for the enemy.

  Liu Qi and Zhou Yuji had a tacit understanding, when Zhou Yuji started to the left, Liu Qi would go to the right, each leading a team of cavalry to shuttle back and forth behind and on the north wing of the enemy, at the same time, they had to kill those lagging enemies, this is the essence of "driving sheep", its effect is to create chaos, let the enemy flee continuously, then... the goal is to thoroughly defeat the enemy.

  Tuo Luo didn't understand why it was like this. When were the Jianzhou Braves ever driven away by the Ming army? In his memory, such a situation seemed to have never happened before. His own troops seemed to be the driven sheep, which should be the exclusive patent of the Jianzhou Braves against the Ming army, but now it has completely turned around.

  Iron hooves fluttering, everything is in hand. As long as he sees the lagging enemy, he will be beheaded. The number of people is too disparate, Zhou Yuji will not accept surrender. His purpose is to kill, thoroughly defeat Jian Nu.

  Tens of thousands of people fled in panic, a scene that can be described as overwhelming, and what's even more unbelievable is that the pursuers were only over a thousand people.

  Those outer slave cavalry had abandoned their defense, they wandered far away from the main force, not because they were cowardly, but because no one was organizing them now. Without a leader, they were filled with confusion, just watching from afar as the Ming army cavalry slaughtered their infantry. This wasn't a matter of bravery, the problem was that there was no one to organize them, in this extremely chaotic situation, blind charging without formation was equivalent to going forward to die. Everyone understood this logic, so these slave cavalry could only watch from the sidelines, could only avoid far away when there was no one leading them.

  Everything went according to plan, falling behind meant death, all the Jianzhou soldiers were desperately running forward, with the Ming army cavalrymen waving their swords and galloping behind them. Zhou Huchen rode his horse, swung his sword and knocked down a lagging Jianzhou soldier, then he let out a loud and clear shout:

  "Come on! Our hunt has begun! Let's slaughter these lambs, let's butcher these sheep that have been sent to our doorsteps!"