Chapter 25: The Battle of Fenglingdu (Part 2)

  When Haotian found that the smoke from the other side's camp rose ahead of time, he already understood that the war would start immediately. He waved his hand to let Dugu Yueming go and prepare, while he stood on the riverbank to supervise the placement of the catapults and those black wooden barrels personally.

  The main force of this defensive battle is the 50,000-strong army led by Dugu Yueming and Bian Zhongxing. In coordination with them are Jiang Chenzhou's 30,000-strong Honorary Army and Situ Lie's 50,000-strong City Defense Army. Given the special location of Shizhou, Haotian has deliberately stationed a full 50,000 troops here. It's just unknown how Situ Lie is doing with his training now.

  The low and mournful sound of the ox horn slowly rose from the northern bank of the ferry, accompanied by the continuous echoes of the ox horn, countless soldiers from the three countries outside the pass emerged from their camps in neat and orderly formation, then stopped about a mile away on the northern bank.

  "Haha, it's up to you two now." Huāng Tiān smiled and patted the shoulders of Dú Gū Yǔ Míng and Biān Zhòng Xíng. Among his many generals, Dú Gū Yǔ Míng was most skilled at infantry attacks, while Biān Zhòng Xíng excelled at defensive warfare. Now that Huāng Tiān's forces lacked a single cavalryman, with the exception of the thousand elite soldiers led by Zhǎn Shū Táng, the command of this battle naturally fell to the heavily injured Dú Gū duo.

  Du Guoyu Ming's face was still somewhat pale, and Bian Chongxing's body seemed to have become even thinner. After Huang Tian issued the order to form the White Crane Army and the Panshi Army that day, the two of them quietly returned to the barracks without telling Huang Tian or Tian Yi. In the barracks, their recovery speed was much faster than in the infirmary. It seems that the army is indeed their lifeblood. After learning about this matter, Huang Tian sighed and said: "It's better to let them be in charge." The two of them did have a unique approach to training soldiers, and although it had only been a few days, the tens of thousands of troops under their command already showed a hint of faint killing intent.

  "Prepare the crossbowmen!" Dugu Yueming said calmly, in front of him were the 2,000 light cavalry troops sent by Yelü Xiyin to probe, but Yelü Xiyin was clearly not benevolent, these 2,000 cavalrymen all came from the Iron Eagle tribe.

  In the winter, Fenglingdu's ferry was even more desolate and bleak in the cold wind. The sound of 2,000 cavalrymen's hooves, even from a distance across the river, still made the soldiers on the riverside tremble with fear. Some of Dugu's soldiers even had a hint of terror on their faces. Dugu Yuming and Bian Zhongxing exchanged a glance, both seeing the bitter smile in each other's eyes. If these 50,000 soldiers were their old comrades-in-arms, they wouldn't have been intimidated by 2,000 cavalrymen, let alone 20,000. However, these soldiers were either new recruits who had never been to battle or former Northern Expedition Army soldiers who had suffered greatly at the hands of foreign tribes beyond the Great Wall. Although their morale was commendable, it was inevitable that they would have some fear. Nevertheless, Dugu and Bian didn't look down on them; they believed that as long as they experienced this war and were given a victorious boost, they would quickly grow up.

  Tieying's cavalry was about to cross the river, but Dugu didn't rush. The firing speed of the repeating crossbow was very fast, its power was great, and it also had a breakthrough in range, able to exert its power at around 120 meters. Compared to the normal bow and arrow's 100-meter range, it was much farther away. As long as they entered their shooting range, it would be a storm of arrows.

  "Recurve, release!" Seeing that the opponent had entered the shooting range, Dugu Coldly said, and then thousands of arrows instantly flew across the sky like meteors, bursting in the Iron Eagle cavalry's formation. However, the Iron Eagle cavalry was also a master of mounted combat, and as soon as they saw the enemy's bows and arrows, they immediately lowered their bodies, crouching on the horseback, and charged forward with a unified movement. But Dugu Yuming's recurve bow was not shooting in a straight line, but at an angle of 45 degrees upwards, which shortened the range by a bit, but increased the power of the falling arrows, making them more difficult to defend against. Although the Iron Eagle soldiers tried their best to spread out the formation, there were still over a hundred unlucky ones who were hit by the arrows, silently falling off their horses and then being trampled into meat paste by the following cavalry.

  "The second row, fire!" Du Guo Yu Ming calmly ordered. His crossbowmen were all three-stage continuous shooting, when the first row shot, the soldiers in the second row had already prepared, and the third row of soldiers had just retreated from the front line and were loading arrows. This triple-wave shooting method could bring out the maximum power of the crossbowmen.

  The speed of the Iron Eagle cavalry was simply too fast, and the distance of one hundred and fifty meters was just a few breaths. After shooting out four waves of arrow rain, the Iron Eagle cavalry had already killed to the front line. Only after experiencing the baptism of the crossbow, less than two thousand riders were left. Facing the well-prepared Panshi army with momentum like a rainbow, it seemed that a small wave crashed on the reef and scattered instantly. The wolf-toothed club in their hands was powerful, but compared to the one-meter-long dragon gun of the Hetao soldiers, it was still slightly short. The high-speed moving cavalry had no time to react before crashing into the dragon gun and being strung together. The luck of the back riders was slightly better, but the halberd hand of the White Crane army had already waited well, although there were fish that escaped the net, under their siege, there was not a single sound.

  "The foreign tribes beyond the border are nothing more than this." Dugu said calmly, while the morale of the surrounding soldiers was shaken. Seeing two thousand cavalrymen annihilated so easily in front of them, their joy and confidence were self-evident. Only Bian Zhongxing smiled faintly beside him, Dugu's words were just to boost morale, if the foreign tribes beyond the border really had only these two brushes, then how could the Empire's Northern Expedition Army be defeated so badly?

  Although it was just a fleeting glance, Bian Chongyan had already seen the opponent's equipment clearly. In nomadic tribes, the most elite troops were their iron armor bow cavalry, followed by ordinary bow cavalry, and then ordinary cavalry with wolf-tooth clubs and long guns. This unfortunate light cavalry is likely to have offended the opponent's general, so they deliberately brought them out to test their own firepower. If it was the opponent's elite bow cavalry, even if they could annihilate them all, they would definitely suffer significant casualties, how could there be such a small loss like now?

  On the north bank of the ferry, watching the two thousand cavalry being annihilated, there was no sadness on Hengshan Hassan's face. This ending was already expected by him, but he didn't expect the opponent's strength to be so strong, and they hadn't even figured out the opponent's defensive position before they all died in battle. It can't be said that this isn't a regret.

  "It seems like they don't have cavalry?" Heji Muer said calmly.

  Heng Shi Ha San took over: "Although the Yellow River Valley produces horses, after our baptism, they don't have many horse teams to form cavalry. Moreover, forming cavalry is not like infantry, which can be formed quickly. It requires long-term training and tempering of life and death. It's normal that they don't have enough cavalry now."

  He Qi Mu'er volunteered and said: "General Yelü Chih-hsien, why not let the sons under my command go forward and charge? I don't believe that General can rely solely on infantry to withstand our heavy cavalry."

  Yelü Chih frowned and said lightly, "No need to be polite, General. Since the allied forces are led by me, Mandan, how can I let our allies fight in front while I watch from the side? Xiao Shicheng, get Soham's iron-armored heavy cavalry ready and tell him that if he can't break through the enemy's defense line, he doesn't need to come back."

  Heshan's heart was delighted, but on the surface he still said with concern: "General Yelü Chihyuan, do you need our Iron Eagle to help you? The opponent's defense line is not only intact but also solid, and General Soham may not be able to break through the opponent's defense line in one fell swoop."

  Yelü Chih-yen's face suddenly turned particularly gloomy, and he coldly snorted a few times before saying: "General, your good intentions are appreciated. Although the enemy's defenses are heavily guarded, apart from the White Ears Army of Yi State Road, there is no infantry in the world that can withstand our country's iron-clad heavy cavalry head-on."

  Hengshi Hassan smiled humbly, but his eyes were full of unspoken contempt.

  The low-pitched bugle sounded again, and Soham's 20,000 heavy armored cavalry slowly emerged from the camp. Although their footsteps were slow, they exuded endless killing intent and oppressive feeling in those slow movements, even Hassan's face, who was originally prepared to watch the excitement with a cold eye, slightly changed color. Having fought against Mandan for many years, he naturally knew the great power of these heavy cavalrymen. Compared to his own tribe's heavy armored cavalry, the only thing they lacked was the skilled technique on horseback and accurate shooting inherited from their bloodline; as for the toughness of their armor and the discipline of their troops, it was something that his side couldn't compare with at all.

  He Qi Mu yawned, Soham could wipe out the opponent with one move, that's a good thing, but if not, even if they were defeated, it wasn't a bad thing either. After all, the dead were Mandan soldiers, and had nothing to do with them. Maybe after they both suffered losses, they could still gain some benefits.

  "Has it finally arrived?" A faint smile appeared on Bian Chongxing's face as he lightly waved his hand, and countless wooden barrels were already placed on the catapult. Meanwhile, Dugu Yueming's eyes instantly became sharp, and the Ironclad Heavy Cavalry was not as easy to deal with as the Iron Eagle Light Cavalry that had come to send themselves to death. Even if it were the soldiers of the White Ear Army here, they would still not dare to be careless, let alone such a newly formed army.

  Ironclad Heavy Cavalry is the most ferocious striking force of the alien tribes outside the pass. Their war horses are all carefully selected fine steeds, with first-class load-carrying and running abilities, and their knights are also the most robust excellent soldiers. Including the whole war horse, they are all covered from head to toe with thick armor. Such armor reduces their mobility and long-distance raid capability, but enhances their defensive power, making them almost immune to ordinary arrows, and even the White Ear Army's repeating crossbow is hard to penetrate their armor. Moreover, in short-range breakthroughs, they have extremely huge lethality.

  The Qingfeng Empire has been on the defensive for a long time in its wars against foreign tribes outside the Great Wall, not only because of the constraints of the northern terrain, but also to a large extent due to the lack of a strong striking force that can counter them. The Qingfeng Empire is not short of places where horses are produced, such as Yuzhou Road, Qinchuan Road, Hebei Three Roads, Hetao Six States, Xibei Two Roads, and the Blood-colored Plateau. However, the Xibei Two Roads have always been barren, the Hetao has been restored from devastation, the horses of Yuzhou Road and Hebei Three Roads are mostly only suitable for heavy transportation, Qinchuan Road is under the control of the Li family, and the environment of the Blood-colored Plateau is harsh. As a result, the empire's cavalry, except for the Dragon Rider Corps composed of nomadic tribes from the Blood-colored Plateau, does not have any cavalry that can counter the iron-clad heavy cavalry of foreign tribes outside the Great Wall.

  Yelü Changhai chose the breakthrough point on the battlefield at Fenglingdu, to a large extent, considering the weight of the iron-clad heavy cavalry. Although the Hukoudu ferry in Anzhou was more suitable for cavalry charges, the ice surface at Hukoudu was thinner and could hardly bear the weight of the iron-clad heavy cavalry during the charge.

  "Javelin, ready!" Dugu Yueming shouted in a deep voice. For the iron-clad heavy cavalry, crossbows were basically useless, but javelins were different. These small and agile javelins could easily pierce the armor of the high-speed moving iron-clad heavy cavalry, and turn them into a cold corpse in a very short time.

  The iron-clad heavy cavalry was indeed unbeatable in its charge. At least the soldiers under Du Guoyu's command, who had just regained some confidence, turned pale again.

  "Javelins, fire!" Dugu Yueming said coldly. Accompanied by his cold shout, the nearly cruel training he had been subjected to finally came in handy at this moment. Although their faces were still somewhat pale, the soldiers below still performed with precision and rhythm. After three waves of javelin rain, the enemy's vanguard suddenly thinned out significantly. Due to many cavalrymen being shot off their horses, the cavalry formation also became somewhat disordered. However, the Mandan cavalry was a seasoned veteran, and after just an instant, they had already adjusted their formation on their own initiative. The entire army remained as fierce as ever.

  "Axe throwers, kill!" Dugu Yueming said calmly and clearly. Then, countless exquisite double-bladed axes weighing only three catties suddenly flew out. The power of these axes was obviously much greater than that of the javelins. Any soldier hit by the flying axe would have their armor shattered, and some were even knocked flying backwards on the spot.

  Facing the powerful attack of the Heshuo defenders, Suhe and his 20,000 soldiers simply lowered their heads, pressing their bodies against the horseback. They firmly believed that as long as they could rush to the enemy's front, it would be a victory.

  "Dragon Spear, prepare!" Du Guoyu Ming saw that the opponent was about to cross the ice surface of the great river and approach their formation. He waved his hand, and countless dragon spears, each over one zhang long, extended from the ranks, instantly transforming the entire formation into a giant hedgehog covered in spikes.