Chapter Fifty-two: Fierce Battle

  "Really?"

  Li Zhēng cursed in his heart and wanted to make a move with the Light Step Bow, but he forcibly restrained himself.

  The Huns' shooting tactics were very flexible, and every time they shot a wave of arrows, 2,000 people had already run to another angle. Under the suppression of dense arrows, even if the light archers counterattacked, it was difficult to achieve results!

  "How many arrows do you have?!"

  Li Zhēng gritted his teeth.

  The soldiers under his command were well-equipped and well-fed, unless they had bad luck, being shot in the gaps of their armor, or were too careless and didn't protect themselves, otherwise they would be basically unscathed - the defensive capabilities of their armor were fully demonstrated at this moment.

  Well, in that case, let them shoot!

  The arrows carried by the cavalry are limited after all. Each ride has no more than thirty to fifty, and fewer have twenty to thirty. These cavalrymen will shoot out five waves of arrow rain every time they run around the grass mound, so calculating this way, their quivers will be basically empty after seven or eight laps!

  "Hehe, at that time..."

  Li Ding swung his long spear to deflect the arrows, keeping a close eye on all directions and listening carefully to every movement of the Xiongnu people under the grass mound.

  He believes that after the Xiongnu see the ineffectiveness of the shooting, they will definitely change their tactics!

  As expected by Li Jing, after two thousand Huns' elite cavalry galloped and shot arrows around the grass hill for two laps, the remaining one thousand Huns divided into five hundred riders!

  Li Zheng's eyes flashed and he hastily gave orders: "Heavy armored gunners get ready, raise your long guns!"

  The heavy armored gunners on the outer circle of the circular formation were ordered to get ready, and they hastily inserted their long guns into the ground at an angle, standing them up straight. The gun tips were tilted upwards at an angle of fifty to sixty degrees, pointing directly forward! Their bodies also lowered accordingly, with their entire body leaning forward, all their weight falling on the gun handles.

  In this process, the arrow rain did not stop, and several heavy armored gunners made too much movement, exposing their flaws and being shot and injured.

  This made Li Zhong feel very helpless.

  Although the soldiers under his command had all seen bloodshed before, this was their first time fighting against the Xiongnu's elite cavalry, and they lacked experience.

  Not only that, but now they are in a commanding position, and the long guns should be depressed a bit more to have a better effect. However, they still followed the training procedure, with the gun muzzles elevated at sixty degrees, which is also due to lack of combat experience.

  "Lower the long gun, thirty degrees!"

  Li Zheng hastily corrected him.

  At this time, under the cover of the arrow rain, the 500 Huns elite cavalry retreated hundreds of steps, then got down and clamped their horses' bellies, charging towards the grass mound!

  Li Zheng's eyes widened, his hand gripping the long spear tightly, staring unblinkingly at the Xiongnu elite cavalry charging forward with increasing speed.

  As the Xiongnu elite cavalry charged up the grassy hill, Li Jing suddenly let out a loud shout: "Light infantry archers, release your arrows!"

  At this time, the Huns' elite cavalry continued to shoot arrows without stopping. When Li Jing ordered the light infantry archers to fire, another wave of arrows poured down. As the light infantry archers shot their arrows, seven or eight men were hit in the face and fell to the ground!

  Li Zhong's face turned iron-green.

  Although the light step bow hand's wave of arrow rain left dozens of lives among the 500 elite riders who rushed up to the grass mound, they lost seven or eight themselves, which made Li Jing very heartbroken.

  The Huns' main camp.

  "Are these Hans transformed from turtles?!"

  That young Xiongnu was furious: "I led two thousand elite cavalry in a charge, shooting for nearly half an hour, and only heard a few miserable cries, damn it!"

  At this moment, he saw the five hundred elite cavalry rushing up the grassy hill, and under the arrow attack of the Han army, in just a moment, dozens of people fell down, and for a while, their eyes were all red!

  "Are those really the elite cavalry of the Jin State? Are the arrows of the Han troops that sharp?"

  He yanked off the sheepskin hat on his head, his face twisted in a scowl.

  The middle-aged Han man beside him also fell silent for a while, his mouth slightly ajar.

  "What should we do? What did you say we should do?"

  A young Xiongnu grabbed a middle-aged Han Chinese beside him: "Speak quickly!"

  "Hmm..." The middle-aged Han man's blood vessels were constricted by the collar, his face was bright red, and he said with difficulty: "It depends on what Your Highness thinks."

  "Huh?"

  The young man loosened his grip and said, "Speak!"

  "Your Highness, are you determined to annihilate this Han army?!"

  "Nonsense!"

  The middle-aged man's eyes rolled, and he said: "I think this Han army is not the only one! Since Your Highness insists on destroying this Han army, to prevent other Han armies from coming to reinforce, for now, we can only launch a strong attack!"

  The young man frowned upon hearing this.

  He knew the middle-aged man was right. Along the way, most of the abandoned ruins were left by cavalry. And now this Han army is mostly infantry. So on this grassland, there must be many Han cavalry. If they delay for a long time, the Han cavalry will come to reinforce, that would not be good!

  After the light infantry archers counterattacked with three waves of arrow showers, losing nearly twenty men themselves, the Xiongnu's arrow shower also stopped. Because the remaining 300 Xiongnu cavalrymen had already charged to the front!

  Rumble!

  Pffft!

  Immediately, more than 300 Xiongnu cavalrymen clashed with the heavy armored infantry surrounding the circular formation.

  The oblique spear, under the impact of the Xiongnu cavalry, instantly pierced the horse's neck and entered the chest of the knight on its back.

  But that huge impact force, although weakened by the slope of the grassy hill, still pushed back the defensive circle formed by the heavy armored gunners!

  But this layer of defense has not been broken!

  Just like a spring, when the outer layer of heavy armored gunners were hit and many were seriously injured, the next layer of heavy armored gunners rushed forward to replace them!

  The addition of living forces immediately stabilized the situation again.

  The sharp long spear has a huge lethality against cavalry without speed bonus!

  But in an instant, the defensive circle bounced back, and more than 300 cavalrymen who charged up left dozens of corpses and were squeezed down to the top of the grass hill!

  Li Ding's twenty-four riders in green armor remained still, their eyes blazing red as they clenched their fists and rubbed their palms.

  But Li Zhēng knew that these twenty-four riders in green armor were playing the role of fire rescue!

  He believes that the Xiongnu people under the grassy hill will never be willing to admit defeat!

  As expected, after this wave of cavalry was repelled, the two thousand elite cavalry roaming on the side immediately divided into four divisions and charged up from all directions!

  The real crisis is coming!

  Li Zhēng was cheering on the warriors while tightening his grip on his long spear.

  The thundering hooves pounded against the ground, causing the entire grassy hill to tremble beneath them.

  Ominous killing intent from all sides, suffocating!

  Li Zhong established himself with cavalry, but now he faces a severe test of his cavalry, which is quite ironic.

  However, the current situation did not allow him to have such a mood for self-mockery.

  Before their eyes, 2,500 cavalrymen from the four directions charged up the grassy hill. However, they saw that these Xiongnu cavalrymen shot out a wave of arrows first, then threw down their bows and arrows, and raised their curved knives!

  Li Zhong commanded the light infantry archers to return fire while having the heavy armored gunners hold steady in their defensive circle. He himself led twenty-four riders of the Qing Jia War Cavalry to slowly patrol around.

  "Kill!"

  A loud shout, and from all sides the Xiongnu people rushed up!

  Rumble!

  Faced with the powerful impact of the Xiongnu cavalry, Li Jing's circular defense circle was like facing a huge wave, rebounding back and forth, sinking and floating!

  The musketeers were in the front, and the light infantry archers abandoned their bows and arrows, drew out their cavalry sabers, and inserted them among the musketeers, cutting down the Xiongnu cavalry with cold blades!

  The Xiongnu cavalry was no weaker, their shiny curved knives scraping against the heavy armor of the gun soldiers' fish-scale armor, flashing out a string of sparks!

  Li Zhēng led twenty-four Qīng Jiǎ Zhan Jì to gallop back and forth, relying on the sturdy physique, great strength, and excellent equipment of the Qīng Jiǎ Zhan Jì. Wherever a defensive circle was in crisis, his figure would appear!

  Blood, the entire hill is covered in blood!

  Fresh blood converges into a small stream, flowing slowly down along the grassy slope.

  The entire scene was as if shrouded in a layer of crimson.

  Facing the Xiongnu cavalry's desperate charge, Li Jing's troops were dwindling at an increasingly rapid rate. Although there weren't many on-the-spot deaths, the wounded were numerous.

  The lightly wounded continued to fight against the enemy, while the seriously wounded were transferred to the center of the circular formation.

  Compared with Li Jing's army, the losses of the Xiongnu were much greater!

  In this close combat, the ordinary cavalry without speed advantage, although still fierce in attack, lost flexibility and more importantly, the equipment of the Xiongnu people was not comprehensive and excellent. Faced with the joint killing of heavy armored infantry and light infantry archers, more and more corpses were left behind!

  Half an hour!

  A full half an hour of fighting, that is, one hour! Plus the previous series of long-range strikes, nearly an hour!

  Both sides have entered a state of extreme exhaustion!

  Now, let's see who can't hold on first!

  Once someone retreats, it will trigger a chain reaction and cause a big collapse!

  Li Zhong is in a difficult situation, and so are the Xiongnu people. The only thing that can be done now is to persevere, persevere, and keep persevering!

  On the grassy slope below, the Xiongnu youth's iron-green face was filled with astonishment. He dared not believe that these Han troops had actually clashed with his 2,500 elite cavalry for nearly an hour with just 500 infantrymen! Although they held a geographical advantage, the youth's cavalry were no pushovers either! Those were Bone Marrow's elite cavalry!

  "Your Highness, what shall we do now?!"

  The middle-aged Han Chinese beside him was also at a loss.

  This kind of head-on confrontation renders all schemes and tricks useless. What's being compared is the true combat strength of the warriors!

  The young Xiongnu's face showed a hesitant expression for the first time.

  Under his command, there were still 500 elite cavalrymen. If they were to be deployed on the battlefield, it would likely make a difference. However, the top of the grassy hill was only so big, and deploying 2,500 people had already made it crowded. Even if these 500 men were added, they might not have room to maneuver! If one insisted on deploying these 500 men onto the battlefield, what should be done if the desired effect was not achieved?

  By then, he will have nothing left!

  He also wants to go to Baisuize, if he brings a group of defeated soldiers and generals, not to mention anything else, first of all, he will lose the face of his father Khan! If he lets the other side look down on him at Baisuize, then the purpose of this trip will not only fail to be achieved, but will also have the opposite effect!

  What should I do?!

  Just as the young Xiongnu was considering his options, a sudden shout of "Kill!" came from behind.

  He turned back and his face changed immediately!