Chapter 69: Total Annihilation

  Zhang Mu and others used the formation of Qin army scouts, which was exactly the three-horse-cone battle method created by Bai Qi, a military genius of the Warring States period in Qin state.

  With three riders as the smallest unit of killing, Bai Qi also created a complete set of "three" character cavalry warfare: three three-rider units plus one flexible responding Shi Chang is ten riders, three cones cooperate with each other to kill, and ten riders can form a small battlefield.

  Thus, 310, 3,100, 31,000, 310,000, the great Qin cavalry corps on the vast battlefield was a mighty and powerful force that could advance or retreat at will, with coordinated killing power!

  The Three Knights Battle Method was created by Bai Qi, reducing the common "ten knights one battle" of the Warring States period to "three knights one battle", greatly changing the combat capabilities of cavalry.

  The basic way of cavalry charging is scattered soldiers fighting, no matter how large the scale of the participating cavalry is, it will eventually be opened to kill, and it is impossible to form an array like infantry. However, this killing is not a completely isolated warrior's duel killing, but a battlefield killing where enemy cavalry may appear at any time in front of, behind, left, and right of each rider.

  In this case, knights need to cooperate with each other, both to cover their companions from surprise attacks and to be able to fight freely, which becomes the best way for cavalry to fight on the battlefield. Although ten riders are already very agile, it is still difficult to achieve subtle coordination on a battlefield filled with smoke, screams, flying arrows, and clashing swords.

  Reduced to three riders in coordination, it is precisely the range of timely charging and mutual support that is set at a moderate level, and the fluid coordination of killing and flowing is greatly improved. In the Battle of Changping, Bai Qi used an equal number of Qin troops to tightly besiege the fierce Zhao army, which could not break through the encirclement. The contribution of the three riders in this unbelievable myth cannot be ignored.

  Nowadays, the three-horse cone battle method is already the most basic battlefield formation of the Qin cavalry. Although Zhang Mu had only nine men and faced more than a dozen Xiongnu cavalrymen, at the moment they collided with the Xiongnu cavalry, the outcome was already clear.

  The Qin army scouts and Xiongnu cavalry sped past each other in a high-speed crossing.

  A series of dull thuds as a string of human bodies fell to the ground.

  No imagined flashes of swords and shadows, no slaughter and wailing, but the flying heads, splashing hot blood and rolling lifeless corpses on the ground reveal that in the instant when dozens of cavalrymen from both sides crossed over, the silent battle was so tragic.

  More than ten Xiongnu cavalrymen are now left with only seven on horseback, and the rest of the Xiongnu cavalrymen on horseback have fallen to the ground. The three heads lying on the ground had flown away, leaving only bare necks splashing hot blood.

  Four people were left lying on the ground, each of whom had been stabbed at least twice. Either their necks were severed halfway or a large gash was opened in their chest and abdomen, with bright red internal organs clearly visible. Although their heads were still intact, they were already dead beyond recall.

  The nine Qin cavalrymen who rushed out of the twenty steps were not unscathed, but at least they were still riding on horseback and obviously still had combat effectiveness. Each of the nine people had one or two wounds on their bodies, with fresh blood wetting their soft armor.

  The three most heavily wounded Qin army scouts, each had a half-foot long wound on their arm or leg that was deep enough to see the bone, with snow-white bones exposed and radiating a cold glow.

  After turning his horse's head around, Zhang Mu turned back to look at the eight riders behind him, seeing that everyone was on their horses, a hint of relief flashed in his eyes, and then he looked at the Xiongnu scout who had already turned his horse's head and was facing them, shouting:

  "Disperse! Kill!"

  The remaining eight people all knew Zhang Mu's meaning, "scatter" was to let each small team disperse and hunt down the enemy. Immediately, three teams of three riders each set off in three directions towards the remaining seven Xiongnu cavalrymen.

  At this moment, the Xiongnu scouts were already trembling with fear. The surviving leader of the Xiongnu scouts looked at the Qin scouts rushing in from three directions and pointed to a nearby scout, shouting: "Quickly go back and report to the Chanyu! Brave warriors, we are all eagles on the vast grasslands, let's kill these Qin soldiers."

  As he spoke, the first cavalry charged towards Zhang Mu's side with three horses, and the remaining Xiongnu knights who were originally trembling with fear heard their leader's words and suddenly became furious, their eyes turned blood red, and they roared and followed the charge.

  The Xiongnu scout leader pointed to by the Han scouts let out a loud yell, then whipped his horse and charged up the small hill, apparently wanting to get over the hill and escape back to the main camp to report.

  Zhang Mu heard the words of the Xiongnu scout and saw that a Xiongnu scout wanted to escape, so he hastily shouted: "Xiao Wu!"

  Just as Zhang Mu's words fell, a long arrow shot straight into the back of the Xiongnu leader who was rushing over. The leader had just let out a mournful cry when Zhang Mu rode up on horseback and beheaded him with one swing of his sword.

  Immediately afterwards, another arrow hit the last Xiongnu cavalryman, who let out a miserable cry and fell off his horse.

  "Xiao Wu, don't let that Xiongnu scout escape!"

  Zhang Mu chopped off half of the Xiongnu scout's head with one sword and shouted.

  At this time, the place far away from the Xiongnu camp was completely dark, but the white sheepskin cloak of the Xiongnu scout was extremely eye-catching in the dark night. Xiaowu concentrated and looked carefully, and indeed saw a white shadow escaping.

  Xiao Wu didn't have time to aim, he mounted his horse and shot the arrow. The black shadow let out a miserable cry and desperately whipped his horse to escape. Xiao Wu saw this and quickly spurred his horse on, chasing after him with several loud cracks of the whip.

  Nine Great Qin scouts clashed with four Xiongnu scouts, although the Xiongnu scouts fought back desperately, but ultimately in vain, and were quickly beheaded on the spot. Except for Zhang Mu's substitute Qin scout who blocked an axe and cut his arm, no one else was injured again.

  "Fu Chuan, Liang Sheng, Zhao Er, Wang Dong, the four of you clean up the battlefield. Leave the living to interrogate for information about the Xiongnu army. Take down the name tags from the dead and gather the war horses. Build a bigger fire so that the wolves don't smell the blood. The rest of you follow me to chase after Xiao Wu. Hurry!"

  Zhang Mu couldn't help but wrap up, loudly commanding, three of the four soldiers he pointed out were seriously injured.

  "What's wrong, you bandage first, we four go after!" The sturdy soldier looked at Zhang Mu with concern as blood flowed out.

  "I'm fine. Are you going to chase? It's so dark, you'd better not get lost. Follow me closely. Hurry up!" Zhang Mu tore open his inner garment and randomly bandaged his injured left arm with one hand, shouting loudly.

  "Ah!"

  Just as the five of them had climbed over a small mound, they heard the sound of horse hooves rushing towards them. Zhang Mu reined in his warhorse and listened for a moment before saying, "One horse, it should be Xiao Wu."

  The other four people heard Zhang Mu's words and couldn't help but be overjoyed. The robust soldier shouted: "Xiao Wu, is that you, kid?"

  "Wow! It's me!" Little Wu shouted excitedly in the darkness.

  "Haha, I knew you were fine!" The robust soldier called Da Niu laughed loudly and rode his horse to greet them. When Zhang Mu and the others heard Xiao Wu's voice, they also felt a sense of relief in their hearts. Seeing Da Niu approaching, the four of them quietly waited for the two to arrive.

  The sound of horseshoes suddenly became urgent after a brief calm.

  "Haha, what a long time, Xiao Wu has killed those fleeing Xiongnu barbarians." The loud laughter of Big Cow was accompanied by the sound of urgent horse hooves approaching.

  Zhang Mu heard Da Niu's words and his heart, which had been hanging in the air, finally fell back down. Before long, two riders appeared before the eyes of the four people.

  Zhang Mu didn't look at the head of the Xiongnu scout who had escaped and was being held by Da Niu, but instead rode closer to Xiao Wu, first sizing him up from head to toe, then seeing that Xiao Wu was safe and sound, smiled and gently patted Xiao Wu's shoulder, saying: "You little guy, good job!"

  Zhang Mu did not ask Xiao Wu how he killed this fleeing Xiongnu scout. This was Xiao Wu's first time killing someone.

  Xiao Wu felt Zhang Mu's care for himself and heard his praise, a faint blush appearing on his pale face.

  "Go and see what Fu Chuan and others have found out!" Zhang Mu turned his horse's head and rushed out first.

  "Charge!" Then Xiaowu and several others also followed suit, galloping their horses forward.