Chapter 125: The First Battle (Part 3)

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A thin mist rose from the foot of Stop Soldiers Mountain. Though the mountain wind was not as fierce as it had been the night before, it still stirred the layers of fog and tore them open, leaving the view only slightly obscured.

Even so, the veil of mist lent the landscape below Stop Soldiers Mountain a hazy appearance.

Through that haze, several dozen horsemen were slowly making their way down the mountain.

When they reached the foot of the mountain, the riders drew into a tight formation. Without the slightest pause, they advanced toward the place where Shi Chaozhi stood.

The Ma Yi Swift Cavalry stared at the scene before them in astonishment.

Those farmers from Xu Family Hamlet actually dared to form a cavalry formation and challenge the Ma Yi Swift Cavalry head-on! Had they all gone mad?

Although the night attack had failed, night assaults were inherently dangerous in this age. Once infantry became embroiled in close combat after dark, the battlefield could no longer be controlled. Neither formations nor casualties could be predicted.

Shi Chaozhi had lost most of his officers on Stop Soldiers Mountain and returned in a sorry state. The soldiers of the Ma Yi Swift Cavalry admitted that the common folk of Xu Family Hamlet might be formidable fighters, but they believed the principal reason for their defeat was Shi Chaozhi's excessive arrogance.

After all, this was a frontier region. The people faced horse bandits and thieves every day, as well as raids from the Turks coming down from the north. The local culture was fierce, and everyone knew at least a little about fighting. Even ten-year-old children could draw a bow.

In a confused night battle on foot, an accident was hardly surprising.

But if the two sides fought in the open, on horseback, the Ma Yi Swift Cavalry had absolute confidence. One battalion of them was more than enough to defeat a thousand frontier militiamen!

Their horses were superior, their armor complete, and their weapons sharp. They had drilled extensively in cavalry tactics. What could these commoners do, even if they possessed a little courage and strength?

In their eyes, the militiamen of Xu Family Hamlet—even with the sudden appearance of some Young Master Yue whom Liu Wuzhou held in high regard—had no choice but to cling to Stop Soldiers Mountain and defend it to the death.

All they needed to do was tighten the blockade and starve the villagers of Xu Family Hamlet. Once the people on the mountain had been weakened, they could simply go up and cut off their heads, one by one.

Yet scarcely had the night's fighting ended, and scarcely had dawn broken, when these villagers of Xu Family Hamlet came charging down the mountain to confront the Ma Yi Swift Cavalry in force!

After the initial shock and disbelief, fury began to rise in the hearts of every Ma Yi cavalryman.

They had to charge once and slaughter these people from Xu Family Hamlet to the last man. Only then would the lands under Ma Yi's rule understand the might of the governor's Swift Cavalry!

If the men under him were enraged, Shi Chaozhi was consumed by a fury hot enough to scorch through the top of his skull.

How dare these people look down on him? How dare they!

He had followed Wang Rengong since childhood and had fought in countless battles, advancing from the Central Plains all the way to the frontier of Ma Yi. Yet after nearly losing all his officers the previous night, he now had these people coming straight to his doorstep at dawn!

If he showed even the slightest weakness or retreat, and Wang Rengong learned of it, his head would certainly be cut off.

Only by killing them all and displaying Young Master Yue's head upon the tip of a spear could he wash away even a little of this humiliation.

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Shi Chaozhi's eyes were bloodshot as he shouted his orders. “Sound the horns! Form ranks!”

Several of his personal guards took the ox-horn trumpets they carried and began blowing them, their notes low and mournful. From every roadblock, the Ma Yi Swift Cavalry answered with their own horns.

Below Stop Soldiers Mountain, more than a hundred Ma Yi cavalrymen mounted their horses and converged on Shi Chaozhi's position.

Shi Chaozhi pulled his helmet firmly over his head, tightened the straps, and mounted his horse. Two or three dozen Ma Yi cavalrymen had already assembled around him. Once he was in the saddle, he gave a sharp wave of his hand.

The riders let out loud whoops and followed Shi Chaozhi forward, raising clouds of dust as they went to meet the enemy.

The dozen or so local Eagle-Raising Guards from Ma Yi under Chen Fengpo had been left behind. They exchanged bewildered looks.

One of Chen Fengpo's men scratched his head and asked awkwardly, “Captain Chen, shouldn't we just run for it?”

Chen Fengpo smacked him across the head. “Run where? Once Shi Chaozhi finishes dealing with Xu Family Hamlet, won't he come looking for us in Shenwu? We have families. Where could we possibly flee?”

Another subordinate gazed into the distance and sighed. “Is Xu Family Hamlet truly doomed?”

Chen Fengpo said harshly, “It's their own stupidity! If they had stayed on Stop Soldiers Mountain, they might have held out for several more days. But coming down the mountain to face us in the open—isn't that simply courting death? Every last one of them is stubborn beyond reason. They deserve what is coming to them!”

Though he cursed the people of Xu Family Hamlet for being fools, Chen Fengpo gripped his horse's reins so tightly that his knuckles nearly split.

Another old soldier, his face deeply lined and surely more than forty years old, sighed. “They are all people from our own homeland of Shenwu... In the old days, even the Grand Duke left a legacy of kindness throughout this valley. We should follow them. When the time comes, we can plead with Commander Shi and ask that their bodies be buried. At least then they may rest in the earth.”

Chen Fengpo spat viciously. “That favor won't be easy to obtain!”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he mounted his horse.

The old soldier asked, “Captain Chen, where are you going?”

Chen Fengpo shook the reins and answered irritably, “Where else? After them, of course. I'll risk what remains of this old face—and throw in some of my family's property if I must. Surely that will be enough to let those fools from Xu Family Hamlet be buried with dignity.”

The Eagle-Raising Guards of Shenwu mounted one after another and followed Chen Fengpo in pursuit.

By then, horns were sounding one after another beneath Stop Soldiers Mountain, and formation after formation of Ma Yi cavalrymen were converging on the place.

The Ma Yi Swift Cavalry wore partial armor, carrying a mixture of long and short weapons. Though they had not yet assumed a complete battle formation, every one of them believed that the people of Xu Family Hamlet had come down the mountain to seek death. They would be able to slaughter them all within moments.

As the various formations advanced, they merged into Shi Chaozhi's force. Without the discipline of their junior officers, the ranks became somewhat disordered.

Shi Chaozhi's personal guards shouted as they reorganized the formation, spreading the force of more than a hundred horsemen across the field. Each rider was separated from the next by seven or eight paces, allowing them to maneuver and fight independently without interfering with one another.

The hundred-odd riders formed four lines, each extending two or three hundred paces across the front. The first line consisted entirely of men bearing long weapons. Those carrying short weapons withdrew to the rear and followed Shi Chaozhi as the formation continued forward.

Shi Chaozhi looked from side to side at the ranks beneath his command. After losing most of his officers, the army took far longer to form up than before, and the arrangement was considerably more confused.

Even so, Shi Chaozhi remained convinced that a single head-on charge would be enough to crush these villagers.

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The massed Ma Yi cavalry advanced with thunderous hoofbeats, their warhorses crying out again and again. They continued until they reached the edge of the woods beneath the mountain, where Shi Chaozhi finally raised his fist and ordered everyone to halt.

Any farther forward, and the broad cavalry formation would have difficulty maneuvering among the trees.

Every Ma Yi cavalryman tightened his grip on his weapon and stared fixedly at the rolling mist ahead.

From within the fog came the measured sound of hooves, rumbling like muffled thunder.

The Ma Yi cavalrymen were puzzled. Why were the hoofbeats so perfectly synchronized?

With their front stretched across two or three hundred paces, they already found it difficult to maintain the order of their advance. Their opponents were merely villagers—how could they keep their horses moving with such precision?

The palms of many men began to sweat despite themselves, and they clenched their weapons even more tightly.

The mist churned and rolled, as though some ferocious beast were concealed within it, ready to burst forth at any moment and bare its claws and fangs.

At last, a single rider emerged from the fog and appeared before them all.

Beneath him was a magnificent steed draped in felt, a horse of extraordinary vigor and beauty. The rider wore black armor and looked like a demon god descended from hell.

His face was hidden behind an iron mask, upon which was painted the vermilion visage of an enraged Vajra warrior.

In that instant, every Ma Yi cavalryman felt that the furious Vajra was roaring directly at him.

It felt as though a great hammer had struck Shi Chaozhi in the chest. For a moment, he could scarcely breathe.

That armor—I know it. I know it!

But how had that armor appeared here?

Xu Family Hamlet... Xu Family Hamlet... The hamlet bore the surname Xu!

And the invincible fierce general who had once served in the Northern Zhou army—the family that had ultimately vanished without a trace—had borne the same surname: Xu.

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