Chapter 126: The Battle (4)

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A figure in black armor emerged through the mist, carrying his horse lance reversed in one hand as he advanced at an unhurried pace.

Upon the iron mask, the wrathful Vajra seemed almost alive, radiating a terrifying majesty.

Behind the armored figure, dozens more silhouettes gradually appeared.

Yet Shi Chaozhi’s gaze remained fixed upon the wrathful Vajra carved upon that iron mask.

A distant memory suddenly rose to the surface of his mind.

At that time, Wang Rengong was serving at court as a Court Gentleman for Audience, and within Chang’an he was merely a scion of an eminent clan who might have possessed some promise. Shi Chaozhi was not yet old enough to serve the head of the household, and spent his days in a daze with his parents at the estate outside Chang’an.

The estate stood beside the main road leading into the capital. The greatest amusement of the estate’s young men was to watch the many kinds of people traveling along the road toward Chang’an.

In those days, the Son of Heaven of the Great Cause still reigned. He summoned the powerful generals of the various military commands to the capital and gathered the most outstanding sons of the great clans around him to serve as palace guards. Even the foremost families among the Eight Pillar States had no choice but to travel to Chang’an and prostrate themselves for a time beneath the feet of the Great Cause emperor.

When the Li family of Longxi journeyed to Chang’an, its household troops stretched along the road like a long dragon. The officers leading them were all fierce warriors of their generation. And at the head of the Li family’s private army rode this figure clad in dark heavy armor, carrying his horse lance reversed in one hand, the wrathful Vajra upon his iron mask seeming almost alive.

The majesty of the great general left the crowds gathered along both sides of the road utterly speechless. Every eye was fixed upon that general in dark armor.

Only later did Shi Chaozhi learn that his name was Xu Gan.

From the time of the Xianbei Six Garrisons, the Xu family had followed the Li family of Longxi. When the Northern Zhou was founded, and the Eight Pillar States ruled the realm while the Central Plain was drenched in blood and locked in a desperate struggle to determine its final victor, Xu Gan’s brilliance eclipsed who knew how many heroes.

In black armor and wielding a long lance, he had fought bloodily along both banks of the Yellow River, fought across Guanzhong, fought throughout Hedong, and driven straight into the capital of Northern Qi. Wherever he went, he left behind the imprint of Xu Gan’s presence. The black-armored heavy cavalry under his command struck terror into the hearts of their enemies. Even his son had won fame in his youth and earned the admiration of the entire realm.

Everyone believed that, having established a family name of their own, the Xu family would soon produce a prince of their own commandery. A man who could rise like a soaring bird amid the chaos of war through nothing but his own ability was the envy of every clansman who sold his life in service to an aristocratic house.

Then came the upheaval in the palace on that night, after Crown Prince Yang Yong was deposed. Xu Gan suddenly vanished from public life. The people of the great clans never mentioned his name again, as though he had never existed.

By then, Shi Chaozhi had grown to adulthood and been selected as one of Wang Rengong’s household officers, accompanying him on assignments away from the capital. He heard only vague rumors of the affair and sighed at the fate that had befallen the idol of his youth.

But Shi Chaozhi had never imagined that, in this desolate Mayi Commandery, beneath Stopping Troops Mountain, amid the morning mist, he would once again see that black armor—and the wrathful Vajra upon the iron mask before him.

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Damn it. This was no ordinary old patriarch from some village. The man in charge of the Xu family village was the Great Sui’s renowned general who had suddenly vanished from sight—the very man who had once left the heroes of the realm helpless before him.

Xu Gan of the Black Armor!

Standing in the morning mist, Shi Chaozhi felt every hair on his body rise. At that moment, he even wanted to turn his horse around and flee.

Within the mist, the troop of dozens of estate retainers finally emerged in full.

Dozens of unarmored men in plain clothing, each holding a straight saber, formed a dense formation and stood there in silence.

Shi Chaozhi was still stunned and dazed when the guards beside him began to snicker.

Cavalry formations had always favored dispersion. It allowed mounted warriors room to maneuver without hindering one another. Against a large infantry formation, a dispersed cavalry formation could control as broad a front as possible and firmly suppress an infantry force many times its own size.

If the enemy was cavalry as well and adopted a formation meant for a head-on collision, then so be it. With seven or eight paces between two riders, there was enough room for the warriors on either side to engage one another in single combat. When the two formations collided, life and death would depend entirely on one’s own skill.

But the cavalry formation made up of these dozens of estate retainers left less than a single pace between horses. Their knees were practically touching, and they stood in only two thin ranks.

The Mayi Light Cavalry stretched across a front two or three hundred paces wide—more than enough to surround this tiny formation on three sides and crush it.

With the gaps between them so narrow, how could these riders maneuver at all? Were they not simply bunching themselves together to await death?

To say nothing of the fact that these retainers wore no armor and carried mostly straight sabers. To draw up against such an opponent was practically an insult to the reputation of the Mayi Light Cavalry.

Snickers rang out one after another until they merged into a single wave. Some of the Mayi riders laughed so hard in their saddles that they swayed from side to side. The more seasoned men merely shook their heads.

Several guards shouted to Shi Chaozhi, “Commander, give the order! In a single charge, we’ll knock them all from their horses!”

The high spirits of his men finally roused Shi Chaozhi from his daze. He cast one last hard look at the armored rider sitting motionless ahead of them, then clenched his teeth.

Xu Gan of the Black Armor belonged to the past. This was their age now.

Even if the man beneath that armor truly was Xu Gan, Shi Chaozhi would still take his head and present it to Wang Rengong as a merit. Besides, Xu Gan ought to be so old by now that he was barely fit for anything. Beneath that armor, it must be that so-called Young Master Le.

Would the veteran Xu Gan really have arranged such a laughable cavalry formation?

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Shi Chaozhi finally made up his mind. He raised his hand, preparing to crush the cavalry formation before him in a single, honorable charge—to shatter completely the legend bound to that black armor.

This was no longer your age!

Xu Le quietly watched the somewhat disordered formation of the Mayi Light Cavalry opposite him. He saw the enemy commander hesitate for a moment before raising his hand as well.

Xu Le slowly raised his long spear, then angled its tip slightly forward.

Behind him, the dozens of estate retainers held their faces taut. Their throats bobbed nervously, yet they all pressed their feet firmly into the stirrups at the same time.

Dozens of warhorses began to move, advancing in orderly unison. Dozens of straight sabers were leveled forward, pointing toward the seemingly invincible formation of the Mayi Light Cavalry.

Across from them, Shi Chaozhi’s hand swept sharply downward. The grand formation of the Mayi Light Cavalry surged forward as well. The two wings quickened their pace, while the center restrained its mounts slightly, causing the entire formation to take the shape of a concave arc, poised to attack from three sides.

Xu Le watched the movements of the Mayi cavalry with cold eyes. The horse lance in his hand gradually leveled out.

The moment the lance came level, the dozens of estate retainers suddenly released a thunderous shout and kicked hard against their horses’ flanks. Dozens of mounts gave long, shrill cries, threw themselves into their stride, and accelerated forward.

At the same moment, the Mayi Light Cavalry increased their speed and charged fiercely to meet them.

The thunder of hundreds of hooves shook the earth. Great clouds of dust rose into the air as the two sides hurtled toward one another beneath Stopping Troops Mountain, ready to collide and decide the victor.

Shi Chaozhi roared furiously as he led the front of the formation.

He firmly believed that there could be no doubt who would win this cavalry battle. Whatever the reason the Xu family had been hiding away in Mayi Commandery, eking out a miserable existence, he would destroy the once-glorious Xu family here and now.

Xu Gan of the Black Armor, your age has passed!