Chapter 63: The Alliance (Seventeen)

The Hengan Eagle Cavalry arrived swiftly, volley after volley of arrows raining down, scattering the thousand-strong Yue pursuers into utter disarray. These Hengan soldiers, left behind when all the Eagle Cavalry of the realm marched to Liaodong, had faced the threat of the Turks directly and thus were drawn in minimal numbers. Many were veterans with over five years of service. After Liu Wu Zhou returned with the elite survivors of the bloody battles at Hai Dong, the Hengan Eagle Cavalry became the finest force in all Sui.

They needed neither heavy armor nor powerful weapons, neither phalanxes of bows and crossbows nor the charge of heavy cavalry. The peoples of the steppe prided themselves on their skill in mounted archery, but the Hengan Eagle Cavalry matched archery with archery, leaving the Yue warriors powerless. True battle, fought in formation, is a world apart from mere brawling.

Xu Le stormed Yuncheng alone, facing a dozen or twenty Eagle Cavalry soldiers single-handedly. That was because the Hengan Eagle Cavalry refused to use their arrow formations against him, seeking only to unhorse Xu Le. Xu Le’s extraordinary skills made that battle legendary, forcing even Liu Wu Zhou to emerge—a feat that shook Yuncheng to its core.

But against a thousand Yue warriors, when Black Fruit unleashed a relentless barrage of arrows, even Xu Le, slightly careless, nearly suffered defeat, pursued in a manner that left him somewhat battered.

To face a great enemy and an arrow formation, clad in armor, is the true wisdom of battle. The so-called heroes who dare to break enemy lines single-handedly are all heavily armored, their horses equipped with iron helms. Such setbacks are the inevitable trials in a young warrior’s growth—lessons that must be learned.

When the Hengan Eagle Cavalry pushed past Xu Le and his companions to protect them, forcing the thousand Yue riders into chaos, Xu Le’s usually spirited expression grew cold, as if touched by frost. Glancing at the wounds on Song Bao and Han Yue, he felt discontent with himself.

He had foreseen the arrival of the Hengan soldiers as his final support, yet he had still been too complacent, his fame from the battle at Yuncheng causing him to underestimate the heroes of the realm.

A loss suffered once will not be suffered again.

After years of rigorous training under Xu Gan, Xu Le held himself to the highest standards. Yet he had not anticipated that his actions today would shock the Hengan Eagle Cavalry even more than his duel in Yuncheng against Yuan Junwei and Yuchi Gong.

The Yue warriors were chosen from tens of thousands of tents—the elite of their tribe. Even Hengan regarded them with caution.

Xu Le, with only two companions, challenged hundreds of Yue elite, breaking two formations and facing no equal before his horse. In the end, under the absolute advantage of the cavalry’s pursuit and a storm of arrows, he still escaped unscathed. Such a feat was unprecedented.

Veteran soldiers viewed brawls as entertainment. Many local heroes who were invincible in their villages wet their pants on the battlefield. Though Xu Le’s skill was evident, without experience in formation battles, he could not earn their true respect.

To face hundreds of cavalry with only a handful, to hold their own for so long, to break through enemy lines by force, to retreat in the right direction, to rescue fallen comrades without hesitation—this was a trial by fire, revealing the true quality of Xu Le.

He was the seed of a great general, appearing once in decades—a fine young man from Mayi County!

So, when Xu Le sounded the alarm and word of an attack came from Yuncheng, the Hengan Eagle Cavalry, always proud and rarely inclined to act for others, swiftly gathered from their encampments into a single force, fearing they might arrive too late and lose Mayi’s promising son.

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Beside him, the Hengan Eagle Cavalry continued firing volleys. Xu Le ceased his own archery, flexing his right arm. Moments earlier, his rapid-fire arrows had felled nearly ten Yue riders.

Han Yue silently lowered his iron shield, ignoring the blood on his arm. Bu Li peeked from behind Han Yue, blinking but saying nothing.

Only Song Bao, clutching the bleeding wound on his shoulder, grimaced in pain yet was so excited his veins bulged, his face flushed as he shouted, “Kill all these barbarians! Damn them for hurting Iron Flying Swallow! Not while Hengan soldiers still stand!”

Suddenly, Black Fruit’s hoarse shout rang out. The officers controlling their subordinates and the arrow formation paused, hands raised, slow to give the signal.

The rain of arrows abruptly stopped, the Hengan cavalry holding their bows ready, eyes fixed on the raised hands of the officers.

Now the cries of wounded horses and the groans of fallen Yue riders could finally be heard across the battlefield.

The ground was littered with corpses, blood-soaked earth and dead horses, the autumn grass stained red.

The officers wondered, having fought so fiercely, whether they truly intended to battle the Yue to the bitter end.

How should they proceed?

Song Bao, anxious, nearly leapt from his saddle. “Why stop? They’ve hurt Grandpa Song!”

Yuchi Gong’s voice suddenly sounded, “Damn it, why have we stopped? Hengan Eagle Cavalry never fights halfway!”

Xu Le and his companions turned to see another squad of Eagle Cavalry arrive, clustered around Yuchi Gong.

The dark-faced general had rushed at incredible speed, his black horse panting heavily, yet his face was alight with joy at the prospect of battle, a fierce smile on his lips.

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Upon first meeting, Yuchi Gong had struck Xu Le as a straightforward, good-natured man. But on the battlefield, with the scent of blood in the air, Yuchi Gong transformed into a demon of carnage, satisfied only with more blood and slaughter.

With Yuchi Gong’s order, the officers no longer hesitated, hands poised to give the command.

Black Fruit, surrounded by scattered Yue warriors, was pale as death.

They had come to win over the Nine Tribes, believing the Sui territory the safest place to approach those wary nobles. They had not intended to clash with the Hengan Eagle Cavalry.

The strength of the Hengan Eagle Cavalry had been mere rumor, but now the foremost killer of Hengan, Yuchi Gong, had arrived—a mad dog who never let go once he bit. Black Fruit wanted nothing to do with him.

He glared at Xu Le, who stood among the Hengan Cavalry, wishing he could swallow this unexpected adversary whole.

Xu Le sensed Black Fruit’s gaze and only shrugged.

Just as both sides were about to fight to the death, a bright metallic sound rang out from behind the ranks.

In the army, drums meant advance, bells meant retreat.

The officers reflexively lowered their hands, the Hengan Cavalry likewise lowering their bows. Yuchi Gong, furious, turned and shouted, “Damn it, who’s sounding the retreat?”

Through the dust behind them, another squad approached quickly, led by a man with a flowing beard—it was Yuan Jun Zhang.