Chapter Thirty-Six (Part Two) First Battle

  (PS: Three updates in one night, I'm exhausted.)

  "Shameless! Shameless! Absolutely shameless! Trash! Trash! You're all just a bunch of trash!"

  Seeing his trusted general He Zhi fall, and his precious cavalry dropping one by one under the arrows of Junzi's army, yet not even touching a single hair of Junzi's army, Mohe Dasu was on the verge of going mad. When he saw Junzi's army abandon their baggage carts and retreat in full line, Mohe Dasu finally lost his patience, shouting loudly: "Beat the drums, launch a general attack! If we don't take down Tao Yingxiao's head today, if we don't chop these 800 shameless pseudo-gentlemen into meat sauce, I swear not to withdraw my troops!"

  The drums of the general attack sounded, and the infantry rebels on both wings also joined the ranks of pursuing the Junzi army. Mohe Buddha personally led his personal soldiers to catch up with the cavalry, personally commanding the battle in the most mobile cavalry unit, relying on the absolute advantage of troops, vowing to skin alive these more than 800 shameless pseudo-gentlemen!

  "Shameless! Too shameless!" Similarly, our lovely Lin Qing was also wailing, constantly turning her head to see that the Junzi Army's light cavalry didn't even engage in close combat with the enemy, but instead frantically fled while shooting arrows back at them. Lin Qing was thoroughly convinced of the Junzi Army's shameless tactics, "Shameless! Too shameless! Is there such an army in this world? Shameless!"

  "It doesn't matter if you lose face or not, what's most important is winning." Tao Ying chuckled beside him: "Lin Xiongdi, there will be even more exciting things to see later, just wait patiently."

  "Is there a more shameless tactic?" Lin Qing glared at Tao Ying on horseback, then suddenly exclaimed, "Bookworm, no way! No way!"

  "What's wrong?" Tao Ying was somewhat tense and subconsciously withdrew the demonic claws that had already reached Lin Qing's chest from behind.

  "That's not the right direction!" Lin Qing's response made Tao breathe a sigh of relief. "Our infantry is in the north, we should retreat along the official road to the north! Now, why are we retreating northwest? There are no cities or our troops in the northwest of Guangling!"

  "You silly little thing, do you think that despicable traitor is as foolish as you are?" Tao Ying laughed ambiguously. "That treacherous dog is even more cunning than a fox. Seeing us retreat northward, and knowing that General Zhang's infantry is to the northeast, does he dare to pursue and kill with all his might?"

  "Are you intentionally running in the wrong direction?" Lin Qing quickly turned his head and asked Tao Ying with a surprised face.

  "Good guess, you little fool." Tao Yingjian smiled, "I deliberately let Junzi's army retreat to the northwest. That direction has no city to defend, nor our reinforcements to respond, and it is impossible to ambush troops. The angry Meng Huo will definitely pursue and kill to the end."

  The situation was in Tao Ying's favor, and naturally, the cunning and treacherous Mohe Bodhisattva was also afraid that Junzi's army had an ambush waiting. However, after discovering that Junzi's army was retreating northwest, Mohe Bodhisattva, who had already figured out Zhang's troop situation, felt a sense of relief in his heart and would not let go of the opportunity to attack Junzi's "retreating" army. Meanwhile, after retreating for over ten miles, Junzi's light cavalry, whose war horses' endurance was gradually gaining the upper hand, slowed down their arrow-shooting pace under Tao Ji's command, intentionally giving Mohe Rong's rebel army a glimmer of hope. With their overwhelming advantage in troop strength, Mohe Rong's rebel army was determined to pursue and kill them.

  From the sky, birds can see such a magnificent scene: only more than 800 gentlemen's army galloping on horseback in the vast land, maintaining a relatively neat formation, rushing northwest. Behind the gentlemen's army, there are ten times as many rebel infantry and cavalry pursuing troops, forming a huge cone-shaped array naturally formed in the charge, howling, galloping, desperately killing the small number of gentlemen's army, slogans and hoofbeats shaking the land of Guangling slightly.

  Ma Bu's troops had been pursuing the Junzi Army for over thirty miles, and gradually, Ma Bu discovered that something was amiss - his cavalry and infantry were severely disconnected. The mounted cavalry had managed to keep up with the Junzi Army's rear, but the infantry had fallen behind by at least ten miles. Upon realizing this situation, the cunning and treacherous Ma Bu couldn't help but hesitate, weighing whether he should continue the pursuit.

  After hesitating for a long time, General Mo decided to stop the pursuit and regroup his cavalry out of caution. However, just as he did so, something that made him see red happened - the Junzi army, who had been desperately fleeing earlier, suddenly turned around and launched a counterattack against the rebel cavalry once they saw them stopping their pursuit. A hail of arrows rained down again, and one by one, the rebel cavalrymen fell to the ground with cries of pain. Seeing this scene, General Mo's anger surged up again, and he charged forward once more with his sword raised high.

  The rebel cavalry charged again, and the Junzi army naturally turned around and ran away, shooting arrows while running, desperately killing the rebel cavalry in a mobile war. Seeing this situation, Tao Ying was naturally furious, and Lin Qing also felt a bit unfair, pointing at Tao Ying and scolding: "Your Junzi army, I think it's better to change its name to Mangy Dog Army! The enemy has already stopped chasing you, but you still run over to throw stones and spit."

  "Clever, and you're right on one point, this tactical link can be called the 'Lai Pi Dog' tactic." Tao Yingtian shamelessly said: "Just wait and see, as long as Jun Rong's little brat dares to stop pursuing, I'll immediately turn around and welcome him with a bow and arrow."

  Our Deputy Director Tao is a man who can do what he says, and after chasing the rebels for ten or more miles, they were forced to give up again because it was difficult to catch up. The troops began to gather, and the light cavalry led by Tao Ji turned around and charged forward without hesitation, treating the rebels with arrows and hospitality. The heavy cavalry led by Tao Ying also stopped in their tracks, holding the horses' heads within sight of the rebels, taking a short rest while waiting for the rebels' next move.

  At first, General Mohe wanted to hold on for a while and wait for the infantry troops behind to come and support him. However, after persisting for about an hour, General Mohe said that he couldn't continue to endure anymore because the arrows from the light cavalry of the Junzi Army were too numerous, almost constantly pouring down on the heads of the rebel cavalry. In a short moment, hundreds of rebel cavalrymen fell under the arrows of the Junzi Army, and those who were injured by the arrows were countless. General Mohe couldn't bear it anymore, and in order to avoid his precious cavalry from being killed in vain, he had no choice but to order another charge, rushing forward to engage in close combat with the light cavalry of the Junzi Army.

  The result was very natural, as soon as the rebel cavalry charged, the Junzi Army's light cavalry immediately repeated their old trick, turning around and running away while shooting arrows back at them. But this time, Mohe Buddha was also determined to see how many arrows Tao Yingxiao had, how far he could escape, and how long he could last? As long as his bow and arrow were used up, the soldiers and war horses exhausted, I would change one by one, and I would kill all of you pseudo-gentlemen cleanly!

  "Big Brother Dahu Fa, look! Tao Yingxiao's troops have scattered!"

  It seems that even the heavens couldn't bear the shameless tactics of the Junzi Army, and after chasing for over ten miles, the Junzi Army finally began to scatter. The three teams of light cavalry led by Tao Ji suddenly abandoned the two teams of heavy cavalry led by Tao Ying and fled in different directions, leaving behind the two teams of heavy cavalry to be pursued and killed by the rebel army alone.

  Upon seeing the lightly armored cavalry of Junzi's army fleeing for their lives, being shot at by the lightly armored cavalry and having their bellies set on fire, the rebellious troops of Mo Rong were overjoyed and cheered loudly. Mo Rong himself was delighted, singing and dancing with joy, shouting orders to his cavalry to pursue and kill Junzi's heavily armored cavalry with all their might, vowing not to stop until they had beheaded Tao Ying. However, on this chaotic battlefield filled with the sounds of horses neighing and people shouting, amidst the flying dust and smoke, Mo Rong overlooked an important situation: after more than sixty miles of pursuit, his 3,500 cavalrymen had suffered heavy casualties from Junzi's lightly armored cavalry's arrow fire, with many falling behind and only less than half of their original strength remaining. Moreover, each soldier was exhausted, both physically and in terms of horse power, greatly reduced...

  "What's wrong with Tao Qi?" Similarly, Junzi Army saw the light cavalry throwing down the heavy cavalry and escaping alone. Lin Qing's little girl was stunned, turned to Tao Ying and shouted in a sharp voice: "Bookworm, why did your younger brother throw you off and run away alone?"

  "There's no way, his arrows are almost all used up." Tao Ying said helplessly with a wave of his hand: "Each of them brought three quivers of arrows, ninety in total. After running more than sixty miles, the ninety arrows should be all used up." — Of course, what Tao Ying said was not true. The tactics of the Junzi Army relied on bows and arrows, and they would never use up their precious arrows without resupply or a decisive victory. So when Tao Ji led the light cavalry to retreat, each Junzi Army light cavalryman still had at least one quiver with thirty feathered arrows left.

  "But why did he run?" Lin Qing cried out in a shrill voice.

  "Because I told him that on the battlefield, preserving one's life is most important." Tao Ying smiled and said: "My third brother now listens to me very well, so he threw me down and ran away with a clear conscience."

  "You stinking traitor, and you're still in the mood to tell jokes at a time like this!" Lin Qing was so anxious that he almost shed tears. "Our military strength is already weak, and your third brother has taken more than half of our cavalry away. What are we going to do next?"

  "No choice, I'll just have to fight it out with that scoundrel." Tao Ying finally removed the quiver from his waist and took out a bone ring to wear on his right index finger. As he drew out a long-range arrow from his quiver, he continued to joke with Lin Qing, saying seriously: "Lin sister, I'll throw down my bow and run away soon, we can't delay any longer, you should also run, your horse is a fine one and can run fast, you'll definitely be able to escape, don't worry about me."

  "No!" Lin Qing's reaction made Tao Ying extremely surprised. The little girl's beautiful eyes were filled with tears, and she choked back a sob as she shouted: "I finally managed to get Uncle's agreement to bring me on the southern expedition, I came to live or die with you, not to throw you away and escape alone! If we must die, let's die together. If we must escape, let's escape together!"

  Looking at the tears welling up in Lin Qing's beautiful eyes, Tao Ying was slightly taken aback and smiled after a while: "I didn't expect that I, Tao Ying, would be able to have such an extraordinary beauty willing to die with me even when I'm on my deathbed. It's enough for me!"

  Haha, Tao Ying suddenly turned around, drew his bow and arrow, and shouted loudly: "Lin Mei, don't worry! With a beauty like you by my side, I'm not willing to die yet! And even more unwilling for you to die!"

  Amidst the loud cheers, Tao Ying's arrow flew out of his bowstring and drew a beautiful arc in the sky amidst the chaotic dance of arrows. When the arrowhead fell, it accurately hit one of the rebel generals right between the eyes, splashing blood everywhere. The rebel general let out a miserable cry as he fell off his warhorse, only to be trampled by the other rebel horses that were unable to dodge in time, killing him instantly.

  Note: Bone ring, also known as bone thumb protector, is used to protect the thumb when drawing a bow and shooting an arrow. Don't think that thumb rings were invented by wild boar skin, in fact, this equipment was already invented during China's Shang Dynasty.