Chapter 37 (Part 1) Breaking the Enemy

  (PS: Going with the local customs and doing a 3K party clickbait once, two updates today, first update is here.)

  "Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hiss! Hsssssss!"

  After consuming countless troops and losing countless infantrymen, the Xiongnu cavalry finally fled in disarray. The Huns' cavalry, who had been excitedly shouting and charging towards the relatively slow-moving heavy cavalry of the Han army, were met with a fierce counterattack from the Han heavy cavalry, who had not fired a shot until now. Like the Han light cavalry, they too turned around frantically while galloping and fired arrows in all directions. Hundreds of arrows rained down on the Xiongnu cavalry, who were unable to retaliate or dodge, and fell off their horses one after another amidst the sound of whistling arrows, either dead or wounded.

  "Charge! Charge for me!" The furious General Huo roared, waving his saber to urge the cavalry to pursue, shouting continuously, "Capture Tao Yingxiao alive and reward a thousand gold! Kill an enemy soldier and reward ten gold!"

  "Big Brother Dahu Fa! Big Brother Dahu Fa!" They chased for another three to five miles, and finally a rebel general found something was wrong. He rushed to Lian Rong's side and shouted loudly: "Dahu Fa, we can't chase anymore! Our troops are falling behind too badly, our formation is also being pulled too scattered. If we continue to chase, there will be few of us left!"

  Mo Rong's head turned around in surprise, looking east and west, and found that on the battlefield filled with dust and smoke, there were indeed not many of their own cavalry left, and the cavalry was still dropping out of line during the pursuit. In the southeast direction, as far as the eye could see, it was all the bodies of their own cavalrymen and horses, as well as straggling soldiers. As for their own infantry, who knows where they had been thrown to? Under tension, Mo Rong hastily shouted loudly: "Quickly take a look, how many cavalry do we have left?"

  No one can answer Lü Rong's question. Under the twilight sky, arrows are raining down on the battlefield, people and horses are falling over, dust is flying everywhere, rebel cavalrymen are constantly being shot down, continuously charging and dropping out of formation. Corpses of men and horses, wounded soldiers, broken guns and torn flags line the road in a straight line as far as the eye can see. In this situation, it's hard for anyone to confirm how many casualties Lü Rong's rebel army has suffered, how many troops are left, or how many more troops they can gather. The only thing Lü Rong can probably confirm is that his cavalrymen around him have absolutely less than a thousand people left, and their absolute advantage in troop numbers has disappeared without a trace in the long and intense pursuit battle!

  "We can't chase anymore!" Realizing this, although it was the first time he encountered such a strange tactic, the cunning and treacherous Bodhisattva woke up and shouted: "Stop! Stop the pursuit! Sound the horn! Sound the horn! Withdraw troops! Withdraw troops!"

  "Dong dong dong dong dong dong!"

  Mo Rong's personal soldiers struck the copper gongs they carried with them, and upon hearing this sound, the rebel cavalry, who were already exhausted, suddenly stopped in their tracks, turned around, and retreated back to where they came from. Lin Qing, who had already decided to live or die together with Tao Ying, hastily wiped away his tears, turned around, and stared wide-eyed in shock, exclaiming: "Why is Mo Rong sounding the retreat?! Our light cavalry has escaped, leaving only over 300 heavy cavalry behind! If we can just catch up to them, we'll definitely win!"

  Tao Ying put down his bow and arrow, took out the telescope he had personally polished with natural crystal, and carefully observed that the rebel army was not pretending to retreat. Tao Ying couldn't help but smile and muttered to himself: "Qiu Rong is not too stupid, as long as he chases for another ten miles, he won't even have a chance to escape, but it doesn't matter, it's just right to practice the close combat of Laozi's Junzi Army."

  Ha! Tao Ying nodded to the nearby guard, who immediately raised the triangular command flag and waved it wildly. The galloping Junzi army cavalry quickly reined in their horses, turned around, and rearranged themselves, taking advantage of the time to drink water and tidy up their weapons. When the two horizontal teams were re-formed, Tao Ying waved the command flag again, and a new slogan immediately rang out: "The Master said: 'A man without benevolence, what is ritual to him? A man without benevolence, what is music to him?' Lin Fang asked about the basis of ritual. The Master said: 'What a great question! Ritual, rather than being extravagant, would rather be frugal; rather than being easy-going, would rather be reverent.' The Master said: 'The barbarians having rulers is not as good as the Xia having none!'

  Reciting the third chapter of "Analects" in unison, Junzi's heavy cavalry began their third tactical move. On one hand, they charged forward on horseback, while on the other hand, they shot arrows from a distance. The rebel army led by Mo Rong had never imagined that only 300-odd men of Junzi's heavy cavalry would dare to launch a counterattack, and were thrown into great chaos. Some turned around to face the enemy, some retreated on horseback, while many more stood in place, unsure of what to do. Fortunately, Mo Rong was not deceived this time either, waving his saber and shouting loudly, "Fall back! Fall back! Don't pursue! If we give chase, Tao Ying will escape!"

  "Brothers, run quickly!" In the midst of the shouting and screaming, the rebel cavalry, now less than a thousand strong, fled in panic, trampling each other to death. The Imperial Army's heavy cavalry pursued relentlessly, biting at the rebels' heels, continuously shooting arrows and killing the rebel cavalry in the charge.

  It was also at this time that a long-awaited turning point finally arrived for Tao Ying. The war horses under the rebels' buttocks had been charging back and forth for over 70 miles, most of which were already exhausted, foaming at the mouth, sweating profusely, and their running speed had greatly decreased. Some even began to collapse due to exhaustion. On the other hand, the donkey-like horses under the Junzi Army's buttocks showed unbelievable endurance advantages, maintaining a considerable speed and strength throughout. They carried the Junzi Army soldiers in pursuit of the rebels who were exhausted both physically and horse-wise. As the Junzi Army soldiers continued to shoot arrows, they also began to wield their knives and axes to slash at the fallen rebel cavalrymen. The advantage between the rebels and the Junzi Army was completely reversed.

  "What... what's going on here? How... how does it seem like we're about to win?"

  The inexplicable turn of events left everyone baffled, but none more so than Lin Qing, the young maid by Tao Ying's side. Although she had never been on a battlefield before, having grown up in a military family, she was well-versed in the ways of war and knew that once an army retreated, it was as good as defeated, unless there were reinforcements or ambushes waiting to turn the tide. But now, the Junzi Army had been retreating for over sixty miles without any sign of relief or backup, so how did they manage to suddenly gain the upper hand? It seemed like they were on the verge of winning! Lin Qing had never heard of such a strange occurrence in all her years.

  In a state of confusion, Lin Qing suddenly felt the war horse's front hoof go soft, and with a loud whinny, both she and the horse tumbled forward. Lin Qing let out a shrill cry as she lost her balance. Fortunately, Tao Ying was by her side, his eyes quick and his hands even quicker, grabbing hold of her small hand and swinging her up into the air before catching her again in mid-air and settling her onto his own horse's back. Only then did Lin Qing narrowly avoid a terrible fall. As she slowly regained her composure, Tao Ying's gentle voice whispered in her ear, "Little one, I told you to nail on horseshoes, but you didn't listen. Look now - your big warhorse has bled from its hooves and is ruined."

  "My horse's hooves are bleeding?" Lin Qing was shocked, and he quickly bent down to take a closer look. He found that the front hooves of the tall and majestic Da Wan horse he was riding were indeed bleeding. It was clear that after running continuously for 70 miles on the bumpy road, plus the long-distance galloping with Junzi Army over the past few days, the horse's hooves could no longer withstand the intense friction with the sand and stones, and had cracked open, rendering them completely useless.

  "It's all your fault!" After pouting like a child, Lin Qing vented her anger on Tao Ying and muttered: "If you had told me the use of horseshoes earlier, would I not have nailed them onto my horse? You owe me compensation!"

  "Alright, alright, I'll compensate." Tao Yun couldn't help but pinch Lin Qing's tender and smooth little face, then beckoned to his personal soldier to bring over a spare warhorse. He smiled at Lin Qing and said, "Aren't you going to change horses quickly? Do you want to hold me until when? Although I don't mind, I still have to fight now! If you want to hold me, wait until the battle is over and I'll let you hold me as much as you want."

  Lin Qing suddenly came to his senses and looked down, only to discover that not only were his hands wrapped around Tao Ying, but his two long legs were also wrapped around Tao Ying's waist, embracing him like a pair of conjoined twins. Mortified, Lin Qing opened his mouth and bit down hard on Tao Ying's shoulder before hastily changing into the spare warhorse brought by Tao Ying's personal guards, his face red all the way to the base of his neck.

  "It's time." Tao Ying ignored Lin Qing's arrogance and ordered the soldiers beside him: "Send a signal, close the net, behead Jun Feng!"

  "Ah!" The bodyguard answered with a fist, took out a bamboo tube wrapped in oiled paper from his bosom, tore open the oiled paper and lit it on fire. A small bright spot flew out of the top of the bamboo tube, soared into the air and exploded, bursting into a huge flower. Although gunpowder had already been invented in this era, it was extremely rare, so Lin Qing couldn't help but ask in surprise: "What is this? So beautiful?"

  "Fireworks." Tao replied readily: "If you like them, after we've won this war, I'll give you a few."

  "Good." Lin Qing happily replied, and then asked: "Then what's with the fireworks during battles?"

  "Of course, it's time for the ambush troops to attack." Tao Yingxiao said with a smile.

  " Ambush? Where did our ambush come from?" Lin Qing was even more surprised.

  "Who says it's not? Look, isn't it coming?" Tao Ying pointed into the distance and laughed.

  Lin Qing was shocked and turned his head to look, but was even more surprised to find that behind the hills and forests on both sides of the defeated rebel soldiers, a team of cavalry with the banner of the Junzi Army emerged from each side, riding horses one by one. Left and right towards the Liao Rong rebel army, and another team of Junzi Army cavalry appeared in front of them, circling around to attack the Liao Rong rebel army's main force, blocking their way and intercepting the large rebel army on the road. The rebel soldiers on the road were at a loss, desperately covering their heads and fleeing wildly, with no resistance whatsoever.

  After taking another close look, Lin Qing suddenly exclaimed: "The light cavalry led by Tao Ji, when did they surround the Lu Rong bandits?"