The Wushen tribe leader surged forward at the head of his men, immediately colliding with the Ordos forces.
The disparity in numbers was obvious at a glance.
The Wushen could only muster seven or eight hundred riders, while the Ordos had well over fifteen hundred cavalrymen. Their formation spread wide across the grasslands, banners snapping violently in the wind.
The Wushen leader cursed inwardly.
If we hadn't lost more than four hundred men at Wangjia Fork… I wouldn't be afraid of you, Ordos scum.
But regret was useless.
On the battlefield, there was no such thing as "if only."
There was only forward.
The two cavalry formations let out thunderous roars, hooves pounding the earth as both sides prepared for a direct collision—
Just then—
From the southern grasslands, two scouts came galloping in at full speed.
One wore the garb of the Wushen tribe.
The other belonged to the Ordos.
Under normal circumstances, the two would have shot arrows at each other the instant they met.
Yet now—
They rode side by side.
Their horses foamed at the mouth as the two scouts shouted at the top of their lungs:
"Don't fight! Don't fight!"
"The Han people are here! The Han people are here!"
At those words, both tribes froze.
The Wushen cavalry slowed.
The Ordos cavalry reined in.
All eyes turned toward the two panting scouts.
"H- Han cavalry!"
"About a thousand of them!"
Both scouts reported simultaneously.
"They appear to be subordinates of Yansui Regional Commander Shi Jian!"
The moment he heard the name, the Wushen leader's eyes turned bloodshot.
"That bastard!" he roared. "He's the one who slaughtered our men last time! How dare he come onto the grasslands again?!"
On the other side, the Ordos leader burst out laughing.
"A Ming regional commander?" he scoffed. "Those are all useless trash. Do they really think they can seek death on the grasslands? Hahaha!"
The Wushen leader snapped his head around.
"Ordos!" he shouted. "Let's deal with the Han people together first. After that, we can settle our own accounts. What do you say?"
The Ordos leader didn't hesitate for even a breath.
"Good!"
No flowery words.
No empty formalities.
In an instant, two enemies became allies.
Such was the grasslands.
Both leaders turned their gaze southward.
On the open plain, a cavalry unit appeared.
Not many men—only around a thousand.
Three banners flew prominently.
One read: Yansui Regional Commander Shi
The other two read: Yansui Company Commander Zao
and Yansui Company Commander Zheng
Three massive banners for a force of only a thousand men.
It was… oddly comical.
The Ordos leader laughed loudly.
"I get it now," he said knowingly. "A regional commander brought two company commanders—but both of them embezzled soldiers' pay, so they only have five hundred men each. Added together, that's just a thousand."
Classic Ming army behavior.
Nothing surprising at all.
The Ordos leader raised his saber high.
"Sons of the grasslands!" he roared.
"Charge! Slaughter the Ming army!"
"Their weapons and armor—whoever takes them, keeps them!"
"Awooo!"
"Awooo!"
The Mongol cavalry let out ferocious howls.
The Wushen leader hesitated, then shouted urgently, "Be careful! Their muskets are dangerous! We suffered heavy losses because of them last time!"
The Ordos leader snorted.
"I've only ever heard of Ming infantry using muskets," he said dismissively. "I've never seen cavalry with anything worth fearing."
"At most, they'll be using Three-Eyed Arquebuses on horseback," he continued. "Those things are useless trash."
The Wushen leader paused, then muttered uncertainly, "That… does sound reasonable."
"Enough talk!"
The Ordos leader lowered his saber.
"Charge!"
"Charge!" the Wushen leader echoed.
The two Mongol cavalry forces surged forward simultaneously, hooves pounding the earth like rolling thunder.
They charged straight toward the so-called "Ming army."
—
This "Ming army" was, of course, Zao Ying's cavalry battalion.
When they saw the Mongol cavalry charging, a ripple of tension ran through the Gao Family Village riders.
Mongol cavalry were famous across the land.
Every man here knew it.
In archery and horsemanship, they were inferior.
Fortunately—
They didn't use bows.
The cavalrymen recalled their training drills almost reflexively.
In unison, they drew their cavalry muskets.
These muskets were also breech-loading, but their barrels were a full thirty centimeters shorter than the infantry versions. Their effective range was reduced—but they were far easier to use on horseback.
The Gao Family Village cavalry began loading.
One soldier's hand trembled.
The bullet slipped from his fingers and fell to the ground.
On horseback, there was no way to retrieve it.
Grinding his teeth, he discarded it and hurriedly grabbed another.
Seeing this, Zao Ying burst out laughing and shouted, "What are you panicking for?! Stick to your training! Fire steadily—don't be afraid!"
"Click—clack!"
Bullets slid into chambers one after another.
In mere moments, all thousand cavalrymen finished loading.
The Mongol cavalry was closing fast.
Two hundred meters.
Then less.
"Within range!" Zao Ying shouted.
"Fire!"
"Bang!"
"Bang! Bang! Bang!"
A line of blue smoke erupted from the short muskets.
Though compact, these were still rifled, breech-loading firearms.
Their range far exceeded that of the Ming army's long, smoothbore bird guns.
The Ordos cavalry at the front fell in rows.
Men and horses crashed to the ground, bodies tumbling through the grass.
The Ordos leader's eyes nearly popped out of his skull.
"What?!" he roared. "Mounted muskets that aren't Three-Eyed Arquebuses?! They can shoot this far?!"
The Wushen leader's heart sank.
Damn it… just as I feared.
The cavalry fired once—
Then immediately began reloading.
But seeing the Mongol cavalry closing the distance again, panic crept into the militia riders' expressions.
Zao Ying laughed loudly.
"What are you standing around for while loading?!" she shouted.
"We're cavalry! Move!"
"Reload while running!"
"Move!"
Realization struck.
The inexperienced cavalrymen finally reacted.
They reined their horses around and began galloping backward.
Feet pressed into the stirrups.
Legs clamped tightly to their horses' flanks.
Their bodies stayed balanced as both hands worked frantically to reload.
Their retreat speed was slower than a full Mongol charge—
But it was enough.
Distance remained.
Much later, a practical math problem would be assigned at Gao Family Village Thirty-Two Middle School:
The Gao Family Village cavalry retreats at 50 km/h, maintaining a 200-meter lead.The Gao Family Village cavalry retreats at 50 km/h, maintaining a 200-meter lead.
The Mongol cavalry pursues at 70 km/h.The Mongol cavalry pursues at 70 km/h.
How long before they catch up?
Zheng Daniu couldn't calculate such a problem.
But he knew one thing—
It would take far longer than it took him to reload.
In a blink, his musket was ready.
He turned casually in the saddle and fired.
"Bang!"
The closest Mongol cavalryman pitched forward, dead before he hit the ground.
Zheng Daniu laughed uproariously.
"Hahaha! Not only am I good at throwing grenades—turns out I'm great with a musket too!"
Zao Ying laughed and teased, "You're amazing, Daniu!"
Shi Jian roared, "You idiots! Stop flirting on the battlefield!"
"Bang!"
"Bang! Bang!"
The cavalry continued firing backward as they galloped.
The Ordos tribe suffered mounting casualties.
The Ordos leader felt his scalp go numb.
"What… what kind of Han people are these?!"
The Wushen leader shouted urgently, "I told you to beware their muskets! We can't chase them anymore!"
"If we chase, they shoot!"
"If we chase again, they shoot again!"
"We'll just die for nothing!"
The Ordos leader clenched his teeth.
"Dammit!"
"Stop chasing!"
"Halt!"
The two Mongol cavalry forces came to a stop simultaneously.
Smoke drifted across the grasslands.
And the balance of fear had completely reversed.