The dust rising from behind the army formation and the faint sounds of battle cries made Li Xiaozong's heart tighten. From the moment Mandulang led two thousand Mandu Banner cavalry towards them, Li Xiaozong had felt uneasy. He had been Mandulang's adversary for three years; he knew his opponent's temperament. Therefore, upon realizing the danger, his first action was to order Pan Mei to lead a detachment of troops to retreat quickly and defend Qingxia. But… it was too late.
A competent general can roughly judge the enemy's numbers from the dust raised behind them. Li Xiaozong didn't need to send scouts to gather information to guess that Pan Mei's detachment was likely already surrounded. Given Pan Mei's arrogant nature, he might not maintain formation during the retreat. Under a sudden attack, it was truly worrying whether that detachment could survive.
"Zhao Sen, take one of your vanguard battalions and immediately return to support Pan Mei. You decide on the tactics based on the situation. If Pan Mei can be saved, then you must rescue him. If Pan Mei is trapped and difficult to rescue, then immediately lead your men to break through the canyon. You must ensure the canyon remains open no matter what!"
"General!"
Zhao Sen said urgently, "If I take another vanguard battalion, you'll only have two left. Two thousand four hundred infantry... Mandulang has two thousand elite cavalry, I'm afraid..."
"You don't have time to worry about me."
Li Xiaozong said coldly, "I've said it before, since I am your commander today, you have no choice but to obey any of my orders. And you should understand that compared to opening a passage for the main force, my side is insignificant."
"Yes, sir!"
Looking at Li Xiaozong's resolute face, Zhao Sen knew he couldn't sway the young general's determination. Although Li Xiaozong had been cautious enough in leading his troops out of the canyon, he had still made the mistake of underestimating the enemy and advancing rashly. According to the twelve military orders issued by His Majesty the Emperor of the Sui Dynasty, anyone who maliciously seizes upon this matter is guilty of a capital offense.
He didn't know much about this young general, only that he was from the Li family of Longyou, the nephew of General Li Yuanshan, and that Dean Zhou had praised him more than once back at the Martial Arts Academy. Of course, he also knew that Li Xiaozong had just been reinstated before the war, having narrowly escaped losing his career and life.
Originally, Zhao Sen had no respect for such a young and renowned general. But today, the resolute expression on Li Xiaozong's face filled him with genuine admiration.
"Take care, General!"
Zhao Sen clasped his hands in a fist salute and then turned to leave.
"Wait!"
Li Xiaozong called him back and ordered, "Blow the horn and gather back the two hundred cavalrymen who have scattered. If Pan Mei cannot be rescued, use these two hundred cavalrymen to break through and fight your way out."
"We only have these two hundred cavalrymen; it's better to keep them to support the general!"
Zhao Sen shouted.
"Yes..."
Li Xiaozong sighed, "We only have two hundred cavalrymen, they're incredibly precious. But this is a battlefield. Precisely because those two hundred cavalrymen are so valuable, they must be used where they're most needed. Go... no matter how things go on my side, you're not allowed to turn back to support them. Even if I die here, you don't need to collect my body. Qingxia... is your position."
"Yes, sir!"
Zhao Sen shouted loudly, rubbing his sore nose as he strode away. After taking away a vanguard battalion, Li Xiaozong's forces became increasingly thin. Meanwhile, Mandulang on the opposite side didn't seem to be in a hurry to attack, but watched with interest as Li Xiaozong divided his forces again.
"Tale!"
Seeing a contingent of the Sui army's rear guard split off, Mandulang smiled and ordered, "I'll give you three hundred-man squads. Do you dare to tear the Sui army's formation in half?"
Tale was an extremely burly and robust grassland man with the typical grassland beard, thick eyebrows, and a fierce gaze. His voice was like a tolling bell.
"Of course I dare! If the general would grant me a beauty from Northern Liao, I'd lead three hundred cavalry to attack Fangu!"
"Haha!"
Mandulang laughed loudly, "If you capture Li Xiaozong alive, I'll reward you with two beauties from Northern Liao, plus a Northern Liao cavalryman!"
"Thank you, General!"
Tale chuckled, completely disregarding the two thousand-plus elite Sui soldiers opposite him.
"My boys, follow me to kill!"
He roared, unsheathed the wolf-tooth mace strapped to his back, and spurred his horse forward. Three hundred Mandulang cavalry followed behind him, howling as they charged forward. They looked like three hundred hungry wolves spotting their prey. The Mongol cavalry were incredibly fast; every rider was a master horseman. They could even easily control wild horses without saddles and stirrups, as naturally as southerners piloting boats. Three hundred cavalrymen, using the tael as their spearhead, formed a sharp, wedge-shaped formation and charged towards the Sui army.
This was the first direct confrontation between the Mongol Yuan and Sui armies in over a century. Although the scale of this battle was small, its significance was profound. Both Mandulang and Emperor Xiaozong understood the importance of this first battle. Whoever won would gain the upper hand.
If the Mongol Yuan forces annihilated all five thousand Sui soldiers who had crossed the canyon, the pride of the Sui soldiers would be severely wounded.
"Invincible?"
Mandulang looked at the fluttering crimson Sui Dynasty battle flag opposite him, a cold smile playing on his lips. "Today, I will shatter your false reputation of invincibility!"
...
...
"Zhang Zhen, Cui Minlai."
Li Xiaozong loudly ordered, "You two guard the flanks. Do not move without my order. Even if the Mongol cavalry charges into the center, do not come to their aid until you hear the bugle!"
"Yes, sir!"
The other two officers, Zhang Zhen and Cui Minlai, responded simultaneously, returning to the flanks to oversee the battle formation.
"Archers!"
Li Xiaozong spurred his horse forward, personally directing the battle from the front.
"Shoot the javelin!"
At Li Xiaozong's command, the first row of archers drew a special feathered arrow from their quiver. This arrow was painted a vibrant red and was thicker than ordinary arrows. Upon the command, the first rank of archers immediately nocked the special feathered arrows, and over a hundred men released them in perfect unison. They fired the arrows at a high angle, pushing the range of their hardened bows to the limit.
Over a hundred red feathered arrows flew in volleys, tracing beautiful arcs through the air before landing. About two hundred and thirty paces away, a red line appeared on the ground. These arrows were called javelins. Their purpose was to allow archers to clearly know when the enemy entered their range.
As the hooves of Talena's three hundred cavalrymen leaped over the red line formed by the javelins, Li Xiaozong abruptly raised his command flag.
"First volley, volley, fire!"
Over three hundred archers immediately raised their hardened bows, replacing them with expensive armor-piercing arrows. These arrows could easily tear through thin iron armor. Unless the enemy wore several layers of thick leather armor or expensive chainmail, they couldn't withstand the onslaught of the armor-piercing spikes.
The first volley of arrows arced through the air, over three hundred arrows raining down like hailstones upon the Manduqi cavalry ranks. This first volley was a coverage attack, lacking precision. However, because of its wide coverage and the arrows falling from mid-air, it was difficult to defend against. Against a mass infantry charge, the archers' volleys were extremely lethal. But against rapidly advancing light cavalry, the volley's effectiveness was greatly reduced.
The arrows struck the Manduqi cavalry, immediately felling twenty or thirty riders from their horses. Tale, wielding his mace, knocked down two more arrows, his eyes gleaming with an increasingly fierce savagery. Using a heavy weapon like a spiked club to knock down arrows was clearly unsuitable, but his arms were incredibly strong; the club, which an ordinary person could hardly wield, was as light as a bamboo pole in his hands.
"Kill!"
Tale roared, and the Manchu cavalry behind him roared in unison.
"Hoo-ha!"
"Hoo-ha" was the battle cry of the Mongol cavalry. It was roughly equivalent to the Sui army's shout of "Forward!"
"Second volley, level shot, fire!"
Li Xiaozong gave the order again, and more than three hundred archers lowered their bows slightly, raising them abruptly, and arrows shot out in an instant. No sooner had the second order been given than Li Xiaozong waved his command flag and shouted, "Third volley, volley, fire!"
The archers focused their gazes on the enemy's leading cavalry, and the third volley of more than three hundred arrows was fired in extremely dense fashion. The volley of arrows was like a giant fist, slamming heavily into the oncoming Manchu cavalry. Tale brandished his mace in front of him, deflecting three or four arrows in succession, but an opening remained, and an arrow ripped through his leather armor and lodged in his shoulder.
The pain fueled the ferocity of this burly steppe warrior. Ignoring the trembling arrow in his shoulder, he spurred his horse straight towards the Sui army formation.
"Archers, retreat!"
Emperor Li Xiaozong shouted, "Shield bearers, advance! Spear bearers, form ranks!"
Approximately one hundred soldiers wielding towering shields quickly replaced the archers at the forefront. At the command of the captain, the hundred shields slammed heavily into the ground, like a wall suddenly appearing from the earth. The spear bearers rushed behind the shields, bracing their spears against them, their points raised.
The well-trained Right Valiant Guard of the Sui Dynasty had completed their formation change in a remarkably short time. In an instant, the army formation resembled a huddled hedgehog.
With a deafening crash!
The Manduqi cavalry slammed into the massive shields. Soldiers crouching on the ground, supporting their shields with their shoulders, were knocked over and trampled by the approaching horses, their cries of agony filling the air. But the Manduqi cavalrymen who had been trampled were also impaled by the raised spears of the opposing force. The twenty-odd cavalrymen at the forefront, having broken through the shield formation, had fulfilled their mission, sacrificing their lives.
"Crush through the Sui army's formation! Cut down their banners!"
Tale, half-soaked in blood, smashed a Sui soldier's head with his club. The leather helmet was crushed, and bright red blood mixed with white brain matter spurted out, along with many bone fragments. The Sui soldier collapsed without a cry, his ribs crushed by Tale's horse.
Tal, leading his remaining two hundred or so cavalrymen, tore through the Sui's shield formation like knives, only to find himself trapped in a dense forest of spears. The cavalrymen were like wading through mud, unable to utilize the speed advantage of their light cavalry.
This was Tal's first battle against the Sui, but not his first. He had led his troops in massacres of other tribes on the grasslands; those small tribes that disobeyed the Manduqi chieftain's orders met only death. He was a warrior of exceptional strength, a renowned hero in the Manduqi.
But today, this warrior found himself utterly powerless.
Those wretched Sui people, their spear formation was the natural bane of cavalry! Once the swift cavalrymen were trapped, the riders, high on their backs, became easy targets for the spearmen.
Tal relentlessly swung his spiked club, killing four Sui spearmen in succession. But his warhorse only took one step forward.
Just as he swept aside the Sui soldiers in front of him with his club, two long spears thrust in from the left, ripping open his warhorse's belly with a loud thud. As the spearheads were pulled out, the horse's entrails, mixed with thick, foul-smelling blood, gushed out.
The horse let out a mournful cry and slowly collapsed, and Tale, unsteady on his feet, fell with it.
Before he could stand up, a long spear pierced his chest. He rolled away to avoid the spearhead, but a sharp pain shot through his calf.
Tale cried out and looked down to find his left leg impaled and pinned to the ground by a long spear. He tried to swing his spiked club to break the damned spear, but before he could raise his arm, a second spear struck him. The next second, a third spear pierced his abdomen, and the next second, a fourth spear pierced his heart.
Five or six burly Sui Dynasty spearmen surrounded the fallen, tall steppe man, repeatedly raising and thrusting their spears down.
A moment later… the man's face was unrecognizable.
The stench of entrails and excrement mingled together, utterly repulsive.