Chapter 48

It was nearly noon!

The autumn sun unexpectedly radiated a scorching heat from the sky, while the thick clouds seemed to wrap the earth and sky in a heavy blanket, completely blocking out the coolness of autumn.

In the distance, the heavy and chaotic sound of hooves grew louder, and the panting and snorting of warhorses drew nearer. The Turkic cavalry charged forward swiftly. The momentum of thousands of horses and men was truly awe-inspiring, with the rolling dust and thunderous shouts making them appear like a surging flood.

Two thousand five hundred Right Brave Guards stood silently in the blazing sun, most of them clad in heavy armor, forming neat ranks. They did not waver in the face of the flood-like Turkic cavalry.

This was the quality of veterans. If they were new recruits, even with twenty thousand troops, they would have been intimidated by the Turkic momentum and felt their limbs go weak.

"This Turkic general has some skill! But he's still a bit naive." Luo Shixin squinted, shading his eyes as he looked forward. In his line of sight, each Turkic cavalryman held a short horse bow, charging at them with thunderous speed.

The momentum of the Turkic cavalry was truly astonishing. Luo Shixin felt the ground beneath his feet tremble, and the speed was breathtaking. In the blink of an eye, they were almost upon them...

Five hundred paces...

Four hundred paces...

Three hundred paces...

The Turkic cavalry gradually slowed down. Even with their skilled archery, it was impossible to hit targets accurately while charging at full speed. Slowing down to shoot was a basic technique.

When the Turkic cavalry reached two hundred and fifty paces, they all drew their bows in unison...

Due to the lack of a stable base, the bows used in horse archery were mostly short, with the most lethal range being within eighty paces. However, in battle, when the armies were densely packed, they could cause damage without precise aiming as long as they were within arrow range. Once they entered arrow range, they could inflict harm on the enemy.

Especially when ten thousand arrows were shot simultaneously...

The effective range of the Turkic cavalry's arrows was up to one hundred and fifty paces...

Just as the Turkic cavalry approached two hundred paces, about to enter the one hundred and fifty paces range, Silieya was startled to see the Tang army's陌刀手 (mòdāo shǒu, polearm soldiers) suddenly crouch down, revealing the soldiers behind them who were loaded with crossbows!

The cunning Tang soldiers had hidden a large number of crossbowmen behind the polearm soldiers...

A rain of crossbow bolts flew through the sky!

Silieya was speechless and at a loss: Crossbows from the Central Plains had always been the first weapon against nomadic tribes, and Turkic commanders had deeply studied them. The effective range of the Tang's long-range crossbows could reach three hundred paces. At this moment, the distance between the two armies was less than two hundred paces. Even if the Turkic cavalry were extremely fast and responsive, it would take a considerable amount of time to disperse and retreat, making it impossible to avoid the crossbows.

There was no place to hide, no way to escape.

In an instant, the deadly crossbow bolts pierced through men and horses, often piercing three or four people with a single bolt. The Turkic cavalrymen and horses screamed in pain, and the front lines fell into chaos.

"Hold them! Continuous shooting!" Luo Shixin's eyes gleamed with intense light. As he said, the Turkic were too naive. How could the polearm formation expose such a large vulnerability? The polearm soldiers, though slow and easy targets, would be turned into sieves by the fierce crossbow bolts before they could be targeted.

In fact, there was no need for Luo Shixin to give orders. After a month of training, every soldier in the polearm formation knew their role. They fired in a well-organized and continuous manner, maintaining a steady stream of arrows, even if the density was sparse.

The powerful fire network forced the Turkic cavalry to stop at one hundred and fifty paces, and even pushed them back to two hundred paces.

Silieya watched as his brave and skilled tribesmen were pierced and killed by the long crossbow bolts, his heart bleeding. He couldn't help but roar, "Charge! Press forward..." At this distance, once caught in the continuous crossbow fire, it was difficult for the cavalry to turn around, let alone retreat in a short time. The more they retreated, the more chaotic it would become.

Silieya, though panicked, saw through this and decided to charge forward and engage the Tang army in close combat, thus neutralizing the crossbows' effectiveness.

Completely on the defensive, they had already lost nearly a thousand tribesmen before the battle even began. This situation only fueled the bloodlust of the Turkic soldiers, who roared and ignored the incoming crossbow bolts, using their bodies to forge a path forward.

Hundreds and thousands of Turkic cavalrymen fell, but the long-range crossbows were no match for the machine guns of later times and could not completely suppress the Turkic charge. The distance between the two armies visibly shortened.

Luo Shixin was also impressed. The Turkic were indeed formidable enemies of the Tang Dynasty. Their fearless and fierce spirit truly deserved the title of formidable enemies.

Luo Shixin licked his lips and, as the Turkic cavalry approached sixty paces, issued a new order: "All polearm soldiers, step forward and form the formation. All soldiers, prepare your crossbows. All archers, shoot!"

Countless arrows flew from the dense formation, passing over the polearm soldiers and striking the Turkic ranks. The sharp arrows pierced the bodies of the Turkic cavalry, causing red liquid to spurt like fountains!

Without the suppression of the crossbows, the Turkic cavalry finally resumed their long-awaited acceleration.

Silieya's face was terrifyingly dark, his black pupils flashing with anger. He roared, "Descendants of the Wolf God, charge! Trample over these cowards!"

As Silieya's cry echoed, the surrounding Turkic cavalry let out heart-wrenching roars. Accompanied by these indescribable shouts, they swept over the sixty paces like a whirlwind, reaching the front lines of the Tang army, as if challenging the polearm soldiers.

Facing the Turkic cavalry's charge, Xue Yong led the polearm soldiers forward without fear.

If they wanted to fight, so be it!

In the spray of blood, the horses collided with the extended polearms. Under the terrifying force, the polearms pierced through the necks of the horses, continuing through their bodies, and finally emerging from their backs, piercing the chests of the riders.

They held their ground!

The Turkic cavalry did not break through the polearm formation but were firmly held back by the polearm soldiers.

This was all within Luo Shixin's expectations.

Was the impact of the Turkic cavalry terrifying?

Yes, it was terrifying!

Under normal circumstances, could the polearm formation withstand the Turkic cavalry?

No, it couldn't!

But the polearm formation was interconnected, with different units complementing each other's strengths and weaknesses!

The powerful crossbows had already neutralized the Turkic cavalry's strongest charge, and the chaotic arrows had disrupted their formation. The cavalry's momentum, which had just accelerated within sixty paces, could not shake the specially trained polearm soldiers.

Without momentum, could the cavalry still match the polearm soldiers?

There was no need to calculate. Xue Yong, at the forefront, declared the result with his actions.

The polearm sliced through the air, and with a loud "bang," the blade made intimate contact with the rider. The unstoppable force pressed down on the rider's body, the blade slicing through his abdomen. The force did not diminish and continued to cut into the horse's back.

Both man and horse were shattered.

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