Chapter 57

"Ya... puchi..."

Aobai, who had been lagging behind due to an arrow in his arm, finally rushed to the front of the formation. However, the warhorse under him was immediately pierced by a spearman, and the horse let out a long neigh as it fell to the ground. Aobai, a seasoned warrior, quickly jumped up, and with his uninjured right hand, he drew the short axe from his back and threw it at the spearman in front of him.

A flash of cold light passed, and the short axe immediately struck the chest of the spearman, who had not had time to retract his spear. A loud "clang" echoed as the spearman fell backward. Before Aobai could even smile, the spearman staggered to his feet.

"What? He didn't die?"

Looking at the obvious dent in the spearman's chest, Aobai's eyes almost bulged out. His short axe, though only three catties and six taels in weight, was extremely sharp. When thrown with force, it could unleash a formidable killing power. Many Ming soldiers had fallen to this short axe in the past, but today, Aobai discovered for the first time that his usually invincible short axe could not penetrate the armor of the spearman. This made Aobai doubt his own martial prowess for the first time.

In fact, the reason Aobai's short axe failed to penetrate the spearman's armor was not because his arm strength had decreased after being injured, but because the armor was too sturdy.

Unlike the armor made from wrought iron in ancient times, the armor issued to the soldiers under Yueyang was made from 3-millimeter-thick cold-forged steel plates, with a carbon content of about 0.44%, providing an effective defense of about 250 joules. The kinetic energy that a person's arm can typically generate is around 210 joules, and even the strongest can only produce about 240 joules. Compared to scale armor, the greatest advantage of plate armor is its ability to quickly distribute the impact of a blow across the entire body. Therefore, as long as Aobai's short axe did not penetrate the plate armor immediately, the impact would be distributed across the entire body, significantly reducing the damage. This is why the spearman could stand up after being hit by Aobai's short axe.

"Clang..."

A Jurchen cavalryman slashed his axe-spear at the back of a shield-and-sword soldier, producing a loud metallic clang. The shield-and-sword soldier staggered from the heavy blow but quickly regained his footing and swung his sword at the Jurchen soldier. The Jurchen soldier dodged, but his horse was not so lucky and was beheaded, falling to the ground without a sound. The shield-and-sword soldier was about to finish off the Jurchen soldier who was pinned to the ground but was knocked several meters away by a charging horse and lay motionless on the ground.

Watching the intense scene in front of him, Daisan's eyes showed surprise. If he had not seen it with his own eyes, he would not have believed that there could be armor with such excellent protective properties. The heavy arrows shot by the Jurchen warriors were deflected, which made him almost disbelieve his eyes. Daisan was well aware of the arrows used by the Jurchen soldiers. These arrows, three inches long and weighing three taels, could penetrate heavy armor when shot from a longbow within eighty steps. Moreover, the arrows were soaked in horse droppings, making any wound they inflicted extremely difficult to heal and prone to infection and inflammation, which was often fatal in an era without antibiotics.

However, the heavy arrows that the Jurchen relied on as a key weapon had failed. Many of the arrows were easily deflected when they hit the armor of the guards.

Daisan, a seasoned warrior, had a keen eye. He immediately saw that the combat skills of the militia were only average and far inferior to those of the Jurchen warriors. The reason they could fight the Jurchen warriors, who outnumbered them, to a standstill and even gain the upper hand was entirely due to the armor they wore. Many times, the Jurchen cavalry could not harm them with swords, spears, or lances, and only heavy weapons like axes and maces could bring them down, giving the militia a significant advantage.

While Daisan was deep in thought, Zaisang appeared beside him and said coldly, "Daisan, do you not intend to give me an explanation? Why did you instruct Aobai to attack the guests of the Khorchin tribe? Do you know how much impact this will have on our tribe?"

Daisan retracted his gaze and turned to look at Zaisang, pointing to the intense battle in front of them. "Zaisang (Zaisang is also a prince personally enfeoffed by Huangtaiji), you have seen the situation here. Do you think a merchant who can produce such formidable armor is a simple person? Since this person is not one of us, he should be eliminated as soon as possible!"

"Bullshit!"

Zaisang could no longer contain his anger and said, "Daisan, I respect you as the brother of the Khan, which is why I have given you some leeway. If you insist on attacking the guests of the Khorchin tribe, don't blame me for not being polite to you!"

As they were speaking, a noisy and clamorous sound of footsteps came from nearby. Daisan and Zaisang turned their heads simultaneously and saw that soldiers armed with long spears, swords, and shields were running toward the battlefield. Their armor gleamed in the autumn sun. At the same time, the sound of hooves could be heard from a distance, and a group of Jurchen cavalry was charging toward the scene, indicating that the scale of the battle was about to expand rapidly.

Zaisang knew that if he did nothing, the Khorchin tribe's sheep-grabbing competition the next day would not take place, and he would have to hold a funeral for these people.

He glared at Daisan and said, "Daisan, look at what you have done!"

With that, Zaisang waved his hand, and Wudamu, who was behind him, shouted and led thousands of Mongol cavalry toward the battlefield.

The noise made by thousands of cavalry was far greater than that of the more than a hundred Jurchen cavalry who had charged earlier. When thousands of warhorses trampled the ground, the earth itself trembled. The two sides still engaged in combat soon noticed the large group of cavalry charging toward them. Yueyang, who was watching the battle under the protection of Hu Lao San, also changed his expression. If these thousands of cavalry charged together, he would be trampled to death.

Fortunately, his worries were unfounded. When the Mongol cavalry reached their vicinity, they immediately slowed down. As they approached the two sides in combat, the leading dozens of cavalrymen swung their lassos and threw them. The Mongols, who had grown up with these tools, were extremely skilled with lassos. The lassos, as if guided by eyes, entangled the Jurchen soldiers and Yueyang's militia, pulling them to the ground. Even Aobai, who still had an arrow in his left arm and was wielding a tiger-head spear, had a rope thrown around his neck.

At this moment, the remaining soldiers under Yueyang finally arrived. These soldiers immediately formed a large square formation under Hu Lao San's command. Meanwhile, nearly a thousand Jurchen cavalry also arrived at the scene. Both sides saw the惨状 of their fallen comrades. Without waiting for orders, all the Jurchen cavalry began to draw their longbows, nock arrows, and the infantry under Yueyang also raised their long spears, forming a forest of spears. The crossbows in the rear were also loaded, and the sharp arrows pointed at a 45-degree angle to the sky, ready to be fired. A major battle was about to break out.

The Mongol cavalry commander reacted quickly, shouting in Mongolian. The Mongol cavalry quickly rushed to the center of the battlefield, separating the two sides that were already filled with tension.

"No fighting! No one is allowed to fight! Whoever starts first will be the enemy of the Khorchin tribe!" Zaisang's angry voice quickly echoed across the battlefield.

After a heated argument, Zaisang and Daisan finally arrived at the battlefield together. When they approached, they saw hundreds of bodies lying on the ground, including both Jurchen cavalry and Yueyang's militia. The bodies were densely packed, and many severely wounded soldiers were still groaning.

Seeing the carnage, Zaisang, suppressing his shock, shouted toward Yueyang, "Brother Yue, this is just a misunderstanding. As the host, I will ensure that the noble guests of the Khorchin tribe are not harmed on Khorchin land. You don't need to worry; I will guarantee your safety! Now, please come out and talk to Daisan!"

After a while, the sound of hooves could be heard, and Yueyang's figure appeared at the front of the formation...

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