Chapter 33

At this moment, the cavalry of both sides had already become entangled, leaving Lu Yao no time to rest. Two more Xiongnu cavalrymen, one wielding a mace and the other a long-handled battle-axe, charged at him.

Lu Yao extended his long spear to the right, and the steel tip of the spear clashed with the mace, producing a loud "clang." The Xiongnu warrior grunted and his mace flew into the air. Lu Yao took advantage of the impact to swing his spear horizontally, the momentum increasing. The Xiongnu warrior with the battle-axe could not withstand the attack and was knocked off his horse. The Xiongnu warrior who had lost his mace had already passed by, and Lu Yao leaned back and thrust his spear backward, also knocking him off his horse.

Lu Yao was accompanied by 150 elite cavalrymen personally selected by Liu Kun. Among them were 100 cavalrymen directly under Liu Kun's command; 10 subordinates led by Lu Yao, Xue Tong, and Shen Jing; the fierce scout cavalry led by Ding Miao; and even Liu Kun's personal generals, Lin Jian and Wang Xiu, and ten others.

These men were all skilled in martial arts, brave, and well-equipped. The entire cavalry was fully armored, with each man wearing double-layered sleeve armor, and even the horses were clad in iron armor, complete with face masks, neck guards, and chest plates.

In his "Military Strategy Order," the former Emperor Cao Cao mentioned, "Yuan Shao had 300 sets of horse armor, but I could not have even ten." Even the powerful warlord Yuan Shao, who controlled the four provinces of Ji, Qing, You, and Bing, only had 300 sets of horse armor. This shows how highly valued horse armor was in recent times.

Liu Kun, with a small contingent, had brought along fine weapons from the Luoyang armory. These weapons, in the hands of elite warriors, quickly turned into a nightmare for the Xiongnu cavalry. The 150 heavily armored cavalrymen were like a massive axe, ruthlessly splitting the Xiongnu formation in two!

With almost inexhaustible stamina and powerful bursts of energy, Lu Yao charged forward, mowing down the enemy like grass. Unbeknownst to him, he had already reached the front, becoming the vanguard of the entire armored cavalry. His bravery even caught the attention of Ding Miao.

Lu Yao, however, was focused solely on the battle. Strictly speaking, this was the first real battlefield bloodbath for the soul of his past life, as the previous few encounters were merely street brawls. But like in those battles, Lu Yao felt no tension, as if the blood of a warrior naturally flowed through the veins of a small office clerk.

He led the charge, either thrusting with his spear or slashing with his ring-pommel saber, even using his warhorse to knock Xiongnu soldiers off their mounts, sweeping through the enemy like a whirlwind.

After charging for several dozen steps, Lu Yao suddenly felt the pressure ease. He had already broken through the enemy lines. He reined in his horse and looked back, seeing the Xiongnu light cavalry in disarray, with blood and flesh flying, men and horses falling. Mangled bodies lay scattered, and riderless horses ran in panic. Less than a hundred Xiongnu riders remained on their horses, most of them having lost their fighting spirit and fleeing in all directions.

The 150 cavalrymen had suffered almost no losses in the engagement, and most were still capable of continuing the fight. They slowly reined in their horses, circled around the hill, and regrouped on the far right of the Jin army formation, once again forming an orderly line.

When the Jin armored cavalry appeared, Liu Jing knew that his 300 light cavalry were in grave danger. The Jin forces had used the unfavorable terrain to restrict their movement, and then used the heavy cavalry's close combat skills to counter their archery. Considering the deliberate concealment of the heavy cavalry and the well-timed charge, this was undoubtedly a carefully planned trap. The battle quickly confirmed his suspicions, and in a short time, the Xiongnu cavalry, which they had prided themselves on, was routed.

As time passed, Liu Jing's rugged face grew increasingly grim, and the Xiongnu ranks fell into a brief silence, with many soldiers muttering in shock: This enemy army seems different from any Jin army they had faced before.

Yes, it is different, Liu Jing thought angrily. They have armored cavalry!

Such full sets of steel armor for both man and horse were not commonly seen, and a single set was worth more than dozens of fine swords and spears. The Bingzhou army certainly did not have such luxurious cavalry equipment. The enemy was not the Bingzhou army... they were likely the elite imperial guards of the Jin!

As a Xiongnu noble, Liu Jing had access to far more information than ordinary soldiers. He knew that for months, the Great Chanyu's campaign in Hedong had not been as smooth as rumored. The remnants of the Luoyang imperial guards, despite their internal strife, still possessed formidable combat power and had inflicted significant losses on the Xiongnu. If the Jin now sent a detachment of imperial guards over the mountains to threaten Jinyang... what did that mean? Liu Jing knew all too well: his troops, though numerous, were mostly a mix of various tribes responding to the Great Chanyu's call. Though fierce and brave, they were difficult to command. Could such a hodgepodge army truly stand against the elite imperial guards? In a flash, Liu Jing made his decision.

"Despicable! Despicable!" Liu Jing suddenly roared in anger. He tore open his leather robe, exposing his muscular chest, and drew his curved saber, slashing a deep wound across it. Hot blood flowed, staining the bright blade red.

Liu Jing shouted, "Descendants of the Gray Wolf! For centuries, the Han have used treachery to harm the heroes of the steppe, and we have used our bravery and blood to crush them! Today, those sheep-like Jin, those Jin who fled in terror before the Great Chanyu Liu Yuan, have once again used treachery to harm the brave Xiongnu. What should we do?" His personal guards responded first, roaring, "Kill them all! Kill them all!" Then, the incited soldiers joined in, shouting, "Kill them all! Kill them all! Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Liu Jing pointed his saber forward, "Kill!" His cry was followed by a roar from the surrounding soldiers, like a thousand beasts bellowing. They charged forward like a whirlwind, rushing toward the Jin army formation. Most of these soldiers were clad in rough leather robes and wielded a variety of weapons. They were Xianbei and Jie warriors who had come in response to the Great Chanyu's call. Compared to the more Sinicized Xiongnu, they were more backward and thus more bloodthirsty and savage.

The Jin army's strong crossbows greeted these tribal soldiers. For centuries, crossbows had been the primary weapon used by the Han to counter the northern nomadic tribes. The famous minister of the Former Han, Chao Cuo, had listed five advantages the Han had over the Xiongnu, one of which was, "When the skilled archers of the Han release their arrows, the Xiongnu's leather armor and wooden shields cannot withstand them." As the Xiongnu army charged with terrifying momentum, 300 crossbowmen hidden behind the main force suddenly advanced and unleashed a long-prepared volley!

The sound of the bowstrings vibrating was clearly audible even from a hundred paces away, followed by the whistling of the arrows slicing through the air. The arrows, a foot and two inches long with sharp iron tips, rained down like a storm, often piercing through two men with a single shot. Blood blossomed everywhere, and the hundred or so soldiers at the forefront suffered catastrophic losses.

Liu Jing roared repeatedly, "Charge! Don't panic!" At this distance of two hundred paces, a full charge would take only a moment, and even if the crossbowmen used a continuous firing technique, they could only fire three volleys at most! Encouraged by his shouts, the tribal warriors continued their charge.

As they approached within thirty paces of the Jin army, the crossbowmen suddenly retreated. The thunderous sound of war drums echoed from the Jin ranks, and with the waving of the plain "Liu" banner, hundreds of spear-wielding soldiers in three lines advanced. Their uniform and powerful steps revealed that these were seasoned, resolute veterans.

The two armies collided fiercely. The first wave of tribal warriors was almost immediately impaled by the overlapping spears, and the second wave rushed forward without hesitation. Some used their axes and swords to hack at the spear shafts, others grabbed the spears and pulled, and still others leaped into the air to slash at the Jin soldiers. The tribal warriors roared as they continued to charge, with the second wave still fighting fiercely as the third wave pressed forward, like waves crashing against a reef, one after another, without end.

The Jin army's formation, however, stood firm like a reef, enduring the relentless waves, shattering them time and again. The desperate fighting spread across a front several hundred paces wide, with intense and brutal combat. The deputy general, Linghu Sheng, stood behind the Jin spear-wielding soldiers, holding a large saber planted in the ground, surrounded by dozens of fierce personal guards. His eyes, like those of a hawk, scanned the battlefield, and whenever he saw a part of the line wavering, he pointed his saber, and a squad of guards rushed forward to stabilize the situation.

The number of tribal soldiers on the front line was about two to three times that of the Jin army. For every tribal soldier killed, two or three more would fill the gap, while the Jin army's losses could not be immediately replenished. Linghu Sheng's efforts to maintain the integrity of the line became increasingly difficult, and the number of mobile guards at his disposal gradually decreased. These soldiers were all brave and experienced warriors who had fought alongside Liu Kun for many years, and each loss was irreplaceable!

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