Chapter 527 (1/2)

Chapter 527: 527

A full-on offensive on the city soon started . The Wan cavalry charged out of the city gates in a very threatening manner, followed by a great number of infantry part of whom were carrying s.h.i.+elds . Anybody could tell from the menacing air they were emanating that the Wan Kingdom was determined to win this battle .

Jiang Xi and He Xiao didn’t dare take the enemies lightly . As bugles of both sides sounded attack in unison, the two of them leading the cavalry charged at the enemies .

The two opposing cavalries were both large, and the ground was making a perpetual rat-tat as horses’ hoofs stamped on it, the quake of it spreading outward as though in response to the beat of war drums . The whole battlefield instantly turned into an ocean of militant spirit .

Every one of the Wan cavalrymen had a fierce look in their eyes . They had sworn to crush the cavalry of the Great Wen, so they were charging in an uncommonly ferocious fas.h.i.+on .

When they were halfway to the front of the enemies, however, the cavalry of the Great Wen suddenly split up into two groups and galloped towards the two wings respectively, seemingly intending to outflank them .

The Wan cavalry found it hard to believe . Though the opposing cavalry were the equal of them, staying together to fight them head-on was the safest strategy, but they were actually splitting up on their own initiative! Wasn’t this suicide?!

The commander of the Wan cavalry was overjoyed to see this scene, feeling that it was a G.o.dsend . Since Yuwen Tong’s men were seeking their own deaths, they would be fools not to seize the opportunity and rout the enemies .

“Advance! Kill them all!”

“Advance!”

“Kill them!”

Their morale boosted, the Wan cavalry charged forward even faster, targeting the opposing cavalry .

They were galloping so fast that it was too late for them to stop when they found that something was wrong .

Some of the cavalrymen of the Great Wen suddenly strained at a long rope they were holding, which blocked the path of the Wan cavalry like a hurdle . The vanguard of the Wan cavalry tripped over it and dashed to the ground one after another like dumplings being poured into a wok . Those behind them, what with the inertia, were unable to rein in their horses in time and crashed smack into the horses ahead . Because of their fast speed, the force of the impacts was so great that their horses neighed madly in pain . The cavalrymen either flew forward or fell heavily to the ground; some of them got their feet caught in their stirrups, and when their horses turned sharply, their legs instantly broke; some others, after landing on the ground, were trampled by horses galloping from behind .

But this was not the worst part . As the cavalry of the Great Wen scattered, a team of archers emerged and with that sharp arrows accompanied by chill airflow were fired at the Wan cavalry unhesitatingly . The warhorses in front, along with their riders, took the brunt of the first salvo .

The battlefield was soon full of intermittent cries of anguish and curses . The same thing was happening in several spots . The cavalry of the Great Wen extended their formation . Almost half of the vanguard of the Wan cavalry lost their lives because of the rope the sudden appearance of which caught them flat-footed, and those who survived soon got killed when the arrows rained on them . Though a few of them flukily survived both, the cavalrymen of the Great Wen charged up to them and took their lives as their warhorses turned around .

Thus, the vanguard of the Wan cavalry were wiped out only a few moments after engaging their adversaries .

Such a disastrous outcome shocked all the other Wan soldiers .

The cavalry of the Great Wen, while the enemies were in shock, regrouped and charged at the main force of the Wan cavalry once again .

“This can’t be happening! How could they have tripped so many people?!”

Many Wan soldiers couldn’t believe their eyes .

How was it possible to trip the vanguard charging with that momentum with a mere rope?

In fact, were the cavalrymen and the ropes common ones, they would have not only failed to stop the charging enemies but also been dragged off their horses and ended up grievously wounded or even dead .

However, those holding the ropes were not common soldiers but special cavalrymen with very powerful internal energy and extraordinary physical strength, all of whom were, when not on the battlefield, heroes capable of fighting off kung fu masters vastly outnumbering them . On this occasion, masquerading as common cavalrymen, blending in with the crowd, they were barely recognizable .

It hadn’t been easy for Yuwen Tong to seek out and recruit these men .

The Wan soldiers were blindsided by this unexpected change, but the troops of the Great Wen, however, had been expecting it . Therefore, Jiang Xi and He Xiao, without further ado, charged at the main force of the Wan cavalry who had not come to themselves yet, their men closely following in their wake .

“THEY’RE COMING! WATCH OUT FOR THEIR ROPES!” bawled the commander .

Though why those ropes were so stout was a mystery to them, it was a fact that their fellow cavalrymen’s warhorses had tripped over them . The commander was instantly on the alert at the sight of the opposing cavalry led by Jiang Xi and He Xiao charging at them .

Because of this, the Wan cavalrymen did not dare charge fast and, most of their attention concentrated on guarding against the enemies’ ropes, tried to dodge when the enemies split up into two groups once again .

But as they turned their horses, a team of archers on horseback emerged from behind the cavalry of the Great Wen, drew their bows and fired arrows at them without hesitation .

The sounds of arrows penetrating armor and flesh were heard at fleeting intervals, cavalrymen and warhorses sinking to the ground in patches amid a rain of arrows .

The commander c.o.c.ked an eye at the enemies and found that this time they were not using any ropes and were just pretending to be! What with this, many of his men had been unprepared for the arrows and shot to death!

“f.u.c.k! These b.a.s.t.a.r.ds are so crafty . n.o.body falls back another pace! Charge and kill them all!” The commander was beside himself with fury .

Another batch of cavalrymen were downed in the time it took for them to turn around and make a beeline for the enemy archers on horseback after finding themselves fooled .