Chapter 38 - Fengxiao vs Fengxian (1/2)
Translator: Bloodfalcon, Tchu
Editor: Scar
“The Ferocious Cavalry is finished!” Guo Jia observed the two cavalries’ fierce confrontation. It felt like two strong waves clas.h.i.+ng with each other before the gate of Kaiyang. He knew that the Ferocious Cavalry would meet its demise. Their commander, General Cao Chun was dead. If he was beheaded in combat, then the Ferocious Cavalry’s fighting spirit and morale would still be high, since they were the cream of the crop. Their morale would still be at their highest because of the momentum even after their leader was gone.
However, that would be under normal circ.u.mstances. Guo Jia showed wry smiled. Cao Chun’s death was tragic and he died in a horrible state. He was pierced by a spear and stuck to the ground like a statue. The spear had his horse alongside him pinned firmly to the ground.
His face still showed the horror and fear he felt before death. His body indicated that he desperately tried to rush his horse to flee in order to escape the imminent death.
Is this a warning to other people to show them what would happen to those who oppose Lu Bu?!
“Lu Bu, Lu Bu!” Guo Jia muttered to himself. Can that man really stand alone against the world?
“Military Counselor, your orders?!” The other generals, including Xu Chu and Xiahou Dun were asking for Guo Jia’s next strategic move. Since Cao Cao had fainted, it rested onto Guo Jia as Vice-Commander to issue the orders.
“Right now?!” Guo Jia was at loss. He did not know what order would be wiser. He was currently in dilemma where he could not decide whether he should try to overwhelm Lu Bu’s army with his army of a hundred thousand men or whether he should sound the drums and order the retreat?
Guo Jia pulled himself together and came up with an idea. “Ready the Archers!” Guo Jia shouted with flickering gaze and waved his feather fan.
“Archer unit ready!” replied a general.
”Prepare your bow, target the cavalry in front of us with volley!” Guo Jia issued the order without any hesitation.
”Military Counselor, this?!” The cavalry in front of them were not only the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry but also their ally the Ferocious Cavalry. Even though the commander died, there were still one thousand of Ferocious Cavalry currently engaged in battle.
If the archers let loose those arrows, they won’t be able to distinguish between friends and foes. Everyone inside the Ferocious Cavalry, who were their brothers-in-arms and the elite units of the Cao army will be hit.
“Volley!” Guo Jia gave the order with a cold tone while looking at the generals.
“But!” There were still people who wanted to argue with his decision, but kept their mouths shut when they saw Guo Jia’s face became cold as ice. Even though Guo Jia was only a weak scholar compared to those generals who are used to fight b.l.o.o.d.y battles, he was a brilliant tactician who killed thousands of soldiers using his tactics. He therefore had even more blood on his hands than the generals.
”Archers ready your bow and target the cavalry in front of us. Volley!” The Archer battalion’s general shouted.
“Yes sir!” The whole archer battalion followed their commander’s order and pulled their bows. “Volley!”
“Woos.h.!.+” Arrows filled the sky like heavy rainfall and flew towards the cavalry. Normally, archers can only hit the outer layer of an army. But using volley fire, it changed the arrows’ angle. First, it shot towards the sky, afterwards it would fall vertically under the gravity and the force made it more lethal.
“Aaaaaaahhhhhhh!” Loud screams could be heard accompanied with the sound of soldiers falling from their horses.
“Raise s.h.i.+eld!” Zhang Liao gave the order.
The Bing Province Wolf Cavalry raised their large s.h.i.+elds beside their saddles again which could completely protect them from the volley. However some of them still got hit by the arrows, because the soldiers of the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry also tried to protect their horses with the s.h.i.+eld. If you combine the horse and the soldier, even the large s.h.i.+eld could not cover every s.p.a.ce.
From time to time, soldiers from the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry got hitby an arrow, but it was never critical. They were all trained men who suppressed their pain. Their eyes were s.h.i.+ning and blood was flowing out of their mouths, raising their bloodl.u.s.t to another level.
“Kill them!” One Bing Province Wolf Cavalry soldier eradicated an immense bloodl.u.s.t in his eys. His horse was shot by several arrows. Even though the horse did not die on the spot, after this battle it could probably not be saved. It could only be killed and used as horse meat. For cavalrymen, their horses were almost as important as their own lives and like their brothers. Not to mention, they hear that Lord Liu Mang who saved their general almost died trying to bring back those horses. That was why the Bing Province Wolf Cavalry treasured them even more.