Chapter 374 Kebinengs Mistake (1/2)

Chapter 374 – Kebineng's Mistake

July 10th.

Xu Huang altered his plan as he received more reinforcements from Zhao Yun and Tian Yu.

Tian Yu moved half of the granaries to East Linyu camp that Xu Huang had constructed while Zhao Yun secured Linyu in Tian Yu's place.

Xu Huang and his 59,000 soldiers marched west for another ten days, and he did the same with the former fortress. He built another camp, but he did not move forward.

As the threat of Kebineng was still present, Xu Huang did not rush in. He kept his defense tight and stable, but he pressured Xiangping City with their shortened distance.

Now, the distance from the current Xu Huang's position to Xiangping was less than ten days of marching.

Meanwhile, Kebineng camped one kilometer away from Xu Huang's new fort. All supplies from Gongsun Du gathered here for Kebineng's 20,000 soldiers.

The new Xianbei's chieftain grinned after Gongsun Du's messengers and helpers left. He looked at the bundles of rice and dried food in the granaries in glee.

”Shift these foods to the north. I want everything out of here as soon as possible.”

Kebineng predicted that Gongsun Du would lose this battle soon. As he did not want to risk his life for the losing side, he planned to bail from Han's territories and return to his homeland.

Letting these Han soldiers fight each other to the death was a better idea. Once they exhausted their resources and manpower, he would come back to claim these lands.

”Sir, we haven't planned where we will take these foods. Please designate the gathering place.”

Kebineng snorted, ”I knew that. Take a battalion and come with me. Let's secure the perimeters first.”

One thousand men left the camp with Kebineng, leaving 19,000 horse archers to fortify the base.

One hour after their departure, Xu Huang's scout team returned to their fort, reporting their finding to their grand commander.

”A barbarian camp nearby and a scout team to the north? That's interesting.”

Xu Huang turned to Jia Xu, ”I'm planning to ignore the scout team. What do you think, senior Jia?”

”I'm against taking no action this time, general. I think they have withdrawn all of their ambush parties and gathered in Xiangping. What we're seeing here should be their interception force, and they are securing the perimeters to search for an advantage foothold. Also …”

Jia Xu looked at the scout leader, ”What's their troop number again?”

”Roughly 20,000, sir.”

”Good. Then, I was right. Nothing to worry about.”

Xu Huang frowned, ”Elaborate, please.”

”Yes. Aside from these 20,000 soldiers, the rest of Gongsun Du or the barbarian forces should be in Xiangping. Because of your tactic, they should have thought that you were a coward, and they ignored your presence. Only after we have moved closer to Xiangping, they come out to intercept us. It's just a direct battle on the field with no ploy, so there is nothing to worry about.”

Xu Huang grinned, ”In other words, they are looking down on me?”

”Indeed.”

Xu Huang's smile widened. Instead of getting angered by the news, he liked it.

”Let's provoke them into a fight then. Get all cavalries prepared. We'll probe their strength. Also, contact Tian Yu and Zhao Yun. Move their forces and all of their supplies to our current base. Tell them to prepare for a fight as well.”

”Understood.”

Late afternoon, 10,000 heavy knights and 4,000 light cavalries stationed in front of Kebineng's camp.

Kebineng's camp was made with haste. Only spike barricades and short fences presented as their lines of defense. As for their watchtowers, there were only three facing Xu Huang's direction.

Xu Huang grew more confident as he inspected the defense of this base. They looked down on him as Jia Xu had thought.

The Xianbei had already noticed Xu Huang's horsemen. They assembled and formed arrays behind the barricades while more than half of the soldiers rushed back to mount their horse.

Xu Huang would not wait for them to be 100% readied. He sent his order, ”Knights, take out your crossbows, get into range and fire into the camp!”

With repeating crossbows in their hands, they galloped to their firing range and launched an endless volley beyond their fences.

The defense force also released their arrows, trading projectiles.

Arrow rain from Xu Huang reached the defenders first. Cries and death throes from the camp echoed throughout the battlefield.

Xu Huang's heavy knight also received the impact from the opponent's arrows. Clanking sound of metallic objects hitting each other resonated as the iron arrowheads hit the steel plate armors of the knights and their horses.

While the Xianbei used their silk and leather armors to deflect arrow's trajectory, the knights welcomed them with their impregnatable defense.

Tong used to call these knight armors as pay-to-win armors, which was not farfetched.

In Medieval time, not many western knights could afford to wear a full plate mail armor set. As it took times to wear and it costed money, only nobles could afford to go out to wars with these armors.