441 The Steel Cavalry! The Steel Cavalry! (1/2)
The hundred and fifty thousand men of the Steel Cavalry that Tie Zheng had kept with him was the crème of Yutang's most elite platoon; they were also his trump card in this battle.
What was more, Wang Dingguo was his ace general!
There should be a ninety percent chance to win the battle. Besides, the timing was a godsend, irrecoverable if missed.
The invasion would definitely be accompanied by casualties, but it would not be too troublesome; instead, the loss would be extremely valuable for the current state of war.
”One doesn't command the army by being kind; one doesn't commit to great things by being sentimental; one does not manage wealth by prioritizing kinship; one doesn't become an official by being benevolent!”
”Baoguo, one doesn't command the army by being kind! Why is that?”
Fu Baoguo closed his eyes, Old Grand Commandant Fang Qingtian's wise advice playing in his mind.
”Baoguo, what is war? To both countries, war is a contention of manpower, military strength, resources, wealth, and determination. The last man standing reigns supreme, the last man standing wins.”
”However, to the marshal of the army, war is contending with casualties, the depletion of lives –to see who can keep it going longer! Whoever has more people living in the end, wins.”
”You must remember, there is only victory and defeat on the battlefield. There is no sympathy, no lives!”
Fu Baoguo sighed, looking at the sky.
”Teacher…”
Hearing the uniform galloping of the horses, Wang Dinggguo's sonorous roar, followed by the thunderous noise of attack, Fu Baoguo opened his eyes to look at the warriors whose faces spelled resolution and fearlessness.
No one had the confidence of coming back alive after charging out of the base this time. There would definitely be lives lost. He wondered how many familiar faces in this formation that he would lose.
”Teacher… what you said is true but… these are my comrades, my brothers!”
…
Wang Dingguo galloped, the cold wind tinged with the copper scent of blood from the battlefield brushed his face, but he did not feel cold nor solemn. The only thing he felt now was the blood boiling through his entire being!
He was filled with an impulsive to explode into action – right there and then.
In front of him was the enemy, by his side were his comrades; under his legs was his warhorse, in his hand was his sharp blade.
Underneath his feet was the battlefield!
His eyes turned bloodshot abruptly as if stained with crimson.
Fu Baoguo's appointed Steel Cavalry was behind him, all thirty thousand of them, galloping quietly as well. Everyone knew that this battle was their initiative to catch the enemy off guard but casualties were imminent, they might not live long themselves. However, they did not regard the fact that they might not return too much; all of them felt their blood gushing heatedly, just like Wang Dingguo.
The bubbling spirit of war within Wang Dingguo seemed to be infectious as it stimulated the entire Steel Cavalry behind him.
All their eyes were burning with the passion of a fighter that only a truly devastating battle could thoroughly unleash!
Nobody said a thing, but they could not help urging their warhorses forward, the galloping picking up speed.
Thirty thousand Steel Cavalry thundered past, looking like a raging dragon that charged out of Yutang's base from one side before turning into a sharp arrow, shooting its way to the east.
Wang Dingguo was at the lead, like the tip of the sharpest arrow cutting through wind and any other form of resistance. He sprawled low on the horse's back, his upper body hovering and tipping forward while his thighs rested on the flanks; his center of gravity was tilted to the front.
Anyone who had ridden a horse knew that doing so could save a lot of the horse's energy and form a fearless impulse that kept the horse from bolting.
It wasn't only Wang Dingguo, but all thirty thousand men from the Steel Cavalry behind him were employing the same position. Their bodies were tilted forward; their hands were not even grasping the reins, their left hands pressing lightly on the horse's head while their right hands gripped their weapons, allowing the metal to stick close to their horses as if they were one.
Their eyes were sparkling, burning passion a crackling firework in their orbs.
They were all waiting silently, waiting for the moment when they actually came into contact with their enemy. Once the moment arrived, the most brilliant firework of blood would definitely erupt!
The men on the horses were ablaze with battle-fury, the intent to fight soaring; the horses under the men seemed to have felt their partners' thirsting battle spirit as they galloped whole-heartedly as well. Where they could only normally move thirty feet in a single pace, the current gallop had pushed them to forty or even fifty feet at once.
The men's blood was boiling as were their warhorses'! For a moment, the simultaneous blaze was unstoppable!
The sudden strike was just like Fu Baoguo had predicted, their enemy had not been able to react in time. After all, Fu Baoguo had been acting like a coward these days, playing at maintaining a defense and not countering at all. He had lulled the enemy into thinking that they were planning to stay put perpetually.
No one would have thought that Fu Baoguo would actually opt for the moment when the enemy's two troops would meet in a rising momentum to invade and attack!
The Steel Cavalry had already traveled more than half of their designated distance before the enemy base finally let out the warning horn.
Wang Dingguo guffawed maniacally.
The chilling wind of winter was still blasting strongly, swooshing past him as his war robe fluttered noisily in the gale.
Wang Dingguo's voice came abruptly like lit crackers in the dead of winter.
”Brothers!”
Wang Dingguo's tone was filled with fervor as much as it was gruff, like a thunderbolt that struck in midair.
”Here we are!” The thirty thousand men from the Steel Cavalry hollered in unison.
”We are Yutang's Steel Cavalry!” Wang Dingguo roared.
”We are indomitable!” Thirty thousand throats from the Steel Cavalry cheered uniformly.