Chapter 695: Encounter on a Narrow Path

A battlefield is a crucible that crushes and grinds to dust everything tainted by arrogance.

In the Northern Liang border army, only a very few high-ranking generals used non-standard weapons, such as Ning Emei's twin long and short halberds, Li Mofan, who was like a mobile armory defying common sense, and a handful of others who owned their own lances. Aside from these, almost all border soldiers carried nothing that seemed cumbersome or overly elaborate. As for cavalry battles, they were absolutely not like what many common people imagined—charging, colliding, then slowing down their horses to entangle and hack at each other. Such an unsightly spectacle would appall any seasoned cavalry general, as it would be a wanton waste to treat precious cavalry like mere infantry. In reality, it was like two weapons clashing in a martial arts sparring match: they touched and immediately disengaged, then sought the next opportunity.

If the Dragon Elephant Army, currently with three thousand cavalrymen chasing seven thousand Qiang riders, had failed to achieve results in the previous charge against the Ke'e tribal Qiang cavalry, then after creating some distance, Wang Lingbao would turn to observe the enemy cavalry's movements. He would then decide whether to stop their horses and turn directly or to circle in a wide arc to launch a second collective charge. Should the second clash still show no clear signs of victory or defeat, Wang Lingbao would assess his own cavalry's casualties to determine which units under his command should abandon their heavy iron lances for lighter Northern Liang sabers, and which should continue using iron lances for charging or engage in volleys with light crossbows. On a stalemated battlefield, a small advantage could be amplified, but a single weakness could doom the entire army. From "Grand General" Xu Xiao to "General" Chen Zhibao, the two individuals who had left the deepest mark on the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry both firmly believed one thing: the true strength of the Xu family's iron cavalry lay in their patience and ability to wait for the enemy to make the first mistake.

Meeting such an impeccable enemy, the Qiang cavalry were undoubtedly suffering the worst luck imaginable.

This Qiang cavalry had initially thought they were wolves entering a flock of sheep, expecting not only a "feast" in Liuzhou but also hoping to burn, kill, and plunder extensively in the rich Central Plains in the future. Year after year, all the cavalrymen had heard tales of the Central Plains' splendor: countless fertile fields, mountains of gleaming silver, and women of all shapes and sizes, whose skin, most importantly, was far superior to that of women weathered by the sun and wind on the grasslands—feeling as smooth as the finest silk. Yet, the dream shattered before nightfall.

Three thousand Dragon Elephant cavalrymen hunted them like stray dogs. If not for the Qiang cavalry's unique swiftness, they would not have lasted even half an hour under the Dragon Elephant cavalry's highly efficient pursuit in such a rout.

The Northern Liang crossbows, held back during the earlier charge, finally began to unleash their astonishing destructive power. To achieve maximum speed, the Qiang cavalry had even abandoned unfamiliar lances and spears. Their armor was merely the standard for ordinary Northern Mang light cavalry, vastly inferior to the light yet sturdy and expensive battle armor worn by the elite light cavalry under the great generals of the Southern Dynasty. It's worth noting that the Northern Liang crossbow was a marvel, successfully combining the advantages of two famous historical crossbows—the Qin and Feng crossbows. It was extremely easy to assemble and disassemble, and after improvements by two generations of master craftsmen in Northern Liang, all types of Northern Liang crossbows achieved an almost perfect balance. Besides firing, the range, penetration, and accuracy of the great crossbow far surpassed those of longbows. In countless wars between the Central Plains dynasties and the northern nomads, using foot soldiers against cavalry, treadle crossbows and siege crossbows could unleash immense power.

Therefore, some say that for thousands of years, the Central Plains dynasties firmly held back the hooves of the northern nomads with two things.

One was towering city walls, and the other was powerful crossbows.

Among these, when it came to the masterful use of crossbows, if Northern Liang claimed to be second, no one would dare claim to be first.

Northern Mang and the Southern Dynasty were intimately familiar with the Northern Liang short crossbows, deeply detesting them. Huang Songpu, the Southern Court's Grand King, once tried to widely popularize similar short crossbows, but due to various complex reasons, his efforts were hindered by multiple parties, yielding minimal results.

The Dragon Elephant cavalry with the fastest horses and most superior horsemanship were responsible for intercepting and slowing down the fleeing Qiang cavalry. They continuously fired crossbow bolts, and as long as they inflicted damage, they paid no heed to whether the Qiang riders lived or died. Even if a Qiang rider fell from their horse, the easily obtainable military credit was completely disregarded. Everything was left to their comrades behind, who were not carrying crossbows, to finish off with a lance.

Such clear division of labor naturally led to extremely ruthless and bloody efficiency.

For these disgraced Qiang cavalrymen, the silver lining in their misfortune was that the young man who had initially been tossing the Black Tiger around, after an initial spree of slaughter, had remounted and ceased killing.

The Qiang cavalry had initially considered scattering in all directions to avoid being relentlessly pursued by the Dragon Elephant Iron Cavalry. However, as soon as this inclination appeared, the Dragon Elephant Army, under the command of their brawny general-like leader, immediately devised a countermeasure. Apart from the Dragon Crossbow Cavalry who continued to engage the Qiang cavalry, two thousand Dragon Elephant Lancers swiftly extended their battle line and then suddenly accelerated their charge, all raising their arm crossbows. They almost coordinated with the crossbow cavalry ahead to form a pincer movement, entrapping all the Qiang cavalry. When the Qiang cavalry abandoned this idea and continued to retreat frantically northward in a cluster, the Dragon Elephant cavalrymen gradually slowed their pace, resting on horseback. This fighting capability, more concealed than bow and crossbow fire, sent shivers down the Qiang cavalry's spines.

The northern nomadic peoples were born on horseback. Living in constant peril, they were compelled to be brave and skilled warriors. However, the vast, boundless land also fostered a deep-seated wildness and indiscipline in the prairie riders. They could fight fearlessly, launching furious charges with the speed of lightning. Yet, their chaotic battle lines were utterly insignificant in the eyes of Central Plains strategists. Their boisterous shouting, brandishing of sabers, and even their fierce habit of lifting their buttocks from the saddle—these were all rough edges that had to be smoothed out within the rigorously disciplined Northern Liang border army. The Northern Liang cavalry prioritized cohesion above all else and never glorified individual heroes who charged recklessly alone.

Huang Songpu, Liu Gui, and Yang Yuanzan distinguished themselves in Northern Mang largely because they preserved Northern Mang's inherent advantages and absorbed the essence of Central Plains military strategy, while simultaneously suppressing the deep-seated flaws of Northern Mang culture.

Today, the three thousand Dragon Elephant cavalry were the teachers, and the Qiang cavalry were the students. The teachers taught the students this lesson.

Unfortunately, the tuition was exorbitantly high, paid with lives.

Wang Lingbao mentally calculated the Qiang cavalry's retreat speed, the terrain and troop distribution along the Southern Dynasty's border, and the support speed of the other two Dragon Elephant cavalry units. He pondered whether to simply push into Gusei Prefecture, then launch a long-distance raid to get behind that old fox Liu Gui and give the Southern Dynasty's Grand General a good jab in the backside with an iron lance. Among the Northern Liang border army, there was no particular feeling towards the old Southern Court Grand King Huang Songpu or Yang Yuanzan. Only Liu Gui was someone everyone wanted to decapitate. The reason was simple: the northern barbarians constantly chanted, "Liu Gui can be worth half a Xu Xiao." Wang Lingbao could not tolerate this, and neither could the entire Northern Liang border army!

As a seasoned frontier general with countless battles under his belt, Wang Lingbao naturally had his own thoughts, neither of which were selfish. One was to kill Liu Gui, and the other was to engage his own Dragon Elephant Iron Cavalry in a satisfying battle against those two heavy cavalry units from the Royal Camp.

In the stirring history of warfare, there had never been a truly meaningful confrontation between light cavalry and heavily armored iron cavalry. Even between Northern Liang and Northern Mang, both prolific in warhorses and excellent in horse administration, their twenty-year standoff saw them more often utilizing light cavalry's mobility for raids and pursuits.

On the Northern Liang-Northern Mang border, a grand battlefield destined to run red with blood in the future, where both sides possessed the finest warhorses, the sharpest sabers, the bravest cavalrymen, and the most vast and flat terrain, perhaps one day the first true peak clash between heavy cavalry and heavy cavalry in the history of warfare would erupt.

Among the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry, apart from the Old Liang King's personal army, the Great Snow Dragon Cavalry, the next in line were the nearly six thousand heavy cavalrymen from the former Dragon Elephant Army.

The Great Snow Dragon Cavalry was the Northern Liang Army's most crucial asset and was not easily deployed. Therefore, Wang Lingbao firmly believed he had an excellent chance to show the world what a heavy cavalry battle truly was, ensuring it would be remembered for centuries and millennia to come. No one would ever forget an army called the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry.

Wang Lingbao had never held grand ideals of serving the nation or its people. As for Northern Liang steadfastly defending the Northwest only to be constantly schemed against by the Liyang imperial court and viewed as heartless barbarians by the Central Plains populace, did he harbor no resentment? He did, and it was immense!

However, history could forget insignificant figures like Wang Lingbao once they died, but it must never forget the lifelong efforts of the Grand General: the Northern Liang Army!

Wang Lingbao suddenly saw the commander wave him over. He quickly rode forward, and Xu Longxiang calmly said, "Lead your troops in pursuit for thirty li. Kill as many as you can, then return to Qingcang City."

Although Wang Lingbao was full of doubts, he offered no challenge.

Then the Dragon Elephant Army's deputy general saw the young man flash a rare, fierce grin, leap onto the Black Tiger, and gallop north, directly bypassing the main body of the Qiang cavalry, heading north alone.

Could there be a lone "big fish" up ahead?

Of course, Wang Lingbao welcomed more military merits. It would be even better if he could demonstrate his might in Gusei Prefecture. However, he was not a reckless fool who didn't understand priorities; the combined military merits of all eight thousand Qiang cavalrymen were still less than that of Xu Longxiang alone. A person who could move the young commander's heart was certainly not some easily handled minor figure. Wang Lingbao immediately made his decision. Calling over several captains, he sternly ordered, "Within thirty li, eliminate all Qiang cavalry. For every few riders you miss, that many riders' worth of military merit will be deducted. If your merits aren't enough to offset your mistakes, you know the consequences according to the old rules of the Dragon Elephant Army, better than I do. For this thirty-li stretch, you are permitted to kill as you please, without restraint."

The sun set in the west.

A hundred li further north than the young man riding the tiger northward, two figures traveled south without horses, seemingly flying through the air. The middle-aged swordsman in green robes wore the Northern Mang dynasty's foremost famous sword, "Dingfengbo." His demeanor was like that of a sword immortal. The height of the person beside him was astonishing, twice as tall as a woman from Jiangnan, and his entire body was golden-yellow, with a solemn face, like a heavenly general descended to the mortal realm.

A hundred li behind them, a rider galloped swiftly. The rider wore a black bamboo hat and was shrouded in a wide black robe, appearing somewhat afraid of sunlight.

The fingers holding the horse's reins trembled slightly. Not just his fingers and arms, but his entire body trembled, including his lips and teeth.

This was the price that had to be paid for resurrection by possession.

Precisely because he had paid such a horrific, sunless price to cling to life, he yearned more than anyone for the Xu brothers to die, and to die even more miserably than he had!

He had indeed died before, and he had been torn apart alive by someone.

But a willow branch stuck in the ground can grow into shade.

He was Yi Jie Liu.

He had already been resurrected from the dead using a long-lost secret technique of the Great Qin Dynasty.