Chapter 265: Won, Lost

As the cavalry charged up to the encampment, the riders in the front ranks had already cast out grappling hooks. Once the hooks caught the palisade ahead, they wheeled toward both flanks, using the strength of their horses to begin “uprooting the camp.”

The cavalry following behind raised bows and nocked arrows, suppressing the savages inside the encampment.

Farther back, another portion of the cavalry leveled their long cavalry lances and began letting their horses recover their strength, while the rest had already dismounted and prepared to advance on foot.

There were trenches and all manner of obstacles inside the camp. Without enough room to build momentum, forcing a mass of cavalry straight into it would only end with men and horses jammed together into one great heap, turning themselves into living targets.

The vanguard’s task was to tear open a breach in the encampment and carve out enough room for the troops behind them to enter the battlefield.

One force, several different assignments, every movement orderly and methodical. Liang Cheng had drilled all of this into them while fighting savage settlements throughout the Tianduan Mountains.

It had even produced a joke once. One savage stronghold had clearly already surrendered and lost all will to fight, but Liang Cheng still executed two Lieutenant Commanders who had gone through the motions carelessly, then ordered the troops beneath him to follow procedure properly and “capture” the already surrendered savage stronghold all over again.

People always yearned for the effortless image of laughing and chatting while enemy ships vanished into smoke and ash. What they often failed to understand was that a truly powerful army was built from the accumulation of strict discipline in ordinary times.

In the distance, Tian Wujing, who was observing the fighting, spoke.

“What do you think?”

Wang Ge and the other Generals all showed looks of appreciation. They were old soldiers. Naturally, they understood just how difficult it was to execute an assault with such order and precision, especially when the fighting had shifted primarily to infantry combat.

Tian Wujing said, “Our Yan army fears no opponent in open battle, but assaults against fortified positions are an obvious weakness. If we march south in the future, the forts, stockades, and walled cities of Qian will be obstacles Great Yan’s iron cavalry cannot avoid.”

Wang Ge said, “Marquis, City Defender Zheng truly knows how to train soldiers.”

“When this campaign is over, go learn from him.”

“This general obeys.”

“This general obeys.”

Tian Wujing then issued another order.

“Wang Ge. Zhang Cheng. No need to wait any longer. Form up your troops and prepare to follow in.”

An expert only needed to make one move for others to see whether he possessed true skill. If an offensive like this still could not tear open a breach in the savage encampment, then the people inside would not be savages at all, but the Western Army of the State of Qian—the force most skilled in defensive warfare.

Wang Ge and Zhang Cheng accepted the order in unison, then rode back to their respective formations. Soon, close to ten thousand cavalry from their two forces began pressing forward.

At the northwestern edge of the encampment, Zheng Fan’s troops had already cut open the savage defenses without much difficulty and were rapidly advancing inward. The two sides had entered close combat.

Of the troops Zheng Fan had brought out this time, there was naturally no need to discuss the one thousand Jingnan Army soldiers. As for the remaining routed Jin troops, morale was no problem when facing savages, and the riders of the Three Jin lands had been of decent quality to begin with. After a round of fierce fighting, the breach torn into the camp kept widening.

Atop the arrow tower, A’Lai continued stroking the scar on his face.

The Savage King had already left.

A’Lai could clearly see that the situation was deteriorating by the moment. Sitting high gave him a wide view, and large numbers of Yan troops were already advancing from the west.

It was not because the warriors on his side were unwilling to fight to the death. In fact, because their “King” was still sitting here beside them, every one of them fought with extraordinary fearlessness.

The problem was that the Yan soldiers opposite them were not men who feared death either. When there was little difference in morale between the two sides, the gaps in every other aspect began to reveal themselves.

Yan armor, Yan weapons, and Yan battlefield order left savage warriors still accustomed to chaotic tribal fighting deeply uncomfortable. Often, a group of savages would rush forward, only for the Yan soldiers to first stabilize their footing rather than collide head-on. Once the two sides had remained locked together for a time, the Yan troops would suddenly choose several directions and advance together. Very quickly, the savages on that section of the line would be driven back.

Words the King had once spoken surfaced in A’Lai’s mind.

He had said that the Holy Race still had a very long road to walk before it could truly become civilized.

But first, there had to be a road.

A’Lai understood that the obstacle preventing the savages from continuing down that road was not the Yan army before them.

It was Snow Sea Pass of Jin.

“WHOOSH!”

A’Lai stood.

He lifted the royal banner planted behind him.

It was a flag made from the hide of a snow leopard from the snowfields. A’Lai raised it high and began waving it.

Fight!

Warriors of the Holy Race!

Your “King” stands with you!

At that moment, A’Lai felt as though he truly were the King. He had truly become the man he watched every single day.

The King had once said that in truth, every warrior of the Holy Race was his own king, and also the king of his people.

At the time, A’Lai had not really understood what those words meant. When drinking with other chieftains, he had even heard them speculate whether the King had begun worrying that the leaders beneath him commanded too many warriors of their own.

Only now did A’Lai finally understand the meaning.

When your people need you to stand forth, you are the king of your people.

Unfortunately, A’Lai could not write.

The written language of the savages had been broken off long ago. Aside from a handful of Guides who could still read ancient script, most savages were unfamiliar with their own writing. Men like the Savage King, who had once gone out and seen the wider world, instead tended to learn the Xia language and Xia script of old.

A’Lai desperately wanted to record what he was feeling at this moment. If there were an opportunity, he wanted to leave it for the rest of his people to read. He truly wanted to share the excitement and realization filling his heart.

“AAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!”

Fan Li roared.

The twin axes in his hands whirled, and with the “iron-can” armor covering his body, he was like a bulldozer. He successfully smashed through the savage battle line.

The troops behind him immediately surged forward, forcibly ripping the breach wider.

At that point, the savages’ attempt to plug the opening in this area had completely failed. The battlefield was no longer confined to one narrow section. It began expanding rapidly.

At the same time, the thunder of iron hooves came from behind.

Now that the vanguard had successfully opened enough room for cavalry to operate, the reinforcements commanded by Wang Ge and Zhang Cheng no longer needed to dismount. They charged straight in.

The momentum of their warhorses, combined with the sharpness of their blades, stripped the savage warriors—men who feared neither death nor sacrifice and longed to protect their King—of their final ability to resist.

Battle line after battle line was cut apart and smashed.

One ferocious Yan soldier after another broke into the camp.

The entire battle began collapsing like an avalanche.

The savages were already in complete disorder. Command was no longer possible. They could only be divided into isolated pockets and wait to be slaughtered.

Yet at that moment, the camp still contained a final reserve of fewer than eight hundred soldiers who had not entered the fighting.

A’Lai stopped waving the banner.

Sometimes, this kind of helplessness was the most despairing thing of all.

There had never been any law in this world saying that if you gave everything you had, victory would inevitably follow.

A’Lai turned around. Holding the royal banner in one hand and gripping one of the arrow tower’s support posts with the other, he slid down.

The moment he landed, many nearby savages immediately gathered around him.

None of them realized that their King had already been replaced.

“Mount up! Break out!”

A’Lai roared.

He understood that the King had asked him to take his place in order to buy time, not because the King wished to grant him some “dignified” death.

The surrounding savages immediately mounted their horses.

The front of the encampment had already collapsed, so A’Lai did not hesitate. He led the final group of fewer than a thousand savage warriors out through the rear of the camp.

Zheng Fan leaned on his saber.

The armor covering his body had already been painted over with blood.

Panting heavily, he asked Liang Cheng beside him, “We won, right?”

Liang Cheng’s expression was unusually grave.

He looked at Zheng Fan.

Then said, “Master, something seems wrong.”

...

“Marquis, that is the Savage King’s banner.”

General Li Dingdong spoke to the Marquis of Jingnan.

Tian Wujing’s gaze narrowed slightly.

He shook his head.

“There is something wrong with this battle.”

The signs had been there from the beginning.

“Marquis is worried this is a lure to draw us deeper?” Li Dingdong asked.

“No.

“That is not what this Marquis is thinking.

“If that Savage King truly dares play at luring the enemy deep, then this Marquis would be interested to see just how large a stomach he possesses if he believes he can swallow us.

“What worries this Marquis is that they are not trying to lure us deeper at all.

“What worries me is that they truly stationed only this small number of troops here.

“Make the false appear false, and suspicion breeds within suspicion.”

As he spoke, helplessness surfaced in Tian Wujing’s eyes.

A possibility had suddenly occurred to him.

And at this moment, that possibility was looking more and more real.

A royal tent.

A royal banner.

Standing there and yet they had held back the Yan army’s advance.

Now they had left fewer than ten thousand troops inside such a vast encampment, almost as though they had deliberately delivered those men straight into his mouth.

Ten thousand soldiers as the price for delaying his advance.

Whatever they were trying to obtain had to be far, far more important than those ten thousand men.

Tian Wujing’s gaze slowly shifted toward the southeast.

“Marquis, that royal banner...” Li Dingdong asked.

A commander at his level might know how to fight the battle directly in front of him, but matters concerning the grand direction of the war were not his specialty.

“Your force will pursue.”

Tian Wujing gave the order.

Li Dingdong immediately organized his troops and rode out.

Tian Wujing remained seated atop his Pixiu.

The battle ahead was effectively settled.

He had never felt much excitement over victories already grasped in his hand.

Instead, at that moment, a phrase Zheng Fan had once used suddenly surfaced in his mind:

Pig teammate.

The expression sounded strange, but its literal meaning was easy enough to understand.

Tian Wujing sighed.

He reached out and scratched the Pixiu’s mane.

A look of enjoyment appeared on the beast’s face. It greatly liked this kind of intimacy with its master.

Just like a woman who looked cold, noble, and untouchable to everyone outside—perhaps she only seemed that way because you lacked the qualifications to make her show softness and charm before you.

“Situ Lei.

“You had better not be that pig teammate.”

...

Summer, First Year of Yongping of Great Yan.

The State of Dacheng once again sent eighty thousand troops north through Snow Sea Pass.

They were ambushed at Nuo Lake.

The entire army was annihilated.

Snow Sea Pass fell.

The savages entered the pass.

[End of Chapter 265]