In the afternoon, the withered grass on the grassland resembled golden waves under the setting sun. If you look closely, you will find that young shoots are emerging through the withered grass, bringing a few signs of vitality and hope to this grassland.
More than one thousand five hundred cavalrymen were galloping on the grassland, like a black dragon.
Suddenly, Nie Xinghan's expression changed. He saw he turned over and dismounted, bowing and listening closely to the ground.
Ling Chuan immediately raised his hand to signal the troop to stop advancing.
"Northeast direction, three thousand cavalry!" Nie Xinghan said in a deep voice.
"How far away?" Ling Chuan asked.
"Less than five miles!"
Hearing this, Ling Chuan knew that the enemy was coming for them. He couldn't understand why they would encounter the enemy so soon after leaving the pass, but obviously, now was not the time to think about this problem.
"Entire army, formations!"
Ling Chuan shouted, and the four troops lined up in a line facing the southeast, while Tang Kuiran's three hundred heavy armor squads stood at the forefront of the troop. Men and horses were armored, and each person held a spear, like a steel city wall.
"Hang the flag!"
Another loud shout, and Daniu quickly took out a Death Flag from his appearance and skillfully hung it on the flagpole.
The large flag fluttered in the wind, making a rustling sound.
"Entire army, listen to the order, charge and kill southeast with me!"
Following Ling Chuan's order, more than one thousand five hundred cavalrymen began to charge. Although they hadn't seen the enemy yet, the killing intent had already begun to pervade from every soldier, and then quickly gathered together, like a monstrous wave.
Four miles away, a troop of three thousand Hu Jie cavalry was also charging towards the northwest. The leading Commander of a Thousand was a burly strong man who held a morning star and led the army to charge.
Last night, he received intelligence that a Zhou Army would pass through this place on their way to Iron Scale City for support. He waited here, waiting for the other party to appear, and then take them down in one fell swoop.
From the intelligence, the other party had only one thousand five hundred cavalry. Even if he sent out one thousand cavalry, he could easily wipe them out.
The reason for sending out twice the troop of the other party was to make a final decision and not give the other party any chance to breathe.
At this moment, a personal guard pointed to the front and shouted, "Commander of a Thousand, look!"
The Commander of a Thousand looked up and saw a white flag appearing on the earth in front of them, quickly approaching them.
"Haha, I have heard that Zhou People have the habit of raising a white flag to surrender. Aren't they aware that they can't escape, and decisively choose to surrender?" The strong man grinned, his eyes full of contempt and mockery.
But then, the smile on his face quickly froze, because he found that the cavalry, which was flying by, gradually revealed itself under the white flag. Everyone armed themselves, their killing intent like a tide, which was obviously the posture of charging.
"When did the Zhou Army become so brave?" A trace of surprise flashed in the eyes of the Commander of a Thousand. It was originally his hunt, but he didn't expect that the prey would launch a counterattack first. For him, this was a blatant provocation.
Then let this group of two-legged sheep see what a real cavalry is, who is the master of the grassland!
"Entire army, charge, kill them all!" The Commander of a Thousand shouted and led the army to charge.
Under the condition of both sides charging, the distance of four or five miles was as close as close proximity.
At this time, the Hu Jie Commander of a Thousand finally saw the blood-red 'death' character, which seemed to be written with blood, on the white flag on the other side.
At the same time, he also noticed that the one charging at the front was a heavy armored army, each holding a spear, their bodies close to the horseback. Although there were only two or three hundred cavalry, the momentum they emitted was like a thousand cavalry advancing together.
Behind the heavy armored army, was a young man leading more than a thousand light cavalry following closely behind.
"Bow and Arrow!"
Ling Chuan calmly issued the order, and he saw that all the light cavalry behind him simultaneously raised the Armor-Piercing Bows in their hands, pointing diagonally at the sky in front.
"Release!"
As Ling Chuan uttered the word "release", everyone simultaneously released the bowstrings, throwing the iron arrows. Although there was no spectacular scene of thousands of arrows, the more than a thousand arrows could still bring huge pressure.
The Hu Jie Commander of a Thousand began to release arrows at a distance of three hundred steps from the other party, and couldn't help but let out a cold smile.
It seemed that the person leading the army was a new recruit, mostly the descendants of those Zhou People nobles, who thought they could lead the army because they had read a few military strategy books.
"Prepare the bow and arrows!" The Commander of a Thousand also issued the order, preparing to release the arrows when the distance between the two sides was one hundred and fifty steps.
In fact, this was also the essence of cavalry combat. The two sides began to release arrows at a distance of one hundred and fifty steps, the first round was arbalest, the second round was direct shot, and the third round was concentrated fire.
After three rounds, the two sides were already close in proximity, and the next step was fierce combat.
However, at this moment, the sound of breaking air came, and the iron arrows shot at the sky of the other party, whistling down, directly falling towards the vanguard of their troop.
The Commander of a Thousand's complexion changed drastically. He couldn't believe that the Zhou Army's arrows could shoot so far. How could this be possible?
Although the other party used arbalest, and the two sides were in a state of charging, although they shot at three hundred steps, the real range of the arrows was only about two hundred steps, but this was still incredibly shocking.
"Puff, puff, puff..."
That was the sound of arrows piercing through bodies.
Groans and screams came from the surroundings, and figures around them were hit by arrows and fell from their horses.
The Commander of a Thousand's complexion changed drastically, and he shouted, "Shield bearers, forward!"
However, the troop was already in a state of charging. Although the shield bearers acted at the first time, they couldn't reach the front from the formation in a short while.
But at this moment, the second round of direct shot from the other side had arrived.
"Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh..."
The speed of the arrows in a direct shot was faster, and the lethality was also greater. Rows of iron arrows flew horizontally, which was undoubtedly fatal.
The Hu Jie cavalry's cavalry combat skills were known throughout the world. They didn't need to be reminded in this situation, and everyone immediately lay on their horses.
But although the vanguard had avoided this round of arrow rain, the cavalry behind them were not so lucky. They even saw the arrow rain flying, and they didn't even have a place to hide, so they could only use weapons or shields to defend.
But only a small number of soldiers were equipped with shields, and most people could only use weapons.
"Ah, ah..."
Screams erupted in the troop, as a large number of soldiers fell from their horses, and the warhorses lost control and became chaotic, hindering the charge of the cavalry behind.
"Release arrows!"
Ling Chuan ordered again, starting the third round of concentrated fire.
Three rounds of arrow rain caused heavy casualties to the Hu Jie side, with at least four or five hundred people falling from their horses and nearly a thousand people injured.
Experienced veteran soldiers all knew that in this situation, even if they were shot in the vital point, they had to hold the reins tightly and keep their bodies close to the horseback, so as not to fall, otherwise, once they fell from the horse, they would surely die.
After three rounds of arrow rain, the Yunlan Army put away their Armor-Piercing Bows and then quickly drew the Cang Sheng Saber from their waists. Only one person did not put away his bow, and that was Nie Xinghan.
The Hu Jie Commander of a Thousand no longer had the arrogance and contempt before, and was replaced by shock and fear.
Suddenly, his pupils suddenly contracted, and he looked at the white large flag embroidered with the word 'death' again, and couldn't help but think of the battle at Wolf Beacon Pass a few months ago.
"Death Flag, Death Camp, he is Ling Chuan!" The Commander of a Thousand shouted.
Hearing this, the faces of all the Hu Jie soldiers changed drastically. The name Ling Chuan was too loud in the Hu Jie military camp. This young man had, in less than half a year, repeatedly defeated the Hu Jie Army, and had slain several Hu Jie generals, almost rising rapidly by stepping on the corpses of Hu Jie generals.
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