“Look at their formation and momentum. These are no ordinary bandits!”
Commandant Xiao watched the charging horsemen and spoke with worry.
“Of course not. What common bandits could muster several dozen warhorses?”
Qin Ming frowned. “Their horsemanship is superb, and they wield curved sabres. I’d bet my life these are Dangxiang cavalry!”
“The Dangxiang have infiltrated this far?”
Commandant Xiao asked in shock.
Sichuan and Shu bordered Tibet, but they were still a long way from the Dangxiang frontier.
“Forget here. I’ve heard there are even Dangxiang spies in Jiangnan stirring the people to revolt.”
Qin Ming said, “But Dangxiang agents usually work alone. A group of over a hundred, with dozens of warhorses? This has never happened before!
To stop Her Highness from reaching Tibet, the Dangxiang have truly gone mad!”
Great Kang’s national strength might be waning, but it was not yet so weak that one or two hundred Dangxiang could rampage unchecked.
Especially here in Xichuan. Qing Muluan’s elder brother, Qing Xinyao, was one of the rare hawkish governors in Great Kang. He would never let these Dangxiang leave alive.
Inside the carriage, Qing Muluan peered through a crack in the window and said in astonishment, “Wuyang, you and sir were right. The Dangxiang really did send men to assassinate us!”
“Since they have come, they can stay here forever!”
Ninth Princess gave a cold laugh.
“There are fewer than two hundred of them, but we have nearly four hundred. They won’t escape!” Qing Muluan declared confidently.
“Don’t speak too soon. Three years ago, two hundred Dangxiang cavalry routed three thousand garrison troops in Guanzhong, leaving them throwing away helmets and armour. Today the enemy fights with the resolve to die. Their morale is sky-high. This battle will not be easy.”
“But we have cavalry too!” Qing Muluan protested.
“It’s not the same. The Dangxiang grow up on horseback. Every one of them is an outstanding rider. How many days have sir’s escorts even handled warhorses?” Ninth Princess replied. “If the garrison troops break, and it turns into open mounted combat, the escorts will have little chance.”
“The garrison has a full two hundred men. They won’t collapse that easily, surely?”
“Let us hope not.”
Ninth Princess sighed and fell silent.
Her worries were not unfounded.
The Guangyuan garrison rarely drilled. When sent to suppress bandits they simply marched into the hills, collected the protection money the local gentry had gathered, and returned to the city without ever sighting a bandit.
Of these two hundred troops, most had seen battle only once, when they followed Jin Feng to Wulang Mountain to rescue Qing Muluan.
Now they faced ferocious Dangxiang cavalry. It was asking too much of them.
Several dozen warhorses thundering forward felt like dozens of speeding carriages bearing down on them. Ordinary men were bound to be terrified.
Even seasoned veterans felt fear; they simply controlled it.
But these garrison troops had never encountered cavalry before. How could they possess a veteran’s self-control?
With the enemy still hundreds of metres away, many soldiers were already trembling in their legs.
Seeing the garrison’s morale falter, Qin Ming shouted to Liu Tie, “Tie-zi, what are you waiting for?”
At Liu Tie’s command, several heavy crossbows fired at once.
The Dangxiang, however, had already spotted the weapons. Their cavalry were widely spaced and skilfully evaded the moment the crossbows loosed. The first volley killed only two riders.
The Dangxiang revered martial prowess and were constantly at war between tribes. They were thoroughly hardened to the battlefield.
Not one of the surviving riders looked back at their fallen comrades. Instead they whipped their mounts harder, trying to close the distance before the crossbows could reload.
This fearless, death-defying aura only terrified the already shaken garrison troops further.
“They’re using curved sabres. They’re not bandits. They’re Dangxiang cavalry!”
Finally, some soldiers recognised the enemy for what they were and cried out in panic.
In the common folk’s imagination, Dangxiang cavalry had been demonised. They were invincible murdering devils, hated and feared in equal measure.
Panic instantly swept through the garrison ranks.
“Don’t be afraid! The Dangxiang are not three-headed and six-armed! Mr Jin slaughtered them like chickens at Qingshui Valley!”
Commandant Xiao shouted at the top of his voice, trying to rally the men with Jin Feng’s famous victory.
But when the cavalry were less than a hundred zhang away, some soldiers could bear it no longer. They threw down their weapons and fled.
Once one started, others quickly followed.
Ninth Princess’s worst fear had come true.
Before the Dangxiang cavalry even reached them, the garrison had already dissolved into chaos and scattered in all directions.
“Stand your ground! Anyone who runs again will be cut down!”
Commandant Xiao’s forehead bulged with veins. He hacked down two fleeing soldiers in fury.
But the scene was too chaotic. He could not stem the tide. In moments the garrison troops had vanished!
By then the Dangxiang cavalry were only twenty zhang away.
The Dangxiang foot soldiers following behind were now within a hundred zhang.
“It’s over!”
Commandant Xiao’s heart turned to ash.
The troops could flee, but he, their commanding officer, could not.
If anything happened to Ninth Princess, neither the court nor the Prefect of Guangyuan would ever let him go, no matter where he fled. His family in the prefectural city would suffer too.
Facing certain death, Commandant Xiao suddenly felt no fear. He drew his sword and faced the Dangxiang.
Falling into their hands would mean a fate worse than death. Better to fight and die honourably, sparing his family further trouble.
Commandant Xiao steeled himself for a last stand, only to see the escorts and Qin Ming’s guards suddenly move to the sides of the road.
The labourers, who until now had seemed unimportant, threw off the coarse cloth covering their carts and opened wooden crates.
Among the dozens of carts, more than twenty carried heavy crossbows, and several held portable trebuchets.
This was the true reason Ninth Princess had remained calm in the face of Dangxiang cavalry!
The crossbows and trebuchets in the crates were already wound and ready. Remove the safety pins and they could fire instantly.
“Fire!”
At Niu Ben’s command, more than twenty spear-like bolts shot forth in a deadly rank, shrieking towards the horsemen.
The trebuchets fired at the same moment, their stones aimed at the Dangxiang infantry behind.
The escorts did not stand idle. The men readied jars of fire-oil while the women raised hand crossbows!
By now the Dangxiang were less than ten zhang from Commandant Xiao’s position. There was no time to dodge.
Twenty-odd bolts fired at once left no room for evasion!
Blooms of blood exploded among the horsemen. The Dangxiang cavalry, so unstoppable moments ago, crumpled before the heavy crossbows.
A single volley wiped out more than half!
And this was only the beginning. Before the stunned survivors could react, the women loosed their hand crossbows.
Several more riders fell.
Then the men hurled fire-oil jars onto the ground in front of the cavalry.
Amei flicked her wrist, tossing a fire starter into the oil.
Boom!
Flames roared skyward in an instant.
The Dangxiang riders tried to rein in, but it was too late. They plunged straight into the inferno!
When the handful who emerged from the fire sea staggered out, fewer than ten remained of the dozens who had charged.
Amei and Qiner leapt from the carriage and pounced!
