“Zhao San, what’s happening?”
Old Zhao, sitting on his bed, shouted outside.
“Sir, the Dangxiang are here. They’ve already charged into Clearwater Valley!”
The attendant ducked into the tent, helping Zhao with his shoes. “Sir, the horse is ready. You should head back to Weizhou City quickly.”
“General Fan sent me to oversee the army. How can I retreat in the face of battle?”
Zhao rushed out of the tent, looking toward Clearwater Valley.
The Dangxiang cavalry vanguard had already stormed into the valley, their faces smeared with wild war paint, howling and brandishing swords as they charged.
At a glance, a dense mass of at least a thousand riders filled the valley.
A thousand cavalry might not sound like much, but seeing it in person was terrifying.
The dust kicked up by galloping horses rose to the clouds, the sound deafening.
Some new recruits were trembling in fear. If not for the enforcers holding swords behind them, they might have fled.
Though arrogant, Zhao had courage. After descending the high ground, he returned to his tent, grabbed a brush, and quickly wrote a letter, handing it to his attendant. “Quick, deliver this to General Fan. Tell him to send reinforcements to Clearwater Valley immediately!”
The attendant took the letter and ran out. A waiting messenger on horseback grabbed it and galloped toward Weizhou City.
After sending the plea for help, Zhao rushed out again.
By now, the Dangxiang cavalry were nearing the valley’s midpoint, but the Iron Forest Army showed no response.
Zhao panicked. “Why hasn’t the Iron Forest Army formed up to meet the enemy? Where’s Jin Feng?”
“Over there!”
The attendant pointed to a nearby high ground.
Jin Feng, with a few guards and signalmen, stood with hands behind his back, looking down at the valley.
“Has that kid been scared stupid?”
Zhao stomped his foot, lifted his robe, and ran toward the high ground. “General Fan was right. Craftsmen can’t be relied on!”
How could two legs outrun four?
By the time Zhao reached the base of the high ground, the cavalry were nearly at the valley’s end.
A few hundred metres more, and they’d reach the Iron Forest Army’s camp.
The Dangxiang cavalry would crush everything in their path. Once they arrived, it was a death sentence.
Ignoring Qing Huai’s warning against meddling and unconcerned about Jin Feng’s potential wrath, Zhao roared at the high ground, “Ignorant fool, what are you standing there for? Order the army to form up and fight!”
But Jin Feng, as if deaf, didn’t glance at him or make any move, still gazing at the valley.
“How could Qing Huai be so blind, entrusting the Iron Forest Army to such an idiot!”
Zhao collapsed to the ground, wailing, “It’s over! The Iron Forest Army is finished! Weizhou City is finished!”
He could already picture the Dangxiang cavalry flattening the Iron Forest Army and rampaging through Weizhou City, burning and looting.
Furious, he pounded the ground with his fists, then drew his attendant’s sword, ready to charge into the valley and fight the Dangxiang to the death.
But then, something unexpected happened.
The lead Dangxiang warhorse’s right front leg suddenly sank into a bowl-sized pit.
With the horse’s galloping momentum, the impact was immense.
A crack rang out. Unable to pull its leg free, the horse crashed to the ground, its right front leg snapped clean!
The rider was flung over ten metres, hitting the ground with a thud and rolling several more before stopping.
His right arm twisted unnaturally, clearly broken.
This was just the start…
More horses fell!
More Dangxiang riders were thrown!
Some unlucky ones were crushed beneath their horses, killed instantly!
The thuds of falling bodies!
The anguished neighs of horses!
The pained screams of Dangxiang soldiers!
The sounds were relentless!
It seemed slow, but it happened in a flash.
In the blink of an eye, the front row of horses all crashed, forming a line of chaos.
The trailing cavalry couldn’t stop in time, colliding with the fallen horses, tumbling in a heap.
Even the few quick-reacting, skilled riders who jumped over found their horses’ legs sinking into pits the next second.
In moments, the southernmost几十metres of the valley were filled with struggling horses and riders.
After paying the cost of nearly a hundred men and horses, the Dangxiang cavalry finally halted their charge.
At that moment, Jin Feng signaled his guards.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
Muffled war drums sounded. The signalman waved two small flags alternately.
From the Iron Forest Army camp, a phalanx rapidly emerged.
At the front, two rows of soldiers held massive shields, forming a double-layered shield wall.
Behind them, soldiers in groups of three carried five-metre-long bamboo stalks, following closely.
The bamboo tips were sharpened to deadly points, protruding through gaps in the shields.
From a distance, the phalanx’s front resembled a porcupine, bristling with sharp bamboo.
Any military enthusiast from Earth would recognize this as a variant of the famous Macedonian phalanx.
But the Macedonian phalanx used spears over three metres long and required cavalry to protect the flanks.
Unable to find enough spears, Jin Feng substituted sharpened bamboo.
As for cavalry, the Iron Forest Army could muster some, but it wasn’t necessary.
The valley’s terrain was narrow, and Jin Feng had calculated the phalanx’s width to match it exactly, with the mountain on the left and the river on the right, eliminating the need for flanking cavalry.
On the high ground, Jin Feng signaled again, and the drummer beat the war drum once more.
The signalman rhythmically waved the left flag.
“Advance!”
Xu Xiao, commanding on the ground, roared. The phalanx moved forward in unison.
The Dangxiang revered warriors. A lightly injured rider, thrown forward, raised his curved blade, shouting as he charged the phalanx.
But a丈from the shields, several bamboo stalks thrust forward simultaneously.
He managed to deflect one with his blade, but another pierced his neck!
The bamboo Xu Xiao selected was bowl-thick at the base, tapering to teacup-width at the tip.
When the bamboo was pulled back, half the rider’s neck was gone, his head barely attached.
From start to finish, the phalanx, under Xu Xiao’s command, didn’t pause, advancing steadily until reaching the area littered with thrown riders.
“Halt!”
Xu Xiao barked, and the phalanx stopped instantly.
“Attack!”
All bamboo stalks thrust forward.
“Withdraw!”
All stalks pulled back.
In that thrust and pull, every rider on the ground—alive or dead, standing or lying, resisting or not—was pierced!
“Advance!”
With another shout, the phalanx moved forward again.
