“If we were in open terrain, we could surround them from all sides and break their formation easily, but this is a valley, we can only attack from one side, I have no way to defeat them.”
The aide shook his head bitterly.
As they spoke, the other two phalanxes in the valley continued their relentless assault.
Yeli Lang watched the trapped Dangxiang cavalry fall one by one, his heart aching as if cut by a knife.
This was his brother’s unit, the cavalry team with the most Yeli clansmen.
“Commander, give me five hundred cavalry, I’ll break their formation.”
Unable to bear it any longer, Yeli Lang volunteered to Li Jikui.
“How do you plan to break it?”
Li Jikui asked.
“Commander, have you noticed? When we switch from infantry to cavalry, they retreat behind the pits, their formation is strong but slow.”
Yeli Lang said, “I’ll lead the cavalry to follow the infantry closely, breaking through before they can retreat!”
“What do you think, sir?”
Li Jikui didn’t agree immediately, turning to his aide.
After being outmanoeuvred by Qinghuai in the mountains, becoming a laughingstock among Dangxiang leaders, Li Jikui had hired this aide at great expense.
The decision proved wise.
Since the aide’s arrival, the camp had been well-organised.
So, whenever faced with a tough decision, Li Jikui consulted him.
“General Yeli Lang’s plan is worth a try,” the aide said after a moment, “but, General, don’t act rashly, if you can’t break through, retreat immediately.”
“Got it.”
Yeli Lang waved impatiently, taking Li Jikui’s order and descending the high ground.
Moments later, he led five hundred cavalry, halting at the valley’s edge, waiting for the right moment.
When the next wave of infantry retreated, Yeli Lang charged with his cavalry.
But he didn’t know the phalanx wasn’t slow by necessity, Zhong Wu had ordered it to advance cautiously for stability.
Facing the cavalry charge, Zhong Wu gave a command, and the phalanx’s retreat sped up several times, swiftly pulling back behind the pits.
Yeli Lang could have stopped then, but blinded by rage, he didn’t care.
“Watch your footing, avoid the pits!”
He shouted, urging his horse onto the pit-ridden riverbank.
Yeli Lang’s horsemanship was exceptional, guiding his mount to dodge six pits in succession.
But by then, his horse had slowed, and with only a yard left to the phalanx, a dozen bamboo poles shot out.
Yeli Lang was a skilled warrior, bolstered by his clan’s influence, wielding a finely crafted iron weapon, but facing a dozen poles, he only managed to cut three before his neck, arm, and thigh were pierced.
His horse didn’t escape either, riddled with five or six holes.
Not all had Yeli Lang’s skill, many cavalry fell to the pits, disrupting others.
In moments, the riverbank was littered with fallen horses and riders.
Seizing the opportunity, Zhong Wu ordered the phalanx to advance.
In the end, of the five hundred cavalry Yeli Lang led, fewer than three hundred escaped, the rest forever left in Qingshui Valley.
Zhong Wu didn’t overextend, halting the phalanx once the cavalry fled the pit area, shifting to a defensive stance.
With only a thousand cavalry left, Li Jikui dared not send more to their deaths, and the two sides faced off at the valley’s edge.
But at the valley’s other end, the battle didn’t pause.
The Dangxiang cavalry’s space was shrinking, with men and horses killed by bamboo poles every second.
Blood from riders and horses formed streams, flowing into the nearby river, staining it red.
When they saw their reinforcements blocked, the Dangxiang cavalry’s morale plummeted.
“Surrender and you won’t be killed!”
At this, Jin Feng ordered the Tielin soldiers to shout the surrender call again.
“Master, they’re fish on the chopping board, killing them all isn’t hard, why bother with surrender?”
On the Tielin high ground, Old Man Zhao asked Jin Feng curiously.
“A desperate foe will fight to the death, if they see no way out, they’ll resist fiercely, and even if we wipe them out, the Tielin Army might take losses.”
Jin Feng, in a good mood, smiled and explained, “I promised Qinghuai I’d return the Tielin Army intact.
Besides, Dakang lacks labour and good warhorses, surrendered captives can do hard labour, and their horses can form a new cavalry unit, isn’t that better than killing them all?”
Old Man Zhao was stunned by Jin Feng’s reasoning, eventually giving a thumbs-up, “You’re brilliant!”
In battles between Dakang and Dangxiang, there had been cases of one side taking no losses, but it was always the Dangxiang cavalry.
Before today, if someone claimed Dakang’s army could face the Dangxiang cavalry with no losses, Old Man Zhao would have spat in their face.
But now, Jin Feng had done it.
This battle would surely go down in Dakang’s history, and Old Man Zhao, as a witness, felt proud.
Survival is every creature’s instinct, when the trapped Dangxiang cavalry saw no hope of rescue, some, facing death by the phalanx, began to drop their sabres and surrender.
With one leading, others followed.
More and more soldiers discarded their weapons.
Of course, some stood firm.
In the centre, a Dangxiang captain killed a soldier who dropped his sabre, roaring, “Dangxiang will never surrender to Dakang, you cowards, pick up your blades and fight…”
Before he could finish, an arrow flew from the phalanx, striking his throat.
After that, the Dangxiang cavalry surrendered even faster.
Once all had surrendered, Xu Xiao, following Jin Feng’s orders, split the phalanx, creating a two-metre-wide passage.
Signal soldiers waved flags, and two teams of shield-bearing Tielin soldiers ran out, forming shield walls on both sides of the passage, followed by a team of spearmen.
The ten-metre-long bamboo poles extended only half a metre.
Any Dangxiang cavalry attempting mischief in the passage would be skewered.
“Dismount and lead your horses through,” Xu Xiao shouted.
The Dangxiang soldiers, their fighting spirit gone, complied, the nearest dismounting and leading his horse into the passage.
The passage was short, only a few dozen metres, upon exiting, Tielin soldiers tied the captives’ hands with rope and led their horses away.
On the Dangxiang high ground, Li Jikui punched the ground in fury.
His aide, fearing he’d rashly send more men to die, urged, “Commander, retreat, I’ll devise a plan to defeat them, we’ll deal with the Tielin Army when our main cavalry arrives.”
Li Jikui’s expression shifted several times, but he finally nodded, saying, “Retreat.”
