Volume One, Chapter 13: The Xiongnu Mounted Archers, Shields to the Fore!

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At a single command, Meng Jun’s rugged face lit up with excitement. Raising the cold gleaming blade in his hand, he led a thousand-man unit forward at full speed.

Several volleys of arrows were loosed in unison.

There were scarcely any Xiongnu soldiers left beneath the city walls. Even those still alive had long since been frightened out of their wits.

When Meng Jun led his troops in the charge, they completely abandoned any thought of resistance. Only one idea remained in their minds.

Run!

Unfortunately, two legs could never outrun four. They had not gone far before flashing blades came whistling down, beginning the slaughter.

Within the space of a few breaths, not one of the thirty thousand Xiongnu cavalrymen who had charged this time survived. Every last one of them died horribly.

Meng Jun tightened the reins and gazed at the distant Xiongnu army ahead. With a disdainful smile, he ordered, “Back to the city!”

A short while later, Meng Jun returned to the battlements.

Qin Feng asked with a laugh, “Feel better now?”

“Much better!” Meng Jun’s grin stretched almost to his ears. “Thank you for indulging me, Your Highness!”

Qin Feng shook his head helplessly.

Just moments earlier, after the archers had loosed their volleys, only a few Xiongnu cavalrymen had remained. Unable to restrain his battle lust, Meng Jun had insisted on leading the troops out for another charge.

Qin Feng had been unable to withstand his repeated pleas and had finally agreed.

Just then, the heavens changed without warning.

The clear sky stretching for thousands of miles vanished, replaced by thick black clouds gathering overhead.

Qin Feng raised his head and murmured, “The weather has turned.”

Meng Jun nodded. “With the scorching sun concealed, the Xiongnu cavalry will have an unobstructed view. I fear they will soon launch another charge.”

“It makes no difference.” Qin Feng was utterly unconcerned. “As long as the wind does not rise, the conditions favor us. The Xiongnu have already lost nearly fifty thousand men. This time, we shall kill another fifty thousand and sever the left wing of their army completely!”

Although the blazing sun had disappeared, there was only a faint breeze. No gale arose, and the Northern Frontier Army’s archers were scarcely affected.

The Xiongnu camp.

“Hahaha! Heaven is on my side!” Tuoba Liesun laughed wildly as he felt the darkened sky. He turned to the burly man beside him, who stood nearly two meters tall, and called, “General Chaoketu!”

“Your subordinate is here!”

Chaoketu stepped forward half a pace, his deep voice rumbling like distant thunder.

Tuoba Liesun said solemnly, “I order you to lead fifty thousand mounted archers. Regardless of casualties, cross the catapults’ range at the greatest possible speed. Once you approach Shattered Leaf City, loose every arrow you have and eliminate as many of the enemy archers as possible!”

Chaoketu glanced at Shattered Leaf City in the distance and nodded forcefully.

As a great Xiongnu general, he feared nothing. He was confident he could evade the catapults’ bombardment. Once he crossed that range, the strength of the Xiongnu mounted archers would allow them to slaughter the soldiers defending the walls on a massive scale.

Soon, Chaoketu finished assembling the troops.

The nearly two-meter-tall man carried a long, savage saber. He approached a towering steed considerably larger than an ordinary horse, vaulted onto its back, and shouted in a deep voice, “Xiongnu warriors, charge!”

In an instant, the thunder of hooves erupted. Fifty thousand Xiongnu cavalrymen surged forward at tremendous speed.

On the city wall, Qin Feng’s brows drew together slightly. He seemed to realize that the Xiongnu cavalry were moving far faster than before and issued an early command:

“Catapults, prepare! Fire!”

Whoosh! Whoosh!

Several sharp sounds split the air. Massive stones soared into the sky, then came crashing down, inflicting terrible losses on the Xiongnu cavalry.

A murderous glint flashed in Chaoketu’s eyes. He reined in his horse and continuously dodged the falling stones while ordering, “Break into units of three thousand. Spread out and charge in a pincer formation from both sides!”

At his command, the Xiongnu cavalry reacted instantly. They dispersed into smaller formations and continued their advance.

The catapults could still inflict some damage, but they could no longer devastate the cavalry in a short time or create widespread casualties.

Qin Feng was not surprised.

After ordering two more volleys of stones, he exchanged a glance with Li Xiuyuan. The latter immediately understood, raised the military flag, and commanded, “Archers, heed my order! Draw and aim skyward! Loose!”

Swish, swish, swish!

The archers fired in waves. Tens of thousands of arrows soared into the heavens, vanishing into the black clouds before suddenly reappearing and raining down from above.

Although the Xiongnu cavalry had broken into scattered formations, the volley covered an enormous area. Even dispersed, they could not escape the shroud of arrows.

Chaoketu did not slow down.

His long saber flashed ceaselessly, cutting apart every arrow before him. Not only did the arrows fail to harm him, but he even shielded the cavalry behind him from many of the attacks.

“Draw forward and fire together!”

As the Xiongnu cavalry drew nearer, Li Xiuyuan promptly changed the order, switching from high-arching volleys to direct fire.

The arrows were somewhat less powerful, but with the force of the composite bows behind them, they still inflicted considerable casualties and disruption upon the Xiongnu cavalry.

Even so, the Xiongnu cavalry were remarkably swift. In the blink of an eye, they had reached a point barely one hundred meters from the city, where they were halted by the cheval-de-frise and anti-cavalry stakes Meng Jun had set up in advance.

Just as Li Xiuyuan was preparing to order another volley, Qin Feng looked down at the Xiongnu cavalry, who had stopped their charge. When he saw them remove the bows from their backs, he hurriedly ordered, “Archers, cease fire! Shield unit, prepare!”

At the command, Zhao Qiming understood at once. Seeing the Xiongnu mounted archers draw their bows and aim at the city wall, he quickly led the shield unit forward.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The Xiongnu mounted archers fired as one, and countless sounds of arrows tearing through the air rang out.

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Chaoketu’s tigerlike eyes gleamed with arrogance.

Just as the arrows were about to strike the soldiers defending Shattered Leaf City and inflict massive casualties, a neat line of sturdy shields suddenly appeared atop the wall.

Clang! Clang! Clang!

The arrows struck the iron shields in a continuous chorus of ringing impacts. Every single arrow was blocked, and not one Northern Frontier soldier was injured.

“Damn it!”

Chaoketu had naturally seen through the Northern Frontier Army’s defensive arrangement. He cursed under his breath in fury.

With their arrows unable to injure the Northern Frontier soldiers, the Xiongnu mounted archers had lost their greatest advantage. They could not disrupt the enemy’s formation or command structure. The longer this continued, the worse their position became.

“Archers, draw forward and fire!”

Taking advantage of the Xiongnu mounted archers’ moment of surprise as they reached for fresh arrows, Li Xiuyuan issued another command.

Zhao Qiming ordered the shield unit to shift left and right, creating narrow gaps through which the archers could fire without obstruction.

Chaoketu was consumed by fury.

Of the fifty thousand cavalrymen who had set out, only a little over thirty thousand had reached this point after enduring the catapult bombardment and arrow volleys.

The Xiongnu mounted archers fired, while the Northern Frontier shield unit blocked their arrows.

The Xiongnu mounted archers nocked fresh arrows, while the Northern Frontier archers seized the opportunity to fire.

At this rate, before the time it took to burn a single incense stick, all thirty thousand Xiongnu cavalrymen would likely perish beneath the walls, and the assault would end in utter failure.

“Hahaha! Wonderful!”

On the city wall, Meng Jun laughed uproariously, making no effort to hide the fact that Chaoketu could hear him from nearby.

War was nothing more than a struggle in which one side lived and the other died.

Any stratagem, no matter how opportunistic, was simply a military tactic. There was no need to feel the slightest guilt.

Following Qin Feng’s plan for defending the city, Meng Jun was confident that even if two hundred thousand soldiers from the entire Xiongnu left wing charged at once, the combined strength of the catapults, archers, and shield unit would be enough to take every one of them.

“Withdraw!”

Several breaths later, Chaoketu looked at the soldiers falling around him and gave the order with extreme reluctance.

The Xiongnu cavalrymen had long been waiting for that command.

Without even taking time to collect their bows, they threw them aside, pulled on the reins, and galloped desperately toward the rear.

But then—

Watching the Xiongnu cavalry turn and flee, Qin Feng curved his lips into a sinister smile.

“Can you really run just because you cannot win? Nothing is ever that easy!”

With that, a cold light flashed in his eyes. He raised his hand and ordered, “Prepare the catapults! Fire!”

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