Chapter 25: Six Hundred Iron Cavalry, Raid in the Dark Night

“How is it?”

When Li Dashan and the other two arrived in front of him, the Old Master asked in a deep voice.

“Everything is normal!” Li Dashan wiped the rain from his face and said.

Then he began to report his reconnaissance findings.

“There are about three thousand Karluks in Sanhe Fortress, most of them living in tents outside Sanhe Fortress.”

“A small portion live in the houses inside the village.”

Sanhe Fortress originally only had about a thousand Han people, so the houses in the village couldn’t accommodate three thousand Karluks at all.

Only tribal leaders and Karluks with relatively high status were qualified to live in houses.

Most other Karluks could only set up tents outside the village.

“The Karluks outside Sanhe Fortress are mainly distributed in the east and north. It’s best if we charge all the way from the east.”

“Then charge into Sanhe Fortress from the north,” Li Dashan suggested.

“Previously, the Karluks breached Sanhe Fortress from the north.”

“Battlements in many places have collapsed, and moats have been filled. The Karluks haven’t had time to repair them, which is convenient for our attack.”

Hearing this, the Old Master nodded gently.

Then he exchanged glances with Zhao Tiezhu, Qin Kaishan, and Luo Ping. All three agreed with this idea.

Thus, the battle plan was decided!

“Any other anomalies?” the Old Master continued to ask.

Obviously, this time he wasn’t just asking about troop deployment.

“No.” Li Dashan shook his head.

“The Karluks didn’t detect our intention for a night raid. There are no pit traps dug outside Sanhe Fortress.”

Although pit traps were sharp weapons to guard against enemy attacks, nomadic people generally wouldn’t dig them, as it was easy to break their own horses’ legs.

Moreover, Li Dashan meant not only pit traps and other traps but was also telling the Old Master that no people from the south were found entering Sanhe Fortress.

This was very important!

It concerned the success or failure of this night raid!

Although the Old Master didn’t want to suspect people from the four fortresses, these things had to be guarded against.

It must be foolproof!

Behind the Old Master, Li Xiao watched the Old Master’s serious expression, as if he were teaching him how to raid at night and fight a war with practical actions.

This made him feel very fortunate in his heart.

“Ultimately, I’m much luckier than Temujin!” Li Xiao said to himself.

Also losing his father as a teenager, Temujin was left with nothing. His tribe members all left, and he lived a destitute life with his mother and brothers, nearly dying at the hands of enemies several times.

It wasn’t until his twenties that Temujin began to rise.

By the time he regained everything his father had and ascended to the position of leader of the Khamag Mongol tribe, he was almost thirty.

Too much time was wasted in the early stage; otherwise, Temujin’s achievements might have far exceeded history.

And Li Xiao was very lucky.

The Old Master was still here!

The Old Master was the pillar of stability for Hexi Fortress and also Li Xiao’s strongest backing.

As long as the Old Master still had a breath, Hexi Fortress wouldn’t fall into chaos.

Li Xiao also had time to grow and take over the actual power of Hexi Fortress step by step.

Just as Li Xiao was contemplating, the Old Master already knew the situation of Sanhe Fortress. He turned to the crowd behind him and said:

“Kill all the Karluks!”

“Blood debt paid in blood!”

Listening to the Old Master’s cold and deep voice, everyone unconsciously tightened their grip on the spears and war sabers in their hands.

Faces gradually became ferocious, eyes filled with killing intent.

Six hundred cavalrymen rapidly approached the direction of Sanhe Fortress.

It was already late at night, and coupled with the thunderstorm, the Karluks were already fast asleep.

Moreover, the roar of thunder also masked the sound of galloping warhorses.

So much so that although the four-fortress coalition was already very close, they hadn’t been discovered by the Karluks yet.

Rumble!

Clatter clatter clatter!

Hearing the increasingly loud roar of warhorses, many Karluks sleeping in tents were awakened.

Some opened their eyes drowsily, full of doubt.

“Why is the temper of the Heavenly God getting bigger and bigger? Was my prayer just now not devout enough?”

But those experienced Karluks quickly discovered the problem.

The roaring sound didn’t come from the sky, but from the ground.

“No, this isn’t the Heavenly God’s anger, it’s an enemy attack,” a Karluk herdsman covered in scars with a ferocious face suddenly shouted loudly.

More and more herdsmen reacted, shouting and screaming in panic.

“Cavalry is coming!”

“Get up quickly!”

“Mount horses and kill the enemy, stop them!”

These Karluk herdsmen didn’t even have time to put on clothes; they directly grabbed their weapons and rushed out of the tents.

But immediately after, these Karluks were shocked by the scene before them.

Six hundred iron cavalry formed a fan formation, galloping and killing toward the Karluk camp east of Sanhe Fortress. The sound of galloping warhorses was like thunder, shaking the earth slightly, faster and faster.

Looking from the sky, one could see a magnificent scene. Like a dark cloud rolling up the sky full of mud and sand, the iron cavalry rolled forward, frantically wanting to devour the Karluk camp completely.

The Karluk camp, with tent after tent, had no obstacles for protection at all, completely exposed to the iron cavalry charge of the four-fortress coalition.

Like a lone boat in a storm, crumbling.

“Kill!”

The Old Master rushed at the very front, holding a spear, roaring loudly.

The Old Master in combat state had nothing to do with the usually taciturn old man, but rather looked like a domineering killing god.

Cold, severe, and domineering, charging forward regardless of everything!

Different from the Old Master’s indifference and restraint, Grandpa Qin Kaishan was an extrovert.

Usually laughing and joking, seemingly able to get along with everyone, but on the battlefield, he was also an expert in boosting morale.

“Little bastards, the Karluk women are right in front.”

“Charge over, I’ll distribute women for you to use!”

“Everyone gets one!”

“But if anyone acts like a coward, I’ll chop off his balls and turn him into a woman.”

Qin Kaishan rode on his warhorse, leading the charge while not forgetting to turn back and shout loudly at the soldiers to inspire morale.

“Oooooh!”

“Snatch women!”

Those teenagers stepping onto the battlefield for the first time might still be a bit nervous, but hearing Qin Kaishan’s words, they laughed loudly instead.

Fear of battle and death dissipated a lot instantly.

There was nothing to fear about the Karluks. Kill the Karluk men, and their cattle, sheep, warhorses, and women would all be theirs.

Moreover, the Old Master, Qin Kaishan, Luo Ping, and even Li Xiao were all charging at the front.

This gave others great encouragement. Following such Fortress Lords, even if they died in battle, what was there to fear?

Just bury their heads and charge!

“Kill the enemy!”

Beside the Old Master, Li Xiao also held a spear. The indifference on his face was gradually replaced by killing intent.

His gaze was sharp, his whole being radiating sharpness. The only thing he could see in his eyes was those Karluks running out of the tents in panic.

“Kill!”

Li Xiao roared in a low voice.

A Karluk man had just crawled out of his tent, shouting in panic with a voice like a broken gong: “Enemies are coming, come out and fight quickly.”

Just as he was preparing to mount his horse and fight, the expression on his face became incredibly terrified.

Looking in the direction of the roaring warhorses, he saw cavalrymen one after another in the dark night, like ghosts from hell, holding spears and war sabers.

Galloping out from the place shrouded in darkness, charging at him with ferocious faces, exuding a chilling murderous aura.

At this moment, it seemed that these cavalrymen were everywhere in all directions. Warhorses galloped and roared, shaking the earth to tremble.

He simply didn’t know how many enemies he was facing, as if he had fallen into an ambush on all ten sides.

“Han people, the Han people are coming!”

This Karluk shouted in terror, crawling and rolling, wanting to mount his horse and escape.

But in the next second, he only felt severe pain in his back, and a huge force came.

His whole body flew directly into mid-air.

A blood-stained spearhead passed through his back and pierced out from his chest.

It was Li Xiao!

Under the rapid impact of the warhorse, he instantly pierced this Karluk’s body with the spear in his hand.

The powerful propelling force even threw this Karluk’s corpse into mid-air.

Thud!

Smashing heavily onto the ground, blood flowed into the puddles on the ground. The Karluk’s eyes were wide open. Although not dead for the moment, this moment was more painful than death.

Li Xiao spurred his horse past, as if crushing an ant, without even looking, and continued to hack and kill the next target.

Just two breaths later, his spear pierced through the neck of another Karluk man.

…

Sanhe Fortress was just a village enclosed by adobe walls; it couldn’t house all the Karluks at all.

So at least more than half of the Karluks pitched tents in the open ground outside the village.

And these people became the first target of attack for the four-fortress coalition.

In this darkness, six hundred iron cavalry rolled forward like a torrent of iron and blood.

Like demon knights from hell suddenly descending in this dark night, the sharp spears in their hands were like the death god’s life-claiming scythes, harvesting Karluk lives again and again.

The completely unprepared Karluks were utterly crushed.

Fearful screams of women and terrified cries of children rang out in the tents.

Men ran out of tents in panic, only to find they didn’t know how many enemies there were, couldn’t even find their own warhorses, couldn’t find their companions.

The entire camp was in chaos. All the Karluks were like headless flies, running around randomly, unable to organize at all.

“Kill!”

“Kill all the Karluks!”

Murderous roars of the four-fortress coalition came from all directions. Under the galloping of warhorses, all Karluks trembled in terror.

Thinking they were surrounded by ten thousand iron cavalry.

A Karluk man wanted to flee for his life with his family in panic, but just after helping his wife onto a horse…

Enemies rushed out from the darkness. The short distance of a dozen meters was covered in an instant.

“Ah!”

The man held a spear wanting to stab the enemy to death, but in the next second, he felt heaven and earth spin, and a war saber slit directly across his neck.

Blood sprayed, and the headless corpse fell heavily to the ground.

“Ahhhh!”

On the warhorse, the young Karluk woman watched helplessly as her husband died tragically under the enemy’s blade. Her face showed terror and pain, and she cried and screamed loudly.

But Li Xiao just glanced faintly at the headless corpse on the ground and murmured in a low voice: “The third one!”

(End of this chapter)