Chapter 161
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Chapter 161: There’s a Scheme Within the Scheme
His swift horse galloped all the way, hooves kicking up dust into the sky!
Just as Luo Ji guessed, the old score between them wouldn’t be settled so easily.
After a brief rest and adjustment, the cavalry chief decisively led his cavalry unit, once again charging along the road through the mountain hills!
As the distance between the two sides closed, the cavalry chief’s eyes flashed with a hint of surprise, seeing Luo Ji and his forces arrayed at the end of the road, already waiting in full readiness.
He had originally intended to launch a surprise attack, but he didn’t expect to be discovered before even reaching the vicinity of the opponent’s tribal camp.
“Was it that sound from before?”
He had clearly heard the reconnaissance team’s sharp whistle.
Although he didn’t know how that sound was produced, looking at the current situation, it was clearly that sound which alerted the opponent.
This time, Luo Ji was thoroughly prepared!
Frames called ‘chevaux de frise,’ made of wooden poles crisscrossing and fixed together, sealed off the entire passageway.
At the same time, thirty meters behind those chevaux de frise, stood three rows of soldiers.
The first row of soldiers all held large shields, the second row of soldiers gripped stone spears specifically designed for cavalry, and the last, third row of soldiers were archer units armed with longbows!
At this moment, if Zhang Yisheng had seen this scene, he would definitely have spat out a mouthful of blood on the spot.
Because right now, the large shields held by the first row of soldiers were precisely the defensive gear from his own shield-wielding unit.
Previously, when he converted his shield-wielding unit to shield-axemen, these large shields, considered cumbersome, were all abandoned on the battlefield.
Afterward, he was busy fleeing for his life and had no chance to retrieve them, ultimately benefiting Luo Ji for free.
However, the cavalry chief seemed unaware of what this formation implied.
The cavalry unit’s momentum didn’t stop.
It must be said that for him to contend with Luo Ji, in terms of vision, he was truly more than a million years too early, in every sense!
The indigenous people with such poor foresight simply couldn’t comprehend Luo Ji’s blatant setup and formation designed to utterly defeat cavalry!
It was precisely because of this that such an overt setup could be effective.
Otherwise, if it were another player on the opposite side, they would likely change their tactics and fighting style immediately, making a direct charge impossible.
“Eighty meters, sixty meters, forty meters…”
A cold smile played on Luo Ji’s lips as he stood at the very rear of his formation, silently counting down in his mind.
As the distance grew shorter and shorter, his right hand was already raised, waiting only for the frantic neigh of a warhorse to echo in his ears!
“Shriek!!!”
“Wha—what’s going on?!”
The cavalry unit, which had been galloping wildly, suddenly lost balance starting from the front of the formation.
The ground where their warhorses’ front hooves stepped directly collapsed!
Revealing a deep gully!
The expressions on the faces of the riders, sitting on horseback, were nothing but terror at that moment.
The entire charging formation instantly disintegrated into chaos.
“All archers, fire!!”
Luo Ji, who had been waiting for a long time, decisively swung his right hand down.
The archer unit, already prepared, let out a volley of arrows in a coordinated shot as Luo Ji’s command to fire was given, beginning a massacre!
Seeing the tragic state of the cavalry unit, Zhang Yisheng, who was currently hiding on the other side, couldn’t help but curse a string of obscenities.
“Damn, damn, damn, damn! That obvious setup, clearly intended to smash cavalry, was already a scheme, but then there’s a scheme within that scheme! They deliberately put on a show of preparing for a frontal assault, and that native across from them had no idea this guy was so sneaky as to dig gully traps in front! He totally fell for it!”
“Then, Chief, do we still attack?”
“Attack my ass!”
Zhang Yisheng curled his lips with a pained expression.
“Didn’t you see Luo’s formation?”
“They have a gully, chevaux de frise, large shield soldiers, forming a triple defensive line.”
“Even if that native’s cavalry unit isn’t completely wiped out, they’ll lose more than half their forces.”
“I originally wanted to see if they could fight to mutual destruction, then pick up some scraps in the chaos.”
“Now it seems whether that native can even escape alive is a question.”
“Attacking now?”
“That would basically be helping him draw aggro, and I’m not doing that!”
Despite his unwillingness, at this moment, Zhang Yisheng completely conceded defeat.
He would just wait for the seven-day time limit to expire and then retreat.
He and Luo Ji had only fought once, and they had no previous enmity.
There was no need to keep fighting to the death after a week.
Shifting the perspective back to the cavalry unit, that gully trap truly devastated this cavalry force.
Coupled with the almost instantaneous follow-up arrow rain attack, it caused them significant casualties.
Gritting his teeth, the cavalry chief’s face was extremely grim at this moment.
His cavalry unit, which had been unstoppable since its establishment, had suffered such a setback, making it somewhat impossible for him to accept at once.
Not to mention that just a few days ago, he had easily scattered the opponent’s forces with a single charge.
This stark contrast instantly made it even harder for him to accept.
Clamping his legs tightly around the horse’s belly, the cavalry chief suddenly pulled hard on the reins in his hand, astonishingly managing to control the panicked warhorse and leap out of the gully.
Luo Ji wasn’t too surprised by this.
After all, time and manpower were limited, so the gully trap couldn’t be dug too deep.
The initial purpose was not to directly trap and kill them, but to use this trap to reduce the cavalry unit’s charging speed.
This was very important!
What was cavalry’s most powerful weapon?
It was the charge, or rather, speed!
Cavalry at full charge were the sharpest blade on the battlefield!
A single charge could unleash devastating destructive power, but once they lost speed, cavalry were like tigers without teeth.
Their threat level dropped by at least half.
After climbing out of the gully, the chevaux de frise were forty meters away, and the large shield soldiers, arrayed in full readiness, were another thirty meters beyond the chevaux de frise!
Even a modern sports car takes a few seconds to accelerate to top speed with the pedal floored, let alone a horse.
It’s no exaggeration to say that this cavalry unit’s speed could no longer be increased!
“Continue firing arrows!”
The cavalry unit that climbed out of the gully was still seventy meters away, not to mention the two defensive lines of chevaux de frise and large shield soldiers in between.
The archer unit, positioned at the very rear, was incredibly relaxed at this moment; there was no need to panic at all.
Round after round of volleys pressed hard against the charging enemies, giving them no chance to breathe.
Looking at the cavalry unit getting closer and closer to the chevaux de frise, and after receiving Luo Ji’s instructions and pointers, the soldiers of the archer unit cleverly aimed directly at the area in front of the chevaux de frise.
But unexpectedly, at that very moment, an unforeseen situation suddenly occurred!
Just as they were about to hit the blocking chevaux de frise, at that critical moment, the cavalry chief, who was leading the charge, suddenly pulled the reins in his hand.
Accompanied by a long neigh, the warhorse beneath him astonishingly leaped in a very exaggerated motion!
At this moment, even Luo Ji, who was already prepared, couldn’t help but be dumbfounded.
“Damn!”
“I can’t believe this crap!”
“There aren’t even stirrups, how in the hell did he do that?!”
