Chapter 114: Thank You for the Arrows

Chapter 114: Thank You for the Arrows

After hearing the words of the slaves below the wall, the scribes on the city wall began to write furiously.

The slaves who had finished announcing their names and backgrounds at the foot of the wall walked to the side of a Horse Trap Pit and waited to face the battle.

Han Da on the city wall said to the soldier beside him, “All of you watch closely, mainly watch those who did not announce their backgrounds! Also, pay attention to those who sounded unnatural when they did!”

The soldiers beside him nodded one after another.

Han Da did this for two reasons. On one hand, he genuinely wanted to motivate them.

After all, if they really died in battle, he really wanted to erect monuments for them.

On the other hand, he wanted to use this method to filter out the Turkic Spies among them.

Among these people, those who could speak their identity and family background frankly were definitely no problem!

Conversely, those unwilling to speak or those pretending to follow the crowd could be spotted.

However, the Turks mixed among them didn’t seem in a hurry to reveal themselves.

At that moment, Sun Qiang hurriedly walked up from the side.

After coming up, he said to Han Da, “General Han, the Turks are preparing to attack! The approaching army seems to be from the Ashina Tribe, the famous Shield Cavalry…”

Han Da frowned upon hearing this. “Is it that Shield Cavalry known mainly for breaking city walls and defense?”

Sun Qiang nodded with an ugly expression. “Their heavy armor and special rattan shields… I’m afraid ordinary arrowheads won’t have much effect on them.”

Han Da said to Sun Qiang, “Go tell people to bring up the prepared Fire Oil. Prepare the Flaming Arrows.”

Sun Qiang nodded and hurriedly went to call people.

Meanwhile, those at the bottom who didn’t have time to announce their backgrounds bit their fingers, took off their clothes, wrote their names and last wills on the clothes, and threw them at the gate.

Then, they resolutely stood next to the Horse Trap Pit at the side.

…

Soon, three thousand Turkish Shield Cavalry and five thousand light Cavalry arrived not far from the Horse Trap Pit.

The Turks hiding among the slaves shouted loudly.

“Your Highness Mosi, don’t go any further! Ahead is a very large Horse Trap Pit…”

After the Turkic Spy shouted this, he drew his sword and began hacking at the slaves beside him.

“You garbage scum, you dare to stand against our great Turkic army! Go to hell!”

The Turkic Spy suddenly went berserk. The slaves around him, not expecting this, were caught off guard, and he managed to sneak-attack one.

However, once the slaves recovered, they fought back fiercely!

They immediately hacked that turncoat Turkic Spy into a bloody pulp.

The Shield Cavalry on the side of the Horse Trap Pit heard the commotion and reined in their horses!

Seeing this, Mosi Ashina coldly shouted, “You scum, you dare lay hands on our great Turkic warriors! Die!”

Speaking, Mosi Ashina shouted towards the back, “Mosuo, use your Mounted Archers to shoot these useless trash to death!”

With that, the Shield Cavalry dismounted and formed a formation, creating a shooting lane for the Mounted Archers to come forward.

Han Da shouted from the city wall, “Quick, raise your shields! Form a shield wall! Those without shields hide behind the shield wall. Then retreat steadily!”

Sun Qiang asked, “General Han, our Compound Bows can reach their position. Should we shoot?”

Han Da shook his head. “Not yet. They’ve formed a formation with the Shield Cavalry in front! At this distance, even if the arrows reach, their power will be reduced. I’m afraid they won’t pierce their armor! Wait for them to come a bit closer!”

These slaves were much smarter than expected.

Perhaps because their lives were at stake, even though they hadn’t received training!

Everything proceeded in an orderly manner.

Just as their Mounted Archers began their first volley, the slaves had already raised their shield wall.

The Arrowheads stuck directly into the shields. Just from that one volley, their shields were covered in Arrowheads.

Then they began to step back bit by bit.

Mosuo Ashina saw that a volley of nearly five thousand arrows had only wounded a few unlucky ones who weren’t protected. He immediately flew into a rage!

“Damn it! Shoot again!”

Mosi Ashina remained somewhat calmer. “Forget it, they have shields for cover! Shooting more would just waste arrows!”

Mosuo Ashina said with a dark expression, “Then what do we do? There’s a Horse Trap Pit ahead, we can’t charge with our Cavalry. Otherwise, one Cavalry charge would wipe out that scum! Elder Brother, many people are watching from behind now. This is our first battle. If this battle isn’t fought beautifully, those people behind will probably laugh their heads off!”

Mosi Ashina’s face darkened. “Listen to me!”

Saying this, Mosi Ashina called over the Shield Cavalry, had all of them dismount, and then went to manually trigger the Horse Trap Pit.

Not long after, a giant Horse Trap Pit, several meters deep and over two meters wide, appeared before their eyes!

“What the hell is this thing!” Mosuo Ashina exclaimed in shock after seeing it.

This Horse Trap Pit was designed by Xiao Ce. Over the past few days, the refugees and soldiers of Yanbei City dug non-stop, and actually managed to dig this huge trench on their likely path of advance.

You could even call it a moat rather than just a Horse Trap Pit!

There were a few log bridges at places over this giant Horse Trap Pit for people to walk on.

However, the Turks weren’t stupid either. Walking across that log bridge would just make them live targets.

…

By now, the slaves had retreated to the position Han Da specified. They saw the army of eight thousand Cavalry led by the brothers Mosi and Mosuo, completely blocked at the outer perimeter, unable to advance any further!

At Han Da’s signal, the slaves now started hurling insults at them. “Cowardly sons, weren’t you barking? Your granddaddies are right here! Come on, come kill us!”

“Yeah, you Turkic pups. Come on! Why aren’t you moving anymore? Your granddaddies are right here, come kill us!”

“We thought you were so tough, you mutts. A little ditch has you stuck! You’re the real trash! Come kill us! Garbage! Trash!”

“The bridge over there isn’t built for you? Come on over! We promise not to ambush you! We’ll beat the shit out of you and then feed it back to you!”

The slaves grew more and more excited as they cursed. At first, only a very few people were shouting.

But they discovered that the people they had feared deep down didn’t seem as terrifying as they had imagined.

So, more and more people joined in, and the curses became more and more foul!

On the other side of the Horse Trap Pit, the brothers Mosi and Mosuo listened to the slaves’ insults.

Their faces turned green with anger one by one!

“Elder Brother, damn it! These scum dare to curse us… I must chop them into pieces!”

“All Mounted Archers ready! Shoot!”

Mosuo jumped up and down, shouting angrily.

Mosi wanted to advise against it, but Mosuo glared back and retorted, “Elder Brother, don’t try to stop me! If we get cursed at like this and don’t dare to fight back, word would get out and people would laugh their heads off!”

“You command the Shield Cavalry, these Mounted Archers are mine!”

“All units! Shoot! Damn it, I want to see if their shields are thick or our arrows are sharp!”

With that, their Mounted Archers drew their bows and fired their arrows one by one.

The slaves, very experienced, used their shields to cover themselves. The arrows were all caught by the shields. Several volleys later, the result was the same as before – no casualties at all!

The slaves, hiding behind their shields, burst into mocking laughter. “Thank you for the arrows!”

Mosuo was furious.

“Damn it! Everyone, follow me in a charge! If we don’t kill that scum, I won’t vent my hatred!”

Seeing this, Mosi stepped forward and slapped Mosuo across the face. “Aren’t you ashamed enough? Charge my foot! The army on the city wall hasn’t moved! They’re waiting for you to charge! You go and die charging!”

The slap stunned Mosuo. “Elder Brother, what do you mean? Are we just going to retreat like this? That would make us a laughingstock for the other tribes!”

Mosi said, “Go get the Catapults! Also, cut down trees here and build a wooden bridge. Once our Shield Cavalry gets across, they’re dead! If you keep shooting, you’ll just become a joke.”

After receiving the slap, Mosuo calmed down somewhat.

They first went to report to the people in the Turkic tribe. The people from the tribe didn’t mock them.

After all, that giant Horse Trap Pit would leave anyone helpless!

So, everyone joined the tree-cutting army…

The catapults from various factions were also pushed forward.

…

Taking advantage of this interval, the slaves pulled all the Arrowheads from their shields.

They counted roughly fifty to sixty thousand arrows.

Han Da, watching the Turks’ actions from not far away, guessed their plan.

They were setting up their Catapults, obviously preparing to attack the city.

Now, he felt compassion. He briefly discussed with several Deputy Generals.

They decided to let these slaves into the city!

After all, judging from what just happened, they estimated there were at most a few hundred to a thousand Turkic Spies among them! A simple check could root them out.

They couldn’t let them wait for death outside because of a few Spies.

They wanted to live, they shouldn’t be left to die.

The shields could block arrows, but they couldn’t block the giant stones from the catapults.

Thinking of this, Han Da went up the city wall. “Everyone, later we will open the city gate for you. Retreat back into the city in an orderly manner. The enemy is about to attack with their Catapults!”

When Han Da said this, the slaves were overjoyed at first, but then said, “General Han, didn’t you say there are Spies among us? Do you have a way to tell them apart?”

Han Da said solemnly, “Not for now. But we can’t let you wait for death because of those Spies! Once the Catapults are assembled and attack you, the shields won’t hold up at all!”

The slaves said, “General Han, we appreciate your kindness. But the Spies are among us. Everything was fine inside the city. If Spies get mixed in and the city is breached, we would be sinners!”

“That’s right, General Han! You see us as people, you see us as fellow countrymen! We won’t let you down! They’re right, if they’re mixed among us, and we can’t tell them apart! We can’t let this hidden danger into the city!”

“General Han, I have a way to avoid the Catapult attacks!” One of the slaves raised his hand and shouted.