Chapter 87: Heavy Cavalry Charge, Crushing The Naiman People
When the Northern Frontier Iron Cavalry was preparing to surround and annihilate this Naiman Tribe.
Bu Ermahei also quickly organized his strength to resist.
Based on the comparison of both sides’ strength, there were only over two thousand men, women, elderly, and children in Bu Ermahei’s tribe combined.
While the Northern Frontier Army had fully over three thousand Iron Cavalry.
They were not on the same level at all.
However, the reason Bu Ermahei chose to resist was that he still had a major killing weapon in hand.
“Seventy paces, fire volleys to both sides.”
The vanguard of the Northern Frontier Army was Luo Ping. He rode on his war horse and shouted commands to the centurions under his command.
That was, when charging to around fifty meters, spread out to both sides and fire volleys with bow and arrow, repeating several times to consume the enemy’s strength and morale.
The benefit of doing this was that it could effectively reduce their own casualties.
The Jurchen People liked to charge directly with cavalry because their armor rate was high.
While the Northern Frontier Army and Naiman and other grassland cavalry had insufficient armor rates, they could only use this repeated sawing, kite-flying tactic.
Through several feigned attacks, disrupt the enemy’s rhythm, find the enemy’s weak spots, and then launch the final charge.
Luo Ping originally thought that with their three thousand Iron Cavalry surrounding over two thousand old, weak, women, and children of the enemy, it would be a piece of cake.
But unexpectedly, when the vanguard troops charged to over three hundred meters from the Naiman People, the Naiman People actually began firing arrows.
“Ahhhh~”
Immediately, some Northern Frontier Cavalrymen in the front let out screams and fell from their horses.
“What?”
Seeing this scene, Luo Ping was greatly shocked.
His leopard eyes were full of confusion and disbelief.
At such a long distance, the Naiman People could actually inflict effective casualties on their own troops?
Unable to afford to be shocked, Luo Ping hurriedly shouted loudly: “Spread out!”
The soldiers in the front immediately pulled their reins to both sides.
The army quickly turned direction to both sides.
“Hahaha.”
“This thing is indeed a divine weapon and sharp tool.”
In the Naiman Army, Gu Erba held a bow and crossbow and laughed proudly.
This was a giant bow over three feet long, with a wooden handle installed in the middle.
It was precisely the renowned Divine Arm Crossbow.
Sun Khan had ordered him to lead people to Western Xia precisely to secretly trade for a batch of Divine Arm Crossbows with the general of Heishui City.
This thing was a major killing weapon against cavalry.
Its maximum range could reach nearly four hundred meters, and within one hundred meters, it could even penetrate heavy armor.
And Gu Erba had fully one hundred of these Divine Arm Crossbows in hand.
They were originally prepared to be sent to Golden Mountain to deal with the Liao Army, but unexpectedly they were used halfway.
“Bu Ermahei Leader, now you can rest assured.”
“With the Divine Arm Crossbow in hand, this Liao Army absolutely cannot charge through.”
“You now immediately pile all the horse carriages in the tribe at the very front. If the Liao State people dare to come again, let them come and not return.” Gu Erba chuckled.
And at this time, Bu Ermahei also felt relieved, and a smile reappeared on his face.
“Good, I’ll go arrange it right now.”
This place was still a day’s journey from the Royal Court. They only needed to hold out for two days, and this Liao State army would surely retreat.
After Bu Ermahei left, Gu Erba scolded his subordinates.
“I told you long ago not to fire so early. Let the Liao State people get closer before firing.”
“You are simply damnable, wasting so many arrows for nothing.”
And the soldiers under him, upon hearing this, shrank their heads and didn’t dare utter a word.
Indeed, their mental resilience was insufficient, and their skills were not proficient.
They had only just traded for this batch of military equipment from the Western Xia people and hurriedly returned, figuring out how to use it themselves bit by bit.
They could barely use it.
On the other side, Li Xiao hurriedly led people to a centurion team under Luo Ping.
There were twelve soldiers who were hit by arrows.
Four were already dead, and the rest were still being treated.
“Da Long, this is the arrow that hit us. Take a look.”
Seeing Li Xiao arrive, Luo Ping solemnly handed the arrow in his hand to Li Xiao.
It was the one just pulled from the corpse of a dead soldier, still stained with blood.
After receiving it, Li Xiao’s expression also became solemn.
He said in a low voice: “It’s half a pace longer than ordinary arrows.”
“That’s right.” Luo Ping nodded.
“The range is also very far, fully more than twice that of ordinary bow and arrow.”
They had completely not expected the Naiman People to have such a major killing weapon in hand, so they suffered a loss.
And as Li Xiao held this arrow, he pondered deeply in his mind.
His first thought was the clear bow, known as the bow and arrow with the strongest lethality, capable of killing bears and tigers, nailing enemies to the ground from dozens of paces away.
However, the clear bow appeared in the late Ming Dynasty, so it shouldn’t exist now.
Therefore, Li Xiao quickly thought of something else.
He said gravely: “This should be an arrow from the Divine Arm Crossbow.”
“Divine Arm Crossbow?” Da Hu, Er Hu, and others asked in surprise.
And Luo Ping nodded lightly. Well-informed as he was, he had also immediately thought of the Divine Arm Crossbow.
“The Divine Arm Crossbow was invented by the Song People, later learned by the Western Xia people. There are quite a few in the Western Xia Army, mainly used for defending cities and infantry field battles.”
Luo Ping briefly introduced the situation of the Divine Arm Crossbow, then looked at Li Xiao and asked.
“What should we do?”
Withdraw or fight?
And Li Xiao thrust the Divine Arm Crossbow arrow into the ground, swept his gaze over everyone, and said gravely: “When two brave men meet on a narrow path, the braver one wins.”
“If we retreat at the first sign of difficulty, why fight the war at all.”
The main reason was also that Li Xiao had just observed.
The number of Divine Arm Crossbows in the Naiman People’s hands should not be too many.
Or rather, there shouldn’t be many soldiers who could use the Divine Arm Crossbow.
Although they had blocked the front with horse carriages to form a simple ‘camel fort’, Li Xiao still planned to take it on.
If nothing else, Li Xiao was very covetous of the Divine Arm Crossbow.
With his knowledge and insight from later generations, if he obtained a complete Divine Arm Crossbow, he might be able to replicate it.
“Pass the order: Li Dashan unit, feign attack from behind the Naiman People.”
“Li Sishui, lead five hundred men to the left side of the Naiman People.”
“Qin Chunsheng, lead five hundred men to the right side of the Naiman People.”
Li Sishui was Li Xiao’s paternal uncle, the son of Third Grandfather.
Qin Chunsheng was precisely Li Xiao’s second maternal uncle.
Then he looked at Luo Ping and said: “Uncle Luo, you stay here and continue feigning attacks on the front of the Naiman People.”
All four sides would be feigned attacks, first to mobilize the Naiman People’s troops and continuously disperse their defensive strength.
When the Naiman People’s minds began to tire and relax, then choose the weakest defended direction for the general assault.
Soon, the Northern Frontier Army began closing in from all directions around the Naiman People, surrounding these over two thousand Naiman People on this plain.
And Gu Erba also had to divide his crossbowmen into four teams to defend the four directions respectively.
“All of you perk up. Wait until the Liao people charge to two hundred paces before firing arrows.”
“Arrows are limited, so use them sparingly and aim accurately.”
After repelling a harassment from the Northern Frontier Army, Gu Erba shouted loudly to his crossbowmen subordinates.
Although the Divine Arm Crossbow was powerful, it couldn’t be fired randomly; arrows were a big problem.
Ordinary cavalry arrows didn’t match; they couldn’t shoot that far on the Divine Arm Crossbow.
On the other side, Bu Ermahei was also boosting the morale of his herdsmen.
“Someone has already gone out to seek aid. We just need to hold on, and Sun Khan will surely send people to save us.”
And while both sides were continuously probing and pulling back.
Li Xiao’s side had also made the final preparations.
With Da Hu’s help, he donned a full set of heavy armor, and even the big black horse beneath him was wrapped tightly in armor plates.
Behind him, there were eighty soldiers wearing heavy armor.
Besides the thirty-six sets of heavy armor captured from the Aslan Tribe initially, when ambushing Qu Chulü’s cavalry team, Li Xiao had captured over forty more sets.
As for the armor of Kekexue Wu’s Golden Mountain army, it had all been snatched by that dog Xiao Simo.
After everything was prepared, Li Xiao turned to look at the eighty heavy armored soldiers behind him and roared in a low voice:
“Brothers, with this heavy armor on, the enemy’s bow and arrow can no longer harm us.”
“Follow behind me, Li Xiao, and crush all the Naiman People before us.”
When Li Xiao’s words fell, a low horn sound rose over this desolate land.
“Wooo wooo woo woo~”
Lonely and shocking, emanating an endless killing intent.
And the Northern Frontier soldiers in front, hearing this horn, quickly retreated to both sides, leaving ample passage for the heavy cavalry.
“Kill~”
Li Xiao let out a explosive roar, gripped his horse spear, and charged forward first.
“Kill~”
“Boom boom boom~”
Low rumbling sounds rose on the land, the heavy cavalry’s iron hooves trampling the wilderness, kicking up waves of dust and sand.
The eighty armored cavalry had seemingly transformed into a torrent of steel, rolling forward with an unstoppable aura.
Any enemies blocking their path would be utterly crushed.
After the heavy cavalry charged, Qin Chunsheng waved his war saber and shouted loudly: “Brothers, follow me to kill.”
As his words fell, he too personally led the way, commanding his cavalry to closely follow behind Li Xiao and launch the final charge.
Accompanied by the desolate horn and massive shouts of killing, the Naiman People opposite were completely stunned.
People kept shouting: “It’s the Ironclad Soldiers.”
“They have many Ironclad Soldiers.”
“Our bow and arrow can’t kill them. What do we do?”
“Damn, they’re charging over.”
The direction Li Xiao chose was the west of the Naiman People, where they had the fewest defending troops and the fewest horse carriages, with large gaps between them, enough for war horses to charge through.
There was also an important factor: the sun. It was now the moment when the sun was about to set.
The sunlight was shining directly into the Naiman People’s eyes, affecting their arrow accuracy.
Thus, facing the Northern Frontier Army’s charge, the Naiman People became increasingly panicked.
Bu Ermahei and Gu Erba were both in other directions; there was only a tribe headman here, who couldn’t control the situation at all.
He could only shout in panic: “Quickly shoot them dead, quickly.”
“Don’t let them charge over.”
But facing the terrifying aura of the armored cavalry charge, who could remain calm?
Even the soldiers holding Divine Arm Crossbows were thrown into panic.
Facing the overwhelming terrifying sight, many subconsciously fired the crossbow arrows in their hands.
Completely forgetting Gu Erba’s instruction to wait until they were within one hundred paces before firing.
Not every soldier had such steadfast mental resilience.
“Clang clang clang~”
Arrows hit the iron armor, making crisp sounds, rarely penetrating.
The Naiman People fired too early, without enough power.
The Divine Arm Crossbow could indeed penetrate iron armor, but only within one hundred meters.
Firing too early, the panicked soldiers had no chance to reload a second arrow.
Moreover, Li Xiao discovered that in this direction, there were at most only twenty Divine Arm Crossbows, fundamentally unable to inflict sufficient casualties on the heavy cavalry.
His heart immediately settled.
“Kill~”
The heavy cavalry rolled forward like an arrowhead, easily breaking through the Naiman People’s defenses.
Five hundred light cavalry followed closely, surging into the Naiman People’s lines and beginning the slaughter.
Soon after, shouts rose from the Naiman People: “The Liao people have broken in.”
“The Liao Army is here.”
And Bu Ermahei and Gu Erba, hearing these shouts, were terrified, their faces pale as they looked to the right side.
There it was already chaos with men and horses overturned everywhere, filled with shouts of killing and screams.
“No, how could this be? What about the Divine Arm Crossbows?”
“Block them.” Gu Erba cried out in terror.
But Bu Ermahei was in a different state of mind.
The Liao Army had already broken through from that direction, so what meaning was left in his holdout?
With Golden Mountain breached, Sun Khan had even conscripted twelve-year-old children from the tribes, clearly showing desperate resistance.
Was the Naiman Tribe finished?
Thinking of this, Bu Ermahei’s expression immediately hardened.
The Naiman Tribe could be finished, but his own tribe could not.
As chieftain, he had to be responsible for the lives of over two thousand in his entire clan.
Thus, Bu Ermahei shouted to his subordinates: “Go tell the Liao State people that we surrender.”
“Stop fighting.”
