Chapter 38: The Deterrence Of Heavy Cavalry
“Tiancai, before leaving, the Old Village Master gave special instructions not to underestimate or advance rashly.”
“If there is danger, return immediately.”
Among the Hou Village team, a Hou Family man said to Hou Tiancai.
Old Man Hou was also anxious to rescue Huang Xiuer to avoid affecting relations with the Huang family.
But after all, he was old and cunning, so he always had to be a bit more cautious in doing things.
Unlike Hou Tiancai, who let anger cloud his judgment and charged ahead recklessly.
Old Man Hou was also worried this was a trap set by the enemy.
Although Hou Tiancai’s heart was full of anger, out of respect for his grandfather’s prestige, he nodded heavily and said in a deep voice: “Good, I understand.”
But he was not particularly worried either.
After all, most of the south side of Hou Village was flat open land.
Whether the enemy was hiding troops could be seen at a glance.
If he found the enemy’s numbers too great, Hou Tiancai certainly would not disregard his own life.
In this way, these more than one hundred people from Hou Village followed the hoof prints left by Li Xiao and kept searching westward.
Not long after, the person walking at the very front suddenly shouted loudly.
“There are people ahead.”
Hearing this, Hou Tiancai pushed past everyone and walked to the front.
Sure enough, he saw a large group of black figures on the green grassland in the distance.
“That’s them.”
Hou Tiancai’s face immediately darkened, and he stared ahead with gritted teeth.
“But they seem to have a lot of people, definitely more than twenty.”
A burly man from the Hou Family said in a deep voice, his brows slightly furrowed.
Based on his experience, the opponent’s numbers were at least around a hundred.
Far from the twenty people Hou Tiancai had mentioned.
Moreover, all of them were on horseback, holding bow and arrow or spear in hand.
They looked very formidable.
“Hmph, I want to see exactly who dares to rob my woman.” Hou Tiancai said in a grim voice.
His gaze was fixed dead on the distant cavalry.
At this moment, he discovered that after seeing them, the opponents not only did not flee, but instead charged toward them.
“They’re charging over.”
The others also noticed this problem, and their faces turned somewhat unpleasant.
“What do they want to do?”
“Could they want to fight us?”
“Their numbers are fewer than ours; if we fight, they definitely won’t have the advantage.”
The people from Hou Village all said.
The atmosphere suddenly became tense.
If the opponents had only twenty people, then these more than one hundred from Hou Village would not hesitate at all and would directly surround and attack.
But the opponents had nearly a hundred.
Although their own side had more numbers, battle was not won simply by numbers.
There were countless historical examples of victory against superior numbers.
So, in a situation without a clear advantage, no one was willing to fight to the death.
Because once battle began, it meant casualties.
Even if they won, Hou Village would certainly suffer heavy losses.
For one woman, causing dozens or even hundreds of casualties would absolutely be stupidity.
Not to mention the unrelated families in Hou Village; even the core Hou Family members began to hesitate.
“These people are simply madmen.”
“They’ve already taken Huang Xiuer; do they still want to continue fighting us?”
“Their numbers are fewer than ours, yet they dare to take the offensive?”
“How about we return to the village first, then slowly negotiate with them to exchange back Madam?”
The last sentence gained agreement from many, who all had this thought.
Knowing they might die, no one was willing to fight to the death for the Hou Family.
But the next second, Hou Tiancai slowly walked up to that man.
His grim face showed eyes surging with endless fury.
He roared in low anger: “Slowly negotiate?”
“How long do you want to negotiate?”
“Until that woman is sent into the bridal chamber by the enemy, played with, and then exchanged back?”
This was an unrelated family member, stared at by Hou Tiancai’s cold gaze, terrified inside.
“I. No.”
He had just wanted to explain, but the next second, Hou Tiancai’s spear thrust straight out.
It instantly pierced the man’s chest.
His eyes widened in disbelief as he crashed heavily to the ground.
In that instant, the others from Hou Village were all stunned.
They had not expected Hou Tiancai to be so ruthless; the man had only said a few words and was directly killed by Hou Tiancai.
The others immediately became even more fearful, cowed by the Hou Family’s tyranny, not daring to say another word.
“Those who shrink from battle die.”
“Whoever dares suggest retreating to the village again will end up like this man.”
Hou Tiancai held the bloodstained spear, his gaze deterring the crowd as he said sternly.
With great battle imminent, morale had to be unified.
For those who spoke recklessly and shook morale, they must be executed as an example.
“The enemy’s numbers are fewer than ours; charge and we can definitely wipe them out.”
“If we defeat those people, I’ll reward two sheep to every family.”
“But whoever dares slack off, just wait to starve next year.”
“Charge for me.”
Hou Tiancai shouted loudly, forcing the crowd to charge forward.
With no choice, the people from Hou Village could only steel themselves and go.
The Hou Family’s control over Hou Village was no empty talk; anyone who dared defy the Hou Family would face ruin or worse.
Moreover, just as Hou Tiancai said, their side held the numerical advantage, so the enemy was surely bluffing.
As long as they showed ferocity, perhaps the enemy would break first.
That way, there would be no need for a desperate fight; they could just pursue and kill the fleeing enemy.
“Boom boom boom.”
More than one hundred youths charged toward the Hou Village people, their iron cavalry trampling the land, emitting a deep rumble that shook the heart.
But the speed was not very fast.
Li Xiao wore scale armor, a tasseled helmet on his head, horse spear in hand, fully protected except for his face looking straight ahead; even his war horse was draped in a layer of iron armor.
In this era, he was completely like a human mecha.
Behind him were nineteen similarly equipped cavalry, all gripping spear or war saber, accelerating into a rapid charge.
Like a wall of copper and iron surging forward, emanating overwhelming power.
“Da Long.”
“Hou Village people are charging toward us.”
At the front of the team, Luo Meng, wearing leather armor, shouted loudly to Li Xiao at the rear.
“Good.” Li Xiao shouted back.
“One hundred paces.”
The war horses’ rumbling drowned out most of Li Xiao’s shout, but Luo Meng heard clearly and knew what to do.
In this battle, Li Xiao would lead the heavy cavalry to kill the enemy, while Luo Meng commanded the front.
As the distance between both sides grew closer, Li Xiao’s mood became even calmer.
Without the slightest pressure or tension.
In his view, once Hou Village’s troops left the village, the outcome of this battle was already decided.
Unlike the previous night raid on the Geluolu People, which had many unknowns.
The opponents had only a little over a hundred.
Although charging with surging momentum, it only hastened their defeat.
As the distance closed, Luo Meng could already clearly see the expressions on the opponents’ faces.
“Come on.”
The corner of his mouth slowly curved up as he gripped his spear tightly.
He silently calculated the distance between them.
When there were nearly one hundred paces left, Luo Meng suddenly shouted loudly to those behind: “Spread out.”
With Luo Meng’s shout, the youths suddenly moved.
The cavalry at the very front began shifting to both sides.
The entire wall of copper and iron was torn apart from the middle.
“What are they doing?”
The movements of the youths also left the Hou Village people baffled, unable to figure it out.
Just moments ago, Hou Tiancai had been mocking in his heart that these people did not know how to fight.
Cavalry charging most tabooed bunching up; the more spread out, the better.
But the opponents had formed a wall of copper and iron formation, looking impregnable, with majestic momentum in the charge.
But in Hou Tiancai’s view, it was utterly incompetent.
The opponent’s leader was simply an amateur.
Or rather, they were just infantry on horseback.
Hou Tiancai had many ways to easily deal with them.
But just as Hou Tiancai was full of confidence, the opponents suddenly changed formation.
“They want to harass us from the flanks?”
This idea popped into Hou Tiancai’s mind.
Very possible.
Their side held numerical superiority; the opponents dared not clash head-on in decisive battle, so they used this method: fight while retreating, shooting from range with bow and arrow.
“Hmph, overreaching.”
Hou Tiancai mocked them in his heart.
But the next second, he suddenly heard cries of alarm and uproar from the front of their team.
“Damn, what is that thing?”
“What’s coming out from behind?”
“Heavens, that’s heavy cavalry.”
“Heavy cavalry?”
“We’re done for, we’re finished.”
The Hou Village troops immediately erupted in chaos, thrown into disorder.
Their frenzied forward charge became disorganized, with some even quickly reining in their war horses.
They looked at the enemy opposite with shocked and terrified expressions.
After their front cavalry spread out, they exposed the cavalry behind.
Both men and horses wore heavy armor, gleaming with cold metal luster under the sunlight, like a torrent of steel charging from afar.
As if iron cavalry gods of war from myth.
“Armored Cavalry.”
This term flashed through every Hou Village person’s mind.
Everyone felt as if they had fallen into an ice cave.
