Chapter 39: A Battle Of Crushing Proportions
At this moment, Hou Tiancai was completely shocked, shouting in terror:
“Armored Cavalry!!!”
When these four words appeared in his mind, Hou Tiancai was completely dumbfounded.
He looked at the opposite side with a shocked and incredulous gaze.
Twenty cavalrymen wearing thick scale armor, riding tall and strong war horses, holding spears and war sabers, lined up in a row.
They charged recklessly toward him.
That powerful visual impact made Hou Tiancai’s entire body start to tremble.
“Impossible, impossible~”
Hou Tiancai’s face instantly turned pale, murmuring continuously as if he had lost his soul.
The armored cavalry before his eyes seemed to gradually overlap with the Geluolu people’s heavy cavalry that he had seen in the Battle of North Mountain.
That devastating aura, as if it could crush all enemies into dust, was still fresh in Hou Tiancai’s memory.
Although this armored cavalry unit had only a mere twenty riders, the surging momentum they unleashed had already stunned everyone in Hou Village.
Not just Hou Tiancai, but every soldier who had participated in the Battle of North Mountain seemed to be pulled back into the fear of being crushed by the Geluolu people’s heavy cavalry at this moment.
“Heavy Cavalry?”
“How do they have heavy cavalry?”
“Absolutely impossible.”
“Quickly scatter, don’t bunch up.”
The people of Hou Village shouted in terror, many of their faces already turning pale, even starting to babble nonsense.
They completely lost their will to fight, running around chaotically.
No one had expected that Li Xiao had deliberately used light cavalry to form an iron barrel formation, with the purpose of hiding the heavy cavalry behind them.
This was Li Xiao’s ultimate weapon.
Heavy cavalry are strong, but once the enemy slips away early and avoids engaging, no matter how powerful the heavy cavalry are, they are just a pile of scrap metal.
“Block them.”
“Quickly block them for me.”
Hou Tiancai shouted loudly on one side, telling others to block Li Xiao’s heavy cavalry, while he himself gripped the reins tightly with his pale hands.
He began to turn his horse’s head, preparing to slip away again.
This man appeared ruthless and merciless, decisive and ruthless, like a hero.
But in reality, he was cowardly at heart, easily shaken, and at a loss when facing danger, without any air of a great general.
When Li Xiao was outside Hou Village earlier, he had deliberately used Huang Xiuer to provoke him and had already seen through Hou Tiancai’s true nature.
If Li Xiao saw Hou Tiancai’s current appearance, he would only despise him even more.
If such a person became the leader of the Han people, he would only destroy the Han people of Jin Prefecture.
“Kill!”
The twenty heavy cavalry lined up in a row, charging violently forward on the vast and boundless grassland.
Their speed grew faster and faster, emanating a violent aura like an overwhelming force.
As if any enemies standing in their way would be trampled into dust.
“Block them.”
“Whoever dares to retreat, I will kill his entire family!”
Hou Tiancai shouted hoarsely, but no one listened to him.
Instead, it made him seem like a useless barking dog.
No one was a fool.
It was impossible to use their flesh and blood bodies to block heavy cavalry.
In the face of death, Hou Tiancai’s threats seemed ridiculous.
Thus, almost everyone began to flee in all directions.
But a distance of a hundred steps was instantaneous for cavalry.
“Boom~”
Just a few seconds later, accompanied by the thunderous roar of war horses, the twenty heavy cavalry plunged straight into the Hou Village cavalry ranks like a sharp blade.
Wherever the armored cavalry went, the resistance of the Hou Village soldiers was instantly scattered.
“Ah~”
“Save me!”
“I surrender.”
Miserable screams rose one after another, and the battlefield turned into a one-sided slaughter.
The enemies’ spears stabbed at the heavy cavalry’s armor but were only bounced off, like ants trying to shake a tree.
Facing a terrified and panicked burly man from the Hou Family in front of him, Li Xiao swung his horse spear fiercely with great strength, slashing off the opponent’s head like a bolt of lightning.
An enemy tried to rush forward to block him but was struck by one thrust, his entire body flung into the air with blood splattering in the sky.
The youths behind him were no less fierce; their spears and war sabers gleamed coldly in the sunlight, each swing bringing a shower of blood and gore.
The enemies’ screams rose one after another as they fell one by one.
The armored cavalry moved at extreme speed, weaving freely through the enemy ranks; the enemies had no time to react before being scattered.
Wherever they passed, it was a scene of devastation, with the people of Hou Village falling like harvested wheat.
In just over a minute, the twenty heavy cavalry had killed straight through the Hou Village men and horses.
There was no longer a single enemy in front of Li Xiao.
He slowly reined in his war horse and looked back; behind him was a trail of blood.
The ground was covered in blood and corpses, with minced meat splattered everywhere; the wounded men and horses lay on the ground neighing weakly.
On Li Xiao’s side, however, the twenty youths were unscathed.
“Hehe~”
“Hahaha~”
The youths wore bloodstained iron armor, their chests heaving slightly with rough breaths; although the battle had lasted only over a minute, it had consumed a great deal of their strength.
The consumption on their war horses beneath them was even greater.
But every youth’s face showed a smile, radiating confidence.
They looked at each other and burst into loud laughter.
“Refreshing.”
“Killed so satisfyingly.”
“It’s still the most fun killing with Fort Master Li.”
“Hahaha~”
The youths said proudly; even those from the three forts who had been unconvinced by Li Xiao before were now completely convinced.
Li Xiao’s battle results just now were no less than anyone else’s.
Brave and skilled in combat, the combat strength he displayed made everyone tremble.
“There were ultimately too few people and horses in Hou Village; this battle wasn’t satisfying enough.”
“In a while, I’ll take you to kill more Geluolu people.”
Li Xiao slowly removed his helmet and said loudly to the heavily armored youths.
His bold words were endorsed by everyone.
“Good.”
Being youths themselves, they were at the age of surging hot blood.
Just one shared battle was enough for Li Xiao to win these youths’ complete loyalty.
The battle was over; apart from those trampled to death by the heavy cavalry, the other Hou Village men and horses didn’t escape either.
Luo Meng and the others had long been waiting in ambush on both sides of the battlefield.
Facing the brutal slaughter of the heavy cavalry, these people who fled in all directions first were already terrified.
Pursued and killed by Luo Meng and the others, they completely lost their courage to fight.
They dismounted one after another and surrendered.
For them, surviving the charge of the god-like heavy cavalry was already a stroke of heaven’s luck.
How could they dare to resist?
“Take them to Hou Village.”
After the battle was completely over, Li Xiao ordered loudly.
Strike while the iron is hot and take Hou Village.
“Understood.”
The youth cavalry shouted loudly.
Having achieved a thrilling great victory with minimal casualties on their side.
Li Xiao’s prestige in their hearts had risen to an unparalleled level.
Even if Li Xiao now said he would lead them to charge into the main camp of the Geluolu people’s main force, these youths would follow without hesitation.
Hou Village!
At this time, Lin Dazhuang was still being tortured, his entire sole drenched in blood, without a single piece of good flesh.
Many people in Hou Village couldn’t bear to see this scene; after Old Man Hou left, they either went home or to the edge of the village, gazing into the distance.
These were mostly the elderly, women, and children; the men in their families had just gone out to pursue and kill the horse bandits.
Although they knew that over a hundred from Hou Village had a great advantage against more than twenty horse bandits.
These women and children still couldn’t help but worry about their family members.
The sun set in the west, orange-red light spreading across the land, dyeing the grassland into a crimson sea.
And at that moment, a cavalry unit seemed to appear at the horizon’s end.
“Has the Young Village Master returned?”
“Great.”
“It looks like they definitely won.”
“I’ll go report to the old Fort Master.”
Joyful smiles appeared on these people’s faces.
But as the cavalry drew closer, they gradually noticed something was wrong.
“Wrong, these aren’t our people.”
“It’s the enemy.”
Suddenly, someone shouted in terror, pulling everyone back to reality.
Upon closer inspection, the crowd realized that those in the distance indeed didn’t look like people from their own village.
Someone used the lure the tiger away from the mountain tactic, attacking Hou Village while the young and strong were away?
Thinking of this possibility, the hearts of these elderly, women, and children panicked.
The long-silent alarm bell in the village rang out, mobilizing everyone in the village, men, women, old, and young.
“Dong dong dong~”
Hearing this urgent bell, Li Xiao revealed a slight disdainful smile.
He lowered his head slightly and said to the woman in his arms: “The people of Hou Village are truly warm and welcoming; is this to welcome us?”
Hearing this, Huang Xiuer trembled slightly, nodded, and said: “It’s to welcome you.”
Her eyes were red-rimmed; facing this group of fierce-looking cavalry, her heart was extremely uneasy and fearful.
What made her even more uncomfortable was the mischievous large hand always below her neck.
Such behavior in public made Huang Xiuer ashamed and angry, but she couldn’t stop it at all.
Struggling was futile and only earned a warning from Li Xiao to strip her clothes off.
What made Huang Xiuer even more distraught was that all this was happening in front of her husband.
As her gaze shifted, Huang Xiuer saw her husband.
He wasn’t dead; he had luckily survived the brutal battle earlier, without even a scratch.
But unlike his previous spirited appearance, Hou Tiancai now looked utterly disheveled.
His hands were tightly bound with rope, a lasso around his neck, being led forward.
Those surviving Hou Village soldiers who shared his treatment were the same.
They were the ones who fled in all directions first, avoiding the heavy cavalry’s direct charge.
About sixty or seventy of them.
Each with a rope, all being led along.
Li Xiao hadn’t killed them for now; their fate later would depend on their performance.
But when Li Xiao’s gaze fell on Hou Tiancai, a smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
For these people surnamed Hou, no amount of good performance would help.
Not just because the Hou Family were traitors and had a grudge with Hexi Fort, but also because the Hou Family controlled most of Hou Village’s assets.
Without toppling the Hou Family and distributing their assets, how could Li Xiao win hearts?
“Young Village Master Hou, I’ll take you home.”
“Hahaha~”
Li Xiao laughed loudly, patted Huang Xiuer’s buttocks, cracked his horsewhip, and sped up.
Hou Tiancai, tethered and running behind him, nearly stumbled to the ground in disarray.
Seeing his own woman held in the enemy’s arms while he was led like a dog.
Hou Tiancai’s heart was filled with humiliation and rage; he nearly bit through his teeth, his fingernails digging into his flesh.
