Chapter 444: Together, Through Life and Death
Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation
Due to the intense proceedings that had taken place, no one had really noticed the oddity; the horses were focused in galloping with all their might as well, charging back alongside the troop. It was only now when things had quietened down, that they felt something amiss.
Previously, they had been surrounded by their own kind, and the horses had not raised a fuss. Now that the surviving Steel Cavalrymen had returned to the troop, these ownerless warhorses immediately felt lost. They shook their head left and right, trying to find their partners in panic.
Wasn't my partner on my back just a while ago?
Why? Why isn't he riding me?
Where have you gone to?
The warhorses neighed in sorrow, clopping their hooves anxiously, and hoped to find familiar faces among the crowd.
Suddenly, a warhorse neighed and reared up, looking around for its master. However, its gaze only grew more panicked, grieved, and despaired.
After a long moment, approximately two thousand horses neighed together in desperate anguish.
Hearing this, no one could help but feel the heart-wrenching lament in them. Fu Baoguo lowered his head forlornly. The twenty thousand men of the Steel Cavalry that had gone back to their battalion bit down hard on their lips without making any sound, tears already shining in their eyes.
The Steel Cavalry, that had never been disorderly, was disarrayed now.
The warhorses carried the empty saddles on them, walking around involuntarily with quivering noses, searching for their partners, their owners.
The looks of grief and loss were saddening to behold.
Suddenly, a long neighing resounded. A warhorse broke away from the group, carrying the empty saddle, and sped towards the battlefield like an arrow.
Warhorses were spiritual creatures. It was obvious that the horse was going back to where its master had disappeared to find him and be together with him, to carry him on its back for all eternity.
With this warhorse in the lead, hundreds of warhorses followed suit, straying from the group and galloping away. The horses' manes fluttered in the wind, dancing, yet full of determined grief.
"Stop them!" Wang Dingguo was shocked, quickly yelling at his men to do something.
"They can't be stopped." Fu Baoguo shook his head and said, "They… won't come back anymore…"
The warhorses' neighs resonated across the battleground and faded away with the wind.
On the battlefield, Dongxuan's troops were cleaning up when several hundred horses charged over, galloping at full speed. They did not care about the enemy, carefully searching for their lost masters in the ruins.
Their concentration was unwavering, devoted solely to the task of locating their missing partners.
"Catch them!" An assistant general in Dongxuan's troop could not help yelling with delight upon seeing the horses.
These were all Steel Cavalry's warhorses; any one of them was a magnificent breed, one among thousands. The sudden arrival of such a large herd of ownerless horses was a godsend! Dongxuan's assistant general took the lead in his exhilaration, rushing towards a horse he could tell was of a fantastic breed with just a quick glance.
A wave of Dongxuan soldiers followed, spurred on by the running figure.
"Wait!"
A middle-aged leader who stood farther away knew that things were about to turn awry when he saw what was happening, but his shouted warning was already too late. Besides, there were soldiers who had heard him but were clouded with only the thought of obtaining a great horse.
Hundreds of Dongxuan soldiers had bolted away, entangling themselves with the horses and their bridles.
"This is mine!"
"Haha, mine!"
"Mine…"
The hundreds of warhorses had poured their hearts and souls into finding their partners' remains, only to be forcefully pestered by these men. Some of them had even leaped up onto the horses' backs. How could they have endured it? Unprecedentedly aggressive, they hopped and charged blindly.
With a drawn-out neigh, a horse that was being mounted without permission leaped and bit in a berserk frenzy, as it galloped towards Dongxuan's base. Its reins were being pulled taut, but there was no more rationality in its eyes. Its speed was quick as lightning; it only knew to charge forward insanely without caring what was in front.
All the warhorses neighed in despair simultaneously and began to gallop at a hysterical pace.
"Hop off! Hop off quickly! Hop off now if you don't' want to die!"
The Dongxuan leader roared in panic as he shouted from far away while stomping his foot – these freshly-blooded soldiers knew nothing!
Who dared to provoke these warhorses with their dead owners lying on the battleground? Such foolhardy behavior was practically seeking your own death!
These warhorses had already determined their destinies, which was to return to the battlefield and die with their masters! These loyal horses had never even considered trying to continue living.
It was extremely dangerous to hop off a galloping horse, with the risk of injured tendons or broken bones, but it was still better than just dying like this.
Many soldiers who mounted the horses did not get to jump off in time as the speeding horses were like lightning and thunder.
Some warhorses collided into huge tree trunks head-on, severely injuring themselves and even killing the soldiers. One had knocked into the rocks along the perimeter, blood splattering, while the strong momentum flung the rider high and far, crushing his head.
Many more horses charged into Dongxuan's base wildly, kicking and tearing, damaging anything and everything with all their strength until they fell under Dongxuan army's swords and sabers.
Even then, the hundreds of wild horses had caused thousands of casualties within Dongxuan army.
The head of the Dongxuan's Shadow Cavalry dashed over frantically, riding a tall black horse and broke out in curses, "Who let them rein in these warhorses? This is f*cking suicide! You've been to the battlefield and you don't even have such common knowledge?"
"Bunch of bastards!"
The head of the Shadow Cavalry bellowed in rage.
The most effective solution was to kill these horses without their masters with arrows. Any other method would only bring about unnecessary losses!
A general in the base came out with a dark face and a saber, hollering, "Dying to show their loyalty, are they? Your father's going to eat these animals! I'm going to crush them to pieces!"
The head of the Shadow Cavalry was ticked off at once, flinging the dark-faced general dozens of feet away with his horsewhip, as he chided fervently, "How bold! Do you actually want to eat the meat of such loyal warhorses? Are you still human?"
He did not let the matter go as he leaped off his horse. There were actually tears shining in his eyes.
"Clean up the bodies of these warhorses and the Yutang fighters who have perished… Bury them together." sighed the head of Shadow Cavalry.
There were a few horses that teetered on the line between life and death, twitching and crying on the ground. Their anguish was heart-wrenching to anyone who heard them.
The head of Shadow Cavalry sighed and walked over with large strides. Stroking the horses gently and murmuring soft words of comfort, the steel dagger in his hand dug into their hearts cleanly to send them off on their way with as little pain as possible.
"Leave in peace. Your owner is waiting for you below. You all can fight alongside each other again, never to separate!"
He stood up, still shaking with anger, and yelled, "Why are there still people who don't know about such military taboo? Why would you still violate it? Whose men are these? Answer your father!"
His infuriated roar ricocheted in the air, filled with grief.
"Are you fellows going to snatch our loyal horses when we die as well? Will you all eat our loyal horses? Is this how it's going to be?"
The Shadow Cavalry and the Steel Cavalry were both deadly weapons on the battlefield; they were also the best cavalry in the continent!
They were enemies, rivals who had always regarded the other party as their best opponent, their only opponent!
At this point in time, they could empathize with what had happened to these ownerless Steel Cavalry horses, like they were the ones experiencing it themselves.
In Yutang's base, flags fluttered in the wind.
Tens of thousands of militants stood solemnly and saluted.
"Warhorses, long live their heroic souls!"
"We bid you saddle your masters again in passing to the underworld together and never separate, together forever!"
…
Millions of people were dragged into hardship when two countries were at war.
Whether they were humble and lowly or high and mighty, no one could escape this whirlpool.
He Dachui was the master of the Crepuscugale Stockade. The so-called Crepuscugale Stockade was but a bunch of bandits gathering and roaming the mountains at the eastern border. They robbed and raided homes of both the people of Dongxuan or Yutang; as long as they were wealthy people whom Crepuscugale Stockade could prey on, they would take action.
Although He Dachui was born in Yutang, he was the son of a blacksmith in the forest; he was illiterate, not knowing many words. That being said, he did not understand the concept of family, nation, and people. After his father had passed away, he robbed as means of living, depending on his extraordinary strength, and eventually became the head of bandits.
Relying on the excellent equipment and remarkable skills of his eight hundred brothers, his businesses, which needed no capital, rarely failed; naturally, his life was great, days spent in freedom and leisure.
Furthermore, these people had never cared for nationality nor the concepts of right and wrong; they never missed anyone whether they were passing merchants or normal pedestrians, thus earning the name - Pack of Eastern Border Wolves!
The people living near the border of both countries loathed the gang, calling them Wolf Bandits.
He Dachui had always taken shame in the words Wolf Bandits but it was due to this two-worded name that he studied the tactics of a wolf pack. Each time they robbed, they came like a whirlwind from every direction, dispersing and scattering they way had come once their raid was completed. Their movements were like the wind, irregular and unpredictable.
Both Dongxuan and Yutang had long wanted to extinguish this gang of bandits, but the many times the nations had set out to exterminate them, they had fled into the deep mountains, rendering the countries' effort futile.
However, as war erupted, these bandits were suddenly faced with hardship.
Dongxuan's clearing of the wild forests was slowly encroaching on their territory, erasing all the living creatures along their way. Yutang, on the other hand, had forged for themselves a steel wall, stationary and devoid of men.
The extreme contest between both countries had created problems– He Dachui and his eight hundred bandits slowly felt that their means of living was growing difficult; they could not go on like this any longer.
These days, He Dachui brought a few of his brothers to carefully roam around the battlefield in hopes of finding opportunities to either make some transactions or rob someone. Their supplies would soon be emptied if there was no input at all. The bandits moved like the wind, already storing very little inventory. As time passed, their previously collected resources were long expended.
He Dachui felt starvation painfully deflating his stomach.