Chapter 223 - Reinforcement
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
The rushing horseshoe clatters broke the peaceful morning of Shanhai City as the two horses galloped on the commerce street. The troops reached the black tortoise gate and shouted, "Open the gates, there are urgent military matters!"
The ones defending the black tortoise gates were also city protection unit members, and seeing that they were the members protecting the north gate, they immediately ordered to open the city gates.
Going past the black tortoise gate, the cavalry split up. One went left into the barracks and the other continued straight to the lord's manor. He got off the horse and slammed the door. "Open up! Quickly open up!"
The guard opened the door. "Who’s knocking?"
"Quick, bring me to the lord, there are urgent military matters!" The cavalry said anxiously. He didn't dare to be slow, asking the cavalry to wait in the hall before running toward the backyard.
Ouyang Shuo received the information and rushed to the meeting hall.
"Lord, the city’s western camp has sent a distress signal."
Ouyang Shuo was astonished and had a bad feeling. He didn't have time to think and ordered, "Order all city protection unit members to go to their positions; order the northern and eastern camps to gather and wait for my command; order the Beihai Naval fleet’s 1st unit to sail here, the territory will enter level two emergency.”
"Yes sire!"
At the same time, the Guards at the Wuying courtyard were shocked. Captain Wang Feng dressed up and rushed to the meeting hall to get his orders, Ouyang Shuo didn't nag and just ordered them. "Gather your troops and follow me to assist the city’s western camp."
"Yes sire!"
Ouyang Shuo returned to the main courtyard and wore his Mingguang armor, carried his exquisite iron spear, and returned to the front courtyard. In the Wuying Courtyard, the guards were already gathered.
Before they left, the Director of Military Affairs, Ge Hongliang, rushed over, Ouyang Shuo, who was sitting on a Qingfu horse, ordered, "Director Ge, you are in charge of the main camp, direct the northern and eastern camps as well as the Beihai naval fleet. Get ready to reinforce the city’s western camp." Because he didn't understand much about the enemy, Ouyang Shuo didn't dare to move large amounts of troops.
"Yes sire!"
Ouyang Shuo stopped hesitating and hollered, "Guards! Move out!"
The city’s western camp was 60 kilometers away from Shanhai City. Ouyang Shuo didn't dare to slack and ordered the guards to rush there, their breakfasts were settled on horseback to try to reach the western city camp as fast as they could.
City’s western camp
As the camp had limited space, Sha Pojun, who had the numbers advantage, didn't want to have a mixed battle in the enemy camp and ordered his troops to group up and retreat out of the camp.
Shi Wanshui was busy gathering up the wounded and both sides kept a distance with a tacit understanding to regroup. After the enemy backed out of the camp, the 1st regiment had already formed up.
"Major general, what should we do next?" The first unit’s major Shihu said.
The other majors looked towards Shi Wanshui, waiting for his plan.
Shi Wanshui kept silent and analyzed the situation calmly. "The enemy is twice our number, so we can only defend on the back foot and wait for reinforcements."
The 4th unit major Zhao Yan suddenly said, "Major general, I've been closely analyzing the battle and found that although they have a lot of men, their strength isn't strong. The main camp is 60 kilometers from here and I'm worried that before they arrive the enemy would want to burn down our camp. Why not take the initiative and attack to defend?" The ranks of the 1st regiment were not only high, but the soldiers were also trained by Shi Wanshui, so their combat power wasn't something that Sha Pojun could compare to.
What Zhao Yan saw, Shi Wanshui obviously saw too. Based on their strength, they had a fighting chance, but he was worried if they went head to head, it would cause heavy casualties.
"Major General, let's fight! This fight is too humiliating, they actually bullied us at our home. Since our morale is so high, we could make use of it. Just defending would instead lower morale, I fear it isn't a long-term strategy." The 3rd unit’s major Li Mingliang supported and suggested a fight.
Shi Wanshui froze and he looked at the 4 majors, their eyes were lit with the thirst for battle and were waiting for Shi Wanshui's orders.
Shi Wanshui finally made the decision. "Ok, let's go head to head with them. We can't lose Shanhai City’s military might; we must let them see what elites are."
"Yes sire!" everyone replied.
The soldiers of the 1st regiment lined up neatly and moved out of the camp, row after row. The ones in front were the archers of the 1st unit, who were in charge of countering their long-range attacks; behind them were the 1st and 2nd units; the left wing was the 3rd cavalry unit, and the right wing was the spearmen unit.
When the battle started, neither side hesitated and launched attacks simultaneously.
The 1st regiment, with their backs against the camp, chose to take the initiative. Once the enemies got into range, the 5th unit fired wave after wave of arrows on the enemies.
Sha Pojun's strategy was to use the cavalry to break down the 1st regiment line of defense, while the sword shields soldiers at the back would advance, and the archers would provide cover fire from the back.
Facing the high-speed light cavalry soldiers, the 5th unit could only afford to fire two waves before avoiding to the sides, opening up the middle before moving to the back. The 1st and 2nd units moved up and raised their shields to welcome the cavalry charge.
This was the battle between spear and shield.
The light cavalry soldiers were like a flood, crashing into the front. The mountain barbarians could clearly see the white steam coming out from the noses of the war horses. The cavalry raised their spears, and the heads of the spears shimmered in the light like they were choosing who to bite into.
Shihu and Shibao, the two majors, stood at the front of the forces and shouted, "Block!"
"He!" The elite mountain barbarian soldiers made a series of shouts, using the shields in their hands to try and fend off the charging cavalry. At the same time, they hacked down using the Tang Swords in their left hands directly at the weak legs of the horses.
It was like the cavalry was smacking into a steel wall. After penetrating the first layer, there was a second then a third. Of those that were knocked into, like a can being forced open, their shields broke and their armor crushed them down onto the ground. As the cavalry trampled on them, they were pounded into meat paste, their blood staining the Buren armor slowly seeping out onto the ground. The long spears with the momentum of the charge pierced through the Buren armor and took life after life.
Reaching the third layer, the cavalry could not proceed any farther and had no more energy to continue charging.
The iron flood started to surround them, stepping on the bodies of their fallen comrades. With the fire of revenge, they waved their weapons, one horse after another fell to the ground. Before the warriors could get up, they were cut into pieces by the sword-shield soldiers.
With the change of position from defense to attack, the unblockable attack from the cavalry became an instant reverse slaughter.
The cavalry tried to use their spears to retaliate. Unfortunately, it was useless without the power and momentum from charging. Facing the high defense of the Buren armor, the spears couldn't penetrate through.
When the heavy armored infantry troops had cooled down the enemy cavalry, the 3rd major Li Mingliang finally made a move. He drew his Tang Sword nd waved it forwards, shouting, "Cavalry unit, charge!"
"Kill!" Numerous Tang Swords were drawn, exuding a strong killing aura.
The cavalry unit came in from the left, suddenly going past the sword shield soldiers of the enemy to attack their backmost line. The defenseless archers could only fire a wave of arrows before being killed by the cavalry. They only wore simple leather, how could they defend against the charge?
The 3rd cavalry troops crisscrossed around the archers, their blades screaming with bloodthirst. As the light shone across, a human head dropped to the ground. The place where the archers were standing in slowly became a human hell. Enemy screams couldn't be heard as they were often killed with one blade. The cavalry unit was like a high-efficiency harvester, mercilessly taking life after life. The heads of the enemy were strewn all over. After being crushed by the warhorses, they sunk into the ground, the brain juices and the mud mixing together, making one unable to differentiate the two.
The archer forces being ambushed caused Sha Pojun to helplessly order a portion of his sword shield soldiers who were charging behind the cavalry to fall back to assist.
If one said that the alliance cavalry was a sharp knife, the sword shield soldiers behind them were like fruit knives. They looked simple, but their killing ability was shocking. They took the chance that the heavy armored infantry was being cooped up by the cavalry, to dash up, causing the 1st and 2nd units to be under attack.
Originally, it was the perfect opportunity. If one commanded properly, there was a chance to wipe out the entire 1st and 2nd unit. Unfortunately, the attack from the 3rd unit forced a portion of the soldiers to retreat. At the same time, the 4th unit that wasn't doing anything entered the fray and used their spears to buy time for the 1st and 2nd units.
In that moment, the battle was in a stalemate. Both sides had thrown in all their troops. It was a race against time. If the alliance could kill the 1st and 2nd units, then victory was theirs.
On the other hand, if the 3rd unit destroyed the archers and attacked from the back, then it would be the end for the alliance.
Intense killing shouts filled the sky. At the most intense moment, Shi Wanshui had to put down his command and enter the fight himself to buy some time for the heavy armored soldiers.
Just at that moment, with the sounds of horse hooves, a flag fluttered in the air. On it was a golden dragon facing the sun, shining brightly.