Chapter 19: Drumming (II)

“No, no!”
The fierce light in Bi Qihe’s eyes suddenly dimmed. His eye sockets were sunken, his brows furrowed, and overwhelming fear ensued.
“No, this can’t be!”
The spear shafts spun! The crimson tassels fluttered in the cold wind as they leaped high, like dragons!
Nearly a thousand spears spun and pierced the chests of the Uyghur warriors. Their iron tips pierced through leather armor and flesh, creating holes the size of cup mouths. When the tips struck the ribs, a terrifying creaking sound arose, accompanied by the trembling of the Uyghur cavalry’s teeth, like a dirge played in the underworld.
Before the Uyghur cavalry could even swing their curved swords, several bright holes appeared in their chests. They fell from their horses in despair, only to be trampled into pulp by the advancing Tang and allied troops.
“Geshu Han told me they were only equipped with standard swords. Why do they have so many long spears?”
Bi Qihe was on the verge of madness. Sabers played a crucial role in close combat between cavalry, but that only applied when both sides used light weapons. If the enemy used long spears or even extremely long lances, a rider holding a sword from outside the horse’s reach would be pierced through!
“Geshu Han, that heartless wolf…”
Bi Qihe raised his eyebrows cruelly and said, “Don’t stop! Charge forward and overwhelm them!”
No matter how wealthy the Tang Dynasty was, it couldn’t equip every soldier with long spears. Moreover, the effectiveness of long spears was limited to the front line. No experienced general would deploy the entire army as spearmen. The result would be the cavalry in the back charging at the front line, rendering the advantage of long spears useless. The proper formation was to place archers behind the spearmen. With their numerical advantage, once they broke through this defense line, they could easily tear apart the archers behind the spearmen!
Besides, his own son Bachuo and general Nuoluo had already led the left and right flanks to bypass the enemy. Once he broke through this wall of Tang troops and encircled them, he could annihilate the Tang army in an instant.
Battle on the grasslands was simple: charge at the center, disrupt the flanks, and seize the opportunity to encircle! This was a tactic commonly used by grassland wolves, and the grassland wolves were the Uyghurs’ best teachers!
O Eternal Heaven, protect your people! Dark clouds covered the sun, and gloom shrouded the grasslands. We will prove ourselves with our curved swords and feathered arrows, and use the rivers of blood spilled by the Tang people to honor your noble soul!…
“Change formation!”
Li Kuo raised his eyebrows and loudly issued the order.

The “Art of War” mentions that if encountered by nomadic cavalry on the grasslands, the most important thing is to change formation. A well-structured formation can effectively counter the cavalry’s speed advantage and turn defeat into victory. The most effective formation against grassland cavalry is the halberd formation, but their troops lacked halberd users this time. The young man improvised by using the spear formation instead. Although the spear formation was less intimidating than the halberd, it could still effectively resist the cavalry’s momentum, and spears could be wielded from horseback, offering greater flexibility than heavy halberds. However, this formation had a fatal weakness: spears could not be arranged overlappingly, otherwise, once a gap opened up in the formation, the spearmen would crowd together even without enemy attack. Moreover, the spearmen needed to work in perfect coordination, as any impact could disperse their formation, requiring them to cover each other and fill the gaps. Thus, Li Kuo chose the soldiers from the Tongwu Camp to wield these spears! These comrades who fought side by side could face thousands of enemy cavalry without panicking and deliver a devastating blow to the Uyghurs together! He only needed this brief time to make the arrangements! The standard-bearers quickly waved the flags, conveying the commander’s orders—red flags turned black, the formation split into two wings, with troops advancing from behind! The spearmen withdrew from the wings, and the advancing cavalry quickly filled the gaps left by their comrades. Surprisingly, they carried no weapons at all, only three Fubo crossbows! The Fubo crossbow was the standard weapon for Tang cavalry, with a short range but great power, making it highly effective against rapidly advancing enemy cavalry. The reason was simple: although cavalry had great momentum, their formation restricted their mobility when charging. With the short range of the crossbows, by the time they pulled the triggers, the Uyghurs wouldn’t have time to dodge. Moreover, crossbows were more powerful than bows—ordinary leather or chainmail armor would be instantly pierced by their shots. The Uyghurs’ central army clearly realized the Tangs’ scheme. Behind the spearmen were not weak archers but crossbowmen. No wonder they took cover before their own attack even began! If it had been archers, the Uyghur cavalry would have paid no attention. Arrows were much slower than crossbow bolts, and it was difficult to aim while on horseback. In one round, the Tangs could fire at most once, after which the Uyghur cavalry could charge with their sabers and turn these Tang dogs into meat paste.

But these were crossbowmen! There was no need for any motions like drawing the bow or nocking an arrow—they could easily shoot arrows by simply pulling the trigger. At such a short distance, not even the most skilled warriors could avoid the arrows.
What was even worse was that there were as many as five hundred crossbowmen in front of them, each with three arrows. Three arrows fired at once were incredibly terrifying!
“Fire!”
Li Kuo shouted the order.
Most of these crossbowmen were new recruits who had just joined the Shule army. Although they had undergone months of training, and the soldiers of the Yongwu and Yiwu battalions had begun to exhibit the qualities of a regular army, expecting these inexperienced novices to fight against the Uyghur cavalry with long spears was clearly asking too much. True cavalry wasn’t trained in the barracks—it was forged in battle. Soldiers who had never seen blood would never become true soldiers!
“Fire!”
Li Sheng waved his sword in front of him, repeating the order from their commander. As the acting commander of the Yongwu and Yiwu battalions, he took on the role of temporary leader. What these soldiers lacked most was not tactical training but the judgment needed in battle!
Since judgment was lacking, all that was needed was strict obedience!
The soldiers of the two battalions pulled the triggers without hesitation, showing not the slightest doubt. If they didn’t kill the Uyghurs in front of them, it would be them who died!
They changed arrows and pulled the triggers again…
Everything happened so calmly and naturally.
The arrows rained down like locusts, instantly piercing through the Uyghurs’ leather armor. They didn’t even manage to utter a sound before collapsing to the ground.
“Despicable Tang dogs, only knowing tricks and schemes!”
Bi Qihe was furious after over three hundred of his warriors were killed in one round. They still had arrows—this army wasn’t as weak as Geshu Han had claimed.
“Ye Hu, shall we charge again?”
One of his bodyguards approached his horse and asked. After advancing just a dozen steps, over three hundred of their men had been killed or wounded. With their formation so dense now, charging further wouldn’t just be handing an easy target to the Tangs?
“Waste no words—keep charging!”
Bi Qihe spat out a mouthful of phlegm and roared. Although the arrows were powerful, their supply was limited. Now that they had reached this position, if they retreated, wouldn’t their fallen comrades have died in vain?
“Warriors, use your sabers to cut off the heads of those Tang dogs! Wash away your shame with their blood. The Eternal Heaven is watching us—may Heaven bless the Uyghurs, may it bless the descendants of the divine wolves!”
“Woo—woo-woo-woo-woo!”

The deep sound of horns rang out again, and the Uyghur cavalry launched another assault. Without hesitation, they trampled over the bodies of their comrades and charged at the Tang army’s crossbowmen. They intended to use the enemies’ heads as sacrifices to the great Tian Shangdi.

Drawing their bows and nocking arrows, the Uyghur cavalry skillfully performed these actions while controlling their horses with their legs.

Nearly a thousand feathered arrows flew in an arc, striking the Tang army’s ranks.

“Swish!” “Swish!”

The arrows sliced through the air and landed among the Tang crossbowmen. Some inexperienced soldiers were instantly turned into porcupines. Although their armor was better than that of the Uyghurs and their bows were less powerful than crossbows, most arrows came from above, piercing their heads before they could react…

Smelling the blood, the Uyghur cavalry grew more excited, firing arrow after arrow. To them, shooting was as simple as eating, and these two-legged sheep were natural targets who didn’t even know how to dodge.

Widespread casualties began to appear in the Tang army’s ranks. Many soldiers panicked and fell from their horses, being trampled to death by their hooves!

“Retreat!”

Li Sheng sighed softly. These soldiers clearly lacked battlefield experience. Faced with arrows raining down from the sky, they didn’t even know to use their shields to protect vital areas!

“Maintain formation! Don’t scatter!”

Dou Qing urged them from the side, stepping forward to remind those who were scattering.

“Damn it! Fighting like this is so frustrating! If it were up to me, Pu Da Chui, I’d lead my men straight at them. We can beat them—why go through all these complicated tricks?”

Pu Da Chui waved his huge hammer, complaining loudly. Shooting an arrow and then moving to a new position—when would they finally be able to wipe out these barbarians? To make matters worse, the general wouldn’t let him lead the charge. He was almost driven mad!

“Da Chui, hold on a bit longer. See those yellow clouds on the flanks? That’s a feast in store!”

Li Kuo patted Pu Da Chui’s arm and smiled as he looked at the two yellow clouds rising in the distance.