Chapter 15: Perseverance (V)

“Kill them! Those who follow me will thrive; those who resist me will perish! Anyone who does not obey General An Luoshi must be killed—kill them all!”
The deputy general laughed wildly, his face twisted into a monstrous expression, like a fierce ghost unleashed from the hell of Asura. At his command, countless Hu soldiers armed with curved swords charged at the villagers near the mill. In their eyes, these Tang people were nothing but sheep to be slaughtered as food for their army. Defying General An Luoshi meant death—they would be turned into dried meat for the troops!
Perhaps suppressed by the Tang for too long, these Hu soldiers from the northern steppes longed to wash away the humiliation left by their ancestors through the blood of the Tang, seeking to restore the glory of the sons of Changsheng Tian. This glory required countless battles and countless sacrifices. But since the Tang army hid west of Tongguan, afraid to fight, they had no choice but to take out their anger on these defenseless civilians. It was not their fault—really not!
“Brothers, kill them all! Cut off their heads and claim military merit—this is faster than fighting in battle! Kill them all, haha, haha!”
The Hu deputy general laughed heartily, feeling extremely satisfied. After this battle, with Hubi’er dying unexpectedly, he would undoubtedly be promoted. With at least two hundred heads of these villagers to present, his rank would surely rise by at least one level—meaning he could become a thousand-soldier commander overnight!
The deputy general narrowed his eyes, gloatingly imagining his bright future.
“General, there are horse hooves!”
An unexpected interruption came from a Khitan soldier, whispering.
“What?”
The deputy general frowned impatiently. “Horse hooves? Isn’t there only our army here collecting food? How could there be horse hooves? Did you hear wrong? Spreading false reports is a capital crime!”
The Khitan soldier quickly bowed. “As you say, how would I dare make such a claim? Listen carefully—there really are horse hooves!”
“Hm?”
The deputy general crouched down slightly and pressed his ear to the ground to listen carefully.
“Thud! Thud!”
Sure enough, he heard horse hooves in the distance. Judging by the sound, there must be no less than a thousand cavalry!
The deputy general was baffled. In this cold winter, could it be that some wealthy Han nobleman had organized a thousand cavalry for a winter hunt?
“Thud! Thud!”
The horse hooves grew louder, and the ground began to tremble. The snow covering the muddy ground slowly started to slide.

The foreign general seemed to realize something was wrong but couldn’t pinpoint what the problem was, until a large flag with black characters on a red background appeared before him.
Tang!
It was a Tang flag, and behind it were Tang cavalry!
Nearly ten thousand cavalrymen, brimming with fierce momentum, charged through the snow!
The clanging of iron horses echoed across vast distances. Where the sun rose, there lay the Great Tang!…
The foreign general’s mind instantly became a mess.
How could this be? How could such a thing happen? Hadn’t this place already been abandoned by the Tang army? Hadn’t Tangzhou City already been seized by their own troops? How could suddenly nearly ten thousand Tang cavalrymen emerge from this desolate place?
Ah!
“Retreat quickly! Retreat now! Can’t you see the Tang cavalry coming? If you stay here, are you waiting to die?”
The foreign general kicked his closest bodyguard hard in the buttocks and cursed loudly.
“Ah, ah!”
The innocent bodyguard responded with a pained expression, thinking to himself that it was he who had ordered his men to kill earlier, and now it was still him who was telling them to flee on horseback. No matter what he said, it seemed he was always in the right.
But he could only grumble these thoughts to himself; he would never dare say them out loud.
Everyone knew this general was a merciless tyrant—those who challenged him never made it past dawn.
The foreign soldiers, who had already cornered the villagers and were about to slaughter them, reluctantly stopped and turned toward their horses not far away at the order.
They were natural riders and could escape using their horses even in the face of disaster.
Just as quickly as usual, they mounted their horses, clamping their legs around their bellies while whipping them hard to drive them away.
“Form up! Form up! Don’t engage in battle—head for Tangzhou City!”
The foreign general glanced back at the Tang cavalry charging through the snow and instinctively swallowed hard. He was truly unlucky—after finally seeing his commander die, he now encountered the Tang army emerging from nowhere, ruining all his chances of glory.
What angered him most was that he had already ordered his men to cut down many heads, but before he could even throw them into his bag, he had to flee. It was infuriating!
“Gallop!”
“Gallop!”
Nearly a thousand foreign cavalrymen headed west along the frozen Ling River。……
“Chase after them! Don’t let a single foreign soldier escape!”
Li Kuo stared intently at the cluster of black smoke a hundred steps away, his eyes filled with rage. He could clearly see the piles of corpses at the village entrance, smell the bloodstained air, and even sense the mournful cries of the souls along the banks of the Ling River.

They resented themselves for failing to protect them and cursed the incompetence of the Tang court!
An unprecedented sense of humiliation overwhelmed him, leaving him breathless.
It was unbearable that the mighty Tang Dynasty could be bullied so severely by barbarians!
If a country cannot protect its people, what is the point of its existence? If a general cannot defend his homeland, what is the meaning of that general?
This hatred must be avenged with blood!
“All troops, charge!”
Li Kuo drew his sword and issued the order resolutely.
This cavalry force was mostly composed of troops trained in the Jianghuai region, with many veterans from the Tongwu, Zhenwu, and Xiongwu battalions as well. Under the leadership of Li Kuo’s trusted subordinates Pu Dachui, Dou Qing, and Zhou Wuzui, the cavalry split into three groups, attacking the barbarian troops from different directions.
The central, left, and right cavalry forces, each numbering about three thousand men, formed a cone formation, which greatly increased their speed. Driven by the desire to avenge their fellow villagers who had died at the hands of the barbarians, they swung their whips with determination. Gradually, the silhouettes of the barbarian cavalry, about a hundred paces away, became clearer—so clear that they could even see the embroidery on their furs.
It was these ungrateful wolves who rose in rebellion under An Dog. For their own selfish gains, they ignored the lives of ordinary people and committed countless crimes; they deserved to die!
“Draw bows, prepare!”
Xianyu Yu waved his hand and ordered, “Fire!”
A single sound could pierce armor from miles away!
At his command, countless cavalry bows were drawn to full tension, and arrowheads with blood grooves flew out swiftly. In no time, these deadly arrows reached the barbarian troops just dozens of paces away, piercing their leather armor and sinking into their flesh.
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
Painful cries rang out one after another. Some barbarian soldiers, unable to bear the agony, fell off their horses and were trampled to death by the pursuing horses. Others, with stronger wills, endured the pain, gripped their horses tightly, and spurred them forward.
They couldn’t stop—just by hearing the sound of horse hooves, they knew the Tang cavalry outnumbered them by more than ten to one. Although the Tang soldiers were not as strong as them, any so-called combat prowess meant nothing in the face of such a huge numerical advantage. The Tang could turn even the bravest grassland warriors into flesh paste with just one sword each; no one could survive such a confrontation.
They could imagine what would happen if they were left behind—these mad Tang soldiers would spare no effort to avenge those worthless commoners.

Dark clouds covered the sun, and the lambs chased after the wolves. Oh Eternal Heaven, why did things turn out this way?
They were confused and puzzled, unable to understand why the Tang people, who seemed so weak and timid at first glance, could unleash such great strength.
They were warriors blessed by the Eternal Heaven, yet now they could only flee in panic, knowing that even a slight delay would mean death.
What a great mockery!
From time to time, Hu soldiers would cry out in pain as arrows struck them and they fell from their horses. The Hu soldiers had long become numb, only striving to whip their horses faster, leaving their backs completely exposed to the Tang soldiers.
Fate decides life and death; there was nothing else to do now.
“Encircle them!”
Li Kuo glanced at the formation of his troops and gave a cold order.
“The commander orders all troops to encircle them! The commander orders all troops to encircle them!”
The standard-bearer rode swiftly while waving a scarlet flag. According to the unspoken signals of the Tang army, the appearance of this flag meant to encircle and annihilate the enemy.
The flanks, which had initially been open, gradually closed in, while a cavalry unit from the center also sped up, closing the distance to the rear Hu soldiers to just twenty or thirty steps.
“Charge!”
Seeing that the moment was ripe, Li Kuo issued a firm command.
Attacking from both flanks, with the rear troops following.
In an instant, the clanging of horses on snow covered the more than a thousand Hu soldiers, burying them in the dim twilight.