Chapter 34: Forgetting Greed (1)

Twenty li outside Suiyang City lay a valley named Qinglang Valley. Now, the ten thousand cavalry led by Li Kuo had reached the entrance of the valley.
As Li Kuo had predicted, the balance between him and Cui Boyuan was ultimately broken as he neared Suiyang City. When he was thirty li away from Suiyang, Cui Boyuan led his cavalry to harass his flanks. Although the number of cavalry sent was not large, it still posed a significant obstacle to Li Kuo.
In a cavalry battle on open plains, numbers were decisive, followed by speed and quality.
Even with a thousand of the finest cavalry, one would likely have no advantage against ten thousand ordinary riders. If anyone dared to confront ten thousand cavalry with just a thousand, they would likely be swallowed up in that sea of riders in an instant.
Moreover, Cui Boyuan was facing elite troops like Li Kuo’s, who were eager to rush to Suiyang for aid. Hatred could sometimes unleash astonishing strength, and Li Kuo’s troops clearly harbored deep hatred toward the rebels.
Cui Boyuan understood these principles well, so he certainly wouldn’t seek a direct confrontation. But he also couldn’t just watch as these ten thousand fresh troops rushed to Suiyang City. What he had to do was slow down Li Kuo’s advance as much as possible, buying more time for Yin Ziqi outside Suiyang City.
From start to finish, Cui Boyuan never intended to engage in a direct fight with Li Kuo!
These harassments continued until they reached the entrance of Qinglang Valley. At that point, Cui Boyuan, as if having completed his task, led his troops away, leaving the ten thousand cavalry staring blankly at the valley.
The route Li Kuo took to aid Ningling last time was exactly opposite to this one—north versus south—so the detailed terrain of this area was quite unclear.
“Qilang, it seems Cui Boyuan is convinced we can’t pass through Qinglang Valley.”
Zhou Wucui tapped the horsewhip against the nearby valley entrance with a bitter smile. No wonder Cui Boyuan had withdrawn his troops without hesitation—in such a narrow valley, numerical superiority meant nothing. A hundred thousand troops were no different from ten thousand. It seemed the rebels only needed to station five thousand soldiers in the valley to block Li Kuo’s path to Suiyang.
Li Kuo sighed deeply. “Indeed. It seems we’re in for a fierce battle.”
Even if the rebels controlled the valley entrance, Li Kuo still had to fight them. Only by winning could he pass through Qinglang Valley and reach Suiyang for aid. If he lost this battle, all his previous efforts would be in vain.

Green Wolf Valley, Green Wolf Valley!
Li Kuo clenched his fists so hard they made a noise, a cold glint flashing in his eyes……
Green Wolf Valley resembled a sack, with the opening on the side closest to Suiyang. This meant it was easy to advance from Li Kuo’s side, but passing through the valley safely would be extremely difficult.
Yet Li Kuo had no choice but to face the challenge head-on.
He divided his 10,000 cavalrymen into four combat units, each led by Zhou Wucui, Dou Qing, Li Sheng, and himself. The reason for dividing the army into four units was that the valley became narrower as they moved northward, making it impossible for too many people to pass through at once.
The four armies attacked the rebel forces in sequence, which helped compensate for the reduced combat effectiveness caused by one unit taking the lead and becoming exhausted.
It seemed simple in theory, but in practice, it was extremely difficult.
Firstly, the valley was even narrower than Li Kuo had imagined. Before reaching one-third of the way through, the army had to dismount and fight on foot. Not being able to ride horses had a huge impact on their forces, as charging required momentum, and the speed of horses would have made charging much easier. Now, they had to abandon horses and fight on foot.
Since they were light cavalry, they couldn’t carry heavy weapons, so each soldier was equipped with only a saber and a silver spear. Such weapons were fine in horse battles but revealed their shortcomings in infantry combat.
The spears were slightly better, as they could kill enemies from a distance. But sabers were among the weakest weapons in infantry battles. Facing enemy defensive ditches and barriers, soldiers armed with sabers often died from a barrage of arrows before even reaching the enemy.
Therefore, Li Kuo had to find a better way to reduce the damage caused by enemy archers from afar.
Finally, he discovered strange-looking dead trees in the valley. These trees were as hard as fir or cypress, dry and sturdy, making them ideal for defense. Li Kuo immediately ordered the entire army to collect these trees and string arrowheads with their bark together, creating shield walls as tall as a person.
“Pass my order: the first combat unit, charge!”
Li Kuo composed himself, drew his blood-stained black sword from its sheath, and swung it forward with force……
It was a brutal close-quarters battle!
This became clear as soon as Li Kuo led his men into the enemy’s first line of defense.

Although the enemy had only deployed a little over 500 men at this defensive line, they had firmly blocked their path. Unless they were all killed, it would be impossible for them to move forward even by an inch.
But killing them all was no easy task.
“Puh puh!”
“Shu shu!”
“Puh!”
Swarms of feathered arrows kept hitting the giant shields, producing eerie sounds. Though they knew the wooden shields could withstand the enemy’s attacks, the soldiers of the First Shock Troops still felt an inexplicable sense of dread.
For the soldiers of the First Shock Troops, taking each step forward was extremely difficult, yet they couldn’t stop—many of their comrades were waiting behind them to advance. If they failed to capture this first defensive line, the entire army couldn’t move forward, and any attempt to rescue Suiyang City would be like chasing a mirage, utterly impossible!
“Advance!”
Li Kuo gritted his teeth and issued the order. At this critical moment, he couldn’t afford the slightest hesitation. No matter the cost, they must seize this first defensive line.
“The commander orders us to advance!”
Wang Xiaochun shouted loudly, raising his sword.
“One, two, advance!”
“One, two, advance!”
Since the giant shields were hastily made and of very poor quality, the soldiers exhausted a great deal of energy with each step forward. Yet these shields were their only reliance. The rebels stood on the slope, and from that angle, relying solely on the military-issued wooden shields, they would eventually be riddled with arrows.
“Shu shu!”
“Puh puh!”
Feathered arrows continued to strike the shields, but the soldiers were no longer as panicked as before. They knew the rebels’ arrows couldn’t hurt them, so they simply ignored those eerie sounds!
One step, two steps—the soldiers of the First Shock Troops struggled forward.
“Ah!”
“Ah!”
At some point, casualties appeared among the First Shock Troops. Some soldiers from the Jianghuai Army clutched their wounds and collapsed to the ground, groaning in pain. As the Jianghuai Army pressed forward, the angle between them and the rebels on the slope widened. No longer worried about the arrows losing strength due to the angle, the rebels leaned back and fired their arrows.
More and more soldiers collapsed in pain, never to rise again!
The rebels adjusted their firing angle—this was why the soldiers of the First Shock Troops were suffering casualties!
Li Kuo took a deep breath and ordered, “Except for those pushing the giant shields, everyone, draw out your wooden shields to protect your vital areas!”
At this command, the soldiers quickly drew out their wooden shields to cover their heads and chests.

At this moment, more and more feathered arrows were shot upward from the slope. These arrows easily passed over the giant shields and rained down on the soldiers of the Jianghuai army from above.
“Bang! Bang!”
“Pfft! Pfft!”
“Bang! Bang!”
Most of the arrows hit the Tang Dynasty-style wooden shields, losing their force and sliding to the sides, thus losing their threat. Yet a few arrows managed to slip through the gaps in the shields and pierced the throats of the Jianghuai army soldiers.
“Ugh, ugh!”
One of the Jianghuai army soldiers clutched tightly at the arrow in his throat, seemingly trying to say something. But apart from a few muffled sounds, he couldn’t make his comrades understand what he wanted to say. A stream of bright red blood gushed from his throat, his eyes froze, and he collapsed backward.
Another soldier had his eye pierced by a flying feathered arrow and fell to the ground in pain, only to be trampled into pulp by his comrades who rushed over.
“Speed up! Hurry up! There are only a few dozen steps left. Charge forward! Brothers, push harder and charge!”
Li Kuo drew his great black sword and ordered resolutely.