Chapter 51: Heavenly Questions (III)

In fact, at this moment, Li Kuo’s army did not have enough halberd warriors.
He had led as many as ten thousand cavalry on this campaign from Tangzhou, but to keep up with the pace, he had not brought overly heavy military equipment. One exception, however, was the halberd!
The halberds of Anxi, the halberds of the Great Tang!
Having fought in Anxi for many years, Li Kuo was well aware of the power of halberds. Thus, when rushing to aid Suiyang, he specifically brought over a hundred halberds as a contingency measure. Unexpectedly, by the banks of the Cang River, these halberds truly proved their effectiveness!
Although there were only over a hundred halberds, they were sufficient in this narrow area.
The rebel cavalry managed to squeeze through the spear formations but, before they could catch their breath, they were confronted with the sea of halberds before them. Horses, more sensitive than humans, began to neigh frantically from the moment they saw the halberd formation, instinctively spitting foam to express their fear.
“It’s a halberd! It’s a halberd!”
Some lower-ranking officers among the rebels, who had seen the world, shouted in shock, as if they had found five taels of silver in their own yard.
“It’s a halberd! Everyone, run!”
Someone shouted, instantly causing a panic in the army.
The cavalry who had never encountered a halberd formation before grew anxious upon hearing their comrades speak thus, wondering whether they should retreat. But with the army moving so quickly, behind them were either pursuing cavalry or piles of dead soldiers—how could they possibly have any room to turn back?
“Forward!”
The soldiers of the Jianghuai army no longer intended to give the rebels any chance. With Wang Xiaochun’s fierce roar, over a hundred strong men, seven feet tall and bare-chested, raised their halberds high above their heads and swung them down with force.
The people before them were rebels, enemies who had killed their relatives—deserving not a shred of sympathy. If they hesitated to kill them now, those rebels would harm the people of Jianghuai.
“Forward!”
A Yan cavalryman who failed to dodge was instantly cut in half by the halberd; his internal organs spilled out along his dangling body, covering the ground.
“Thud, thud, thud, thud, thud!”
Li Kuo personally beat the drums to inspire his soldiers. In a battle between two armies, the brave prevail. He must defend this suspension bridge at all costs. Only by holding this bridge could he stop the rebels’ advance and buy time for Wu Ji and Li Sheng to evacuate the civilians. He was not fighting for one person, but for thousands of fellow villagers and ordinary people.

“Dong dong dong, dong dong dong, dong dong dong…”
The urgent drumbeats were so forceful that they shocked everyone who heard them.
“Advance!”
Wang Xiaochun felt his blood boil; an endless surge of strength filled his body as he shouted the order. Since Pu Dachui’s death, he had become the leader of the halberd soldiers, responsible for giving commands within their formation.
Swing the halberd, swing it again, swing it once more!
Advance, advance, keep advancing!
The halberd soldiers pushed forward steadily, mercilessly destroying everything in their path.
One of them raised his halberd high above his head and swung it down with force, severing a huge horse’s head in one strike.
“Pfft!”
A gush of blood sprayed from the horse’s head, splashing all over the soldier’s face. Yet he didn’t pause at all and continued moving forward.
“Ah!”
A soldier who moved slightly slower was targeted by a Tang soldier; the halberd sliced down through his shoulder blade and out through his right abdomen.
Faced with such horror, some new recruits stood frozen, not knowing what to do.
The halberds swept through them mercilessly, splitting weapons, cracking armor, and cutting through bodies…
Broken limbs flew into the air before plummeting to the rebels’ cavalry at the back.
“Dong dong dong! Dong dong dong! Dong dong dong!”
Li Kuo pounded the war drum with all his might, offering support to his comrades in his own way. He knew well that a hundred halberd soldiers could easily hold the bridgehead, so he didn’t need to get involved.
“Advance!”
Wang Xiaochun stepped forward in time with the drumbeats, swinging his halberd and beheading a Turk in one motion.
“Haha, hahaha!”
Wang Xiaochun laughed loudly as he continued to claim lives. They had suppressed their desires for too long; it had been ages since they’d felt such satisfaction. Today, he would kill to his heart’s content, avenging his comrades who had died defending Suiyang!
“Advance!”
Over a hundred halberd soldiers stepped forward, swinging their weapons again and again!
One head after another flew off, and streams of blood gushed from necks like fountains.
The lucky rebels were often killed in a single strike by the halberd soldiers, while the unlucky ones, though not killed at once, writhed on the ground in pain with their broken bodies.
“Advance!”
There was no need for mercy toward the enemy—they must use their halberds to defend the dignity of the Tang Dynasty!

The rebels in the back row, witnessing such bloody scenes, were restless, holding the reins with one hand while silently watching what was happening. Under normal circumstances, they would never have stood by idly as the Tang soldiers slaughtered their comrades before their eyes. But now they were powerless. Those weremookdo (or mo dao) soldiers—just a thousand of them, yet stillmookdo (or mo dao) soldiers! They watched indifferently as their brothers had their heads cut off by the Tang soldiers, their bodies split in two and falling heavily to the ground. They watched helplessly as their comrades had their thighs and arms severed by the Tang soldiers, who then mocked them mercilessly… They were powerless, too afraid to resist or flee; they could do nothing but stand there silently.

“Come to my side, encircle them from the flanks—don’t engage with those wielding themookdo (or mo dao)!”

Linghu Chao’s face was pale, but he forced himself to stay calm. He was the commander of this cavalry force; if he became panicked himself, they might indeed be overwhelmed by those mere thousand Tang soldiers.

“Gather together! Encircle them from the flanks—don’t try to break through from the center!”

His personal guards shouted orders, conveying Linghu Chao’s commands.

They had already suffered a heavy setback and couldn’t afford to keep losing ground, or else they would eventually be completely wiped out by the Tang forces.

“Go to General Linghu’s side—encircle them from the flanks!”

“Go to General Linghu’s side—encircle them from the flanks!”…

In fact, even Linghu Chao didn’t know what lay in ambush on the Tang forces’ flanks. After all, the enemy was in the dark while he was in the light—no matter how he deployed his troops, they could still be targeted. But at this moment, he clearly had no other choice.

If they continued to fight in the center, those hundredmookdo (or mo dao) soldiers would push forward like meat grinders, reducing their troops to pieces. Linghu Chao certainly didn’t want to die, which was why he chose this risky strategy to seek victory.

It wasn’t until more than a thousand rebels who had narrowly escaped themookdo (or mo dao) soldiers followed him in the breakout that Linghu Chao finally breathed a sigh of relief. Although most of his troops had been lost, at least they had learned the true strength of the Tang forces. And simply escaping those detestablemookdo (or mo dao) soldiers was already a victory in itself.

Yet Linghu Chao wasn’t willing to give up so easily. Being severely defeated by an unknown upstart—how could he face the army of Great Yan again if he didn’t regain his pride?

“Charge forward! Cut down all those archers—kill them all!” Linghu Chao drew his sword and pointed at the Tang forces’ flanks in the distance, giving his orders in a deep voice.

While on the suspension bridge, those crossbowmen had caused themselves great harm. Now, riding headlong at those weakened Tang soldiers, if they didn’t reclaim what was theirs, it would be a disservice to their fallen comrades.
“Charge forward and kill them all to avenge our fallen brothers!”
The rebel cavalry accelerated, rushing fiercely at the crossbowmen. They never saw anything shameful in bullying the weak; in the eyes of the nomads, the weak could only be slaves to the strong, utterly unable to control their own fate. The strong could take whatever they wanted from the weak—wealth or even lives—simply because they were stronger.
A simple and straightforward logic, a simple and straightforward sense of right and wrong.
Although the crossbowmen were highly lethal, their power was best unleashed when working in conjunction with infantry. Without the cover of shield bearers, they had no chance of resisting attacks from the light cavalry on both flanks.
Linghu Chao seized this weakness of the crossbowmen and without hesitation ordered an attack.
One must pay back what one owes!
Over a thousand riders raised clouds of dust as they charged at the Tang army’s flanks.
They wanted revenge—they wanted to wash away their shame with the blood of the Tang people, and prove to the world that they were worthy kings!
“Kill! Kill! Ah…”
The Hu soldiers at the front were shouting when suddenly they felt their bodies sink as their horses fell.
“Bang! Bang!”
The horses crashed to the ground, crushing the Hu soldiers’ thighs, causing them to scream in agony. One after another, more horses lost their footing and fell.
“Neigh!”
Cries of pain echoed, mixed with the screams of the rebel soldiers—a terrifying sound.
The rebel soldiers who fell from their horses either had their legs broken or were badly injured. The scene was filled with wails of agony, ruining the reputation of the Youyan Iron Cavalry. If An Lushan had seen this, he might truly have been enraged to death.
“It’s iron thorns! It’s iron thorns!”
An observant Xi warrior spotted the shiny iron spikes hidden in the yellow soil and shouted loudly.