The Tu Yuan tribe.
Inside the large tent.
"Report! Your Majesty, something terrible has happened! The army of Da Gan is rapidly approaching us!" A Northern Hu soldier ran into the tent with a panicked expression.
As soon as he finished speaking, a burly man with a thick beard, who was squatting on the ground drinking heavily, suddenly stood up.
This man was none other than Tu Yuchun's father, Tu Tianque, the Great King of the Tu Yuan Clan. Tu Tianque was fifty-eight years old, extremely tall, over eight feet, with a robust and muscular build, as strong as an ox. At this moment, his face was flushed red as he shouted:
"What? Qin Ze has brought his troops? How many are there?"
The Hu soldier hurriedly replied, "I dared not get close enough, but from a distance, there were probably tens of thousands of them."
Tu Tianque, with his volatile temper, flew into a rage upon hearing this and slapped Hu Mabing across the face.
"Why don't we dare to get closer? When have we, the brave men of the grasslands, ever been afraid of such a large army?"
"This is an insult to the name of warriors of the grasslands!"
The Hu soldier, dazed from the slap, covered his face and said:
"Your Majesty, we have lost contact with the outposts. They must have been killed by the main force. The main force's offensive is truly swift. From a distance, we can see that the horses ridden by that army are clad in armor, which is quite unusual!"
Upon hearing this, Tu Tianque's heart tightened.
He had seen armored warhorses before. He had seen the soldiers of the Tuyuan Kingdom on the border of the Northern Grassland riding armored horses, which made them extremely powerful. Since then, he had wanted his army to wear armored horses as well.
but...
Although the Beihu Grassland is fertile and has a developed animal husbandry industry, unfortunately, it has too few underground metal deposits, far from enough to produce more armor.
Even now, of his remaining 120,000 troops, more than 30,000 are still wearing leather armor. It is for this reason that he sent his son Tu Yuchun to Hurong Pass.
Thinking of this, Tu Tianque left the tent with a solemn expression.
At this moment, several lieutenants rode up on horseback.
A lieutenant said, "Your Majesty, the Prince of Zhenbei's troops are advancing very quickly, and they are only a little over 3 miles away from us!"
"From this distance, I see that their army is not large, only tens of thousands! In addition, I see that not every warhorse is armored."
"Your Majesty, their forces are far fewer than ours; we can still fight!"
As soon as he finished speaking, Tu Tianque's solemn expression immediately relaxed, and his heart, which had been pounding with anxiety, was put at ease. He stroked his beard and sneered:
"Hmph, a mere tens of thousands of soldiers dare to come with such a menacing attitude? Do they really think my Northern Barbarians have no soldiers?"
"Qin Ze, that brat, thinks he's invincible just because he killed 80,000 of my men. Little does he know that the Northern Hu have many soldiers and generals. Even I have over 100,000 troops under my command. He dares to come here to die. Well then, let him have his way!"
"Pass on my order: the entire army is to attack and meet Qin Ze in battle!"
Upon hearing this, another lieutenant said:
"Your Majesty, Tu Shadong went to the Northern Yang tribe to seek help and has not yet returned. Now, the Prince of Zhenbei is leading a large army here. Your Majesty, what do you think we should do...?"
Before he could finish speaking, Tu Tianque angrily rebuked:
"What? You mean we should fight a defensive war? Wait for them to break into our home?"
"Hmph! That old bastard Bei Yangmang, if he had sent troops, he would have come long ago. Why is there still no movement? If it weren't for Tu Shadong's persuasion, I wouldn't have bothered to let him go to Bei Yangmang!"
"Qin Ze is arrogant and has sent tens of thousands of troops to provoke us. What is there to fear?"
"He likes to wage wars of annihilation, doesn't he? Today, let him come and not return, let him be wiped out on this grassland, to comfort the souls of my people!"
"Let's go! All of you, follow me into battle and let him taste the might of our Northern Hu cavalry!"
Seeing that Tu Tianque had said this much, the deputy general stopped trying to persuade him.
Subsequently, Tu Tianque summoned all his troops, and the army marched towards the grasslands...
——
On the grassland.
"Report! General! The Northern Hu have made their move, and their army is rushing towards us!" A soldier who had been scouting ahead rode up to report.
Qin Ze remained calm and sneered:
"Hmph, sending troops to meet the enemy is exactly what I want!"
A faint smile appeared on Huo Qubing's handsome face as he continued:
"My lord, it seems they think our forces are insufficient, which is why they chose to launch a preemptive strike."
"The soldiers who were scouting the Beiyang tribe have just reported that the Beiyang tribe is currently making no move and shows no signs of sending troops. This will save us some time."
Qin Ze nodded slightly and said coldly, "That's perfectly normal."
"Even in the unified Da Gan, there are factional disputes, and people tend to pass the buck when there are problems. How much more so in the still unified Bei Hu tribes, where intrigue and open and covert struggles are commonplace."
"No matter which dynasty or era, it has always been the same, and has never changed."
"Get the archers ready; once they're within range, shoot them dead!"
"Yes!" Huo Qubing immediately rode off.
As Tu Tianque took the initiative to lead his troops into battle, the two forces quickly approached each other, and the original distance of about 3 miles was rapidly shortened in a short period of time.
The sky was overcast, dark clouds filled the sky, and an autumn wind swept in, causing the withered grass to flutter up as the horses' hooves fell.
Tens of thousands of warhorses galloped, their roar like thunder. The Northern Hu soldiers were all flushed, with veins bulging on their necks. Eighty thousand men had been killed before, and now Qin Ze was leading his army again. This hatred made them even angrier.
In this battle, they have made up their minds to annihilate the enemy and vent their hatred!
Tu Tianque took the lead, commanding his troops at the forefront, and raised his arms, shouting:
"Today, we will annihilate all these arrogant enemy soldiers on this grassland!"
"The spirits of my 80,000 soldiers will surely make these enemy soldiers pay for their crimes in blood today! Kill!"
Encouraged, the Hu soldiers became even more excited, as if they had inexhaustible strength. The weapons in their hands seemed to be shouting, urging their masters to use them to pierce the enemy's body!
Blood debts must be repaid with blood. This was true for Hu Ma, and it was also true for Qin Ze on the other side of the battlefield!
1000 meters.....
800 meters....
"kill!"
The shouts of battle were deafening, and the autumn grassland was now in complete uproar!
Faced with the overwhelming numbers of Hu cavalry, Qin Ze decided to stop closing the distance to shoot arrows.
Even at the extreme distance of 800 meters, the momentum of the more than 100,000 Hu cavalrymen's charge made it difficult for them to turn back even after they had tasted the rain of arrows.
Every meter you push forward brings you one step closer to the abyss of death!
A furious shout rang out: "Halt! Fire!"
The next moment—
"Bang!"
"Bang bang bang!"
The horse gallops swiftly like the wind, the bowstring twangs like thunder!
Twenty thousand arrows transformed into a rain of arrows, densely packed like an impenetrable net, shooting towards the charging Hu cavalry.
"Nock the arrows!"
Without the slightest pause, as the first volley of arrows flew out, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry drew a second white-feathered black arrow from their quivers and nocked it on their bows!
Another loud shout rang out: "Release the arrows!"
"Bang bang bang!"
Qin Ze, mounted on his horse, narrowed his eyes as he looked ahead, his face cold and indifferent...
Continue read on readnovelmtl.com
