Chapter 89 Dignity
The night is deep and the sky is filled with stars.
The endless mountain ranges stood darkly on the horizon.
"Captain," a Xirong scout galloped up to the captain, his eyes glaring, and reined in his horse. "The Wolf Fang Pass is just ahead, but it's being guarded! It's..."
Danmu frowned and asked, "You said there are people guarding it?"
"Captain Qian, there are probably dozens of people at the Langya Pass holding hoes, hayforks, and shields made of door panels. The leader is a woman..." The scouts all knew Dan Muji's habits, and were afraid that the captain would interrupt him again, so they spoke very quickly, without even taking a breath.
"Stop!" Danmuji raised his hand. "Holding a hoe and a pitchfork...are those villagers from Xiaogang Village?"
He was somewhat surprised. The Xirong had been looting Xiaogang Village whenever they had nothing to do, and they had been doing so for years without encountering any resistance. Could it be that they were so bold as to dare to confront him head-on?
Xiu Muye, who was standing beside him, stood up in the saddle and looked out at the twinkling lights of fire at Langya Pass. He sat down again and said, "Captain, I'm afraid the villagers of Xiaogang Village don't have such courage. I think that man..."
The psychological shadow left by that man was so huge that he always felt that everything was related to that man.
"No need to speculate here," Danmuji waved his hand at the surrounding Xirong cavalry. "Form a battle formation. Just a few dozen people. To use their proverb... what's it called chopping trees?"
"It's 'an ant trying to shake a tree', Captain." Xiu Muye quickly reminded.
When he had nothing to do, he would go to Dayan to plunder, and he had some knowledge of Dayan's culture.
"Yes, geckos chop down trees!" Danmu quickly drew his sword and raised it in the air. "Even if his claws become worn out, he can't chop down this...big tree of our Xirong!"
After saying this, he was about to swing his sword.
"Captain, please don't worry!" Xiu Muye stretched out his hands and hugged Dan Muji's arm. "I think this is a treacherous plot by the enemy. I have a countermeasure."
Danmuji impatiently swung his arm and pushed Xiu Muye away: "If you have something to say, just say it. After dealing with the enemy for so long, you've become as fussy as them."
Xiu Muye blushed, knowing that Danmuji was mocking him, so he had to bite the bullet and said:
"Captain, these villagers are probably bait. We shouldn't fall into their trap. We can order our warriors to fire two rounds of arrows within range to kill all of them. Hehe..."
"You coward!"
Danmuji slapped Xiumuye's shoulder with the back of his knife and cursed:
"We hide in the distance and shoot arrows. Let others say that my eye disease scares even dozens of villagers. Where is my dignity as a vanguard? The warrior's bow and arrow are used to fight against the Dayan army."
As the vanguard of a 10,000-man force, if he had to be so cautious and vigilant against even a few dozen villagers, what kind of vanguard would he be? Furthermore, scouts had confirmed that no troops had been dispatched from the Great Yan border, so there was nothing to worry about.
"But Captain, there must be something fishy going on here!" Xiu Muye covered his shoulders and tried to be stubborn.
“Get out!
Danmuji ignored Xiumuye and rode forward, shouting, "Even if there are ambushes, they are just ordinary villagers. They will be crushed into pulp under the trampling of my iron hooves."
By this time, a thousand Xirong cavalrymen had formed up, their horses lined up in two rows, front and back. This was the Xirong cavalry's most common two-line attack tactic.
"Captain, the battle formation is complete. Please give the order." A centurion shouted from afar.
Danmuji swung his sword towards the Langya Pass, "Thousand-man team, kill all the enemies at the Langya Pass, advance!"
A thousand Western Rong soldiers drew their swords in unison, and in the light of the fire, their swords flashed with a ferocious cold light as they spurred their horses forward.
Dozens of villagers at the pass watched the two bright lines of fire slowly approaching under the dark sky. All the men's legs were shaking, except for Yang Cong who was in the front.
"Yang...Onion, what if they shoot arrows?" A male villager, holding a pitchfork in both hands, said to Yang Cong who was standing in the front row in a trembling voice.
"Yeah, if they shoot arrows, we won't have time to run," said another male villager, who had already peed his pants out of fear. His crotch was wet and cold, and he only managed to stay standing by using his upright hoe. "I'm still young, I don't want to die."
Yang Cong turned around and smiled: "Everyone, don't worry, Master Pei said that the other party definitely can't shoot arrows."
"You sure you can't shoot an arrow?" a male villager shouted. "Master Pei isn't a Xirong worm, how could he possibly know?"
Yang Cong shook his head and looked forward with a firm gaze: "I believe in Master Pei, everyone stand firm."
She had an inexplicable admiration and trust for Xiao Zhuo. Xiao Zhuo had told her that the Western Rong vanguard would not use bows and arrows against ordinary villagers like them, so she would trust Xiao Zhuo unconditionally.
The fire line in the distance was getting closer, and the night wind brought the dull sound of horse hooves.
"Onion, let's run," a male villager turned around and tried to run, "It will be too late if we delay any longer."
"You're useless," Yang Cong gripped the hilt of his sword with both hands and plunged the tip into the ground. "As long as I don't move, none of you will move!"
"But the Xirong cavalry is coming!"
The villagers of Xiaogang Village had never seen a cavalry unit of a thousand men, and they were trembling with fear.
"I'm a woman, but I'm not afraid. How could you, a bunch of grown men, be so frightened?" Yang Cong shouted without even turning his head. "Are you worthy of being called men?"
This sentence worked. The men who were about to flee stopped where they were.
Yang Cong was still standing in the front. If he ran first, his dignity as a man would be wiped out.
A faint shout was heard in the distance, and the neat line of fire gradually became chaotic. The sound of horse hooves turned into dense drumbeats, and the iron light reflected by the sword in the firelight was clearly visible.
The Xirong cavalry began to charge.
The ground beneath his feet began to tremble slightly, Yang Cong's heartbeat became rapid, and his hands tightly grasped the sword.
Action should neither be too early nor too late. If it is too early, the enemy cavalry will lose their target and may regroup and adjust their strategy. If it is too late, the Xirong cavalry will rush in and cut them into pieces before they can even run.
The Western Rong cavalry was getting closer and closer to the position that Military Advisor Song Zhen had told her.
The cavalry's speed far exceeded most people's imagination. Like a hurricane blowing across the grasslands, their swift and ruthless hooves crossed the line drawn by Song Zhen.
"run!"
Yang Cong shouted and ran towards the ladder behind him.
The villagers of Xiaogang Village had been waiting for Yang Cong's order. They threw their hoes, forks, torches and other tools on the ground and turned around to climb up the ladders.
"Hahaha, what a bunch of rabble!" Dan Muji, who was rushing in the front, looked up to the sky and laughed as he saw the villagers running away in such a miserable state.
This panic, this scrambling to escape, was definitely not fake. They were clearly terrified by the Xirong cavalry.
That's right.
If these villagers showed no fear, he would think there was something fishy going on. Now, it looked like they were just ordinary people trying to defend Xiaogang Village and cut down trees. Xiu Muye, that guy, was so suspicious and annoying.
Before the Xirong cavalry could reach them, dozens of villagers climbed the slopes on either side of the pass and fled into the darkness, leaving only discarded farm tools and a few burning torches illuminating the rubble and broken wood blocking the pass.
The Western Rong cavalry circled at the foot of the pass and reined in their horses.
"Captain, those villagers have fled up the mountain," a centurion shouted. "Should we chase them?"
"Move these obstructions out of the way," Danmuji pointed his sword at the debris blocking the pass. "Ignore those who are escaping. Go through the pass immediately and head straight for Xiaogang Village."
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