"Sir, this tribe is not large, but it has stored quite a lot of grain!"
The Xianbei leader, beaming with excitement, approached Li Ru and reported on the spoils of war.
Li Ru took the list and looked at it, then instructed: "Take all the valuables you can, and only take enough food for three days. As for the rest of the food, gather it all in the open space!"
"yes!"
The Xianbei leader agreed, then turned and left to get to work.
The next morning, as soon as Li Ru stepped out of his room, he saw a large pile of grain in the open space, which was about five thousand shi (a unit of dry measure).
"A small tribe has so much food; the cities must have just as much."
Looking at the huge pile of grain, Li Ru couldn't help but fall into deep thought.
According to the plan, the main objective of the Xianbei and Xiongnu was to cut off the food supply to various cities while eliminating the population of Kangju.
Judging from the current situation, those cities do not seem to lack food.
As a result, Cao Cao's army had no choice but to launch a direct assault on those cities.
Despite the Han army's superior weaponry, casualties were inevitable when attempting to capture a city.
After a moment's thought, looking at the corpses scattered all over the tribe, Li Ru's lips curled up slightly.
"Men, cut off the heads of all these corpses!"
"yes!"
Upon hearing Li Ru's instructions, the Xianbei leader didn't ask any further questions and immediately led his men to begin their operation.
Soon, eight hundred heads were placed in front of Li Ru.
"Take these heads and come with me!"
After giving the order, Li Ru immediately mounted his horse and led a thousand Xianbei cavalrymen toward Keluo City, which was twenty miles away.
Soon, the sudden appearance of Li Ru and his party also alarmed the city's garrison.
However, the defenders on the city walls breathed a sigh of relief upon seeing that there were only about a thousand cavalrymen below.
The city had a garrison of 30,000 men and 5,000 cavalry, and the city walls were 30 feet high. The enemy only had a mere 1,000 cavalrymen, so there was no way they could break through.
The garrison commander of Kolo City stepped forward, looked at the cavalry below the city, and shouted, "What is the purpose of your visit?"
Upon hearing the commander's question, a Xianbei cavalryman fluent in the Western Regions language rode forward and said, "It's freezing cold outside, and we're short of food and water. We'd like to enter the city to rest!"
Upon hearing this, the garrison commander immediately roared angrily, "Hmph! That's impossible! You have invaded my territory without cause. We have already shown great mercy by not sending troops to besiege you. How dare you covet my city?"
The Xianbei cavalryman sneered, "It's your honor to have your city in your sights. Since you refuse to listen to reason, let's see what happens if you resist!"
After saying this, the Xianbei cavalryman waved behind him.
Immediately afterwards, a group of Xianbei cavalrymen approached, carrying heads one by one, and then vigorously threw them onto the city wall.
"This is……?"
Seeing the heads flying up from below the city, the garrison commander of Kolo was slightly taken aback.
Unfortunately, a head landed right at his feet.
This is the head of a child, who looks to be about five or six years old.
"Damn it, those damn bastards!"
Seeing the child still staring wide-eyed and terrified, the garrison commander of Kolo City felt his blood boil and his eyes turned bloodshot.
Of course, it wasn't just this general; the other soldiers guarding the city were also furious when they saw those heads.
They never imagined that these Xianbei cavalrymen would be so cruel, not even sparing the elderly and children.
"Kill those damn bastards!"
"Avenge the people!"
"These beasts must be killed!"
In an instant, the soldiers guarding the city walls also began to curse angrily.
Hearing the soldiers' angry curses and seeing the thousand Xianbei cavalry outside the city, the garrison commander of Keluo immediately drew his scimitar.
"Brothers, open the city gates, charge out, and kill those bastards!"
At the command of the city garrison commander, the soldiers on the city walls rushed down to the city.
Seeing the successfully provoked garrison, Li Ru's lips curled into a slight smile. He then gave an order to the Xianbei leader beside him:
"Pass down the order: once the city's defenders charge out, simply use hit-and-run tactics, wearing them down with mounted archery!"
"clear!"
The Xianbei leader agreed and then relayed Li Ru's order.
A thousand Xianbei cavalrymen also took out their bows and arrows and looked toward the city gate.
Soon, the city gates opened, and nearly five thousand Kangju cavalrymen, led by the garrison commander of Keluo City, poured out of the city.
"Brothers, charge! Kill those beasts!"
Before the battle formation was even complete, the commander of Kolo City gave the order to attack.
In his view, no matter how powerful this Xianbei cavalry was, they could not possibly defeat his five thousand men.
"Kill!!"
Five thousand Kangju cavalrymen roared and charged towards Li Ru and his men.
"Hmph, what a bunch of rabble!"
Seeing the chaotic state of the Kangju cavalry charging towards them, the Xianbei leader snorted disdainfully.
The Xianbei cavalrymen following behind also wore expressions of disdain.
In their view, the Kangju cavalry on the other side were less there to charge and more there to deliver their own heads.
Just as the Kangju cavalry charged to within three hundred paces, the thousand Xianbei cavalry also began to move.
The Xianbei cavalry, which had been arrayed in neat formation, suddenly scattered like a flock of sparrows and charged toward the flanks of the Kangju cavalry.
As the Xianbei cavalrymen galloped away, they also began to draw their bows and shoot at the Kangju cavalry.
Arrows flew out with the speed of the charge, and the hundreds of Kangju cavalrymen on the outermost edge groaned in pain as they were hit by arrows and fell from their horses.
Those Kangju cavalrymen who were not hit by the arrows immediately spurred their horses and charged even faster towards the Xianbei cavalry.
Upon seeing the Kangju cavalry charging towards them, the Xianbei cavalry immediately pulled on their reins, accelerating to create distance.
Furthermore, these Xianbei cavalrymen were all equipped with saddles and stirrups provided by the Han army. Therefore, these Xianbei cavalrymen could shoot down the pursuing Kangju cavalrymen while galloping at full speed.
On the surface, it appeared that the Kangju cavalry were chasing the Xianbei cavalry, but in reality, it was the Xianbei cavalry who were using a kite-flying tactic to constantly wear down the Kangju cavalry.
In cavalry battles, those who can perform mounted archery are basically the elite of the elite. Clearly, these Kangju cavalrymen have not reached that level of elite status.
Faced with the arrows fired by the Xianbei cavalry, all they could do was dodge and speed up their horses so that the enemy could engage them in close combat.
Unfortunately, their warhorses were inferior to those of the Xianbei people, and they couldn't catch up with them at all.
The battle lasted no more than a quarter of an hour, and nearly a thousand Kangju cavalrymen died under the arrows of the Xianbei cavalry.
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