Chapter 614: First Battle

The Shatu were too careless, or more like they didn’t expect that the Great Han Empire’s cavalry would actually dare to ride into the Gulang Plains after so many decades and they would so coincidentally bump into them.

To the Shatu people, the sight of the Great Han Empire’s cavalry rushing toward them was like a mirage in the desert.

Aren’t the Gulang Plains the territories of the Shatu Seven Tribes? Doesn’t the Great Han Empire have the ‘Writ of Grace’? Since when did their cavalry dare to ride beyond White Stone Pass and strike out against us?

At this very moment, many Shatu people were stunned. They couldn’t react in time and were even at a loss.

The appearance of Yan Liqiang’s troops had caught the Shatu unprepared. After a moment of confusion, yells were heard from the Shatu cavalry which was besieging the Wind Border Stockade. Only four hundred men continued to surround the stockade village while the remaining soldiers immediately turned their steeds around and charged toward Yan Liqiang’s party, ready to clash.

It seemed like the Shatu knew that the vitality of a cavalry lied in mobility and force, so they wouldn’t just stand there idly and wait for Yan Liqiang and the rest to come at them.

Whoosh…!

Whoosh…!

Whoosh…!

The sounds of arrows slicing through the air could be heard constantly. Without even turning his head, Yan Liqiang knew that it was Tie Yunshan shooting just by listening to the sound alone. Tie Yunshan had attained the fourth heavenly realm in the art of archery and was using a ten-picul bow. He was the one who released the first arrow and knocked a Shatu man who was a thousand meters away off his steed. This opened the prelude of the battle between both parties. As the parties were rapidly closing in on each other, Tie Yunshan’s hands never stopped. After every vibration of the bowstring, someone among the Shatu cavalry would fall off his steed.

As expected of a veteran. He definitely had excellent archery skill that was a heavy deterrent on the battlefield.

There were about 1,800 people on Yan Liqiang’s side and similarly, there were also about 1,900 men on the Shatu side. From the numbers alone, both sides were evenly matched. No one could have predicted the battle today, not even Yan Liqiang himself. This place would soon be where the Great Han Empire’s cavalry would clash against the Shatu Seven Tribes’ cavalry for the very first time after so many decades.

Although Tie Yunshan wasn’t able to fire four arrows in one shot like Yan Liqiang, he was shooting out arrows steadily. Every arrow he released hit its target. In just the blink of an eye, he had shot six arrows. Six Shatu men were knocked off their steeds on the opposing side and ended up being buried underneath the stampede of iron hooves.

From the moment they first spotted the Shatu people, the five hundred mounted archers in Yan Liqiang’s party strictly followed the cavalry’s code of war and slowly broke away from the party of 1,800 men. Although they were still galloping toward the Shatu cavalry, they didn’t collide head-on with them. Instead, they engaged them at a specific angle. After a moment, if the Shatu cavalry didn’t change direction, they would charge at their sides. If the Shatu cavalry changed direction, then so would they. They would keep their distance from their enemies, but they wouldn’t stay too far away either.

The three iron rules for a cavalry archer were ‘distance, distance and distance’!

This had been deeply imprinted in their mind ever since the first day they rode on horseback at the archery academy. Those were the rules that Yan Liqiang had set for the cavalry archers.

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‘On the battlefield, distance is your friend!’

Although the cavalry from the archery academy that engaged in close combat wasn’t weak, the moment a cavalryman had a bow on his back, losing distance and speed meant losing the chance to win or even death!

Even if there was only a single arrow left in one’s quiver, they were definitely not allowed to take the initiative to engage in close combat with the enemies even if they were winning. Doing so would put one in detention at the archery academy.

Tie Yunfei, Wang Naiwu, and the rest had also noticed the unusual movements from Yan Liqiang’s cavalry. Even so, they didn’t say anything because these were all Yan Liqiang’s personal guards. If Yan Liqiang didn’t say anything, who were they to say anything? With a battle in sight, they also couldn’t afford to be bothered by the actions of Yan Liqiang’s men.

When Tie Yunshan let loose the seventh arrow and knocked off the seventh Shatu man off his steed, both parties were only about six hundred meters away from each other.

Whoosh…! Someone from the Shatu side also shot an arrow at them. The arrow flew straight at Yan Liqiang who was riding at the front.

The arrow was launched at great speed with extremely high accuracy and extraordinary judgment. The person who shot this arrow could also tell that Yan Liqiang was not an ordinary person, so he had made him the target of his attack.

For others, this arrow might easily take their life. However, Yan Liqiang only had to gently wave the iron lance in his hand and the arrow was effortlessly deflected.

After deflecting the arrow, an icy smile appeared on Yan Liqiang’s face as a cold gleam flashed across his eyes.

He had been eyeing that person because as soon as they first spotted the Shatu people, Yan Liqiang had been searching for their leader.

He was able to tell that the man was the Shatu people’s leader from two aspects. The first was his attire, including his armor and weapons. In a group of Shatu people, the person with the highest position would definitely be wearing the best armor and using the best weapon. Not only that, but the Shatu people of more respectable status were very particular about their hats. Many of them loved to stick beautiful pheasant feathers in their hats.

The Shatu man who just fired the arrow seemed to be their general. He was tall, buff, and fierce-looking. His attire perfectly matched the two pieces of criteria. While the other Shatu people only wore leather armor, that man had a decent chain mail on and a plume on his hat. He also seemed to be surrounded and protected by his guards as they rushed toward Yan Liqiang’s party.

Seeing Yan Liqiang deflect his very ambitious attack with an iron lance, the Shatu general’s face was filled with shock. In just the blink of an eye, the Shatu general tried to draw his bow again in disbelief…

There was no way Yan Liqiang would allow him to draw his bow again!

You’re mine!

After saying that in his heart, Yan Liqiang threw the iron lance in his hand at the Shatu general.

A loud thunderclap was heard on the battlefield…

The iron lance that was about two meters long and weighed tens of jin flew a distance of five hundred meters like a thunderbolt and a gust of wind. It flew with a speed that was so fast that the human eye failed to catch it. After tearing apart two Shatu cavalrymen, it tore apart the Shatu general’s chest. The upper half of his body was blown into smithereens while the lower half instantly fell off his steed.

Yan Liqiang’s attack instantly struck fear into the Shatu cavalry that was charging toward them…