Chapter 31: A Rain of Arrows Like a Curtain

Commanding an army of 120,000, Imu was brimming with confidence. If he wished, he could even replace the king of the Eastern Hu! Of course, he was no fool; this was not the right moment, and the various tribes would not support him.

Now, however, all General Imu wanted was to kill someone, and the most frustrating thing was that this person was beyond his reach. If he dared lay a hand on Qi Shan, at least forty thousand cavalry would rebel on the spot, and the remaining tribal soldiers would seize the chance to slip away.

“Hmph! General Qi Shan! How did the Northern Army manage to cross the river? You didn’t even hold them back for a single day!” Imu grew angrier as he spoke, nearly wishing to run Qi Shan through with his bronze sword.

Sweat beaded on Qi Shan’s forehead, his limbs tense and ready, for he too could sense Imu’s murderous intent.

“General Imu, the Northern Army’s sixty thousand men suddenly appeared on the riverbank! We couldn’t get close to investigate, but the river was crowded with boats—it seems they had prepared large ships in advance!”

How could there be large ships in this wretched place? Even Qi Shan didn’t believe these words, but Imu could think of no better explanation.

“Hmph! Go set up camp. Tomorrow, you’ll join me in slaughtering these northern savages.”

Qi Shan, relieved, immediately responded loudly, “At your command, General! Tomorrow victory will be ours!”

The other generals and commanders quickly joined in with their flattery. The battle had yet to begin, but their manner suggested they were already preparing a victory banquet.

“Very good!”

“Haha, of course!” Imu nodded and laughed, his anger largely dissipating.

At dawn, cool and fresh, nearly two hundred thousand soldiers were already forming ranks.

Boom, boom, boom—the thunder of nine great drums rang out, warming the blood of every warrior.

“Indeed, an army cannot go to war without drums,” Lin Shu thought, feeling invigorated as the drums echoed.

The rhythmic beating of drums was something the Eastern Hu hated most. For over a century, in every battle lost to the states of Yan and Zhao, the cursed sound of battle drums had haunted them.

“Hmph! Sound the march!” Imu barked, unwilling to be outdone.

Soon, dozens of ox-horn trumpets blared in response.

With drums and horns resounding, the two armies faced off at last.

“General, they have only forty thousand infantry and at most just over ten thousand cavalry in formation.”

The Northern Army had sent sixty thousand troops, but at the front lines there were only forty thousand infantry and ten thousand cavalry.

Imu, seeing the enemy’s numbers, was delighted.

“Ha! Only a few tens of thousands dare come courting death.”

“Qi Shan, your troops will strike first—wear them down.”

Though they had the advantage in numbers, Imu dared not underestimate the fighting power of the northern “savages.” If they clashed head-on, these forty or fifty thousand could destroy as many cavalry, perhaps even more.

“At your command!” Having already offended Imu, Qi Shan dared not refuse.

A blast of horns sounded, and fifty thousand cavalry began to close in on the Northern Army’s ranks from left and right.

This battle was a test for the army, so Lin Shu had no plans to enter the fray. Ten thousand cavalry waited in reserve, ready to support as needed. Only forty thousand heavily armed infantry manned the front lines.

Helmets, long spears, sabers, shields, bows, and crossbows—every soldier was fully equipped.

“No close combat—harry them with mounted archery!” Qi Shan ordered loudly, unwilling to sacrifice his men in a pointless melee.

He needn’t have given the order; seeing the Northern Army’s well-armored warriors, none of the commanders would have dared a headlong charge.

Horses snorted and thundered; the drums momentarily fell silent.

“Stop! Form ranks—form ranks!” At General Halong’s command, the forty thousand infantry moved at once.

Ten thousand warriors, each nearly two meters tall, planted their heavy shields in the earth and raised three-meter steel spears.

Three ranks of kneeling spear-and-shield soldiers stood like an iron forest, protecting the front and flanks of the formation.

Behind the shield-bearers stood ten thousand strong crossbowmen; behind them, twenty thousand longbowmen—though these, for now, were merely archers.

Northern warriors, at a moment’s notice, could become spearmen or shield-bearers, and their strength made them eager for even more equipment.

Some of the snowland giants, over two meters tall, carried several iron-tipped javelins for throwing.

“Damn it! Long spears and heavy shields—where did these savages get them?” The formation stood as immovable as a mountain, spears and shields forming a wall. General Qi Shan realized this would not be an easy battle.

“Ready—advance—charge!” At four hundred meters, the fifty thousand cavalry surged forward.

The warhorses, held back for a moment, now neighed wildly in excitement.

“Prepare to scatter and fire!” The earth shook as the cavalry pressed forward like a rolling thundercloud.

“Ha! Sons, kill!”

The swift grassland horses charged, shooting as they came—a splendid sight.

The cavalry formed a seemingly endless line, and as the dust rose, fifty thousand horsemen seemed to become one with the sky.

At that moment, it was as if heaven’s wrath descended.

“Desert iron cavalry—truly formidable!” Staring at the endless wall of cavalry, even Jingni felt the limits of martial prowess.

Lin Shu nodded deeply. “If united, the desert cavalry would be invincible!”

Mao Dun once swept the steppes and besieged Liu Bang, Genghis Khan conquered Eurasia—such was the true might of a unified desert cavalry.

At a general’s command, none would retreat; not a single order was disobeyed.

Alas, today’s desert alliance was but a pile of sand, not solid rock.

“Impressive! Quite intimidating!” Halong sneered coldly and signaled the standard-bearer.

At the first motion of the banner, the front line of crossbowmen loosed their bolts, then the second, then the third…

Boom, boom, boom, boom! As the arrow storm rose, the drummers struck up a furious rhythm once more.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh! The sound of drums and hooves drowned everything—if not for the sunlight dimming, the Eastern Hu cavalry would not have noticed the storm of arrows above.

“Arrows! Block them!”

Qi Shan sucked in a cold breath. There were still over a hundred paces to go, yet the arrows were already upon them!

The Eastern Hu cavalry’s arrowheads were bone and stone—they had no surplus of bronze or iron. Their arrows had only a fraction of the power and range.

At that moment, Qi Shan regretted taking the field in person.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh—the glint of cold steel replaced the sunlight; the thunder of hooves, neighs, and drums was nothing compared to the dreadful hiss of arrows.

“Ah! No—”

Horses screamed and reared in terror.

The first wave of arrows was swept aside, the second barely held off, but the relentless storm that followed could not be stopped!

“Damn! Retreat! Fall back!” Qi Shan shouted, but as he turned his horse, ten arrows struck him down.

“No—no—” Soon, General Qi Shan could utter not another word, and none spared a thought for his fate.

The cavalry at the front, battered by arrows, caused those behind to halt in alarm; seeing the chaos ahead, the cleverest quickly spurred their horses in retreat.

“Go! Go now!”

The panicked horsemen crashed into each other, trampling more of their own.

When he saw the arrow storm blanketing the van, Imu’s brow furrowed.

Sure enough, moments later, the vanguard was fleeing back in disarray.

“Damn it, stop them—get them out of the way!” Imu was at least relieved the Northern Army lacked much cavalry, or a sudden charge might have thrown his own main force into chaos.