Chapter 97: Come On Over!
“Good!”
“Your Excellency is mighty!”
“Your Excellency is mighty!”
As Yang Mingzhi and the others cheered, they were excited to see the warhorse’s miserable state.
The enemy, however, was in disarray, and after a series of reprimands and curses, the Jia Lao Regimental Commander once again mounted his warhorse.
Yang Zhengshan raised his hand to quiet the soldiers’ cheers, then rode his horse forward to the riverbank.
With a sweep of his long spear, he pointed directly at the Hu cavalry across the river.
“Come on over!”
“Hahaha~~”
Yang Zhengshan’s crazy laughter echoed, a taunt that was a clear provocation.
This was humiliation, naked humiliation.
But in his heart, Yang Zhengshan was thinking, “Get angry, come on over, and don’t think, just charge over like a fool!”
He was playing a psychological game.
In this situation, the longer they delayed, the more unfavorable it would be for them.
Because he didn’t know the situation in other garrisons or in the city, especially in the Lin Guan Fortress, which was only ten miles away from the city. If the main army pressed on, the Lin Guan Fortress wouldn’t be able to hold back.
He didn’t have time to waste here.
The Jia Lao Regimental Commander clearly wasn’t a good-tempered person; otherwise, he wouldn’t have cursed his own subordinates earlier.
Now, seeing Yang Zhengshan’s provocations, the Jia Lao Regimental Commander was furious.
“Charge!”
He didn’t care about anything else, raising his long knife to point at Yang Zhengshan.
The next moment, he led the charge, galloping onto the river ice.
Yang Zhengshan saw this and slightly raised the corner of his mouth, then tugged on the reins to return to the cavalry formation.
He didn’t charge forward directly but instead led the cavalry to the west, leaving only two hundred infantrymen on the riverbank to guard.
The Jia Lao Regimental Commander thought Yang Zhengshan was afraid and began to shout insults, ordering his men to speed up and cross the river.
But they were terrified, fearing that Yang Zhengshan would really escape.
The soldiers behind him could only follow closely.
The river ice was frozen solid, and there was no problem running horses on it, but that was for just one horse. Now, there were over six hundred cavalrymen galloping across in a row.
The result was predictable: over half of the six hundred Hu cavalrymen fell into the water before they even crossed halfway.
The rest of the Hu cavalrymen were in disarray, stumbling and falling into the water.
The river wasn’t deep, and the water level was low due to the drought last year, so it was only about one or two meters deep.
Normally, even if they fell into the water, they could still climb out.
But now, with the Hu cavalrymen crowded together, their warhorses were frightened and struggling, and the soldiers were wearing heavy armor, making it difficult to move.
Yang Zhengshan wouldn’t flee; he just wanted to create some distance to make it easier for the cavalry to charge.
They ran for less than five hundred meters before they turned back around.
At this point, the results of their training over the past few months were evident. The three hundred cavalrymen could still maintain their formation after turning around.
As they turned around, Yang Zhengshan faced the Jia Lao Regimental Commander, who was charging towards him, his eyes flashing with a cold intent.
“Charge!”
“The will to die, no retreat, only forward, no surrender, no death!”
Yang Zhengshan shouted loudly.
His understanding of cavalry warfare was simple: charge forward without hesitation.
No matter what was ahead, just charge forward to survive.
“The will to die, no retreat, only forward, no surrender, no death!”
The soldiers behind him also echoed his battle cry, their voices loud and clear, echoing through the cold wind.
Even the soldiers in the garrison heard it.
Fear, excitement, anxiety, and other emotions were mixed together.
Yang Zhengshan and the Jia Lao Regimental Commander clashed, their charge mirroring each other.
The distance between them was only a few hundred meters, and in the blink of an eye, they collided.
The Jia Lao Regimental Commander was no weakling; he had the capital to be arrogant, but he had run into Yang Zhengshan.
Up until now, no one knew how high Yang Zhengshan’s cultivation level was.
For nearly a year and a half, Yang Zhengshan had been drinking the Spirit Spring water every day, even using it as a substitute for ordinary water recently.
The Yang family’s cooking used diluted Spirit Spring water, and even the tea in Yang Zhengshan’s study was pure Spirit Spring water.
Day by day, every drop of Spirit Spring water he drank brought him some improvement.
Boom!
The sound of thunder echoed amidst the galloping horse hooves.
The golden flying fish gun burst forth like a dragon spitting out its tongue.
One inch longer, one inch stronger.
Yang Zhengshan’s spear was longer than the Jia Lao Regimental Commander’s knife.
Before the knife could reach him, the spear had already struck the Jia Lao Regimental Commander’s chest.
The copper armor was like a stone, shattering instantly, and the white spearhead pierced through, spouting fresh blood.
At this moment, the Jia Lao Regimental Commander’s raised knife finally fell, but the spear had already pierced through his back, and his strength dissipated like a deflated balloon.
Ting!
The knife hit Yang Zhengshan’s shoulder, sparks flying, and then nothing.
“You!”
The Jia Lao Regimental Commander hung on Yang Zhengshan’s spear, his eyes wide with shock, staring at Yang Zhengshan up close.
However, Yang Zhengshan didn’t even glance at him, simply flicking his spear to fling the Jia Lao Regimental Commander off.
Red clouds dispersed, and the Jia Lao Regimental Commander fell to the ground, soon to be trampled by galloping hooves.
“The will to die, no retreat, only forward, no surrender, no death!”
Yang Zhengshan sat firmly on his horse, his hands waving his long spear, the thunderous sound echoing, and the spearhead shining brightly, piercing through the crimson blood.
Six hundred Hu cavalrymen, nearly three hundred fell into the water, and the remaining three hundred were already in disarray.
Yang Zhengshan faced no more than three hundred Hu cavalrymen.
And these three hundred Hu cavalrymen had just crossed the river and were still in disarray when Yang Zhengshan charged through them.
The battle was quick, and the end came quickly.
When Yang Zhengshan turned around, he saw that only a few dozen Hu cavalrymen were still on their horses, while the rest lay on the ground.
The remaining ones didn’t need Yang Zhengshan to take action; the steady troops led by Ren Sheng were already preparing to counterattack.
“Hahaha, great!”
Yang Zhengshan laughed loudly, his body covered in blood, his beard stained red, and his gold-plated Dragon and Tiger armor also stained with blood.
“Come on over!”
He raised his bloody flying fish gun, pointing at the remaining Hu cavalrymen, and shouted loudly.
“Come on over!”
Yang Mingwu, Yang Mingzhi, and the other generals also echoed his taunt.
The meaning was clear: they were daring the Hu cavalrymen to come over.
But the Hu cavalrymen were too afraid to cross the river after witnessing the brutal battle.
Even if their leader was killed, they wouldn’t dare to avenge him.
Seeing them hesitate, Yang Zhengshan turned around to glance at the cavalry behind him.
“Mingwu, divide and cross the river!”
Since they weren’t coming over, Yang Zhengshan would go to them.
The ice on the river had already broken, but the ice on other parts of the riverbank was still intact.
Yang Zhengshan said, then led a hundred cavalrymen led by Song Daban to the west, running for two or three miles before slowly crossing the river.
The Hu cavalrymen had already noticed their intentions, but they were too demoralized to fight back, fleeing north in disarray.
Yang Zhengshan and his men chased after them, and at this point, the advantage of the Spirit Spring water became apparent again.
The three hundred warhorses that Zhou Lan had given him were already high-quality steeds, and Yang Zhengshan had been feeding them diluted Spirit Spring water, which was enough to make them stronger than other warhorses.
Their speed was faster, and their endurance was greater.
At first, the distance between the two sides was three or four miles, but as time passed, the gap narrowed.
Just as Yang Zhengshan was about to catch up, he suddenly stopped his horse.
“Stop!”
“What’s wrong, Your Excellency?” Yang Mingwu and Yang Mingzhi asked, following closely behind.
Yang Zhengshan gazed into the distance, saying nothing.
The sound of horseshoes echoed, growing louder, like thunder rolling in from the north.
It didn’t take long for Yang Mingwu and Yang Mingzhi to see the cavalry appearing on the distant hilltops, their dust and smoke filling the sky.
“Go!”
Yang Zhengshan didn’t hesitate, turning his horse around to flee in the opposite direction.
What a joke!
Even though it was just a glance, Yang Zhengshan saw at least a thousand cavalrymen.
And he still couldn’t see how many cavalrymen were behind the dust and smoke.
Facing so many enemies, it would be suicidal to stay and fight.
Fortunately, Yang Zhengshan was fast, or they would have been completely annihilated.
Because they had run into the main army of the Eastern Sea Hu tribe.
This time, the Eastern Sea Hu tribe had adopted a different strategy for invading the northeast border.
Last time, they had besieged the Heavy Mountain Fortress first, tying down the city’s defenders.
This time, they had split into smaller groups to infiltrate the border before gathering to attack the Heavy Mountain Fortress.
There was a subtle difference, but the goal was the same: to give the invading Hu cavalrymen more time to plunder.
Yang Zhengshan soon led the cavalry back to the south bank of the river.
But this time, Yang Zhengshan’s heart was heavy, unsure if the enemy would come to them.
He waited until evening but saw nothing.
The Eastern Sea Hu tribe wouldn’t waste time on a small garrison like this; they were in a hurry to get to the Heavy Mountain Fortress.
Even if they had lost three hundred cavalrymen, they wouldn’t waste more time on the garrison.
“Dashan, send out scouts to look for those Hu cavalrymen!”
Yang Zhengshan ordered, sending out scouts into the night.
Without determining the Hu cavalrymen’s target, he definitely wouldn’t be able to sleep peacefully tonight.
Song Daban personally led three small scout teams to disperse and search, taking about an hour to return.
(End of chapter)
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