Chapter 76: The Horseshoe's Triumph

Chen Mu continued to employ the same tactics, but the Donghu army had adapted. Unlike the previous day, they did not charge directly at the infantry lines. Instead, they split into two groups, attempting to encircle and flank.

Chen Mu ordered the Great Xia cavalry to divide into four units. The first two units charged ahead, intersecting with the Donghu forces to slow their advance. Then, the remaining two units struck from the flanks, slicing the Donghu army into two segments.

This maneuver slowed the Donghu cavalry, and soon, both sides were locked in close combat. After a while, Chen Mu realized that the enemy had no intention of engaging the infantry; their goal was simply to wear down the numbers of Great Xia’s cavalry.

Seeing that he could not wait any longer, Chen Mu ordered the infantry to retreat eastward while the cavalry continued to encircle the infantry, protecting their withdrawal.

Naturally, the Donghu army pursued. The chase led both sides off the grasslands and onto the black soil.

Soon, Chen Mu’s forces arrived at a small hill—the hiding place he had chosen in advance. He ordered the Invincible Flying Troops and the Wudang Flying Troops to ascend the hill, while Li Feng led the cavalry further east.

The Donghu army, seeing this, decisively abandoned the pursuit of Chen Mu’s infantry and continued after the Great Xia cavalry. They had planned all along to deplete Great Xia’s cavalry; besides, their own cavalry could not scale the hill.

As the chase continued, the Donghu leader was surprised to realize that, after crossing the hill, he could no longer catch up with the Great Xia cavalry.

“Why are the Great Xia cavalry so fast?” wondered a young Donghu officer. “Their armor is iron, their weapons longer—they should be carrying much heavier loads than us.”

The Donghu leader was equally perplexed. “It doesn’t matter. I refuse to believe the Great Xia cavalry don’t need to eat. When they stop, we’ll strike.”

He was confident. His men carried rations, while the Great Xia soldiers typically stopped to cook meals. Surely, they would be forced to halt.

“Could they have laid traps for us?” the young officer asked.

The leader shook his head. “They haven’t had time to dig traps. To affect such a large cavalry force, it would take at least ten days. And there’s no terrain ahead for ambushes—no hills, nowhere to hide troops.”

Reassured, the young officer urged the pursuit onward.

After a while, the Donghu cavalry took out their rations, eating as they rode. Though they lacked saddles and stirrups, each was raised on horseback and could easily control their mounts with one hand.

What they did not know was that the Great Xia cavalry ahead had also taken out their food—dried fruit from the Eastern Yue region, a specialty high in sugar. It provided quick energy, was compact and easy to carry, and could be eaten without slowing their ride.

They placed the fruit in their mouths and chewed slowly, not missing a stride.

While the chase continued below, Chen Mu and his infantry rested comfortably atop the hill. Though his body was resting, his mind was busy—he kept an eye on the sun, calculating the distance between himself and the cavalry.

When the sun reached its zenith, Chen Mu ordered the entire army to descend and move toward their predetermined location.

...

The Donghu leader grew increasingly anxious. Some time had passed since lunch, yet the distance between his forces and the Great Xia cavalry remained unchanged—always just barely within sight.

Could Great Xia’s horses be superior? Were their riders more skilled? How could that be possible?

Just as impatience threatened to overwhelm him, the speed of the Great Xia cavalry finally slowed.

The Donghu leader was ecstatic.

“Their horses are failing!”

“Hurry, pursue them!”

“Soon we’ll be able to sever the heads of the Great Xia!”

The Donghu cavalry, equally excited, drove their mounts harder.

Their guess was correct; they quickly caught up with the Great Xia cavalry and anticipated the close combat they had long awaited.

Yet the Great Xia cavalry did not panic as expected. Instead, they resisted in an orderly fashion.

Then, the Great Xia cavalry abruptly turned, heading back the way they came.

The Donghu leader assumed they were returning to rejoin the infantry. He was unconcerned, confident that the battle would conclude before the cavalry could reunite with their infantry.

He commanded over seventeen thousand cavalry; even if losses were one for one, he could wipe out all of Great Xia’s cavalry.

He knew how difficult it was to assemble ten thousand cavalry. If Great Xia wanted to muster such a force again to attack Donghu, it would take at least two years.

Meanwhile, Donghu could lead the remaining cavalry to raid Great Xia’s cities and gather enough resources for winter.

In two years, Donghu would have even more cavalry, and Great Xia would never be able to defeat them.

With joy and anticipation, the Donghu leader pressed the pursuit.

Yet gradually, he noticed his warhorses slowing, as did those of his men.

At that moment, the Great Xia cavalry stopped fleeing, turned around, and launched an attack from the east.

Some Donghu steeds refused to obey their riders.

The Donghu leader was alarmed. “What’s happening? What’s wrong with our horses?”

The sharp-eyed young officer pointed to the ground. “We’ve been riding too long. The soil here is harder than the grasslands, and there are many stones. The horses can’t take it.”

The leader looked down and saw that his warhorses’ hooves were worn and bleeding. The pain made them unresponsive.

“Disaster!”

“But why are the Great Xia horses unaffected?”

They could not fathom the answer, nor did they have time to ponder it, for behind them came the shouts of battle.

Chen Mu, leading the Invincible Flying Troops and the Wudang Flying Troops, had arrived.

With their warhorses out of control and attacked from both sides by Great Xia, the morale of the Donghu army plummeted.

After more than an hour of slaughter, only a few hundred Donghu cavalry managed to escape; the rest—seventeen thousand strong, men and horses alike—were left behind.

Great Xia suffered only four thousand cavalry and one thousand infantry casualties.

This victory was owed to Chen Mu’s carefully devised strategy, a plan supported by the small horseshoe on each steed’s hoof.

It was the horseshoe that protected the hooves of Great Xia's warhorses on such terrain, shielding them from the ground’s harshness.

The Donghu horses, accustomed to galloping on grasslands, could not adapt to hard earth and stones.

This tiny detail doomed almost the entirety of Donghu’s cavalry.

After this battle, Donghu was left powerless to resist.

Chen Mu ordered the wounded soldiers to clean the battlefield and rest, while he led five thousand infantry and five thousand cavalry to pursue the fleeing Donghu horsemen.

Three days later, Chen Mu stood atop a hill, gazing at the distant Donghu settlements, a victor’s smile playing on his lips.