Chapter 112: Straws, One After Another

“Is anyone there? Give him a hand! Quickly! Reform the ranks! Protect the wounded!”

The spear phalanx stirred as soldiers in the rear dragged a wounded comrade back into formation. The soldier had been injured by a horse’s kick, and the horse that struck him had already fallen, sliding slowly down the slope along with its rider.

The soldiers at the back urgently held the line, and seeing no room for further attack, the cavalry retreated.

After repelling one more charge, Xu Wenshan’s troops had suffered casualties, but in return, the enemy cavalry lost two riders.

After multiple charges, the cavalry finally discerned the phalanx’s fatal weakness: its four corners. The spears were most sparse there, making those points the most vulnerable.

In truth, this spear phalanx was not yet the perfected formation. Historically, the strongest phalanx was that of Macedonia. The Macedonian phalanx was hexagonal, with no sparse corners, far sturdier than Xu Wenshan’s current square formation.

Xu Wenshan had not trained that formation primarily because his numbers were too few. It was difficult to form a Macedonian phalanx without at least a couple of hundred men.

Xu Wenshan grew anxious, but so did his opponent.

After seven or eight rounds of charging, the cavalry was exhausted, their horses drenched in sweat. Repeated failures had shaken the riders’ confidence, and subsequent attacks were noticeably less effective.

Tayunma worried that a few more charges might break their morale before the enemy’s, and even if their spirits held, their horses would be utterly spent.

Yet he could not hold back. If they failed to defeat the enemy here, not only would the reputation of Feima Village be ruined, but they would also face the upcoming siege at Fengshi Village—a battle unsuitable for cavalry, where Tayunma was hardly the main force.

For glory, this battle was their last chance.

Xu Wenshan’s troops resembled a camel on the verge of collapse, and the riders like horses nearing their limit.

Whoever fought to the bitter end would be the one able to place the final straw lightly upon the opponent’s back.

But judging by the current situation, Xu Wenshan’s chances of victory were minuscule.

The starlight dimmed, and the eastern sky brightened faintly.

With the dawn’s subtle light increasing visibility, a group of soldiers appeared on the horizon.

Both sides locked in stalemate turned their attention to the approaching troops.

“Reinforcements!” shouted Chasing Wind Horse first.

“The village’s reinforcements have arrived!”

The cavalry’s morale surged instantly. The arrival of fresh troops would shatter the enemy’s spirit.

Their own prolonged failure stemmed from having only cavalry, a single troop type. If the reinforcements included archers, defeating the enemy would be far easier.

At that moment, the Deer Crane Guard’s hearts leapt to their throats. But then, from the edge of the mist, a formation of neatly aligned spears emerged.

“Reinforcements! It’s Da Zhuang!” roared Old Thunder Tiger first.

The Deer Crane Guard cheered, but the cavalry’s morale plummeted.

“Damn it, one turtle formation was already tough enough, now there’s another!”

The troops advancing outside the village were none other than Li Dazhuang’s squad.

Though Xu Wenshan had tasked him only with blocking the enemy on the rear mountain and guarding the village, after a brief rest, Li Dazhuang decided to sally forth and engage.

It was a weighty decision. If Xu Wenshan’s forces outside were wiped out, the entire defense of Fengshi Village would fall to him. Recklessly attacking now meant abandoning their defensive advantage for open battle, where the enemy excelled.

Yet he still chose to advance, guided by an instinctive command sense that the standoff outside the village was truly locked.

Instinct is a mysterious thing, but countless great commanders have relied on it to make the right calls.

“Forget the high ground for now, take care of this unit first!” Tayunma shouted.

Leading the cavalry, he charged the new troops, attempting to attack from the flank. But Li Dazhuang immediately ordered, “Hollow square formation!”

It was a small hollow square, soldiers standing back to back, yet highly effective. The moment the cavalry’s horses collided with the formation, their speed plummeted, nullifying any impact.

Xu Wenshan commanded, “Advance in line formation! Support squad one!”

The soldiers surged forward with unyielding momentum, heading down from the high slope. The cavalry detected their movement and sent forces to intercept, but whenever the cavalry approached, Xu Wenshan ordered the formation to shift into a phalanx, frustrating the cavalry who could find no way to break through these two “turtles.”

Li Dazhuang’s arrival boosted morale, but it did not alter the overall stalemate. Both sides were locked in deadlock once again.

The sun rose, sweeping away the gloom, and from the west, another troop approached in the sunrise’s glow.

All eyes turned toward them, followed by cheers from one side and despair from the other: the approaching force was the cavalry of Feima Village.

“Oh!” The cavalry raised their weapons and shouted loudly.

With this reinforcement, the cavalry numbered sixty strong, gaining a numerical advantage over the Deer Crane Gully troops.

“Wait, something’s not right,” said Lightning Horse just as he was about to charge, but Chasing Wind Horse suddenly held him back.

This was Feima Village’s last cavalry unit, and leading them was not the Winged Horse, but a minor leader whose name was unknown even among their ranks.

When this minor leader reached within fifty paces of the cavalry, he stopped and called out, “Leader Tayunma, please come forward. I have an order from the village chief to deliver.”

Tayunma asked suspiciously, “What order?”

“I’m sorry, but I cannot say. The chief instructed that only Leader Tayunma be told.”

Tayunma glanced at the cavalry, noting their solemn expressions, heavy with seriousness.

He rode forward and asked, “What order?”

“Please come closer and listen,” said the minor leader.

The moment Tayunma leaned in, the minor leader suddenly drew his dagger. In a swift motion, a head was severed cleanly, spinning high in the dawn sky before falling with a thud into the dust below.

“The Winged Horse is dead! Tayunma has been executed by my hand! Everyone else, surrender immediately!”

The announcement struck like thunder, leaving everyone speechless.