The Battle of Wei River 3

Guo Huai’s thoughts momentarily stopped when he saw the cavalry rushing towards them. It was an incomprehensible phenomenon.

After Zhang He’s death that day, Guo Huai had thoroughly studied all kinds of military treatises. But he had never seen anything like this anywhere.

Even Huo Qubing, who crushed the Xiongnu, didn’t do this. A solo charge with only heavy cavalry that can’t keep up with the mobility of light cavalry.

He thought they might be bringing out an unexpected new weapon again, but even looking closely, he couldn’t find anything different from Wei’s cavalry.

There was a difference in that they were heavy cavalry equipped with horse armor unlike the others. But that alone couldn’t block all arrows. Moreover, though they were heavy cavalry, they weren’t iron cavalry (tie qi) armored from head to toe in iron.

‘What on earth are they thinking…’

The opponent is Zhang Ran. Huo Qubing of Liu Bei who knew no defeat after experiencing battlefields for over 10 years. Guo Huai was certain that there must be some kind of scheme in this seemingly suicidal attack.

However, there were those who moved even before Guo Huai gave the order to attack. It was the Xiongnu.

“Stupid fools! You’re crazy to die! Boys, let’s go show them the taste of our Xiongnu arrows!”

Hearing the shout of Liu Biao, the Left Wise King leading the Xiongnu, Guo Huai was startled and cried out:

“Wait! The enemy commander Zhang Ran is the one the rebel leader Liu Bei called his Huo Qubing and cherished! You know too! What kind of person Huo Qubing was!!”

“Huo Qubing?”

Hearing that name, Liu Biao frowned deeply and shook his ears as if he had heard something he shouldn’t have.

For the northern tribes, especially the Xiongnu, that name was a living disaster. The Xiongnu feared Huo Qubing far more than the Han people were wary of Modu Chanyu who had humiliated Liu Bang.

What kind of person was Huo Qubing? Wasn’t he the one who pushed the Xiongnu to the brink of complete extermination?

He took away the Qilian Mountains and cut off the breeding of the six domestic animals, and reached Hanhai to offer sacrifices to the gods of the Central Plains at the Xiongnu’s sacred place. The Xiongnu kings Huo Qubing killed numbered in the tens, and hundreds of thousands of their tribesmen were killed or captured.

The time it took Huo Qubing to achieve such great feats was only 3 years.

Something wearing the skin of a human. From the Xiongnu’s perspective, that was the only way they could express it.

The Xiongnu, unlike the Han, have poor records. Nevertheless, how could Liu Biao not know that name which remained and was passed down in songs and folk tales?

But those words rather provoked Liu Biao’s defiance.

“To compare that name to a mere 21-year-old girl! Is that even a reasonable thing to say!”

The name Huo Qubing was a sore spot for them. Guo Huai belatedly regretted it. However, he didn’t back down from his assertion once made.

“Don’t you think they know how dangerous that attack is? The trap is obvious!”

“So what if it’s a trap! We have greater numbers! If they come, we just need to surround them in reverse! Moreover, look ahead. They haven’t even finished crossing the river! It’s obvious that bloodthirsty fool is rushing in blinded by merit!”

At Liu Biao’s argument, doubt also arose in Guo Huai’s mind.

‘Liu Biao’s words aren’t wrong. The army has been divided into three. Anyone can see this is a mistake. Is it true? Is it really because Zhang Ran couldn’t properly control her troops?’

The infantry follow-up force that hadn’t completely crossed the Wei River. The main force that had crossed the Wei River and formed a camp on the riverbank. And the cavalry force charging in now.

Zhang Ran’s army was currently in a state of division into three. Army management that could by no means be seen as normal. Guo Huai recalled the intelligence on Zhang Ran before the war started.

‘They said the army’s size doubled as she rose to Rear General. But she didn’t have much time to unite the army due to coming to our country on a condolence visit right after.’

All this thinking by Guo Huai took place in a very short time of just a few seconds. That’s how pressing the time given to Guo Huai was.

How to respond to the approaching enemy cavalry. The distance was narrowing moment by moment.

The thought that if they just stayed still, they might not be able to stop the breakthrough power and suffer a vain blow. And Liu Biao, whose reason was shaken by the name Huo Qubing, continued the attack.

“It’s too late now. Let’s go! We’ll show those turtle-like fools exactly why our Xiongnu cavalry ruled the great steppes!”

Fearing Guo Huai might try to stop them again, Liu Biao rushed forward without looking back. The Xiongnu horse archers followed behind him.

“Th-This…!”

If it had been the ethnic minorities of Liangzhou, they would have strictly obeyed Guo Huai’s orders. Because they had experienced what kind of person Guo Huai was. But Liu Biao was a Xiongnu from the north. Moreover, he was the third-in-command of the Xiongnu holding the position of Left Wise King.

The Xiongnu cavalry rushing out ignoring Guo Huai’s authority shot arrows as if to show that they were indeed the pinnacle of horse archers.

An arrow rain fell on the heads of the cavalry led by Jiang Wei.

§

“They took the bait.”

I clenched my fist watching the Xiongnu horse archers rush out to counterattack.

The Xiongnu who eagerly bit the cavalry bait we threw out. After firing arrows as a check to disrupt the cavalry charge, they scattered left and right like an eagle spreading its wings.

Their horsemanship was certainly precise and swift. The gap that couldn’t be filled by stirrups alone was clearly visible.

The Xiongnu’s encirclement maneuver, which they must have repeated countless times, instantly enveloped our cavalry. As if to avenge the humiliation of being unilaterally attacked when we crossed the river, they fired arrows while adjusting distance with the characteristic swift movement of light cavalry.

At this rate, they would be one-sidedly beaten and unable to avoid annihilation.

It was our turn to act.

“Chongtan, Shaoxian! Lead the main army forward! Boyue, take the left wing, I’ll take the right wing!”

Delegating command of the Nanling Army’s infantry to Bu Zhi and Guo Yi, I led the cavalry along with Ma Dai to attack the left and right.

“And Xiuyuan attacks together with the main army!”

I also placed Liu Yan and the crossbowmen he led in the center.

Ma Dai, Guo Yi, Bu Zhi, and Liu Yan. All four of them possessed the military talent to lead an army. If I just designate their positions and roles, they’ll fulfill their duties in their own ways.

Immediately after giving all instructions, I kicked my horse’s belly and rushed forward. The cavalry assigned to the right wing followed behind me.

By the time we departed, the Xiongnu’s encirclement attack was already well underway.

The Xiongnu, who had been attacking Jiang Wei’s heavy cavalry unit in a revolving motion as if peeling them, immediately responded as soon as they spotted us.

Though there was no sound or signal of giving separate orders, some of their forces turned towards us.

They were already running towards us. No matter how amazing the Xiongnu’s horsemanship is, it’s impossible to instantly change the direction of a running horse.

‘If it’s difficult to turn direction, then it’s a frontal breakthrough. They thought light cavalry could handle it.’

The Xiongnu’s fighting style wasn’t just in swarm tactics of hit-and-run. When close combat was needed, they became warriors wielding short spears and swords.

“Break through as is!!”

The moment the two cavalry forces collided. All sorts of noises mixed together to create a thunderous roar as if lightning had struck.

And most of the screams came from the Xiongnu.

The most important thing in a frontal collision is who is at the vanguard. In that respect, they were no match for us, or more precisely, no match for me.

My spear slits the throat of a Xiongnu cavalryman before their short spear can reach. The spear tip that deflected an incoming sword is plunged into the enemy’s heart. A very brief clash as the horses of both sides rush and intersect.

The horses of both sides collide and fall, and weapons are clashed regardless of whether on horseback or on the ground. Instead of the horses’ legs stopping, human arms moved noisily. A battlefield where men and horses boiled. The one dominating that place was clearly me.

Already my surroundings were filled with death. In the empty space created by Xiongnu who didn’t dare approach me, I checked on the central army.

To surround Jiang Wei’s heavy cavalry unit that was initially thrown out as bait, the Xiongnu had blocked their retreat path. That was their mistake and losing move. Because our purpose was precisely in the reverse encirclement of those who had cut off Jiang Wei’s cavalry unit.

With the heavy cavalry unit thrown as bait serving as the anvil, the main force behind became the hammer.

Our heavy cavalry, who were in a position of being surrounded with their retreat blocked by the Xiongnu, at some point became the anvil blocking the Xiongnu’s retreat path.

The situation of the Xiongnu who had rushed in to catch our heavy cavalry was completely reversed. From attackers who would easily finish off the heavy cavalry, to a fate of being surrounded and annihilated by us.

The left and right escape routes from that fate disappeared as I and Ma Dai were victorious. It’s also impossible to break through the infantry in the center.

It was a perfect encirclement.

However, before we entered the stage of annihilating them, the movement of their rear army had already begun.

Whether to abandon the Xiongnu and withdraw, or aim for a reverse encirclement using them as an anvil like us.

Of the two options, Guo Huai chose the latter.