Chapter 201 Chase (2)
Translated by Gamer@EndlessFantasyTranslations.com
“Are you that desperate!” Lu Bu also noticed Zhang Kai’s feelings. The people who usually have these kinds of feelings are those Han generals. This is especially true for generals from Bingzhou and Youzhou. They always confront foreigners. The foreigners are the one that always end up retreating because they were no match for Han generals. The Hans use heavy armor and had weapons made by a proper blacksmith. On the other hand, the foreigners use leather and second-hand equipment bought from traders. Heavy armors were better than light armors which made them stronger in a head on fight.
Not every foreigner is stupid and there are even some shameless Hans that hire foreigners. The foreigners use indirect ways to fight the Hans by luring them out with the light cavalry. The Han’s heavy cavalry would get lost in the desert or grasslands. When they are lost in the deserts, they may not return for about 10 days to half a month. That would be enough time for the foreigners to attack and plunder their borders. At that time, the armies of the Han had no choice but to defend.
After that, one person came up with an idea to deal with the guerrilla tactics of the foreigners. Since the foreigners were too afraid to fight directly, they would force them to attack directly. They would ignore the foreigners and close the city gates the moment the soldiers left. The soldiers and citizens would guard the walls and the Han Cavalry would ignore the light cavalry of the foreigners. Even if they enter the desert, what would they do there? Just destroy their base! In other words, the heavy cavalries were to ignore the light cavalry and go straight for their den.
Those outside the Great Wall would need to find a place abundant with water and weeds to raise cattle and to feed themselves. All they need to do is to find the living areas of these foreigners and eradicate them. It does not matter whether they are related to those that attacked the walls. Everything will be burned to the ground.
This is meant to provoke the foreigners to take their cavalries and confront them directly. If they do not appear, their families and tribes will be destroyed. If they appear, both of them would be destroyed. The foreigners at that time were truly afraid.
Whichever tribes that dared to attack the cities of the Han, they would be hunted down by heavy cavalries. They will travel the roads and ask for directions. Those that withhold information would be exterminated. As a result, more than 10,000 cavalry soldiers would go out to hunt.
The one who developed this strategy was the late Ding Yuan, Ding Jianyang. That would mean that the commander of the heavy cavalry is Lu Bu. Wherever he went, there were no survivors. He was like Wolf Deity or Death to the outsiders. (TL: Such a long headache tangent just to praise Lu Bu?)
Now Lu Bu is using the foreigner’s tactics to deal with the Yuzhou Cavalry.
Without even brandishing his halberd, the Wolf Cavalry already knew his commands. The large force prepared themselves and the Yuzhou Cavalry took some distance. They will not allow the Yuzhou Cavalry to succeed or feel despair.
They have constantly provided the Yuzhou Cavalry with feelings of hope and then extinguishing that feeling.
“Lu Bu, you have forced my hand!” Zhang Kai gnashed his teeth. His hair was disheveled. He has already become a red eyed gambler. An important characteristic of a red eyed gambler is that they are willing to gamble anything. In order to win, Zhang Kai is willing to gamble his own life.
“Stab the horses!” Zhang Kai roared loudly towards the Yuzhou Cavalry soldiers.
“What?!” All the Yuzhou Cavalry soldiers were shocked. Stab the horses?!That is really crazy! The horses were like their second life. Rather than stabbing their horses, even when their horse is a little bit injured, they would be sad. Now the horses were so exhausted they were already complaining.
“Zhang Kai are you crazy!?” Taishi Ci did not expect Zhang Kai to even dare to fight like this. Stab the horses? Now the Yuzhou Cavalry could not catch up to the Wolf Cavalry. Stabbing the horse would indeed speed them up but after the battle, the horses would all bleed to death. These horses were all bought by Sun Ce and transported from Liaodong. Each of these horses were worth hundreds of gold and Sun Ce had to skimp to buy them. He even had to reduce the salary given to his soldiers, some of which would have went to Taishi Ci. He who has given up more than a year’s worth of salary understood how important the Yuzhou Cavalry is to Sun Ce.
Now Zhang Kai has commanded his soldiers to stab the horses. What happens after that? The entire Yuzhou Cavalry would disappear from Sun Ce’s Army. Would the thing that Sun Ce spent on and lived frugally for a whole year for, disappear after using it once?
“I am not crazy!” Was Zhang Kai crazy? It was still uncertain. “Taishi Ci, if we do not stab the horses, how many of us do you think will reach the camp? 100? 1,000? Now the 5,000 Yuzhou Cavalry is not a match for the Wolf Cavalry! We would definitely occur heavy losses!”
Zhang Kai howled towards Taishi Ci. “Now we just need 1 more wrestle. All those on the horses must prepare to clash with the Wolf Cavalry and risk their lives. If we win, then the sacrifice is worthit. If we lose, Jiang Dong will not have peaceful days!” Zhang Kai was not crazy. He was considerably calm. He knows that his choice is not whether to risk their lives or not. He knows that if he does not risk his life, they would only meet a dead end. That is why Zhang Kai is calm.
“But!” Taishi Ci wanted to say something but was immediately stopped by Zhang Kai. “Did you not hear what I say! Stab your horses! Whether you want to live sullenly like a married woman or to die honorably like a man! Your choice!” Zhang Kai can be said to be a good general. His words immediately raised the morale of the soldiers. In ancient times, to be called married woman is not like in modern times. In ancient times, the men were all strong while in modern ages, the men could put on makeup. For example, beautiful and handsome men! Then there are those that changed their gender to women as well! These modern things were like heresy in ancient times. To go against the gods and their ancestors.
A man must be a man! They must be dauntless! The greatest humiliation for a man in ancient times is to be like a woman. For example, Zhuge Liang presented Sima Yi with female clothes. It did not work well because Sima Yi was thick skinned however it was an insult from Zhuge Liang. Now the commander of the Yuzhou Cavalry asked if his soldiers wanted to live sullenly like a woman.
They could become deserters and suffer death penalties but they must never be labelled as women in their lives.
“Stab the horses! Stab the horses!” The Yuzhou Cavalry also started to act. They were also elites. Their ferocity was no less than Old Cao’s Ferocious Cavalry and would give Old Cao a headache. Both of their masters were willing to spend money to use it. Yuan Shu was also willing to extort money from his own citizens at an extreme level. All of his money was used on his capital and the Yuzhou Cavalry.
Sun Ce on the other hand took all of his Jiangdong Army to support the Yuzhou Cavalry. He is willing to use the whole of Southern Wu during the Warring States period, which were more than 10,000 to support these 5,000 cavalry soldiers. Anyone could tell that these were elites.
The swords went down to stab and slash the buttocks and hips of the horses. Their hearts shed tears of blood but they endured the grief. They are men! They would rather die a glorious death then live in disgrace!
“Run, my old partner! Run to your death! Your master will accompany you!” The soldiers were confident of their death. Without horses, they would no longer be cavalries. They were better off killed.
“Stab the horses?” Lu Bu frowned. The Yuzhou Cavalry is really ruthless. Lu Bu also understood that for a cavalry, their horses were like their second life. Even beyond the Great Wall, the Hans would rather be showered with arrows than to injure their horses. Their feelings that were accumulated over the years cannot be explained in one sentence.
The horses were like their family. Now, they hardened their hearts and injured their family just to overtake the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry.
“Is it so simple?!” Lu Bu wanted to avoid the confrontation. This is a cavalry battle. Even though the Yuzhou Cavalry speed up, their velocity was still inferior to the Wolf Cavalry. As long as Lu Bu is dragging them along, victory would belong to Lu Bu. “Throw away the heavy shields!” Lu Bu shouted. Now they need to throw away unnecessary weight. By removing the weights, they could shake off the Yuzhou Cavalry.
The Yuzhou Cavalry were now a bunch of lunatics that would bring misfortune to those that encounter them. Lu Bu wanted to reduce casualties.
“Useless! Useless! We will overtake you!” When he saw Lu Bu throw away the giant shield, Zhang Kai became more ferocious. Did you think you could gain an advantage by throwing away your shields! Impossible! Zhang Kai already desperately risked his life. If he was still overtaken by Lu Bu, his luck must be very bad.
It was similar to Xiang Yu. He destroyed his boat of supplies. If the Qin decided to set up camp instead of attack, Xiang Yu would meet with a dead end. They would have no boat to escape and no food to eat. His whole army would have been annihilated and the Chu Overlord would not have appeared in history.
However, history is history. It already happened and could not change. Now Zhang Kai was like Xiang Yu and Lu Bu was like the Qin Army. Zhang Kai risked his life and gambled everything to win.
Unwittingly, Zhang Kai has placed himself in a vulnerable group. Although Xiang Yu managed to triumph over the Qin Army, he retreated after the battle. It was like when the Yuzhou Cavalry fought with the Wolf Cavalry earlier. Zhang Kai stabbed his horse. His horse shed blood and sped up. It’s wound becomes more severe and continue to shed blood. Now all the horses have become blood horse. Blood can be seen on all the horses. Although the blood on the blackish horse and the reddish-brown horse were difficult to see, the blood on the white horses were very clear. The large red stain on the body looks horrifying.
“Throw away the spear!” Lu Bu shouted again. This Zhang Kai really gambled everything. The best thing to do against such a gambler was to ignore him. This is because win or lose, it would not yield good results.
If he loses, then everything is invalid. If he wins, there is no telling what kind of injuries would be given. Therefore, Lu Bu chose to avoid it altogether.
“Milord, these are cavalry spears!” The Wolf Cavalry was puzzled. The giant shields can be thrown away. They were defensive equipment. Honestly, the Wolf Cavalry were also not willing to use shields. Only the strong men of the Wolf Cavalry used the shields because they were responsible for defending the weak. The others did not use shields because the Wolf Cavalry was meant for offense, not defense. They only need sharp fangs. Is there a wolf with turtle shells? Rather than feel pressured for throwing away the shield, they were secretly delighted.
On the other hand, they did not want to throw away the spear because it was convenient to use. This spear was brought by Liu Mang and was made with steel. It was strong and sharp. The armors that used to give the Wolf Cavalry a headache was easily defeated with this spear. Now, Lu Bu asked them to throw away the spear.
“Stop hesitating! We can pick them up when we go back!” Lu Bu shouted. When all the soldiers throw away their spear, their speed will increase further.
“Yes!” The Wolf Cavalry unhesitatingly threw away the spear. Their face was also happy. Why? This is because Lu Bu said they will pick it up when they go back. In other words, Lu Bu does not think much of his enemy. Once the battle is over and Lu Bu has won, they would go back to pick up their weapons.
The Yuzhou Cavalry were fast but the Bingzhou Wolf cavalry were even faster. After losing a dozen pound of weight, the differences were clear. The Liaodong horses could not keep up with the genetically improved horses of the future. Although they already gambled their lives they still could not keep up.
“How hateful!” Zhang Kai was enduring it. At this rate, the Yuzhou Cavalry would really be annihilated. On the other hand, other than the few hundred casualties earlier, the Wolf Cavalry would come out unscathed. Zhang Kai could not accept this result. Even when he fought at Bagongshan, he still managed to escape with 800 cavalries. Now they have already stabbed their horses. Even if they survive, they would be useless. A cavalry soldier that has no horse cannot become an infantry.
“Aaah!” The stabbed horse began to falter. They could no longer endure. There are those that were too tired and those that lost too much blood. They were not machines. One by one, the soldiers fell behind the main army and would no longer be able catch up.
Zhang Kai knew that those were the Yuzhou Cavalry. Does the Heavens want Zhang Kai to be defeated in all aspects here? Zhang Kai refused to accept it! He was also a general. He was the commander of the cavalry. He is not inferior to anyone in commanding the cavalry. Why! Why did he still lose to the Lu Bu’s Army! Why did he still lose to the Wolf Cavalry! It was not the first time the Yuzhou Cavalry clashed with the Wolf Cavalry. They first started during one of Yuan Shu’s expedition in Xuzhou. They took the vanguard and clashed with the Wolf Cavalry. Then they also fought the cavalries of many different faction and the Wolf Cavalry again at Bagonshan. Unfortunately, there was never a time when the Yuzhou Cavalry actually won. Although they have lost several times, they always managed to pull out. Now their horses were already unable to endure and the Yuzhou Cavalry would face judgement day. On the other hand, the Wolf Cavalry still had 1,000 infantry killers.
*Sigh!* Taishi Ci sighed and shook his head. He really did not expect Lu Bu to make such a comeback with this kind of strategy. He has never seen such superb cavalry tactics. Was Zhang Kai weak? No! Zhang Kai was not weak. In terms of cavalry, Taishi Ci considers Zhang Kai an able and good general. He even intended to send in a good word to Sun Ce and praise Zhang Kai for his skills and knowledge in cavalry along with the capability to rouse the troops and increase morale.
But now this was unnecessary. The Yuzhou Cavalry is finished. At the very least, it was already finished from Taishi Ci’s point of view. They were unable to chase the Wolf Cavalry and were unable to escape from the Wolf Cavalry. The Wolf Cavalry does not let you run. Even when they risk their lives for a final confrontation, the Wolf Cavalry did not grant them that opportunity.
Taishi Ci made up his mind. When all is lost, he would grab Zhang Kai and break out of encirclement. The Yuzhou Cavalry is lost. Jiangdong cannot afford to lose another cavalry commander. They have already witnessed the strength of the Wolf Cavalry and Zhang Kai has already given up hope.
Even though Zhang Kai was not satisfied, he has already given up hope. The moment Taishi Ci decided to take Zhang Kai and run, the Wolf Cavalry immediately noticed. The Wolf Cavalry immediatel sped up towards the enemy. This is when Zhang Kai suddenly laughed.
“Hahahahaha! The heavens have not forsaken I, Zhang Kai! The heavens have not forsaken me!” In front of the Wolf Cavalry was another 1,000 cavalry soldiers that initially split off earlier.
They were ordered to break out of the army to stall Lu Bu but were ignored and left behind. As they were in the opposite direction, they were not seen. They could only follow the road. Now they have appeared at the perfect timing to stop Lu Bu’s Army.
At first, the Wolf Cavalry did not want to fight with the Yuzhou Cavalry. Now, they were unexpectedly caught between the two Yuzhou Cavalry that were risking their lives. The Wolf Cavalry had no choice but to turn back.