White Stripe in the Waves

"Creak..."

The thin wooden planks of the bridge barely held the weight of dozens of Gatu people, but below the bridge, two wooden piles were already severely deformed.

Furthermore, after the sound of chopping wood echoed from beneath the bridge, the sound of cracking wood began to erupt one after another.

The violent tearing sound even drowned out the Gatu people's shouts of killing!

Kloze, along with several brave carpenters, was acting as a woodcutter beneath the bridge, his greatsword and axe flying up and down without pause.

The Gatu soldiers at the very front realized something was wrong, but the crowd of people behind them made it impossible for them to retreat!

They could only push forward with all their might, even covering their heads with their shields and desperately speeding up!

"Crack, crack, crack... Rumble..."

Perhaps the Gatu soldier in the front made the right decision, but as more cracking sounds rang out, the bridge finally collapsed with a roar, and dozens of Gatu soldiers plunged into the icy Tongtian River along with the bridge surface.

And behind them, several cavalrymen who were clearing obstacles also fell into the river from the bridgehead.

The dozens of wooden piles in the middle of the river had all snapped at that instant!

All the wooden piles fell as the bridge collapsed, then submerged in the water for a moment before resurfacing and being washed away by the current.

This was, of course, Li Ang's "technical adjustment." The wooden piles in the middle of the river hadn't been cut by Kloze and his men, but their cross-sections were still neat – they had been sawn off long ago, and the reinforcing connections had been removed.

The river water instantly became incredibly turbid. The horses that fell into the river cried out as they surfaced, gradually being swept downstream by the current.

However, most of the Gatu people who fell into the river were submerged within a few breaths – although the river water here wasn't fast, it was still deep enough to easily drown Gatu people clad in armor.

Only a few people managed to surface, grabbing broken planks and desperately swimming back, but they were then taken by crossbow bolts shot from the camp.

It seemed this nomadic people weren't entirely afraid of water.

But surfacing meant becoming a target, and these Gatu people clearly couldn't swim underwater.

The Gatu warlord also fell into the river. In fact, his subordinates had indeed managed to save him – at least, they saved him into the river.

However, he was wearing heavy lamellar armor, and his arms and legs were pierced by arrows...

If he could still successfully surface in this condition, it would truly be a miracle.

Watching their leader struggle for a few moments before disappearing into the water, some of the Gatu people began to search downstream along the river channel.

More Gatu cavalrymen became somewhat bewildered, their formations already in disarray.

But on Li Ang's side, two mercenaries who had already stripped to the waist began to watch the momentarily chaotic enemy on the opposite bank while pulling down their pants.

One of them asked uncertainly, "Sir, if we capture him..."

"Everything on him belongs to you!"

The two naked men instantly became energized, jumping directly from the rampart into the river. They disappeared upon entering the water.

About two minutes later, they resurfaced tens of meters downstream, holding the Gatu warlord who had fallen into the river.

The Gatu warlord seemed to be unconscious – likely from suffocating in the water; his arrow wounds were not fatal.

The two "White Stripes in the Waves" glanced at the Gatu people on the opposite bank who seemed to be drawing their bows, took a deep breath, and then the two naked men submerged underwater again with the Gatu warlord, disappearing from sight.

When they surfaced again, they were already on the riverbank on the side of the camp.

Then, panting heavily, they quickly dragged the unconscious Gatu warlord to the edge of the river. Kloze rushed out from under the bridge to meet them, pulling them up from the steep riverbank slope.

Afterward, they all fled at full speed along the side of the camp – the side facing the river was a rampart, so they had to take a detour.

Only then did a few howling shouts come from across the river. The Gatu people finally began to draw their bows and shoot arrows.

But across the dozens of meters of river, the two naked men carrying their leader ran at full speed – even the best archers would worry about friendly fire...

Besides, Kloze was protecting them from behind – Kloze, clad in full heavy armor with only a slit for his eyes, was not afraid of high-arcing ranged arrows shot from the opposite bank.

As a result, only a few Gatu people who were extremely confident in their archery skills shot a few scattered arrows.

Their archery was likely accurate, but none of the arrows hit their target; they were all blocked by Kloze's sword.

Seeing the two Long River Town mercenaries carry the Gatu warlord into the camp, Li Ang let out a long sigh of relief.

This impromptu little trick had succeeded!

May the Goddess bless this!

It was also thanks to the mercenaries from Long River Town; most of them were excellent swimmers – boys who lived by the lake year-round, who didn't grow up playing in the water?

The Gatu warlord was quickly placed on the rampart – he was tied to a wooden stake in the middle of the wall, like a statue.

His arrow wounds were even carefully bandaged by Ansen to stop the bleeding.

The warlord's equipment was still on him – Li Ang couldn't communicate with the Gatu people, and he worried that if he removed the warlord's gear, the Gatu people on the other side wouldn't recognize their leader.

In fact, Li Ang really didn't want to deal with the Gatu people. After all, with the language barrier, it was difficult to trick them no matter how cunning he was.

He could only rely on brute force, which completely went against Li Ang's way of thinking.

"Sir, on him..."

"Don't worry, it's all yours after the battle is over!"

A completely soaked, bare-chested mercenary shook his head: "Sir, that's not what I meant... He has a sword on him, it looks a lot like your previous sword! But it sank into the water, and we didn't have time to retrieve it..."

Li Ang paused for a moment, then smiled, "It's just a sword. We'll talk about it after the battle. Thanks for your hard work, brother."

The mercenary grinned proudly, as if taking great pride in the words "thanks for your hard work." "Sir, I'll retrieve it for you tonight. Don't worry, I won't covet your sword..."

Seeing the warlord standing on the wall like a statue, the Gatu people opposite became even more chaotic.

The Gatu people had lost unified command at this point.

With their leader captured, this Gatu force, composed of three centuries, clearly split into three factions...

One group rode back and forth along the riverbank, trying to find a place to cross.

One group watched from across the river, many taking bows from their backs and attempting to shoot at the rampart where the crossbowmen were located—but the presence of the shield boards made their efforts futile.

And another group seemed to be just milling about, slowly retreating backward, likely having lost the will to fight.

"Fire!"

The mercenary crossbowmen continued to fire crossbow bolts from the shooting holes at the opposite bank. The safe shooting environment allowed them to aim slowly and carefully, achieving good results even across the river.

Several Gatu cavalrymen watching from across the river fell within a few breaths.

Then they left the bridgehead and began to move along the riverbank, seemingly also starting to look for a way to cross.

Li Ang did not intend to let the Gatu people entertain the idea of forcing a river crossing. He stood up, positioning himself behind the Gatu warlord, and began to draw his bow.

An upward shot at a fifteen-degree angle.

He drew the string to his cheek, exhaled, and held his breath...

He released.

The bow body sprang back steadily, causing the bowstring to emit a soft hum.

The arrow drew a beautiful arc, then plunged down from the sky, like a falcon piercing the heavens, landing on the head of a Gatu cavalryman who was wandering furthest along the riverbank.

The sharp arrowhead pierced the lamellar armor and sank deep into the back of the cavalryman's head.

Before the cavalryman could even utter a sound, he collapsed limply.

"Zabia! Bispa!"

The Gatu people beside the fallen cavalryman shouted in terror, scattering and retreating further away from the riverbank.

Only his horse still paced where he had fallen, whinnying mournfully and sniffing its master's face.