White Stripe in the Waves

"Crack..."

The thin wooden bridge deck barely bore the weight of dozens of Gatu people, but beneath it, two of the wooden piles had already warped badly.

And once the thudding sounds of chopping began beneath the bridge, the cracking of splintering wood rose one after another.

The violent tearing sounds even drowned out the Gatu people's battle cries!

Kloze, along with several brave carpenters, had become lumberjacks beneath the bridge, greatswords and axes swinging up and down without pause.

The Gatu soldiers in the front row realized something was wrong, but the crush of people behind them made retreat impossible!

They could only force their way forward. One of them even pulled his shield over his head and desperately sped up!

"Crack, crack, crack... crash..."

Perhaps the frontmost Gatu man's decision had been right, but as more cracking rang out, the bridge deck finally collapsed with a thunderous roar. Dozens of Gatu soldiers fell with it into the icy Tongtian River.

Behind them, several cavalrymen who had been clearing the obstacles also tumbled from the bridgehead into the river.

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

Every pile toppled with the sinking bridge deck. After dipping beneath the water, they bobbed back up and were swept downstream by the current.

This was, of course, Li Ang's "technical adjustment." The piles in the middle of the river had not been chopped by Kloze and the others, but their breaks were still perfectly clean—they had been sawn through beforehand, and the connecting beams that reinforced them had been removed.

The river instantly turned murky. Several horses that had fallen in surfaced with terrified neighs and were gradually swept downstream by the current.

Most of the Gatu people who had fallen into the river, however, disappeared beneath the surface within a few breaths. The river was not swift here, but it was still deep enough to drown armored Gatu people with ease.

Only a handful broke the surface, clutching broken planks as they desperately tried to swim back, only to have their lives taken by crossbow bolts fired from the camp.

It seemed this grassland people were not all hopeless swimmers.

But anyone who surfaced became a living target, and these Gatu people clearly could not swim underwater.

The Gatu warlord had fallen into the river as well. In fact, his men could be said to have successfully rescued him—at least, rescued him into the river.

But he wore heavy lamellar armor, and both his arms and legs had been pierced by arrows...

If he could still successfully rise to the surface under those circumstances, it would truly be a miracle.

Watching their leader struggle desperately for a few moments before vanishing beneath the water, some of the Gatu people began searching downstream along the riverbank.

More Gatu cavalrymen were left at a loss, their formation already in complete disarray.

On Li Ang's side, two mercenaries who had stripped bare to the waist began taking off their trousers while watching the briefly confused enemy across the river.

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

"Everything on him is yours!"

The two naked men instantly perked up. They jumped straight from the embankment into the river and vanished as soon as they entered the water.

Nearly two minutes later, they resurfaced dozens of meters downstream, with the Gatu warlord who had fallen into the river in their hands.

The Gatu warlord seemed to have passed out—he had likely suffocated in the water. The arrow wounds on his body were not enough to kill him.

The two White Stripes in the Waves glanced at the Gatu people across the river, who seemed to be drawing their bows. They took a deep breath, and the two naked men once again dove beneath the water with the Gatu warlord.

When they surfaced again, they had already reached the riverbank beside the camp.

Then, panting heavily, they quickly dragged the unconscious Gatu warlord to the river's edge. Kloze rushed out from beneath the bridge to meet them and hauled them up the steep slope from the riverbank.

Then the group raced along the side of the camp—the side facing the river was an embankment, so they had to take a detour.

Only then did a few howl-like cries come from across the river as the Gatu people finally began nocking arrows.

But with dozens of meters of river between them, the two bare-chested naked men ran swiftly while carrying their leader. Even the finest archers would worry about hitting their own man...

And Kloze was guarding their rear. Clad head to toe in heavy armor, with only a narrow slit left for his eyes, Kloze had nothing to fear from the high-arcing shots fired from across the river.

In the end, only a few Gatu people with great confidence in their archery fired several scattered arrows.

Their aim should have been precise, but none of the arrows struck their targets. Kloze knocked every one aside with his sword.

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

This spur-of-the-moment little trick had worked!

Goddess bless us!

And thanks to the Long River Town mercenaries. Most of them were excellent swimmers—what boy who had grown up beside a lake had not played in the water since childhood?

The Gatu warlord was soon placed atop the embankment. He was tied to a wooden stake and stood upright in the middle of the wall like a statue.

Ansen had even carefully stopped the bleeding from his arrow wounds.

The warlord's equipment was still on him. Li Ang could not communicate with the Gatu people, and he worried that if they stripped off the man's gear, the Gatu people across the river might no longer recognize their own leader.

In truth, Li Ang had no desire to deal with the Gatu people. With the language barrier, no matter how crafty he was, it would be difficult to lure them into a trap.

They could only fight head-on, which did not suit Li Ang's way of thinking at all.

"My lord, on him..."

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

A bare-chested mercenary, dripping wet from head to toe, shook his head. "My lord, that's not what I meant... He has a sword on him. It looks a lot like the sword you used to wear! But it sank in the water, and we didn't have time to retrieve it..."

Li Ang froze for a moment, then smiled. "It's only a sword. We'll talk after the battle. You did well, brother."

The mercenary grinned proudly, seeming extremely pleased by that praise. "My lord, I'll go retrieve it for you tonight. Don't worry, I won't covet your sword..."

When they saw the warlord erected on the wall like a statue, the Gatu people across the river became visibly more chaotic.

The Gatu people had now lost unified command.

With their leader captured, this Gatu force, made up of three hundred-man units, had clearly split into three factions...

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

Another watched from across the river. Many took the bows from their backs and tried shooting at the embankment where the crossbowmen stood—but the arrow shields made their efforts futile.

The remaining group seemed to be merely going through the motions. They slowly edged backward, apparently already thinking of leaving.

"Fire!"

The Mercenary Crossbowmen continued firing crossbow bolts through the shooting slits at the other side. Their safe firing positions allowed them to aim slowly and carefully, and even across the river, they achieved good results.

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

Then they left the bridgehead and began moving along the riverbank, apparently searching for a way to cross as well.

Li Ang had no intention of letting the Gatu people entertain thoughts of forcing a river crossing. He rose to his feet, stood behind the Gatu warlord, and drew his bow.

A fifteen-degree upward shot.

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

He released.

The bow flexed back smoothly, making the string hum softly.

The arrow traced a beautiful arc, then plunged from the sky like a hawk breaking through the heavens, landing atop the head of the farthest Gatu cavalryman patrolling the riverbank.

The sharp bodkin pierced through the nomad helmet and buried itself deep in the cavalryman's skull.

The cavalryman did not even have time to make a sound before crumpling limply to the ground.

"Zabia! Bispa!"

The Gatu people beside the cavalryman cried out in terror, scattering away from the riverbank and retreating farther back.

Only his horse remained, pacing where he had fallen, whinnying mournfully as it sniffed its master's face.