Black Wolf's First Battle

Hearing Jiang Sheng's analysis, though negative, it was the truth.

Jian Shang did not refute him. He merely nodded and swept his gaze over the crowd. Most of them were frowning tightly, lost in silent thought. At last, Jian Shang's eyes fell on Sun Ji, and with a silent sigh, he asked:

"What does Little Ji think?"

Ever since leaving Lingping County, Sun Ji, once rather lively, had spoken less and less. His smiles had dwindled considerably, and he always looked as though something weighed heavily on his mind. By Jian Shang's instincts, it was only a matter of time before Sun Ji left. Though he did not know why, he still wanted to do everything he could to keep him. Talented people were hard to come by, after all.

"The difference in numbers is not a problem. Quality can make up for it! Our only disadvantage is our lack of warhorses. We can throw out a brick to draw jade, then divide and annihilate them!"

Sure enough, although Sun Ji had become much quieter, he was still quite dedicated. He probably had no objections toward Jian Shang or the Black Wolf Cavalry. After pondering briefly, he calmly analyzed the situation.

"Throw out a brick to draw jade? Divide and annihilate them?"

Jiang Sheng, Luo Sheng, Jiang Qing, Jiang Yao, and the others furrowed their brows in thought, while the more straightforward ones asked outright.

"According to Little Ji's description, there is a forest here, only two or three li from where the barbarians are camped. It is neither far nor near. However, the barbarians are violent, bloodthirsty, and greedy. We can send a cavalry unit disguised as riders rushing past in an emergency, luring the barbarian cavalry into pursuit. That is throwing out a brick to draw jade. The others can lie in ambush in the forest, wipe out the pursuing barbarian cavalry, and seize their warhorses. That is dividing and annihilating them. Perhaps the second attempt at throwing out a brick to draw jade will fail, but once we gain the warhorses of those pursuing barbarian riders, we should have enough to clash head-on with the remaining barbarians. It can be considered killing with a borrowed knife!"

Sun Ji gestured over the map Shi Ji had provided and analyzed it earnestly.

"Feasible! Sun Ji truly is learned and well-versed, and he even understands military strategy!"

Jiang Sheng's eyes lit up as he looked at Sun Ji and praised him. Though the plan was not exceptionally ingenious, being able to react so quickly and think everything through was no simple feat.

"Well said. Truly worthy of a military adviser's talent! If no one has any other suggestions, shall we proceed as Little Ji proposed?"

Jian Shang gave him a thumbs-up in praise, then looked to the others and asked.

The crowd nodded in silence. Clearly, they had no better suggestions.

What left Jian Shang somewhat depressed was that Sun Ji did not smugly admire himself as before, nor did he say anything. He merely smiled faintly.

"We currently have seventy warhorses, all of them supplied for this. Drawing out over a hundred barbarian riders should not be a problem. Even if we lure them all out, we can still fight with the forest at our backs!"

Since no one spoke, Jian Shang formally began making arrangements.

"This time, Le Yun, Yang Ning, and I will lead the Mounted Archers to lure the enemy. The rest will be led primarily by Brother Jiang and Commander Jiang, who will lie in ambush in the forest and prepare to support us!"

"My lord?!"

Hearing that Jian Shang intended to lure the enemy personally, Jiang Sheng could not help calling out. Jian Shang waved a hand, cutting off his attempt at persuasion.

"In the battle at Nine-Dragon Mountain, forty or fifty barbarian riders would not enter the forest to pursue the nine of us. These barbarians likely will not chase us into the forest either. Therefore, the cavalry luring the enemy cannot flee into the forest. It would be best to skim past its edge, which will also benefit our side in battle!"

Jian Shang was their lord, and his mind was made up, so no one said anything further. Jiang Yao added:

"Brother Jiang's reminder is right!"

Jian Shang nodded in agreement, then continued after a pause, "If there are no issues, it is settled. Everyone, take your positions!"

The sky was high and blue, the blazing sun hung midway overhead, and everything for a hundred li lay silent!

"Clop, clop, clop..."

The heavy, dense thunder of iron hooves jolted the resting barbarians awake. Looking toward the sound, they saw dust billowing into the air, and soon over a hundred riders charging straight at them.

Five hundred meters...

Three hundred meters...

Two hundred meters...

"Neighhh..."

At first, the cavalry did not alter their direction, continuing to gallop in a straight line without avoiding the barbarian formation.

Only when they discovered from close range that barbarians had gathered there did the lead rider raise his spear high, ordering all the riders to rein in their horses. The sudden halt threw their formation into disorder.

"Awoo! Awoo! Awoo..."

Resounding wolf howls rose up. Around seventy or eighty barbarian riders howled excitedly as they burst from the formation and charged toward the hundred cavalrymen.

"My lord!"

Seeing the barbarians charging over, Le Yun tightened his grip on the Wrought-Iron Bow and called to Jian Shang, who remained unmoved.

"Keep moving forward. Meet them with arrows!"

After thinking for a moment, Jian Shang did not immediately turn back as planned. Instead, he swept his spear and gave the order.

"Uh..."

Le Yun, Yang Ning, and the others were greatly taken aback. But Jian Shang was their lord, and he had already urged his horse onward, looking as though he intended to break through. They could only follow.

Two hundred meters...

One hundred meters...

Just as Jian Shang and the others were about to circle around the barbarian formation, the barbarian riders pursuing them had already closed the distance.

Bang, bang, bang...

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

Bowstrings snapped like explosions, and sharp arrows screamed through the air. Jian Shang switched his spear for a hard bow, and the others all drew their bows and nocked arrows. Sixty or seventy sharp arrows tore through the sky toward the seventy or eighty barbarian riders in pursuit.

"Argh! Argh! Argh..."

Dense screams rang out. From a hundred meters away, twenty or thirty of the seventy or eighty barbarian riders were shot down, making the remaining riders even more furious and bloodthirsty as they accelerated their charge.

"Shift sideways! Greet them with arrows!"

Jian Shang flicked his reins, turning his warhorse to gallop sideways. As he rode, he continually drew and loosed arrows at the barbarian riders.

Bang, bang, bang...

At this moment, Le Yun and Yang Ning displayed extraordinarily formidable archery. Every time a bowstring cracked, a barbarian rider fell from his horse. Not once did they miss.

As for Jian Shang, he seemed to be firing wildly. Of five arrows, only one luckily struck a barbarian warhorse. All the rest missed.

Archery was a skill every commander needed, yet it left Jian Shang rather frustrated.

Though Jian Shang practiced archery often, he had no archery cultivation manual, and the system seemed unwilling to recognize it. Even after practicing archery thousands of times, no archery-type cultivation method had appeared on his attribute panel.

Of course, practice was still practice. Those thousands of attempts had made Jian Shang far more familiar with archery. At the very least, he could draw and nock an ordinary bow with some semblance of skill. It was just twice the effort for half the result, and his accuracy remained abysmal.

"Awoo! Awoo! Awoo..."

"@#..."

The two cavalry forces galloped across the plains, one fleeing and one pursuing. Yet the pursuing barbarian cavalry was steadily whittled down by the Mounted Archers led by Jian Shang, while being unable to do anything about them. This drove the barbarian riders to howl furiously and curse.

This was the might of Mounted Archers, and also the main reason they were among the most expensive troop types. Archers were already difficult to train, and Mounted Archers capable of hitting targets while galloping at full speed were even harder to cultivate.

"Awoo! Awoo! Awoo..."

At that moment, louder and denser wolf howls erupted. The large barbarian force that had remained still until then all swung onto their horses and poured out like a swarm.

Moreover, they headed directly toward the front of the Mounted Archers led by Jian Shang, clearly intending to intercept them.

So they finally decided to move?

Seeing the barbarian masses rise together in pursuit, Jian Shang was secretly delighted. He turned his horse around again and led his men back at a slant. From an overall view, Jian Shang's route formed the shape of the character "zhi."

Bang, bang, bang...

The dense, unbroken detonations of bowstrings continued without pause, but there were simply too many barbarians. Aside from Yang Ning and Le Yun, whose arrows struck true with every shot, the other Mounted Archers needed roughly three to five arrows to hit a barbarian rider, and even then, they could not necessarily kill him outright. The barbarian riders would not foolishly serve as living targets; they also blocked and dodged.

The barbarian riders pressed closer and closer, their numbers growing ever greater. Four or five hundred cavalrymen surged out together, kicking up clouds of dust with a vast and imposing momentum.

Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...

When the distance shrank to sixty or seventy meters, Jian Shang, Yang Ning, and the others were shocked to see the foremost barbarian riders fling out the curved blades in their hands.

In an instant, sharp whistles split the air. Dozens of rapidly spinning curved blades wove into a storm of steel, sweeping toward Jian Shang and the others.