Iron hooves rang out and banners fluttered as the Western Liang vanguard thundered through the gorge.
Dituo'er surveyed his surroundings cautiously. The gorge was long and secluded, its roadside cliffs thick with lush green shrubs.
The once-empty gorge became impossibly crowded with the seething mass of men and horses. The army's thunderous rumble carried far, struck the cliffs, and echoed above the gorge, startling countless birds into flight...
If Great Chen had stationed several thousand elite troops here in ambush, this force of Western Liang Cavalry would surely have met its grave in the gorge, never to return. But a mere few hundred ambushers were no more than a mantis raising its forelegs against a chariot, or eggs hurled against stone.
Dituo'er considered this to himself, but still cautiously sent the vanguard scouts ahead. Only after waiting more than an hour without any sign of the enemy did he let the main force slowly pass through.
Beneath the warm midday sun, he squeezed his horse's flanks and advanced slowly. As he looked up at the verdant mountains, a black streak suddenly flashed through the corner of his eye.
Dituo'er's heart jolted. He reined in his horse and shouted, "All troops, on guard! Enemy attack!"
Before his voice had faded, the ceaselessly surging Western Liang army erupted into chaos, like a ladle of cold water thrown into boiling oil.
Bang! Boom!
A dozen or so Mother-and-Child Thunderclap Bombs gave off dull explosions, mingled with the chilling whistle of metal slicing through the air. Dozens of galloping warhorses crashed to the ground. Amid the dust, a Western Liang cavalryman's head slammed into the earth, his neck bones snapping with a series of cracks.
Warhorses neighed in anguish. Several riders were flung into the air, screaming. One unfortunate man's foot caught in his