Bloody Battle and Rout in the Wilderness
When Xueya led more than 800 people out of the Green Grain Tribe's camp, the Fish Tribe's Julang was already waiting in ambush on the open Huangye two miles away.
Xueya glanced at the Fish Tribe's formation from afar, and a grin spread across his face—just as he had expected, the Fish Tribe had placed those hastily assembled young men at the very front!
"Halt!" Xueya raised his bone knife, and the Wolf Tribe's troops slowly came to a halt. He pointed at the opposite side. "See that? The Fish Tribe is scared! Afraid of losing their elite troops, they're sending these ragtag soldiers to their deaths!"
Yexiao, Shichui, Duyan all came over to look, and sure enough, there were about four hundred people standing in the front row of the Fish Tribe formation, with all sorts of weapons, standing crookedly, which was in stark contrast to the four hundred Fish Tribe elites behind them who were neatly armored and in a tight formation.
"Heaven is on our side!" Xueya slapped his thigh excitedly. "Pass on the order! Proceed according to the original plan!"
"Yexiao, you lead the cavalry to circle around to their rear and flanks, harass, disrupt, and tie them down!"
"Chuishi, you take 500 vassal troops and charge straight ahead! Don't worry about formations, just charge in!"
"Duyan and I will lead three hundred elite troops to cover the rear. Once you disrupt their formation, we'll go in and reap the rewards!"
The order was quickly relayed, and the Wolf Tribe's forces began to adjust their positions. Five hundred vassal soldiers were pushed to the front; these men had blood on their hands several times, and now their eyes gleamed with ferocity. Urged on by Shichui, they began to slowly advance towards the Fish Tribe's position.
On the Fish Tribe's side, Julang's face was ashen as he watched the Wolf Tribe's army approaching. He had originally planned to have these conscripted young men hold off the Wolf Tribe for a while, wear down their morale, and then let the Fish Tribe's elite troops go up to reap the rewards.
But he overestimated the fighting power of these young and strong men.
Powang, commanding from the front, shouted, "Hold on! Hold on! Grab your weapons!" But those men, who had never seen blood, were already terrified by the enemy's momentum. Some were trembling, some were sweating as they gripped their Shifu axes. They were just ordinary farmers and hunters; they had never seen anything like this before.
"Don't push, people in the back!" "I... I want to go back..." A jumble of voices came from the line.
Powang was so angry his face turned pale. He grabbed a burly young man who was trying to back away and slapped him across the face. "What are you retreating for! If you retreat again, I'll kill you first!"
The slap sent the young man sprawling to the ground, and the surrounding people retreated in fright, further disrupting the already shaky formation.
"Charge!" Shichui shouted from behind the vassal army, "Kill them, and the food and women will be ours!"
The five hundred vassal soldiers began to run faster, howling like wild beasts. Although their formation was loose, their numbers were large and they had seen blood, and their momentum instantly overwhelmed the Fish Tribe's vanguard.
Not long after the battle began, the vanguard was thrown into complete chaos. Some turned and ran, while others stood trembling in place. Only a few continued to resist, and screams filled the air. Powang knew he couldn't hold out any longer and could only retreat while fighting.
But this retreat turned into a rout. The four hundred able-bodied men turned and ran like a flock of frightened sheep, completely disregarding any direction and only thinking about getting as far away from the Wolf Tribe as possible.
"Stop them!" Julang cried out in fury from behind. "Don't let them break formation!"
It was too late. The fleeing soldiers surged towards the elite positions of the Fish Tribe like a tidal wave. Some were knocked down, others were pushed and shoved until they lost their balance, and the entire rear guard formation was thrown into chaos in an instant.
Meanwhile, the Wolf Tribe's vassal army pursued relentlessly, charging into the Fish Tribe's territory along with the routed soldiers.
"Kill!" Shichui swung his Shichui, smashing the head of a Fish Tribe warrior.
Chaos ensued; the rear guard of the Fish Tribe was in complete disarray.
Xueya, who saw everything clearly from behind, was so excited his eyes turned red. "The opportunity! Now is the time!"
He and Duyan led three hundred elite Wolf Tribe soldiers, charging forward like a whirlwind. These were true warriors, clad in thick leather armor, wielding sharp bone knives or Shifu, and armed with wooden shields—a skill Xueya had learned from the Fire Tribe.
The Yexiao's cavalry also flanked the Fish Tribe from both sides, constantly harassing the rear of the Fish Tribe's position with javelins, creating even greater chaos.
The Fish Tribe's elite troops were indeed well-trained; even in the chaos, they resisted in small groups, back to back. But the Wolf Tribe had far too many men—a combination of vassal troops and elite soldiers. Over eight hundred Wolf Tribe faced four hundred Fish Tribe, and it was a situation of surprise attack and chaos.
Julang realized he had miscalculated. He roared and brandished his harpoon, piercing the chest of a Wolf Tribe warrior with one thrust and sweeping down two vassal soldiers with the next.
"Stay calm! Everyone stay calm!" he shouted as he killed.
But the situation was already out of control. The Wolf Tribe pounced like mad dogs, unafraid of death, and the vassal army, spurred on by Xueya's "generous reward," also charged forward with bloodshot eyes.
Xueya charged through the crowd, soon spotting the Julang.
"Julang!" he roared as he charged forward, "Your death is nigh!"
Julang turned around, and the two clashed. Julang possessed immense strength, wielding his harpoon with tremendous force; Xueya agile, using a small wooden shield in his left hand to block attacks while constantly seeking opportunities to counterattack with his bone knife in his right.
"Clang!" The harpoon slammed into the wooden shield, the impact numbing Xueya's arm, but instead of retreating, he advanced, closing in and thrusting his bone knife straight at Julang's ribs.
The Julang dodged to the side, and the harpoon swept across, forcing Xueya to retreat.
After more than a dozen rounds, neither of them had gained the upper hand. A large area was now open around them, and neither side's soldiers dared to approach—the two fought without distinguishing friend from foe, and getting close could easily result in friendly fire.
The Julang crashed harder and harder, and out of the corner of his eye he saw that there were fewer and fewer people left to stand around him. The Wolf Tribe members swarmed around him like ants, and although the Fish Tribe warriors were brave, they were no match for the overwhelming numbers.
"The leader of the Julang! The leader of the Julang!"
Shentan rode over on horseback, his face deathly pale, shouting, "We can't hold out! Run!"
Knowing that the situation was hopeless, Julang forced Xueya back with a harpoon and turned to run towards the Shentan. The Shentan reached out and pulled Julang onto his horse.
"Retreat! Retreat the entire army!" the Julang wave roared.
Upon hearing the order, the elite Fish Tribe who had not been entangled rushed toward the Julang, fighting and retreating at the same time. However, the Wolf Tribe members were relentless in their pursuit, and people were constantly being caught up and cut down.
Xueya wanted to give chase, but was stopped by some Fish Tribe warriors who fought desperately. He roared and cut down two people. When he looked up again, Julang had already ridden away on horseback with his men.
"Chase them! Chase them!" Xueya yelled.
Yexiao led his cavalry in pursuit, chasing the fleeing Fish Tribe warriors across the Huangye. However, the Fish Tribe's elite troops were fast, and with constant rearguard action, the Wolf Tribe cavalry dared not pursue too deeply.
The battle continued into the afternoon, and by the time the last resisting Fish Tribe warrior was felled, the Huangye was littered with corpses.
Yexiao Owl rode back, his face flushed with excitement. "Chief! A great victory! A great victory!"
Xueya wiped the blood from his bone knife, panting heavily, and asked, "How was the battle?"
"I've done a rough count," Yexiao said quickly, "the Fish Tribe's elite troops are dead, with over two hundred dead, and at least three hundred young men dead! On our side..." He paused, "the Wolf Tribe warriors are dead, with over fifty dead, and our vassal army is dead, with over one hundred and fifty dead."
Xueya's eyes lit up. "Good! Good!"
The outcome was even better than he had anticipated; the Fish Tribe's elite forces had suffered more than half their losses, and no other tribe in the area could now stand against the Wolf Tribe alone.
Looking at the corpses scattered on the ground and the captured weapons and armor, he felt a surge of pride welling up inside him. Now, this land could truly be roamed freely by the Wolf Tribe.
"Yexiao," he ordered, "Take your men and collect all the weapons and leather armor from the Fish Tribe's elite troops; these are valuable items."
"Duyan, take your men and retrieve all usable supplies from the battlefield."
"Shichui," he said, looking at the exhausted but excited vassal troops, "You take the vassal troops to 'clean up the battlefield.' Those who are still alive, send them on their way. We have no food or herbs to feed the wounded."
Shichui grinned. "Understood!"
This was to let the vassal army shed blood again, to make them have more lives on their hands, and to completely bind them to the Wolf Tribe's war chariot.
Xueya turned to look in the direction of the Green Grain Tribe, a greedy glint in his eyes. Now, he could really start planning how to devour this rich land piece by piece.
"Let's go," he said to the remaining Wolf Tribe warriors, "Back to camp for meat! Let's celebrate tonight!"
The warriors of the Wolf Tribe cheered and excitedly marched towards the Green Grain Tribe.