Cutting Off the Retreat
Just as Yan ordered the sounding of the bull horn and the charge towards the Wolf Tribe, Daya and his men also heard the horn. Daya, riding a warhorse, had been lying in ambush at the edge of the woods east of the Wolf Tribe's camp. The trees in the woods were tall and dense, their canopies completely blocking out the sky, making the area under the trees much darker than outside, but just enough to hide people. The thousand cavalrymen had been crouching in the woods for a while, their horses' muzzles wrapped with strips of cloth, the men crouching behind tree trunks, their knives resting on their knees, their ears perked up, listening for any sounds outside. Daya crouched behind the foremost large pine tree, his fingers resting on his knees, his fingertips rubbing against the fabric of his trousers, his gaze peering through the gaps in the tree trunks towards the dirt road to the east, where... The ground was empty, with only dust slowly drifting by. A tension seemed to be taut in his heart, growing ever tighter. Suddenly, the sound of a bull horn came from the west. The sound was deep and resonant, its tone becoming somewhat indistinct as it passed through the treetops and into the forest, but Daya heard it clearly. He pulled his hands from his knees and shouted to his left and right, his voice low but clear. "The horn has sounded! Mount up! Charge with me!" The thousand cavalrymen simultaneously stood up, leaped onto their horses, tore off the cloth strips from their muzzles, and with a flick of the Jiangsheng, their hooves rustled densely on the dry leaves and broken branches of the forest floor. They charged out from the east side of the forest, forming a wedge formation, and charged towards the Wolf Tribe's supply caravan on the dirt road to the east.
The men led by Daya were also elites of the Fire Tribe, equipped with top-quality weapons, leather armor, and horses. Their warhorses were hand-picked from the Bear Tribe's stables, tall and long-legged, powerful in their charge, their hooves thundering like drums. Their leather armor was double-layered cowhide with Yingmu panels, and their bronze daggers were gleaming, their hilts wrapped with absorbent cloth. Daya led his men on a fierce charge, and the Wolf Tribe's supply caravan immediately scattered. Those driving carts, herding livestock, supporting the elderly, and carrying children, seeing a large group of cavalry suddenly emerge from the eastern woods, were initially stunned, but... Then, like an anthill doused with boiling water, they scattered and fled. Some threw down their Jiangsheng and ran into the wasteland by the roadside; some dropped their bundles on the ground and ran for their lives; some tucked their children into their arms and hid in the bushes by the roadside. Cattle, horses, pigs, and sheep, now unrestrained, ran wildly everywhere. Several oxen pulled carts into the ditches by the roadside, and the carts overturned on the edge of the ditches, with grain sacks rolling off and scattering all over the ground. Several sheep were startled and ran eastward, followed by the rest of the flock, like a white river flowing erratically on the dirt road. The entire transport team was like a shattered piece of pottery, broken into pieces all over the ground.
Duzhu was startled to see Daya's cavalry. Jiangsheng her chestnut horse, reins in hand, her expression shifted from composure to a Chenwen one; her lips tightened, and the lines around her eyes narrowed. She glanced westward, where dust billowed and the sounds of battle faintly drifted. Xueya was surrounded by the Fire Tribe. She knew that retreating meant certain death. With the Fire Tribe cavalry closing in from behind and Daya's men blocking her path, she and her five hundred cavalrymen were trapped. Like fish on a chopping board, she had no choice but to lead the five hundred cavalrymen of the Wolf Tribe against the odds. She shouted to the cavalrymen behind her, her voice sharper than usual. "Follow me! Cavalry, follow me and charge! Only by charging out can we live, retreat means death!" The five hundred cavalrymen followed her, forming two ranks, holding bronze spears and short swords, and charged towards Daya's army. The horses' hooves kicked up a cloud of dust on the dirt road, and the two groups of cavalry clashed head-on in the middle of the road. Bronze swords struck leather armor, and spear tips pierced shields, sparks flying.
Daya, keeping a watchful eye, divided the Fire Tribe's thousand warriors into two cavalry units of five hundred each. One leader led five hundred cavalry in the initial charge, while Da Ya led the remaining five hundred to prepare for the second wave. When the first wave of five hundred cavalry charged, it was like a sharp dagger piercing the center of the Duzhu's ranks. The Duzhu's five hundred cavalry were among the poorest in the Wolf Tribe. Their bronze spearheads were second-rate goods sourced from the Tiger Tribe, with only a few turns of hemp rope wrapped around the joints between the spearheads and the wooden shafts, easily bent with a slight poke. Their leather armor was a single layer of hard cowhide, covering only the chest area, leaving the back and ribs exposed. The men were also not elite; most of the cavalry came from subordinate tribes. The able-bodied men selected from the village, trained for a few months, were barely adequate for escorting supplies. However, they were utterly no match for the elite troops of the Fire Tribe. Under a single charge from the Fire Tribe, they suffered heavy losses. The Fire Tribe's cavalry crashed into their ranks, their swords slashing through leather armor, cutting into flesh, and spears piercing chests. Men were thrown from their horses, and some horses, wounded in the legs, neighed and ran to the side, throwing their riders off. After the initial clash, only a little over a hundred men and their horses were able to stand. The rest lay on the dirt road, some still moving, some already dead. The horses circled around, nudging the fallen men.
Seizing the opportunity, Daya charged forward with his remaining five hundred cavalry before Duzhu could even gather his troops and reorganize his ranks. His horse led the charge, a bronze dagger gripped in his hand, the blade close to his trousers. He reached Duzhu's hundred- Wolf Tribe men, slashing his neck open. Blood gushed out, and the man fell from his horse. Daya didn't even look; he pulled the Jiangsheng to the left, dodging a bronze spear thrusting from the side, then swung his dagger in a backhand strike to the man's ribs. The blade pierced through the ribcage, and the man screamed, collapsing onto his horse. Daya turned his horse and continued charging. The Wolf Tribe cavalry were no match for him, falling one after another to the Fire Tribe cavalry. Some threw their swords to the ground in surrender, some tried to squeeze through the gaps but were cut down, and some rode around in circles, unsure where to go. Those surrounded were huddled together, horses colliding, men pushing each other, like a flock of sheep in a pen.
Even the Duzhu was knocked off her horse by Daya's bronze spear in two moves. The Duzhu, riding her chestnut horse and clutching a bronze dagger, saw Daya charging and gritted her teeth to meet him. She swung her dagger at Daya Daya's face, but he dodged to the side, flicking his bronze spear upwards and sending her dagger flying. The Duzhu tumbled twice in the air before landing on the dirt road. The Venomous Spider was now empty-handed. Before she could react, Daya's second spear was already there, the tip piercing her shoulder and throwing her off her horse. She fell to the ground, blood gushing from her shoulder, staining her deep purple robe black. A cavalryman knocked off his horse has no fighting power left and was immediately surrounded and slaughtered by the Fire Tribe's cavalry. The remaining Wolf Tribe cavalrymen, seeing the Duzhu fall, some dismounted and knelt on the ground begging for mercy, while others tried to resist but were quickly cut down and fell silent.
After Daya wiped out the five hundred cavalrymen led by Duzhu and counted their numbers, he found that his own losses were less than a hundred men. Most of the wounded were only lightly injured. Daya had his men help the wounded to the roadside to sit down, and led the horses aside to give them water. He squatted down and used the tip of his knife to make several marks on the dirt road, counting the men again. Then he stood up, sheathed his knife, and shouted to one of the leaders, "You stay here with three hundred men and gather the supplies for the Wolf Tribe's transport team. Move the grain sacks to the open space by the roadside and stack them up. Herd the livestock together and pen them up. Prop up the overturned carts. Gather everything first, so no one can steal it and the livestock can't escape. I'm going to support the young chieftain over there. I'll come back and deal with the rest after the battle."
The leader nodded and led over three hundred men toward the transport convoy. They began moving the scattered grain sacks one by one to the open ground by the roadside, herding the stray cattle and sheep together, and some men righted the overturned carts in the ditch and reloaded the fallen grain sacks. Daya led six hundred cavalrymen onward toward the direction of the battle in Yan. The six hundred warhorses galloped, their hooves kicking up clouds of dust on the dirt road, racing westward. There, dust swirled and the sounds of battle could be faintly heard. Daya gripped his sword, his gaze fixed on the gray-yellow dust ahead. He was still on edge; he hadn't caught Xueya yet, and the battle wasn't over. He led his six hundred cavalrymen westward, quickly disappearing at the end of the dirt road.