More than eight thousand valiant Qiang cavalry went from the border of Gusai Prefecture to between Qingcang and Linyao. Just as Chu Lushan had expected, the light armored Qiang cavalry were used by Liu Gui to cut off the connection between the two towns.
The Qiang people were once a thorn in the side of the overlords of the central plains. The Dafeng Dynasty had been harassed by the Qiang people for a full two hundred years. Every Qiang person rode sheep to shoot birds and rats when they were young, and when they were slightly older, they rode horses to shoot foxes and rabbits. They were basically born to be elite soldiers on horseback. The light cavalry of the various countries in the central plains had gradually stepped onto the stage. To a large extent, it was because the Qiang cavalry had forced them to do so. The Qiang cavalry was also one of the 'teachers' of the central plains. Before and after Xu Xiao took over Beiliang, the Qiang people had withered day by day. This was especially so for the Xu family, who often used large numbers of Qiang cavalry to train their troops. This was undoubtedly a tragedy for the Qiang people. As a result, the Qiang people were natural allies of Beimang. This time, when they invaded the central plains, the various leaders of the Qiang tribes all made peace with each other and made an oath. Under the lead of Beimang, they even formed an alliance with other tribes that had been suppressed by the Xu family. Only then did they gather close to nine thousand cavalry and twenty thousand war horses. Under the banner of the Qiang cavalry, they started to take revenge on the Xu family of Beiliang.
This Qiang cavalry that was originally impoverished along the endless border, under the great support of the Northern Mang and Southern Dynasty, were finally able to realize their dream of several hundred years of being fully equipped with armor. Unlike ordinary cavalry, the Qiang cavalry's cavalry blades were the arm blades that had already been withdrawn from the battlefield. The war blades were bound together with the arm armor, so unless the entire arm was chopped off, the blades would never leave their hands. Apart from the arm saber, the Qiang cavalry also had a traditional short saber known as the 'piao'. It was attached to the outside of the thigh like a farmer harvesting rice in autumn. They used it to cut off the ears and heads of their enemies as spoils of war.
More than eight thousand Qiang Generals galloped towards the south. The leader of the group, a burly man, bent down and stroked his ancestral clapper. His eyes were filled with hatred.
Years ago, when that Xu family of the Central Plains slaughtered his way into the northwest, all the local adults who disobeyed his orders were killed on the spot. Even the children, who were no taller than a horse's back, could not escape the disaster. Although they were not executed, both their thumbs were cut off by the Xu family's cavalry! This meant that even if these children were lucky enough to survive, they would not be able to hold their weapons firmly and swing their swords at the Beiliang Frontier Army. This middle-aged Madam Wan's surname was Jin. At the time when his tribe was trampled by the Xu family's horses, he was lucky enough to follow a group of young men to hunt and store food for the winter. When they returned to the tribe, other than the corpses on the ground, there were only the children crying with their hands dripping with blood. Beside the children's feet were the corpses of their parents.
He swore that he would personally use this clapper to cut off the thumbs of everyone in Beiliang with the surname Xu. As long as they had the surname Xu, even if they were infants, he would not let a single one go! This was especially true of that Butcher's son, the person who had been usurped as the new Prince of Liang. Not only would he cut off that young man's thumbs, but he would also cut off Hsu Fengnian's head, limbs, and fingers one by one!
This Madam Wan slowly straightened his back and looked towards the vast expanse of land to the south with a vicious smile on his face.
He had heard that there was a Butcher's son named Xu Longxiang in Liuzhou. He was very famous among the nobles of the Southern Dynasties. Last year, he had beaten up a few military towns in Gusai Prefecture. He did not expect to capture this person with less than nine thousand cavalry. However, before he worked with General Liu Gui to completely flatten Liuzhou, he had to drink the fresh blood of the Beiliang people. He had to make that young man, who had Butcher's dirty blood flowing through his veins, suffer so much that he wished he was dead. The young man's Long Xiang Army did not have more than 30,000 cavalry. Did he want to defend all of Liuzhou? In the eyes of the Generals, this was just an old show between brothers in the Central Plains. It was clear that the young King was afraid of his younger brother's great achievements on the border, so he purposely left Xu Longxiang and all of the young man's direct descendants to die.
In the winter, the water dried up and the grass turned yellow. The warhorses were not as strong as in the autumn and summer. In the eyes of the Central Plains, especially the Jiangnan people, it was the most unsuitable time for war. However, to the Liang Mang people, who had been on the border for a long time and were familiar with the harsh cold, as long as they were determined to fight, they could fight to the death on any battlefield, even in the damned snowy weather.
On the contrary, the Qiang Generals Jin Cheng liked fighting in the depths of winter the most. The scene of using a long spear to stab into the enemy's chest and then dragging out a bloody path in the snow was more enjoyable than drinking good wine.
The Qiang cavalry's galloping raids had always been known to be as fast as lightning. While they were praised, it also revealed the Qiang cavalry's weakness, which was that they could only do "one-off business" on the battlefield. Although they could advance and retreat freely, before they obtained an absolute advantage and began a chase, it was very difficult to expand their battle results. They did not have infantry formations and did not have heavy cavalry holding the line. This time, the Beimang emissary was extremely disrespectful to the Qiang cavalry. Even though he had a request, he was still arrogant. Before discussing the price, he even said to their face that they were just decorations and that if they dared to ask for an exorbitant price, they should be careful not to lose their heads. He also threatened that if they did not act according to General Liu Gui's orders, they might as well not return to the border. When the time came, the Beimang army would directly view the Qiang cavalry as an enemy.
Jin Cheng fiercely ground his teeth. If not for the fact that he wanted to take revenge on the Xu family, who the hell would want to deal with these pig-headed officials!
Jin Cheng looked into the distance and suddenly felt an inexplicable sense of unease.
The eight thousand Qiang cavalry heading down south to cut off Qingcang and Linyao, leaving Qingcang City, the capital of Liuzhou, isolated and without help. In his eyes, this was indeed an excellent strategy that caught the enemy off guard, and the Qiang cavalry did not have to take any risks. However, on the way down south, he still had twenty or so roaming cavalry scouts at the front to scout the path. Every cavalry had to be ten li away from the Qiang cavalry army. No matter if they came into contact with the enemy or not, they had to turn back and let the second cavalry take their place. Logically speaking, at this time, one of the roaming cavalry should have returned to the front of the army. Furthermore, for this trip to Liuzhou, Beimang had specially given him a scout. It was an old fellow who exuded a dangerous aura. There was a sword at his waist, and his aura was long and steady. He did not look like a soldier at all. Even if he used his butt to think, he knew that this was a hidden Jianghu master. It could be seen that Beimang had indeed invested a lot in this attack on Beiliang. They had even brought out the Jianghu forces that they had trained for twenty years.
Jin Cheng was not a madman who would be blinded by revenge. He knew the severity of the situation. Otherwise, he would not have become one of the Generals. He had come to assist Liu Gui's army in taking advantage of the situation. What he was most afraid of was directly clashing with the main force of the Dragon-Elephant Cavalry. However, the Beimang emissary, who was dressed like a nobleman of the Central Plains, had promised that apart from a small portion of the thirty thousand Long Xiang Army, most of them would be pinned down at Qingcang City and the area to the east of Qingcang City. Otherwise, Beiliang would have treated Liuzhou as a chess piece and sacrificed the Long Xiang Army, an elite cavalry force that had experienced hundreds of battles.
However, Jin Cheng, who was not a madman, began to worry that he would encounter a madman King of Beiliang who would do anything to stabilize his throne, as well as a general of the Long Xiang Army who had lost his mind after becoming a chess piece.
After waiting for a while, there was still no sign of any cavalry scouts.
Frowning, Jin Cheng raised his arm and waved it back and forth slightly, indicating for the cavalry behind him to slow down.
About half an hour later, the figure of a scout finally appeared in the field of vision of the Qiang cavalry. As the warhorse galloped over, Jin Cheng and the other chiliarchs were shocked to discover that there were numerous crossbow bolts stuck in the back of the scout.
Before the heavily injured scout breathed his last, he did his best to speak of the precious military intelligence he had obtained by sacrificing the lives of more than twenty Qiang cavalry.
Eight li ahead, there were three thousand enemy dragon-elephant light cavalry.
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