Damn it, I'm in the garbage book I wrote

Chapter 642 The days of the cavalry are finally over.

“General, I saw that when the supply train was resting, they took out two strange-looking things. They looked like musical instruments but didn’t make any sound. They looked more like the things we used for ancestral worship back in my hometown.”

When the scouts reported to the Gao brothers, they were also completely bewildered. After listening to the report, the Gao brothers were also wondering what kind of object it was. However, after thinking about it for a while, they realized that it was probably a local custom to perform a prayer and sacrifice to the heavens before eating.

But this time, it all depends on whether their ancestors can protect them and keep them safe.

"No problem, this time we'll definitely teach them a lesson they've never failed us for."

After saying that, the Gao brothers waved their hands and said, "Brothers, follow me into battle!"

Both men's men mounted their horses and split into two groups, rushing towards the new army's supply camp. Cavalry raiding supply camps has always been a devastating attack, almost like one against ten, especially against a supply camp that lacks proper protection. The cavalrymen don't even carry swords or spears, only long and short iron pipes.

Could it be that they intend to use these iron pipes to stab the elusive cavalrymen to death?
Two thousand light cavalrymen arrived amidst billowing dust, their hoofbeats audible from afar. But so what? This was a supply camp. By the time they heard the commotion, they were already trapped with no chance of escape. All they had to do was charge in with their sabers, hack and slash, and then burn everything down before returning to collect their rewards.

The Gao brothers, who led the charge, had smiles on their faces. However, the observers on the makeshift watchtower had already spotted them through binoculars. The warning whistles sounded, and the supply battalion immediately began to build a defensive line. The Shenji Battalion, which was mixed with the supply battalion, proceeded as slowly and methodically as ever.

They moved the four instruments, which others called "musical instruments," to the direction from which the enemy was coming. They even had time to put two large buckets of cold water next to them. The operator sat in front, while dozens of loaders were constantly using crowbars to open the wooden crates and take out strange-looking belts from them.

Emperor Jingtai was not alarmed because he saw no panic on the faces of these expressionless Shenji Battalion soldiers. They showed neither bloodlust nor fear of war, only calm composure as if this was the natural course of events.

At this moment, the grenadiers from the Shenji Battalion appeared. They were carrying a cylindrical object, the contents of which were unknown. In any case, each of them had three or four of these objects.

The flag signals on the watchtower had already begun to communicate, indicating that the enemy was still three miles away.

Three li is an instant for cavalrymen. The Gao brothers galloped on their horses, thinking of their boundless military achievements, and were filled with joy.

But when they could see the enemy camp with their naked eyes, a bad feeling suddenly welled up inside them—the instinct of seasoned veterans that made them feel uneasy all over.

But at this point, the mystery was no longer discernible; for the cavalry, two miles was already a matter of life and death.

Just as the cavalry vanguard was about to appear, the bugle call of the Shenji Battalion sounded.

"Grenade launcher, free fire."

The officer waved the large flag, and then the grenadiers made a thud like stones falling into water as a series of strange objects were thrown into the air.

Some of these objects exploded in the air with loud bangs, while others landed and exploded suddenly in front of the cavalry. The shrapnel and flashes from the explosions immediately startled the horses, and the once orderly cavalry vanguard lost its bearings. This resulted in the cavalry formation being broken up almost without any suspense.

But that wasn't all. At this moment, the Shenji Battalion pulled out something strange again—a slingshot-like object made of cow tendons, with bottles placed on top of it.

The Gao brothers managed to stabilize their formation, but just as they were about to reorganize and launch a second charge, dozens of glass bottles rained down on them. Some landed on the ground, while others soaked the soldiers from head to toe.

The younger brother of the Gao brothers was also hit, but he only felt a slight pain. With the protection of his armor, this thing probably couldn't cause any damage.

The liquid inside had a very strange smell; it was something I had never smelled before.

"Brother, what is this?"

"Boy's urine or black dog's blood?"

"I don't know, it's a bit strange."

Just as they were exchanging a brief exchange and preparing to charge with their cavalry sabers, a burning ball of fire was suddenly thrown at them. It was small and slow, just drifting by.

"Haha, just relying on this?"

The younger brother of the Gao family dodged the fireball with a slight movement, then raised his steel knife: "Brother..."

But as soon as he finished speaking, the ground around them, their bodies, and even the horses were covered in flames in an extremely short time, just like the ghostly fire from hell in Buddhist scriptures, which quickly clung to their bodies.

People screamed in agony, horses neighed, and the younger brother of the Gao brothers was now engulfed in flames. He screamed and tried to remove his armor, but the armor that had once protected his life had now become a deadly weapon.

"younger brother!!!"

Seeing his twin brother turn into a ball of fire and fall to the ground lifeless, the elder of the Gao brothers' eyes were filled with bloodlust and rage. He quickly withdrew, led the remaining cavalry around the circle of fire, and charged into the enemy camp with his sword raised, ready to sacrifice himself.

"Men! Charge with me!"

He raised his sword and led his cavalry in a relentless charge toward the supply depot, but at that very moment, right next to that strange-looking "instrument," the soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion had already begun to crank the handle.

As the handle wobbled, the strange "instrument" played a lament for an old era. The sound of gunfire rang out as heavy bullets spun and pierced through the soldiers' armor and the horses' chests. Without the slightest hesitation, the cavalrymen fell like wheat in autumn.

Gao's brother didn't care about anything else and just rushed forward. But suddenly he felt as if someone had punched his left hand hard. When he looked back, he found that his entire left arm had disappeared. The pain hadn't even had time to reach him.

The pipes of the "instrument" emitted a red light, and someone immediately scooped up a bucket of cold water and poured it on them. Amidst the rising steam, these things continued to play.

The person handling these items had no expression on their face, simply cranking the handles, watering, and changing the cartridges.

No matter how maneuvering the cavalry is, it cannot keep up with the turning of gears and bearings; no matter how fast the cavalry is, it cannot keep up with the wind generated by the whistling of bullets; no matter how agile the cavalry is, it can only fire one more round of short bursts, nothing more.

The battlefield was shrouded in smoke and steam, a scene resembling hell. The corpses of warhorses were piled upon each other, human blood and horse blood mingled together, the acrid smell of burning mingling with the smoke and blood. Emperor Jingtai, standing behind the fence, gradually began to adopt the same expressionless demeanor as the soldiers of the Divine Machine Battalion.

So it turns out that after killing, one really can be expressionless...

Just then, four or five warhorses broke through the fog, led by a one-armed knight who used his remaining arm to lead the remaining men into the last forbidden zone of this steel defense line.

At this moment, he had only one goal in mind: to kill the person who appeared to be the highest-ranking person on the field, namely, Emperor Jingtai.

His brothers behind him were felled one by one, leaving only him charging forward thanks to sheer luck. But luck eventually runs out, and just as he was about to reach Emperor Jingtai in three breaths, the guards of the Shenji Battalion Special Forces intercepted him. Seven men fired seven large-caliber shotguns at once, the powerful deflection negating the momentum of his horse's charge, forcibly throwing him and his horse to the ground.

The man fell silent upon landing, but the warhorse struggled to raise its head and glance at its master before finally lowering its head again with resentment.

"So the era of cavalry has truly come to an end." Emperor Jingtai suddenly smiled, then raised his hand and said, "Erect a monument and give a grand burial, and bestow honors upon the warriors in my name."

As the smoke cleared, the battlefield was littered with corpses. This time, Emperor Jingtai seemed much better and did not vomit again, as if he had become accustomed to such a scene. Although his legs still felt somewhat unresponsive as he walked through the mountains of corpses and seas of blood, he ultimately took the first step.

Along the way, the cruelty of war had been presented to him more than once, with mangled corpses lying haphazardly here.

This time, there were no survivors. The knights all had their own sense of honor, and they would never retreat until they died in battle. So when the blood of the warriors gathered in the trenches and formed puddles, even Emperor Jingtai was shocked by what he saw.

He picked up a severed arm that was still clutching a cavalry saber. Although he felt a bit disgusted, he still took the saber and held it in his hand.

Although they were enemies, these soldiers' fearlessness had earned the approval of an emperor.

He suddenly understood why the soldiers of the Shenji Battalion were so numb and ruthless in the face of war. They showed no trepidation, no fear, and no joy of victory. It was because this was an unfair contest. Without a battle like that between men, there was no sense of accomplishment, only a self-mocking laugh at themselves for bullying the weak.

But as I said before, this is a battlefield, not a training ground. This is a place for fighting to the death, not a place to show off skills.

Slaughter brings no joy to true warriors, only to cowards. The Divine Machine Battalion are also warriors, the most elite soldiers, and naturally they will not feel pleasure from slaughter.

But this is the battlefield, this is war.

Some say that a man's growth doesn't come slowly, but in an instant. Now, Emperor Jingtai suddenly understood. He had always been curious as to why Xia Lin didn't want to easily start a war, even though he suffered a great loss.

He even made people feel somewhat humiliated at one point, and he would never easily start a war.

So this is the essence of war.

Xia Lin once told him that war is when a group of peasant sons kill another group of peasant sons for an order, using their lives to exchange for the riches and honors of the masters. This is extremely foolish and shameless. Those who forget war are brainless, but those who praise war are heartless.

He understood in an instant.

After a victory without casualties, he, as emperor, should have been happy and joyful. But now, holding the enemy's sword and looking at the corpses lying on the ground with their eyes wide open in death, his expression gradually changed, and finally he burst into tears.

Some of the guards around him turned their heads away, while others looked up at the sky. No one bothered to investigate why Emperor Jingtai's emotions had suddenly collapsed.

After a bout of weeping, he finally understood his father for the first time in his life. He understood why his father would rather bear the stigma of being weak and war-avoiding and move the capital than start a war. He also understood why his father chose Xia Lin to be the swordsman of the empire instead of himself.

Because although the two of them may have many different views, their core beliefs are the same. However, as it turns out, the father's decision was correct, absolutely right and wise.

Emperor Jingtai sat on the edge of the battlefield for an entire day without eating or drinking. Finally, he smiled helplessly and turned to General Shan Xiongxin, who had been accompanying him, saying, "General Shan, those who launch wars for their own selfish desires deserve to die."

"Yes, Your Majesty."

The news of the annihilation of the two thousand cavalrymen quickly reached Li Mi's ears. At the same time, the news came that their information was wrong, because it was not a supply battalion at all, but the Dragon Banner Battalion led by the emperor in a personal expedition.

Upon receiving the news, Li Mi slumped into a chair. Within days, the elite Trapped Camp and Cavalry Battalion had been wiped out, and now he was being told that the intelligence was wrong? The enemy's supply battalion was actually the Dragon Banner Battalion?

Do you understand what the Dragon Flag Battalion is? It's where the most elite soldiers, the most powerful generals, and the most advanced equipment in a country are concentrated, also known as the Long Live Army.

Should we send two thousand light cavalry to launch a surprise attack on the Emperor's army?

What's the difference between this and sending Benboerba to fight that Monkey King?
Li Mi had fought battles his whole life and had never been so humiliated. However, he really didn't blame anyone now, since the enemy's secrecy measures were too good, and even he had been fooled.

"Now Handan cannot be defended. Go... tell Yang Ying that Handan is definitely doomed. If they still want me to hold it, I can only let Tian Wei break through the city. I have done everything I can, and there is nothing more I can do. Go, go tell Yang Ying how badly I, Li Mi, have been defeated."

He was speaking to Li Mi's special envoy, who didn't say anything and simply bowed his head in agreement.

In the past few days, he had witnessed firsthand that Li Mi had indeed sent out his most elite soldiers, but they had all fallen right under his nose.

The special envoy was not knowledgeable about military affairs, but he knew that Li Mi's two powerful camps had been completely wiped out. Although there were still 50,000 to 60,000 men left, they would eventually be trapped in Handan.

The enemy is not only cunning, but also exceptionally powerful. It's really no longer fair to blame Li Mi for not trying harder.

"General, do not be discouraged. I will go back and report to my master and ask him to immediately mobilize reinforcements to help you."

(End of this chapter)