Tiger Guards

Chapter 452 The Death of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry
Around midnight, Zhao Ji paced back and forth in the central command tent.

His camp was located to the west of the Honggou River, so at this point it could be said that he was setting up camp with his back to the water.

Footsteps approached from outside. Zhao Ji glanced sideways and saw Wei Xing enter, helmet in hand and sword hilt on his left: "Grand Marshal, the scouts have retreated to within fifteen li of the main camp. The enemy scouts are exhausted and unable to advance."

"Okay, sit down and have some hot soup."

Zhao Ji looked back at the blank cowhide map hanging on the tent wall, then back at the sand table in the center of the tent: "Mr. Zigang, have I underestimated the heroes of the world?"

Zhang Hong rose, cupped his hands in greeting, and after a moment's thought, replied, "In my opinion, Grand Marshal is overly cautious. Cao Ang has only gathered a hastily assembled force. Even if there are capable soldiers, their morale is not yet settled, and with their families behind them, how can they be expected to serve with peace of mind?"

"I know that the worst-case scenario is that Cao Ang stops halfway and the entire army retreats into the city of Yan, where they hold their ground and attempt to force our army to withdraw."

As Zhao Ji was speaking, he heard military dogs barking wildly throughout the camp. He immediately turned around and strode out of the main tent. He saw the officers and soldiers on watchtowers waving torches from side to side, and the officers and soldiers in the small camps preparing for battle immediately approached the walls, setting up spears and halberds or raising shields.

The archers were already in position, and the square camps, spaced about an arrow's length apart, were set up like hollow squares on both sides and in front of and behind Zhao Ji's central army camp.

Outside the camp, there were no large-scale walls or fences, nor were there any trenches dug. It was just ordinary sandy loam ground with sparse vegetation and a lack of shelter.

There's nothing we can do about it; the forest resources in Suanzao are already scarce, and the land is not suitable for building walls.

The construction of the main camp was difficult because it was difficult to find local materials. Therefore, the structure had to be optimized and the impractical outer perimeter barriers had to be abandoned.

Xiahou Yuan was also surprised that Zhao Ji was so arrogant as to abandon the outer walls, fences, and trenches.

In the dead of night, with visibility poor, Xiahou Yuan arrived along the main road. Faced with overwhelming numbers of cavalry, Zhao's scouts wisely withdrew.

Xiahou Yuan saw several rows of simple deer antlers in the roadside, with campfires burning on either side of the antlers, but no soldiers were stationed there.

The antlers looked very conspicuous, because there were no walls or fences or other obstacles on either side of them. They just stood there alone on the road, in pairs, like two closed doors.

He reined in his horse to slow down, surrounded by his personal riders, each on guard.

Then the knights appeared like branches growing outwards, one group emerging from the left wing and the other from the right wing, all simultaneously crossing the barrier that ran parallel to the antlers but had no real physical form.

More than a dozen knights beside Xiahou Yuan dismounted and went to move the deer antlers.

A few breaths later, Xiahou Yuan saw the cavalrymen who had charged forward on both flanks fall to the ground one after another, their horses neighing and howling incessantly.

A mounted commander, clad in black armor and carrying a spear, approached. Several of his attendants held torches and flags to identify him. The commander shouted urgently, "General! Dig horse traps or lay wooden stakes on both sides of the road! There are also many low stakes, connected by half-foot-high tripping ropes!"

After suffering losses, the two winged knights slowed down, and more knights came to the road to move the antlers.

Seeing that the deer antlers were about to be moved away, Xiahou Yuan noticed the officers and soldiers around him looking at him. He didn't bother to interpret their gazes at this moment, and raised his lance high: "Follow me and charge!"

During the Battle of Chenliu, they dug many trenches between the various camps to prevent cavalry attacks.

At that time, there were trap trenches with wooden spikes, as well as trenches for rapid support and troop deployment.

Zhao Ji, on the other hand, simply used three layers of anti-horse traps instead of fortifications and fences to buy time for the defending troops in each camp to counterattack.

Another cavalry general, Wen Ji, approached and saw that Xiahou Yuan had actually taken the initiative to charge. He then said to the commander of the black-armored cavalry, "Immediately destroy the traps on both sides of the road!"

"Here!"

The cavalry commander agreed, and Wen Ji took a deep breath, turned his head to look around at the villagers on his left and right, and also raised his spear: "Follow me and charge!"

More than a thousand cavalry charged along the main road into the gate built directly opposite it. There were no obstacles on either side of the gate, but the Cao army cavalry, having suffered losses before, dared not casually pass through the gate from either side.

After passing through the gate, they were met with rows of square camps, each a hundred paces on each side, and spaced a hundred and twenty paces apart.

With this arrangement, even if a camp experiences a rout and its morale collapses, the rout will not quickly spread and affect the surrounding camps.

Xiahou Yuan and Wen Ji each led seven or eight hundred cavalrymen, splitting into two groups to maneuver from the north and south. However, the officers and soldiers in the camp were already prepared.

Upon approaching, they unleashed a barrage of arrows, and Cao Cao's elite cavalrymen, attempting to storm the camp, fell from their horses, struck by arrows one after another.

The drums of each camp sounded in unison, and the battle lasted no more than five breaths before the Cao army cavalry, who were still holding torches, wisely abandoned them.

Between the various camps, Cao Cao's cavalrymen trod back and forth, their hooves sometimes thundering rapidly, sometimes clattering gently.

As long as they get close to the edge of each camp's fortifications, the defending archers will unleash a barrage of arrows.

They don't even need to see any people; they can shoot at the sound.

The arrows they carried since leaving the pass had not been used up much, and they had also captured many arrows from Ji Ling's army and Cao Cao's armory.

At this moment, within each camp, archers were sparing no arrows.

Each arrow is engraved with their own name... All the archers are firing with all their might in a sufficiently safe environment. They are converting their strength into mechanical power to launch the arrows and earn merit.

In the central military camp, Zhao Ji stood on the high observation platform.

A cool, fishy river breeze blew in from the north. Zhao Ji remained calm as he observed the unusual activity around him.

If time and resources allowed, he also wanted to build a camp like Cao Cao's during the Battle of Chenliu.

With no other option, they could only encircle the camp and build low walls using reed mats mixed with sandy loam.

Under his observation, small groups of Cao Cao's elite cavalry would occasionally leap into the camp, causing the fires inside to flicker. The soldiers carrying the fires would often follow the officers, who would then call upon and organize the guards around them to prioritize surrounding and killing these Cao Cao's elite cavalry who had broken into the camp.

Some of Cao Cao's valiant cavalry even broke into the camp, using their powerful engines to break through the encirclement and kill, rekindling the torches and setting the tents ablaze.

Zhao Ji glanced at the burning military tents casually; there were only a handful, not worth paying attention to.

"The bandit cavalry were fierce and stubborn, and could be described as brave and valiant."

Zhao Ji commented, "Cao Cao is dead, and the enemy cavalry is few; they are not worth worrying about."

This may be the prototype of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, but after tonight, this elite cavalry, formed around the core of the Cao clan, will be no longer a threat.

A clerk beside him was taking notes of Zhao Ji's words when suddenly a group of Cao soldiers on horseback charged into Zhao Ji's central camp. Before they could even disrupt the order of the camp, archers at both ends of the camp unleashed a barrage of arrows, and the men and horses fell to the ground.

Wen Ji, who had fallen from his horse with an arrow in his chest, pushed himself up with his hands and looked at the five-story wooden watchtower a few dozen steps away. Each floor had torches, which looked like a lighthouse in the dark night, and both sides' officers and soldiers could see it when they looked up.

Shouts of battle erupted all around. Wen Ji instinctively drew his sword, gripped it with both hands, and stepped forward to meet the attack, leading the remaining foot knights of his village in a desperate struggle.

Zhao's officers and soldiers, mainly armed with spears and halberds, did not rush into battle but instead focused on tightening the encirclement.

The smaller the encirclement, the more a row of spearmen becomes two or three rows, and the more frequent the thrusts within a unit width become.

Three or five spears and halberds came at once to force Wen Ji back. Before he could see what was happening, the defenders who were besieging them threw torches, short spears, and meteor hammers.

Wen Ji swiftly slashed and parried with his sword, his excellent armor allowing him to evade the attack.

When he took a breath, he discovered that there were more than a dozen burning torches on the ground around him.

He suddenly realized something and turned to look at the five-story observation deck.

The elite archers on the two layers of arrow towers nearby were ready to fire in unison, and nearly a hundred arrows came from all directions.

An arrow shot from behind made Wen Ji shudder, followed by a powerful crossbow bolt that pierced his left thigh from the front.

The intense pain caused Wenji to fall to the ground, surrounded by the wails, shouts, and curses of his fellow villagers.

Immediately afterwards, the guards wielding spears and halberds closed in layer upon layer, thrusting their spears and halberds forward.

Wen Ji barely managed to roll away to dodge, but soon a military officer raised a flail and a spiked club and smashed it down right in Wen Ji's waist and abdomen, causing him to immediately lose control of his body.

Instantly, several spears pierced through the gaps in his armor, pinning him to the ground. Wen Ji's body tensed, but after the spears were withdrawn, he completely relaxed, lying there motionless like a lump of mud.

In this kind of night battle... who would dare to surrender?
Even during the ongoing siege, these spear and halberd defenders dwindled in number, as they went to reinforce the wagon fortifications.

Only by quickly killing the enemy cavalry that have stormed into the camp can everyone focus on dealing with the next wave of enemies.

Xiahou Yuan then passed close to Zhao Ji's central army camp and arrived at the rear cavalry camp area.

The knights of each camp had mounted their horses and stood in sparse formation in the camp, all holding bows and waiting.

Seeing that he only had two or three hundred knights following him, Xiahou Yuan was no longer able to fight, so he immediately turned his horse around and returned to the other side of Zhao Ji's central camp.

Zhao Ji raised his hand to touch his chin, squinting at the largest enemy cavalry force led by Xiahou Yuan.

It's hard to say how many kills we'll get if we send our cavalry in now. We have more cavalry in the dark, so there will be a significant number of friendly fire incidents.

Rather than causing friendly fire, he wanted to severely damage this group of knights who dared to charge the camp despite their disadvantageous position, and ideally, completely eliminate this seed of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

Even if there were Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, they should have been created by themselves, not by these bloodthirsty, impoverished martial artists from Liang Pei.

After a moment's thought, Zhao Ji said, "Order the three cavalry battalions on the left and right to pursue together, for a period of thirty li."

"Use the gongs and drums to give the order: all camps must hold their positions and not fire arrows indiscriminately!"

(End of this chapter)