Madam, don't do this!

Chapter 296 What kind of power is this? (2)

Its plump body looked somewhat bloated, like a moving mountain of flesh.

In most people's imagination, generals who fought on the battlefield were all muscular and looked incredibly powerful. But in reality, this was not the case. Most real generals were overweight and covered in fat.

This is what is meant by a "general's belly".

Only such people have enough physical strength to sustain a long battle.

This world has martial arts, and some martial artists who have achieved success in their training can possess great strength and considerable endurance even if their physique is not too exaggerated. However, most generals on the battlefield still have this kind of unattractive physique.

Wanyan Guangzhi led his army to annihilate Anchegu, taking almost all of his sons with him, which served as a valuable experience. As for who would inherit his mantle in the future, that would depend on their individual abilities. Among the Jurchens, there was no primogeniture system; only the strongest could obtain everything.

This is somewhat similar to the Ottoman Empire's kin-killing succession law, which stipulated that upon ascending the throne, the monarch would immediately execute all his brothers, and even nephews, to ensure the throne was not threatened. The difference is that in the Ottoman kin-killing succession law, all brothers were killed after the succession, while in the Jurchen succession law, only those who had killed all their brothers could ascend to the throne of the Great Khan.

Therefore, every Jurchen tribe and every fierce Khan was ruthless, cruel, and bloodthirsty.

The situation of Wanyan Guangzhi and Wanyan Guanghan was an exception among the Jurchens. Firstly, they were full brothers, sharing the same father and mother, and their relationship was far closer than that of ordinary brothers. Secondly, Wanyan Guangzhi was unparalleled in strategy, while Wanyan Guanghan possessed superhuman strength and unmatched bravery. The two of them together were simply the perfect combination.

Moreover, although Wanyan Guanghan was naturally dull-witted, he greatly trusted and loved his elder brother Wanyan Guangzhi. When Wanyan Guangzhi was competing with his other brothers for the throne of Jilie Khan, he was assassinated several times. Each time, Wanyan Guanghan was fearless and fought off the assassins.

Therefore, Wanyan Guangzhi trusted him immensely. He transferred away a large number of elite troops and all his sons, but left Wanyan Guanghan behind to oversee the royal court. Before leaving, Wanyan Guangzhi had made detailed arrangements and set up contingency plans for various emergencies. Although Wanyan Guanghan was not particularly clever, he listened to his elder brother's words without question, so there shouldn't be any problems.

Therefore, although he heard the sound of the bugle, Wanyan Guanghan did not panic. He simply followed his brother's instructions and ordered everyone to prepare for battle. Before long, tens of thousands of infantrymen appeared behind Wanyan Guanghan.

On either side of the infantry were tens of thousands of cavalry.

The warhorses were restless and agitated, their hooves leaving craters in the ground.

A dense, dark mass of people, a sea of ​​heads.

And the gleaming scimitars in their hands shimmered with a chilling light under the moonlight. The sun had set, and the moon hung high in the sky. The night wind ruffled the tangled hair of the Jurchen barbarians, bringing a chilling atmosphere.

Despite the biting wind, Wanyan Guanghan was not bundled up like the others. He simply wore a piece of animal skin, seemingly oblivious to the cold. His chest was bare, covered in fur, which gave him a strong masculine presence. A dark blue wolf's head was tattooed among the fur, its mouth wide open, howling at the sky.

The tattoo is incredibly lifelike.

This is a totem that only the Wanyan family of the Wuji tribe can have tattooed, representing the most glorious bloodline.

He had seven jade pendants tied around his waist, which he had stolen in Pingyang Prefecture. Although he did not know what the significance of these things was, he had heard that they were extremely precious treasures that only the very rich and powerful could wear. So he simply tied seven of them to his belt.

A sentry rushed over and immediately knelt on one knee before Wanyan Guanghan, saying, "Greetings, General."

The Jurchens did not have the position of general. However, Wanyan Guanghan had been with Wanyan Guangzhi since childhood. Although he had little interest in Central Plains culture, he felt that the title of Grand General was very prestigious. So Wanyan Guangzhi granted his younger brother's request and bestowed upon him the only general title in the Jurchen tribe.

"Don't delay, tell me quickly, what's going on?"

"Reporting to the General, a large number of cavalry have been discovered to the southwest of the tribe."

"Cavalry?" Wanyan Guanghan frowned. "Which tribe are they from?"

The sentry's expression immediately turned somewhat strange: "They don't seem to be from the tribe... Judging from the armor on the cavalrymen, they should be cavalrymen from Ning Kingdom."

crunch.

The surrounding area, which had been somewhat restless, seemed to freeze in place upon hearing these words, falling into complete silence. Countless barbarians exchanged strange glances. After a long while, the crowd erupted in chaos, as if a commotion had been set in motion, with countless barbarians simultaneously bursting into wild laughter:
"Good heavens, Ningguo's cavalry?"

"They actually dared to launch a surprise attack on the royal court?"

"God, who gave them the courage?"

"By the way, does Ning have cavalry?"

“Watch us strangle them.”

Such a voice could be heard from the crowd.

Perhaps because their raid on Pingyang Prefecture had gone too smoothly, the Wuji tribe's barbarian warriors didn't take the Ningguo soldiers seriously at all. Not to mention others, even Wanyan Guanghan's lips twitched incessantly, and his facial expression was particularly interesting at this moment.

However, he was, after all, a great general, and he had to maintain an air of authority in public. He took a deep breath, barely managing to suppress the urge to burst out laughing: "How many of them are there?"

"There are several thousand of them, but we have not detected any reinforcements."

puff.

At this point, Wanyan Guanghan finally couldn't hold back any longer.

How dare a mere few thousand cavalry charge the royal court?

He truly believed that the Ningren general was insane; otherwise, how could he have done something so foolish?
Everyone called Wanyan Guanghan a fool, but at this moment, he felt an unparalleled confidence in his intelligence. Even if he was stupid, he was still smarter than that Ningren General. Did that guy really think that his brother could lead the tribe's elite to wipe out Anchegu and then launch a sneak attack on the royal court? Did he even know how many people were left in the royal court?

130,000!
They could muster at least 50,000 combat-ready soldiers.

With 50,000 barbarian warriors and several thousand cavalry, the advantage no longer lies solely with us.

Even if Wanyan Guangzhi racked his brains, he couldn't figure out how he was going to lose.

"General, give the order quickly."

"Yes, General, give the order! Brothers, let's go and kill those stupid Han slaves."

A commotion arose from the crowd. Wanyan Guangzhi took a deep breath, waved his hand, and a subordinate brought over a warhorse. Compared to the other warhorses, this one was more robust, with strong hooves and a glossy mane; it was clearly a rare and fine steed. Wanyan Guangzhi pushed off the horse's back and mounted, his movements surprisingly agile despite his large build.

This is a nimble fat man.

With a whoosh, a curved sword, longer, wider, heavier, and more destructive than ordinary weapons, appeared in his palm, its blade pointing forward.
"Crush them."

A thunderous shout!

In an instant, tens of thousands of cavalrymen moved at almost the same time, the dull thud of hooves mingling together, causing the entire earth to tremble.

The Jurchens number no more than ten thousand; if they number more than ten thousand, they are invincible—that is a force capable of crushing everything.

Rumble, rumble, rumble...

The thunderous sound of hooves was unusually muffled; even to the ears, one could feel the deep oppression.

Tens of thousands of infantry followed closely behind the cavalry.

Vast and densely packed, it surged forward, attempting to devour everything in its path.

At this moment, if someone could fly up into the sky, they would see an extremely eerie scene: two dark clouds, one large and one small, are rapidly approaching each other on the silvery-white snowfield, and could collide violently at any moment.

The distance is getting closer.

Before the people even arrived, the thunderous sound of horses' hooves had already reached their ears.

The warhorse beneath him began to stir restlessly, as if sensing impending danger.

Finally, tens of thousands of cavalrymen were reflected in Song Yan's pupils. The sight of ten thousand horses galloping in unison made even Song Yan's throat dry, and he subconsciously licked his lips. Fortunately, the soldiers carrying out this surprise attack were black-armored warriors. If it had been the garrison troops of Pingyang or Dingzhou, let alone a direct confrontation, just seeing the charging of ten thousand horses under the moonlight would have caused their morale to collapse instantly. It was like an unstoppable torrent sweeping across the snow; how could flesh and blood possibly withstand such a ferocious impact?
In the dim light, one could almost hear the heavy breathing of the black-armored warrior behind them.

There wasn't a single scream of fear, and not a single person abandoned their companion and turned to run away.

On the contrary, that immense power made the black-armored warriors tremble all over, and their eyes became increasingly crazed.

closer.

One thousand steps.

Five hundred steps.

One hundred steps.

Wanyan Guanghan could clearly see the black armor opposite him, his eyes filled with intense desire and greed. Even from a great distance, he could clearly see how exquisite and sturdy the armor was.

Cover the whole body.

Under the moonlight, it reflected a dazzling light.

Damn it, that's metal armor.

Damn rich people.

So what if it's pig iron? It's so impressive that it's used to arm the soles of your feet and even covers your face with a black mask.

Wanyan Guanghan cursed inwardly, but he wasn't particularly afraid. The enemy's armor did surprise him. Even the Wuji tribe only had 50,000 of their most elite cavalrymen who could wear armor... However, while others might not know what the so-called 50,000 armored soldiers meant, Wanyan Guanghan knew it perfectly well.

Let alone the opponent's full-body armor, it's not even half-body armor.

Wanyan Guangzhi acquired a large amount of pig iron from Ningguo through smuggling, but the first things he forged were weapons, and armor was secondary. Only the 10,000 personal guards under Wanyan Guangzhi's direct command could actually wear half-body armor; the other soldiers mostly only protected their chests.

That's why Wanyan Guanghan became restless the moment he saw the armor on the other side. If he could capture all these thousands of cavalrymen, those thousands of sets of armor alone would be a great achievement.

"Everyone...fire!"

The Jurchens were skilled in horsemanship and archery.

Although they could not compare to the Xiongnu, they were still extremely outstanding.

With a whoosh, a hail of arrows, like a swarm of locusts blotting out the sky, quickly enveloped the black-armored warrior.

Ding-ding-ding-ding!

The ear-piercing sound of metal clashing was mixed with the mournful cries of warhorses.

The arrows struck the black armor, but the crudely made arrowheads were unable to penetrate the armor, leaving only pale marks.

However, the situation was much worse for the warhorse beneath him. The horse's head was covered by a thin iron bridle, which stopped the arrows, but other parts of the horse's body, such as its back and belly, were instantly pierced.

Fresh blood flowed down the horse's hide.

However, the warhorse was full of vitality, and such damage was not fatal. On the contrary, the stinging pain made the warhorse more restless. With the arrows hanging on its body, its four hooves moved wildly, and its speed increased by several points. The distance between the two sides suddenly closed.

Occasionally, an unlucky arrow would pass through the hole in the bridle, pierce the warhorse's eye, and penetrate its brain cavity. With a mournful cry, the warhorse would fall to the ground, throwing the black-armored warrior on its back a great distance.

Some of them can roll over and get back up from the ground.

Some couldn't withstand the impact and never got up again.

Just then, Song Yan suddenly raised his arm: "Everyone... light the fire."

The black-armored warriors, who could no longer contain themselves, quickly took out tinderboxes, lit them, and ignited the fuses of the thunderbolts as they ran.

sizzle sizzle...

Strange sounds began to echo across the snowfield.

An eerie cloud of smoke billowed and swirled.

Just as the fuse was halfway lit, Song Yan let out another loud shout, swung his arm forcefully, and with a whoosh, the Thunderclap Bomb flew out of his hand.

In mid-air, the smoke traced a graceful parabola before plummeting straight towards the opposing cavalry.

At the same time, nearly a thousand cavalrymen at the forefront of the column also unleashed their thunderbolts.

Thick, black, and long rod-shaped objects filled the air.

Luo Tianyang was the only exception. This guy had inexhaustible strength. With a quick glance, he set his sights on the most muscular man, Wanyan Guanghan.

Although he was rough and burly, the guards around him made it clear that this fat man was the leader of the cavalry.

Immediately, he swung his arm in a wide arc.

call.

With a piercing whooshing sound, the thunderbolt hurtled straight toward Wanyan Guanghan’s face in a near-straight trajectory.

That speed surpassed all others.

A distance of several tens of meters can be covered in the blink of an eye.

In an instant, the thunderbolt appeared before Wanyan Guanghan.

Wanyan Guanghan was also stunned for a moment. He subconsciously stretched out his left hand, and with a bang, his body trembled. Then he firmly grasped the Thunderclap in his palm.

Feeling the soreness and numbness in his arm, even Wanyan Guanghan couldn't help but be alarmed.

What a lot of strength.

It seems there's a skilled opponent on the other side who's not much less capable than himself.

This made Wanyan Guanghan extremely excited, and he felt an urge to test his strength against the other party.

only……

Thinking this, Wanyan Guanghan held up the black iron pipe in his hand. What was this thing?
Its big, slightly fierce yet somewhat naive eyes were full of curiosity; it had never seen anything like it before and had absolutely no clue whatsoever.

Sizzle sizzle sizzle sizzle.

There were also strange noises that entered my ears, and wisps of gunpowder smoke that entered my nasal cavity, which were somewhat pungent.

The next moment...

Rumble, rumble!

(End of this chapter)