Tiger Owl

Chapter 223 Northern Attack on the Wuhuan (Part 2)

The Wuhuan vanguard also had 5,000 cavalry, and the rearguard also had 5,000 cavalry.

The army that was ambushed by the raging fire was the central army of 10,000 men, while the Wuhuan leader Abao was in the vanguard. He was both the commander-in-chief of the army and the chief of the Yan branch of the Wuhuan in Liaodong. He had received the summons from Tadun Chanyu and led an army of 20,000 men to the front, but unexpectedly encountered the vanguard of Cao Cao's army.

The sudden arrival of Cao Cao's cavalry caught the Wuhuan vanguard off guard. Coupled with the rapid spread of the fire, they were already in a state of panic and did not know how to deal with it. Most of them thought of fleeing for their lives.

Cao Cao's cavalry charged in, unleashing a hail of arrows that sent the Wuhuan army sprawling and falling. In an instant, Cao Cao's army plunged into the heart of the enemy ranks.

Although Cao Jun did not form a battle formation, the troops were not chaotic. They were in groups of one hundred, led by their centurions, and charged through the Wuhuan army without mercy. They were like countless sharp daggers, tearing the Wuhuan army to pieces and causing heavy casualties.

Under the desperate protection of a thousand soldiers, the leader Abao fled north. Although he knew that Cao's army was not many, he could not control the chaos of the Wuhuan army or organize a counterattack. He was filled with hatred. He turned his horse around and fled, shouting, "Order Kubu to retreat immediately!"

Kubu was the commander of ten thousand men in the Wuhuan army and also the son of Abao. Abao naturally hoped that his son could escape alive.

By this time, the 10,000-strong central army had already been routed by the raging fire, and Kubu led 2,000 soldiers to hide in a corner untouched by the flames.

The soldiers were throwing the countless burned corpses of soldiers and warhorses into the deep ditch, slowly filling it in and creating a slope of carcasses.

Kubu saw from afar that countless Cao army cavalrymen rushed out of the hills and forests and charged toward the vanguard where his father was.

Kubu was extremely anxious. He wanted to reinforce his father. Most of the warhorses had been burned by the fire and lost their fighting ability. The soldiers who were not burned were turned into infantry.

There was no way to save his father. Just then, a cavalryman covered in burns ran up and shouted, "Young Chieftain, the Great Chieftain orders you to retreat to the tribe immediately. He will meet you there!"

Kubu nodded, ignoring the other soldiers, and led two thousand cavalrymen down the slope, stepping over the corpses that had just filled the deep ditch, fleeing in panic to the northwest.

It was a truly spectacular sight. Twenty thousand Wuhuan soldiers fled for their lives in the chaos, each one chilled to the bone by the raging fire and utterly disheartened, with no will to fight.

Five thousand Cao cavalrymen pursued and slaughtered the enemy, leaving corpses strewn along the way. After chasing for more than ten miles, more than 70% of the five thousand Wuhuan vanguard had been killed or wounded.

Elsewhere, the 5,000-strong Wuhuan rear guard and the 3,000-strong retreating central army remnants were surrounded by Zhang Liao's 25,000 infantry.

Gao Shun led 500 elite troops to intercept the Wuhuan army leader from the north. Gao Shun's cavalry was extremely fierce, charging the enemy army time and time again. The 1,000 Wuhuan cavalry resisted desperately. Although they had a numerical advantage, they were far less well-trained than Cao Cao's cavalry. Coupled with low morale, the Wuhuan cavalry could not withstand Cao Cao's offensive and retreated while fighting.

Gao Shun, bow and arrow in hand, kept his eyes fixed on the Wuhuan army leader. When a dozen guards rushed out from the left to protect him, his entire side was exposed to Gao Shun's view. Without hesitation, Gao Shun drew his bow and fired an arrow. The arrow was powerful and pierced the neck of the Wuhuan army leader, Abao, from the side. The leader let out a muffled cry and fell off his horse.

Gao Shun was overjoyed. He brandished his broadsword and charged forward swiftly, killing more than a dozen of his personal guards in succession. He rushed to the side of the Wuhuan army leader, who was still alive at this time. He was struggling on the ground when Gao Shun cleaved him in two with his sword, and his head flew more than two zhang away.

A cavalryman used the tip of his spear to lift a man's head, then galloped back shouting, "The Wuhuan leader is dead! The Wuhuan leader is dead!"

Zhang Liao had been waiting for this moment. When he saw Gao Shun charging forward carrying severed heads, he knew victory was assured and immediately ordered, "Sound the horns and retaliate!"

'Woo-woo-'

Cao Jun's buglers sounded the horns one after another. Gao Shun led 5,000 cavalry to stop the pursuit, quickly reorganized his troops, and returned to attack. Together with the infantry, they launched a full-scale attack on the 8,000 Wuhuan troops who were surrounded.

..........
News of the complete annihilation of the Wuhuan Yan branch quickly spread throughout the Wuhuan tribes. The already somewhat disunited Wuhuan coalition began to crack, and many Wuhuan tribal armies that were still on their way turned back.

Even the Wuhuan army that had already assembled began to lose heart and secretly resolved to retreat quickly if the situation turned bad.

The proverb "A wise man does not stand under a crumbling wall" is an ancient Chinese saying, but it is also a lesson learned through the blood and tears of all humankind. Even dogs understand the principle of running away when they can't win, let alone humans.

Seven days later, Tadun Chanyu led 100,000 cavalrymen and finally faced Cao Cao's 130,000-strong army.

The claim of 200,000 allied troops was an exaggeration by Tadun Chanyu. He could only assemble 150,000 to 160,000 troops. After deducting the troops from Yanzhi who were completely annihilated and the tens of thousands of troops who returned halfway, Tadun Chanyu finally assembled only 100,000 troops.

Even with only 100,000 troops, Tadun Chanyu believed he could completely defeat Cao Cao's army.

In the wilderness, the more than 200,000 troops finally met. On one side was the boundless army of 100,000 Wuhuan soldiers, and on the other side was the neatly arranged army of 130,000 Cao soldiers.

"Attack!" Tadun Chanyu shouted, brandishing his sword.

"Woo-wu-wu-"

The sound of bugles echoed across the wilderness as the 100,000-strong army mobilized. They had no battle formations; the entire army pressed forward with all its might, a traditional tactic of nomadic peoples and a characteristic of cavalry.

Cavalry can certainly employ formations, but that's something Han Chinese armies do. Nomadic peoples are all soldiers, so they don't have time for training; they fight solely based on their fighting spirit.

But this momentum comes and goes quickly. If the attack goes smoothly, the cavalry will be very brave. If the battle goes badly or they suffer heavy losses, these cavalry will flee faster than anyone else. This has been the case for thousands of years and has never changed.

Cao Cao coldly stared at the approaching cavalry and shouted, "Prepare the catapults! Prepare the cavalry!"

Twenty thousand cavalrymen were ready, with Cao Chun, Cao Xiu, and Cao Zhen each leading five thousand Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, and Gao Shun leading five thousand Bingzhou Flying Cavalry. They were deployed on both sides of the formation, and the soldiers were eager to fight.

Thousands of medium-sized catapults are also ready, with ten soldiers responsible for operating each one.

The catapult would launch fire oil mud, wrapped in oiled paper. It was made by mixing charcoal powder, sulfur powder, pine resin and kerosene into mud, which was then launched and flew through the air, hence the name "celestial maiden scattering flowers". It was very effective against cavalry group charges.

Because it contains sulfurous carbon powder, it is not only corrosive when burned, but also reaches a high temperature of several hundred degrees. Once hit by the fire oil mud, it can easily burn through leather armor. The intense burning will cause the Wuhuan cavalry unbearable pain, thus rendering them unable to fight.

The cavalry drew closer and closer, now within a hundred paces.

"projection!"

Packets of fire oil clay were ignited and launched into the air. The burning fire oil clay scattered in the air, flying everywhere and raining down on the cavalry and their horses.

Small balls of hot oil mud, reaching temperatures of several hundred degrees Celsius, struck the cavalrymen, sticking to their leather armor and the skin of their warhorses. The intense heat caused chaos among the nearly ten thousand Wuhuan cavalrymen.

Warhorses neighed, cavalrymen screamed, and riders collided with each other in the chaos, resulting in a scene of men and horses falling to the ground.

Immediately afterwards, a second wave of fire oil mud shot into the air, spreading out and scattering across the sky towards the Wuhuan cavalry.

Cao Cao squinted at the chaos of the enemy army. He was secretly surprised, never expecting that the inconspicuous black mud would have such a powerful force.

This was Gan Ning's suggestion to him, who told him to use fire oil mud to deal with the Wuhuan cavalry. He also gave him the latest formula, which was an improvement over the previous one, with stronger adhesion and easier to stick to the body and burn.

Cao Cao couldn't help but admire Gan Ning's unwavering resolve in the fight against foreign tribes. He would rather gain a large number of warhorses and become stronger himself than compromise the greater good of the nation and disregard personal gain or loss.

This is something that Cao Cao greatly admired about Gan Ning.

"Prime Minister, the enemy has begun to retreat!"

Cao Cao's thoughts returned to him. He looked at the enemy army that was beginning to retreat in the distance and coldly ordered, "Cavalry, attack!"

"Woo—" The bugle call of Cao's army sounded, and 20,000 cavalrymen suddenly charged out, sweeping across the sky in pursuit of the fleeing enemy.

Immediately afterwards, the 100,000-strong army also began to run, chasing after the fleeing Wuhuan army.

Five rounds of fire oil mud were enough to terrify the 100,000 Wuhuan cavalry. The sky full of fire and the heart-wrenching screams were beyond the Wuhuan people's comprehension. They naturally assumed that the gods were helping the enemy.

Given that the tribes were already divided and disloyal, their best course of action was to protect themselves.

Tadun Chanyu's shouts were useless; the first to flee were several small tribes, which triggered the complete rout of the army.

The Wuhuan cavalry suffered a crushing defeat and were pursued by Cao Cao's army for dozens of miles, resulting in the beheading of over 30,000 men and the surrender of countless others. Even Tadun Chanyu died in the chaos of battle.

Cao Cao then divided his troops to attack various tribes, capturing hundreds of thousands of Wuhuan people. Cao Cao then relocated hundreds of thousands of people to Hebei, where they were eventually assimilated into the Han population.

(End of this chapter)