Sweep Yuan

Chapter 98 A Brainless Reckless Man Has Good Luck

call out--

Three whistling arrows shot into the sky, leaving three faint trails.

"That's the direction of the fourth squad! Quick! Follow me!"

The simultaneous firing of three whistling arrows signaled an attack. Seeing his comrades in danger, Liu Qi immediately spurred his horse and led his four-member squad straight to the location where the signal had been fired.

Considering that the cavalry force was not yet fully formed, Ishiyama did not dare to send out the cavalrymen who were to act as scouts too far, and required each squad to maintain a distance so that they could reinforce each other at any time.

Not long after they set off, Liu Qi saw a small cloud of dust rising from the plains. The fourth squad was being chased and killed by seven Tartar cavalrymen. Of the original five members, two were missing.

"You damned Tartars! Kill them!"

Without much hesitation, Liu Qi led his men diagonally across the route the Tatar cavalry had taken.

Four squads led the way, with the Tartar cavalry in the middle and Liu Qi and his men behind. The three scout squads chased each other relentlessly. Despite being outnumbered and caught in a pincer movement, the government scouts showed no fear.

During the pursuit, Liu Qi fired three arrows in quick succession. The first arrow missed, the second arrow hit the shoulder of the Tatar rider in front of him but was deflected by the iron plate on his shoulder armor, and the third arrow was aimed at the horse's rump, which finally drew blood.

However, the arrows fired during the pursuit lacked power, and the wounded warhorse continued to gallop wildly.

The Tartar scouts were skilled horsemen; during battle, they would lift their legs off the saddle, maneuvering up, down, left, and right, while also frequently turning around to retaliate with their crossbows.

Although this type of crossbow has a limited range, it is quite effective against the "Hearts" cavalry, who are only wearing leather armor, in close-quarters pursuit battles.

Not long after the battle began, one of Liu Qi's scouts fell from his horse with a scream.

Both sides suffered casualties, but the "Red Heart Camp," despite having more men, suffered significantly more casualties. If the fighting continues like this, the situation will likely become very dire.

Just as Liu Qi was getting anxious, another cloud of dust rose in the distance, and the third squad finally arrived.

"Surround them! Surround the Tartars!"

When cavalry fights cavalry, the most important thing is to infiltrate and disrupt the enemy's formation.

The Red Heart Battalion's scouts were inferior to the government troops in both armor and weaponry, and could only rely on their superior numbers to gradually reduce the radius of the Tatar cavalry's movement in order to create opportunities for close combat.

As the warhorses galloped at high speed, Huang Siwen, the captain of the third squad, couldn't hear what Liu Qi was shouting at all. However, he had excellent eyesight and saw that the Tatar cavalrymen, wearing leather and iron ring armor, were flanking from the side. He quietly switched his weak horsebow to a javelin.

As the two horses passed each other, the Tatar rider realized something was wrong and hid in the stirrups, but he did not expect that Huang Siwen's target was his mount. The spear was deeply embedded in the horse's belly, and the warhorse reared up with a miserable neigh, throwing the rider to the ground.

Click!

When the Tartar rider fell from his horse, he was hiding in the stirrups and his body tilted downwards, causing his neck to hit the ground hard and break on the spot.

The remaining Tatar cavalrymen dodged the four scouts behind Huang Siwen, and their formation became scattered.

Zhang Luer, who had been galloping ahead, suddenly turned around and thrust his short spear into the waist of the Tatar rider who was following closely behind. The Tatar rider was in pain, and his eyes flashed with ferocity. He also swung his sword and slashed Zhang Luer's left shoulder. Both of them fell off their horses after being injured.

"withdraw!"

The tide turned from seven against nine to five against thirteen in an instant. Seeing the situation was not good, the government scout commander decisively issued a retreat order.

Liu Qi wanted to give chase, but the five Tatar cavalrymen suddenly scattered and threw out lassos, nearly ensnaring him. By the time he spurred his horse to dodge, the Tatar cavalry had already sped away. Then he heard Huang Siwen shout:
"Stop chasing! There might still be Tartars nearby. Quickly clean up the battlefield and retreat!"

Vanguard.

After listening to the reports from Liu Qi, Huang Siwen, and others, Li Wu's expression became somewhat solemn.

The three squads, totaling fifteen men, encountered seven Tartar scouts. They suffered three dead and five wounded, but only managed to kill two and wound three in return, and the Tartars managed to escape.

After all the hard work and effort put into training, the cavalry's shortcomings in training, equipment, and horses became glaringly obvious when they encountered truly elite cavalry.

Even so, if they didn't want their army to become blind men at the mercy of the Tartars, they still had to send out scouts to investigate.

"Liu Qi, go and report the situation of this battle to the Third Garrison Commander. Also, bring back two hundred more armor-piercing arrows. When you go on patrol again, combine the two squads into one, and each person should carry five armor-piercing arrows."

Although the government troops' raid on the camp last night failed, it confirmed to Shishan that the "Red Heart Camp" was the government troops' primary target.

This expedition consisted of five battle battalions led by Zeng Xing, Zhou Shier, Wu Liujin, Hu Dahai, and Geng Zaicheng, plus a cavalry unit, a training battalion, and two local militia battalions, for a total strength of nearly 3,200 men.

The Huaibei Plain is flat and easy for cavalry to charge, but the lack of terrain to cover the view makes it difficult for large cavalry units to conceal themselves before launching a surprise attack.

By appropriately shortening the distance between each camp, immediately forming ranks upon discovering enemy cavalry, and coordinating with each other, the enemy cavalry can be forced to retreat without achieving their objective.

However, while this increased the army's ability to withstand cavalry attacks, it significantly reduced their marching speed.

With the soldiers under intense pressure, their physical exertion also increased significantly, and the short rest that used to be once every hour was adjusted to once every six quarters of an hour.

Upon learning that a preliminary battle had broken out, Shi Shan inquired in detail about the battle details from Liu Qi and the others. In addition to the two hundred armor-piercing arrows requested by Li Wu, he also allocated fifty sets of leather armor from the Jiaowei Battalion to the cavalry.

At around 3 PM, the scouts from both sides encountered each other again. The "Red Heart Battalion" scouts fought and retreated, while the government scouts pursued them closely. As more and more scout squads from nearby areas joined in, the scale of the battle grew larger and larger.

Ultimately, the enemy cavalry stopped increasing after reaching forty-eight men, but the Red Heart Camp scouts were met by Li Wu leading the main force of his cavalry. The government troops' scouts were outnumbered and could only retreat in defeat.

In this battle, the cavalry suffered heavy losses, with twenty men killed and thirty-seven wounded. However, thanks to their new leather armor and armor-piercing arrows, coupled with their numerical advantage, they managed to leave the enemy with seventeen corpses and twenty warhorses.

"Third Brother, we can't fight anymore."

The preliminary battle resulted in nearly 25% casualties for the cavalry, a devastating blow. Li Wu was heartbroken and, taking advantage of the army's encampment, ran to the main tent on the hill to lament his plight.

"If we fight again, the cavalry will lose everything they have."

Shi Shan was staring at the map of Huai'an Road in deep thought when he heard Li Wu's words, and his face instantly turned cold.

"Is it that you're reluctant to part with your possessions? Or have your cavalry soldiers lost their nerve and dared not fight the Tartars anymore?"

"I——"

Li Wu felt a sudden pang of panic for no reason, and shrinking back, he replied:
"The soldiers are fighting the Tartars with great enthusiasm, but I'm worried that if the fighting continues, the cavalry will be wiped out."

"If you're afraid of losing your entire cavalry, why did you still stake it all on? Didn't you consider that if the Tatar cavalry deliberately lured you away from the infantry's cover and you were entangled by a large force of Tatar cavalry, could you protect your cavalry?"

Li Wu was stunned by the question. He was only worried about the casualties of the scouts, and in a moment of impulsiveness, he led his men to charge forward without considering the consequences.

"I...I can't. I just wanted to support the soldiers who charged forward. I only felt scared after the battle was over."

"you--"

Shi Shan looked at Li Wu, feeling both annoyed and amused.

"You're not very bright, but you're lucky. You fought very well this time, but don't fight like that again!"

Li Wu thought his third brother was being sarcastic, but looking at Shi Shan's expression, it didn't seem like it.

"Did I play well?"

Shi Shan nodded, picked up five pebbles, and placed them on the map.

The three red pebbles represent the Red Turban Army. The largest pebble is Xue Xian, which is located near Sizhou. The second largest pebble is placed in the "Red Heart Camp" in Wuhe. The smallest pebble is placed in Hongxian.

Two blue pebbles represent government troops; the larger one represents slow-moving infantry, and the smaller one represents fast-moving cavalry. Both are placed on the outskirts of Hong County.

"You see, the government troops have limited strength and cannot take down our three targets, Xuexian and Hongxian, at the same time, so they can only divide their forces."

The garrison in Hong County is small and cannot escape; we can attack at any time. After receiving the urgent report, both we and Xue Xian are rushing to Hong County, but our forces differ in size and distance from the county.

If you were the commander of the government troops, which unit would you take down first to capture all three targets?

This question had been discussed before, and there was a standard answer to copy, Li Wu blurted out.

"Of course, we'll eat them first, then we'll fight Xue Xian."

"correct!"

Shi Shan nodded, picked up a smaller blue pebble, and moved it back and forth between Wuhe, Hongxian, and Sizhou.

"The three targets are hundreds of miles apart, with two large rivers in between. Although the cavalry is fast, it cannot travel back and forth to completely annihilate our forces and Xue Xian's forces. The best solution is to let the messenger go and let us walk into the trap."

Last night, the government troops evaded reconnaissance and launched a surprise attack on us, which confirms our suspicions.

Shi Shan casually placed the government cavalry on the flank of the "Red Heart Camp's" return route, and moved Xue Xianchao Hong County a step further, explaining:
"Xue Xian should have received the urgent report a little later than us, but judging from the journey, he hadn't even reached the walls of Sizhou City yet. If nothing unexpected happened, he should have returned that day. We, on the other hand, had just captured Wuhe and were reorganizing the prisoners and local militia, so we didn't leave until the next day."

After saying this, Shishan moved the "Red Heart Camp" and Xue Xian's troops in Chaohong County by one step each, moving the government cavalry to the position of the "Red Heart Camp" and then quickly withdrawing them.

"Not only were we a day late in returning, but our march yesterday was also very slow. We only covered twenty li before setting up camp. The government troops failed to raid our camp and ended up with nothing. If you were in our shoes, what would be the next step?"

Li Wu suddenly realized, clapped his hands excitedly, and said.

“Our camp is too strong for the government troops to break through; they can’t afford to launch a direct attack while we’re on the march; they can only leave scouts behind to hold us off, go back and deal with Xue Xian first, and then come and deal with us?”

"Ha ha!"

Shi Shan patted Li Wu on the shoulder and praised him:
"Fifth brother, you still have a brain."

Li Wu, a little embarrassed, scratched the back of his head and said:

"Well, I didn't fight this battle well either."

Shi Shan looked at Li Wu and taught him earnestly:
"You must remember that tactics must serve strategy. Our primary objective is to drive out the government troops. Although today's battle resulted in considerable casualties, we have ascertained the strengths and weaknesses of the government troops, demonstrated our prowess, and will help us return to Hong County as soon as possible. That is a victory."

If I'm not mistaken, there will be at least one more scouting battle tomorrow, but the government troops will never dare to fight as desperately as they did today. If you encounter Tartar scouts again, don't hesitate, just fight them to the death!

(End of this chapter)