Tang Dynasty Swordsman.

What if the Tang cavalry outnumbers me by more than twice? If I can't defeat them, can't I at least escape?

They set off from the northern foothills of Dongting Mountain, galloping westward, intending to ambush the Tang army between Fulu and Jiuquan.

However, scouts soon reported that after the Tang army occupied Fulu County, they rested for a day and continued westward. They marched very cautiously, often having a dozen or so cavalry squads to protect them on the left and right. Furthermore, there were Hu cavalry brought from Liang and Gan prefectures on the outer perimeter.

Having already set out, Mangre no longer considered retreating. He immediately rallied his troops, saying, "Now, with three thousand cavalrymen, we are able to rampage through Hexi. In recent years, in battles against the Tang army, especially against Li Ji, our army has suffered repeated defeats, greatly humiliating the Zanpu. Aren't you ashamed? Now, follow me and fight on! Even if we cannot capture Li Ji alive, we must utterly defeat the Tang army and let the Tang people know that our tribe also has fine men!"

He was originally a brave general among the barbarians. His appeal boosted morale, and the three thousand barbarian cavalrymen were all furious, eager to fight the Tang people to the death. Seeing that the morale was good, Mang Re immediately brandished his spear, and his warhorse galloped forward, charging from south to north.

First, they encountered a group of Hu cavalry, about three hundred men. The Hu cavalry charged and completely scattered them. Not far ahead, they encountered a large Tang cavalry force providing flanking cover. At Mang Re's command, a volley of arrows was unleashed. Many Tang cavalrymen were unable to dodge in time and were hit by arrows and knocked off their horses.

The Tang soldiers returned fire with arrows, but the barbarian cavalry were heavily armed and well-protected, making it difficult for the arrows to penetrate. When Mangre saw the two sides close to within fifty paces, he immediately put away his bow and arrows, shouted fiercely, brandished his spear, and charged forward. A Tang general rode to meet him, but Mangre swiftly struck him down with his spear.

Mang remarked that the Tang army was nothing special. It seemed they had relied on their thick armor and sharp swords to achieve repeated victories, but now that his troops were equipped no less than the Tang elites, these ordinary light cavalry were no match for them.

Although Li Ji was prepared, he probably didn't expect me to launch a surprise attack with three thousand heavily armored cavalry. If we can press on and bravely charge into the Tang army's marching ranks before they can react, cutting them off, their morale will surely plummet! I only pray to the gods and Buddhas for a great victory in this battle, so that Li Ji will never dare to look at my Suzhou again!

As expected, another charge scattered the hundreds of Tang cavalry, leaving behind dozens of corpses. The remaining troops turned their horses and fled in disarray. The Tibetan army then fired from behind, killing dozens more.

Then, in the distance, Mang Re finally caught sight of the main force of the Tang army marching westward in droves along the main road, and couldn't help but gasp in shock...

According to scouts, the main force of the Tang army numbered around 30,000, with no fewer than 8,000 warhorses. Their marching formation resembled a long snake, stretching as far as the eye could see, seemingly connecting heaven and earth, like a giant dragon lying across the wilderness.

The flags were five colors, and the banners fluttered in the wind; the soldiers' uniforms, however, were quite uniform, especially since they all wore black headscarves, forming a dense, black mass that could exert a strong psychological pressure on the enemy...

Most importantly, as they charged forward, they witnessed the Tang army halt almost simultaneously. The spearmen slammed their spear shafts to the ground, while the swordsmen drew their swords from their waists. Their synchronized movements were awe-inspiring. Mang Re couldn't help but think to himself: "Well done, Li Ji! He has trained his troops well. Even when suddenly attacked, they remain calm. If we were to engage in a head-on confrontation, I have absolutely no chance of victory."

But no matter how calm I was, I was still two arrow-lengths away. The Tang soldiers were still in marching formation. Even if the soldiers turned to face the enemy, they couldn't stop the barbarian cavalry's charge. They would be pierced through in one blow, then ride back to continue their slaughter. To defend against the attack, we had to switch to an enemy formation, arranging the long line into multiple square formations according to different troop types and weapons. Based on Mang Re's many years of experience leading troops, even under normal circumstances, with no psychological pressure on the soldiers, it would still take at least fifteen minutes.

Even if Li Ji's military skills far surpass mine, the quality and training of the Tang army are beyond my imagination. Half the time, half an hour at most! With half an hour, I could pierce through their formation twice!

And I doubt you can still form a proper battle formation after repeated clashes by my elite cavalry.

In particular, the Tang army's rear was the target of Mang Re's attack. Generally, the vanguard was more alert, while the rear was somewhat lax. He immediately spurred his horse, increasing its speed, and the three thousand barbarian cavalry following behind also accelerated, determined to completely crush the Tang army in front of them.

They were getting closer and closer, 150 paces, 100 paces, 50 paces... Sure enough, the speed at which the Tang army changed formation was not beyond Mang Re's expectations. Moreover, it was obvious that as the barbarian cavalry approached, the originally orderly ranks began to fall into chaos. Many soldiers, under heavy psychological pressure, stumbled and dragged down their comrades, causing them to bump into each other and crowd together, making the change of formation even slower.

The barbarian cavalry had already drawn their bows, ready to unleash a volley of arrows, but at that moment, a group of Tang cavalry suddenly emerged from the infantry and charged forward. The barbarian cavalry immediately changed their target, and with a furious roar, hundreds of arrows rained down on the enemy cavalry.

However, they failed to achieve their goal because although this Tang cavalry was small in number, only a few hundred men, their equipment was just as good as that of the Tibetan cavalry under Mang Re. They often had several arrows stuck in their bodies, but they showed no signs of weakness—it is estimated that none of them were able to penetrate, or at most they only grazed the skin.

Mang Re brandished his spear and roared, "Kill! Let's see how many hundreds of your riders can hold me back for even a blink of an eye!"

Chapter 52, The Valiant Cavalry of Hexi

Li Ji couldn't stand the army of that era. There was no uniform at all; the colors and styles varied, and many of the clothes didn't fit properly, making them look so sloppy...

Because under the original conscription system, most soldiers had to provide their own armor and weapons, making uniformity impossible. Even in the era of recruitment or hereditary soldiers, most soldiers were veterans of long marches, and their clothing, food, and utensils were all provided by the government. The government would at most issue standard weapons and armor, but as for clothing, only silk and cloth were issued, leaving the soldiers to find someone to sew it themselves.

Even though swords, spears, armor, and bows and crossbows are called standard equipment, they ultimately come from different workshops, and some are even purchased from outside, so it is difficult for them to be exactly the same.

Of course, everyone knows the benefits of uniform equipment. If an army were to line up with identical uniforms, armor, and weapons, their morale would be greatly boosted, and the enemy would be terrified. As a result, many military governors standardized the uniforms and equipment of their personal guards, and generals with spare funds were also happy to organize one or two elite personal guard units in the same way.

However, Li Ji couldn't standardize the uniforms of all the soldiers in the town... mainly because productivity was low in those days, and tailoring clothes for tens of thousands of soldiers would be a huge and costly undertaking. Besides, there weren't enough fabrics of different batches in the warehouse that were basically the same in color and texture.

It wasn't until Jing Jiang escorted Jiao Xiwang to Liangzhou that Li Ji saw that he was still wearing a red handkerchief tied over his turban as before, and then he suddenly realized—if we can't unify the clothes, we can unify the headwear first. It looks neat and beautiful, and it will help boost morale, won't it?

Back when Li Ji first met Lao Jing in Ding'an, the man was wearing a red headscarf. He told Li Ji that this was a custom of the Guanzhong Shence Army, from which he came, to boost morale and intimidate the enemy. Even now, after the Shence Army entered the capital and was reorganized and expanded, this custom has remained unchanged. Dou Wenchang, the lieutenant of the Shence Army, even petitioned Emperor Li Yu, suggesting that all six armies of the Northern Army should wear red headscarves, and that troops from other garrisons should be prohibited from imitating them, in order to demonstrate the might of the Imperial Guard.

Li Yu naturally granted the request.

In those days, not all soldiers could afford helmets. Even Li Ji, who had received so much funding from merchants, might go bankrupt if each soldier had a helmet. Generally, in an army, whether infantry or cavalry, at most 20% were heavily armed, and the rest were lightly armed. Therefore, the common equipment for lightly armed infantry was:

Wearing a turban, a narrow-sleeved short jacket, long trousers, and a leather body armor to protect the front and back, with ropes tied around the sides, and hemp shoes on the feet.

Heavy infantry, on the other hand, not only wore helmets, but also shoulder armor, and might even have armored skirts. They also mostly wore leather boots instead of hemp shoes.

Even for heavily armored infantry and cavalry, it was unnecessary to wear helmets all day while marching, as they were heavy, obstructed vision, and always had to be covered by a turban underneath.

So Li Ji decided to standardize the headwear, but unfortunately red was no longer an option. What color should they use then? Green headscarves were out of the question—although in those days, the term "green hat" didn't refer to a cuckold. After much thought, the simplest solution was black.

When he was in Shanzhou, he heard a legend at Laoya Gorge: when Geshu Han was stationed in Longyou, his troops were all clad in black helmets and armor, riding black horses and fighting with black cavalry. They were invincible in every battle and were feared by the barbarian bandits, who called them the "Crow Soldiers"—it's probably just Geshu Han's personal guards, not the entire army. From this, Li Ji felt that black was a very useful color for battle.

More importantly, the dyeing technology of that era was relatively backward, and many colors were difficult to dye and expensive. Just by looking at the colors of the clothes worn by high-ranking officials, you could tell which colors of fabric were expensive. First was bright yellow, then purple, and then bright red. During the reign of Emperor Gaozong, because the crown prince wore yellow, commoners were forbidden to wear yellow. But in fact, the crown prince's yellow robe was actually ochre yellow, almost a dull earthy yellow, and it really couldn't be dyed the bright yellow of later generations.

However, the black dyeing technique was quite advanced, so commoners basically wore black and white. Li Ji ordered tens of thousands of black handkerchiefs to be dyed and uniformly given to soldiers to wrap their heads. This was a relatively easy task to accomplish, and his subordinates were unlikely to object, saying that the Grand Commandant was too concerned with appearances and was being too wasteful.

Thus, Mang Re led three thousand elite cavalrymen to charge into the enemy lines. When they looked around, they saw a dark mass of men, extremely orderly and quite frightening.

The attack by the barbarian cavalry was quite unexpected for Li Ji. He had considered it, and Wei Gao had also warned him that the barbarian bandits might be trying to lure him deeper into the territory by launching an attack between Fulu and Jiuquan in an attempt to rob his grain transport. Therefore, Li Ji specifically ordered Wei Gao to guard the lagging wagons and secretly lay in ambush, hoping to capture the attacking barbarian army in one fell swoop.

But they did not expect the barbarian army to attack from the middle route, and their thousands of elite cavalry were equipped with extremely fine gear, which was rare in their lives - originally only Ma Chongying's personal guards could be so armed to the teeth, right? Li Ji had been very cautious in his march, and sent roving cavalry and barbarian cavalry to protect the flanks, but he did not expect that three thousand heavy cavalry would come to attack. The small group of Tang cavalry collapsed almost at the first contact.

Fortunately, Li Ji had previously mixed several heavy cavalry units into the infantry formation as a precaution. Therefore, when they saw thousands of barbarian cavalry charging towards them, the infantry was unable to change formation in time, and several hundred heavy cavalry nearby donned their helmets and tassels, brandishing their spears and charging out to meet them. The cavalrymen shouted and charged into the enemy lines, their movements like waves crashing – but ultimately, the Tang cavalry were outnumbered and had been hastily engaged in battle. Even though they fought desperately to protect the infantry, suffering heavy casualties, they could not stop the barbarian army's advance.

In an instant, the barbarian cavalry charged into the infantry formation. The thousand Tang soldiers in the front collapsed at the first contact, scattering in both directions. The Tang soldiers a little further away also hurriedly retreated in the opposite direction from where the enemy had come from. The generals rode into the middle of the army, shouting repeatedly, hoping to quickly change into a formation to face the enemy. The road was not wide to begin with, and the troops marched in rows of only four or five men, with no depth. The barbarian cavalry killed more than a hundred men in an instant, passed straight through, then turned their horses slightly to the west, and charged back again.

Mang Re's original plan was to break through the Tang army's formation and then advance along the road towards Fulu. Normally, supplies were located towards the rear of the formation, and he hoped to take advantage of the Tang army's inability to change formation, advancing straight to the supply wagons and setting them ablaze. But given the lack of supplies, Li Ji, would you dare to penetrate deeper into Suzhou? Even if you did, how long could you hold out?

However, the speed at which the Tang army assembled and changed formation exceeded his expectations. Looking into the distance, he could see no supply wagons, but the Tang troops at the edge of his field of vision, perhaps due to their relatively low psychological pressure and skillful command, were already close to forming a defensive square. He believed that even if the previous Tang army had completely collapsed and could not hinder the advance of the barbarian cavalry, their formation would be complete by the time he arrived.

The elite heavy cavalry charging into the unprotected infantry formations with no trenches or earthen ramparts actually had a decent chance of winning. However, their own troops would eventually tire from their advance, and if they couldn't break through the Tang lines quickly, the enemy could outflank them from all sides, potentially turning the tide of the battle. After all, the Tang army numbered 30,000—referring to their main fighting force. If you include the supply troops and the Hu cavalry attached to them, their numbers would be even greater, while their own side only had 3,000 cavalry.

If three thousand cavalry could strike a vital point and defeat an enemy ten times their size, it wouldn't be a pipe dream. However, judging from the Tang army's state—well-trained and composed under attack—and the collapse of the few units that directly engaged in battle, that's quite normal—it would be difficult to expand their gains further. Moreover, Mang Re glanced out of the corner of his eye and saw elite Tang cavalry rushing in from the east and west, but they no longer advanced in droves, giving the barbarian cavalry a chance to defeat them one by one. Instead, they maintained a certain distance and began to regroup…

Mang Re's eyes darted around, and he had already made up his mind. He immediately commanded the barbarian cavalry to charge back in the direction they had come from, until they were about a mile away, and then slowed down and lingered.

With such a powerful cavalry force lurking nearby, the Tang army would no longer dare to advance boldly, but would instead form ranks and wait. However, cavalry is swift as the wind, and no matter how strong the infantry formation, if they do not take the initiative to attack, the infantry will not be able to catch up. Thus, tens of thousands of Tang soldiers would be scattered across the plains, unable to move forward or fight, inevitably leading to a loss of direction and a severe blow to morale.

The only solution was to gather cavalry and advance, hoping to defeat or at least drive back the barbarian cavalry. Mangre seized this opportunity, just as Shang Ximo had originally planned, to lure out the Tang cavalry and inflict heavy losses.

According to previous reconnaissance, the Tang army had around 8,000 warhorses, most of which were light cavalry. The heavy cavalry capable of directly confronting their own barbarian cavalry could easily number no more than 4,000. Therefore, with 3,000 against 4,000, and taking advantage of the soldiers' high morale, there was a good chance of achieving victory in this battle.

Sure enough, in less than a quarter of an hour, the Tang army's heavy cavalry had assembled and charged forward.

Li Ji, positioned in the center of the army formation, was not far from where the enemy had launched their surprise attack. He craned his neck and saw the entire rout of his army. Both shocked and enraged, Li Ji summoned Chen Lizhen and ordered him to lead the elite cavalry to fight the barbarian cavalry.

Li Ji organized four battalions of elite cavalry, selecting the finest warriors from Guanzhong and the most valiant soldiers in the army. All were equipped with iron helmets and armor, and wielded large bows and long spears, intended as a decisive weapon for victory on the plains. Naturally, this was entrusted to Chen Lizhen, a former general from Pinglu, skilled in commanding cavalry. Seeing that the barbarian army was well-equipped and reports from the front lines indicated their overwhelming strength, Li Ji, realizing that other armies would be unable to defeat them, ordered Chen Lizhen to assemble the elite cavalry and charge after the enemy.

Chen Lizhen accepted the order and was about to leave when a general rode out from behind Li Ji, clasped his hands and said, "Please allow me, Grand Commandant, to accompany General Chen. We will surely capture the barbarian general and present him to Xixia!"

Li and Chen turned their heads at the same time, and upon closer inspection, they saw that it was Nan Jiyun.

Nan Jiyun had only been in Liangzhou for three months, and under Li Ji's orders, he inspected the various camps daily and taught them combat skills, but he hadn't actually assigned any troops to command. The key issue was that this fellow's rank and prestige were too high, and Li Ji couldn't simply bestow the title of deputy envoy upon him. So how many troops would be appropriate for him? A few battalion commanders would be beneath him; more battalions, even a newly formed army, would likely cause resentment among the veteran generals—not resentment of Nan Jiyun's prestige and abilities, but rather resentment that he, already adorned in purple robes and ranked third grade, was still vying for credit with younger generations like himself.

Furthermore, since Nan Jiyun had come to the capital without permission, Li Ji feared that appointing him to a substantive position under his command would not look good to the court—with a major war imminent, he didn't want to displease certain people in the court and cause them to secretly hinder him, which would be undesirable. Therefore, Nan Jiyun's position was quite extraordinary. If we were in the Spring and Autumn and Warring States periods, there would be a common term to describe him, which would be—guest minister.

In fact, the current envoys are somewhat similar to the guest ministers of the past. They hold a prestigious position, but in theory, they have no real duties and are only temporarily assigned to their posts. Once the task is completed, they leave. Of course, gradually, the task never ends, and the envoy may even work until he dies.

Nan Jiyun, however, did not contend for power. If he wanted real authority and to personally lead a large army, why would he have come to Hexi? He believed that Nan Jiyun's act of voluntarily resigning as the Military Governor of Heng Hai would set an example for other garrison commanders, and since Li Yu was about to encourage him, it would be an opportunity to appoint him as a garrison commander. Nan Ba ​​was merely lamenting the return of his thigh muscles and planning to find an opportunity to fight on the battlefield.

Therefore, he sought neither fame nor fortune. Since arriving in Liangzhou, he did whatever Li Ji asked him to do and never argued over anything. But when they encountered the attack of the barbarian cavalry, which was quite elite, this fellow couldn't help but feel the urge to fight. He immediately spurred his horse forward and asked Li Ji: "Let me go with Chen Lizhen to kill the bandits."

Upon hearing this, Chen Lizhen frowned slightly. Nan Jiyun understood and immediately smiled, "Little Chen, you don't need to worry. You are the military commander. I will go with you and follow your orders. I will never act on my own."

He naturally understood why Chen Lizhen was unwilling to take him along: his rank was far higher than Chen's. If Chen were to express dissatisfaction with the command during battle and start interfering, who would the soldiers listen to? Even if the soldiers still obeyed their commander's orders and did not take this parachuted-in third-rank official seriously, would Chen Lizhen himself dare to reprimand him?

However, Li Ji waved his hand and said, "General Chen, you may leave." He then comforted Nan Jiyun, "I have other important tasks to attend to, and I need to trouble you, Brother Nan..."

Chen Lizhen breathed a sigh of relief, quickly clasped his hands in greeting, and then spurred his horse and galloped away—he was afraid Li Ji would change his mind—and soon rejoined his men. At this time, he had assembled less than 1,500 cavalry, but he was fearless. With a single command, he led his troops forward.

Mang Re, seeing the Tang family's heavy cavalry leave their ranks from afar, was overjoyed. He quickly ordered his soldiers to retreat slightly and then changed into energetic spare horses—he had come alone with two horses—to keep the Tang cavalry as far away from their infantry as possible, in case the infantry came to their aid during the fierce battle.

The Tang cavalry advanced, and soon the two sides were less than two arrow-lengths apart. Almost simultaneously, their commanders raised their lances and ordered their men to gradually increase their speed and charge head-on.

Mang Re stared intently and saw that the Tang cavalry were well-equipped. In the past, he would have definitely avoided such an elite cavalry force. But now, the equipment and weapons under his command were no less sophisticated than those of the Tang people, and their numbers were twice as many. The opportunity was great, so how could he avoid fighting?

—Actually, most of these equipment were made by the Tang people and were captured during the attack on Hexi a few years ago. They had always been kept deep in the military treasury of Guazhou and were rarely used. Now, Shang Ximo has taken them all out to supply Mang Re, which can be considered a great investment.

Mang Re was quite confident in his ability to command in battle, believing he wouldn't make any major mistakes. Unless the opponent was an exceptionally talented and unpredictable genius, there was no reason for him to lose this battle. He only needed to be cautious and not let the Tang cavalry hold him back, preventing him from getting bogged down in a chaotic melee from which he could not escape.

Chapter 53, A Thousand Pear Trees

The elite cavalry of the Tang and Tibetan armies charged towards each other, gradually accelerating and closing in. The Tibetan cavalry were the first to raise their bows and unleash a rapid volley of arrows. The Tang soldiers, on the other hand, raised their left arms to protect their faces and other vital areas with small wooden shields tied to their arms, completely disregarding their armor.

As expected, the arrows struck the iron armor, most of them bouncing off and falling away. Only a few were wedged into the gaps in the armor, but even those were difficult to penetrate the flesh.

Li Ji didn't really think much of the forging techniques of that era, but unfortunately, he was all talk and no action, or rather, he had a lot of knowledge but little skill. He didn't have the ability to make significant improvements and had to accept it reluctantly. In fact, the iron-making skills of the Tang Dynasty, even if not the best in the world, were among the best, and were basically sufficient for the era of cold weapons.

Regarding Tang armor, the Tang Liudian records as many as thirteen types, namely: Mingguang, Guangyao, Xilin, Shanwen, Wuchui, Baibu, Zaojuan, Bubei, Bubing, Pijia, Mujia, Suozi, and Majia—the first four, plus Suozi, are all iron armor styles.

Mingguang and Guangyao were plate armors, but because they were too heavy, they were used less and less after the early Tang Dynasty. Xilin, Shanwen, and Wuchui were all scale armors, but the first two were too expensive to make—and naturally had high protective power—so they were mostly worn by generals. As for heavy cavalry, they mostly used Wuchui armor or chainmail.

Both types of armor were lined with thick silk and inlaid with iron, either iron plates (hammers) or iron rings (chains), providing extremely high protection that could not be penetrated except by strong bows and crossbows. Cavalry bows were generally softer than infantry bows—because when galloping on horseback, it was difficult to fully exert the strength of both arms, and it was also inconvenient to draw the bow and aim for a longer period of time—therefore, when heavy cavalry fired at each other with horse bows, it only had a psychological effect.

Yes, of course you can "shoot the horse before the man," but the problem is that heavy cavalry mounts also have cloaks, though not very thick, they are not so easy to shoot accurately and wound.

Perhaps for this reason, the barbarian cavalry's volley of arrows only wounded six or seven enemies. Moreover, the Tang cavalry did not draw their bows to fire back, but instead charged straight at them with their spears, intending to engage in hand-to-hand combat. Seeing this, Mang Re raised his spear into the air, and his men understood, all drawing their bows and ceasing their firing, instead gripping their melee weapons tightly.

Mang Re's eyes were fixed on the Tang cavalry opposite him, and he couldn't help but feel his blood boil—this was what war should be! A true man should ride a fine horse, wield a broadsword and sharp spear, and fight the enemy head-on, winning victory amidst flying blood and flesh, and claiming glory. The last time he clashed with the enemy was at Muxia Pass, where his troops were mostly lightly armed infantry, and he hadn't even had time to form a battle formation. Against them were elite Tang cavalry, with the surging Wa Ting River behind them… The disparity in strength was too great; even if he fought to the death like a cornered beast, defeat was inevitable…

I hope this Tang cavalry will fight bravely today and not collapse at the first encounter. I think to myself, if the Tang cavalry scatter after one charge, even if I pursue them relentlessly, how many can I kill? Besides, their infantry formation is already in place behind them. The Tang cavalry might even feign defeat to lure me into their ranks. I must restrain my soldiers and not fall for their trick!

If the Tang army is willing to fight bravely, I will have the opportunity to use my superior forces to surround and cut off the enemy, thereby inflicting heavy casualties. After all, the fact that my three thousand elite cavalry are lingering is a major problem for the Tang army, and I should not underestimate this heavy cavalry of the Tang. Keeping them alive may prove very useful at any time, and if used well, may even turn the tide of the battle in an instant.

With his left hand holding the reins and his right hand holding a fourteen-foot-long lance, he aimed at the Tang cavalry in front of him. The distance between the two sides was getting closer and closer, forty paces, thirty paces, twenty paces... Mang Re loosened the reins with his left hand, reached to the side, and grasped the middle of the lance. At the same time, he pressed down slightly with his right hand, raising the lance tip slightly so that it faced the enemy directly.

At this critical moment, the opposing cavalry suddenly lowered their heads—what did Mang Rexin mean? Did they dare not look at him? Had they become afraid? But he also knew that the Tang people were skilled at making crossbows, especially since he had heard that Li Ji's army had a large number of crossbows transferred from Guandong. Was the enemy about to lower their heads to retrieve a crossbow? With the enemy closing in within two or three zhang, even a single, light crossbow shot to the chest or abdomen could pierce through iron armor, let alone a shot to the face…

But you'll need time to aim. If I'm alert enough and take precautions, dodging it won't be difficult. And once I dodge the arrow, it will be too late for you to throw your crossbow and spear; my lance will surely pierce your face!

He tightened his grip slightly, squeezed his legs tightly around the horse's belly, and prepared to sidestep or deflect an incoming arrow at any moment. Just then, the Tang rider opposite him raised his head. Looking closely, he saw that the rider had no other weapons in his hands; both hands were still gripping the spear shaft, and like him, the spearhead was slightly raised, pointing towards his face.

Alright, then let's clash our spears and fight to see who wins!

But to his surprise, a sudden flash of fire erupted from the spearheads opposite him, followed by a cloud of fire hurtling towards his face! Mang Re instinctively yelled, leaning back almost lying on his horse's back. The fire cloud flew less than half a foot from his nose, the heat so intense it even singed his beard. His mount then neighed, tilted its head, and galloped away.

Before Mang Re could even straighten up, he suddenly sensed the approaching danger and immediately swung his spear horizontally upwards. With a "crack," the enemy spear struck, jolting his arms numb—for no other reason than this posture was far too inconvenient for exerting force…

The fiery clouds swept across the land, not just in one place. The first rank of Tang cavalry charged forward, each seeking an opponent, and each spewing fire, thick smoke, and iron pellets from their spears... Caught off guard, the barbarian cavalry managed to dodge the flames in the blink of an eye, less than one in ten managed to escape. Most were struck in the face from two zhang away, falling from their horses with screams of agony.

The warhorses, especially, were terrified and dared not charge forward. Some dodged to the side, others rushed to a stop, causing some to rear up, and many even stumbled and fell to the ground. The barbarian cavalry formation was thrown into chaos...

----------

This is a new weapon that Li Ji ordered Lao Huang, Jia Huai and others to develop this year. Its principle is the same as the "firearm" that burned Qilibuzang that day, but it is only slightly different in detail.

That is, they used a slightly thinner bamboo tube, about a foot long, which was pre-filled with gunpowder and a paper packet containing gunpowder, iron filings, and poison. The front end was sealed with thin paper to prevent spillage during operation. Most importantly, they finally managed to create a primitive fuse, which was made by wrapping gunpowder in coarse paper, twisting it, and inserting it into the back of the bamboo tube.

The two sides charged towards each other at breakneck speed. Just as they were about to close in, Mang Re noticed the enemy cavalryman slightly lower his head. He wasn't drawing his crossbow, but rather lighting a fuse—the Tang cavalry carried incense sticks in bamboo tubes, which provided some protection from the wind, and they were only lit just before engaging in battle. The length of the fuse was pre-set to accommodate the burning speed. Once lit, the Tang cavalryman immediately discarded the flame, gripped his spear shafts tightly with both hands, and pointed the spearheads at the enemy—

Because the bamboo tube was tied right under the spearhead, only concealed by the gleaming spearhead, the enemy might not notice it in the rush.

After a few breaths, the fuse burned out and finally ignited the gunpowder inside the bamboo tube. The paper packet immediately exploded, and the iron shot inside, along with flames and black smoke, sprayed towards the enemy.