Chapter 84: Half Cavalry?

As the largest town on the northern border of Shanggu Commandery, Goathead Town had always played a vital role in defending against the Xiongnu from the north. The town alone housed three squadrons of cavalry, making it the only settlement near the Great Wall capable of independently confronting the small Xiongnu raiding parties that frequently ventured south. In addition to the three cavalry squadrons, Goathead Town also maintained two squadrons of infantry. Yet, its true strength did not lie merely in its troops. The reason Goathead Town had often managed to win defensive battles against the Xiongnu and protect itself from significant losses—occasionally even supporting smaller neighboring settlements—was its terrain.

Encircled by low hills, Goathead Town’s surroundings could not compare to the grand mountains of the south. But amidst the endless flat northern grasslands, these hills stood out like cranes among chickens. Several were cloaked in groves of maple, perfect for concealing cavalry. In recent years, the old military commander Xiahou Neng had taught many reckless Xiongnu riders a bitter lesson using these natural advantages. However, this terrain also meant Goathead Town was suited for defense, not for launching large-scale attacks, for beyond the hills to the north lay a vast, open plain.

On this day, the garrison’s commander Xiahou Neng successively received a military report and a top-secret order. The contents of the report were unusual; the command even more astonishing, enough to make the battle-hardened Xiahou Neng immediately summon the five squadron captains in secret to assign the tasks detailed in the order.

After completing his arrangements, Xiahou Neng stood at a mountain pass among the northern hills, gazing northward. The pass was broad, not easily defensible, but suitable—if only barely—for a blocking action. Of course, everything depended on the numbers approaching.

There were several such passes among the cluster of hills. Moments ago, the faint sound of horses' hooves had drifted over, but Xiahou Neng did not ride out to investigate. The command was clear: he must not leave the pass.

“Commander, what exactly was in today’s report?” the deputy commander finally asked, unable to restrain himself. He and Xiahou Neng were close, and their mutual understanding on the battlefield meant they were known as the twin pillars of Goathead Town.

Seeing that his friend asked only about the report and not the order, Xiahou Neng saw no reason to keep it from him. He glanced around at the encircling hills, then replied slowly, “A large force of Xiongnu cavalry has been spotted in these hills.”

…

Meanwhile, Li Guang led the Shanggu cavalry to the base of a bizarre, ugly little hill. At the sight of it, he decisively ordered the army to halt.

The Shanggu cavalry—its numbers even greater than the three thousand riders of the vanguard—pulled their mounts to a stop, faces full of confusion as they stared ahead where Li Guang watched the fleeing Xiongnu with a calculating eye.

“General, why aren’t we giving chase?” Ma Dashan blurted out, unable to contain his impatience. He worried the great general would once again hold back at a crucial moment, which would simply be the death of him.

But Li Guang did not disappoint him. He gave a direct order to the entire force: “Withdraw! Return the way we came!”

“What?!” Ma Dashan’s rugged face flushed red with frustration. What was going on?

“General!” Ma Dashan started to protest, but Li Guang’s expression darkened, his voice cold and commanding. “Commander Ma, did you not hear my order?!”

Ma Dashan sighed inwardly. As Li Guang wheeled his horse and passed by, Ma Dashan slapped his saddle hard and bellowed, “Withdraw! Withdraw!”

The cavalry, who had been so intent on pursuing the Xiongnu, had no choice but to turn back, their eyes full of resentment and confusion. Many shot fierce glares at the fleeing Xiongnu before wheeling their mounts around.

But just as the column turned and began to withdraw, a shout rose from behind, “The Xiongnu are coming back after us!”

Everyone turned to look, and their expressions darkened with fury.

The Xiongnu, who had been fleeing for their lives, now, having sensed something unusual in the Han maneuvers, reversed course and began to pursue the Han!

“Damn it!” Ma Dashan cursed, but Li Guang’s shout cut him off.

“Withdraw as ordered!”

What madness was this?

Every man here was a veteran of many campaigns, and their foe numbered barely two thousand—yet now the Xiongnu had the nerve to counterattack? Rage surged through the ranks.

Then, the sound of horns blared.

The Han soldiers, bewildered, glanced at each other, confirming with their own eyes that the sound was real. But it was not the Han army’s signal horn.

The two thousand Xiongnu who were now pursuing began to blow their war horns. And, as if in response, identical horns sounded from the surrounding hills!

The air shook with the force of it.

A third set of horns sounded from the distant front.

Ordinary soldiers might not recognize these signals, but officers long stationed in Shanggu knew them all too well—they were the Xiongnu calls to attack!

Horn blasts faded, replaced by the thunder of hooves and the savage war cries of the Xiongnu.

From the front, from the rear, from the hills all around, the noise converged.

Now, even the most straightforward among them—like Ma Dashan—understood the predicament: the Han cavalry was surrounded!

Damn it all!

Ma Dashan could not hold back a stream of curses. These Xiongnu bastards really had laid an ambush!

Damn it! This time, the Xiongnu brought far more than just two thousand men!

More astute officers now saw the truth—they had been in the Xiongnu’s trap from the very start!

Ten days before, as the expedition set out, cautious commanders had worried that the five Xiongnu raiding parties might be backed by a larger force, waiting for the Han to take the bait and be wiped out. But after cutting down a Xiongnu squad, there had been no retaliation. The Xiongnu only ran or hid, never daring to assault defended towns, content to burn houses and trample fields. When, at last, they tried to raid the camp, the Han nearly wiped them out in an ambush. After that, the Xiongnu vanished. Had they really been so easily cowed after losing so many men?

It was only after the Han withdrew that the hidden Xiongnu reemerged, joined forces, burned another town, and then fled again. The Han, burning with fury at the destruction of their settlements and unable to launch a proper offensive, were finally goaded into pursuit—especially after being roused in the middle of the night for a chase.

Now, in their anger, they had fallen into the trap despite Li Guang and Qin Cheng’s earlier caution. Only now did the Han realize: the Xiongnu truly meant to annihilate them. At the start, with neighboring towns as support and five hundred horsemen from Old Ma Plains guarding the rear, it would have been impossible for the Xiongnu to destroy the Han. And should they have tried, Emperor Liu Che would have summoned reinforcements from Dai and Yuyang commanderies. The Xiongnu had thus feigned weakness from the beginning, sacrificing hundreds of horsemen as bait to enrage the Han and convince them that only two thousand Xiongnu were present. Their true aim was to lure the Han deep into the grasslands, far from support, and then destroy them utterly.

Such cunning! Such ruthlessness! This was not the work of ordinary men.

It seemed the Xiongnu could outlast even the Han.

What kind of madman could devise such a vicious plan?

If the strategy of four months ago—to hinder the development of Shanggu's cavalry—had been a hidden scheme, this was an open conspiracy, a stratagem in plain sight. Its brilliance lay in its inevitability; there was no avoiding it.

Though Li Guang discovered the danger early and withdrew decisively—though for now, the Han had not yet been fully surrounded—their vanguard was already in the trap. Judging by the Xiongnu’s numbers, their force was likely over ten thousand!

How could three thousand hastily reorganized Han cavalry, not yet fully battle-ready, hope to withstand such might?

At that moment, Li Guang revealed his mettle. He surveyed the terrain to his right, drew his long blade, and let out a bellow that dwarfed the tumult of the Xiongnu: “Form up for attack! Target: the mountain pass six li ahead, to the right!”

It was not just Li Guang’s reputation, but the sheer force of his command that steadied the Han formation. The momentary panic dissipated as the troops reformed for the assault.

The officers drew their blades, repeating Li Guang’s order, each voice louder than the last: “Attack formation! Target: the mountain pass five hundred zhang ahead, to the right!”

“Attack formation! Target: the mountain pass five hundred zhang ahead, to the right!”

Around them, the Xiongnu cavalry surged like thunder, the noise of hooves and shouts shaking the earth. At the center, the Han cavalry remained calm, their formation shifting with disciplined precision.

“Three thousand Han cavalry! Three thousand Han cavalry! Three thousand Han cavalry!”

Li Guang himself acted as his own herald, riding along the edge of the formation to relay orders known only to his officers.

“Open the ranks!”

“Open the ranks!”

The officers shouted.

Now, the north wind was no longer cold.

When the Xiongnu and Han cavalry at last drew within arrow range, the Han horns sounded!

There was no reply—Han troopers took it as the signal to attack, even if it came later than expected.

Li Guang’s earlier vigilance now paid dividends, easing the pressure of the coming clash. The Han were not yet fully encircled, so the surrounding Xiongnu were at varying distances: the vanguard only one hundred zhang away, the rear still a thousand.

Had it been otherwise, a single volley from over ten thousand Xiongnu would have cut the Han force in half.

“Bows!” Li Guang shouted, fixing his gaze on the Xiongnu ahead as he raised his sword.

One hundred paces!

“Arrows!”

At his command, a storm of arrows flew from the Han ranks toward the Xiongnu. Simultaneously, the Xiongnu loosed their first volley.

Han iron arrows tore through the Xiongnu ranks, sending men and horses tumbling.

The Xiongnu arrows, raining into the Han formation, inflicted far less damage.

Heavy cavalry!

Especially the foremost unit under Ma Dashan—fully armored heavy cavalry, the terror of the battlefield. Their armor rendered them nearly impervious to arrows.

“Bows!”

“Fire!”

Li Guang called out the commands in quick succession, and another volley darkened the sky.

These heavy cavalrymen were all veteran riders from the Shanggu camp, their mounted archery superb. For four months, Qin Cheng had personally trained them, emphasizing archery in addition to other skills; thus, each salvo was devastating.

After several exchanges, the forces inevitably collided.

Melee weapons drawn?

Not for the heavy cavalry. Their charge began not with sabers, but with a special kind of long halberd—different in shape and superior in hardness and sharpness to the standard polearm.

This was the Qin halberd, redesigned by Qin Cheng!

Ma Dashan’s heavy cavalry led the charge, forming a wedge that drove deep into the Xiongnu lines.

Those two to three thousand Xiongnu who first met the Han were destined to be slaughtered.

The Qin halberds in the hands of the Han cavalry became an unending nightmare for the Xiongnu. Before the Xiongnu sabers could even be raised, the long halberds struck them down. The unstoppable momentum of the heavy horse, the lethality of the Qin halberd, the terrifying protection of their armor—all combined in a display of martial power that shook heaven and earth.

Where the Qin halberds passed, men and horses fell, blood fountained, heads flew, and life was snuffed out like so much dust.

The hapless Xiongnu, never having faced such foes, could not even react, much less counterattack, before being cut down. The Han heavy cavalry defied everything they knew; they had never imagined such terrifying riders could exist.

Those few thousand Xiongnu became lambs before wolves.

With Ma Dashan’s heavy cavalry as the spearhead, the following squadrons expanded the breach, tearing a widening gap through the Xiongnu formation.

“Push through!” Li Guang’s senses were razor sharp—he knew six or seven thousand more Xiongnu were close behind, and time was short. He roared the command.

“Attack!”

Even the heavy cavalry themselves were stunned by their own strength. The once fearsome Xiongnu fell before them like grass, their lives claimed with a thrust and a brace against the momentum of the charge. Excitement surged in their veins, each man more determined than the last.

“Attack!”

“Keep going—faster! Break through!” Ma Dashan bellowed, leading from the front. He remembered well Qin Cheng’s constant warnings: slow down, and the heavy horse would be surrounded and doomed. He kept the men moving at all costs.

As the Xiongnu broke, the heavy cavalry at last burst through their lines and saw the mountain pass ahead.

At that moment, three hundred Han cavalry rode out from the pass, wheeling left and right to strike the disordered Xiongnu. Their leader called out to Ma Dashan, “Into the hills!” and plunged into the fray.

Ma Dashan did not hesitate. Li Guang’s orders had been clear: once through, the heavy cavalry need not look back—support awaited in the hills.

The Xiongnu were already in chaos. Now, with Xiahou Neng’s force striking from the rear, their confusion only deepened. The rest of the Han cavalry, having broken the Xiongnu lines, streamed into the hills.

“Go!” Li Guang, covering the rear, called out as he fought his way free. The six or seven thousand Xiongnu from other directions were nearly upon them.

Xiahou Neng hesitated, puzzled, but Li Guang shouted, “My cavalry are all through—what are you waiting for? Move!” The force of his cry jolted Xiahou Neng into action; he wheeled his horse and followed.

As the Han cavalry disappeared into the hills, the Xiongnu—knowing the hills had little depth—rushed to pursue, only to be driven back by a hail of arrows.

Yixue’er, who had led nearly two thousand Xiongnu in their feigned retreat, now returned to find the Han had broken through three thousand Xiongnu and vanished into the hills. Furious, she wished she could cut down her own men on the spot.