Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1576: Chapter 1518: Brimming with Confidence

In an instant, countless Hu people flipped over along with their horses, but the high speed of the horses allowed the Hu cavalry to continue charging forward over ten paces even after being injured, eventually being trampled into a bloody mess by the comrades behind them.

Under the dense rain of arrows, the Hu forces at the front kept falling, while the cavalry behind them ferociously charged over, unable to avoid the rain of arrows that covered them, except for the White Horse and Iron Cavalry where all other cavalry were accustomed to dodging arrow rains.

However, this time the arrow rain was exceedingly dense, with seven thousand unprotected archers, the three waves of rain totaling over twenty thousand arrows nearly covered all the riders at the Hu cavalry’s front, it could be said that without Li Jue’s skills, this kind of covering arrow rain could destroy cavalry.

Just as Zhou Yu predicted, after three waves of arrow rain, a large number of cavalry fallen at the Hu people’s front directly hindered the charge of the cavalry behind.

”Henghengheng, cavalry charging under arrow rain, isn’t it mainly because not enough cavalry fall in the first wave?” Zhou Yu sneered and said, ”Advance forward from the front, deploy great swords on the left and right wings, wipe out this group for me!”

The great sword was also brought over from Liu Bei’s side, and somewhat different from the blades in Eastern Wu, but the quality was good, so naturally Zhou Yu would want as many as possible.

At any rate, Zhou Yu’s idea at the time was to fight the Hu people, supporting war through war, if they could recoup costs they’d settle the bill with Liu Bei, if profits couldn’t cover military expenses, they would default on payment.

Upon hearing this, Wen Pin immediately ordered the Central Army already ashore to advance quickly, while both wings, with strong bows on their backs, drew their great swords and charged toward the already somewhat scattered miscellaneous Hu forces.

The Hu forces were not hard to deal with, already having their momentum snatched away and suffering heavy losses, without the Northern Huns holding the line, they were routed quickly by the high-spirited Eastern Wu soldiers, sending their already chaotic formation fleeing back.

Seeing the rout of the miscellaneous Hu forces, Zhou Yu’s expression did not reveal any bit of arrogance, as he commanded forces to block off the flared muzzle while ordering the navy to quickly land, changing weapons while disembarking, ensuring that in the coming battle if only using arrows, nobody would be left to collect bodies for him.

The advantage of archers in formation lies in inflicting remote damage, causing great harm to charging cavalry, but the disadvantage is also obvious.

The Roman short bow archers, renowned for ten waves of arrow rain and claiming to drown enemies with arrows, giving no chance to approach, but in an encounter with Xiliang Iron Cavalry, they were completely restrained, with formation archers, once arrows can’t solve the issue, they’re done.

This is why Central Plains archers are always used in coordination, because they’re really too fragile in close combat, top archers in melee have never really appeared in the Central Plains.

The Eastern Wu navy looked the part after switching to longs spears and sword-shields, and many archers didn’t change weapons as these were gifts prepared by Zhou Yu for the Hu experts, all elite archers.

Speaking of which, after Southern shipbuilding technology was surpassed by the North, the most notable aspect of the South was likely their elite archers. As Southern naval battles relied solely on boarding ships and archers shooting, with generations of accumulation, Southern elite archers remained numerous.

”General Cheng, I’ll leave the command to you, Zhongye, you take care of the left and right wings, what comes next is the main event!” Zhou Yu said to Cheng Pu and Wen Pin, although he was skilled in commanding armies, this degree of Hu forces did not require his involvement.

After Zhou Yu marshaled troops out of the flared muzzle, the Hu people stationed along the four shores reacted, some of the miscellaneous Hu stationed here didn’t even think about it and directly abandoned their original defense zones, leading troops to attack Zhou Yu.

However, facing Zhou Yu’s now complete formation and well-prepared army, these scattered Hu charging forward were essentially presenting themselves for slaughter, for someone like Zhou Yu, the Hu people’s current tactics were no different from piecemeal.

Of course, this situation disappeared as Zhou Yu formally entered the Liaodong Peninsula, where the extensive plains allowed the Hu cavalry to showcase their maximum combat power, whereas Zhou Yu’s infantry would be hard-pressed to deal with it, which is why Chen Xi handed this tricky region over to Zhou Yu.

”In such a place, our disadvantages are too apparent.” Wen Pin said to Zhou Yu with a frown.

”Naturally, otherwise why would we be able to acquire so much military supplies from Chen Zichuan.” Zhou Yu shrugged, landing was a hassle, entering the plains was an even bigger hassle.

Only on such plains could cavalry’s combat power be significantly amplified, and only on such plains could infantry’s disadvantages be markedly exposed.

[I wonder how Li Yan is doing, the miscellaneous Hu advancing first is no problem, presumably after my successful landing they’ve already received the message, now I guess they’re gathering, while the Northern Huns might be a bit late in coming, now it depends on the thoughts of the Hu forces...] Zhou Yu silently speculated about the upcoming situation.

The current battle is less a Han and Huns war and more the miscellaneous Hu being forced to maneuver between Han and Huns, making the mindset of the Hu forces themselves quite significant.

Wen Pin showed a slight hint of concern, as the miscellaneous Hu’s combat power was not strong, but with the Northern Huns holding the line at the back, they could fight with complete abandon.

More crucially, Wen Pin couldn’t understand why Zhou Yu only brought seven thousand navy troops ashore, knowing full well the Eastern Wu land forces were average, this situation where more aristocratic family private soldiers and over three thousand Eastern Wu navy were left at the port, such division in this situation is a major taboo, yet Zhou Yu did so recklessly, seemingly viewing the Northern Huns of the Liaodong Peninsula as irrelevant.

Thinking along these lines, Wen Pin furrowed his brow again, if done without effort, Zhou Yu actually brought all the excellent generals with him this time, but why divide forces, is he unaware of the current situation?

Yet Zhou Yu remained calm, showing no hint of worry, unlike Wen Pin’s guessing game, Zhou Yu was filled with confidence, confident that even in the event of an unexpected situation, he could withdraw safely.

Of course, if possible, Zhou Yu thought that letting the Hu forces and Northern Huns continue to follow his steps would be best, at least this way solve the issue at once, saving a lot of time, after all Liu Bei and Cao Cao’s speeds are not slow, according to Zhou Yu’s estimate, within a few days both sides may arrive in the north.

On the other side, after Zhou Yu emerged from the flared muzzle, apart from a few confused individuals who led their stationed troops to assault Zhou Yu but were killed in return, all other Wuhuan people naturally gathered from all directions, assembling to wait for Zhou Yu’s march to an ambush point for action.

Hmm, for cavalry, vast plains are their ideal ambush point, especially when the opponent is infantry.