The Right Worthy King sneered, "Is he afraid of losing his prestige of beheading seventeen thousand men if he fights and loses? Or is Lü Yi afraid he will overshadow him again and is preparing to claim credit?"
The generals discussed amongst themselves, finally concluding, "Both are possible!"
The Right Worthy King said gravely, "Since Lü Yi is leading the troops, then let us catch him off guard! Firstly, we absolutely must not let the Da Qian soldiers advance smoothly. Otherwise, our cavalry fighting in the mountains, even with the advantage of high ground, will have their charging effectiveness greatly reduced! Generals, heed my orders!"
Shuofang Commandery.
The common folk were gathered at the west city gate, eagerly seeing off the Da Qian soldiers.
Liang Xiao had already put on a helmet that covered most of his face and wore a black robe. He would fight alongside the army as one of Lü Yi's household guards, remaining hidden behind curtains.
Aside from the generals who had received orders that day, no one else could recognize Liang Xiao.
Lü Yi assembled sixty thousand cavalry and one hundred forty thousand infantry, bringing along a large number of war chariots.
Some of the White Robe soldiers, cavalry, and scouts had already gone out in advance to probe the terrain and drive away the scouts and cavalry of the barbarians.
Two hundred thousand troops, claiming to be three hundred thousand, marched out of the city in a mighty procession, forming a long dragon.
Liang Xiao sat in his carriage, repeatedly simulating and calculating, his gaze calm.
The Sandstorm Steeds, after being captured by the Yan Prefecture soldiers and tamed for a period, were handed over to Nan Jiyun, who could now ride them with ease.
Shuofang was about two hundred and fifty li from the Helan Mountains. At the usual marching speed, it would take five days to reach the foot of the mountains.
However, this was an offensive operation, and the enemy was the barbarian iron cavalry, posing a great threat to the supply lines. Da Qian had no choice but to march cautiously, covering only twenty-five li per day.
The Da Qian cavalry acting as the vanguard became the advance force, divided into dozens of large teams and hundreds of small squads, probing in all directions.
The treasure of the Dongye clan was hidden deep within the Helan Mountains, and there was also a high probability of coal mines.
With coal mines, there would be an opportunity to produce coke on a large scale, thereby further improving Da Qian's various industries.
Without taking the Helan Mountains, Da Qian would never know peace, and it would be extremely difficult to get the Western Regions to pledge allegiance to Da Qian and trade with them.
Lü Yi did not become complacent just because the soldiers' equipment had been upgraded. Instead, he became even more vigilant, deploying scouts in all directions. As soon as there was any disturbance, he would dispatch a cavalry unit to investigate.
Nan Jiyun, Lü Changhe, Nie Yuan, Zhuo Ying, and others successively led their troops out to scout.
On the first day of the army's expedition, a scouting party of twenty men investigating in the northwest discovered something unusual.
A small barbarian unit was approaching the main camp from afar.
The Da Qian scouts quickly hid in a grove of dead trees to observe.
"The enemy numbers at least two thousand. Report back immediately!"
That barbarian iron cavalry unit also spotted the scouting party and immediately dispatched a hundred-man fast horse detachment to pursue them at full speed.
The Da Qian scouts decisively retreated towards the southeast.
At this moment, the sound of horseshoes came from the southwest.
Another barbarian iron cavalry unit arrived and dispatched a hundred-man fast horse detachment to surround the Da Qian scouts.
The Da Qian scouts dared not be careless. They immediately took out their whistles, blew them, and fled for their lives.
The enemy's fast horses were getting closer and closer. They were outnumbered. If they could not deliver the intelligence back to Da Qian, many scouts might be silenced by this unit!
The barbarian fast horses pursued relentlessly. In less than half an hour, they were within fifty zhang of the Da Qian scouts. Catching up was only a matter of time.
"The barbarians' warhorses are indeed not to be underestimated!" The scouts were filled with anxiety.
For the sake of marching speed, they had abandoned their bows and arrows, only hoping their horses could run as fast as possible. Yet, they were still slower than the barbarians' fast horses!
As scouts, what was more terrifying than death was failing to deliver intelligence in a timely manner.
Just as the barbarian fast horses were closing in, the sound of sparse horseshoes also came from the northeast.
The twenty Da Qian scouts looked intently and saw a hundred-man White Robe soldier detachment approaching from a distance to provide support.
The leader was Nan Jiyun, riding the Sandstorm Steed, holding the Heaven-Shaking Bow with an arrow nocked.
"Swish!"
The Dragon Tooth Arrow carried a strange whistling sound as it streaked through the air.
A barbarian cavalryman who had approached within twenty zhang of the Da Qian scouts was shot off his horse on the spot!
"Annihilate this White Robe soldier detachment as well!"
The two thousand men behind desperately pursued, intending to encircle them.
The White Robe soldiers behind Nan Jiyun also drew their bows and nocked their arrows. Over a hundred arrows shot towards the charging barbarian fast horses.
Three men were shot off their horses on the spot, and more than a dozen were wounded, their faces filled with shock!
The opponent's mounted archery skills were actually superior to those of the barbarians who were known for their mounted archery!
Were these the White Robe soldiers?
With a hint of awe, the barbarian fast horses had to slow down.
The Da Qian soldiers retreated rapidly in front, while they accelerated their pursuit. The power of their crossbow bolts differed greatly.
The Da Qian crossbow bolts, against the charging barbarian iron cavalry, had an even greater power.
In contrast, the barbarian fast horses' pursuit speed was on par with the Da Qian soldiers, and their crossbow bolts only had normal power, making them miserable.
Nan Jiyun, holding the Heaven-Shaking Bow, had already fired seven arrows, all hitting their mark. Each arrow felled a barbarian elite.
The Dragon Tooth Arrow was an absolute masterpiece among Da Qian's arrows. Even the "Da Qian Feather Arrow," ranked second, cost less than a tenth of a Dragon Tooth Arrow.
Both the shaft and the arrowhead were meticulously crafted from rare materials. The stronger the bow used, the more astonishing the power of the Dragon Tooth Arrow, with the Sunset Bow being the most powerful!
"Who is that Da Qian general? His archery is so superb??"
The barbarian fast horses at the forefront finally dared not pursue relentlessly and slowed down to rendezvous with the rear forces.
They, who were skilled in mounted archery, knew too well what kind of archery skills were required to shoot down an enemy cavalryman from horseback…
The hit rate of those White Robe soldiers was less than a tenth of that of the White Robe general, and every arrow of his was fatal!
"These Dragon Tooth Arrows are too heavy. I believe the barbarians cannot afford to play with them."
Nan Jiyun remained calm. He fired Dragon Tooth Arrows like they were free, targeting the closest barbarian fast horses. The twenty Da Qian scouts were finally out of danger!
However, the barbarian iron cavalry from behind was still accelerating their approach, determined to silence them.
If these Da Qian soldiers were allowed to escape, they would be forced to flee far away, lest the enemy dispatch a large army to encircle them.
The barbarians were also aiming at the Da Qian soldiers. Finally, an arrow hit a Da Qian scout's warhorse.
The sudden attack caused the warhorse to rear up. The scout on its back was about to fall, and he shouted, "General Nan, please hurry back and inform the other scouting parties!"
In this moment of crisis, the Sandstorm Steed charged forward. Nan Jiyun shot and killed a barbarian iron cavalryman with a swift arrow, then casually grabbed the scout and placed him on his horse.
"What kind of riding and archery skills are these… That horse, isn't that our Left Worthy King's prized steed, the Sandstorm Steed! Kill this person and reclaim the warhorse!!"
The barbarians finally recognized the Sandstorm Steed and were enraged. Disregarding Nan Jiyun's superb archery, they desperately pursued.
The Sandstorm Steed had originally galloped like the wind, but with an extra person on its back, its speed had slowed somewhat.
The scout behind Nan Jiyun also realized he was slowing them down and quickly said, "General Nan, why don't you leave me? You go back and report!"
"Noisy!"
Nan Jiyun replied calmly. He deflected an incoming arrow with a casual flick of his spear and turned his horse to flee.
The barbarians, eager to reclaim their prized steed, had gone mad.
At this moment of life and death, the sound of horseshoes and shouts erupted simultaneously from the northwest, west, east, northeast, southwest, and southeast.