Liang Xiao, spotting the enemy formation from afar, stated, "Pursue them by flanking, but do not press the attack too fiercely for now! The enemy has replicated longbows and a small number of composite Great Qian bows; we must not be careless."
The order spread, and the Great Qian cavalry began a probing pursuit, avoiding the direct line of fire from the Western cavalry's bows and moving towards the enemy's flanks.
"Your Majesty, the enemy is pursuing!"
Atilla, hearing the trembling report from his Hunnic generals, could not help but feel disappointed. He gritted his teeth and said, "The enemy can only carry a limited amount of Great Qian celestial fire. Our rear cavalry is nearly upon them, and the infantry will arrive soon. Inform the entire army that we are merely executing a tactical retreat; absolutely do not fall into disarray!"
After the order was relayed by the messengers, the morale of the Western cavalry finally stabilized. They abandoned collecting the corpses, using their replicated bows to hold the line, and retreated westward while fighting.
However, with the Great Qian cavalry harassing them on the flanks, the weary Western allied forces found themselves in dire straits.
Throughout the entire army, only Atilla and Mars maintained sufficient composure. Even Caesar was grim-faced, directing his troops with fury.
Just as the battle between the two armies reached a stalemate, the neighing of warhorses echoed from the west.
The Great Qian cavalry quickly noticed the situation and immediately abandoned their pursuit, returning to their own lines.
"Reinforcements have arrived!"
Upon the convergence of the troops, the Western commanders finally breathed a sigh of relief.
"Should we continue the attack?" Mars inquired.
Atilla shook his head, "The initiative is lost. Fighting further with exhausted men and horses will be in vain!"
The others could only order their troops to retreat westward and briefly collect the corpses of the soldiers fallen on the battlefield.
Upon the return of the Great Qian cavalry to the northern camp, all units immediately began to tally their losses.
"Our army has lost nine hundred and eighty cavalrymen, twelve hundred warhorses, and three hundred severely wounded!"
The casualty count, approaching thirteen hundred, weighed heavily on Liang Xiao and his soldiers.
They knew that the Western cavalry's losses must have been more than ten times their own. However, due to fighting on sandy terrain at dawn, with the interference of sandstorms limiting visibility, they could not reduce their losses to below three hundred.
Liang Xiao reminded his generals, "We had the advantage of initiative and terrain, yet we still lost over a thousand men. This shows that the enemy is no longer the same as before; we must not underestimate them. The number of replicated longbows and Great Qian bows they hid might already exceed twenty thousand."
The soldiers in the northern camp, seeing the enemy retreat, immediately notified the garrison of Yumenguan to send out troops to assist in clearing the battlefield. Simultaneously, scouts and vanguard cavalry detachments were dispatched westward as a precautionary measure.
The battle losses were tallied for the entire morning before the Great Qian army gained a rough understanding of the enemy's situation.
"The enemy lost sixteen thousand two hundred men, twenty-three thousand warhorses, and left behind three hundred sets of replicated longbows and two hundred sets of replicated Great Qian bows!"
A pile of replicated longbows and Great Qian bows were presented to Liang Xiao for testing.
The range of the replicated longbows was already close to that of the Great Qian longbows, but the range and power of the replicated Great Qian bows were greatly diminished.
"The difficulty of replicating composite bows is far greater than that of longbows. Should our army focus on developing Great Qian bows?" Nan Jiyun suggested.
Qin Feng reminded them, "The Emperor has already instructed the Ministry of War and the Ministry of Works to develop firearms in the future..."
Firearms!
The mention of firearms sent a shiver down everyone's spine.
Liang Xiao immediately ordered the entire army to feed on the dead horses of the enemy, bury their own fallen soldiers, and burn the enemy's bodies.
The Western allied forces' surprise attack had failed, forcing their retreat, and their morale was low.
"The enemy successfully lured us into occupying the high ground in the initial stage, creating the illusion that their cavalry numbers were far less than ours. The cavalry strength of Great Qian is far greater than what our intelligence indicated, and the quality of their armaments is clearly superior to our replicas," Mars said, holding a replicated Great Qian bow with a look of helplessness.
They had initially thought it was "killing intent" because its power at close range was still superior to the replicated longbows.
However, it still failed to easily penetrate the defenses of the Great Qian soldiers.
Atilla, with a grim expression, stated, "Assaulting cities and launching surprise attacks are as difficult as climbing to heaven. Our only course of action now is to be fully prepared and engage the Great Qian army in a large-scale decisive battle, without dispersing our forces. Let us produce as many trebuchets as possible on the spot! Even if we cannot destroy the walls of Yumenguan, we must at least ensure we can inflict a fatal blow on the enemy!"
Facing the impregnable Yumenguan, the Western allied forces no longer dared to attempt to seize the high ground. They could only rush to produce trebuchets and urgently train trebuchet operators in preparation for the decisive battle.
Meanwhile, in the capital, Liang Xiao's wives were having a dinner party at the Emperor's residence, with the children playing nearby.
Xiao Qing could now freely visit the West Palace Villa and the Emperor's Residence, bringing the two princes to the dinner party, creating a harmonious scene.
The third child, Luo Pingxiao, and the fourth sister, Liang Xinyu, hid behind a rockery ten zhang apart. Each holding a paper cup connected by a long string, they began to converse.
"Huh? Mommy, I can really hear Third Brother's voice~"
Hearing Liang Xinyu's excited call, Xiao Qing and the others chuckled.
Chloe explained, "This is a simple speaking tube. Your father said that sound can travel through solid objects. In the future, as the technology of our Qian clan flourishes, there will be something called a 'telephone.' Even if separated by a thousand miles, as long as there is a telephone, we can communicate!"
The children's eyes lit up with yearning, and they pestered their mothers.
"When will there be telephones, Mommy~"
"In the future."
Looking at the children filled with anticipation, Xiao Qing and the others exchanged glances, smiling helplessly.
This seemed somewhat distant. Perhaps they wouldn't live to see it?
To the west of the capital, another hundred-mile railway line was successfully laid and put into testing.
Tens of thousands of logistical soldiers, along with pack animals and vehicles, transported supplies towards the western border.
Among these supplies were a large number of special canned goods.
During the midday break, the supply convoy camped to rest and distributed the canned goods.
"What is this precious canned food?"
The soldiers opened the cans to find compressed minced meat inside.
The commanding general explained, "It's luncheon meat developed by the Anguo Workshop. They say the preservation isn't perfect yet, but it should be able to last for over a year!"
The soldiers, filled with curiosity, tasted it and raised their eyebrows, "Incredible!"
"His Majesty and the Emperor said that these items are filling and durable for storage. They will serve as front-line supplies until the Sky-Sun Tribe is eliminated!"
Luncheon meat, a classic canned food, was transported to the front lines, bringing joy to the soldiers and boosting their spirits for the journey.
Cavalry from the Qilian Mountains gradually arrived at Yumenguan to report.
After reviewing the roster, Liang Xiao surveyed his generals.
"Our assembled cavalry at Yumenguan has reached a hundred thousand strong, but the enemy still has at least one hundred and eighty thousand cavalry. A direct confrontation, even if we win, will come at a heavy price. Unless absolutely necessary, our strategy should focus on minimizing casualties and achieving victory steadily."
"However, we must also ensure that we can capture the supply lines of the Kushan Dynasty with lightning speed. Otherwise, if the enemy destroys our supply lines, even if we reach the Kushan Dynasty, we will not be able to sustain ourselves by fighting and advance further."
...
The generals listened to Liang Xiao's instructions and expressed their strong agreement.
They had endured until now precisely for those supply lines, as well as the farmlands and pastures painstakingly cultivated by the Sky-Sun Tribe.
Just as Liang Xiao was discussing with his generals, an urgent report came from outside.
"Reporting to the Emperor! The firearms unit has arrived outside Yumenguan!"
ps: My eyes have just recovered... I will start updating efficiently from tomorrow until the end (clearly, it will be soon). The ending will not be a cliffhanger and will satisfy most people while being somewhat unique.