208 Battle of Muye 10 (1/2)

They tracked the ruts that the chariots left behind. Ouyang Shuo and the 1,700 cavalries that survived tracked them down along the Wei River, all the way down to the south. They were very determined to kill or capture the main leaders of the Zhou dynasty in one attempt.

King Wu and Jiang Shang did not even have the slightest clue that the enemy would have horses like the Qingfu warhorses—horses that had such incredible speed and magnificent mobility. The Qingfu warhorses could catch up and even outrun them. However, they did not know this, so they did not even bother to cover up their tracks.

When it was close to noon, the enemy chariots that had fled were already in the vicinity of Ouyang Shuo and his army.

Ouyang Shuo suddenly raised his hand to signal for the party to stop. When he signaled them to down, they cavalries that were still traveling at high speeds abruptly stopped. It was like they had pressed down hard onto the brakes of a car. Their movements were united and flawless.

“Wang Feng!” Ouyang Shuo called to his elite guard captain

Wang Feng, who had always followed behind Ouyang Shuo, immediately rode to the front and said, “My lord, your orders?”

“Come here.”

The always cool captain now had a face of confusion. He had no idea what his lord was trying to do again. Ouyang Shuo whispered something to Wang Feng. For a quick moment, Wang Feng showed a surprise expression, but he soon returned to his usual cool expression. Although his face slightly changed, no one saw anything. As such, none of them had any idea what kind of task their lord had given him.

Wang Feng returned to his position and signaled to the elite guards. Then, he said, “Elite guards, come with me!” Then, they headed toward a small path at the side.

“Yes sir!” said the elite guards. They swiftly followed their captain with no unnecessary thoughts.

All of the other cavalries, including Lin Yi, did not raise a question at all. There were rules in the armies. Things that should not be said shall never be said, and whatever should not be asked shall remain unasked.

As the head of all the Shanhai County’s armies, Ouyang Shuo’s orders would always be kept as the top secret information at all times.

“Keep moving. Remember, I want both King Wu and Jiang Shang alive. Capture them and make sure not to hurt them,” Ouyang Shuo specifically reminded his cavalries, as he was worried that they might carelessly hurt King Wu and Jiang Shang.

“Yes my lord!”

After a short moment of waiting, the army continued their advance and caught up with the enemies that had fled in front.

The sounds of galloping horses were just like rumbling thunder. It alerted King Wu about his pursuers. The now frightened King Wu turned his head. What appeared in his sight was wave after wave of fierce cavalries that advanced toward them with immense power and incredible speed.

The Mingguang armor on each and every cavalry was just so obvious, as they brightly glimmered under the sunlight.

The golden rays reflected from the Mingguang armor was just way too iconic. Therefore, King Wu recognized that these cavalries were the ones that had mercilessly slaughtered the alliance forces. The faces of the other lords turned even paler. In their eyes, these cavalries were the shadow of war that rode beneath the fog of war. These cavalries would cut down and trample their foes under their iron hooves, despite the shiny armor that made them resemble holy knights.

“Even the heaven wants me dead!” King Wu lamented.

Right after the lamentations of King Wu,s a non-stop heavy arrow rain traveled toward them at high speeds.

Every chariot had two or four horses pulling it. Among the four horses, the two horses in between were called ‘two fu.’ They were tied with the yoke used to balance the two shaft of the chariot; the left and right horses were called the ‘two can.’ They were tied in front of the chariot with leather, collectively known as ‘si.’

Every chariot carried three soldiers that stood in a horizontal line.

The soldiers that stood on the left plays the role of an archer, also known as the head of the chariot, called ‘che zuo’ or ‘jia shou.’ The one on the right was the halberdier, his main priority was to cut down enemies with his halberd and clear away any obstacles that blocked the chariot, called ‘che you’ or ‘can cen.’ The charioteer stood in the middle, and he only carried a short sword for self-defense.

The cavalries aimed the arrow rain at the che zuo and the charioteers. Their purpose was to shoot down and disable these threats, which would prevent return fire and stop the chariots. Of course, this would really require extremely good archery skills.

As expected, those che zuos’ on the chariots tried to retaliate. However, their shooting range was quite a joke when compared to the shooting range of the cavalries equipped with composite bows. The che zuos’ arrow just fell down before they could hit any of the cavalries.

“Stop now or die!” Lin Yi loudly shouted under Ouyang Shuo’s hint.

When he heard this, it was like Jiang Shang had suddenly grown older. He felt like he had become a weak old man. These players were always doing things outside of his expectations. He was indeed smart and wise, but the amount of information that the parties held was completely different. The existence of his opponents was out of this era’s understandings. Although he had tactics and tricks up his sleeves, he could not do much at all.

“My king, we should stop. We can’t escape anymore,” said Jiang Shang bitterly.

King Wu remained silent, but he signaled for his army to stop.

Ouyang Shuo and his cavalries quickly surrounded the 300 war chariots once they came to a stop. Even so, the cavalries did not let their guards down and remained vigilant. In fact, they raised their bows and aimed at each and every one of the enemies in front of them, preventing them from doing anything stupid.

“Weapons on the ground, please!” said Ouyang Shuo in a threatening tone.

The surrounded soldiers could only look helplessly at their king with pale faces. King Wu did not dare to look into their eyes. He just looked down and gestured for them to do as Ouyang Shuo had demanded. With that, the soldiers threw their weapons onto the ground and stopped their resistance.

These people were now sheeps in a slaughterhouse. They waited to be slaughtered, leaving their fates in Ouyang Shuo’s hands.

Jiang Shang stood on the chariot without any fear, and he said courageously, “Your army and your skills decided that you are not an anonymous pawn! Tell me your name. Let me die knowing who defeated us.”

Ouyang Shuo nodded, and he walked out of his army with Lin Yi and a few other subordinates. Then, he said, “I am the player representative under the Shang dynasty, and my name is Qiyue Wuyi. I am here to take you as prisoners under the orders of the King of Shang! Stop your futile resistance at once!”