"How could this happen!" Sun Yan tumbled off his horse, staring in disbelief at the scene before him. His force of 1,500 cavalry had fallen into chaos due to an unexpected disruption, their vanguard scattered, and they were now forced into a melee with the First Ascendant infantry.
"Spread out!" Li Hu shouted, but the immense momentum of the Xiliang cavalry made it impossible to rein in their horses within such a short distance of less than ten zhang. The troops behind had no time to react and crashed into the already disordered front lines.
At that moment, the First Ascendant soldiers in the second row, who had moved first, dropped their small round shields and gripped their large blades with both hands. With a powerful leap, they stepped onto the fallen horse corpses and struck down upon the Xiliang cavalry like tigers pouncing on their prey.
In this initial clash, the Xiliang cavalry suffered severe losses. Out of the three vice commanders, one was killed outright, another was severely injured, leaving only Li Hu still mounted. In that brief moment, one-tenth of their force had been wiped out.
Caught in the chaos, the once invincible cavalry, who had never faced serious defeat in the Central Plains, felt their blood boil as they witnessed their comrades fall. The Xiliang cavalry, undefeated in battle, had never lost to any other force.
"Hahaha, interesting! As expected of the elite forged by Li Ru through absolute honor. Not only were they not thrown into disarray, but they even managed to reform into the chaotic yet precise wedge formation they first showed me. Truly worthy of the Xiliang cavalry, who have carved their fighting spirit into their very bones from the northwest to the Central Plains," Ju Yi laughed recklessly. In the past, when he was in Liangzhou, he had been a commander of the Xiliang cavalry himself, though he went by a different name back then.
Ju Yi laughed freely. The Xiliang cavalry were indeed brave, but they were also too stubborn. Brotherhood, the bonds of comradeship, and a pyramid-like structure of honor were the foundations of their combat strength!
Li Ru had instilled in the Xiliang cavalry an unbreakable belief in never being defeated. From Xiliang to Luoyang, from Luoyang to Chang'an, and from Chang'an to the Central Plains, this conviction of invincibility had been ingrained into their very bones!
The Xiliang cavalry under Hua Xiong's command were the same as Li Jue and Guo Si's main forces, with no mixing of Qiang troops. These were the true warriors who had fought and defeated the Qiang, driven by their sense of righteousness.
These were also the seeds that Li Ru had planted to construct the entire structure of the Xiliang cavalry. They had experienced countless battles, each soldier possessing internal energy and astonishing combat experience. Although they had been disoriented in the first wave, they instinctively reorganized into their optimal combat formation without receiving any direct orders.
The greatest advantage of a pyramid-like military structure is that even if the commander falls, a suitable leader will immediately step up to guide the troops.
"Probe their defenses, maneuver around them, and attack from behind!" Simultaneously, two cavalry officers, originally just squad leaders, along with Li Hu, issued orders to their soldiers. The entire unit, as if by reflex, scattered into nearly a hundred attack squads of twelve to fifteen men each.
"Truly impressive. Li Wenyou, though you may lack experience in training soldiers, you've instilled in your core troops the ability to react calmly in any situation. Unfortunately, you're still not skilled enough!" Ju Yi muttered to himself as he watched the Xiliang cavalry scatter and begin circling his forces in waves.
Li Hu, riding his horse, circled around the First Ascendant unit, continually exchanging positions with the other two units. If it weren't for the extensive battle experience of the First Ascendant soldiers and the rigorous training they had undergone under Ju Yi, this dizzying display of maneuvers would have already caused their formation to collapse, leading to their swift defeat at the hands of the Xiliang cavalry.
Ju Yi sighed quietly. No matter how sharp the attacks of infantry may be, they cannot change the fact that two legs can't outrun four.
Soon, after several probing attacks and maneuvers by the three Xiliang cavalry units, the First Ascendant soldiers began to show signs of disarray. Upon seeing this, Li Hu's previously anxious heart surged with joy—they had finally found their opening.
At the same time, the two newly promoted captains noticed the situation as well. Without any need for communication, the three leaders merged their forces during the next maneuver. As they closed in, every soldier grabbed their short spears from their saddles. Though the Xiliang cavalry were not known for their archery, they were formidable in medium-range combat. As their horses leaped, every soldier threw their short spears in unison, all while grasping their horses' manes.
"Hahaha, after all these years, they're still using the same tactics. Don't they realize that while their attacks are incredibly sharp, they're far too close? A scattered formation is good for maneuvering and attacking, but the thin cloud energy won't protect them from the enemy's cloud energy. This is a tactic for slashing through the enemy in a decisive battle!" Ju Yi remarked with a calm yet helpless tone.
After all, the Xiliang cavalry were the unit Ju Yi had studied the most. During his early years in Liangzhou, he had been one of the commanders leading the Xiliang cavalry against the Qiang, though he wasn't well-known at the time.
Back then, Li Ru was still pondering the future of the military system, and the Xiliang cavalry hadn't fully formed yet. But as battles progressed, they gradually adopted the complete combat methods they use today. As a result, Ju Yi not only became familiar with the Qiang's tactics but also became intimately familiar with the Xiliang cavalry's combat style!
Ju Yi waved his command flag, and a nearly hundred-meter-long blood-red blade extended from a gap in the First Ascendant formation, slicing through the disordered ranks of the Xiliang cavalry. The strike alone took out two-tenths of their forces, leaving Li Hu dead with no remains.
Watching as the Xiliang cavalry, stunned by his attack, scrambled to avoid the First Ascendant soldiers now charging at them, Ju Yi felt no pride. He knew the Xiliang cavalry hadn't truly been defeated; they had merely underestimated the First Ascendant and made too many errors in command.
It was similar to the Battle of Jieqiao, where Ju Yi hadn't aimed to crush the White Horse Cavalry but merely to defeat them. Fate had granted him the opportunity to eliminate them all due to their erratic command, making him famous in one battle.
But this didn't mean that the First Ascendant soldiers had no disadvantages when facing cavalry. Infantry still had only two legs, while cavalry had four. If the Xiliang cavalry chose to flee, no infantry unit, not even the First Ascendant, could stop them.
"Let's go. Forget about them. While they may be stunned now, they'll recover soon enough. The most frustrating thing about the Xiliang cavalry is that unless you completely annihilate them or scatter them, they'll regroup and continue fighting," Ju Yi sighed.
If the Xiliang cavalry didn't retreat, the First Ascendant would have no difficulty killing them, though it wouldn't be as easy as cutting through vegetables. But if the cavalry chose to flee, no one had ever heard of infantry successfully chasing down cavalry—not even the First Ascendant.