Chapter 70
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Translator: MadScientist
Chapter: 70
Chapter Title: Battle of Dunhuang (2)
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"The entire army! Charge!"
With that shout, I spurred Red Hare straight into the enemy ranks ahead. The spear tip flashed, and blood sprayed from the enemies' heads.
"Gah!"
Without a moment to catch my breath, another cavalry unit charged in from the left.
"That's Lu Bu!"
"Die!"
—Shwaaack!
The moment I twisted my horse's head and sliced the throats of the approaching foes, shouts erupted from behind me as well.
"Wooooah!"
"Kill them all!"
"You dogs crawling under the Han!"
—Enemies surrounded me on all sides.
I swung the spear shaft to smash the head of a cavalryman lunging from the left, then twisted the tip to smash the shoulder of the one beside him, sending him crashing to the ground.
"Argh!"
—Neigh!
Red Hare reared up with a cry, crushing the chest of the charging horse with its front hooves. In an instant, the battlefield turned into a hellscape of screams, shouts, and whinnies.
"Kaaaagh!"
"Guhk!"
I cut down a few more and scanned my surroundings. The enemies weren't just charging blindly.
"Hmph, annoying. Truly annoying."
I plunged in and out repeatedly, shaking their formation.
Their banners were all over the place, making it hard to spot the leader. Far in the rear, I could even see their stationary reserves.
'They're deliberately turning this into a melee to drag it out. Trying to wear us down with numbers. These aren't your average barbarians.'
I turned my head.
Kap-hun's infantry phalanx was holding the front well, but the cavalry relentlessly targeted the flanks and rear, exploiting the infantry's lack of mobility.
"It's breaking! The flank is breaking!"
"Hold!"
The rear of the phalanx was wavering, on the verge of collapse.
'If this continues, Kap-hun's phalanx will break.'
I immediately drew a signal arrow—the whistling kind, called a xiaoshi—from the quiver at my waist.
Then I fired it toward part of my personal cavalry fighting fiercely on the left flank.
—Pheeeew!
The arrow whistled sharply through the sky, and my men quickly caught on.
"It's the administrator's command! Fall back!"
The portion of my cavalry on the left wheeled their horses and charged the enemy cavalry threatening Kap-hun's flank and rear.
"Die, you bastards!"
"Guh! What kind of Han bastards are these?!"
My personal cavalry, who had fought alongside me all this time, met the barbarian horsemen head-on without yielding an inch, driving them back ferociously.
Kap-hun, seeing cavalry engaging his flanks and rear, confirmed my signal and the troop movement.
He bowed deeply to me from afar. A gesture of thanks, it seemed.
Soon, Kap-hun's booming command rang out.
"Defend the flanks and rear as well! Form phalanxes on all sides!"
Part of Kap-hun's infantry phalanx swiftly turned to bolster flank and rear defenses. From a distance, it looked like they were forming a square phalanx.
'He gets it. If they just hold until the formation changes, it'll be fine.'
I swung my spear back at the enemies ahead. Endless melees raged on all sides, and for us, outnumbered, there was only one breakthrough.
—The enemy commander's head.
"Get lost!"
"It's Lu Bu! Lu Bu's here!"
"Kill that bastard!"
"Ha! You think that pathetic skill can take my head?!"
With my roar, the spear traced a red arc. Three or four charging cavalrymen tumbled from their saddles with screams, blood spraying everywhere.
"Clear the way!"
Spurring Red Hare, I plunged into the heart of the packed enemy lines. With every swing of my spear, whatever blocked my path exploded.
Shield, armor, human body—it didn't matter.
"Block that monster!"
"Scatter! Don't approach him!"
The enemies shouted as they tried to retreat, but there was no escape before me. I swept my spear shaft around, and in an instant, an empty space formed around me.
"Is that all you've got? Come on, try me!"
I deliberately bellowed louder to taunt them. At the same time, I scanned the battlefield with sharp eyes.
Searching for a distinctive banner, flashy armor, or commanding movements.
But they had cunningly hidden their commander.
"Where the hell are you hiding, you rat bastard?!"
I swung my spear again, shattering the helmet of a charging enemy cavalryman.
—Crack!
"Aaaagh!"
The enemy tumbled under his horse with a scream.
I slashed, stabbed, and bashed at every foe lunging with roars from all sides. Blood and sand blinded me, but the spear tip never stopped.
As if reading my intent, Red Hare leaped toward the weak point in the encirclement.
"Out of my way!"
With every swing, enemies scattered like leaves in the wind, and soon corpses piled into a small hill around me.
I caught my breath and looked around.
Fierce battles raged across the field. But still, no sign of the enemy commander.
'This won't end at this rate.'
The enemies' numbers remained vast, and if it turned into a war of attrition, we'd be the ones at a disadvantage.
I had to find the commander hiding somewhere in this chaotic battlefield.
In the midst of the sand-choked battlefield, Ma Teng swung his sword.
He parried the spear of a charging enemy horseman, then slipped into the gap and severed his throat.
Hot blood splashed onto his armor.
"Guhk!"
Leaving the fallen foe behind, he regripped his sword. But more enemies swarmed without respite.
Shouts, screams, and clashing metal assaulted his ears from all sides.
Ma Teng's gaze went beyond the foes before him to Lu Bu, who was deep in the enemy lines, his red glow slashing down everything that approached.
Moreover, Zhang Liao and Gao Shun were piercing the left and right flanks. Compared to their movements, his own strikes felt endlessly slow and stifled.
'Ha... I feel so small!'
"The Han have few numbers! Kill them all!"
"Wooooah!"
"The enemy is charging again!"
Urgent cries from his subordinates rang out nearby. Right beside him, Wei Sok was sweating buckets but bellowed in his usual booming voice.
"Kahaha! Look at those guys! Do they even eat? Skeletons with no meat—think they can swing properly? Come on, let big brother Wei Sok show you a taste of a well-fed blade!"
Wei Sok's ridiculous taunt drew chuckles from the nearby soldiers. The tension eased for a moment.
"Puhaha! Captain Wei's still got that mouth!"
"Damn right! We can't lose to those skinny bastards! Let's go!"
The soldiers' morale visibly rose with the laughter.
They roared alongside Wei Sok and charged the enemy bravely once more. Ma Teng watched with a complicated expression.
'How does he act so frivolously... and yet the men follow him like that...?'
At that moment, Jeonpung, who had been surveying the field from the rear on horseback, shouted urgently.
"General Ma! Right flank! An enemy cavalryman is escorting what looks like a commander trying to slip away!"
Ma Teng sheathed his sword and drew the bow from his back. Twisting on his saddle, he nocked and loosed in a flash.
—Swish!
The arrow pierced both the fleeing cavalryman and the commander cleanly.
"Guhk!"
"Urk!"
Both tumbled from their horses.
"Ho ho!"
Jeonpung looked at Ma Teng with wide-eyed admiration.
"Incredible archery! That just now... you aimed for both at once? Even in the capital, marksmen like you are rare."
"...Haha, no such thing. My skills are truly lacking."
Ma Teng set down his bow with a bitter smile.
"Lacking? After that display? Why so downcast?"
Ma Teng sighed and gestured to the battlefield.
"Here—there are too many strong ones."
Lu Bu was already dominating the enemy center with overwhelming momentum. Zhang Liao and Gao Shun had nearly broken through the flanks, rampaging freely.
Cheng Lian and Wei Yue, guarding Jia Xu, had perfect synergy; together, they were more than Ma Teng could handle.
Even Wei Sok, who had just made them laugh, was pressuring the enemy and leading his men.
So he alone felt middling.
"Ho ho, indeed, Lord Lu Bu's command has no ordinary men."
Jeonpung seemed to grasp Ma Teng's feelings.
"But everyone has their role. You're leading these troops, so doesn't that mean the lord trusts you?"
Jeonpung clapped Ma Teng's shoulder.
"And don't blame yourself too much. Seeing your son, he looks like he'll shake the world someday. Right? If you're lacking, just straighten your back thinking of him!"
Ma Teng recalled his son Ma Chao's bold gaze, unflinching even before Lu Bu.
'...Yeah, my son dreams so big.'
Ma Teng's eyes changed. He wiped the blood from his face with his sleeve, baring white teeth in a grin.
"Hahaha! Grateful for the strategist's words. However—"
Ma Teng gripped his sword tightly.
"I can't just show my son his father being outdone! Follow me! We'll break through the enemy!"
"Ooooh! Follow General Ma!"
Ma Teng roared and spurred his horse into the enemy lines. With a ferocity unlike before, he began severing enemy heads.
"Ho ho, how is there not a single ordinary man in Lord Lu Bu's army?"
Jeonpung muttered watching Ma Teng's back. He turned to gaze at Lu Bu, who was carving a path through the enemy center.
With every flash of Lu Bu's spear, enemies fell like dominoes.
When the red horse leaped, screams erupted from those crushed beneath its hooves.
Spears and swords thrusting from all sides lost their masters or bounced off the spear shaft before reaching Lu Bu's armor.
"Truly a Martial God."
Jeonpung swallowed hard at Lu Bu's overwhelming prowess, murmuring softly.
Beha, chieftain of the Xianling River Tribe, watched the battlefield from afar.
How he had laughed when the Han infantry stepped forward at the initial charge order.
"Kahaha! Infantry blocking cavalry? Are they mad?"
But the mockery didn't last. The Han phalanx, which he thought would crumble easily, proved sturdier than expected.
"What are those shields made of? How are they so tough?!"
Not only the shieldbearers, but the long-spearmen behind disrupted his charging cavalry. Axemen stood firm between them in the phalanx, ready to crush any who broke through.
His cavalry faltered helplessly before the phalanx, collapsing one by one. Beha's face hardened.
"Mere infantry dare?!"
But that rage vanished the moment he looked away.
—A warrior on a red horse rampaging like a storm in the battlefield's center.
Alone, he slaughtered dozens, hundreds, opening a path. Even Beha's tribe's famed great warriors swallowed hard at the sight.
"...That's the one called 'Lu Bu'?"
"He's... truly strong!"
Having witnessed Lu Bu's prowess firsthand, Beha recalled North Palace White Jade's miserable end.
'North Palace White Jade... that fool lost his head to him too.'
Beha had initially thought North Palace died stupidly to Lu Bu, but seeing this valor, he instinctively knew not to engage.
"Hmph... I'll give him credit for that strength."
Beha smirked as he spotted Lu Bu searching for him from afar.
'Looking for me? Foolish Han!'
He knew well how North Palace died.
Lu Bu was the type to behead commanders and reverse battles in one stroke. So he had set multiple banners, ordered inconspicuous attire for commanders including himself, and stayed near the rear reserves to avoid direct clash.
His caution against the "one in a million" proved the best choice.
"Send a messenger!"
Beha commanded his adjutant.
"All units avoid frontal clashes! Keep shaking their flanks and rear! Never engage that Lu Bu head-on! Wear them down!"
The battle dragged on until the sun passed its zenith.
The Han resisted fiercely, especially where Lu Bu rampaged, inflicting heavy losses. But his army still outnumbered them threefold, and elsewhere, they were slowly eroding the Han forces.
The Han grew weary, wounded mounting.
Beha wiped sweat and surveyed. Lu Bu still raged untired, but his Han followers and traitors had noticeably slowed.
"Ha, no matter how much you rampage, one man can't end a war. Let's see how long you last."
Beha sneered coldly.
"Until your blood and sweat soak this sand entirely...! I'll squeeze you dry slowly!"
As the sun set, Beha ordered withdrawal from the field.
"The enemy is retreating!"
As the sun dipped west, a long horn blast echoed from afar.
The enemy cavalry, clinging fiercely from all sides, wheeled away in unison.
As if to say, "See you tomorrow."
"Ha..."
I lowered my bloodied spear tip and caught my breath.
Even I was drenched in sweat from battling foes from every direction, my armor scratched everywhere.
"Ugh..."
"Guh..."
"K-Kill me!"
Around me, allied and enemy corpses lay mingled, the wounded's groans cutting through the evening wind.
"Tougher than expected. They're not just retreating."
Back at the hasty camp near the oasis, soldiers chewed dry rations or maintained weapons with weary faces.
We held the advantage overall, but being outnumbered, their fatigue had built up considerably.
After checking on the men, Kap-hun visited my tent with a grim face.
"Administrator Lu. Casualties seem heavy. Roughly nearing two thousand."
"Surviving at all is fortunate. Administrator Kap. Without that phalanx, losses would have been worse."
Kap-hun's expression didn't soften despite my words, but he soon left to tend his troops. Right after, Zhang Liao and Gao Shun entered to report.
"My lord, we confirmed enemy losses at over five thousand. However, as you said, they avoided decisive engagements, persistently targeting flanks and rear. And no sign of their commander to the end."
As Zhang Liao finished, Gao Shun chimed in as if waiting.
"Many wounded are critically injured, unlikely to last the night. And with no physicians to conscript here..."
Gao Shun trailed off. In Han territory, one could gather or conscript doctors post-battle, but here, caretakers were woefully short.
As Zhang Liao and Gao Shun reported, others gathered one by one.
Jeonpung, Jia Xu, Ma Teng, Cheng Lian, Wei Yue—Wei Sok was already snoring in the corner.
"What do you think their game is?"
"My lord, they're clearly forcing a war of attrition. Avoiding our sharp edge, especially you, while pressing their numerical superiority to exhaust us."
Jeonpung answered immediately. Jia Xu fanned himself lightly and continued.
"They're buying time. Waiting for us to collapse from fatigue, or perhaps for reinforcements beyond Dunhuang."
Frustrated, I slammed my fist on the table.
—Bang!
"Damn it, if that commander would just show his face, I'd charge and snap his neck myself!"
"My lord, commanders raise banners to signal 'I'm here, fight without fear.' The enemy hiding theirs means they fear your prowess—proof they see you as a threat."
"Master Yuan-ho is right."
Jia Xu nodded.
"They're a ragtag alliance of tribes. They move as one now on numbers alone, but without a core, one shake and they'll crumble uncontrollably. We can use the hidden commander to our advantage."
"Use how?"
Jia Xu met my eyes, lips curling slightly.
"Tomorrow, my lord, break deep into their lines again. And shout, 'I've beheaded the enemy commander!'"
"...Shout a lie?"
"Yes. With no banner, even they might not know who's real commander. Your shout will sow doubt, suspicion, collapse. The price of hiding."
Jeonpung's eyes lit up.
"Ho! Master Jia's stratagem is spot on. Even if they don't panic, the commander won't stay silent."
Jia Xu and Jeonpung's advice to shout victory without killing was absurd, yet sensible.
'Ha, have to play enemy commander myself...'