The First Family of the Red Mansion

Chapter 10 Killing the Enemy

This Oirat cavalry unit was originally sent out as infantry to stop the Great Zhou from capturing the pass.

Under normal circumstances, capturing such a pass only requires a few thousand infantrymen.

Five hundred Oirat light cavalry could be scattered with a single charge.

But who could have imagined that before even encountering the infantry of the Great Zhou, they would run headlong into the Great Zhou's elite cavalry.

The Oirat people weren't completely out of their minds to charge at the iron cavalry with light cavalry.

Seeing that the other party was about to escape, Qianhu waved his hand.

"Rush!"

It would be unwise for heavy cavalry to pursue light cavalry, but if they don't charge now, they'll have to wait for the infantry to occupy the pass and completely block the mountain road before they can leave. Otherwise, the infantry behind them will be no match for these cavalry.

"Kill them!"

At the command of the commander, the soldiers of the Great Zhou Dynasty roared and gave chase.

With the help of his fine steed, Liu Hu took the lead and was even faster than the Oirat light cavalry opposite him.

He put away his lance, took out his bow and arrow, nocked an arrow, and drew the bow, constantly estimating the distance in his mind.

Then, with a loud thud, the last Oirat cavalryman fell from his horse.

The Zhou soldiers behind him saw that with each bowshot by Liu Hu, a Oirat cavalryman fell, and they excitedly shouted, "Commander Liu is a divine archer!"

"May the Great Zhou Dynasty prosper!"

After firing five arrows in succession, and seeing that he was less than an arrow's distance from the enemy, Liu Hu put away his bow and drew his Miao sword from his waist.

Although this Miao sword is not a divine weapon, it is still forged from the finest steel.

"kill!"

Liu Hu charged into the Oirat cavalry on horseback, and with a swift stroke of his blade, he cleaved one of the Oirat cavalrymen in two at the waist.

Without even looking, Liu Hu charged straight at an enemy wearing lamellar armor.

Because the Oirat Mongols had plundered a large number of artisan techniques from the Central Plains decades ago, their equipment was almost identical in style to that of the Zhou Dynasty.

Even so, the lamellar armor was not something that ordinary Oirat soldiers could wear.

Among the Oirat light cavalry in leather armor, Liu Hu noticed the lamellar armor.

At this moment, the Oirat people also noticed Liu Hu chasing after them. Seeing that Liu Hu was heading straight for their commander, five or six people immediately surrounded him.

The Great Zhou army was still some distance away, but if Liu Hu broke their formation and caused them to collapse, they would be shot down by the Great Zhou army like rabbits.

Several Oirat cavalrymen, wielding scimitars and with ferocious expressions, charged towards Liu Hu with strange howls.

Seeing the enemy rushing towards him, Liu Hu sheathed his Miao sword, swept his spear with both hands, and then thrust it through one of the Oirat soldiers.

"drink!"

He then used the corpse to knock another enemy off his horse.

Relying on his fast horse and long spear, Liu Hu slashed several times in succession, scattering the group of blocking soldiers, and then continued to charge forward.

"Enemy general, do not flee!"

Liu Hu was now in a killing frenzy, and a line from a historical novel involuntarily slipped out of his mouth.

When the Oirat commander looked back, he saw that only Zhou Jiang had caught up with him. He turned his horse around and made a few gurgling noises. The Oirat soldiers around him also turned their horses around.

The Oirat commander roared, raised his armor-piercing hammer, and led a hundred or so men to swarm towards Liu Hu, seemingly intending to kill him as soon as possible.

At this moment, Liu Hu had forgotten everything; only killing remained in his mind! Killing! Killing!

Seeing Liu Hu rush off alone, Qian Lei, who was lagging behind, kept urging, "Hurry up!"

At this moment, he was starting to regret ordering the pursuit. At worst, he could just wait here for the infantry behind them to catch up, then cooperate with them to take the pass before going back to rejoin the main force!

Seeing six Oirat soldiers surrounding Liu Hu, Qian Lei inwardly groaned, "It's over! The commander will definitely punish me when I get back!"

However, he did not expect Liu Hu to be so fierce, killing four people in a few moves, and the remaining two enemies also scattered.

Before he could catch his breath, he saw that the generals opposite him had gathered nearly a hundred men and turned to charge at Liu Hu.

"Run!"

Qian Lei couldn't help but shout!

However, Liu Hu had no time to worry about anything else. He held his lance and charged into a hundred cavalrymen all by himself.

In just a moment, Liu Hu was swallowed up by the crowd.

Qian Lei had given up hope and was only thinking about how to explain things to the commander when he got back.

When he arrived, the commander repeatedly instructed him to take good care of Liu Hu and make sure nothing happened to him.

But now...

Just as Qian Lei was blaming himself, he suddenly heard a strange cry from the Oirat people who were besieging Liu Hu. Then, as if they had seen something terrifying, they all turned their horses around and fled in all directions, crying out.

Qian Lei looked around and saw that the people who had just gathered together hadn't revealed anything yet.

Now that the enemy had scattered, he noticed that there were significantly fewer enemies left.

Then a bloodied figure, riding a tall horse, continued to chase after the scattered enemies.

The Oirat general had vanished without a trace.

"Quickly, flank them from both sides and surround the enemy as soon as possible!"

Seeing that Liu Hu was alright, Qian Lei breathed a sigh of relief and immediately gave a loud order.

Because of Liu Hu's charge, the Oirat people's escape speed slowed down significantly, and the Zhou cavalry caught up with the fleeing enemy.

At Qian Lei's command, the two cavalry units spread out from the flanks, driving the scattered enemies toward the center.

After surrounding the enemy, the soldiers of the Great Zhou first glanced in shock at Liu Hu, who was already in a bloodthirsty frenzy in the middle, and then began to surround and kill the enemy in the encirclement.

There was no attempt to persuade them to surrender. The main force of the Lantian camp consisted of people from the Guanzhong and Shaanxi regions who had a deep-seated hatred for the Oirats.

The Oirat people knew they wouldn't survive even if they surrendered, so they also took up arms and fought back.

At this moment, both sides have one goal: it's either you or me; one of us has to die.

After all the enemies in the encirclement were eliminated, Qian Lei finally found Liu Hu.

Liu Hu had regained his senses by this time, but he was in no better shape.

He was seen bending over, vomiting profusely in front of the soldiers, with occasional bursts of laughter escaping from him.

"What are you all doing here? Hurry up and clean up the battlefield, tally the spoils, and have the commander tally the battle achievements."

Once the commander spoke, the soldiers who had been watching the commotion around Liu Hu immediately dispersed.

Watching the spectacle is just for a laugh, but military achievements are related to one's future wealth, so one can't let others miscalculate.

Liu Hu was in the middle of a fierce battle when he suddenly heard someone shout, "Commander!"

Suddenly hearing the familiar Han accent, Liu Hu slowly came to his senses and saw Hu Cunmeng standing in front of him, his lance less than a foot away.

Before he could even speak, a strong smell of blood filled the air.

Heaven have mercy on him. Having lived two lives, even when buying chickens or fish, Liu Hu only buys pre-processed ones. The only blood he has ever seen is from his own wounds.

Of course, blood sausage and blood tofu don't count.

It had nothing to do with physical fitness; it was purely a stress response from the brain. As a result, Liu Hu vomited profusely, making him a laughingstock.

Seeing Liu Hu like this, Qian Lei lost interest in scolding him, after all, Liu Hu was just a child who had just gone to the battlefield.

(Oirat cavalry: ...)

Liu Hu then realized that although he had seemed brave, he had been too reckless.

They were merely chasing the enemy, not engaging in battle.

If you break away from the enemy lines alone, you might be caught off guard and attacked from behind.

If the Oirat had fired a barrage at him just now, even a three-headed, six-armed man could have riddled himself with bullets.

"Lord Commander, our army killed 431 enemy soldiers this time, including one Oirat commander and five centurions."

"273 intact warhorses were captured..."

"Our army suffered 27 casualties, mainly due to the desperate last stand of the Oirat people."

The commander quickly compiled the statistics on the results of the battle.

"That's good. Once each centurion has calculated their specific battle achievements and the results have been publicized without error, we will immediately report to the commander."

After listening to the report, the commander nodded, believing that no one would dare to falsify their war achievements.

Those who falsely report or conceal their war achievements will be punished with confiscation of their property and exile, or even execution of their entire clan.

"How is Liu Baihu doing?"

"Liu Baihu took the lead this time, killing one Oirat chiliarch, two centurions, and the remaining 42, for a total of 45 enemies. He also had 26 merits under his command."

"Hiss..." Qian Lei couldn't help but gasp when he heard about Liu Hu's battle achievements. Although it was not comparable to the hundred-man kill of the peerless generals of ancient times, this was his first time on the battlefield.

"Doesn't that mean his combat achievements are enough for him to be promoted one rank?"

"It's still not enough. Even with that thousand-household commander and two hundred-household commanders, it still won't be enough. After all, he was promoted from a hundred-household commander to a trial thousand-household commander."

"However, if it weren't for Commander Liu breaking the enemy's morale first, our casualties would have been even greater."

The commander put away his military merit strategy, smiled, and said...

"The older generation truly surpasses the younger!"

Qian Lei sighed, thinking that he had been in the army for almost twenty years, and only through his military achievements in the last Northern Expedition during the reign of Emperor Taizong and his more than ten years of experience had he managed to become a commander of a thousand.

Liu Hu, on the other hand, almost caught up with him in just one battle; no wonder the commander valued him so much.

"Although this battle achievement is not enough to promote him by one rank, it has accumulated nearly half a noble title," said Commander Shi with an envious look.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, the standard for recording merits for a Yunqiwei (a military rank) was based on the rank of Yunqiwei. To obtain a rank, one had to accumulate enough merits to qualify for a Yunqiwei rank.

Although there is an Enqiwei below Yunqiwei, Enqiwei is usually not used as an award and can only be inherited as a downgrade from Yunqiwei.

The commander himself was a Yunqiwei, a rank he earned more than a decade ago during the Northern Expedition. He had not earned any military merits since then, but he had risen one rank in his official position based on his seniority.

The trial commander didn't even have a noble title; his military achievements this time were still not enough to qualify him for one.

In the Great Zhou Dynasty, titles of nobility were extremely valuable. In addition to a salary, one would also be granted property upon receiving a title.

The most enviable property was the noble estate, because in addition to being granted a mansion in the capital, it also included land.

These lands are under their own management, and they do not need to pay taxes to the state.

With the arrival of the Great Zhou infantry, Liu Hu and his men began their attack on the pass.

Because the commander in charge of guarding this pass had been killed by Liu Hu, and the elite troops were almost all wiped out, the Great Zhou did not expend much effort to capture the pass.

After handing the pass over to the infantry for defense, Liu Hu and his men went to rejoin the main force.

"Commander, I have led my troops to block the southern pass and have come to report!"

"good!"

Zhao Zhong took the battle report, read it, and gave it a thumbs up.

His expression immediately changed, and he shouted angrily, "This is utter nonsense! Why didn't you keep an eye on things?"

"Commander, Liu's horse is fast. As soon as we made contact, it rushed to the front. I tried to stop it, but it was too late!" Qian Lei said with a bitter face.

"Forget it, you can't blame yourself. Who would have thought that kid would be so reckless!"

"But it's actually not bad, I didn't wet my pants on the spot! Haha..."

Zhao Zhong was initially furious when he saw Liu Hu charging into the enemy lines alone, but then he remembered how he had acted rashly the first time he went to the battlefield.

Moreover, Liu Hu had killed half a hundred enemies in battle, and he himself only suffered minor injuries, so he laughed heartily again.

He then handed the battle report in his hand to the clerk beside him: "Make a copy and send it to the commander-in-chief. We'll submit it to the court together after we break through Wushaoguan Pass."

"Thank you, Commander!"

Qian Lei immediately cupped his hands in greeting, knowing that he had passed this hurdle.

The fact that the battle report was submitted to the imperial court meant that the commander had recognized their achievements and they were just waiting for the court's reward.

Zhang Qian and his men recently noticed that their own centurion seemed a bit off lately; he used to come to the drill ground and practice a few moves with them whenever he had free time.

But since the last battle, he has only come to the training ground to practice for a while on a daily basis, and then he goes into his tent to read military books.

No, if we had your skills, we would have been eagerly volunteering to continue charging into battle long ago. How come you not only don't volunteer, but you've even started studying military strategy?

Only Hu Cunmeng somewhat understood Liu Hu's thoughts. He probably felt lingering fear after the battle of his own centurion, and was using reading military books to calm himself down.

Hu Cunmeng, who had been somewhat worried, was finally relieved.

What era are we living in? Even if you put the Overlord on a modern battlefield, one cannon shot would blast it to smithereens.

He was just a soldier trying to make a living. If he were to follow a superior who only showed temporary bravery, he might die on the battlefield at any time.

The next day, Liu Hu finally arrived at the front line of the main battlefield.

On the six-zhang-high, blood-stained pass, the Oirat people were preparing rolling logs, stones, and other equipment. Moreover, the Oirat soldiers responsible for the defense almost filled the top of the wall, and Liu Hu could also vaguely see several cannons on the city wall.

On Zhou Jun's side, everyone looked solemn. A group of thousands of soldiers were organized and stood at the front of the formation.

Liu Hu knew that these were the soldiers selected to be the vanguard. Although they understood that charging forward this time was almost certain to result in certain death, the soldiers remained calm, their eyes filled with determination, as they meticulously arranged their weapons.

"How should we calculate our merit in being the first to scale Wushaoguan Pass this time?" Liu Hu asked Qian Lei beside him in a low voice.

"Equal to a prefecture or state, the reward will be doubled!" Qian Lei replied calmly.

Wow, they're really willing to spend that much!

According to the Great Zhou Dynasty, those who first conquer the city of a prefecture or state will be rewarded with 300 taels of silver. Those who conquer first will be promoted four ranks from the rank of soldier to the rank of centurion, two ranks from the rank of centurion, and one rank from the rank of centurion or above. Those without a rank will be rewarded with a rank, and those with a rank will be granted the title of Yunqiwei (a military rank).

Of course, the doubling of rewards here refers to the silver reward; nothing else can be added.

Even so, Liu Hu was somewhat tempted.

But when he saw the various defensive fortifications on the wall, he shook his head.

It's unplayable; we can only pay with human lives.