si-mexico Chapter 2088 The situation is reversed
Chapter 2088 The situation is reversed
Ma Dai took the lead, his long sword gleaming coldly in the morning light.
"Open the camp gates!"
The heavy side gate was slowly pulled open a crack.
"set off!"
Ma Dai gave a low shout, spurred his horse, and charged forward first.
Five thousand iron cavalrymen surged out of the camp one after another, like a silent torrent of steel.
Once out of the camp, they quickly accelerated and galloped northeast along the route designated by Han Xing, their hooves pounding the ground with a deep, rhythmic rumble.
Such a large-scale cavalry deployment could not be completely concealed from the Tang scouts patrolling the battlefield.
Several Tang scouts who were monitoring the Chu army camp from the nearby hills immediately spotted the suddenly appearing cavalry unit.
They were startled and immediately wanted to send a signal or rush back to the camp to report the news.
However, Ma Dai was prepared for this!
"Archers! Tang scouts on the hills to the left front! Fire!"
At Ma Dai's command, the archers in the cavalry, who had already drawn their bows and nocked their arrows, aimed and fired in a volley almost instantly!
"Whoosh whoosh-!"
A dense rain of arrows, like a precise net of death, instantly covered the location where the Tang scouts were.
The screams stopped abruptly as several scouts, along with their warhorses, were instantly riddled with arrows and tumbled down the hill.
"Pass the order: speed up the advance! Ignore any stragglers!"
Without even glancing at the results of the battle, Ma Dai pointed his long sword forward and shouted sharply.
The five thousand cavalrymen accelerated once more, like an arrow released from a bow, heading headlong towards the designated battlefield.
Their target was only one person—Li Jing, the military genius of the Tang Dynasty!
Ma Dai led 5,000 Chu light cavalry, like arrows released from a bowstring, speeding along the northeast direction indicated by Han Xing.
They bypassed the main battlefield where the two armies were facing off, and instead chose to travel swiftly along secluded paths and through hilly areas.
On a spring morning, the sun was already quite scorching, shining brightly on the cavalrymen's armor, which was covered in sweat and dust.
Everyone was on edge, filled with both the desire to hunt down the enemy chieftain and a deep understanding of the daunting task and the urgency of time.
Ma Dai continuously dispatched his most capable scouts to conduct reconnaissance, expanding the search area and leaving no suspicious trace unchecked.
Wheel tracks, hoofprints, abandoned supplies, and even birds startled into flight in the distance.
Time passed slowly amidst the tense search, one hour, two hours... The sun gradually rose higher, approaching noon.
Although the cavalrymen were well-trained, the continuous high-speed gallops and their heightened vigilance towards their surroundings were rapidly depleting their physical and mental strength.
A sense of unease rose in Ma Dai's heart. Could it be that Li Jing had already taken the lead and entered the safe zone of Guo Ziyi's camp?
Or did he choose a more secretive route?
Just as this anxious wait was about to reach its peak, a team of scouts responsible for reconnaissance ahead galloped back like a whirlwind.
The lead scout captain, his face filled with extreme solemnity and a hint of disbelief, didn't even have time to fully rein in his horse before urgently shouting to Ma Dai:
"General! A large troop of men has been spotted ten miles ahead! They're in the vicinity of Black Wind Valley!"
Ma Dai's spirits lifted, and he immediately pressed on, "How many people are there? Is it Li Jing's banner?"
The scout captain swallowed hard, his voice hoarse: "Reporting to the general, the number of people... the number is extremely large! Far more than three or five thousand!"
"We dared not get too close, but from a distance, the procession stretched out and dust was flying everywhere."
"We did see a damaged 'Li' character banner among them, and...and also the banner of Tang general Yuchi Bo!"
"Yuchi Bo?"
Ma Dai frowned. Guo Ziyi had indeed sent out a support force!
"Could you estimate the exact number of people?" Ma Dai asked in a deep voice, this was his biggest concern.
The scout captain and his companions exchanged glances, their faces showing signs of distress.
He hesitated for a moment, then gritted his teeth and uttered the number that made everyone who heard it feel a chill run down their spines:
"General, based on the length and width of their formation and the amount of dust they've raised, their total strength is probably... probably no less than ten thousand!"
"No less than ten thousand?"
A deputy general standing next to Ma Dai gasped in shock, his face filled with horror.
Ma Dai felt a chill instantly shoot from his tailbone straight to the top of his head, causing his hand holding the reins to stiffen slightly, and he subconsciously gasped!
Ten thousand people!
This number far exceeded his and General Han Xing's worst-case scenario estimates!
They originally thought that Li Jing, after his crushing defeat at Zhennanguan, would have at most three to five thousand remnants of his army, and with the reinforcements sent by Guo Ziyi, he would have no more than six or seven thousand men.
His 5,000 elite cavalry, with their element of surprise and the sheer force of cavalry, were not without the ability to fight back; in fact, they had a good chance of finding and killing Li Jing amidst the chaos of battle.
But... ten thousand people!
what does this mean?
This means that Li Jing not only took away a considerable number of core troops during the rout, but also continuously gathered up the scattered rout soldiers along the way!
The troops sent by Guo Ziyi, led by Yuchi Bo, were clearly not just three thousand men; they may have joined other smaller units during the rendezvous.
The effect of this addition is far greater than the sum of its parts, ultimately forming the current force of tens of thousands of men that is rapidly approaching the Tang army camp!
The balance of power between the enemy and our forces instantly shifted from an expected even match or even a slight advantage to a stark one-to-two disparity!
Ma Dai abruptly reined in his horse, raised his right fist, and signaled the entire army to halt.
Five thousand cavalrymen slowly came to a stop on a slightly higher slope. The warhorses snorted restlessly, and the cavalrymen looked at each other, seeing shock and hesitation in their comrades' eyes.
Their previously high morale plummeted instantly, as if doused with a bucket of cold water.
All eyes were focused on the commander, Ma Dai.
The lieutenant rode closer, lowered his voice, and said in a heavy tone, "General, the enemy is much stronger, with twice the number of troops as us."
"Moreover, there must be Li Jing's personal guards and Yuchi Bo's fresh troops among them, and they are by no means a rabble."
"Our troops have been traveling for half a day and are exhausted. If we launch a forced attack, we may not only fail to achieve any success, but also risk total annihilation!"
Another, more impatient general, with red eyes, said, "General! General Han and General Ma have pinned their hopes of capturing and killing Li Jing on us! Are we just going to watch him run back to the Tang camp?"
"Even if he has ten thousand men, if we suddenly attack and seize the central command flag, we might still have a chance!"
"Yes! Let's fight to the death! Even if we die in battle, we cannot bring shame to the might of our Great Chu army!"
"No! This is mere reckless courage! We should retreat immediately, rejoin General Ma Chao, and devise a better plan!"