The Northern Barbarians besieged the city day and night, with massive bonfires arranged in orderly piles burning across the battlefield outside the walls.
Both the defenders of Tiger Head City and the barbarians had long grown accustomed to this sight.
At the stroke of midnight—
A time revered in Taoist alchemical texts as “the birth of yang, the moment to ignite the fire.”
In the three squares leading directly to the three gates of Tiger Head City, three cavalry units began to arm themselves. Their saddles bore long spears, their waists carried Liang sabers, but they carried no bows or crossbows.
The veteran general leading the northernmost unit grasped the spear he had once seized from a Western Chu general at the Western Ramparts and chuckled, “Old friend, since you took my surname He, have I ever let you down?”
As the creaking sound of the slowly opening gate echoed, the old man suddenly spurred his horse and charged.
To support the three cavalry units—especially the northern one—without revealing their movements too soon, a rain of arrows had been unleashed from the northern gate just before midnight, targeting the barbarians near the entrance.
Thus, when the unprepared Northern Barbarian infantry saw the gate unexpectedly rise, they were momentarily stunned. Even the scouts patrolling a few hundred paces behind the front lines failed to react immediately. By the time they witnessed the cavalry thundering out of the gate, they were dumbfounded. Some quickly turned their horses and galloped madly through a gap left in the three infantry formations to deliver the urgent report.
As they turned to relay the news, the Northern Barbarian soldiers near the gate were already being slaughtered—skulls shattered by spears or bodies sent flying by the sheer force of the charge.
Cavalry against unformed infantry was like a scythe cutting through wheat.
In a head-on clash between fully armored cavalry, the immense momentum of the charge would wreak havoc on both spears and riders’ arms. But now?
The seasoned veteran officer, well-versed in the chaos of battle, controlled his breathing from the start—steady and unhurried, unlike reckless youths who sought to kill dozens in a single breath. He also didn’t push his horse to its top speed. As one of the leaders of this wedge-shaped cavalry unit, he knew the importance of maintaining formation. Rushing ahead would disrupt the entire charge, potentially splitting the formation—though against infantry, such concerns were negligible. But as a true Liangzhou border cavalry officer who had fought on horseback for most of his life, this was second nature to him.
To the right of the gate, a thousand Northern Barbarians were scaling the walls like ants, while another thousand waited in the rear to take their turn. To the left, two thousand-man units were in the midst of a shift.
The old officer growled to his deputy, “Take a thousand riders each and charge. You circle the city!”
The two thousand cavalry swiftly split, flowing like a stream parting around a rock.
The old man led his thousand riders straight toward the intact Northern Barbarian unit.
Six or seven barbarians clad in leather armor, seeing no escape, gritted their teeth and charged with their blades.
The old officer barreled through them, his spear tip slightly tilted downward, aimed at one barbarian’s neck. The sheer force of the impact lifted the man, who had raised his sword high, clean off his feet. Just before the spear pierced his throat, the old man subtly loosened his grip, then swiftly readjusted it—shifting his hold by less than an inch. That tiny release allowed him to dissipate half the resistance from the killing thrust.
With a gentle tug, he pulled the spear free from the corpse and continued his charge.
This was a trick he had learned in his youth as a member of the Xu family’s iron cavalry, honed through countless battles across the Central Plains. The younger Liangzhou riders knew of it, but rarely used it—after all, the Northern Barbarians also relied on cavalry, making such “flashy” techniques unnecessary. But now, it was invaluable. In a situation where a few cavalry faced masses of infantry, the longer one held onto the spear, the more enemies one could kill.
The six or seven barbarians were cut down in an instant.
Those further to the sides, caught in the expanding line of the thousand-strong charge, met the same fate.
The unluckiest of them dodged one rider’s spear only to be trampled to death by the next.
To the nearby thousand-man unit, the wedge of cavalry seemed to arc toward them in the blink of an eye, their front line stretching to a hundred riders in an instant.
The Northern Barbarian commander roared, “Front ranks, raise shields! Archers, ready!”
The old officer sneered. Without spear barricades or heavy armor, did they really think a few scattered rows of shield-bearers could stop a Liangzhou cavalry charge?
*I, He Lianshan, have charged through the Western Chu’s elite halberdiers!*
*You’ve been attacking our city relentlessly for months, haven’t you?*
*Today, Tiger Head City’s cavalry will teach you a lesson!*
As he suddenly accelerated—
The elite Liangzhou riders beside him, catching his movement from the corner of their eyes, swiftly matched his pace, maintaining their near-perfectly straight front line.
The riders behind them did the same.
A thousand riders, moving as one.
*This is the Liangzhou Iron Cavalry!*
The old officer casually deflected an incoming arrow, ignoring another that struck his shoulder armor.
At the moment of impact, time seemed to freeze.
Liangzhou warhorses leaped high, soaring over the first row of kneeling, shield-bearing barbarians in a breathtaking display.
When their hooves finally slammed down in unison, death followed.
A Tiger Head City captain, his strength formidable, drove his spear through a Northern Barbarian archer’s chest, dragging the bleeding corpse backward until the spearhead struck a second barbarian in the abdomen. With a fierce push, he released the spear, then bent low to grab it as his horse charged between the two bodies. With a single motion, he yanked it free, just as his horse—seemingly reading his mind—surged forward again, smashing into a third barbarian who had tried to slash at his arm.
The thousand-man infantry formation—comprising a few shield-bearers, some archers, and mostly wall-climbing swordsmen—had no depth to speak of. The thousand riders and their horses tore through it in a single charge.
The nine hundred-plus riders of Tiger Head City didn’t slow.
They paid no heed to the fallen Northern Barbarians.
Instead, they raced toward the second infantry formation, a thousand paces away. Unlike the first, which had been caught off guard, this one had archers with more time to loose their arrows. Its commander had even hastily borrowed nearly a hundred shield-bearers from the rear, along with a pitiful handful of spears—a desperate last-minute effort. Further away, a neighboring flanking cavalry unit was already rushing through the infantry lines to reinforce them.
The old officer, an arrow now embedded in his shoulder, deliberately eased his horse’s pace, breathing steadily with the rhythm of its gallop.
His gaze swept past the second formation, scanning the distance, while his peripheral vision tracked movements to either side. The Northern Barbarian reinforcements on the right numbered around two thousand.
He bellowed, “Break through the left half of the infantry ahead, then charge left! Let those Northern Barbarian reinforcements eat our dust!”
At five hundred paces, the cavalry accelerated again.
Their front line shifted left.
After several volleys of arrows, seven hundred Tiger Head City riders thinned the infantry’s left flank and veered sharply left, crashing into the third formation with full force.
This time, only fifty or sixty riders still held their spears—the rest had switched to Liang sabers.
Yet this switch inflicted even greater devastation than their earlier charge.
Most of the spears had already found their marks in barbarian chests.
Liangzhou cavalry had an iron rule: Any rider who discarded his spear without killing an enemy would be deemed to have contributed nothing in the battle’s aftermath.
Under the flickering firelight, the gleaming sabers shone brilliantly.
Even from the high tower within Tiger Head City, the commanding general, Liu Jinu, could see them clearly.
He knew—just as clearly—that this cavalry, including Officer He Lianshan, had no intention of returning alive.
Liu Jinu and the other officers who had been conferring in the tower now stood at the railing.
His face showed no grief, but inwardly, he murmured, *”Go in peace. We’ll join you soon, brothers, and share a drink with the Grand General in the afterlife.”*
Liu Jinu turned and limped back inside.
He remembered the time the young prince, bloodied and battered, had returned to Tiger Head City with two dozen Wu family swordsmen. The youth had casually asked if the Central Plains would be lost without Liangzhou.
Liu Jinu had answered no—the Central Plains still had its pride. When pushed to the brink, many would find they, too, could face death without flinching. Just like Liangzhou.
Then he’d added with a smile, *”But even if the rest of the Central Plains can face death, don’t expect them to kill hundreds of thousands—let alone a million—barbarians like we do.”*
Back then, he’d seen the young man struggling not to laugh.
Suddenly, Liu Jinu spun and rushed back outside.
A tall but sharp-eyed officer immediately grabbed him, snarling, *”General! We gave the prince our word—Tiger Head City must hold for at least three more months! At least! What, you’re quitting now? If you want to die, just stand on the walls for an hour—you’ll be carried back in no time!”*
Liu Jinu snapped, *”I’m going to sleep!”*
The tall officer eyed him suspiciously. *”Really?”*
Several others, equally wary, chorused, *”We’ll escort you!”*
Liu Jinu hesitated, then shook off the tall officer’s grip. *”Never mind. I’m not sleepy anymore. Let’s figure out how to retrieve the other cavalry units. The Northern Barbarians are already trying to encircle them—faster than we expected. We need a plan within fifteen minutes. If all else fails, recall them now. Don’t wait for the original half-hour mark…”*
The tall officer muttered a curse under his breath.
Liu Jinu turned sharply without stopping. *”Say that again?”*
The officer immediately clammed up.
Liu Jinu glared. *”Pathetic.”*
The officer turned away, muttering, *”Whether a weak general breeds weak soldiers or not, I’m your man. Weak or not…”*
Liu Jinu suddenly halted. *”Wait. Bring me the full border map!”*
When the map was spread on the table, Liu Jinu fell into deep thought, the room so silent no one dared breathe.
His eyes darted across the three border provinces before settling back on Tiger Head City. Slowly, he said, *”The Northern Barbarians’ real target isn’t annihilating the Dragon Elephant Army in Liu Province, or breaching Xia Guang City in You Province, or even our Tiger Head City.”*
Everyone was baffled.
*Could it be Ling Province?*
*That’s absurd.*
Liu Jinu tapped a military outpost. *”It’s Huaiyang Pass, behind Tiger Head City. More precisely, it’s the entire Liangzhou—behind Protector-General Chu Lushan.”*
Someone asked, *”But as long as Tiger Head City stands, Huaiyang Pass is a natural fortress. And with our elite cavalry ready to reinforce—even though we’ve just learned they’ve already…—the Northern Barbarians can’t possibly know their whereabouts. How could they possibly take Huaiyang Pass?”*
Another added, *”Losing Liu Province doesn’t matter. If the Dragon Elephant Army keeps half its strength, and with the trap at Hulu Pass in You Province, plus our three-month hold here, we might even counterattack the Northern Barbarians’ Gu Sai and Long Yao Provinces.”*
Liu Jinu remained silent.
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