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“Can strategists not ascend to the throne?”
Chapter 95: For the Commander and the General.
The cavalry under Xu Rong displayed impressive ambush capabilities, especially since Qiao Yan had intentionally selected them for direct engagement against the main commander. How bad could they possibly perform?
Speed is of utmost importance in warfare; it’s all about seizing the initiative!
Right now, Dian Wei was still holding Xu Rong in place, while Guo Jia took over the central command position that Qiao Yan had occupied. He maximized the support role of the shooting battalion. Nobody expected that the orders were not being issued by Qiao Yan herself; this is what we call gaining the upper hand!
As this light cavalry flanked and charged, their leading commander, though armored head to toe, emanated a fierce aura just by tightly gripping the staff in his hands.
Liu Hong, seeing this scene, instinctively stood up.
He couldn’t help but be affected by Qiao Yan’s strong presence.
From atop the high platform, her decisive and unpredictable stance in battle became even clearer.
Being a commander and acting as a frontline general was indeed quite risky!
But perhaps it was precisely this kind of risk that made him realize more than anyone else—
Why Qiao Yan truly achieved victory against the fierce Hu tribes during her ambush!
She was no mere figurehead giving orders and letting subordinates do all the dirty work.
Though Liu Hong didn’t know who had temporarily taken Qiao Yan’s spot for central command, he had to admit this unique swap was executed superbly!
“Marquis of Leping, Marquis of Leping…”
Zhang Rang heard Liu Hong mumbling the title he had given to Qiao Yan and suddenly recalled the time Liu Hong casually tossed the seal he held onto the Leping territory.
Back then, Zhang Rang thought Liu Hong’s bestowal of that title was rather childish, but Liu Hong probably didn’t expect that such a casually granted title, which incited opposition from the noble families and was later upgraded to County Marquis, would lead to such an impressive surprise today.
He saw in Qiao Yan the demeanor of a commander capable of stabilizing the nation.
If one can’t regard life and death lightly, how could they speak of killing the enemy or defeating bandits?
Aha!
What a magnificent Qiao Yan!
Liu Hong didn’t believe he was being overly laudatory towards Qiao Yan at this moment; after all, she was acting according to orders.
If he felt this way from his lofty vantage point, how would those facing her cavalry charge feel?
This cavalry unit was moving with incredible speed.
And not just that.
In most military formations, it’s the roaming cavalry that bears the responsibility of protecting the flanks.
Unless one is confident enough to break through the enemy’s front lines, just like Qiao Yan did against Wang Kuang previously.
However, prior to this battle, as Xu Rong and Dong Min discussed their strategy, they remained oblivious to the way Qiao Yan had spurred her team’s morale. Looking at her command style, which still felt a bit raw, they thought it was better to strike directly at the enemy’s strong point instead.
As long as they seized this opportunity to hammer in deep, the enemy’s morale would falter.
But this very strategy led Xu Rong to directly assault with his cavalry, inadvertently leaving Qiao Yan an opening to advance.
The flanks were vulnerable!
Even Dong Min, who prided himself on not just riding on his brother’s coattails, felt as though an approaching sharp blade was suddenly thrusting into his core.
Under his command, the shooting battalion promptly shifted direction.
Yet, before the order for a volley could be given, Dong Min noticed Qiao Yan raising her hand.
With that commanding gesture, he heard her voice issuing a command.
“Throw!”
What are we throwing?
What they were tossing were the long staffs they carried while mounted!
The blunted weapons didn’t prevent the battalions from requesting extra numbers. In fact, it was at this moment that both the spectators on the high platform and Dong Min’s troops finally noticed that the wooden staffs in the hands of Qiao Yan’s cavalry were not just singular!
Thus, along with that command, everyone in Qiao Yan’s formation switched one staff to their left hand, while the others were thrown like javelins.
If this were your regular soldier, they couldn’t have done this.
Since the Spring and Autumn period, javelin throwing has become a common battlefield tactic, but most of the recruited soldiers were common folk, making javelin skills hard to master.
Yet just so happens that the unit accompanying Qiao Yan—
Was called the Northern Army Cavalry Troop.
This unit was always prepared to march into battle for the royal army, including training for throwing weapons.
This troop, honed by Qiao Yan and specially trained, could also manage another feat during this throwing maneuver.
To prevent affecting their comrades, the entire cavalry line spread out, forming a sharp point ready to penetrate.
Then came the storm of thrown staffs!
Even knowing these throws didn’t have sharp tips, merely falling down, they wouldn’t cause piercing damage.
But when at least two hundred wooden staffs were all aimed at the shooting battalion, it was undoubtedly easy to disrupt their shooting movements.
In fact, this rain of wooden staffs impacted not just the soldiers of the shooting battalion but also the horses in their ranks.
Those unfortunate horses, not being part of Xu Rong’s raiding cavalry mounts, ended up receiving unexpected blows from the falling staffs.
A startled warhorse at any time is a hassle, especially in battle.
Humans can discern that the weapons Qiao Yan and her cohorts brought to the fight met duel standards and wouldn’t cause casualties, but what about the horses?
Horses can’t make such quick judgments.
Even the elite cavalry surrounding Dong Min, whom he had meticulously selected, swiftly managed to calm down the startled steeds, yet it still caused a moment of chaos in their seemingly stable formation.
This was already enough for Qiao Yan!
Because by this time, she had already issued her second order.
“Shoot!”
Choosing the Northern Cavalry instead of the mounted crossbow units was because Han cavalry could exhibit versatility at this moment.
This assault, which had already seized the initiative, didn’t require overwhelming individual combat advantages but rather a comprehensive approach!
Before the shooting battalion could recover from the previous onslaught of thrown staffs, the rain of arrows was already descending.
For these elite horsemen accustomed to shooting while mounted, switching their remaining long staffs aside, picking up their bows and arrows to shoot, and then returning to their long staffs as “lances” was as easy as pie.
Switching weapons was as natural as eating and drinking for them, a skill honed for survival on the battlefield.
Even if this was indeed a rather peculiar fight.
In this battle, the throwing and bow shooting had their ranges swapped because of the change in weapons.
But as soon as they held their bows and nocked their arrows, the act of releasing was purely instinctive.
Determined to prove the Northern Cavalry was not inferior to either the Changshui or the mounted crossbow units, they would never let their “arrows” fall short!
The arrows flew out, striking their sure targets.
As the arrow tips marked the soldiers’ heads and necks, those men could only be counted as already out of the game; they could no longer claim to be in the fight.
Meanwhile, the Northern Cavalry troops had already switched back to their long staffs.
Those quickly retreating soldiers further exposed Dong Min, who was still shielded before, in clearer view to everyone around.
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“It’s getting crazier than I thought.”
But these soldiers could hardly go back and stop the cavalry led by Qiao Yan from crashing into the already weakened troops with real close combat.
It was only at this moment that Dong Min finally saw Qiao Yan’s eyes clearly.
Up close, her young face shone with a fierce spark that made it hard to guess her age.
It was a fire of ambition that felt like it could ignite at any moment.
And with that, she tossed aside her bow, grabbing her staff instead, signaling a full-on attack.
The first word slipped from her lips.
It still rang out clear in Dong Min’s ears, her voice sharp and urgent.
But maybe he didn’t really want to hear it, especially since it was—
“Kill!”
This was the command for the cavalry to officially launch an attack!
Yet, right in front of Dong Min, in the protective infantry square, there was no monster like Dian Wei.
Only the remnants of the archers and foot soldiers were left.
So how could they possibly hold back this fierce tiger-like army that had lost two rounds but was now at its peak?
Even more surprising was Qiao Yan’s performance.
While her command of the attack seemed a bit raw, her staff techniques flowed like water.
In this combat where she used a staff instead of a spear, though her weapon didn’t seem perfectly matched to her hand, it didn’t affect the message she conveyed.
She would not become the weak point in this cavalry unit!
As she coordinated with the cavalry, striking through Dong Min’s forces, she galloped forward without hesitation, swinging her “spear” out.
Just as she had a clear target when leading the cavalry earlier, her aim to take down the commander was equally unmistakable, leaving no room for doubt!
Faced with such a straightforward and fierce assault, Dong Min felt a twinge of fear.
As a person from Liangzhou, his skills in mounted combat were unquestionable.
But his opponent had proven time and again with her unconventional moves that age was no barrier to her winning this fight, nor was gender!
He may not know that her spear technique was called “Remnants of the Mountains and Waters,” but he recognized her deadly intent.
For a brief moment, he thought this wasn’t just a competition bound by rules; it was a true battle with real weapons!
Because his opponent was treating this as if it were a genuine fight.
Yet he repeatedly reminded himself that he was fighting for the position of General Duo Liao, perhaps another crucial position mentioned by Grand General He Jin, so it was not the time to slack off.
However, as he tried to seize the advantage from Qiao Yan, he saw the overlapping shadows of her staff slip past his defenses first, in a seemingly careless move that held a calculated force, a blend of tenderness and ferocity.
In the next moment, his jaw took a thunderous hit.
Qiao Yan showed no mercy just because he was Dong Zhuo’s brother; after all, any mess could be blamed on Liu Hong.
She quickly gripped her staff tighter, pulling it down from her horse.
She exemplified the concept of taking advantage of someone’s weakness!
But even then, this battle was not quite over.
Dong Min’s fall merely meant the commander was forced out; there was still another key figure on the battlefield, someone who could keep the soldiers’ fighting spirit intact after Dong Min exited.
Unlike the situation when Wang Kuang withdrew.
If Xu Rong could truly stabilize the situation and turn the tide, Dong Min would surely find a way to justify himself.
He could easily say that realizing their side was losing, he decided to use the commander as bait to draw enemy fire, ensuring overall victory in the battle.
But Qiao Yan would never grant him that opportunity!
As she raised her hand to command, the cavalry soldiers quickly regrouped and positioned themselves behind her.
It’s hard to say whether this coordinated action to seize the commander boosted the cavalry’s confidence in Qiao Yan, but one thing was for sure, as the unit rushed back, from an onlooker’s perspective, they fit her spirit even more than before.
It was a fiery temperament that burned everything in its path once ignited.
Seeing this scene, He Jin, beneath his small tent, couldn’t help but slam his fist on the nearby table.
Wang Kuang’s retreat was within his acceptable range; after all, the opponent lacked experience in commanding troops, and against a talent like Qiao Yan, a loss was just a loss.
But he couldn’t accept that the duo he had high hopes for, Dong Min and Xu Rong, would be taken down by Qiao Yan’s direct assault on Dong Min.
Even more confusing to him was that, technically, the Northern Army Five Divisions were still under his command—how could these people show such eagerness to excel, seemingly able to do anything?
Yuan Shao glanced at He Jin, feeling that even if He Jin didn’t say a word, it was easy to guess his thoughts.
But He Jin shouldn’t forget that if he hadn’t made his intentions so obvious, this battle arrangement wouldn’t have happened.
Yuan Shao absolutely didn’t believe that having Qiao Yan battle Wang Kuang first and then Dong Min was all just a coincidence.
Of course, he also didn’t think Jian Shuo, the eunuch, just happened to face enemies of this caliber either.
The information Qiao Yan had revealed to him was indeed true.
So, at this moment, he might as well appreciate the way she conducted this battle’s finale.
To say it was a finale was truly accurate.
As Yuan Shao pondered, Qiao Yan had already surrounded Xu Rong’s rear.
Perhaps even if Qiao Yan hadn’t teamed up to ambush, Xu Rong, who was deprived of Dong Min’s support and had to face the psychological pressure after Dong Min’s exit, would have had a hard time with his 200 cavalry against a 400-strong unit fully equipped with cavalry and archers.
With Guo Jia directing the maneuver, it was indeed a well-coordinated unit!
Xu Rong hadn’t even managed to shake off Dian Wei’s relentless harassment!
He couldn’t help but think that if his soldiers were those Liangzhou Iron Cavalry, if his partner weren’t Dong Min but Duan Wei, if only…
Ah well, no more excuses to find.
They had indeed underestimated the capabilities of the Marquis of Leping.
But who would have thought that a child yet to reach fourteen years old would not only deliver achievements in politics and literature that even adults struggle to match but would also possess such an innate talent for martial skills?
He was lost in thought when he heard chaos in the rear; just as he turned to look, he felt an overwhelming force on the legs of his fine steed.
That fierce general, previously too tired to lift his weapons, suddenly seized his horse’s leg upon seeing Qiao Yan had succeeded.
As he managed to keep Xu Rong from repositioning in time, Qiao Yan nocked an arrow and shot it straight at this live target to send him packing.
With that arrow, the sound of booming victory drums was not far behind!
However, upon hearing “This battle is won by the Marquis of Leping,” despite all her careful planning, she couldn’t help but breathe a sigh of relief.
She pulled the reins, slowing her steed down, and removed her helmet, holding it in her hand.
The back-and-forth of the cavalry battle had left her forehead glistening with sweat, which shone under the rare winter sun as she shook her hair free after taking off her helmet.
But that sparkle in the sunlight couldn’t compare to the brilliance in her gaze.
She then dismounted and bowed to the high platform. Though it was a humble gesture, it radiated the pride of a victor.
No one could blame her attitude at this moment.
Even Liu Hong wore a smile in response.
He understood the underlying message of Qiao Yan’s actions.
She was telling him—
She, Qiao Yan, had lived up to the task.
