Chapter 1 Cavalry on the Battlefield

The sudden appearance of cavalry on the battlefield surprised both sides engaged in combat. Their timing was perfect, as both sides were showing signs of exhaustion. Corpses were piled haphazardly on the ground, a testament to the ferocity of the battle. Although only seven or eight hundred men were fighting, the number of bodies on the ground far exceeded that. This caused a sense of unease; fighting to such an extent without either side retreating, desperately trying to empty the opponent's last drop of blood before their own ran dry… This kind of frenzied and brutal combat quickly reminded the Yunzhou soldiers of the time the Blood Kirin Army had been held back by the Dao Ming Sect's Guardian Army. And in Yi Nan, if these tribal soldiers, who didn't seem particularly elite, possessed such tenacity, then their trip to Ya Nan might not be so easy.

Under Liu Yong's command, a trapezoidal, defense-oriented formation slowly advanced across the battlefield. The soldiers gripped their hand crossbows, holding them ready to attack, cautiously observing the tribal soldiers who were already bloodshot-eyed from fighting in this small clearing.

"Careful!" Although they presented a cautious posture, as if they were just passing through and didn't want to interfere, they were still attacked. A figure who looked like a minor chieftain, bare-chested and covered in totem designs painted with white pigment, threw a short spear at Guan Huan without hesitation. For Guan Huan, it was nothing; he flicked his cavalry sword and cut the spear in half in mid-air, the pieces falling beside him. As Guan Huan dealt with the spear, Ye Tao's soldiers faithfully executed his orders and immediately launched a counterattack. More than a hundred men on the flank raised their crossbows and unleashed a volley of short arrows, and a group of unidentified tribal warriors fell... This highly uneven casualty ratio didn't cause the enemy to retreat; instead, it ignited the battlefield, with both sides charging towards Ye Tao's formation.

What was going on? Were outsiders in Yi Nan so hated? Hated enough to ignore their own war and casualties to join forces against them? However, these tribal soldiers had truly run into an iron wall. After a series of whistling sounds, the first wave of attackers fell. Although Zheluo wasn't present, Ye Tao's guards had plenty of sharpshooters who were only slightly less skilled. Volleys of arrows tested the sharpshooters' accuracy, stability, and the endurance of their drawing hands, but they tested the resilience of their enemies even more. When arrows accurately struck companions in the eye, penetrating directly into the brain, or piercing through the throat or heart, anyone would feel the urge to flee.

When the enemy finally approached, those Jianghu (martial world) individuals who wanted to show their worth in front of their comrades stepped forward to deal with the mostly infantry tribal soldiers. Ye Tao never took the martial arts of this era too seriously. He knew he didn't have the time or energy, nor the aptitude. But just looking at the skills of Liu Yong, Jin Ze, and others was already shocking. However, those who came from the royal guard weren't eager to show off. Instead, the Jianghu experts began to demonstrate acrobatics, sending enemies flying backwards, collapsing on the dirt, stones, and tree stumps, never to rise again. These scenes were equally shocking. For Ye Tao's soldiers, this didn't even count as a warm-up; it was all over in less than half an hour. Although some enemies escaped, they were too lazy to pursue. After a brief cleanup of the battlefield, especially collecting arrows, they continued on their way. A small skirmish, with no one killed or seriously injured; the worst injury was a spear through the calf. It was a resounding victory.

But annoyingly, the merchant caravan from who-knew-where caught up, trailing cautiously behind them again. This behavior of taking advantage of others' efforts made them want to turn back and wipe them out, but under Ye Tao's strict orders, they packed up the battlefield and continued marching. If the others could keep up, so be it. In fact, Ye Tao had a plan, which he quietly told Liu Yong and the others, who understood. Ye Tao suspected that the people following them weren't merchants at all. Merchants naturally sought profit, and while some might risk it at times like this, they were usually lone operators without any backing. Powerful merchant guilds and caravans wouldn't take such risks. For them, steady business was the priority. The other side's claim of transporting a shipment of "red goods" and offering to share a portion of the profits was even more absurd. Looking at the twenty-odd carriages and more than two hundred guards and porters, no goods had that high a profit margin. On the route from Bei Yi to Ya Nan, military equipment, medicinal herbs, and spices flowed in both directions, while paper, ink, dyes, and pigments had moderate profit margins, relying on volume to be worthwhile. Gems and jade, which had the highest profit margins, mostly flowed from Ya Nan to Xi Ling... Ye Tao suspected that the other side, like them, was using a merchant facade to escort someone. Who they were escorting, why they were in such a hurry to get them to Ya Nan, and who was backing them were all unknown. But with this suspicion, Ye Tao prepared to observe carefully to see what the other side was planning.

They set off early in the morning. Aside from the fighting before noon, nothing eventful happened until nightfall. But after setting up camp and settling in for the night, some unusual things began to occur. The mysterious caravan that had been following them, less than a mile away, was still trailing them. However, that "caravan" didn't have the Special Operations Unit's and Guards' professional surveillance equipment, nor did it have instructors like Zhou Rui with extremely high talent and ability to teach various reconnaissance skills to the soldiers. Their early warning capabilities were far inferior. They had allowed a group of tribal soldiers to approach within a hundred meters, and were nearly surrounded. The enemy, who wanted to devour the caravan, had also prepared for Ye Tao and his group, hiding several hundred men between the two camps.

"What should we do?" Liu Yong asked Ye Tao for instructions. Since Ye Tao had wanted to see what the other side was up to, he wouldn't stand idly by now. Besides, if fighting broke out so close to them, they couldn't ignore it. According to Zhou Rui's reconnaissance, the tribe had sent at least five or six hundred men, which was quite a few.

"Uncle Liu, what do you think?... Night battles are very risky, after all," Ye Tao said hesitantly.

At this moment, Zhang Wei spoke up. "Sir, night battles really aren't that risky for the Special Operations Unit. You know, we train the most for mountain warfare, including night combat. I wouldn't dare say we have a lot of actual combat experience in that area, considering how few missions our Special Operations Unit has been on. But the brothers are sharp. If you really want to rescue that so-called caravan, you don't have to worry about our combat capability."

Zhang Wei didn't sound very convinced when he said this. But his words were indeed confident. Although there probably wouldn't be night vision devices in this era for decades or even centuries, the Special Operations Unit didn't need those things to gain an advantage in night combat. Not only Zhou Rui, but even Barrett was a commander who was very skilled in night combat, although Barrett's style was very different from Zhou Rui's. Zhou Rui liked ambushes and surprise attacks, while Barrett, who came from a northern tribe, had a lot of experience with night raids. The Jianghu individuals temporarily assigned to the Special Operations Unit were even less afraid of night battles.

After learning a little more about the situation, Ye Tao ordered, "Break camp. Bring them out and then leave together... After bringing them out, bring their leader to me. Hopefully, the other side's background is worth the risk."

Everyone responded with a yes and went to make arrangements. Zhou Rui, Barrett, and those skilled in stealth and assassination didn't even wait for their own people to get into position before they started. Zhou Rui silently took out four of the enemy's sentries, opening a path for Zhang Wei to enter the caravan's camp to inform them of the situation.

When small-scale unrest began to appear in the "caravan's" camp, the tribal warriors launched their attack. However, they didn't expect that the Special Operations Unit, the Guards, and the Jianghu experts behind them would also attack them at the same time. A battle where one side was prepared and the other wasn't really had no suspense. In the night battle, the skilled and experienced Jianghu individuals played a greater role. After the two battles of this day, they had finally earned enough respect in front of the Special Operations Unit and the Guards, and didn't feel as inferior as before.

The battle lasted less than two hours, and after paying a small price, they finally rescued the "caravan," and the two groups merged. Although there had been some friction earlier, being able to help them in this situation was enough to clear away the previous awkwardness. Facing the manager who looked only fourteen or fifteen years old, Ye Tao could only frown.

The boy snorted and said, "Don't look down on people, you're not much older than me."