Chapter 50: Winning Against the Odds with Inferior Numbers?

At that moment, three thousand Tibetan troops were slowly approaching Dunzi Peak, while Zhao Mang’s one hundred cavalrymen had already advanced five miles to the south, arriving at the southwest of the three thousand Tibetan main force.

Xiao Heng’s scout reports had arrived in a very timely manner, almost in real time, allowing them to clearly know the exact location of the Tibetan army. Zhao Mang once again felt fortunate for his decision to establish a scouting unit.

The moment he received the report, Zhao Mang immediately pushed east, turning his formation by a full ninety degrees.

Skirting past a forest, Zhao Mang’s unit arrived directly south of the Tibetan bandits and charged straight toward their rear. The target he locked onto was precisely the thousand cavalrymen bringing up the rear.

There was no denying that the Tibetan cavalry was formidable; otherwise, they could never have conquered the greater part of the Hexi Corridor. While this was partly due to betrayals by aristocratic families and the decadence of the border garrisons, the vast majority of the credit belonged to their cavalry. Zhao Mang had never taken them lightly.

By the time Zhao Mang’s force reached a position two miles away from the main Tibetan army, the other two factions of Tibetan troops had already surrounded Dunzi Peak and launched their attacks. This final unit clearly included a commanding general; their military discipline was lax, showing not the slightest readiness for combat.

Zhao Mang had already completed the pre-battle mobilization for his hundred-man unit. The soldiers had all been equipped with newly crafted steel sabers. Likewise, Zhu Wuneng and Wang Wu, who flanked Zhao Mang, had been custom-fitted with their own specialized steel sabers.

The warhorses were equipped similarly. In addition to the long saber Jiang Wan had given him, Zhao Mang now wielded a long spear specially forged by craftsmen. Yu Zhiyuan had crafted the spearhead entirely out of steel, making it exceptionally hard. Because iron had been incorporated into the shaft and repeatedly hammered, the spear was both rigid and possessed a certain degree of resilience. Still, compared to wooden poles, this spear remained remarkably sturdy.

Weighing sixty catties, the heavy spear could only be wielded effortlessly by someone with Zhao Mang’s innate supernatural strength.

With everyone fully prepped and ready for action, Zhao Mang issued the final order to charge.

"Brothers, stay close behind me! Hold your weapons tight! Just raise your blades and hack!"

With that, Zhao Mang led his hundred-man unit in a direct charge!

These veterans wore resolute expressions, their eyes filled with fierce murderous intent. They were all carefully selected by Zhao Mang and had repeatedly followed him into battle against the Tibetan bandits. Usually kept under strict discipline with clear rewards and punishments, they could be said to be Zhao Mang’s most formidable combat force.

Before long, the men had charged right up to the Tibetan bandits.

Zhao Mang immediately roared to boost the morale, "Kill and take your bounty!"

The men behind him echoed the cry, with Zhu Wuneng shouting the loudest, "Charge!"

The remaining thousand Tibetan soldiers only just reacted now, frantically adjusting their formation. The entire cavalry troop hastily arranged themselves into a small circular formation to mount a defense.

However, given the extremely short window of time and the fact that they were cavalry, hasty adjustments to their formation were completely futile. Unlike infantry, the way cavalry responds to a charge is by building momentum for a counter-charge. Being forced to pull back their reins just to brace themselves meant that cavalry lacking "momentum" were nothing more than infantry sitting on horseback.

Zhao Mang and his men came too suddenly, launching their assault from the rear.

In that very instant, spearheaded by Zhao Mang’s peerless valor and armed with newly forged steel sabers of supreme sharpness, the hundred cavalrymen sliced through the panicked Tibetan army like a rainbow piercing the sun, shattering their ranks in a single breath.

Thoroughly thrown into disarray after Zhao Mang’s initial charge, the thousand Tibetan soldiers were given no time to regroup. Zhao Mang led his cavalry squad in a second charge straight into the scattered ranks.

This time, the circumstances were entirely different.

Zhao Mang locked his sights on the most conspicuous commander within the enemy formation! During the first charge, he had not targeted anyone specific, yet he had still spotted a figure whose attire stood out starkly from the rest—undoubtedly a general among these Tibetan troops.

This time, he aimed straight for that general and charged directly at him.

By now, Zhao Mang was entirely drenched in blood, looking thoroughly like a fiend incarnate, a god of slaughter. Wherever he passed, enemies were wiped out by his hand.

That enemy commander was hoisted up by Zhao Mang’s spear in a single thrust, skewered clean through. In fact, the spear impaled two or three men at once before Zhao Mang flung them aside. Finding it somewhat cumbersome, he drew his long saber instead, cutting down everyone in his path at the waist.

Zhu Wuneng and Wang Wu, flanking him on either side, did the same, their twin steel sabers harvesting the Tibetan bandits left in Zhao Mang's wake. The trio shouldered the heaviest pressure of the charge right in the thick of the formation, tearing the Tibetan army apart as if they were mere scraps of cloth.

After a few passes of charging, the thousand Tibetan soldiers were entirely wiped out, with not a single soul left alive. The few remaining scattered stragglers were hunted down by Zhao Mang’s subordinates and hacked off their horses!

Zhao Mang tore a piece of fabric from an enemy's garments to wipe the blood from his eyes—the blood was so thick it had obscured his vision. He surveyed the battlefield, then used that same piece of cloth to bind his hands and his saber tightly together.

"Don't waste time cleaning the battlefield! Everyone, bind your sabers tightly to your hands!"

"Drive the herd of horses toward the battlefield at Dunzi Peak!"

"Let them charge at the front!"

"Break into the enemy's formation!"

Zhao Mang’s voice was not loud, but it spread swiftly through the ranks.

Moments later, the men were fully geared up once again. Driving the herd of horses before them, they charged toward Dunzi Peak.

It was only a distance of five miles, and before long, Zhao Mang and his men arrived!

At that moment, the other two groups of Tibetan troops were locked in fierce combat with the defenders of Dunzi Peak. For reasons unknown, the Tibetan forces here were even more lax in their formation, descending into complete chaos!

The entire two-thousand-strong force was actually being pinned down stubbornly by five hundred defenders—perhaps because among the soldiers he had chosen, there were truly exceptional individuals!

Seeing this, Zhao Mang did not hesitate for a second. He took the lead and charged straight in!

He needed to seize this opportunity; after all, his own numbers were few!

It wasn't until Zhao Mang had charged to within a mile of Dunzi Peak that some among the Tibetan army finally reacted! A few troopers managed to turn their horses around and charge toward Zhao Mang and his men. But their movements were sporadic and sparse, failing to gather any momentum!

Barely starting their charge, they were scattered by the stampeding herd of horses driven by Zhao Mang's men!

The terrifying momentum of ten thousand charging horses was something one usually only witnessed on television screens. Although the scale here was not quite that vast, witnessing even this tip of the iceberg in person was still utterly astonishing!

The two forces crossed paths, the herd of horses gradually splitting apart, and the Tibetan army was thrown into the same state of fragmentation.

Zhao Mang raised his saber and plunged into the fray! With peerless bravery, closely followed by Zhu Wuneng and Wang Wu on his flanks, they slaughtered numerous enemy soldiers.

Zhao Mang had never expected that what was originally intended as a guerrilla operation with a hundred cavalrymen would, in a moment of impulsive momentum, transform into a head-on charging battle!

Fortunately, the battlefield situation remained overwhelmingly one-sided in Zhao Mang’s favor, so he stopped dwelling on it.

The battle raged from early morning until noon. Under the relentless charges led by Zhao Mang, all three thousand Tibetan soldiers were thoroughly wiped out right here!

This battle outcome exceeded everyone's expectations. Of course, the casualties among Zhao Mang’s forces were also quite severe; half of the veterans who had followed him into battle lost their combat effectiveness, and a full fifth of them perished! The garrison troops inside the camp also suffered twenty percent losses. It could only be described as a hard-fought victory!

Yet, the harvest from this battle was colossal!

A full three thousand Tibetan bandits had been cut down under their horses, and several thousand horses were captured! It was utterly staggering.

In the aftermath of the war, Zhao Mang swiftly ordered his men to clear the battlefield and tend to their wounds. At the same time, he commanded them to escort the wounded and catch up with the previously relocated refugees, returning ahead of schedule to the western district of Shacheng.

Only after the battle did Zhao Mang learn that among the newly arrived troops was a master archer named Songzan Mu.

The man's name gave Zhao Mang a momentary pause for thought, but he temporarily set his doubts aside and promised him generous rewards.

He then gathered the remaining troops, barely managing to assemble over four hundred men. Instead of choosing to return to the city with the main force, he had them all mount the Tibetan bandits' horses. He was going to lead them to wage a real guerrilla war!