Chapter 99: Mounted Archery of the Western Qiang

The Western Qiang army was indeed swift, arriving on the battlefield in the blink of an eye.

Seeing this, Chen Mu ordered his cavalry to ride out and intercept them, engaging in a circling charge.

The Western Qiang, however, avoided direct confrontation. As the Great Xia cavalry closed in, the enemy split into two columns, veering toward the outer flanks of the battlefield. Drawing their bows, they unleashed a dense rain of arrows.

Although the Great Xia cavalry wore iron armor that shielded them from the shafts, many of their mounts fell under the barrage. For a rider thrown from his horse in the chaos, survival was a slim hope.

The Great Xia cavalry pressed their charge, but the Western Qiang continued to retreat, firing backward as they fled. The Great Xia forces could not close the distance.

Chen Mu noticed that the Western Qiang carried no armor, not even leather jerkins. Each man carried only a scimitar, a bow, and a quiver of arrows. Packed onto their mounts was nothing more than a single bundle and two additional quivers. Their burden was incredibly light.

In contrast, the Great Xia cavalry wore heavy iron armor and carried long sabers, their load far exceeding that of their enemies. Now, not only was catching the Western Qiang impossible, but even the repeating crossbows could not reach them.

The range of the Qiang longbows far outstripped that of the Great Xia repeating crossbows.

Hoping to exhaust the enemy's ammunition was equally unrealistic. Though the Western Qiang numbered only five thousand against the ten thousand Great Xia cavalry, each Qiang rider carried three quivers. By the time their arrows ran dry, the Great Xia cavalry would be completely wiped out.

Gritting his teeth, Chen Mu ordered his men to ignore the Western Qiang and focus all their strength on annihilating the Persians first.

The Great Xia cavalry immediately wheeled around to intercept and block the Persian rear. Meanwhile, against the main Persian vanguard, the Invincible Flying Army, the Wudang Flying Army, and the Reserve Army intensified their onslaught.

Seeing this, the Western Qiang pursued the Great Xia cavalry back to the main engagement, continuing to shower the Great Xia ranks with arrows.

Unable to retaliate against their elusive tormentors, the Great Xia soldiers redirected their fury entirely onto the Persians.

The Persian lines teetered on the brink of collapse, though the Great Xia forces were also suffering heavy casualties.

Chen Mu watched the battlefield with a grim expression, showing no intention of altering his commands.

It was a desperate measure born of necessity; war demanded blood. In their current situation, they could only fight it out to the bitter end.

Had they been facing the Western Qiang alone, Chen Mu would have had options. The Qiang's fatal flaw lay in their inability to engage in close-quarters combat. So long as the Great Xia army maintained a defensive shield wall and advanced steadily, the Qiang would be powerless.

But with the Persian army present, the Western Qiang could focus entirely on hit-and-run tactics, relying on the Persians to press the attack and bind the Great Xia forces, preventing them from holding their formation.

The Persians struggled desperately within the encirclement, and though the Western Qiang rained down arrows without pause, they could not turn the tide of the battle.

After a time, the Western Qiang finally made a decisive move. Charging into the thick of the fray, they paid a toll of several hundred riders to seize the former Persian King before sweeping away and vanishing into the distance.

Watching this unfold, Chen Mu nodded silently. There was a brilliant strategist guiding the Western Qiang.

They understood the value of the former king, recognizing that this political bargaining chip was worth more than ten thousand Persian soldiers. If the former king died, those in Persia who opposed Great Xia would lose their figurehead, rendering them incapable of fielding a unified force.

Furthermore, aiding the former Persian King in "suppressing the rebellion" was a masterstroke of strategy. In truth, relations between Persia and the Western Qiang had never been warm; they were natural competitors for resources.

While the Western Qiang appeared to be helping an adversary, they were actually using the conflict to bleed Persia dry of its military potential. Once the former king "quelled the rebellion," the Qiang could demand exorbitant concessions. Should Persia refuse, the Qiang would simply plunder them by force, and a weakened Persia would stand no chance.

With the Western Qiang now fleeing with the Persian King, the abandoned Persian soldiers fell into utter despair.

At this moment, Chen Mu sent out an order to call out to the Persians: "Lay down your arms and you shall be spared!"

Stripped of any reason to resist, the Persian soldiers threw down their weapons and surrendered one by one.

When the tally was made, the Great Xia army had captured three thousand Persian soldiers and slain seven thousand.

On the Great Xia side, the Invincible Flying Army and the Wudang Flying Army had lost three thousand men, the cavalry two thousand, and the Reserve Army another two thousand.

Even factoring in the five hundred Qiang horsemen they had killed, the casualty ratio between Great Xia and the allied forces was nearly one-to-one. It was the costliest battle Chen Mu had fought since taking command of the campaign.

Yet, Chen Mu had gained much. With the Persian army eliminated, the remaining Western Qiang, though largely intact, would be far easier to handle. Chen Mu was confident he could deal with them now.

After clearing the battlefield, the Great Xia army rested for three days before advancing alongside the new Persian King toward the next Persian stronghold, Dongping City.

From a distance, they could see the city gates tightly shut, with guards patrolling the battlements. However, the disheveled state of the sentries made it clear they were a hastily assembled militia.

Chen Mu sent the new Persian King forward to call for their surrender, but the defending commander responded with a torrent of abuse, branding the new king a traitor.

Chen Mu pondered for a moment. Instead of ordering an immediate assault, he commanded his troops to set up camp and rest.

Zhang Zhong approached and asked, "Your Highness, what kind of siege engines shall we construct this time?"

In Zhang Zhong's estimation, scaling ladders would suffice for a direct assault. While catapults and siege towers could minimize casualties, building them would cost precious time.

To his surprise, Chen Mu replied, "There is no need to build anything. Go to the Reserve Army and gather several hundred archers. Have them and the first company of the Invincible Flying Army eat a hearty meal and prepare to move out tonight."

Zhang Zhong was utterly perplexed. Even for a night raid, they would still need scaling ladders to mount the walls. Furthermore, why deploy only a thousand-odd men?

Yet, faced with the Crown Prince's direct command, Zhang Zhong did not dare question further and withdrew to make the arrangements.

That night, as the defenders of Dongping City patrolled the battlements, they spotted torches flaring to life in the Great Xia camp. Alarms were immediately raised, rousing the garrison to prepare for battle.

Oddly, only about a thousand Great Xia soldiers marched toward the city. There were no reinforcements behind them, and the main Great Xia camp remained shrouded in silence.

While the Persian soldiers were still scratching their heads in confusion, the detachment reached the base of the walls. The defending general ordered a volley of arrows, and the Great Xia soldiers raised their shields to form a protective canopy.

Under the cover of the Invincible Flying Army, the Reserve archers drew their bows and loosed their arrows high into the night sky.

The Persian soldiers raised wooden mantlets to block the incoming fire, only to watch the arrows sail high over their heads and rain down deep inside the city.

Believing the Great Xia archers were simply incompetent, the Persian soldiers burst into laughter.

Soon after, the Great Xia detachment wheeled and moved along the perimeter of the wall, continuing to fire volley after volley. Without exception, every arrow landed inside the city.

Sensing something amiss, the defending commander quickly ordered his men to go down and inspect the arrows.

A soldier returned to the battlements with one of the arrows. Unrolling the slip of paper tied to the shaft, the commander read the words written in Persian: *Open the gates, and you shall be rewarded.*

Horrified, the commander barked orders to retrieve every single arrow immediately.

But it was already too late. Many had already picked them up. Among the defenders were those who secretly favored Great Xia, having been forced into service against their will. The message sparked ideas in their minds.

The next morning, Chen Mu drew up his forces outside the gates and ordered the assault on Dongping City.

However, he merely sent the Invincible Flying Army and the Wudang Flying Army forward to rain crossbow bolts upon the battlements. Once their ammunition was spent, they retreated back to camp.