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Chapter 805: Striking Their Settlements Directly

As the Mongol riders reined in, Zao Ying, at the head of the charge, roared, "Turn around! Turn around!"

The cavalry battalion immediately understood their orders.

A chorus of laughter erupted from the riders as they wheeled their horses around in unison, the cavalry carving a sweeping arc across the grassland, completing a wide semicircle.

This maneuver of theirs was far from unfamiliar to the Mongols.

It was a tactic the Mongols themselves frequently employed!

The world-renowned Mongol light cavalry tactic: Hit and Run!

The Wushen tribe leader and the Ordos tribe leader both cried out almost simultaneously, "No good! Those bastards are charging us again!"

Sure enough, after executing another curved maneuver, the Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion once again bore down on the Mongols. While still a considerable distance away, the carbines in the riders' hands roared to life.

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

"Damn them!" a group of enraged Mongol cavalrymen swore, spurring their horses forward, charging towards the Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion again. However, they were met only by another volley of carbine fire, and the Mongols suffered heavy casualties once more.

Then, the Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion swiftly executed a sweeping arc and galloped away.

The instant they completed their arc, the Mongol light cavalry at the forefront suddenly grew excited. "They're within bow range!" one yelled. "These damned Han people have finally entered our bow range!"

A Mongol soldier drew his bow and notched an arrow, aiming and firing at a soldier from the cavalry battalion.

Truly worthy of a Mongol light cavalryman, skilled in both archery and horsemanship, his aim was superb. Even at the absolute limit of his range, the arrow struck the militia soldier squarely in the vital area of his back...

Yet!

However, its momentum was spent, incapable of piercing even the thinnest silk.

Although the arrow struck its target, it was utterly useless against the militia soldier, his cotton armor easily repelling it.

But the soldier was still reprimanded!

Zao Ying's temper flared. "I told you all to practice your horsemanship diligently!" she snapped. "Now look! You can't even manage the distance for a hit-and-run tactic properly, and you got hit, didn't you? Good thing it didn't hit your eye, or you'd be a one-eyed bandit. Go back and write me a five-hundred-word self-critique!"

Being scolded was a minor inconvenience, but writing a self-critique was a death sentence.

For an illiterate, a self-critique was their worst nightmare!

And five hundred words? That was worse than a heartbreak, by God!

The soldier had no choice but to vent his anger on the Mongol cavalry. With a sharp click, he reloaded his carbine, swung it around, and fired. A Mongol soldier immediately fell from his horse.

The Mongols quickly realized that if they charged these Han riders, the Han would flee, firing as they retreated.

If they ceased pursuit, the Han would turn back and charge, firing as they advanced.

This tactic was all too familiar to the Mongols.

In the past, they had used it against others, never imagining it would be turned against them.

Enduring this maneuver themselves, they finally understood its torment! The torment! Oh, the agony!

With a weapon range disadvantage of a hundred or two hundred meters, they never expected a battle to be so difficult.

However, the Mongol cavalry still held one advantage: their horsemanship!

As long as they committed to fleeing, the Han would never catch them.

The Wushen tribe leader and the Ordos tribe leader gave orders almost simultaneously, "Go! Disengage from battle."

The two Mongol cavalry units, one heading northwest, the other northeast, fled in two separate directions.

Their split retreat put the Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion in a bit of a quandary.

Zheng Daniu asked, "Which way do we chase?"

Zao Ying mused, "Perhaps we should pursue the Wushen tribe. Our target is the Wushen."

Shi Jian thought seriously for a second. "Neither!" he declared. "We won't catch them. In a situation like this, there's only one thing we need to do: head directly for the Wushen tribe's settlement."

Mongols had no fixed abode, always migrating.

But when they found fertile pastures, they would pitch their tents and settle for a time. And where they settled, it would quickly grow into a settlement of numerous tents.

The only problem was that these settlements constantly shifted location, making it impossible for Han people to pinpoint them.

But Gao Family Village had no such problem!

A reconnaissance hot air balloon was launched. In moments, the supreme directive from the Heavenly Lord arrived: "Eighteen li to the northeast."

Shi Jian declared, "Let's go!"

Zao Ying grinned. "Let's go, it's our turn to plunder the Mongols."

The cavalry battalion pursued neither the Wushen tribe leader nor the Ordos tribe leader. Instead, they charged directly towards the current settlement of the Wushen tribe.

At this charge, the Wushen tribe leader panicked. "Damn it! They're heading for our tribe!"

The Ordos tribe leader, however, chuckled, "Well now, this is going to be interesting."

The Wushen tribe leader cried out in exasperation, "Quick! We must return to defend!"

A subordinate asked, "How do we defend? How can we fight cavalry armed with these firearms?"

The Wushen tribe leader fell silent.

Speechless for a moment, he knew that even if they couldn't truly defend, they had to try. Otherwise, their settlement would be ruined. Their cattle, sheep, children, women... all would be lost!

The Wushen tribe leader could only roar, "Chase them down quickly!"

What should they do once they caught up? The leader didn't know.

Thus, a strange sight unfolded. The Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion rode ahead, while the Wushen tribe leader, with his Wushen cavalry, followed on their flank. In the distance, the Ordos cavalry watched the spectacle unfold.

The three cavalry units, one after another, arrived at the Wushen tribe's settlement.

There were numerous yurts here, scattered across a wide area. Cattle and sheep grazed everywhere around them. The central area of the yurts resembled a Han market, where women sat...

The moment the cavalry arrived, the thunder of hooves terrified the women. They sprang up in alarm, looking into the distance. When they realized the approaching riders were not their own Mongol cavalry but Han soldiers, the women panicked, scrambling desperately into their tents.

In truth, along the border, Mongols frequently raided Han people, and Han cavalry likewise often raided Mongols. It was a cycle of mutual plundering.

Mongol women were equally terrified of Han cavalry. They too were human, and feared slaughter.

Fortunately, this time they encountered the Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion.

Having undergone training in strict principles of discipline and humanitarian education, the Gao Family Village Cavalry Battalion was not a blade for indiscriminate killing, but a sword for saving lives.

The strong brandished their blades only against the strong, never against the weak.

The kind of cruelty that targets the helpless – harming the elderly or children – would never happen in Gao Family Village.

The soldiers did not slaughter these women and children. Instead, they symbolically fired a few rounds from their carbines, deliberately raising their muzzles, pretending to miss.

But this was enough to send the women screaming, terrified out of their wits.

The Wushen tribe cavalry, who had followed from afar, couldn't bear it... They couldn't bear it at all...

With a unified roar, the cavalrymen

charged forward again, their eyes bloodshot.

"Don't go!" the Wushen tribe leader urgently roared. "Don't go over there..."

But his subordinates paid no heed.

Only a volley of "Boom! Boom! Boom!" carbine fire rang out, and many Wushen tribe cavalrymen fell again.