Chapter 527. Battle of Wancheng (Part 521)

"Go ahead and crush them!"

Cao Yan saw the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry soldiers around him falling down from their horses. He gritted his teeth and felt as if his heart was bleeding. As mentioned before, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry was the best in Cao Wei in terms of both personnel and equipment. Losing a few hundred people on a normal day would be enough to make the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry leaders feel heartbroken.

Now seeing that many of his elite troops were shot dead by the strange crossbows of the Han army, Cao Yan decided in his heart that he would definitely cut Feng Xi into pieces for revenge.

However, Cao Yan knew that it was absolutely impossible to resist his cavalry charge with these crossbows. At present, the Han army's one round of volleys would only cause the Wei army to lose nearly 2,000. According to the speed of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry and the enemy's reload, at most they could fire one more round. By then, wouldn't the Han army's formation, which was mainly composed of infantry, be at the mercy of him?

As expected, although the Han army had several soldiers responsible for loading each firebox cart, the speed limit was so fast that they fired another round at the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, causing their casualties to exceed 3,000 for the unprecedented time, but there was no further.

"Shenji Battalion, archers, shoot!"

Feng Xi did not make any comment on the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's relentless advance, but simply ordered the Han army's most elite archers and the Shenji Battalion to start firing thousands of arrows.

Nowadays, most of the bows and crossbows of the Han army are a combination of the Shenbi Crossbow and the Kedi Crossbow, one for long-range killing and the other for close-range fire coverage. Only a very small number of archers with outstanding archery skills will continue to use bows and arrows.

At once, the Han army fired thousands of arrows, like clouds and rain, forming a black curtain visible to the naked eye in the air, and rushed straight towards the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry.

"Hiss... Lower your head and charge!"

Even Cao Yan couldn't help but gasp, as this scale of rain of arrows was indeed something he had never seen in his life, and it showed how sharp the Han army's bows and crossbows were.

Fortunately, every Tiger and Leopard Cavalry member has a visor. As long as they lie on their horses and protect their faces, it should not be difficult to survive this wave of arrows.

“Swoosh, whoosh, whoosh—ding! Puff…”

Most of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had just time to lower their heads, allowing their most exposed faces to be blocked by the horses' heads, when the Han army's arrows arrived. For a moment, there was a sound on the battlefield like raindrops falling on metal plates, like someone hammering iron.

Cao Yan lowered his head and felt his helmet being hit at least four or five times. Fortunately, the helmets of his generals were carefully customized and of high quality. The enemy's arrows shot at them, except for causing Cao Yan to lose hearing, but there was no major problem.

But when Cao Yan felt the rain of arrows had ended, he looked up and saw that the situation was very bad. Because he was in the formation, and to put it bluntly, there were people in front of him who blocked the arrows for him, so Cao Yan was naturally safe. But there were already many more places around him, and many fewer people.

Needless to say, the soldiers of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were not so bad, even if they were shot in the limbs, it would not be fatal immediately. But these war horses were different. If a beast like a war horse was hit by an arrow, it would be a good thing if it went crazy. If it stopped in fear, it would lead to a tragic "chain collision".

"The Han army's crossbows are so powerful? They can actually shoot through the chain mail of war horses..."

Cao Yan was secretly shocked at the power of the Han army's bows and crossbows. It seemed that the front of these war horses was definitely among the best at that time, but in the end, many war horses were shot through the armor by the Han army's bows and crossbows, and both the horses and the riders fell to the ground.

However, Cao Yan looked at the Han army position in front of him and thought that it was almost there. The enemy would at most shoot one more round of arrows, and then these good men of his would be able to rush into their team and start slaughtering them.

"Spark bomb, fire!"

At Feng Xi's command, the soldiers on the front line who were holding a strange bamboo stick in their hands immediately lit the fuse on the top of the bamboo stick in their hands, then placed the bamboo stick flat and aimed it at the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in the distance.

"Puff, puff, puff" After the fuse of this small bamboo pole burned, a ball of light came out from the burning bamboo pole with a muffled sound and flew straight into the tiger and leopard cavalry formation.

"Snap! Crack!"

When the ball of light fell into the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry formation, there was an immediate explosion, followed by a burst of colorful flames, which was quite beautiful from an appreciation perspective.

"Herod!"

But it was obvious that animals like horses did not know how to appreciate beauty. Although the horses of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were trained with gongs and drums to give them courage, that was only for the sounds.

Now, colorful balls of fire exploded before their eyes, and the instinctive fear of fire made these beasts lose control. Some stood up, some ran away, and the reactions were different.

"Spark Arrow, fire!"

Feng Xi was not surprised by the chaos of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry. It was the nature of animals to be afraid of fire. Even the thousand beasts of King Mulu would be frightened by these fireworks.

“Swoosh—hiss, hiss, hiss…”

The soldiers who had arrows tied to a cylinder on their bows lit the fuses on the bows with the help of their companions, and the arrows in their hands were immediately shot out.

These arrows naturally did no harm after falling into the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry formation, but the cylinder tied underneath them burst out countless sparks, causing the entire arrow to be pushed all over the ground.

This large amount of light and heat is extremely destructive. A few sparks fall on the horse's hooves and belly. Even seeing these violent sparks can make the animals extremely excited.

"Witchcraft! The Han army knows witchcraft!"

Some Wei soldiers could not help but shout out. The Wei army had long heard that the Han army would use magic or sorcery, but there had not been any major friction between the two sides for several years, so the soldiers gradually forgot about it.

Now, with flames all over the ground, even these soldiers who have been through hundreds of battles couldn't help but feel panic in their hearts.

Humans are always afraid of the unknown. If they were to fight the Han army with real swords and guns, they would not even frown. But now their brothers and comrades fell one after another in the familiar charge because of various unheard-of and unseen means, which has made these elite soldiers tremble with fear.

"Everyone, free shooting."

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's formation was now in disarray, with the colorful flames all over the ground causing the horses to start rolling around uncontrollably. The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's once neat cone formation was now more like a headless fly, running around in all directions.

With Feng Xi's order, the Han army's light and heavy weapons were no longer restricted. After the fire carts were loaded, they fired arrows at the "car accident scene" where the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry were thrown to the ground; the Han army's elite archers, led by officers at all levels, accurately killed the knights who were still charging.

Cao Yan's luck and martial arts were pretty good. After going through untold hardships, he finally rushed to a distance of less than thirty feet from the Han army. He could see the appearance of the Han soldiers clearly.

However, he saw a small jar flying in the air and exploding three or four feet above his head. Cao Yan's eyes suddenly went dark and he lost consciousness.

(End of this chapter)