Chapter 618: Maneuvering

Chapter 618: Chapter 618: Maneuvering

After a big turning arc, the cavalry unit’s speed dropped by more than ten percent, further shortening the distance between the two sides.

Finally, when they reached the two hundred paces that Captain Xu mentioned, the cavalry’s speed picked up again, always keeping two hundred paces between them and the pursuing Wolf Cavalry.

"Order Flag! Let them come fifty paces closer!"

After turning, it seemed the wind direction changed, prompting Captain Xu to adjust his orders once more. The entire Dynasty cavalry executed them methodically, revealing not a hint of panic. Even Shen Hao, who had never been in a battle before, felt much more at ease than earlier.

In the blink of an eye, the distance closed again to about one hundred and fifty paces. At this distance, Shen Hao’s eyesight could clearly make out expressions on the enemy’s faces.

They weren’t Red-eyed Wolf Race, but Tri-Eyed Wolf Race—a branch of the Wolf Race that’s not rare among Barbarians, named for the white stripe on their foreheads that looks like a third eye.

Actually, these Barbarian names were all given by the Human Race; the Barbarians have their own language system—they wouldn’t label each other after beasts like humans do.

"Awooo!"

Though not beasts, many habits are almost identical; a wolf howl full of killing intent and provocation also served as a command to the wolf pack.

On this side, Captain Xu’s new command was relayed to the entire cavalry almost simultaneously via the Order Flag Soldiers.

"One hundred fifty paces, two arrows, fire!"

In an instant, taut bowstrings twanged loudly, audible even amid the pounding hooves. Then, a visible shower of black arrows shot out from the cavalry, angling upward, then arcing down onto the Wolf Riders chasing from behind.

Lacking iron, the Barbarians struggle to form an effective counterforce with bows; arrowheads are expendable they can’t afford—one Crossbowman can use up the iron equal to a long saber in just a month, which is a heavy burden for the Barbarians.

They couldn’t return fire, but the Wolf Riders had their own ways of dealing with it.

"Awooo!"

After a wolf howl, Shen Hao, standing on horseback and gazing into the distance, saw the enemy Wolf Cavalry hunch over in their saddles, raising wooden shields over their heads. With the downward angle of the arrows and their forward momentum, they were able to block most of the incoming shots.

Of course, some got unlucky. Either their wooden shield was splintered by the arrow rain and they ended up as human pincushions, or their warg beneath them got hit in the eyes or head and rolled to the ground.

"Order Flag! After three rounds of volley, let them within sixty paces! Aim for their wargs!"

Riding a warg, it’s impossible to carry heavy gear like a Large Shield; a one-foot shield can’t protect the warg under you. But shooting wargs requires more precision and can’t rely on dense volleys, so they had to close the distance—which was not good news for Shen Hao’s side.

Let them within a hundred paces, then eighty, seventy, finally holding at just over sixty paces.

Such precise distance control revealed the elite status of this cavalry, even dragging along the Xuanqing Guard Personal Guard following the unit, barely holding their own.

Shen Hao glanced several times at Captain Xu; the man’s expression didn’t change, still showing no panic. Even while riding, he could easily dodge large rocks on the ground just like the fully focused Soldiers beside him.

Shen Hao saw that the chasing Wolf Riders were pissed. After three volleys, they hadn’t lost many, but they were mad! If your reach is short, you get beaten. They wanted to close in and have a mounted fight to vent their killing intent, but once the distance hit sixty paces, they simply couldn’t catch up anymore.

This was the difference in ability between horses and wargs. Both are mounts, but horses have greater endurance and speed, while wargs have explosive power and superior aggression that horses can’t match.

So when meeting in the wild, unless necessary or for show, Human Race cavalry prefer to use their horses’ speed and stamina to control the distance, then use mounted archery to attack the Wolf Riders. And when the enemy retreats, they stick close again.

But soon, things stopped looking so good. Ahead, another group of Wolf Riders appeared, clearly having looped around earlier to intercept at the southeast just as Shen Hao’s cavalry turned and tried to evade—a pincer move from behind.

"This is bad! Speed up, keep retreating southeast!"

"No retreat." Shen Hao looked farther ahead; the open southeast gap was a rocky field, full of big stones—no way to run horses there.

Now, the cavalry had two options: either turn forward and gamble on support from soldiers outside the Central Military Camp; or turn back and have a mounted battle with the Wolf Riders coming from the northwest, hoping to break through before the newly appeared Wolf Riders from behind surround them, then use their speed to head for the Upper Military Camp.

Which to choose?

Captain Xu’s choice was still unclear. He’d adjusted direction several times, seemingly trying to trick the enemy and escape this double bind, but it hadn’t worked—the area they were trapped in kept shrinking.

Shen Hao tightened his grip on the Yanji Saber as he stood on horseback, feeling they probably couldn’t avoid it now. Yet, he felt something strangely off—maybe because it was his first time seeing a battlefield—but he kept thinking the enemy Wolf Riders seemed able to predict the cavalry’s movements. Especially once the new group of Wolf Riders appeared from behind, the feeling was even stronger.

"Something’s wrong!" This feeling was like being watched, every move tracked. Shen Hao didn’t believe the Barbarians could just predict and always cut off their cavalry’s path.

"Could it be magic?"

Standing tall on horseback, Shen Hao scanned left and right, Perception fully active, but he found no sign of any magic.

Not these Barbarians?

Shen Hao calculated rapidly. If it wasn’t magic, then someone had to be observing the whole battlefield—otherwise, they couldn’t seize the opportunity so precisely. But cavalry battles aren’t fixed to one spot and cover vast territory. How could you observe the whole thing? Unless...

Suddenly looking up, Shen Hao locked onto a tiny black dot overhead.

Eagle?

Was that thing watching? Beast Taming for surveillance, then coordinating messages? With that, Shen Hao’s doubts resolved. He was certain there was a Barbarian Cultivator specializing in Beast Taming in the rear Wolf Riders.

"That eagle up there, can any of you reach it?" Shen Hao gestured—a height of at least three hundred zhang was out of his range, but among his Personal Guard there were three experts; maybe they had a way. 𝒻𝑟ℯℯ

The three Guards sent from the Commander’s Office to watch over Shen Hao looked up at his words and quickly spotted the eagle he’d pointed out.

"Beast Taming? Ha, no wonder things felt weird. Watch me take it down!"