Chapter 220: An Inch Longer, An Inch Stronger.

In the southwest of the Wang City of Yarkand,

Li Guang looked at the wild geese flapping their wings as they flew down from the high sky, and a smile spread across his face.

The wild geese brought by my lord were so useful.

He did not need to send troops to find the scouts outside the city; by using the Wild Goose Letter, he could clearly control everything happening around the Wang City of Yarkand.

“General, a Kushan Cavalry Unit of 300 men to the south has raided a merchant group and is now rushing back.”

“Perfect timing,”

Li Guang did not even look at the message. With a wave of his right hand, he immediately ordered: “The cavalry on both wings, spread out. When I engage the enemy, quickly move in to trap them.”

Since his main goal in leaving the city was not to destroy the enemy, Li Guang did not plan any overly complex tactics.

A mere 300 Kushan Heavy Cavalry, even if they wore iron shells, could not fight against a thousand cavalrymen.

As soon as Li Guang gave the order, the four hundred cavalrymen on the left and the four hundred on the right scattered. Li Guang had specifically chosen this terrain with a sandy ridge that bulged in the middle and dipped on both sides, which was perfect for hiding the troops on both flanks.

With the troops on both sides dispersing, Li Guang led two hundred cavalrymen, rested and waiting.

They did not even wait for the time of a cup of tea before they saw dust rising in the distance, with a group of horses approaching.

One thousand meters.

Eight hundred meters.

Five hundred meters.

The distance between the two sides grew shorter and shorter, and Li Guang could even hear the Kushan people laughing loudly.

In the blink of an eye, when the distance between the two cavalry forces shrank to four hundred paces, the Kushan Heavy Cavalry in front spotted the Han Cavalry lined up in formation.

Only two hundred riders!

“Look, those are Han People.”

“How dare the Han People come out of the city?”

“Let’s teach them a lesson, this bunch of cowards who only know how to hide in the city.”

“With so few people coming out, are they here to die? Kill them all!”

Seeing that the Han Cavalry in front of them were fewer than their own numbers, the Kushan cavalry, who had just finished a successful raid, immediately got energized. They shouted, sped up, and drew their horn bows and long swords.

“Charge!”

The Kushan cavalry had already launched their attack, and Li Guang also coldly shouted an order.

The two hundred Han Cavalry spurred their horses and ran, closing the distance between the two sides once more.

In such a short distance, even the Kushan Mounted Archers only had time to fire one round of arrows. Half of them missed, and the other half bounced off the armor of the Han Cavalry. Only about thirty or forty arrows hit their targets, causing more than ten riders to fall from their horses.

When this round of cavalry archery ended, the two sides’ cavalry clashed at close range. At this moment, the advantage of the Han Cavalry became clear, because the cavalry of Jilu Fortress usually used Horse Lances, which were slightly longer in close combat than the Kushan knights’ swords.

An inch longer means an inch stronger.

The charging Han Cavalry swung their long spears. Even if they only hit the iron shells of the Kushan cavalry, the shock waves were not something they wanted to endure.

After all, the force of impact did not disappear because of a suit of armor. With the momentum of the charge and the downward strike, it was enough to knock over those Kushan cavalrymen who relied only on clamping their thighs to keep their balance on the horses.

After the first clash between the two cavalry forces passed, the battle situation was clear to see at a glance.

Among the two hundred Han Cavalry, one hundred and seventy were still sitting firmly on their horses, while nearly fifty of the three hundred Kushan Heavy Cavalry had fallen.

“Kill!”

Once in battle mode, Li Guang had no thoughts of holding back. To scatter this enemy group, he first had to defeat them.

As the two sides launched their second charge, the cavalrymen who had been hiding in the dipped sections on both flanks also spurred their horses to rush in.

Eight hundred cavalrymen rushed in from the left and right to surround the battle circle, just as the second charge confrontation ended.

In the blink of an eye, nearly forty of their comrades had fallen again, and the faces of the remaining Kushan Heavy Cavalry changed instantly.

The Han Army actually had ambush troops!

Realizing they were about to be surrounded, the remaining Kushan cavalry did not even care about their injured comrades who had fallen. They immediately spurred their horses and ran frantically toward the main camp.

They could not even get the better of the two hundred Han Cavalry, let alone fight against a thousand cavalrymen.

The Kushan cavalry did not fear battle, but they were definitely not the kind of people who did not fear death.

Once the battle went poorly, running away was their first choice.

Two hundred and more cavalrymen fled, while the remaining hundred or so lay on the ground, constantly moaning in pain. Some had been unlucky enough to be pierced through by Han Army Horse Lances, while others were trampled by their own horses after falling off.

“Surround them first!”

Li Guang ignored the fleeing cavalrymen. With a wave of his right hand, he immediately ordered the cavalry to surround the battlefield. He then turned to the Yarkand cavalry general next to him and said:

“Tell them to surrender. If anyone dares to resist, kill them on the spot!”

As the Yarkand cavalry general approached to shout the message, the wounded Kushan soldiers in the center quickly dropped their weapons. Those without weapons also raised their hands high, making a universally recognized surrender gesture.

Seeing this bunch of obediently surrendering Kushan cavalry, Li Guang had no interest in saying more. He ordered his soldiers to clean up the battlefield: “A few of you go gather the captured horses, then strip all their armor and clothes off them.”

The Kushan cavalry’s Dayuan Horses must be kept.

The camels and Brown-Maned Horses behind them, carrying grain and treasure, also had to be collected one by one.

In addition, Li Guang did not let go of the Kushan Heavy Cavalry’s armor either. Li Guang had never seen such cavalry armor with unique Central Asian characteristics before. Now that he had the chance, of course, he would collect a batch to take back and study carefully.

Especially the back armor worn on both shoulders, wrapping around the entire back and ribs. This iron shell design, the Great Han’s forging department might not even think of.

In just over a hundred seconds, the Kushan prisoners were stripped by the Han Army until only their undershirts and underpants were left. Li Guang looked at the back armor in his hand and waved his hand carelessly, saying:

“Tell them, they can get out of here now!”

Li Guang actually did not care whether to kill the prisoners or not. Even though there was always an omen that killing prisoners was bad luck in the Great Han, generals who killed prisoners never disappeared.

The reason he did not kill the Kushan cavalry in front of him now was simply that letting them return to their camp would be more beneficial to the current war.

If they went back, they would have to share part of the precious rations. And after these defeated soldiers returned, they would inevitably spread the shadow of defeat to their comrades.

The consequences brought by these two effects were things the current Kushan army could not afford to bear.

As the Kushan prisoners gradually left, leaning on each other, Li Guang immediately ordered the whole army to retreat.

Fire a shot, then move to a new spot.

Never get too tangled with the enemy in one position, which could reduce the danger of being counter-surrounded by the Kushan army.

With this combat mindset, Li Guang began to constantly sweep away the Kushan cavalry that went out to raid around the Kingdom of Yarkand. If they had loot, they would take it to the nearest fortress for temporary storage; if not, they would scatter the cavalry and make them roll away shamefully.

In just three to five days, seven or eight groups of Kushan cavalry had fallen victim to Li Guang’s ruthless actions.

And the “evil deeds” of Li Guang’s Han Cavalry finally spread within the Kushan Vanguard camp.

In an instant, the entire Kushan Vanguard camp was filled with panic.

They could not take the city.

They raided, but were counter-raided by the Han Army.

The Kushan army, which had arrived with full confidence, was now on the verge of collapse.