The ultimatum had been issued. Even if He Lian wanted to beg for mercy, he had no choice but to turn around and walk towards the Xianbei cavalry formation on the northwest side.
Cao Shuang looked at He Lian's back and spat with disdain: "Brother Bo Yue, the Xianbei bandits are already at their wits' end. You and I can split into two groups, and the battle can be won in less than a quarter of an hour!"
"Okay, I'll be on your left and you on your right." Jiang Wei nodded in response, stroked a tuft of white mane on his brown horse's forehead, and after climbing onto the horse, he added to Cao Shuang: "If the enemy army scatters, Zhao Bo can go after Ke Bineng. Don't worry about the battlefield, I'll take care of everything."
"Hahaha, Brother Boyue is doing the right thing. I'll follow your advice!" Cao Shuang rode back to the right cavalry formation, drew his sword and pointed it to the sky, and patrolled back and forth in the formation to boost morale. In the left cavalry formation, Jiang Wei was doing something similar.
When the three men were ordered to set out from Quanzhou, Man Chong did not specify who would lead the army, but instead told the three men to discuss it. If they were ordinary generals, Man Chong would have chosen a leader for them. But these three men were extraordinary, either they were valued by His Majesty or they were sons of nobles, so it was time to test their quality.
Jiang Wei, Cao Shuang and Cao Zhao did have a good discussion.
Cao Shuang was cautious and prudent by nature, and the three years of experience in the northern border had added a touch of decisiveness to his soft but unyielding character. Cao Zhao was bold but moderate, and as the oldest of the three, he had a kind of big brother feel to him.
Jiang Wei's excellence is beyond words. When three people like him come together for the same goal, how can there be any discord? Even during the coordinated raids of several days, the three of them still have a sense of mutual respect.
Last night, when the three of them were discussing the issue of collecting horses, Cao Zhao took the initiative to step back and took on the responsibility of being the rear guard. When facing a situation where they were almost certain to win, Jiang Wei took the initiative to let Cao Shuang lead the attack.
In Jiang Wei's logic, it doesn't matter whether he or Cao Shuang attacks. And Kebi Neng is a clear merit, so how can he compete with Cao Shuang for it? It's better to go with the flow and give it to him as a favor.
Even if I am a palace guard and am highly valued by His Majesty, can it compare to the fact that his father is a great general of the Wei Dynasty?
Cao Shuang deserved the pleasure, but what he wanted was not to compete for merit, but to capture Kebi Neng himself. Three years ago, in the first year of Taihe, it was Kebi Neng who invaded Yanmen County, causing him to rush around for days to pass on information. More than two months ago, Kebi Neng was by his side again, and together they bypassed Liaokou and attacked Xiangping.
How dare he?
In short, Cao Shuang's anger, which had been suppressed in his heart for several days, had reached the point where he could no longer bear it.
The grassland between the low hills on both sides was about a hundred steps wide, and the tangled weeds were high enough to reach a person's knees. It might be a bit of a hindrance for infantry to charge, but for cavalry, this was a perfect place for fighting.
He Lian rode his horse back to the Xianbei formation and just shook his head helplessly, which allowed Ke Bi to know the answer given by the Wei army on the opposite side.
Since there is no more room for maneuver, let’s fight!
After more than three days of continuous flight, Ke Bineng's patience and will have been exhausted. It is still unknown who will win or lose.
The sky of Youzhou was azure blue in September. The two armies, separated by a distance of one and a half miles, sped up their movements almost at the same time.
Four hundred steps, three hundred and fifty steps, three hundred steps...
Two dull sounds of horse hooves, accompanied by the sound of the autumn wind blowing through the woods on both sides, gradually approached.
Compared with the Wei army, the Xianbei light cavalry was obviously the more nervous one.
When the cavalry approached a hundred steps, a young-looking Xianbei cavalryman could no longer bear the pressure. The fingers of his right hand that were holding the bowstring slipped slightly, and a feathered arrow flew through the air towards the Wei army.
With this arrow as the beginning, the tense Xianbei people around them also shot arrows one after another, fearing that they would fall behind. However, this distance was indeed too far for the cavalry, and the range of the horse bows could not reach the front of the Wei army.
It was too early to shoot. You should have waited fifty steps before shooting.
Ke Bineng was helpless when he saw the situation. The marching cavalry was so close to the Wei army that it was impossible for him to command on the spot. He had no choice but to bite the bullet, raise the saber in his right hand, and whistle sharply to boost the morale of his cavalry.
Thirty steps, twenty steps, ten steps, getting closer and closer. Jiang Wei stared at the opposite side calmly and could almost see the panic expressions on the faces of the Xianbei cavalrymen opposite.
Jiang Wei was on the left and Cao Shuang was on the right. The two cavalry units were like two sharp cones, piercing straight into the Xianbei army. The sounds of weapons, horses neighing and shouting startled the birds in the area within miles.
The long spear in his hand slashed across the neck of a Xianbei cavalryman, and instantly a red line of blood spurted out. Jiang Wei controlled the horse with his legs, and used his left hand to forcefully retract the horse spear, and then used the horse's speed to stab another Xianbei cavalryman in the chest and abdomen. The sharp tip of the blade pierced through the leather armor, easily broke open the intestines, and got stuck in the gap between the bones, and the Xianbei cavalryman fell off the horse.
Jiang Wei and Cao Shuang both liked to use halberds, but most of the Wei cavalry used wooden-handled iron spears that were about ten feet long.
After Jiang Wei threw away his horse lance, he grabbed a prepared short spear from the side of his horse.
A saber, accompanied by the Xianbei language shouted by its owner, slashed towards Jiang Wei's right shoulder. Jiang Wei swung his spear to deflect it, and then swiped the tip of the spear across the neck of the middle-aged Xianbei cavalryman. As soon as he retracted it, he threw the short spear out again, piercing the face of a man not far away, and then pulled out the ring-handled sword from the scabbard on the side of the saddle.
While Jiang Wei was fighting bravely, Cao Shuang on the other side was more cautious. He was in the center of the formation, and surrounded by his subordinates, he did not engage the enemy personally, but rushed straight towards the direction of Kebineng's flag.
This is how cavalry fights. The speed of the fight is only as fast as the speed of the horses. They will never be crowded on the battle line like synchronized infantry. The braver and better-trained side will only gain an overall advantage faster.
When Jiang Wei, Cao Shuang and Ke Bineng on the opposite side decided to hedge against each other, this outcome was almost certain.
As soon as the two armies met, the outcome was immediately decided.
The Xianbei people, who could not be defeated even by charging, almost collapsed in an instant due to the low morale caused by days of fleeing. The formation could no longer be maintained, and then accompanied by the noisy and incomprehensible Xianbei language, the army formation instantly broke apart. Kebi Neng's flag was also toppled and thrown away by his guards. In such a real escape, no matter how loyal the guards were, they would not care about such a cumbersome thing.
Cao Shuang, surrounded by his personal guards, did not engage in battle, but kept staring at the direction of Kebineng's flag. When he discovered something unusual, he raised his lance and pointed forward almost instantly:
"It's time to perform meritorious deeds! Follow me and charge into battle!"
Then, without any hesitation or concern for safety, he rushed to the front of the battle array. The cavalry of the central army, who didn't know that Captain Cao was the son of the general? How could he dare to let Captain Cao face danger?
So everyone bravely rushed forward.
In such an urgent pursuit, horse speed is life. Ke Bineng threw away the iron helmet on his head and threw away all the trivial items hanging on the side of the horse while running. However, this trick could not delay him for even a moment.
After chasing for more than three miles, the number of guards around Ke Bineng became fewer and fewer.
When he was only about ten steps away from Kebi Neng, Cao Shuang picked up a dark-colored bow with a gold thread inlaid on the tip from the side of his horse, drew the bow and put an arrow on it, held his breath for a few moments, and then a feather arrow flew through the air and hit the right hind leg of Kebi Neng's horse.
The warhorse fell down with a neigh, and Kebineng also fell heavily to the ground. The horse pressed down on Kebineng's legs, twisting and twitching restlessly. Kebineng took a lot of effort to pull his legs out from under the horse. Then he instinctively wanted to stand up and run forward again, but Cao Shuang shot another arrow, which rubbed his cheek and nailed to the sandy ground in front.
Ke Bineng finally stopped, as if he had accepted his fate, and slowly turned around, looking up at Cao Shuang who was looking down at him.
Without Cao Shuang's orders, more than ten of the nearly one hundred cavalrymen who followed him galloped out and surrounded Ke Bineng on the ground. The rest of the cavalrymen turned around under Qu Chang's command and lined up to face the battlefield again, ready to charge back at any time.
"It's Captain Cao. Then my defeat is not unfair."
Ke Bineng laughed at himself and sat down on the ground with a plop. "The Great Wei wants to encompass the world. With the wisdom of the current emperor, we must give it a try. But Captain Cao, I have not read the history books of the Han people, but I have heard a little about them. Whether it is the First Emperor of the Qin Dynasty or Emperor Wu, Emperor Xuan, and Emperor Guangwu of the Han Dynasty, there are many different ethnic groups on the grassland, and no Han people have ever lived there for a long time."
"I just don't understand. Since you have appointed me as the Chanyu of Xianbei, why can't you let me return to the grassland? The grassland is so vast, can you really occupy it? Instead of letting the Wuhuan dogs and Xiongnu dogs take advantage of it, why can't you give it to me?"
"What the emperor is thinking is not for me, a minister, to know." Cao Shuang sighed and shook his head while sitting on his horse. "But I know that the Chanyu, as a minister of the Great Wei, fled with his army without an imperial edict, and also plundered the people and killed our soldiers along the way. He deserves the death penalty."
"There is one thing that Chanyu may not know."
The light in Ke Bineng's eyes gradually dimmed, and he asked with a wry smile, "What's the matter?"
Cao Shuang said: "In the first year of Taihe, the Chanyu invaded Yanmen. I served as a soldier under Tian Gong of Yanmen. Two of my good friends in the army who were familiar with me at that time both died at the hands of your troops."
Ke Bineng didn't want to listen to Cao Shuang's nagging any more, so he said simply, "Come on, I just want to die quickly."
"Die quickly?" Cao Shuang shook his head and said, "Your life and death are not decided by you. I will send you to Luoyang for trial, and Your Majesty will..."
"General!" The soldiers surrounding Kebineng cried out in surprise and wanted to use their spears to knock Kebineng's arms away.
But it was too late.
Before Cao Shuang finished speaking, Kebineng pulled out a sharp knife with a gemstone handle from his waist, and slashed his throat quickly and accurately, causing a large amount of blood to gushed out instantly.
Seeing this, Cao Shuang swallowed unconsciously.
As the son of a great general, and having been trained in the frontier army for several years, Cao Shuang understood the ways of the world and political rules. God has mercy on him, he did not have the slightest intention of forcing Kebi Neng to death, he just wanted to take Kebi Neng back to Luoyang and let the emperor make the decision.
A rebellious Chanyu is still a Chanyu!
If he had died from being struck by a weapon during the battle, that would have been fine. But now Kebi Neng was lying on the ground surrounded by people, and it was not something that a mere 2,000-stone official could kill privately. Moreover, the former general Man Chong had not issued an order to kill Kebi Neng, and Man Chong did not have the authority to do so.
"General, this..." The guard beside him became embarrassed and looked up at Cao Shuang for advice.
At this moment, a goshawk happened to fly overhead, screaming sharply across the sky, as if bidding farewell to Kebineng, the former Xianbei "overlord".
Cao Shuang dismounted, coughed lightly, and looked around at the cavalrymen around him:
"You all saw that the Xianbei Chanyu was determined to die. He committed suicide, not us." Cao Shuang explained a few words, and seemed to think that there was no need to say so much to his soldiers. He said again with a little embarrassment:
"Tie this man's body to the horse and take it back." He then jumped on the horse and said to the man beside him, "Captain Zheng Qu, I will go back slowly. You lead the team back to the battlefield to provide support."
"As ordered." (End of this chapter)
