331: All are gambling

Countless Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers charged forward!

Zhao Ben's eyes burned like fire, as he repeatedly chanted in his heart: "Six hundred paces, five hundred paces, four hundred paces, three hundred paces!"

When the Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers had advanced to three hundred paces, he roared:

"Crossbow formation, prepare!"

The sound of countless crossbow bolts being strung responded to his command.

"Shoot!"

As Zhao Ben's words fell, the Qin Army's crossbow formation fired in unison!

Countless crossbow bolts were aimed directly at the Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers, the arrow rain obscured the clear sky, sending shivers down one's spine!

Although the Hundred-Battle Armor-Piercing Army possessed the Great Qin's strongest long-range strike power, it did not mean that the crossbow formations of Great Qin's other Armies were not strong!

One must know that before the Hundred-Battle Armor-Piercing Army emerged, Great Qin relied on its superior number and craftsmanship of bows and crossbows compared to the other six states to conquer the world!

"Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!"

Arrows tore through the air, like a curtain of rain, falling one after another onto the charging Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers!

Although they wore the rare armor among the Xiongnu, it still failed to stop the invasion of the crossbow bolts!

Crossbow bolts pierced through their armor and into the bodies of the Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers, splattering a trace of blood, as fresh blood slowly flowed, taking away their vitality and lives.

Countless Xiongnu warhorses were hit by arrows and fell to the ground, and countless Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers were struck by crossbow bolts, falling weakly from their horses.

Countless people in front were killed by crossbow bolts, but none of the vanguard death-sworn behind them retreated!

They were the Xiongnu's vanguard death-sworn, just like the Central Plains' vanguard death-sworn; they had the highest mortality rate, but if they survived, they would earn the greatest military achievements and the most generous rewards among all military branches!

They gambled their lives for wealth and status; if they won the bet, they would be worry-free for the rest of their lives!

So they did not retreat in the slightest; instead, they charged forward expressionlessly, stepping over the corpses of their kinsmen, only hoping to be the first to break into the enemy formation!

"Kill!" A Xiongnu Military General roared, leading the charge forward amidst countless crossbow bolts!

"Fire again!" Zhao Ben shouted just as loudly!

The second wave of arrows flew out in response!

Countless Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers fell again, but the Cavalry Soldiers behind them filled their positions without the slightest hesitation, charging forward recklessly!

In their eyes, the distance between them and the Qin Army had now transcended spatial distance; it represented glory, wealth, and honor. Every step forward was one step closer to success!

Therefore, they had abandoned the fear in their hearts, and now only fanaticism remained!

"Fire again!" Zhao Ben roared with all his might!

After three waves of arrows, the Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers suffered more than half casualties, with less than fifty thousand troops remaining!

But they also successfully broke through the three-hundred-pace distance at the cost of fifty thousand lives, paving the way with blood, finally arriving about fifty paces in front of the Qin Army's formation!

"Follow me and kill!" The Xiongnu Military General shouted with burning eyes!

"Crossbow formation, retreat!"

"Pikemen, raise your pikes, form ranks!" Zhao Ben shouted!

Then the Great Qin crossbow formation retreated, and the pikemen raised their twelve-foot-long pikes, forming ranks to meet the surging Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers!

"Throw javelins!" The Xiongnu Military General roared!

As the first to charge, they were not equipped with the common Xiongnu longbows, but rather with javelins!

Fifty paces was the effective range of a javelin!

He was the first to throw a javelin; it whistled through the air and accurately struck a retreating Qin Soldier!

That Qin Army crossbowman fell backward, his life unknown!

Taking advantage of the Qin Army's rotation, the Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers' javelins flew one after another, incessantly!

Some of the Qin Army archers and the pikemen who were moving into position were hit, but fortunately, none of the injuries were fatal.

Some even fell backward after being hit by a javelin, but after a few short breaths, they climbed up on their own and re-formed ranks with their pikes!

Because the distance of fifty paces, for these vanguard death-sworn, was only an effective range, not a distance that could kill an enemy with one blow, so they could not reliably kill Qin Soldiers like the Xiongnu Military General.

For most vanguard death-sworn, they did not have the strength of the Xiongnu Military General, so at fifty paces, unless they could hit a vital part of the enemy, they could not mortally wound a Qin Soldier!

But at the next range of thirty paces, javelins thrown could reliably embed themselves in the armor of the Qin Soldiers!

The pikemen who had already taken their positions in the front ranks endured the incoming javelins with their bodies; the javelins pierced through their bodies, and they finally fell weakly.

With a volley of javelins, at close range, the javelins had a stronger impact, and the pikemen at the very front fell to the ground, never to rise again.

But the pikemen behind quickly filled in, because there was no time for them to adjust; the Xiongnu vanguard death-sworn had already reached their front!

"Kill!" The Xiongnu Military General leaped up, abandoning his warhorse, and jumped over the twelve-foot-long pike formation, finally landing in the ranks behind!

But the Cavalry Soldiers behind him did not have such ability; they knew that once they lost their warhorses, they would only be left with death!

So they adopted the most ancient method, which was to use the impact force of their warhorses to charge straight into the formation!

"Bang!"

Blood splattered, warhorses neighed!

Countless Xiongnu Soldiers were pierced through the chest by pikes and fell from their horses, but they still charged forward one after another!

At this moment, Zhao Ben had already charged towards that Xiongnu Military General with a long pike in hand!

That Xiongnu Military General was besieged upon landing, but as a Second-Rate Military General, with just one pike thrust, he swept away the Qin Army Soldiers who were attacking him, scattering them!

Zhao Ben's Military Generals immediately surrounded him; three against one, the Xiongnu Military General found it somewhat difficult to cope, but he fought and pushed forward, striving to create chaos in the Qin Army's formation!

..."This..." Lin Yue was somewhat incredulous; he couldn't believe that Zhao Ben, as a Titled General and the one who defeated Zhao Tuo, would allow the Xiongnu vanguard to so easily break into the formation!

"Zhao Ben is conserving his strength; he has to let the Xiongnu taste some sweetness before Touman will make up his mind!" She Jian chuckled.

"I just don't know how General Zhao Ben's deliberately exposed flaw will be handled by Touman.

Will he seize the opportunity to break through while he is busy dealing with it, or will he wait for General Zhao Ben to free up his hands to deal with the invading Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers?" Wang Da Tou said in a deep voice.

"Now all the Armies are advancing like a broken bamboo, only General Zhao Ben has made no achievements, so taking a risky move is also a last resort." She Jian sighed.

Now, both sides were gambling. Touman gambled that his Army would overwhelm and break through the great formation before Zhao Ben could free up his hands, while Zhao Ben gambled that Touman would therefore fiercely attack the center, drawing all the firepower to him!

Sure enough, while the few of them were talking, several more groups of Cavalry Soldiers emerged from the Xiongnu formation, bringing with them thick plumes of dust as they charged towards the Qin Army!

Touman had taken the bait!

Wang Li charged towards the Xiongnu Military General, and while the four were fighting fiercely, he delivered a pike thrust from behind, directly into the Xiongnu Military General's back!

"Puff!"

Blood splattered, and the Xiongnu Military General died in battle within the Qin Army's formation!

Zhao Ben immediately looked back and, seeing that, as he expected, the Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers were charging towards them, turned and rushed to the front of the formation!

"Pikemen retreat, second row of pikes advance!" Zhao Ben roared!

The heavily wounded pikemen retreated, and in an instant, another row of pikemen advanced to stab at the Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers!

After several rounds of fighting, only less than ten thousand of the fifty thousand Xiongnu vanguard death-sworn remained, and the second wave of Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers was now less than eight hundred paces away from them!

"Kill!" Zhao Ben shouted, launching a fierce assault before the rear Cavalry Soldiers arrived!

"Whoosh!"

A volley of arrows came from the rear Xiongnu Cavalry Soldiers; they completely disregarded their kinsmen in front, directly drawing their bows and firing in unison!

The remaining ten thousand Xiongnu vanguard death-sworn lost half their number in this battle, and even the Qin Army pikemen were hit by these indiscriminate arrows, falling to the ground in regret.

However, this act further ignited the ferocity of the Xiongnu vanguard death-sworn; they charged forward even more desperately, for at this moment, only by charging forward could they survive!