Chapter 8: Details determine victory in battle

The Hun chieftain sat in his tent, eyes closed in rest. Several Han Chinese women knelt on the ground, heads bowed, playing the *hujia* and *huqin*.

Perhaps from fright, or lack of sleep, the women played somewhat erratically, save for one who didn't miss a single note.

The Hun chieftain thought to himself that this woman was indeed proficient in music. In just two months, she had mastered the *hujia* as if she had been studying it for years.

If only this woman were beautiful, he might have taken her into his tent. But alas, she was exceedingly ugly.

Not only were her features somewhat crooked, but the birthmarks on her face were a patchwork of black and red, so frightening that people didn't want to look at her for more than a glance.

She herself claimed that she had been burned by hot coals as a child, which had ruined her appearance.

The Hun chieftain had been suspicious and had people vigorously scrub her face. The woman's face bled from the wet cloth, but the black and red color didn't fade in the slightest, and the chieftain finally gave up in frustration.

Listening to the uneven music, a wave of annoyance rose in his heart for no reason, and he drove the women out.

His status was noble. To prove himself to his father and clansmen, he had been plundering Han lands for years, and his armor and weapons were much stronger than those of other Hun tribes.

Taking advantage of the internal strife in the Central Plains, he had led hundreds of strong young men on this expedition. In the past six months, they had plundered many places and made a fortune.

Now, as long as they left the valley and traveled a few hundred *li* further into Bing Province, they could return to their tribe and reunite with their wives and children!

Everyone was eager to return home, but now a force of hundreds of elite soldiers was being harassed by dozens of hunters from who-knows-where, leaving them unable to advance or retreat!

Something's not right!

There must be a problem!

What benefit would those hunters get from doing this?

Thinking of this, he was startled and alarmed. He stood up, walked out of the tent, and roared, "Move out immediately! Head north out of the valley!"

The Hun soldiers had been up all night and hadn't slept well. Now, they had barely slept for an hour when they were woken up. Everyone's face was weary as they slowly put on their clothes.

One cavalryman, wanting to put his armor on the cart beside him, was immediately roared at by the officer: "What? The enemy could appear at any moment, and you're not thinking of wearing your armor yet?"

The cavalryman cursed inwardly, reluctantly put on his armor, and was about to mount his horse when the officer cursed again: "Do you want to exhaust your horse to death?"

"What if the enemy comes and the horse can't run?"

The cavalryman couldn't help but complain: "I didn't sleep all night, and I'm already weak. Now I have to walk around in armor. If we really have to fight, what am I going to do if I don't have any strength?"

Several soldiers nearby echoed his sentiments, and the scene became somewhat chaotic.

In fact, the reason for both sides arguing was due to the customs of mounted and foot combat.

On the battlefield, the factors that determine victory or defeat are the timing of the heavens, the advantages of the terrain, and the harmony of the people.

The harmony of the people refers to human factors. Morale, weapons, armor, formations, strength, and weakness are all very important.

Whoever can maximize the strength of their soldiers on the battlefield will be able to control the outcome of the battle.

In fact, a very crucial factor is the stamina of the soldiers.

No matter how skilled a soldier is, if he is exhausted when he enters the battlefield and cannot use his abilities, it is all for naught.

Therefore, since ancient times, how to preserve the stamina of soldiers before the battle, and even during the battle, has been the most important concern of generals.

The first thing is armor and weapons.

Before the battle begins, when the army is marching, the soldiers must uniformly place their weapons and armor on supply carts for transport, and only wear light clothing themselves.

In this way, even if they march dozens of *li* at a rapid pace, the soldiers will still have the stamina to fight the enemy.

If, as in later movies and television shows, soldiers marched in full armor carrying weapons, the soldiers' arms would be unable to lift after half a day.

At this time, most people wear straw sandals, and their legs and feet will be ruined if they carry heavy loads for a long time.

In this way, the soldiers would be crippled in just a few days.

If they marched with heavy loads for a long time, most of the soldiers would be exhausted, even if they were not killed, so how could they fight?

Therefore, it is customary in the army for soldiers to travel light, and all heavy loads are carried by supply carts.

This is also why surprise attacks are easy to achieve great victories, because whether it is at night or during a march, the attacking side is fully armed, while the side being attacked has empty hands and no protection. Once the attackers break through, the entire army can easily collapse in a short period of time.

This is also why the Hun general ordered the cavalry to wear armor, as they had been harassed last night, the enemy's situation was unknown, and they naturally needed to be vigilant.

But the problem arises, if the cavalry wears armor and rides on horseback, it will greatly increase the burden on the warhorses.

Warhorses are more precious than soldiers. If the warhorses run out of stamina and cannot run on the battlefield, the cavalry is equivalent to useless.

In fact, even the best warhorses in the northern lands can hardly withstand two or three full-strength charges by heavily armored cavalry. In difficult terrain, there may even be only one chance.

This is also why, on the battlefield, cavalry often collapses if they fail to break through the enemy's formation in a single charge.

Therefore, when cavalry is marching, they do not ride on horseback, but walk on foot leading the horses, with men and horses advancing side by side. Only when they encounter battle in front can they take out their armor and weapons from the supply carts and mount their horses to fight.

In several well-disciplined Liang Province armies, cavalrymen who ride their warhorses without permission during a march may even be beheaded in severe cases!

Now, this Hun tribe is facing a dilemma.

If the cavalry walks in armor, they will become physically exhausted.

If they mount their horses and ride, the warhorses will not be able to withstand it.

If they don't wear armor, they will not be able to respond in time if the enemy launches a surprise attack.

The noise reached the Hun chieftain's ears. He pondered for a long time and finally gave the order.

The vanguard was lightly armored cavalry scouting the way, followed by the infantry clearing the path. The armored cavalry walked in the center, leading their horses, while the supply carts carrying armor and weapons were guarded by the cavalry in the very center. The women who had been plundered followed at the very back.

This was already the most secure method at the moment. Once the order was given, everyone followed it, and the army began to slowly move out.

Yuan Xi stood two hilltops away and felt somewhat anxious when he saw the Hun army begin to advance.

The enemy had actually moved out ahead of time!

Outside the valley were several thousand acres of wheat that were about to be harvested. This was the grain that Beixin City had worked so hard to grow this year, and it was about to be harvested.

The Huns would inevitably plunder the wheat fields, and these several thousand acres of wheat would definitely not escape, so this battle was unavoidable.

What Yuan Xi had to do was to try to keep the Hun soldiers in the valley as long as possible, so that Ju Yi would have time to arrive.

He remembered what Ju Yi had said last night before he left.

"If Zhao Yun doesn't arrive after waiting for a long time, he will definitely realize that the Huns here are being held up by us and will rush over."

"Although I am confident enough to defeat him, in order to reduce variables, I have decided to kill all these Hun soldiers before he arrives, leaving none for him!"

Yuan Xi thought to himself, I hope so, but now that the Huns have moved out ahead of time, I'm afraid Ju Yi's plan has failed.

The Hun caravan appeared on the road at the foot of the valley.

Getting closer.

Yuan Xi straightened his arm and pulled an arrow from the quiver on his back, feeling the arrowhead heavy.

He began to draw his bow.

The dozens of archers beside him were all doing the same.

The bowstrings were fully drawn, and the leading dozens of light cavalry of the Huns had already entered the range of the arrows.

With a whistle, Yuan Xi released his fingers, and the arrow shot out like lightning.

The soldiers beside him released their bowstrings one after another, and dozens of arrows flew out, instantly hitting the first few cavalrymen, who fell from their horses.

Yuan Xi saw that his arrow had hit a man's thigh and thought it was a pity, but forgot to squat down, exposing his figure.

Several Hun cavalrymen saw this and immediately nocked arrows and shot at Yuan Xi!

In Yuan Xi's moment of stunned silence, a bone arrow flew straight towards his face!