Chapter 49: A Thousand Horses Charging, A Terrified Ahachu!

This camp raid was unprecedented.

Though Zhu Ying had a force of barely over three thousand men, the momentum of the charging horses possessed the overwhelming might of tens of thousands of troops.

"Brothers!"

"Release arrows!"

Zhu Ying shouted with a thunderous roar.

He gripped his treasured carved bow, raised it high, and loosed a volley toward the Tatar tribal court.

"Charge!!"

Battle cries pierced the heavens.

Countless chaotic arrows rose into the air amid the deafening roars, raining down in a parabolic arc upon the Tatar encampment.

Under the cover of night, countless Tatars within the court fled in panic before the stampeding horde, while death lurked everywhere in the darkness.

The volley of arrows fell like a torrential downpour.

"Ah... Ah..."

Many fleeing Tatars were struck down by the rain of arrows before they even had a chance to react.

The Tatar soldiers, facing this overwhelming charge, found themselves utterly helpless. Their defensive formations were directly shattered by the thundering hooves, and countless Tatars were trampled to death.

Zhu Ying led his soldiers straight into the Tatar tribal court, charging forward in the wake of the stampeding horses.

Compared to previous camp raids, this one proved infinitely easier.

"Kill!"

Zhu Ying bellowed fiercely.

Watching the Tatars scatter in all directions, he swung his battle saber down in a frenzy.

With every sweep of his blade, one or even several Tatars perished.

"Slain a Tatar soldier, harvested 10 points of internal energy, harvested 10 days of lifespan."

"Slain a Tatar soldier, harvested 10 points of strength, harvested 15 days of lifespan."

"Slain a Tatar soldier..."

The system prompts rang continuously in his mind.

As Zhu Ying's overall attributes had all surpassed the thousand-point mark, the attribute gains from killing enemies had decreased, but he had unlocked a different kind of bonus. The lifespan attribute now existed alongside the standard attribute gains, granting him a fixed amount of longevity for every enemy slain.

"Brothers!"

"The same old rules apply: do not get bogged down in prolonged combat, head straight for the main tent of the Tatar chieftain."

"If we can butcher a few high-ranking Tatar officers or cut down their leader, that will be a truly glorious achievement!" Zhu Ying roared at the top of his lungs.

Right behind the surging sea of horses, Zhu Ying remained at the vanguard of the charge.

Followed by his three thousand soldiers, they maintained their ferocious momentum as always.

Of course, the ultimate weapon of this assault was still the stampede of countless horses driven by the Ming troops.

Startled warhorses charged forward like enraged beasts, multiplied by ten thousand.

Thundering into the Tatar tribal court, they rampaged recklessly, unleashing a slaughter comparable to the massacre of a full army.

The entire tribal settlement was left in a state of utter devastation and ruin, filled with endless wails and screams.

Inside the tribal court, within the chieftain's tent:

"What is the meaning of this?"

Aha Chu was jolted violently awake from his bed, looking toward the outside of the tent with a face full of terror.

With such a deafening uproar and such a violent commotion, it was impossible for Aha Chu not to hear it.

"Chieftain!"

"The Ming army is attacking our court!"

"Please issue your orders, Chieftain."

A personal guard of the chieftain hurried to the outside of the tent and reported loudly.

"How is that possible?"

"Weren't they stationed at the tribe dozens of miles away?"

"Why would they suddenly appear at our court?"

Aha Chu's expression turned panicked.

At this moment, nine and a half tenths of his entire clan's military force had been deployed by Agunu to encircle and annihilate Zhu Ying, stationed dozens of miles away. Furthermore, they were all infantry, and to ensure Agunu successfully completed the encirclement, Aha Chu had even handed over his final two thousand elite cavalry guards to him.

With barely five or six thousand armored soldiers left in the tribal court, how could they possibly withstand this?

"Chieftain!"

"The Ming army... the Ming army is charging with ten thousand horses."

"Their numbers probably exceed ten thousand."

"Please evacuate immediately, Chieftain, otherwise it will be too late."

The guard said loudly.

"Numbers exceeding ten thousand?"

Aha Chu's expression changed drastically. "Didn't Agunu say the entire Ming force numbered no more than a few thousand? Why are there tens of thousands?"

"The Ming troops attacking our court this time definitely exceed ten thousand, perhaps even more."

"Please evacuate at once, Chieftain." The guard urged anxiously.

"Agunu, you have doomed me!"

Aha Chu cursed in fury.

He scrambled to his feet, grabbed his saber, and dashed out of the tent.

"Retreat, summon all personal guards, retreat!" Not daring to linger for a single second, Aha Chu immediately roared.

Yet at this moment, for the Ming army bolstered by the stampeding horses, his attempts to escape seemed already too late.

Wherever the stampede passed, utter destruction followed.

Built without stone or masonry, the tents of the Tatar tribe were utterly incapable of withstanding the impact of ten thousand charging horses.

With this unstoppable momentum clearing the path ahead, Zhu Ying led his men forward, brandishing their blades to cut down the panicking Tatars.

"Set fires!"

"Burn everything that can be burned!"

Zhu Ying shouted hoarsely.

"By your command, Commander!"

Countless soldiers behind Zhu Ying roared in unison.

Immediately, many soldiers pulled out pre-prepared fire starters, ignited them, and hurled them into the tents scattered across the Tatar tribal court.

In an instant, blazing infernos shot into the sky across the Tatar camp.

It closely resembled the destruction of the Tatar Blue Banner tribe that Zhu Ying had led his forces to annihilate previously.

Zhu Ying charged and slaughtered while simultaneously setting fires.

He acted with absolute impunity.

Outside the main tent of the tribal court, Aha Chu fled in a disheveled state, only to find several thousand personal guards already gathered outside.

These were the last remaining troops guarding the tribal court; the rest had likely already been scattered by the Ming warhorses.

"Chieftain!"

"Your subordinates have prepared a horse. Please mount up and retreat swiftly."

The leader, a chiliarch of the personal guards, shouted urgently.

Without a word, Aha Chu hurried toward the warhorse.

Suddenly!

*Thud-thud.*

*Thud-thud-thud.*

The sound of countless hooves striking the earth echoed through the air.

Aha Chu panicked, looking toward the source of the sound, and his face instantly turned pale. "Form a defense!"

"Loose arrows!"

Before his eyes!

Countless warhorses, appearing utterly maddened, came barreling toward them in a frenzy.

Faced with this terrifying momentum, the several thousand Tatar guards hastily raised their lances, forming a protective ring around Aha Chu.

At the same time, they rapidly loosed arrows at the charging horses.

Though their force of several thousand seemed formidable in numbers, their resistance against the stampeding horde was negligible.

Driven mercilessly from behind by Zhu Ying and thousands of Ming soldiers, these riderless warhorses had no choice but to plunge forward recklessly.

"Ah... Ah..."

"We can't hold them!"

"Protect the Chieftain!"

"Raise the shields..."

"Get the torches!"

"Hurry!"

Confronted by the impact of the endless horses, the area surrounding the tribal court became a scene of absolute carnage. Countless Tatar soldiers were instantly sent flying or trampled to death underfoot.

Against the force of ten thousand stampeding beasts, the defense of several thousand men felt nothing like mantis trying to stop a chariot.

When the horde finally thundered past, screams echoed endlessly.

Countless Tatar soldiers lay on the ground, struggling in agony, but the horses continued their stampede, charging forward relentlessly.

As the hooves trampled onward, Aha Chu was left with fewer than several hundred soldiers, who used shields and torches to barely fend off the chaos and shield him from immediate death.

After all, both warhorses and wild beasts retained an instinctive fear of fire.

However,

Even though they had barely managed to survive the initial impact of the stampede,

The true crisis awaited them now that the stampede had passed.