Surprise Attack

The biting cold on the plateau was something the Dragon Cavalry warriors had never experienced before. Although most of them were born in the north, the current period was one of global climatic warming, so winter temperatures rarely dropped below minus ten degrees Celsius. Here, however, the daily high was barely above minus ten degrees, and at night, the temperature plummeted to minus twenty or thirty degrees.

In such extreme cold, the down jackets the soldiers wore suddenly lost their effectiveness; they simply could not provide enough warmth. Especially at night, when the soldiers stopped moving, they would quickly feel chilled to the bone. Su Lie soon realized this problem. After allowing his men to rest for two days, he immediately decided to launch a surprise attack on the enemy on the third night. They had to seize warm clothing for themselves, or they risked suffering non-combat casualties.

At nightfall, Su Lie led the Dragon Cavalry quietly out of the mountain hollow. They wrapped the hooves of their warhorses in thick sheepskin, which muffled the sound of their movement—a significant advantage for their stealth assault. Su Lie led a team of two hundred men to a position less than two miles from the enemy camp, observing the situation through binoculars. They were tasked with infiltrating the Tuyuhun camp to carry out assassinations.

It was very late, yet many enemies were still huddled around campfires for warmth. These were the night sentries. Under normal circumstances, they should have been patrolling the camp, but because of the bitter cold and the rarity of enemy sightings within Tuyuhun territory, their vigilance had waned significantly. This provided the perfect opportunity for Su Lie and his men.

After observing for a while, Su Lie led his team around to the rear of the enemy camp. While there were a few campfires there, there were also many dark corners hidden from the light. Su Lie dispersed his men and snuck in through these shadows. Then, the brutal slaughter began. Moving in teams of five, they infiltrated the yurts one by one, killing the sleeping enemies in their beds.

During this process, they had to carefully avoid several yurts located closer to the campfires. These yurts were larger, clearly housing the high-ranking officers of the enemy force. The protection around them was tighter, with campfires lit both in front and behind. At first, the assassinations proceeded smoothly, with enemies in yurt after yurt being swiftly eliminated.

However, because the enemy was numerous and their yurts were widely scattered, trouble finally arose halfway through the operation. As the group led by Xue Li was about to enter a yurt, a man inside happened to wake up to relieve himself. Xue Li came face-to-face with him. Startled by the sudden appearance of the intruder, the man shouted, "Who goes there?" His cry instantly awakened the others inside.

Seeing this, Xue Li quickly led his men to rush the occupants, but it was already too late. Although they swiftly killed the dozen or so enemies inside, the resistance and shouts of the dying men alerted the neighboring yurts and the sentries gathered around the campfires. In an instant, the entire camp erupted into chaos.

Realizing that stealth was no longer an option, Su Lie knew they had to fight head-on. He immediately pulled out a signal flare—a new piece of equipment for the Tang army—and fired it into the sky. Without hesitation, he led his men in a charge toward the campfires. Leveraging their superior combat skills, they quickly dispatched the enemies near the fires and then used the burning wood to set the yurts ablaze.

Unfortunately, their numbers were too few. They managed to ignite only a few spots before a large number of enemies began to swarm them. Su Lie led his men to the camp gate, aiming to create an opening for the rest of his comrades to enter quickly.

The enemy camp was now in total disarray. Some were chasing Su Lie’s group, while others were frantically trying to put out the fires. The camp was filled with a cacophony of screams, shouts, and the cries of those trapped inside the burning yurts. This noise severely hindered their ability to hear, and it was only when the rest of the Dragon Cavalry charged to the edge of the camp that they felt the tremors in the earth and realized another wave of enemies had arrived. By then, it was too late to react.

The Dragon Cavalry warriors surged into the camp, brandishing their sabers as they cut through the enemy ranks. The shock force of the cavalry was displayed to its full effect against the disorganized Tuyuhun troops. In a single charge, the Dragon Cavalry claimed the lives of over a thousand enemies.

Murong Qing, who was desperately trying to rally his officers, turned deathly pale upon seeing the incoming cavalry. He shouted orders for his soldiers to form a defensive line to block the charge, but he overlooked a terrifying reality: because the attack had been so sudden, many Tuyuhun soldiers had fled their yurts in such a rush that they hadn't even had time to grab their weapons. In their panic, they were unable to offer any effective resistance.

Despite Murong Qing’s frantic shouting, few men followed his commands. Most soldiers chose to flee in terror, lacking the courage to face the Dragon Cavalry. Murong Qing’s shouting failed to rally his troops; instead, it drew the attention of the Dragon Cavalry. A detachment of over a hundred men immediately split from the main force and charged in his direction.

Just as Murong Qing prepared to lead a counter-charge, he was held back by Murong Yunhai. "The situation is already in such chaos, how can we possibly counterattack?" Murong Yunhai cried out anxiously. "We must retreat at once!"

Only then did Murong Qing come to his senses. He quickly gathered his personal guard and ran toward the stables. By now, the entire camp was in complete disarray; if they didn't flee, they would likely be wiped out by the Tang army. The Tuyuhun soldiers were no fools—some ran even faster than Murong Qing. Before long, those who could escape did so on horseback, fleeing wildly. As for those who were already surrounded by the Dragon Cavalry, they met their end in despair.

The Dragon Cavalry force was too small to spare men to guard a large number of prisoners. Therefore, for their enemies, if they could not escape, there was only one path left: death.