Dark Sand: My Players Are All Actors
Chapter 164 - 159: Slay the General, Unhorse the Steed

Chapter 164: Chapter 159: Slay the General, Unhorse the Steed

Zhao Haiping and the precious warhorse stared at each other, wide-eyed.

Without stirrups, how could he ride?

Zhao Haiping couldn’t help but recall his experience in the third stage of the grunt trial instance.

Back then, he had played the role of a Deputy General, riding through the blockade of the Beidi barbarians to summon reinforcements amid the blinding snowstorm.

And the horse he had ridden had also been without stirrups.

This was not surprising since the grunt trial instance took place during the Chu Dynasty, while Qin Kaiyun’s era was at the crossroads of the Wei and Qi.

As for stirrups, they had only been officially invented towards the middle to later periods of the Great Wei...

Of course, looking on the bright side, although there were no stirrups in this era, at least there were saddles.

If there weren’t even saddles, the riding experience would have been incredibly bitter, almost unimaginable.

As for why Zhao Haiping was able to complete the grunt trial despite the lack of stirrups?

The reason was simple, he had obtained the talent skill "Proficient in Archery and Horsemanship"!

Without this talent, not only would riding through the enemy be out of the question, but staying on the warhorse without being bucked off would have been a victory.

The Return Order’s talent skills were quite magical; they could directly inject a set of highly developed muscle memories into a player’s body. So, even without stirrups, Zhao Haiping had still mastered the top riding skills of that age due to the relevant muscle memories.

And for a top cavalryman of that age, not having stirrups was quite normal.

So, at that time, Zhao Haiping naturally neglected this issue, feeling nothing amiss whatsoever.

Of course, in the gameplay of the Return Order Expedition, there were players who had captured the warhorses of bandits and had enjoyed a taste of being cavalry.

But that was because, by that era, stirrups had already become widespread.

And now, the situation Zhao Haiping faced was the difficulty squared.

He had neither the talent for horsemanship nor stirrups!

Stirrups, as one of the great inventions during the age of cold weapons, were obviously crucial for cavalry. Their main purpose, in conjunction with the high bow saddle, was to help the cavalry stabilize force from all four directions—front, back, left, and right—making it less likely to fall off the horse.

In the era without stirrups and high bow saddles, records of cavalry falling from their horses during battle were not uncommon.

Of course, does that mean cavalry would be useless without stirrups?

Not necessarily.

There were large-scale cavalry battles even before the invention of stirrups, and there were also generals famous for their riding skills. Like many northern nomadic tribes, even without stirrups, they were able to achieve a unity between horse and rider.

It would simply require much greater effort in comparison to having stirrups.

Now, having neither the talent for enhancing horsemanship nor stirrups, Zhao Haiping was stumped.

"General?" asked the Deputy General, seated on his horse, somewhat puzzled.

Zhao Haiping had no choice but to bite the bullet, grabbed the saddle with both hands, and leaped!

To his surprise, he landed steadily atop the horse.

Zhao Haiping silently reveled in his luck: "Not bad, there wasn’t the sort of wipeout I’d imagined.

"Do you mean to say that I’m using the body of the famous general, Qin Kaiyun?

"That would be freaking awesome!"

The owner of Chi Ji was undoubtedly one of the pinnacles of martial prowess in ancient history, with a renown that rivaled the overlord.

Zhao Haiping had never expected that a mere Cavalry Trial instance would actually merit the presence of such an esteemed historical figure.

Nevertheless, regardless of anything, the physical condition of this body was more than enough.

Since he was Qin Kaiyun, he surely possessed excellent riding skills.

It’s just that these riding skills were currently hidden in his muscle memory, and without related talent skills, Zhao Haiping would need to slowly activate them.

"Charge!"

Zhao Haiping flicked the reins and led the generals in a charge toward the enemy army.

But after only a few steps, Zhao Haiping felt that something was indeed not right.

It was too strange! Too insecure!

During the horse’s gallop, with both feet dangling, he always felt he’d be thrown off at any second, and even gripping the reins was difficult.

Furthermore, he had to manage holding General Qin’s weapon in one hand—a spear.

General Qin had two weapons; the spear and the Ring-Headed Blade. The spear was actually an exceptionally long lance, over one zhang and eight chi in length, usually wielded on horseback. As for the Ring-Headed Blade, it was a secondary weapon, carried at the waist.

With one hand clutching the horse’s reins and legs dangling in the air, Zhao Haiping’s greatest desire at that moment was to wish his buttocks could sprout suckers to firmly attach to the horse’s back.

Because with every jolt and suspension in the air, he felt as though he was about to separate from his horse.

Fortunately, the muscle memory from passing the soldiers’ trial was still there, and Zhao Haiping soon recalled it.

His legs exerted strength, tightly clamping the horse’s belly, which finally stabilized his body a lot.

This way of riding, compared to using stirrups, greatly increased the exhaustion of physical strength. But there was no helping it, as this was the usual way of riding in this era.

Luckily, Zhao Haiping was now using Qin Kaiyun’s body, which to say was exceptionally strong would be an understatement—’monster-like’ would be a more accurate term, so there was no issue of running out of stamina.

Less than ten kilometers away, the distance was not considered far for a warhorse, but considering the need to conserve the animal’s stamina, they couldn’t start with a full sprint and instead approached at a slow trot.

It wasn’t until they were about five kilometers away, around ten miles or so, that the enemy finally started moving.

Clearly, the enemy had only just noticed Zhao Haiping and his men’s surprise attack.

Zhao Haiping, while riding, noticed that the enemy formation had changed.

At the beginning, this troop was evidently focused on attacking the crossing point. But upon seeing their own troop attacking the rear, they had already started shifting formations.

From the previous encircling formation to a new field-combat formation.

Seeing this, Zhao Haiping couldn’t help but be startled.

The opposing leader was certainly no ordinary adversary!

Theoretically, their own side should have all the advantages attacking the enemy’s rear.

But the enemy leader had quickly responded, managing to change the formation of the troops; this was enough to show that the leader had a clear mind, and that the army was well-trained.

Because changing formation on a real battlefield is absolutely nothing like a strategy game, where pressing a couple of buttons would suffice.

The whole process of changing formation tested the army’s training, organization, and command abilities to the extreme, and only top military leaders could achieve this.

Without the real strength and still trying to force it, there were only two outcomes: one was the formation would collapse, throwing themselves into disarray; the other was it would take a long time, and without a couple of hours, it simply couldn’t be done.

Looking at the enemy now, the speed of changing formation was quite fast. Although it was not perfect, it could be considered orderly and well-maintained.

There were flaws, but as the formation change was completed, these flaws would inevitably disappear gradually.

Zhao Haiping subconsciously thought about charging in faster.

But just after taking a few steps, he heard the Deputy General behind him cry out in panic, "General Qin! Chi Ji is divine and swift; we can’t keep up! Our formation is disorganized, if the General gets trapped, it’ll be troublesome!"

Zhao Haiping thought, maybe there was some truth to that?

The enemy was changing formation and was unsteady on their feet, but wasn’t their own side the same?

His warhorse was indeed fast, but at most only a few of his personal guards and Deputy Generals could keep up. The rest would probably be left far behind.

Charging into the enemy formation like that, wouldn’t it be like serving himself up on a platter?

Even if the enemy’s formation change wasn’t complete, what if they quickly encircled him? What would he do then if he couldn’t fight off so many with just two fists?

It was better to be safe.

With that thought, Zhao Haiping slightly slowed down, waiting for the generals and soldiers behind him to catch up.

Meanwhile, the enemy’s formation change was also completed quickly, and before the two armies could engage, it was essentially complete.

Zhao Haiping adapted quickly. During this charge, the riding skills he had learned with the "Expert Horse Archer" talent in the soldiers’ instance were gradually reawakening. On top of that, he was in General Qin’s body, filled with strength throughout, so by the time he arrived at the enemy line, he was already mostly accustomed to it.

His legs clamped the horse’s belly tightly, and his hands held the spear as he fiercely lunged it towards a commander coming head-on!

It must be said that General Qin’s physique was indeed top-notch, Zhao Haiping felt this stab was powerful and forceful, leveraging the warhorse’s momentum, unstoppable for anyone in the way!

It indeed turned out as such.

The spearhead of the lance pierced through the commander’s armor in an instant, thrusting into his body.

And the commander’s own spear hadn’t even been thrust out yet.

That was the advantage of the longer lance!

Zhao Haiping was thrilled. All of his hard training had not been in vain; the techniques of foot combat could also, to a certain extent, be applied to mounted combat.

In just the first encounter, he had killed an enemy commander!

Although at first glance, the position of this enemy commander didn’t seem very high and his combat strength was average, it still counted as a kill.

However, in the next instant, Zhao Haiping felt something was amiss.

While piercing through the enemy commander, as the two horses crossed, Zhao Haiping felt a strong reaction force transmitted through the lance in his hand. Despite his legs still desperately clamping the horse’s belly, it was to no avail, and he was uncontrollably thrown backward, and then, slid off Chi Ji!

With a "plop," he hit the ground, dust billowing up.

Zhao Haiping was thrown so disoriented, his face filled with question marks.

What just happened?

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