piratefiction Chapter 18: The Third Sister-in-Law Makes Her Debut, Displaying the Mastery of Formations!
Chapter 18: The Third Sister-in-Law Makes Her Debut, Displaying the Mastery of Formations!
The sky darkened instantly.
It's not a metaphor; it's a physical phenomenon of something blocking out the sky and the sun.
Two hundred steps away.
The old lady slammed her iron cane heavily onto the city bricks.
Fifty thousand archers simultaneously released the winches.
"Buzz—"
The crossbow bolts, as thick as a child's arm, slammed into the charging cavalry formation of the Northern Rong with terrifying whistles.
Both men and horses were shattered.
The Northern Rong cavalry at the forefront were pierced through by the immense kinetic energy, one crossbow bolt piercing through three or four warhorses like a string of candied hawthorns, finally pinning them firmly to the frozen ground, their tail feathers still trembling violently.
Limbs and severed arms exploded in mid-air amidst a rain of blood.
Wei Zhao sat on his white horse, watching this scene with cold eyes.
That's too violent.
The penetrating power of a ballista is simply beyond what flesh and blood can withstand.
But he knew very well that this was just an appetizer.
A charge of 500,000 troops cannot be stopped by a few volleys of arrows.
The real battle is yet to come.
"Change formation!"
The heavy shield bearers in the front row let out a unified roar.
The 150,000 Wei family infantrymen split apart in an instant, transforming into fifteen black torrents that crashed into the Northern Rong army.
Without the slightest cowardice.
Wei Zhao could clearly feel that the invisible field around him was boiling.
The passive skills of the White-Clad Killer are fully activated.
Before charging forward, the soldiers glanced back at the figure in white beneath the banner.
The head coach wasn't wearing armor.
The head coach stood with them.
A surge of fanatical rage erupted within the chests of 150,000 infantrymen.
The weariness and hunger in their eyes vanished, replaced by pure madness.
With their spears held high and their steps heavy, they didn't resemble an army starving; rather, they looked like a pack of hungry wolves that had caught the scent of blood, baring their fangs and pouncing on their prey.
Munchtooth Shigeru frowned as he watched from horseback.
How come these hungry ghosts are even more ferocious than when they're full?
His reckless attitude even made his seasoned veterans a little scared.
We cannot confront them head-on.
He has an absolute advantage in troop strength.
"Pass on the order!"
Inuya Shigeru yanked the reins, his saber pointing forward:
"Send the 200,000 infantrymen forward to hold them off head-on! The remaining 300,000 cavalry will split into two groups, flank them from both sides, and tear their formation apart!"
A sinister smile curled at the corner of his mouth.
Infantry charge?
court death!
Once their flanks are cut off by the cavalry, these 150,000 men will be lambs to the slaughter.
The bugle calls of the Northern Rong have changed.
The cavalry on both sides began to accelerate, preparing to draw two huge arcs to encircle the enemy.
Just then.
"Report—!"
A piercing scream came from the rear of the Northern Rong army as a scout covered in blood scrambled into the center of the army.
"Young Prince! We've been attacked from the rear! Heavy armored troops! It's Wei's heavy armored troops!"
Shigeru with canine teeth suddenly turned around.
On the horizon, a black iron wall is pushing forward.
There were no neighing warhorses, only the uniform clanging of metal.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!"
Fifty thousand fully armored iron cans, like an emotionless bulldozer, crashed directly into the unsuspecting backs of the Northern Rong army.
A scream instantly filled the sky.
The Northern Rong's rear supply battalion and rear guard were crushed like paper.
A pincer attack from both sides.
Munchtooth's eyes turned red.
Fifty thousand infantrymen dared to provoke an army of five hundred thousand?
That crazy woman, Huo Qingluan, is really courting death!
"Crazy woman!"
He gritted his teeth, his eyes filled with rage.
"Tell the cavalry on both sides to forget about what's ahead! Turn around! Full speed ahead! Crush those 50,000 iron turtles into iron pancakes!"
The rear of the Northern Rong army.
A massive chariot, pulled by eight horses, stood in the center of 50,000 heavily armored soldiers.
On the chariot, Huo Qingluan wore a light blue double-breasted long dress, covered by a light silver soft armor.
The mountain wind made her skirt flutter, but her aloof and beautiful face remained expressionless.
She carried no knife, only a battle flag in her hand.
Unlike Liu Jingshuang, who exuded a murderous aura from fighting her way through mountains of corpses and seas of blood, Huo Qingluan possessed an absolute rationality.
She didn't even blink as she watched the 300,000 Northern Rong cavalrymen surging towards her like a tsunami.
Three hundred thousand cavalry charged into the enemy lines. Huo Qingluan pondered this in her mind.
Due to the narrow terrain, they couldn't spread out their forces and could only use piecemeal tactics.
Dogtooth Mao, you underestimate the Huo family's formation.
She suddenly waved the battle flag in her hand.
"Black Tortoise Formation, complete."
The 50,000 heavily armored soldiers instantly changed formation.
The soldiers on the outer perimeter slammed the tower shields, each as tall as a person, into the ground, their bodies bracing against the shield's back.
The spears in the back row protruded through the gaps in the shield, layer upon layer, transforming into a giant steel hedgehog.
"Bang--!"
The Northern Rong cavalry clashed with them.
The sounds of warhorses breaking bones and cavalrymen screaming mingled together.
The Northern Rong cavalry at the front were riddled with spears, and the cavalry behind them couldn't stop and crashed into the corpses in front of them.
The momentum of the 300,000 cavalrymen's charge was actually brought to a halt by these 50,000 iron cans.
Huo Qingluan twisted her wrist, and the battle flags changed again.
"twist."
The Xuanwu Formation cracked open with countless gaps, and the heavily armored soldiers, in groups of three—one holding a shield and the other wielding a horse-slaying sword—dragged the slowed Northern Rong cavalry into the formation.
The blade struck the heavy armor, leaving only a white mark.
The heavily armored soldiers swung their heavy swords, cleaving men and horses in two.
The heavily armored army's position had completely turned into a highly efficient meat grinder.
Limbs and severed arms flew through the air, and blood melted the frozen soil on the ground, turning it into a dark red swamp.
The Northern Rong cavalry charged in wave after wave, only to be cut down in large numbers.
Wei Zhao sat on his white horse, watching the chaos behind the Northern Rong army, and a slow smile crept onto his lips.
Three hundred thousand cavalrymen were tied down by Third Sister-in-law.
Quanya Mao now only has 200,000 infantrymen left in front, and their formation has been broken by the 150,000 infantrymen of the Wei family army.
The time has come!
Now, you have no cards left in your hand.
He turned his head and looked at the old lady on the city wall.
The old lady nodded slightly, then slammed her iron cane down heavily.
"Shuang Jing".
Wei Zhao spoke, his voice not loud, but it carried a cold and hard tone.
Liu Jingshuang could no longer contain herself. She drew her long sword from her waist, the blade pointing straight ahead.
"The Imperial Guard! The Old Madam's personal troops!"
Her voice pierced the battlefield:
"Mount up!"
Twenty thousand cavalrymen simultaneously mounted their horses.
Wei Zhao glanced at the team.
Ten thousand were his personal guards who followed him through the pass, and ten thousand were veteran soldiers under the old lady's command.
This was the only remaining mobile force within Yanmen Pass, and also the final killing blow in this battle.
"kill!"
Liu Jingshuang took the lead, her white wax spear transforming into a shooting star as it plunged directly into the formation of the Northern Rong infantry.
Twenty thousand elite cavalry followed closely behind, like a sharp scalpel, stabbing fiercely into the heart of Junya Mao through the tear in the infantry's body.
Shigeru was completely dumbfounded.
He watched helplessly as the 20,000 Wei cavalrymen rampaged through his infantry ranks.
A saber was brandished, and heads rolled off.
The Northern Rong infantry were no match for the cavalry charge, and their defensive line collapsed instantly.
What's going on?
Shigeru's mind was buzzing.
I brought 300,000 cavalry, but now my cavalry are stuck in the back, while the enemy cavalry are charging at my infantry right in front of me.
We, the Northern Rong, are the true people who live on horseback!
How did the war get like this?!
"Young Prince! We can't stop them!"
The lieutenant, covered in blood, rushed over, his voice trembling with sobs:
"The Wei cavalry is too fierce; our front is about to be breached!"
Inuya Shigeru stared intently at Wei Zhao in the distance.
The young man in white remained seated quietly on horseback, without even changing his posture.
This is not a desperate struggle at all.
This was a premeditated ambush!