Liang Xiao's troops, upon witnessing the astonishing effectiveness of the Que Yue formation ahead, also dispersed with relief. Led by heavy infantry spearmen, with archers following closely, they slowly spread to both flanks, preparing to strike amidst the chaos.
Facing the Que Yue formation of the Great Qian's Iron Guards and Qingtian Guards, the battlefield engagement area for the barbarians was extremely small. The casualties inflicted by the barbarians on the Great Qian's Iron Guards and Qingtian Guards were far less than their own losses.
In a mere two quarters of an hour, swathes of barbarian cavalry fell before the unprecedented Que Yue formation, so much so that it obstructed the barbarian cavalry from the rear from launching new offensive waves.
"Marshal! Our army is unable to break through their battle formation!"
Upon hearing the panicked report from the orderly, Zuo Xian Wang looked incredulous. "The enemy at the front has at most ten thousand men. Sixty thousand men cannot break through??"
The orderly explained, "The armor and weapons of the Great Qian soldiers are far beyond our imagination. Their power and defense are astonishing, and they seem tireless! Those heavy infantry soldiers wielding long sabers, even when fatally wounded, continue to swing their blades, taking our soldiers down with them..."
Zuo Xian Wang's pupils contracted. He seemed to realize something was amiss. "Could it be that Liang Xiao has been secretly accumulating strength, intending to fight a decisive battle with me head-on?"
At this moment, Zuo Xian Wang finally realized that he seemed to have fallen into Liang Xiao's trap. Liang Xiao had used the barbarians' eagerness to break the city, employing that peculiar crescent-shaped formation, complemented by bows and crossbows, to block and deplete the barbarian cavalry!
"His determination to clear the scout outposts around Yanzhou was to facilitate setting up the formation in advance, and to have his cavalry raid our main camp, luring me to send reinforcements. They must have assumed that the Yanzhou defenders, unable to return to the city in time, would surely seize the opportunity to attack. The raid was a feint; the real objective was to use elite infantry to lure me into a decisive battle..."
The more Zuo Xian Wang thought about it, the more his heart pounded with fear. A chill ran from the soles of his feet to the crown of his head, and his teeth began to chatter.
If his suspicions were true, then this Liang Xiao had toyed with him and the barbarian cavalry like puppets!
His self-proclaimed stratagem of luring the snake out of its hole was merely Liang Xiao's own ploy to draw the enemy deeper in!
The advisor beside Zuo Xian Wang looked worried. "Our casualties are heavy. Should we temporarily halt the offensive?"
Hearing this, Zuo Xian Wang, unwilling to concede, roared, "Change the formation and attack again. Their crossbow bolts are ultimately limited!"
The advisor was shocked but had no choice but to arrange for the formation to be reformed.
However, the barbarians at the front were already blinded by bloodlust, and the orders could not be relayed in time. More and more barbarian cavalry charged towards the Que Yue formation, intent on tearing it apart.
Yet, the soldiers on the war chariots, equipped with spears, crossbows, and long sabers, along with reserve heavy shields and soldiers to replace fallen comrades and fill breached defenses, were formidable.
The war horses of the chariots were clad in sturdy iron armor, making it impossible for the barbarian cavalry to cut them down and break the chariots in a short period.
The Four Symbols Que Yue formation, like four grinding machines, continuously reaped the charging barbarian cavalry, crushing the enemy's assaults. A mountain of corpses and a sea of bones had already piled up before the formation!
A furious roar echoed from afar. Yue Qingtian, wielding a Mo Dao, personally cleaved a barbarian general, horse and all, into two, repelling the barbarians!
The barbarians retreated with difficulty, swallowing hard, daring not to approach, their eyes filled with disbelief. How could he achieve such a feat, to split both man and horse?
"The Captain General is mighty!" The Qingtian Guards' morale soared!
It wasn't until after the barbarians suffered tens of thousands of casualties that they finally realized something was amiss.
These Great Qian soldiers were incomparable to the weak forces they had encountered last year! Their will to fight, their equipment, and their formations were almost completely transformed!
The barbarians no longer dared to count their dead or wounded, retreating in terror. The front army retreated, and the rear army surged forward, leading to a stampede.
Liang Xiao watched the enemy's situation from afar. His brow finally unfurled. He then shot a rocket towards the northwest, exuding the spirit of "looking northwest and shooting at Sirius."
Receiving the signal from the northwest rocket, Lü Changhe and Zhuo Ying, who were resting, perked up. They immediately ordered, "Cavalry to stand by, White Robe soldiers to organize and prepare for battle, ready to strike at any moment!"
Liang Xiao had already come down from the city and gone to the stables.
Hong Xiu had already donned his armor and had been waiting for a long time. He knelt before Liang Xiao, "This humble monk, Hong Xiu, bids farewell to the Marquis of An Guo! Old General Hong Xiu bids farewell to the Heavenly General!"
The old monk, who had entered the Buddhist order, could not suppress his overwhelming heroism upon receiving the battle report.
After thanking him, Liang Xiao donned his battle armor, draped himself in a white robe, put on his helmet, replaced his Flying Ephemera Sword with the Cang Sheng Sword, lifted the Heaven Dragon Breaking City Halberd, and mounted his horse.
Bai Ye Fei Ying was unusually excited tonight, whinnying towards the sky, its sound like muffled thunder, before galloping away into the dust.
During Liang Xiao's absence, the barbarian cavalry had finally experienced the might of the Great Qian's Iron Guards, Qingtian Guards, powerful crossbows, and ballistae, coordinated with the Que Yue formation. Staring at the pile of corpses before them, their morale was low.
Their cavalry, after a century of rest and preparation, and with the covert support of the Great Qian's wealthy and powerful, had conquered in all directions without defeat, known as invincible throughout the land, recognized by all nations. Last year, they were routed by the Heavenly General's team! This year, they were slaughtered by a mere scholar, the Great Qian's Marquis of An Guo, through formations! The disparity in casualties was outrageous! They had clearly seen that out of the four crescent formations, one might have lost only three to four hundred men, while the others lost at most eight hundred. Half of those were shot to death by the barbarian cavalry's crossbows, and a few others died of exhaustion while facing the charge! The Great Qian soldiers who truly died under the barbarian cavalry's blades were possibly less than half!
At this moment, the barbarians, adept at archery and cavalry warfare, finally realized how ridiculous and tragic their fierce assault was; they were simply sending themselves to their deaths! The barbarian cavalry halted, and regardless of the orders from the front-line generals, no one dared to launch a rash attack anymore. Because, by this time, the corpses piled before those few formations numbered in the tens of thousands...
"Marshal has ordered a temporary halt to the attack!"
By the time Zuo Xian Wang's order reached the front lines, the orderly was dumbfounded! The front was almost entirely filled with the corpses of barbarians and their warhorses. In front of the Great Qian soldiers stood four similar, impregnable formations, more formidable than city walls!
The over ten thousand surviving Great Qian Iron Guards and Qingtian Guards showed no signs of complacency, only looking at the bodies of their comrades who had died with a smile beside them, their hearts filled with grief and indignation.
"Why begrudge a hundred deaths to repay home and country? To sigh in regret, with nothing left to say, tears of blood filling our eyes!"
At this moment, the soldiers finally profoundly understood the meaning of the war song Liang Xiao had left behind. "With ambition, we'll feast on the flesh of barbarians; with laughter, we'll drink the blood of the Xiongnu. Only by advancing wave upon wave can we honor our fallen comrades!"
The logistical troops, who had been pretending to retreat back to the city to deceive the barbarians, had already returned within the city.
"Marshal has ordered the Que Yue formation to defend the city, and the entire army to attack!"
Orderlies from all over conveyed the final military order with trembling voices. Even Liang Xiao's deputy marshal was misreported as marshal. But no one cared about such minor details. A roar erupted from the rear of the Great Qian army, accompanied by the blare of horns and drums. The eleven thousand men who had been prepared for battle removed the chevaux de frise and poured out like a tidal wave! Even the Great Qian cavalry had changed into new warhorses and galloped out of their main camp.
"Marshal! The enemy army has suddenly launched a charge!"
Zuo Xian Wang, who was arranging for the withdrawal and rest, was filled with shock and anger. "Damn it! Why have we suffered such heavy losses?!" He had just done a preliminary assessment of casualties; his own cavalry losses might have exceeded fifty thousand... Losing fifty thousand elite cavalry abroad, what did that mean? It was enough to strike terror into the heart of any commander!
"The Great Qian cavalry is attacking!!" The barbarian cavalry was already exhausted, both men and horses. The rested cavalry seized the opportunity, poised to sweep through thousands of enemy troops.
The waning moon in the sky, at some unknown time, had emerged from the clouds, draping the battlefield anew with a layer of silver gauze.
Simultaneously, a thunderous neigh of warhorses echoed from afar. A white silhouette shot out of the city gate, flashing past. Within a few breaths, it arrived at the main camp of the White Robe soldiers! The White Robe soldiers, who were preparing to attack with Lü Changhe, all had their pupils contract. The general on the horse, his white robe fluttering in the wind, wore a devil mask, and wielded the Heaven Dragon Breaking City Halberd, exuding immense power. The God of War had returned! The spirit of the army still lived! Legend, immortal!!!