Startled by the unexpected turn of events, Helian Heng lost his balance and fell from his horse. He was helped up by his subordinates.
Adjusting his askew helmet, Helian Heng roared, "How is this possible! Didn't Liang Xiao go to Liaodong?"
Helian Ting, standing beside him, suddenly recalled something and stammered, "My lord, perhaps Lü Changhe is merely using Nan Jiyun as a front, or perhaps... Liang Xiao has been leading troops to support Hanzhong all along, with Lü Changhe acting as a diversion for the journey to Liaodong!"
Helian Heng's pupils constricted, a sense of foreboding washing over him. "No wonder the Da Qian army's movements have been so erratic, and they haven't allowed any outsiders near the troops. Our spies haven't returned yet..."
Among the hundreds of thousands of Yan Province troops, there were bound to be enemy spies.
And his spies had not managed to escape from Liang Xiao's forces to report back!
Either they met with misfortune along the way, or they had no opportunity to leave the ranks!
If it was the latter, it would signify the terrifying discipline of the Da Qian army and how strictly their command was implemented down to the last soldier!
But Helian Heng had no time to ponder this, as shouts erupted from the front lines: "The troops of Da Qian's Marquis of Anguo are here!!"
Helian Heng was still uncertain if this was truly Liang Xiao's force. He knew that retreating now would incur heavy losses, so he could only brace himself and meet the enemy.
If Lü Changhe was merely bluffing, then with his own troop strength, he could completely repel or even annihilate Lü Changhe's forces!
Liang Xiao's army had already arrived at the battlefront.
Through the close coordination of commanders and officers, the entire army strictly followed Liang Xiao's orders. Upon estimating they were within five li of the enemy, they changed formation, adopting offense as defense, and caught the enemy off guard before they could regroup.
The Da Qian soldiers, who had been holding back their frustration for two months, their eyes lit up at the sight of Helian Heng's army's banners. Driven by a renewed vigor, they surged towards the rebel forces five li away.
Helian Heng's side, however, had stretched their marching line over ten li, making rapid consolidation difficult.
Helian Heng had not anticipated that Liang Xiao would dare to undertake such a long and arduous march, pursuing him from Yan Province all the way to Hanzhong, and then launching an offensive from Hanzhong. This was a campaign of exhaustion, and even if they had reached this point, they would be at their limit...
From the moment he believed Liang Xiao had gone to Liaodong, he had been trapped in Liang Xiao's intricate calculations. It was too late.
Meanwhile, the Sun-Moon Army and the Spring Rejuvenation Cult, with their combined forces of sixty thousand, were also marching urgently from the rear, hoping to catch up with Helian Heng's troops as soon as possible, lest the Helian family monopolize Hanzhong.
"What kind of intoxicating elixir did Helian Heng take to march with such desperation?" the Brocade-Robed King raged on the road.
To catch up with Helian Heng, they too were forced to march relentlessly, leaving their soldiers exhausted.
Master Longyue, who usually wore a perpetual half-smile, now had a stern expression. "He must be intending to seize Hanzhong and declare himself emperor while Liang Xiao is in Liaodong! But we cannot afford internal conflict now. Each of us must act independently. Your Majesty, please quell your anger..."
Considering the transformed Da Qian army, the Brocade-Robed King lost his temper and could only order the Sun-Moon Army to continue their march without rest.
The Sun-Moon Army and the Spring Rejuvenation Cult, due to their day and night pursuit of Helian Heng, were also utterly worn out...
In the desolate mountains and wilderness, the sounds of battle roared!
The Da Qian soldiers, led by the Sky-Lifting Guards and the Da Qian Garrison, pushed forward, rapidly advancing towards Helian Heng's formations.
The earth-shattering war cries and roars caused the recently revived trees along the way to shed their leaves. The forest rustled, and birds took flight in alarm.
"About how many enemy soldiers are there!"
Helian Heng, in the center of his army, ascended a small hill and asked urgently.
"Reporting to my lord, their numbers are comparable to ours!!"
The messenger reported back at the quickest pace, startling Helian Heng so much that he tumbled off the hill again!
"M-my lord, should we retreat!" Half of the strategists began to panic.
Helian Heng whipped a strategist's face, drawing a bloody gash, and roared, "Retreating now would bring nothing but harm and forever extinguish our chance to rise and establish ourselves! Are the Sun-Moon Army and the Spring Rejuvenation Cult not still on their way? Engage them immediately! Even if we lose this battle, we can defend our position and retreat to Jiange! Liang Xiao's troops have been on a long expedition for two months and must be exhausted. This terrain is not conducive to large-scale cavalry operations. We can fight this battle, defeat the enemy, and with Hanzhong demoralized, we can seize it!"
"Engage the enemy immediately! Longbows! Catapults! Ballistas! Get them all ready!"
Facing an unknown number of Da Qian soldiers, Helian Heng chose to go all in.
Just then, the mountains and plains echoed with the furious roars of the Da Qian soldiers.
"The Royal Army of Da Qian is here! We pacify Xichuan and punish the disloyal!"
"Our commander, Marquis of Anguo Liang Xiao, has ordered! Capture the prime culprit Helian Heng. Those who surrender will be spared, and those who resist will be killed! Those who abandon the darkness and embrace the light will be rewarded!"
"To pacify Xichuan, the common people will have land to cultivate and will no longer be exploited by landlords!!"
Tens of thousands of voices roared in unison, shaking the mountains and rivers. Even the rebel soldiers several li away could hear them clearly.
"We are fighting the Marquis of Anguo?"
Before the two armies even engaged, Helian Heng's soldiers fell into a brief but profound moment of self-doubt.
Several thousand soldiers, upon hearing the roars of the Da Qian soldiers and seeing the hundreds of conspicuous Da Qian banners in the distance, found their weapon-wielding hands beginning to tremble!
[Grand Marshal Liang Xiao], [Grand General of Cavalry Liang Xiao], [Marquis of Anguo Liang Xiao]...
All the banners, without exception, bore Liang Xiao's name!
"It really is Marquis of Anguo Liang Xiao who has come, not some Lü Changhe..."
The divine general of Da Qian who had beheaded over half a million barbarian cavalry, the sage of Da Qian who implemented reforms beneficial to the nation and its people, why was he opposing such a person...
Helian Heng noticed the commotion in the front lines, with a large number of soldiers halting their advance. He immediately understood that Liang Xiao's psychological warfare had taken effect. With a decisive command, he sent his two thousand elite troops directly to the front.
With morale wavering, the vanguard could not break under any circumstances. If the vanguard collapsed, it would be tantamount to a complete rout!
Two thousand armored elites, one thousand of them clad in heavy armor, carrying large shields and long spears, formed a barrier at the front of the line.
Behind them, archers mixed with a small contingent of longbowmen and ballistas stood ready.
The Sky-Lifting Guards and the Da Qian Iron Guards were all equipped with infantry armor; among them were two hundred sets of plate armor. The central army consisted of longbows, divine-arm crossbows, and three-bow ballistas, totaling over thirty thousand.
Observing from the hilltop, Liang Xiao noticed that the enemy indeed had longbows among their ranks and became vigilant. He immediately dispatched two hundred plate-armored Sky-Lifting Guards to the position closest to the enemy's longbowmen.
Due to the rugged terrain of the Shu region, Liang Xiao had not brought many war chariots this time. All the charioteers had been converted into heavy infantry, armed with long spears and heavy shields, protecting the vanguard.
As the two armies unleashed thunderous war cries, the Da Qian soldiers and Helian Heng's rebels formally clashed!
Longbows, divine-arm crossbows, and three-bow ballistas combined to unleash a hail of tens of thousands of arrows, covering the sky like a swarm of locusts, aimed at Helian Heng's elite vanguard.
Longbows fired in parabolic arcs, divine-arm crossbows fired directly, ballistas fired at long range to break shields, supplemented by ordinary strong bows and powerful crossbows...
With the coordinated fire of various crossbows, the first volley of arrows, like a swarm of locusts passing by, streaked across the sky in dense parabolic trajectories, landing in the center of the rebel vanguard, directly targeting the archers!
In an instant, countless casualties were inflicted!
One hundred three-bow ballistas fired from the high ground in the rear, specifically targeting the enemy's shield formations.
"Boom!"