"Achilles? Haven't you been assisting your brother Mars in the Western Territories?"
Upon seeing Achilles, Hannibal, usually cold and ruthless, showed a rare expression of ecstasy.
Achilles said with a cold face, "Mars wanted me to detour through the Kushan and Peacock Empires on my way to Jiaozhou, but I found the journey too long. Relying on my knowledge of the terrain of the Great Gan Kingdom, I bypassed the western borders and came directly from the plateau, Xichuan, and the Southern Barbarian regions. I managed to shorten the time, and my Holy Dragon Shadow has grown thin."
Gongyang Qiu gratefully said, "If it weren't for Mr. Achilles' help, I fear I would have already been executed by slow slicing..."
Hannibal sighed, "Alexander actually died in Luzhou... What methods does Liang Xiao of Great Gan possess? Don't we have sixty ballistae?"
Xiao Chang quickly explained, "The ballistae were completely unable to shake the walls of any city in the Great Gan Kingdom. During the siege, dozens of them were destroyed by Great Gan's trebuchets and triple-bow catapults. Later, Marshal Alexander used the ballistae in field battles to destroy enemy heavy infantry, who would have thought..."
Upon hearing Xiao Chang's explanation of the situation, everyone was shocked and paled.
Hannibal said indignantly, "Why were the walls of Great Gan's cities built so thick? Did they foresee that we would bring ballistae? Even with a warning from the Western Territories, they couldn't have possibly reinforced the city walls to this extent in such a short time!"
"Liang Xiao proposed the reinforcement two or three years ago. Perhaps because Liang Xiao himself knew the power of Great Gan's trebuchets, he reinforced the city walls to withstand them..." Gongyang He said with a dry laugh.
Hannibal was speechless.
Preparing for this two or three years in advance indicated that Liang Xiao had anticipated that Jiaozhou would definitely send troops from the southwest. The Great Gan Kingdom was fully prepared for this, which was extremely disadvantageous to them!
Achilles gritted his teeth, "I refuse to believe that the martial prowess of the Sun God Tribe's war god will lose its value!"
"The enemy's sorcery iron balls are far more powerful than ballistae and trebuchets; we absolutely must not be hit!" Xiao Che reminded him.
"Don't worry, the Holy Dragon Shadow's reaction speed is extremely fast, enough to dodge the sorcery iron balls!" Achilles said with confidence, then a fierce look appeared on his face, "But my purpose here is to slay the Heavenly General of the Great Gan Kingdom. He will definitely appear on the Luzhou battlefield!"
Hannibal quickly pulled Achilles' sleeve and said earnestly, "The situation is not good now. Our army has shifted from offense to defense, and morale is low. You should prioritize the overall situation and lead the Heavenly Sun Elite Cavalry to destroy the enemy's supply lines!"
Achilles merely nodded, neither agreeing nor disagreeing.
After the disastrous defeat at Luzhou, the Heavenly Sun cavalry also learned their lesson. They donned full armor again to prevent their horse legs from being easily severed by the enemy's great swords.
This great battle should not have resulted in such heavy losses for the cavalry, but this Heavenly Sun cavalry, which had swept through South Asia, was too confident and underestimated the power of Great Gan's weaponry and their meticulous tactical system.
The soldiers of the Great Gan Kingdom now seemed like battle-hardened veterans, capable of surpassing all nations in terms of formation changes, tactical execution, individual quality, and military equipment.
Initially, Xiao Che and others received intelligence from Jiaozhou spies and thought it was an exaggeration, but the defeat at Luzhou convinced them completely.
To deal with such elites, the only way was to cripple their food and supply lines!
However, the Great Gan Kingdom had held out for more than half a year, and had recently completed a harvest...
In the military camp, Hannibal found Xiao Che and the others looking dejected and angrily said, "The Peacock Empire is thousands of miles away and has endured such losses yet persists. Are you willing to let go of this golden opportunity?"
"Our army has not been able to capture a single prefecture or city in the Great Gan Kingdom so far. In contrast, Great Gan has defeated the Xianbei, pacified the Southern Barbarians, burned Japanese ships, and repelled Dali... If we cannot find a breakthrough within two months, our army should consider retreating to defend Jiaozhou!" Xiao Chang said helplessly.
Hannibal said coldly, "Don't worry, I have brought the true elites of the Sun God Tribe. Coincidentally, with Achilles personally leading this elite force, they can fully leverage their absolute advantage!"
The people of Jiaozhou, full of anticipation, followed Hannibal to the cavalry camp and were surprised and delighted to see the distant cavalry unit.
"Such divine soldiers and generals are comparable to the White Robe Army!"
This was an iron cavalry where both man and horse were heavily armored. The horse armor covered their legs, leaving only their hooves visible. They were all blond, blue-eyed, broad-shouldered, and muscular, holding helmets and sabers, draped in golden robes embroidered with a red sun pattern. In the center of the pattern was a white-headed eagle in flight.
"Comparable?" Achilles sneered, "Cavalry is the foundation of the Sun God Tribe's pride and even its fortune. The Heavenly Sun Elite Cavalry are carefully selected from the most authentic Sun God Tribe warriors, equipped with the best military gear. They have always been invincible! Are Great Gan's cavalry worthy of being compared to our tribe's elites? I will show the ants of the Great Gan Kingdom what it means to be invincible!"
Hannibal said proudly, "The existence of the Heavenly Sun Elite Cavalry is to prove to the world that the Sun God Tribe is the hope of this world!"
Everyone had already witnessed Achilles' bravery, especially King Xiao Che of the brocade robe, who believed in it wholeheartedly.
"With the help of the Sun God Tribe's war god, the enemy's supply lines will be cut off!"
In Yuzhang Commandery, over two hundred and fifty thousand troops were assembled, with two hundred thousand designated for the counter-offensive against Jiaozhou.
However, these troops came from Yizhou and Jiangnan, as well as the Central Plains Army, which represented the elites from all over the country. They still needed unified deployment, task assignment, and logistical support, hence they were temporarily training and patrolling in the Yuzhang area.
After meeting up with Liang Xiao, Nan Jiyun also reunited with old comrades-in-arms such as Zhuo Ying, Yue Yun, Shi Liuyun, and Yue Qingtian.
"Is Achilles really that formidable?" Nan Jiyun frowned at the banquet.
"This monk also wants to meet this person on behalf of the Marquis and see how his saber is!" Yue Qingtian said with dissatisfaction.
He had sparred with Heraclius, and they had fought evenly for two hundred rounds in cavalry combat.
However, the battlefield was constantly changing, and he still believed that his ancestral martial arts had a chance to fight.
Thanks to Liang Xiao's gift, this group of famous fierce generals of the Great Gan Kingdom also possessed silver dragon and golden weapons.
Liang Xiao then said, "When encountering each other on the battlefield, it depends on one's state and performance. Qingtian, focus on leading your troops to defeat the enemy. Individual duels between generals on the battlefield are all about fate."
Yue Qingtian nodded incessantly, "This monk understands the importance of the overall situation! Regardless, the Marquis must not take any risks! This monk believes that if it were a fair fight, he could definitely kill him, but we cannot withstand the cunning of the Sun God Tribe!"
Liang Xiao readily agreed.
At the same time, the imperial examinations held in the capital of the Great Gan Kingdom finally had their rankings determined.
The top scholars, second-place scholars, third-place scholars, and many jinshi gathered outside the palace to pay their respects to Xiao Qing.
Wang Canghai and others congratulated Xiao Qing one after another.
"Congratulations, Your Majesty! There are also many scholars ranking high among the commoners. The top scholar is even a prodigy from a commoner background!"
The scrolls were sealed and supervised throughout the entire process by dedicated personnel, preventing any unfair practices. Therefore, the rankings were meaningful, unlike in the past when powerful aristocratic families controlled the imperial examinations.
This top scholar, Li Jun, from a commoner family, was a rare prodigy. It was said that the Anguo Bookshop had lowered book prices, allowing his family to afford books. After years of diligent study, he was full of knowledge.
Even Gu Hong and He Jingyun were convinced and did not express any dissatisfaction despite their own disciples failing to place in the top three.
After the hundred officials congratulated him, Xiao Qing's face was filled with worry, and he shook his head, "However, I am not satisfied!"