Thousands of Tianri cavalrymen, faces etched with fear, desperately fled towards their main formation.
"Insolent light cavalry, how dare you encroach upon the northern borders of my Qian Dynasty!"
Zuo Wuji, radiating imposing might, his hair bristling with rage, led the charge, pursuing relentlessly. Along the way, hundreds more Tianri cavalrymen were caught and unhorsed by the Northern Border cavalry.
Mars, whose situation was already precarious, saw the developments in the distance and made a swift decision.
"Station your archers to hold the line! Prohibit all approaching troops from the northeast from assaulting our main formation!"
"Marshal Mars, those are our cavalry approaching!" the Tianri cavalry generals exclaimed in alarm.
"I said station your archers to hold the line!!" Mars roared, grabbing the general who had spoken.
As the order was given, the soldiers who had been preparing to welcome their own Tianri cavalrymen gritted their teeth and unleashed volleys of arrows towards the northeast.
"Our own people!"
The front rank of Tianri cavalrymen were struck down, but those behind raised the White Eagle battle flags, to no avail.
Their response was round after round of merciless arrow rain.
The desperate race against time made these Tianri cavalrymen quickly understand the situation. Terrified, they could only circle around to the rear of the main formation.
Zuo Wuji, relying on the cotton armor and light shields that protected his men, continued his pursuit.
The arrival of over ten thousand Northern Border cavalry further exacerbated the already unfavorable situation for the Tianri forces.
This force did not directly assault the enemy's main formation, but because the pursuing Tianri cavalry in front formed a peculiar "cover," the enemy dared not rashly employ crossbows against them.
Thus, both sides continued to race towards the rear of the Tianri troops. The Tianri troops in the rear, having not received the order to fire, were in a state of utter confusion.
"Idiots! Shoot them all!"
Mars' eyes bulged with fury as he roared the order, but it was too late.
The front lines and the rear guard were several miles apart, and the battlefield was incredibly noisy. Now, with the front suffering a disadvantage, morale was wavering, and the transmission of orders was half as slow as usual.
Liang Xiao, commanding from the highlands, saw Zuo Wuji's surprise attack on the enemy's rear and finally showed a satisfied smile. "Well done, an old hand is still the best."
Zuo Wuji's arrival was undoubtedly the final straw that broke the camel's back.
The Tianri soldiers on the front lines charged towards the Great Qian army formations with utter disregard for their lives. Even with the battlefield filled with artillery fire, it did not dampen their ferocity.
The Great Qian soldiers also understood that they were facing an unprecedentedly "mad" enemy and dared not be careless, tightening their shield walls.
Upon learning that there were no longer any flying stones, Qin Feng immediately mobilized the archers to the front lines. Under the cover of the shield walls, longbows unleashed another volley that darkened the sky.
Tens of thousands of arrows, combined with Shen Bi bows, were like a plague of locusts, piercing the armor of the Tianri vanguard death squads and reaping hundreds of lives.
The clash between the two sides had become a meat grinder, with the Tianri forces suffering a casualty rate of at least ninety percent!
In contrast, the Great Qian army, apart from the loss of several hundred heavily armored spearmen and shield bearers on the vanguard, only had a few archers wounded by enemy fire within range.
Liang Xiao did not become complacent upon seeing the battle damage report; he continued to increase the intensity, deploying Shenwu cannons and flintlock soldiers, constantly pushing them towards the front lines.
Another earth-shattering roar of Shenwu cannons tore through the Tianri forces, claiming over a thousand lives.
Heavy armor and mail, normally capable of withstanding arrows, were as brittle as paper against the new weaponry.
"What kind of sorcery is this iron ball?"
The surviving Tianri elite cavalry in the front ranks watched in horror as the projectiles on their comrades' bodies could pierce iron armor.
Even longbows and the Great Qian's own forces could at most penetrate armor and wound flesh by a few inches from such distances.
These projectiles had completely punched through the chest cavity, taking man and armor with them?
"Don't just stand there! Our army is well-rested, we absolutely cannot let the Qian Dynasty have a moment's respite!!"
But the督战队 (supervising troops) in the rear continued to roar their urgings, forcing the Tianri cavalry to cooperate with the heavy infantry in launching a new wave of charge.
Liang Xiao, watching the situation at the front lines from afar, felt an inexplicable unease.
In the past, with such a formation, the Great Qian army would have been invincible, and the enemy would have routed with over thirty percent casualties.
But now, his soldiers were facing a rabid dog of an army. The vanguard, in such a disadvantageous position, had not shown any clear signs of collapse!
The Tianri Cult!
Liang Xiao instantly understood the root of the problem.
The fanaticism of religion made these Tianri people, who were already of cannibalistic origins, even more ferocious, like man-eating demons. Once their ferocity was ignited, it was a fight to the death, which was why the Western Continent had been repeatedly wiped out. Under normal circumstances, population was a precious resource, and conquerors would not slaughter entire populations but would choose to enslave them.
"These are the true native soldiers of the Tianri people, from their so-called 'holy land.' The future Great Qian Dynasty absolutely must not allow any religion to participate in politics!"
With unwavering conviction, Liang Xiao's killing intent surged.
No matter what, the enemy must be annihilated; they must not be allowed to return alive!
"Cavalry, prepare for pursuit!"
Liang Xiao's order was given, and the flintlock soldiers and Great Qian horse archers, who had been engaged in volley fire, immediately returned to their positions to rest.
"Advance!"
The Great Qian army formation, exceeding 150,000 men, advanced in unison, a seamless whole. Even the Shenwu cannons and Hui Hui cannons were pulled forward by numerous horses with chains.
The battlefield was filled with the continuous crackle of gunfire and the whistling of crossbow bolts, punctuated by screams.
More and more Tianri soldiers fell on the front lines, creating mountains of corpses and seas of bones.
Even so, the Great Qian army advanced in an orderly fashion, scattering these corpses and trampling forward.
"The Emperor has decreed! The White Ghosts shall be beheaded!"
The Great Qian soldiers finally heard the roaring command of the heralds and shouted in unison, the entire army acting as one, pushing forward furiously, assaulting the Tianri army formation.
Qin Feng, from his vantage point on the front highlands, also noticed the enemy's northern flank loosening due to Zuo Wuji's forces' assault and immediately directed the infantry to focus their attack there.
That was where the British forces led by John were positioned.
"John, withdraw your British contingent!"
Mars sensed the turn of events on the battlefield and immediately urged John to mobilize.
Just as John was about to leave, a flying horse arrived from the front lines with a report: "Marshal! The British formation has collapsed!"
"How so quickly!" Mars was both shocked and furious.
John was deeply ashamed.
The British soldiers were ordinary people who had accepted the teachings of the Tianri Cult, but they were not as fanatical as the cultists. Faced with the Great Qian's firearms and cannons, their courage had long since fled. After only resisting for a quarter of an hour, their shield wall was pierced by gunfire and cannons, and they endured a relentless barrage of crossbow bolts, while the Great Qian heavy infantry continuously pressed forward.
Disintegrated!
The situation unfolded like a row of dominoes collapsing. The Tianri cavalry, pursued by the Northern Border cavalry, disrupted the order in the rear, exacerbating the rout of the British forces, and the Tianri finally fell into complete decline.
"Marshal! Our front line is in disarray!!"
Receiving the urgent report, Mars did not panic but instead revealed a ferocious smile.
"Activate the trebuchets immediately!"
The three hundred replica Hui Hui cannons hidden by the Tianri forces had not gone to the front lines with the five hundred Hui Hui cannons. Mars had been waiting.
"Whoosh—"
Two hundred stone projectiles rained down, landing consecutively in the Great Qian army formation, killing over a hundred Great Qian soldiers in a single volley.