Along the Yellow River…
Countless ships were moored by the riverbank, the banners bearing the character "Yuan" fluttering in the wind.
Indeed, the fifty thousand Yuan troops had arrived by boat, but at this moment… these countless vessels had become their last straw!
A line of infantry stood before the ships, in this open terrain, standing ready!
The flying army banners, some inscribed with the words "Xian Zhen," and some dark brown banners bearing the characters "Long Xiao" gleamed resplendently!
They were none other than the seven hundred strong Xian Zhen Camp under Gao Shun! However… their name had been slightly altered – the Long Xiao Camp, the Xian Zhen Legion!
Clad in fine steel Xuan armor, with silver masks covering their faces, they held their twin-handed Mo Dao blades upright before their chests, standing ready…
Seven hundred men, this mere seven-hundred-strong legion, the aura they exuded was such that… even a ten-thousand-strong legion might not match it!
And before them.
Gradually, dust billowed, and a tattered banner bearing the character "Yuan" came into view.
"Da da da…"
Countless irregular, chaotic hoofbeats resounded, a remnant Yuan army of tens of thousands of cavalry was fleeing in disarray towards them.
Every rider's eyes glinted with a desperate green light, as if… the ships by the Yellow River had now become their sole hope!
…
"They're here!"
On a dirt slope to the side, two young men stood. One of them had a sword at his waist, though he wore scholarly robes. He was the first to speak with emotion…
Who else could it be but the "Sword Hero" Xu Shu!
The other person was naturally Lu Yu…
Behind them, Dian Wei led a contingent of Long Xiao Camp warriors, standing ready…
And the expressions of the two were vastly different. Facing over twenty thousand enemy cavalry… Lu Yu appeared very relaxed, while Xu Shu’s eyes held a touch of tension.
Indeed…
Xu Shu had been traveling in the same carriage as Lu Yu all along, and he knew the entire plan clearly.
—The first step was to use troop movements to gather Yuan Shao’s army at Yan Jin, and then launch a surprise attack on Baima with the Long Xiao Cavalry, Tiger Cavalry, and Leopard Cavalry to capture Yan Liang!
—The second step was to transport a large amount of gold, silver, jewels, famous paintings, and rare antiques to "Nanban City" in advance. Using Yuan Shao's anger and Wen Chou's greed, Zhang Liao and Cao Xiu would employ a small ruse to heavily damage these Hebei heavy cavalry!
Finally, the third step… was to deploy the troops currently present on the banks of the Yellow River.
The elite legion that once belonged to Lu Bu – the Xian Zhen Camp!
However…
Their numbers seemed a bit too few. Even with heavy infantry, even if the enemy was a defeated force, could… a mere seven hundred men stop over ten thousand cavalry? It still seemed too far-fetched!
What's more…
Infantry against cavalry was inherently a disadvantageous unit!
"Young Master Lu? Just seven hundred Xian Zhen Camp warriors? Isn't that a bit too few?" Xu Shu lamented. "Actually… if we could deploy another five thousand troops along the Yellow River, these Yuan army heavy cavalry would surely be unable to board the ships?"
Haha…
Upon hearing Xu Shu's words, Lu Yu burst into laughter.
"Yuan Zhi, how about we make a bet!"
"A bet?" Xu Shu retorted. "A bet on what?"
"Let's bet…" Lu Yu playfully kept him in suspense, and seeing Xu Shu's eagerness, he finally blurted out, "Let's bet on eight characters – 'Once the Mo Dao appears, both man and horse are shattered!'"
…
"General… ahead, ahead is a troop of Cao’s infantry!"
Among the Hebei heavy cavalry, having lost Wen Chou… and a deputy general, a scout reported the situation along the Yellow River.
"Infantry?"
The deputy general was startled. "How many men?"
"Less than a thousand!"
Haha!
The scout's answer made the deputy general ecstatic.
A thousand men? And infantry at that? Heh, they were underestimating them too much! Although they were a defeated army, historically… cavalry had never feared infantry!
"Charge through…"
Before the deputy general could even utter the word "charge," the scout continued, "The banners of these hundred infantry are inscribed with the words 'Long Xiao' and 'Xian Zhen'! The armor of these hundred infantry is no different from that of the Long Xiao Cavalry!"
Uh…
Upon hearing this, the deputy general was stunned. If it were ordinary infantry, he would undoubtedly… order his soldiers to charge forward with all their might, but… but… the words "Long Xiao" and "Xian Zhen" on the banners made the deputy general’s heart pound with apprehension!
This was another story altogether!
The Long Xiao Camp was Cao’s strongest legion…
And the Xian Zhen Camp was the strongest unit under Lu Bu in the past. This… this…
For a moment, the deputy general hesitated. Not only him, but tens of thousands of heavy cavalry also hesitated.
But…
Did they have any other choice but to charge forward?
"Never mind… Brothers, we have over ten thousand strong… Charge through…"
"Charge…"
In an instant… flying sand and rolling stones, dust filled the sky, and tens of thousands of cavalry charged towards the Yellow River bank!
Under the blazing sun, earth-shattering battle cries once again resounded along the Yellow River bank.
…
At this moment.
Facing the charge of these heavy cavalry, the seven hundred warriors of the Xian Zhen Camp were fearless and resolute. Gao Shun surveyed the surrounding terrain.
That's right, this was a slope. This was the location he had specifically chosen, one that was extremely conducive to the sweeping cuts of the Mo Dao!
The power here was boosted more than tenfold!
One thousand paces…
Eight hundred paces…
Five hundred paces…
Gao Shun shouted, "The spirit of Xian Zhen…"
"Dong dong dong!"
From somewhere, the sound of rumbling drums began. The heavy war drums struck, and an ancient, desolate, and sorrowful melody seemed to echo between heaven and earth!
—"The spirit of Xian Zhen, death before surrender!"
—"Invincible in attack, victorious in battle!"
—"Their iron cavalry cannot stop our Mo Dao…"
—"Clad in iron armor, wielding long blades…"
Songs of battle, defiant roars…
Seemed to echo between heaven and earth…
It was as if every "word" in these battle songs was the voice buried deep within the souls of every Xian Zhen Camp warrior!
This…
The most formidable heavy infantry legion of the late Han Dynasty, their hands moved. Almost simultaneously, the edges of their Mo Dao blades scraped against the ground. As they dragged their blades, the sparks generated by the friction… and the unleashed force, as if tearing through the void, roared out!
…
"Just a few hundred men, charge, charge through…"
The deputy general of the Hebei heavy cavalry ordered.
Seeing the numbers of the Xian Zhen Camp, and realizing they were indeed horseless, and even lacked longbows and crossbows at their backs…
Countless Hebei heavy cavalrymen grinned ferociously. Damn it… couldn't defeat the Long Xiao Cavalry? Couldn't they still trample over these foot soldiers?
A mantis trying to stop a chariot, ridiculous, ridiculous!
The Hebei heavy cavalry charged forward carelessly, not even bothering to tidy their formation, completely disregarding these few men.
And at this moment…
The eyes of the seven hundred Xian Zhen Camp warriors, like ancient wells, were as if tempered with millennia of ice. They simply watched the approaching enemy cavalry with cold eyes!
—"Break the formation! Go!"
Gao Shun roared, leading the charge! The rest followed closely behind him in a wedge formation!
—"Tap tap…"
The sound of seven hundred footsteps echoed. The footsteps were incredibly synchronized. Each heavy step… produced a sound like thunder, startling everyone!
The footsteps of mere seven hundred infantry, kicking up dust and flying sand and stones, was something that even thousands of cavalry could not achieve!
—Two hundred paces!
—One hundred paces!
—Fifty paces!
The heavy infantry and heavy cavalry clashed!
Countless Hebei heavy cavalrymen raised their halberds, striking directly at these "overconfident" infantry ants!
"Clang!"
"Clang!"
Before these halberds could fall, the Xian Zhen Camp's Mo Dao blades had already been swung!
Their formation instantly spread out, changing from a wedge formation to a single-file serpent formation…
Seven hundred Mo Dao blades were simultaneously swung upwards from the ground…
Fast, too fast!
The twenty-jin Mo Dao blades in the hands of the Xian Zhen Camp warriors seemed… effortless to wield!
Then, before the Hebei heavy cavalry's halberds could descend…
The Mo Dao blades had already cleaved the horses in two!
"De de de…"
The warhorses let out a neigh!
Then…
"No…"
"No…"
The eyes of these Hebei heavy cavalry widened. They had just managed to cry out, but the Mo Dao blades that shattered the horses… the force was still surging upwards!
In their astonished gazes, they felt a coldness pervade their bodies, as if… countless winds were blowing into their bodies from all directions, a chilling coldness all over!
Finally… their consciousness settled on the fact that they, along with their horses… had been split in two!
As… the ancient texts described "Mo Dao" –
—Once the Mo Dao appears, both man and horse are shattered!
Shattered…
The entire Hebei heavy cavalry was instantly torn apart!
—"The spirit of Xian Zhen…"
—"Death before surrender!"
Shouts once again rose from within the Xian Zhen Camp formation!
They skillfully retracted their Mo Dao blades, again resting them on the ground, preparing for the next round of "dragging blade" chops.
Seamless!
…The power of these "dragging blade" strikes was such that even… the Green Dragon Crescent Blade, that Eight-Foot Serpent Spear, could not hope to match it!
The bloody scene continued to unfold, still ongoing!
Countless Hebei heavy cavalrymen fell, batch after batch…
And these heavy cavalry, who had just suffered defeat at Nanban City, thought they were picking on the softest targets, but they never imagined that the clowns were themselves, the softest targets were themselves!
Over a thousand cavalry fell so tragically…
This made the following cavalry hesitate, and they reined in their horses.
But…
The cavalry further behind did not know this and continued to charge forward!
In an instant, the horses behind collided with the horses in front, all of them being pushed towards the Mo Dao blades, where only cold gazes and the slaughter of bloody Mo Dao blades awaited them!
"Ah… Ah…"
"Ah…"
Wails echoed!
"Escape…"
"Run quickly!"
"Take me!"
Countless Hebei heavy cavalrymen were directly scared out of their wits, howling like ghosts and wolves, wanting to escape this place of misfortune!
More… stood frozen in place, their faces ashen, not knowing where to go!
These few hundred warriors were too terrifying… It seemed that when facing the strange blades in their hands, the Hebei heavy cavalry felt a soul-deep tremor!
It was as if… throughout the long river of history, with the changes and replacements of countless weapons…
Their weapons had been rendered obsolete by that terrifying "blade," and when facing them, these spears and halberds couldn't help but tremble…
This blade… this strange blade, this terrifying one, was truly the undisputed "King" of this era!
A being that allowed infantry to reign supreme even when facing cavalry!
Suppression…
It seemed to be a "bloodline" suppression!
At this moment… in everyone's hearts, a single large phrase echoed: Do not provoke these killing gods!
…
The Mo Dao blades continued to swing…
The seven hundred Xian Zhen Camp warriors moved as if in an empty realm…
Wherever the Mo Dao blades passed, it was either death or injury!
The ferocious killing aura continued to rage… Gao Shun's blood-red eyes showed no intention of sparing any enemy!
"Retreat… Quickly retreat…"
"Run!"
The Hebei heavy cavalry had now completely disintegrated, unable to withstand even a single blow!
They fled in disarray into the nearby woods.
Tens of thousands of cavalry were forced into the woods by a few hundred infantry. Sarcasm… too much sarcasm!
And at this moment…
On the dirt slope, Xu Shu was still astounded. Cold sweat streamed down his forehead…
"Is this what Young Master Lu mentioned – 'Once the Mo Dao appears, both man and horse are shattered'?"
"Something like that!"
The outcome of the battle was decided. At this moment, Lu Yu was leaning against a large tree. A battle had lasted from daytime until dusk… Let alone the soldiers, even he was tired from watching.
At this moment…
As dusk approached, he yawned lazily, enjoying a moment of peace.
A gentle breeze blew, and the battlefield was covered in a haze of smoke and dust… The smell of the scorching sun on the earth had not yet dissipated, and everything seemed so beautiful.
However…
"Young Master Lu? The Mo Dao soldiers are indeed formidable, but… they can't catch up to cavalry in the end!" Xu Shu pointed to the woods on the other side and reminded him, "The Yuan army's heavy cavalry abandoned the water route and fled into the woods… It's a shame."
As soon as he said this…
Xu Shu suddenly thought of something.
Wait a minute…
His expression changed drastically. Yes… he had just found it strange. Lu Yu also had a three-thousand-strong spearman unit? Led by Yue Jin and Xiahou Mao!
They hadn't appeared yet!
The woods… it was the woods!
Unlike the Mo Dao soldiers… spear soldiers were most suited for battle in the woods, for ambushes!
As he thought of this, Xu Shu's eyes widened instantly.
If Lu Yu had ambushed spear soldiers in the woods, it would be nothing, but… if combined with the Mo Dao soldiers, and even the deployment at Nanban City…
Then, from the moment Wen Chou's fifty thousand heavy cavalry crossed the Yellow River, they had… fallen into one beautiful trap after another laid by Lu Yu.
Fifty thousand heavy cavalry!
The numbers were still too large. Lu Yu was slowly boiling the frog!
He was peeling away their skin layer by layer, leading them towards extinction, towards annihilation!
He was outmaneuvered, once again completely "outmaneuvered" by the "all-knowing and all-seeing" Lu Yu!
"Mr. Xu." Seeing Xu Shu's complex expression, Lu Yu pondered that Xu Shu had understood.
Immediately, he smiled slightly, "This time, we might have captured quite a few weapons. These weapons are all of excellent Bin iron. If they are re-melted… there will be countless more Mo Dao blades!"
Yes…
Although the Mo Dao was powerful, it was a consumable item… If there were frequent battles, they would need to be replaced every few months!
However, with the visual impact of "shattering both man and horse," this consumption… seemed acceptable!
Just as he thought of this…
"Ah… Ah…"
"Ah…"
"Ambush…"
Waves of wails once again emanated from the direction of the woods. Entering the woods… the advantages of heavy cavalry were completely lost.
Precisely, the woods were the home ground of the spear soldiers!
Not Ma Shuo, not lances, but the home ground of true spear soldiers!
The spear, the chief of a hundred weapons!
—Thrust!
—Continuous Thrust!
—Spiral Thrust!
…Da Feng Fiction Network
…
North of the Yellow River, Yuan Army Great Camp, Central Army Tent!
At this moment, Yuan Shao's face was ashen.
His eyebrows were almost furrowed into an inverted V… The anger in his chest was about to erupt!
In contrast, Liu Bei's expression was like a pool of still water.
—"My lord, the Cao army scattered gold, silver, jewels, famous paintings, and rare antiques at Baima City Fort… General Wen Chou… General Wen Chou did not restrain his subordinates, and the fifty thousand heavy cavalry, unable to resist the temptation, dismounted one after another to pick them up, and as a result… as a result…"
—"The Cao army suddenly attacked, and our army's cavalry, burdened by heavy armor and carrying a large amount of gold and silver, found it inconvenient to move, thus suffering a great defeat!"
—"Even… even General Wen Chou was… was felled by a戟 from that long-bearded, red-faced man!"
—"The scout… the scout recognized that long-bearded man as, as Guan Yu, Guan Yun Chang!"
The scout exclaimed the whole story with a hoarse voice.
At this time… he had used up all his strength.
Who knew… how he had escaped from Nanban City. Even on his body, there were three clearly visible wounds.
Just then…
—"My lord, report… report…"
Another scout reported urgently…
—"Our army's heavy cavalry intended to retreat to the Yellow River bank to board ships and cross the river… However, they were repelled by a unit of heavy infantry from the Long Xiao Camp! The soldiers retreated into the woods but were then… ambushed by the enemy. Fifty thousand heavy cavalry… except for those who perished, almost all of them… surrendered to Cao Cao!"
This…
Wuwu…
Upon hearing this, Yuan Shao was almost on the verge of tears!
Fifty thousand heavy cavalry, a full fifty thousand heavy cavalry…
Including Yan Liang's, these one hundred thousand cavalry were the core, the elite troops under his command!
In the past, they had attacked Gongsun Zan in the north, suppressed the Black Mountain Army in the south, and forced the Southern Xiongnu to sing songs of submission…
But who knew…
In just a few days, they had all been annihilated!
Yan Liang's carelessness…
Wen Chou's greed… thus destined these two great defeats!
But… but his selection of personnel was also inexcusable!
However!
The characteristic of the Yuan camp was to shift blame. Yuan Shao definitely could not take the blame for these two defeats himself!
—"Guards, guards… arrest Liu Bei!"
—"Liu Bei, this time… the scout saw it clearly, it was your second brother Guan Yu! He personally captured my General Yan Liang and killed my General Wen Chou! You colluded with Cao Cao… your schemes are incredibly malicious! Liu Bei, will you smash your head against my forehead? Or shall I send someone to drag you out and behead you? You decide!"
"Duke Yuan…" As Yuan Shao finished speaking, Liu Bei reacted quickly. "Liu Bei deserves death, but he cannot die!"
"Even at this time, you still want to quibble!" Today… Yuan Shao was determined to shift the blame!
Who would have thought…
Liu Bei's words had already been uttered.
"Firstly, my second brother has always used the Green Dragon Crescent Blade. This is known to everyone under heaven, even children! Yet the scout reported that a long-bearded red-faced general used a halberd to kill General Wen Chou? Duke Yuan, aren't you suspicious?"
"Secondly, Cao Cao hates me to the bone. Clearly… he already knows I am with Your Excellency, so he deliberately sent men disguised as Guan Yu to fight, using Your Excellency's hand to kill me! However, my second brother's Green Dragon Crescent Blade is wielded by no one else in this world but him, hence… he used a halberd instead. I beg Your Excellency to discern this matter."
Hoo…
As he said this, Yuan Shao was startled.
But his attitude was extremely firm.
"I don't care what Cao Cao's intentions are, I just need to take your head to sacrifice to the flag, I must give an account to the three armies!"
"Your Excellency… if you take Liu Bei as a sacrifice, then you will fall into Cao Cao's… Lu Yu's another scheme!" Liu Bei's words continued. "Cao Cao fears me, Liu Bei, because he fears my second brother Guan Yu and third brother Zhang Fei… But… if my second brother and third brother learn that Your Excellency killed me as a sacrifice, they will surely defect to Cao Cao's camp and oppose Your Excellency. If this happens… isn't it that a loved one suffers while an enemy rejoices?"
Hey…
Remarkably, Liu Bei managed to persuade Yuan Shao with his eloquence.
"Indeed…" Ju Shou and Xu You, who had just arrived in the tent, repeatedly advised, "My lord, General Wen Chou has perished, and General Yan Liang's whereabouts are unknown. Ultimately… the dead cannot be resurrected!"
Ju Shou said repeatedly…
"Moreover… the schemes employed by General Yan Liang and General Wen Chou this time both had a flavor of Lu Yu's 'attacking the heart,' and for this reason, perhaps Lu Yu had already calculated Your Excellency's thoughts and wanted to use Your Excellency's hand to kill Lord Liu! This is a stratagem of attacking the heart and sowing discord. Your Excellency must not make another mistake!"
Huo…
Despite his displeasure, Yuan Shao did not want to be treated as a fool by Lu Yu!
He had to accept this blame!
"Hmph…"
With a bang of his fist, Yuan Shao slammed heavily on the table, making the entire table tremble and shake!
"Immediately issue an order to the entire army to march south and directly attack Yan Jin. I want to see how Cao Cao and Lu Yu can still contend with such a disparity in forces?"
"Yes…"
Upon hearing this, the generals took their orders!
The four hundred and fifty thousand strong army broke camp…
This time, Yuan Shao was enraged…
Compared to Yan Liang and Wen Chou's fifty thousand troops… this time the momentum was many times greater!
…
…