knife

Chapter 452 A crushing defeat

The timing of the Eagle Bandit leader Guan Shan's choice was perfect.

The attack was aimed directly at the vital points.

Caught off guard, Ren Duozhong, upon seeing the Eagle Bandits' banner, assumed that reinforcements had arrived and the outcome of the battle was already decided, and thus offered his most vulnerable side to Guan Shan.

When he realized that the surging eagle bandit cavalry was not targeting An Xuan's barbarian soldiers but him, it was already too late.

His cavalrymen engaged An Xuan in a fierce and desperate battle.

Meanwhile, the infantry he relied on for the final blow were making large-scale troop movements. The once tight formation had completely disintegrated, and battalions of infantry, numbering in the hundreds, were rushing to the locations designated by the central army, with no cover or protection between them.

What kind of infantry do cavalry prefer to fight?
Of course, they are infantrymen on the march!
Once the infantry has formed ranks and set up various obstacles, a dense barrage of crossbows and a deluge of arrows will suppress their formation and launch long-range attacks. The cavalry will have no chance of winning and will have no choice but to retreat.

However, now, Rendobo's infantry appear to be fully armed and armored, but their condition is no different from that of a marching army.

On the vast battlefield, the Rendo tribe infantry, scattered in groups, were met with a deadly blow from the Eagle Bandits.

Modern hawk thieves are very different from those of the past.

The number of personnel has expanded to three thousand, and with the addition of some members of the Azure Dragon Brigade of the Chi Qiu Institute, the strength of the Eagle Bandits has been greatly enhanced.

The Azure Dragon Brigade was the elite of the Zhi Qiu Academy's combat personnel. After more than ten years of planning, they struck with their swords on the night the Tiele were attacked, successfully dragging the Yuan Kingdom into a three-way power struggle.

It can be said that the successful rescue by the Azure Dragon Brigade back then was the key to the success or failure of all the plans that led to the Yuan Kingdom's current predicament.

If Tiele had not been rescued and had died at Xuanwu Gate, the Yuan Dynasty would still have been a unified country. Even if Akdun was incompetent, the Yuan Dynasty would still have the upper hand in terms of power over the Beiting Protectorate for a short period of time.

If it's divided into three parts and they hate each other, then it's a completely different story.

After that battle, the Azure Dragon Brigade suffered heavy losses. The remaining members who participated in the battle basically all joined the Eagle Bandits, partly to rest and partly to strengthen the Eagle Bandits' power so as to further enhance their strength for future surprise attacks.

Therefore, the fighting strength of the mere three thousand Eagle Bandits was actually exceptionally terrifying.

Although there wasn't a single Xuan Yuan Ninth Rank expert, there were as many as seven or eight Xuan Yuan Eighth Rank experts.

In ordinary armies, a martial arts cultivation level of the eighth rank of the Xuan Yuan realm is sufficient to command an army of thousands or even tens of thousands. However, among the Eagle Bandits, they can only serve as a captain or similar position.

The eagle bandits cut through the gaps in the infantry who were changing formation.

The infantry faced no obstacles to stop them, no powerful crossbow bolts to wound them, and no large volley of arrows to suppress them. The sparse arrows were like tickling the armored eagle bandits, and the few spears raised by the desperate soldiers were a joke in front of the cavalry.

Without the cover of a battle formation, infantrymen are lambs to the slaughter in front of cavalry.

This is similar to the feeling of a brave infantryman facing a tank charging towards him in later times.

Even the bravest warrior, faced with such a situation, would most likely flee.

Therefore, Rendobao's infantry scattered the moment the hawk bandits attacked.

On the high platform, Rendo Bao stared blankly as the Eagle Bandits' cavalry ruthlessly dispersed his infantry formations one after another, then slaughtered those who dared to resist like sheep being slaughtered.

The Eagle Bandits were incredibly experienced in combat. They could accurately distinguish between those genuinely fleeing and those attempting to organize a resistance during their escape. So, often, just as a few men had gathered but hadn't yet formed a fighting force, the Eagle Bandit cavalry would arrive with a roar, scattering them once more. After three such encounters, even the most resolute individuals would have no choice but to give up, prioritizing escape above all else.

A mouthful of blood spurted out, and Renduozhong gripped the railing of the platform tightly with both hands, but his body slumped down. Several Barutu rushed forward, helped Renduozhong up, and hurriedly carried him down the platform, helped him onto a warhorse, tied Renduozhong tightly to the horse with a leather strap, and then rode away.

Of the three thousand Balutu, one thousand were given to Renduobao, one thousand to Puguen, who is currently engaged in a fierce battle with Anxuan, and the remaining one thousand, as Renduobao's guards, are gathered around him.

Now, they ran away, protecting the unconscious Renduozhong.

Puguen was located at the very heart of the battlefield.

He was surrounded by An Xuan's tens of thousands of cavalry.

His task was to hold off An Xuan, waiting for Ren Duobao to flank them from the outside, and also waiting for the infantry phalanx commanded by Ren Duozhong to press forward.

Therefore, he was under the most pressure.

When he heard the change in the drums and bugles, he thought he had finally made it to the end, because it meant that reinforcements were coming to the rescue and that the infantry would soon be in position. But then, something unbelievable happened.

Eagle bandits are the enemy.

The infantry phalanx collapsed.

The central army flag was lowered.

Even more frightening is that the outermost Rendobao also ran away.

Compared to being surrounded at the core, it was much easier for Rendobo to escape.

When Pugu En saw An Xuan charging towards him again with overwhelming force, this expert who had been fighting An Xuan head-on turned his horse around and fled.

An Xuan glanced at him coldly, too lazy to chase after him. At this time, the main focus was on hunting down the Ren Duo clan's army. Without a large army, a Xuan Yuan Ninth Rank expert was not worth much attention.

The courage of a common man can only play a very minor role on the battlefield.

Without An Xuan's obstruction, Pugu En easily broke through the encirclement, with only about three hundred Balutu following him out.

After glancing at the receding banner of Renduozhong's central army, Pugu En spat out a mouthful of bloody saliva, pulled on the reins, and fled in the opposite direction.

He was the one who contacted the eagle bandits, and he was the one who delivered the sheep, horses, cattle, and silver. But now the eagle bandits have turned against him. The suspicious Renduozhong will probably take his anger out on him and suspect that he has also turned against them. The Renduo tribe can never go back.

Moreover, there's no need to go back.

As far as the eye could see, there were Rendo soldiers running around like wolves and rats. Pugu En sighed deeply.

Jebe won.

Puguen, who knew more than the ordinary soldiers, knew that Jebe's attack was in alliance with the Tiele. Perhaps, after the defeat of the Rendo tribe, there was hope for the reunification of the Great Yuan.

This doesn't seem like a bad thing. Someone like me will have no trouble making a comeback in the future, so for now, of course, I should stay useful.

"Come with me!" he roared, and rode away.

(End of this chapter)