knife

Chapter 819 Rushing into the formation
As soon as Chang Lei's 5,000 cavalrymen came into view, the command flags of the Chu army's main force waved, and two groups of cavalrymen, one on the left and one on the right, spurred their horses and whipped them around the heavily armored infantrymen who were entangled with the enemy cavalry, drawing a large arc and heading towards Chang Lei's troops.

On the left was Fang Xiaomao's main cavalry, along with the Azure Dragon and White Tiger battalions; on the right was Zhan Zhao, leading Su Qi, Jiang Yuyan, and the Five Tigers Breaking the Gate Blade disciples. The two cavalry forces together numbered over five thousand.

Ignoring Kou Wenhai's attack, he preferred to have his heavy infantry pay a heavy price to withstand the enemy cavalry's charge, all so that his most elite cavalry could face Chang Lei's "Black Tiger Steals the Heart" move.

Compared to Chang Lei's cavalry, Kou Wenhai's force, which launched the attack first, was clearly not on the same level. Now, they were entangled in the heavy infantry and could hardly extricate themselves.

Kang Zhen watched as the two cavalry units plunged into the battlefield from the left and right, then turned his gaze to Jiang Qian on the high platform, beneath the commander's banner.

Jiang Qian nodded and walked to the edge of the platform, where a huge war drum was placed. On both sides of the main drum, a row of slightly smaller war drums were being beaten by a group of bare-armed men.

Jiang Qian raised the drumsticks and slammed them down, the heavy drumbeat immediately drowning out the sounds of the smaller drums around her.

The continuous booming sound of drums echoed across the battlefield, their captivating beat reverberating throughout the land.

The Tiger Warriors turned and looked towards the high platform.
On the high platform, the white-clad fairy's robes fluttered.
In a daze, everyone seemed to have returned to the Battle of Xiangyang many years ago, a battle that determined the life and death of the Chu Kingdom.

It was Jiang Qian, dressed in white, who led the troops into battle and beat the war drums, greatly boosting the morale of the soldiers. This reversed the tide of the war, leading to a decisive victory and plunging the Qin state into an abyss.

Kang Zhen raised his steel sword high and shouted sharply, "Attack!"

Within the main force, dozens of military formations of five hundred men each slowly advanced toward the main battlefield in a well-organized manner. Although they appeared chaotic, upon closer inspection, it could be seen that from any angle, these formations could be arranged in groups of three to form a triangular shape.

No matter where the enemy attacks from or which square they attack, this formation will simultaneously be attacked from several other directions.

Between these formations, scouts gallop back and forth. These scouts are composed of martial arts experts, specializing in killing martial arts masters who block the enemy. If they encounter a difficult enemy, these scouts from multiple directions can quickly join forces to fight the enemy.

Kou Wenhai felt as if he had crashed into an impenetrable wall.

Although he managed to carve a hole in the iron wall by relying on his martial arts skills, this only affected him. Half of the thousands of cavalrymen who went out with him were blocked outside the formation, and those who rushed in were caught in a melee with the heavy infantry. When he finally managed to break through and looked up, he saw an even thicker, seemingly endless infantry formation.

Although they were no longer heavy infantry, the sheer oppressive feeling of tens of thousands of soldiers in dozens of square formations slowly advancing to the beat of drums, carrying large shields and long spears, shouting slogans, was something that it was truly difficult for anyone who wasn't there to understand the despair they felt.

Kou Wenhai looked back in the direction he had come from.

Chang Lei's banner fluttered in the wind.

Kou Wenhai knew his mission: to disrupt the enemy's formation and create an opportunity for Chang Lei's main force to break through the enemy lines.

Our own infantry is our biggest weakness.

Unlike Jiang Qian's subordinates, who have been undergoing reorganization and training for the past few years, the tens of thousands of soldiers in front of them were carefully selected from hundreds of thousands of soldiers in Jiangnan. Anyone who has seen the infantry of the Beiting Protectorate outside the pass and the Tiger Army of Chu knows the combat power of these two infantry forces.

When Chang Lei set off from Dongdu, he only had 5,000 cavalry. The tens of thousands of infantrymen that followed were all local armed forces and private soldiers of local gentry. While their individual combat skills were not bad, their discipline, resilience, and tenacity in the face of adversity were absolutely no match for soldiers who had been trained for many years.

Therefore, our hope of victory lies with the cavalry.

This is one of the reasons why he didn't complain about being sent out to be the vanguard.

Even if all three thousand of his men were wiped out, it would still be worth it as long as it opened the door to victory for Chang Lei. Taking a deep breath, he raised his eighteen-foot spear, spurred his warhorse, and resolutely charged towards the endless array of soldiers ahead.

"Kill them!" he roared hoarsely.

His warhorse was panting and its speed had dropped considerably. Compared to the warhorse that had accompanied him for many years when he first charged into battle, this temporary mount of his subordinate was much worse and probably wouldn't last long.

The thunderous sound of hooves revealed fear on the faces of the soldiers in his square formation. Kou Wenhai hoped they would suddenly collapse and flee to the left or right, making it easier for him to break through the formation.

Unfortunately, the soldier, despite being terrified, still walked forward resolutely step by step.

With a thunderous roar, the eighteen-foot spear slashed away countless spears, knocked away more than a dozen soldiers, charged into the first army formation, and then stopped.

The warhorse beneath him was struck by countless spears, and as the spears turned, countless jets of blood gushed out, and the tall body collapsed.

Kou Wenhai leaped into the air, soaring over the heads of the crowd. Several spears, accompanied by sharp whistling sounds, chased after him through the air. He spun around his body, deflecting the incoming spears with a series of clangs. However, his body faltered slightly as he fell to the ground, whereupon even more spears came piercing towards him.

Parrying and counter-attacking—these counterattacks by ordinary soldiers were insignificant in Kou Wenhai's eyes, as weak as an infant.

Until a long spear, hidden among these ordinary assassinations, suddenly raised its head like a venomous cobra as it approached him, and with a thud, it burst forth from the crowd.

An extremely insidious attack.

Kou Wenhai drew the short knife from his waist with his left hand and slashed horizontally. With a clang, the spear narrowly missed his vitals and with a snap, it ripped off his shoulder armor, tearing away a piece of flesh from his left shoulder.

This was Kou Wenhai's first injury since the start of the war.

He was injured by someone who was at most at the sixth level of Qi Control. Normally, such people would be insignificant in his eyes, but when they were hidden among countless soldiers, the danger increased greatly. It was like a group of snakes that looked exactly alike, but one of them had a pair of venomous fangs.

If this guy's martial arts cultivation had been a bit higher, reaching the Xuan Yuan level, that spear would have caused more than just a minor injury.

Kou Wenhai saw the man's extremely regretful expression, as if he was lamenting that such a great achievement had slipped through his fingers.

Enraged, Kou Wenhai was helpless against this guy, because he couldn't stop. He had to move forward quickly, because once he stopped and got trapped in these military formations, it would be very difficult to climb out.

The number of people following him is rapidly decreasing.

He looked back once more.
Chang Lei's team is now clearly visible.

Fang Xiaomao rushed to the front of the group.

The one acting as the arrow on the other side was the enemy's commander, Chang Lei.

Using the person with the highest martial arts cultivation as an arrow to break through the enemy's formation was the most common method of defeating the enemy among the cavalry outside the Great Wall. From Xiao Changche to Chang Lei, they all did the same.

The two knives collided suddenly, like two bolts of lightning slicing through the sky, and the people following behind instinctively closed their eyes.

(End of this chapter)