Three Kingdoms: Fusion of Entries, Change of Destiny

Chapter 212: Another Asymmetrical Battle
Seeing that his soldiers were about to retreat, Ji Ling immediately ordered the supervisory team to move forward.

The supervisory team members didn't have to face the enemy, but they still showed no mercy when they started fighting.

With each strike, he cut down the soldiers who dared to retreat. The other soldiers, though terrified, had no choice but to grit their teeth and continue charging toward Cao Cao's position.

"Charge! Their catapults are limited in number and not enough to inflict damage. If we charge through, we can win in one fell swoop!" Ji Ling shouted hoarsely, raising the three-pronged dagger in his hand.

"Charge! Destroy those catapults!"

"Come on!"

The soldiers shouted slogans to bolster their courage, and their pace quickened involuntarily.

Seeing that Ji Lingjun had finally broken out of the camp, Cao Yan immediately ordered the messenger beside him: "Notify Cao Zixiu that when the enemy is within a hundred paces, command the heavy crossbowmen to fire a volley!"

The soldiers under Ji Ling's command shouted their battle cries, and their morale gradually began to rise.

The archers in the back row also drew their bows and fired arrows at Cao Cao's army, trying to clear a path for their comrades.

However, their arrows could only reach Cao Cao's soldiers a little over a hundred paces away before they were stuck in the ground. Occasionally, a few arrows that performed exceptionally well landed in Cao Cao's formation, but they were blocked by the shields of Cao Cao's soldiers.

Meanwhile, Cao Cao's archers began to return fire, and the two sides exchanged blows, creating quite a lively scene.

Cao Ang looked at the densely packed Ji Ling infantry surging forward, then turned to his own Mandarin Duck Army's heavy crossbowmen and shouted, "Move out and prepare to meet the enemy!!"

"Drink! Drink!!" As Cao Ang gave the order, the flag bearer immediately raised the flag and made several specific movements.

Upon receiving the order, the front-line Mandarin Duck Army infantry instantly created countless gaps in their tight shield formation.

The heavy crossbowmen in the formation, carrying their somewhat cumbersome crossbows, came to the front of the formation through the gaps between the shield bearers.

They were divided into three rows, with the front row kneeling on the ground, ready to fire at the enemy.

When Ji Ling saw Cao Jun suddenly change formation, his heart skipped a beat, and an ominous premonition welled up in his mind.

"One hundred paces! Ready, aim!"

The first two rows of Cao soldiers, carrying heavy crossbows, raised their crossbows and aimed them at Ji Ling's army in front of them.

Behind the heavy crossbowmen, the support staff waited quietly with crossbow bolts in hand. As soon as the front-line soldiers finished firing and retreated, they would quickly help the crossbowmen draw back the string, reload the bolts, and fire again.

Cao Ang stared at the enemy troops in the distance, and only when they were within eighty paces did he give the order: "Fire!!!"

The moment Cao Ang issued the order, the heavy crossbowmen, who had trained countless times, instinctively pulled the trigger.

"boom!"

The synchronized string sounds, like a thunderclap from a clear sky, startled the warhorses of the Flying Dragon Cavalry in the distance, making them somewhat restless.

Countless crossbow bolts shot out!

Before the crossbow bolts even touched the enemy, there was a second, then a third "Bang! Bang!"

A dense rain of arrows, like locusts, swarmed towards the front ranks of Ji Ling's army.

The soldiers who charged the fiercest didn't even have time to assume a defensive posture before a whole rank of them were shot down instantly.

Cao Jun's heavy crossbowmen took turns firing skillfully and systematically.

After several rounds of rotations, Ji Lingjun had lost nearly five thousand men!
Faced with overwhelming firepower, Ji Ling's soldiers began to feel fear, and their morale began to waver.

Upon seeing this, officers and soldiers at all levels hastily began cutting down the retreating soldiers in an attempt to maintain order and get them to continue their charge.

"Keep going! Only fifty steps left!!!"

"Shieldbearers, form a shield wall in front! The rest of you, spread out a bit to minimize the lethality of their crossbow bolts!"

"No retreating! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"

They wielded their swords and killed nearly a hundred men before barely managing to stabilize their formation.

Seeing that Cao Cao's army's firing seemed less intense than before, Ji Ling's soldiers continued their advance, braving the wooden shield. Lu Yan, observing the battlefield, shook his head slightly and muttered, "Unfortunately, we still lack repeating crossbows."

Although the Mandarin Duck Army's heavy crossbowmen inflicted heavy casualties on Ji Ling's army, the crossbow bolts were being used up too quickly, and the enemy's numbers were simply too great.

After unleashing their firepower, they could only quickly retreat back into their formation, leaving their comrades to prepare for battle.

"The enemy is right ahead!"

"Get on the shield, damn it, ram it into me!!!"

"All of you, get to me... Ah!!" A junior officer was shouting orders to his men.

Before he could finish his sentence, a wolf-tooth arrow pierced his throat!
Because the arrow was so powerful, the wolf-tooth arrow not only pierced the captain's throat but also tore half of his neck, almost beheading him.

The junior officer fell headfirst off his horse, startling the surrounding soldiers who instinctively took two steps back.

"Be more humble in your next life..." Cao Yan put away his iron bow, shook his head slightly and murmured.

Seeing this, Cao Cao, who was standing nearby, gave a thumbs up and exclaimed, "Not bad archery skills! You have the style of your brother back in the day!"

Cao Yan rolled his eyes at Cao Cao, thinking to himself, "You can't even shoot a chicken from fifty paces away, what kind of style do you have?"
At this moment, the soldiers at the forefront of Cao Cao's army and Ji Ling's army were less than ten paces apart.

The soldiers on both sides could even see the expressions on each other's faces.

On the faces of Ji Lingjun's soldiers, there was madness, cowardice, tension, and fear.

However, the faces of Cao's soldiers were almost expressionless, their faces cold and indifferent.

"Who the hell is this guy?"

"Such a cold look!"

"They were looking at...dead people?"

Ji Lingjun's soldiers felt a jolt in their hearts.

Regardless of what kind of monster it was, they had no way to retreat. They could only close their eyes and charge headfirst into the air!
"Boom!"

With a deafening roar, the two armies finally clashed!
Ji Lingjun was like a surging wave crashing against the rocky, reef-like Cao army formation!
In close combat, the elite troops of the Vanguard Camp began their attack!
Chen Dao commanded the elite soldiers of the Trapped Camp, who were covered in iron armor, to launch a frontal assault.

Dian Wei and Xu Chu, also instructed by Cao Yan and Cao Cao, joined the Trapped Camp and charged into the enemy ranks.

Chen Dao stabbed a junior officer of Ji Lingjun to death with one spear, then swept his spear around, killing two more soldiers. He then shouted loudly, "Invincible in battle!"

"Invincible in the Vanguard Camp!" The soldiers of the Vanguard Camp shouted in unison, their morale soaring to the heavens!
Although Cao's army was smaller in number, the numbers were not much different.

However, Cao Cao's army was well-trained and well-equipped, and immediately demonstrated a huge advantage upon contact.

Just as the two sides engaged in close combat, Xiahou Lan led five thousand flying dragon cavalry to circle around to the flank of Ji Ling's army.

The dragon riders drew their bows and launched a surprise attack on the unsuspecting enemy.

"Thud! Thud! Thud!" The sounds of arrows piercing bodies were incessant, and the screams of Ji Ling's soldiers rose and fell.

The Ji Ling Army was caught off guard and a commotion broke out in their ranks.

Ji Ling hurriedly organized the few remaining 3,000 cavalrymen in the army to intercept and kill the Flying Dragon Cavalry.

Upon seeing cavalry charging out from the enemy ranks, the Flying Dragon Cavalry turned tail and fled, giving Ji Ling's cavalry no chance for close combat.

It's not that the Flying Dragon Cavalry can't engage in close combat, it's just that Xiahou Lan and Zhao Yun don't want to see any casualties among the Flying Dragon Cavalry unless absolutely necessary.

Because all the Wyvern Riders' cavalry were secretly equipped with double stirrups, if the enemy intercepted their corpses, they might discover the secret.

Therefore, unless all other options are exhausted, wyvern riders should try to use ranged attacks and harassment as much as possible.

(End of this chapter)