Deposed? I couldn't be happier! I wouldn't even be a dog to the crown prince.

"monster……"

As the tribal chief watched the black city walls slowly looming over the horizon, he felt as if the blood in his body had frozen.

But the instinct for survival still made him let out a hysterical roar.

"What are you afraid of! They're infantry! They have two legs!"

"We are wolves of the grasslands! We have four legs!"

"Charge! Break through their defenses! Once we get past them, they'll be nothing but a pile of iron coffins!"

The leader drew his scimitar, attempting to ignite the courage of his men with a final act of madness.

"Awooo—!"

Five thousand Turkic cavalrymen, their eyes red, let out beast-like howls.

They are the most elite warriors on the grasslands, and they have their own pride.

infantry?

In their eyes, he was a moving target, a lamb to the slaughter!

"kill!!!"

The iron hooves surged forward once more, carrying an aura of utter destruction, and crashed violently into the seemingly cumbersome steel wall.

however.

What awaited them was neither the carnage they had imagined, nor the expected collapse of their formation.

But...

"clang--!!!"

A deafening roar.

The hundreds of cavalrymen at the forefront, along with their horses, crashed into what looked like a real city wall.

The immense impact deformed their bodies instantly, shattering their bones inch by inch.

The steel defensive line composed of tower shields only swayed slightly before remaining as stable as a mountain once again.

"impossible!"

The leader stared wide-eyed, unable to believe what he was seeing.

Their charge was actually... blocked?

While they were still in a daze...

"put!"

A cold command came from behind the shield wall.

"Bang! Bang! Bang!"

Death's roar echoed once more.

Thousands of black crossbow bolts, like the fangs of venomous snakes, shot out from the gaps in the shields, instantly covering the charging cavalry formation.

A distance of fifty paces.

For the repeating crossbow, it's the distance to slaughter.

"Puff puff puff—!"

A heart-wrenching scream echoed through the sky.

The leather armor that the Turkic cavalry were so proud of was as fragile as a sheet of paper in the face of these specially designed armor-piercing arrows.

In a single encounter, thousands more, men and horses alike, were shot down, their cries of agony echoing across the land.

This is not over yet.

"Mo Dao! Advance!"

With Yue Fei's command.

The steel wall suddenly "came to life".

The massive tower shield slowly parted to the sides, revealing pairs of cold, merciless eyes and gleaming blades behind it.

"kill!"

There were no extra slogans, just one word.

Three thousand Beiwei soldiers marched forward in perfect unison, like a finely tuned meat grinder.

The long-handled swords stood like a forest, held level, swung and slashed.

"Pfft—!"

"Pfft—!"

That was a tooth-grinding sound.

Whether a fine warhorse or a valiant knight, before this forest of blades, they all meet only one fate—to be neatly and orderly cut down.

Cut it in half lengthwise.

"Devil...they are devils..."

One Turkic cavalryman, who had narrowly escaped the first volley of blows, saw his comrade beside him cut in half at the waist, his intestines spilling out onto the ground, and his spirit completely collapsed.

He threw away his scimitar, turned his horse around, and was about to flee.

But he had just turned around.

A black crossbow bolt silently caught up with him and pierced his back with pinpoint accuracy.

This was a massacre with no suspense whatsoever.

The Turks' pride in their mounted archery was a complete joke in the face of these heavily armed steel monsters.

Their scimitars struck the heavy armor, leaving nothing but a few sparks.

Their arrows struck the tower shield, but not even a white dot was visible.

Every counterattack from the opponent was fatal.

"Stop hitting! Run!"

"We can't beat them! We simply can't beat them!"

"Eternal Heaven! What kind of enemy have we provoked?!"

The morale of the five thousand cavalrymen was completely shattered in less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn.

They abandoned their armor and weapons, crying and fleeing in all directions, wishing their parents had given them two more legs.

Yue Fei did not order a pursuit.

The Beiwei Army's mission was to attack fortified positions and advance from the front; pursuing and killing stragglers was Huo Qubing's job.

He rode up to the tribal chief, who was also terrified and slumped on his horse. With a flick of his spear, he knocked the chief's scimitar away.

"What's your name?"

Yue Fei's voice was as steady as a mountain, yet it carried an undeniable air of authority.

"I...I'm called...Ba...Batu..."

The leader trembled and couldn't utter a complete sentence.

"Batu, right?"

Yue Fei nodded, and the tip of his spear gently touched Batu's throat. The cold touch made the man tremble.

"Take me to meet your family."

Batu was stunned for a moment, then his eyes blazed with a desperate will to survive, and he nodded frantically: "I'll take it! I'll take it! As long as the general doesn't kill me, I'll take everything!"

"very good."

Yue Fei sheathed his spear and waved to the soldiers behind him.

"Tie him up, put him on."

He turned his head and looked at the vast grassland to the north, his eyes filled with no pity, only a cold and resolute determination.

"Pass down the order: the entire army shall continue its advance."

"Whenever we encounter a tribe, we will kill any who resist us, not even chickens or dogs."

"Those who surrender will have their cattle, sheep, and weapons confiscated and will all be sent to labor camps."

"His Highness said that he wants to ensure that this grassland will never again produce wolf cubs that can threaten the Tang Dynasty."

……

Batu was dragged along behind the army by two Beiwei soldiers like a dead dog.

Looking at the silent army, he felt a chill run through his body.

It's too quiet.

Apart from the heavy footsteps and the rustling of armor, there wasn't a single other sound.

There were no cheers of victory, no joy of acquiring spoils.

Every soldier's face seemed to wear a cold mask, showing only numbness and focus.

This is hardly an army.

These are clearly a bunch of killing machines who only know how to follow orders!

Batu couldn't imagine what a hellish scene it would be when this army truly trampled the entire grassland.

Just then, the general, who seemed like a god or demon, suddenly reined in his horse and turned to look at him.

"Oh right, I almost forgot to ask."

Yue Fei's voice wasn't loud, but it made Batu tremble all over.

"In which direction is your Khan's headquarters located?"