The inevitable battle in the north had finally begun, and the bloody battle was like a raging fire!
Following the charge of the Northern Wei troops, all the archers in the Sky Bearing army reacted at the same time!
The 70,000 troops that Ling Xiao led this time were all true disciples of the Sky Bearing army, and were the strongest elites in the Sky Bearing army. The quality of the soldiers was at least in the top three in the entire Heavenly Star Continent. Just the performance of the archers was enough to show their prowess!
The archers quickly formed into three columns, with the first row kneeling on the ground and shooting at a low angle. The second row of archers stood straight, holding their bows and shooting at a normal angle. The last row of archers raised their arrows high into the air, shooting down at the enemy in a parabolic trajectory. The three columns were orderly and orderly, each of them performing their own duties without the slightest bit of chaos.
"Sou sou sou sou …"
The locust-like arrows instantly filled up most of the space on the battlefield, shooting out in all directions at the same time! The entire battlefield was suddenly dimmed!
Screams of agony sounded, and countless Northern Wei soldiers were shot down from their horses, before being trampled into a pile of meat paste by the soldiers behind them! However, the soldiers behind them continued to charge forward without any regard for their own safety! This round of attack was actually a cavalry attack! From the looks of it, they were intending to disrupt Ling Xiao's formation, forcing them to fight on their own, thus making it easier for them to annihilate the enemy!
In just a few waves of arrows, the Northern Wei cavalry were either injured or dead, with no less than a thousand of them dead. While their horses were fast, the rain of arrows was dense and vicious, and while the Northern Wei cavalry had the advantage in numbers, they were unable to close in on the enemy!
Seeing that the elite troops that he had painstakingly nurtured had already lost half of their numbers in less than the time it took to brew a pot of tea, Wei Chengping felt his heart ache, and wanted to switch to another group to attack. However, the young man with the surname Shui smirked and said, "Is brother Wei feeling heartache?"
Wei Chengping didn't dare to offend this young man and said, "Brother Shui, our army's strength is far superior to that Ling Xiao's. Why must we waste our cavalry's strength like this? Isn't the loss too great?"
The young man with the surname Shui sneered coldly, "As the saying goes, those who achieve great things do not bother about trifles. On the battlefield, there is no room for soft-heartedness. Although Ling Xiao's army is only seventy thousand strong, it is still one of the best in the world. If we do not end this battle as quickly as possible, we are bound to fall into a stalemate. As time goes on, variables will naturally arise. Furthermore, the Ling army is rushing this time, and they will not have much heavy equipment. As long as there are any more casualties, they will be able to engage in close combat. At that time, what can the Ling army do? "
Although Wei Chengping felt his heart ache, he felt that the Shui youth's words were indeed reasonable. Thus, he could only harden his heart and focus on the battle!
The situation was just as the Shui youth had predicted. After the Northern Wei cavalry suffered another five hundred casualties, the distance between the two sides was only an arrow's throw away. The archers shot out another two volleys of arrows, and the Northern Wei cavalry was already right in front of their eyes! Under the illumination of the rising sun, one could clearly see that each and every one of their faces was incomparably ferocious and terrifying!
Ling Xiao was not flustered at all, and the red flag in his hand swung downwards! In that instant, countless thick wooden stakes were thrown out from the Sky Bearing army! They all landed about seventy to eighty feet away from the Sky Bearing army! They were densely packed all over the ground! Some were long, some were short, some were thick, some were thin, some were horizontal, some were vertical.
In just this seventy to eighty feet of space, it formed the boundary between life and death!
The Northern Wei cavalry charged forward like a whirlwind. Previously, they were suppressed by the rain of arrows, and were helpless against it. Now that they were right in front of them, and were about to retaliate, a sudden change occurred. Before they could even react, they had already charged forward!
Many of the cavalrymen lost their footing, and their war horses toppled over. Caught off guard, the cavalrymen on their horses did not have the chance to react, and all of them tumbled down from the sky! The cavalrymen behind them were also galloping at full speed, and how could they stop in such a hurry? They immediately collided with the cavalrymen in front of them, and in that instant, they were thrown off their horses. While they might not necessarily die from falling off their horses, the cavalrymen behind them would definitely be trampled by their horses. The moment they fell off their horses, they would be turned into meat paste in a few breaths of time, and the scene was simply too horrible to look at!
The archers of the Sky Bearing army stood up, and arrows rained down, mercilessly slaughtering the defenseless enemies in front of them! In all directions, miserable shrieks could be heard!
In the Northern Wei army, the bugle horn for retreat finally sounded. Wei Chengping was finally unable to bear the loss of his elite cavalry, and forcefully gave the order to retreat! The Shui youth's face was as calm as still water, and he did not say a single word!
By the time the Northern Wei cavalry managed to rein in their horses with much difficulty, the area in front of the Sky Bearing army was already a scene of hell! Many of the Northern Wei soldiers who had been shot were still rolling on the ground in pain, screaming in pain. On the dry ground, fresh blood flowed into small streams, and the corpses of the dead horses were piled up like a small mountain. Together with the corpses of the Northern Wei soldiers, it was as though they had formed a natural barrier between the Sky Bearing and Northern Wei armies!
In this attack, the Northern Wei cavalry actually suffered over 6000 casualties! On the other hand, the Sky Bearing army only suffered a few hundred light injuries, and only a few dozen died. This could be considered a huge victory for Ling Xiao, and he had taken the lead!
"Commander!" A deputy general looked at the situation in front of him expressionlessly, and said to Ling Xiao, "While we have achieved victory in our first encounter, we are outnumbered by the enemy by five times. Furthermore, they have surrounded us from all sides, and the situation is far too dangerous. We have to break out as soon as possible!"
"There's no hurry." Ling Xiao looked at the Northern Wei soldiers retreating like a flood, and shook his head, "This is only the first wave of the Northern Wei's attack, and the distribution of their troops is still unclear. Let's wait a little longer. DaYuan, the Northern Wei knew that our army was on high alert, but they actually sent out their cavalry to trample our camp. This matter is already very unusual. "
That deputy general was called Kong DaYuan, and he had followed Ling Xiao for over a decade. He was both intelligent and brave, and was one of Ling Xiao's most capable assistants. He also frowned, and said, "That's right, this matter is inexplicable. Looking at the battle formation, the best way to deal with our army is not to have the infantry push forward slowly, and the archers and spear throwers launch a concentrated attack first. This time, our army has been instigated by those three dog thieves, our entire army is equipped with rapid marching equipment. We are lacking in military supplies, and the number of arrows our soldiers can carry is rather limited. As long as a large amount of our bows and arrows are exhausted, the infantry on all sides will continue to surround and attack. Finally, the elite cavalry will be deployed, waiting at ease for the exhausted enemy. They will definitely defeat our army in one fell swoop with the force of a thunderbolt. This is the correct path. This is the most basic military knowledge, but the enemy did not use it, and instead chose to use the stupid cavalry formation! This is very confusing. This subordinate believes that there are two possibilities for a commander to make such a decision. "
Ling Xiao asked, "What are the two possibilities?"
Kong DaYuan said, "The first possibility is that the current commander of the Northern Wei is not good at commanding troops, and he thinks that victory is in his hands, which is why he committed the greatest taboo of the military! He caused the elite cavalry to suffer heavy losses. "
"That's not possible!" A deputy general by the side refuted, "How can a commander of 400,000 soldiers not be good at commanding troops? If he really isn't good at commanding troops, why would he set up such an elaborate ambush? I believe that there must be another reason for his actions! "
Kong DaYuan nodded his head, "The second possibility is that our reinforcements are already on their way here, and the enemy wants to end the battle quickly, resulting in this mistake!"
A middle-aged general came forward, and he was the general who had argued with Ling Twenty about winning the bet. His name was Li XiangDong, and he said, "This is also not possible. Both sides are already determined to kill us, so why would Sky Bearing send any reinforcements? Furthermore, the troops under the general's direct command have already turned out in full force, so where would there be any reinforcements? Even if someone were to send reinforcements, they would definitely be stopped by the 30,000 troops of those three bastards. The way I see it, it must be those bastards from the Northern Wei who are scheming something. "
Everyone nodded their heads in agreement. Ling Nineteen was Ling Xiao's personal guard, and it wasn't his place to speak at this moment. However, under the urgency of the situation, he couldn't care less and shouted, "Who says that we don't have reinforcements? My young noble's reinforcements are about to arrive! Those bastards from the Northern Wei, in my young noble's eyes, are just a bunch of chickens and dogs! "
The moment he said that, everyone was speechless. These people had been on the battlefield for the past few months, and apart from news related to the war, they were completely cut off from the rest of the news. How would they know that Ling Tian had suddenly risen up and shocked the world! In their hearts, they still had the impression that he was a good-for-nothing silkpants, and at the very most, a silkpants with decent martial arts.
Out of everyone's expectations, Ling Xiao actually nodded his head and said, "That's right, I believe that Tian 'er will definitely lead the reinforcements here. Thus, before he arrives, we must find a stable place to defend, and do our best to stall for time until the reinforcements arrive! What we lack now is time, and the longer we drag this out, the better the situation will be for us! "
All the generals already had their opinions about Ling Tian, and although they had Ling Xiao's confirmation, they still couldn't help but have their doubts. However, they still agreed in unison!
Kong DaYuan continued, "I believe that when the enemy launches another round of attacks, they will reveal their true intentions. Besieging and annihilating our entire army is the worst way to go about it. Although the Northern Wei's military strength is many times greater than ours, their elite strength is far inferior. If they want to annihilate our entire army, the Northern Wei will lose at least half of their military strength. I believe that the Northern Wei will not be willing to accept such a huge loss, and they might not even be able to accept it. Thus, this general deduces that the Northern Wei will definitely use the tactic of besieging three and chasing one. They will create an opening for our army to escape and destroy our morale. That is the right way to go about it. "
"Furthermore, there will definitely be an ambush waiting for us on that path!" Li XiangDong said, "Any general who has been on the battlefield a few times would know this!"
Kong DaYuan smiled faintly and said, "Man's will to live is just that strange. Even though they know that there is a trap in a seemingly safe path, they will still step into it for the sake of a momentary chance of survival. If we go in the opposite direction, where the enemy's military strength is the strongest, we will fight with our lives on the line. If we can break out of the encirclement, then that will be the true path to survival! In other words, if the opening they leave is from the north, then we will break out from the south! If the opening they leave is from the east, then we will break out from the west. " As he said that, he smiled proudly and said, "In this way, we will definitely be able to catch them off guard, and the risk will be greatly reduced! Although we will break out from the opposite direction and face the enemy's strongest side, the enemy is using the tactic of besieging three and chasing one. From the start of the battle, they will definitely not be willing to fight with their lives on the line. Furthermore, they are attacking from three sides, so their military strength will inevitably be scattered. Our military strength will be superior, and coupled with the fact that we will fight with our lives on the line, I believe that our chances of survival will be greatly increased! " (To be continued, if you want to know what will happen next, please go to www.qidian.com to read more chapters. Support the author, support the original reading!)
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