The next morning, the main forces of both sides set up in the southern outskirts of Muye.
The gloomy sky suddenly began to drizzle. Dark clouds covered the sky above the battlefield and did not disperse for a long time.
On the Zhou army's side, because of the trenches, the chariots were forced to be at the back as reserves. The middle army was made up of the Zhou army. The three thousand Stalwart Tiger Army was at the front, followed by forty-five thousand armored soldiers.
The vassal army was on the left, while the mutant army was on the right.
The Zhou Dynasty's camp formed a standard attack formation.
Before the battle, the Zhou army held a solemn oath after setting up the formation. King Wu of Zhou scolded King Zhou for listening to his concubine's slander, killing nobles and officials, not worshipping his ancestors, and brutally killing the people.
On the Shang side, the hundred thousand crossbowmen were the core of the army, so they decided to be on the defensive. The twenty thousand sword and shield soldiers of the mutant army were at the front. They used the shields in their hands to form a steel line of defense.
The hundred thousand crossbowmen were behind the sword and shield soldiers in a fan formation. The crossbowmen formed a fan-shaped attack net, shooting from the left and right sides. Under such a three-dimensional defense system, the front, left, and right sides, as well as the combination of direct and projectile attacks, greatly increased the killing power of the crossbows.
Each thousand crossbowmen team was divided into three groups. The first group aimed and fired, called firing crossbows. The second group was in a waiting position, called advancing crossbows. The third group pulled the strings, called loading crossbows. When the first group finished shooting, they would retreat to the third group. This cycle continued to maintain the continuity of shooting.
The left wing was the Imperial Guard Army, royal guards, and war elephants. The right wing was the ten thousand mutant cavalry. In order to leave enough distance for the charge, the cavalry was placed slightly behind.
The formation of the Shang army was out of Jiang Shang's expectations. A few days ago, the spy sent to contact Weizi had not returned. Jiang Shang already had a bad feeling. Now, seeing that the opposite camp was not the chaotic slave army that he had expected, but the elite army that had appeared, he couldn't help but feel that something was wrong.
But the demand for Shang had already been issued. It was too late to retreat now. The arrow was nocked on the bow and had to be released.
Jiang Shang personally walked to the war drums and beat them.
The war drums sounded. The Zhou Army and the alliance army of the various vassals stepped on the drums. One after another, they took firm steps and crossed the trenches one after another. They were like an overwhelming torrent that pressed towards the Shang army.
The rolling army trampled the green ground of the southern suburbs of Muye, just like the tide drowning the beach, surging towards the camp of the Shang army, wanting to swallow it in one bite.
King Wuwang of Zhou took the lead and walked in front of the battle formation, surrounded by the Brave Tiger Army.
Under the control of Zhou Wuwang, the battle formation advanced in unison. They lined up neatly and marched in unison. Above the battle formation, spears and spears lit up like a forest, and the military flags of various vassal states fluttered in the wind.
"Raise your shields!" The herald gave an order and waved the flag. The Stalwart Tiger Army in the front row raised their wooden shields like an iron wall. The soldiers shouted rhythmically and hit their shields with their weapons. "Woo, woo, woo, woo!" Accompanied by the shouts and the rhythmic drumbeats, the phalanxes advanced in unison.
When the black mass of the Zhou Army was three hundred meters away from the Shang Army, the Shang army's counterattack began.
Under the command of the instructors, the army of a hundred thousand crossbowmen overcame their fear and half-knelt on the ground. They raised their crossbows and started shooting. The massacre that happened in the suburbs of Muye had already reached the ears of the slave crossbowmen. The Zhou Army did not care about their lives at all. Since that was the case, what was there to hesitate about?
Countless arrows interwove in the air to form an impenetrable net of arrows, covering the heads of the Zhou Army. Every wave of arrows took away the lives of thousands upon thousands of soldiers, splashing up waves of blood. The archers of the Zhou Army were suppressed to the point where they could not fight back. They could only take the attacks passively.
The advancing troops fell row by row. Be it the elite Stalwart Tiger Army, the vassal alliance army, or even the mutant army, they all groaned under the rain of arrows. No one could block the sharpness of the arrows.
King Wuwang of Zhou tried his best to stabilize the battle formation and not cause chaos. The rear army stepped on the corpses of the front army and crushed them into meat paste. Under King Wuwang's encouragement, they continued to advance fearlessly.
Retreating was a dead end. When they met on a narrow path, the brave would win. As long as they crossed the 300-meter death line, the crossbowmen army would only have the fate of being slaughtered by them.
The Zhou Army firmly believed.
The soldiers were hit by arrows one after another. The injured soldiers lay on the ground and filled the trenches. Blood flowed along the trenches and gathered into trickles, dyeing the ground completely red. The soldiers dripped blood, stepped on corpses, and braved the rain of arrows as they continued forward. This was a vengeful army that had no way out.
After defeating their fear, the crossbowmen became more confident and their cooperation became smoother. The arrows increased in number and density, and their penetrative power increased. They brushed past the ears and shoulders of the soldiers, or with a puff, they shot into an unlucky person.
The simple leather or wooden armor of the Zhou Army could not block the sharp arrows at all. The casualties were too high. A short distance of 300 meters caused the Zhou Army to pay the price of 20,000 to 30,000 people.
When the remaining armored soldiers finally rushed to the front of the Shang army, what welcomed them was the steel defense line led by Shi Wansui. A thousand heavy infantry from Shanhai County were arranged at the front. The infantry armor forged with fine iron was unbreakable and indestructible. The spears of the Zhou Army could not break through its defense at all.
As an imperial general, Shi Wansui had three specialties. [Leading the Way] increased the morale of the troops by 40, [Fighting South and North] increased the movement speed of the troops by 30, and [Insight] increased the attack power of the troops by 20. In addition, the Shang Dynasty's defense power increased by 25.
Under the support of Shi Wansui, this troop of saber and shield soldiers was an invincible army of tigers and wolves in front of the Zhou soldiers who used bronze weapons and wore leather armor.
Shi Wansui raised the spear in his hand and shouted, "Kill!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill! " The saber and shield soldier raised his shield with his left hand and blocked the enemy's spear. He waved his sharp saber with his right hand and cut the enemy into two. Severed limbs danced in the air, causing blood to spurt out. The elite troops that the Zhou Army was proud of were like chickens and dogs in front of them.
The steel defense line formed by the saber and shield soldiers prevented the Zhou Army from advancing. Instead, they were suppressed and forced to retreat.
The crossbowmen at the back were like tireless killing machines. They were still working, wave after wave of arrows mercilessly taking thousands of lives.
The range of the arrow rain was so large that not only the Zhou soldiers in the center of the net, but also the dukes and mutant armies on the left and right flanks were also within the range of the arrow rain.
A third of the fifty thousand mutants in the Zhou Army had been cut down by the arrow rain. The lords at the front had suffered heavy losses. Some had become generals without an army, while others had been cleared out of the battle map. At this time, many of the lords had thoughts of retreating and were afraid to advance.
What followed was an even greater nightmare.
Under the cover of the crossbowmen, the elephant formation attacked. The soldiers on the towers on the backs of the war elephants used crossbows to shoot from afar and long bronze dagger-axes to kill their opponents. At the same time, they controlled the war elephants to use their trunks and tusks to attack the enemy. Around the war elephants, ten thousand Imperial Guard Army followed closely to protect the war elephants from the enemy infantry.
The war elephants caused great waves in the mutant army.
The mutant army was like a plate of loose sand. They had a large number of riders, but they were not organized effectively. Instead, they were fighting for themselves. They had already suffered heavy losses before they even reached the front of the formation. Now that they were attacked by the war elephants, they were immediately thrown into chaos. The soldiers could not find their commanders, and the commanders could not find their lords. They did not know if they should continue to advance or retreat. They had great fighting power but could not use it.
The Imperial Guard Army of the Shang Dynasty had the determination to protect their homeland. Under the cover of the war elephants, they swung their spears at the enemy and reaped their lives. The bronze armor and helmets provided good protection for the Imperial Guard Army.
The mutant army that had originally had the advantage was fighting very ugly. At this time, the inferior Shang Imperial Guard Army and royal guards had the advantage. It was a great irony.
On the right flank, Zhang Liao raised his long spear and gave the order to attack. "Charge!"
The cavalry raised their long weapons, spears, and long spears, and charged towards the dukes that had lost half of their forces. Under the control of the cavalry, the warhorses nimbly crossed the trenches without slowing down and charged towards the other side.
In an era where chariots were prevalent, a cavalry unit like this was the enemy's nightmare. The arrows hit the Radiant Armor of the Shanhai County heavy cavalry at the very front, but it was like tickling and did not cause any damage. The cavalrymen were like a red-hot soldering iron stabbing into butter, easily tearing the allied army in half.
There was not a single soldier that could stand on the path of the cavalry. There was not even a proper corpse because they had been trampled into meat paste by the cavalry behind them.
This was not a war, but a living massacre. The battlefield had instantly become a slaughterhouse. The ferocious cavalry charged back and forth unscrupulously in the midst of the allied forces, completely crippling the troops.
Even the bravest soldier could not help but tremble in fear when faced with such a hell on earth. The cavalry's spears pierced through the enemy under the great inertia of the impact. They pierced several people at once, like human meat skewers.
The soldiers that had not yet died let out tragic cries in midair.
The cavalry did not move. With a shake and a fling, the skewered corpses were easily thrown to the ground. Their intestines and organs all fell out and flowed everywhere. Then the horses trampled over them and mixed them with the mud and grass to make a human meat salad.
The merciless rain of arrows continued to harvest the soldiers of the Zhou Dynasty. (To be continued.)
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