Military tactics state, "To besiege an army, you need ten times its number."
To conduct an annihilating battle against three thousand five hundred men, you would need a thirty-thousand-strong army.
And not just any general could command them.
A mediocre one wouldn’t be able to control such a force.
If that fifteen-year-old, Li Guanyi, managed to fight an annihilating battle... Shen Xinsu shook his head vehemently, discarding the nightmarish scenario from his mind. At that moment, his confidant came rushing in like a flying meteor, exclaiming, "General, General, terrible news!"
Shen Xinsu asked, "Has Yuwen Tianxian come?!"
"No, no, it’s not him, it’s Li Guanyi gathering a crowd!"
Shen Xinsu, in great anger, said, "Where are your crossbows? Where are your traps? Can’t you manage to shoot at the enemy?" But the deputy general’s face turned pale as he replied, "You, you’ll see when you come!"
Donning his battle robe, Shen Xinsu rushed out and, upon reaching Cliff Pass, took just one glance before his complexion turned ashen. Mechanisms were activated at every level of Cliff Pass, the crossbows were drawn, and there, in front of the pass, where the Yue Family Army had charged with eight thousand in armored cavalry, an army appeared.
Yes, that was a battle group, not some ragtag mob!
Shen Xinsu stared fixedly below Cliff Pass.
Thousands of men, including two thousand four hundred captives, along with the remaining two thousand plus in heavy armor.
They gathered in a large formation and advanced.
Five hundred heavy cavalry, clad in full armor, at the center, a young martial officer rode a qilin and held a Battle Halberd, followed by over one thousand four hundred men in heavy armor, donning helmets, swords at their waists, carrying spears or halberds in one hand, crossbows in the other.
With a solemn and chilling presence, they advanced without a sideways glance, exuding the real scent of bloody battle, stately and solemn. Even a dozen massive bears, resembling giant beasts, walked calmly by their side—mounted on their backs, astonishingly, were massive carriage crossbows.
These were the crafts of Mr. Lei and his group of five, who were too attached to their machine crossbows.
No other reason but poverty!
Mr. Lei clenched his teeth and caught bears far and wide across the mountains.
Somehow managing to come up with these bear-mounted massive carriage crossbows, driven by the methods of Divine Beast Manor; one thousand four hundred armored heavy infantry, five hundred heavy cavalry, and even those among the saved steeds from Divine Beast Manor who could ride, made up two hundred light cavalry.
This was already an army.
An army emanating a dire and deadly aura.
But as he aimed his bow, ready to shoot at them, laughter came from the other side, "General Shen Xinsu, long time no see!" Shen Xinsu looked over to see a carriage stopping nearby, and on the carriage an elderly man was sipping tea. It was Pang Shuiyun.
Along with the bound Yuwen Tianxian and Yuwen Hua.
Shen Xinsu aimed his bow in that direction.
Elder Pang, holding the two men from Ying Country, sat by the city gate and did not follow the large army. Shen Xinsu shouted, "With two generals from Ying Country, do you plan to hold me hostage?"
Pang Shuiyun said, "You have released the Yue Family Army and imprisoned the Emperor’s city lords; this is intolerable to Chen Country. Now, are you going to kill Yuwen Lie’s brother and nephew as well?"
"Neither Chen Country nor Ying Country will tolerate you; General, how will you handle this yourself?"
Considering the remaining strategies of kingship, looking at the key advantages of support.
Shen Xinsu was a clever man which is why, with that one sentence, the old man pierced his heart like a dagger. Shen Xinsu’s chest heaved violently, as Pang Shuiyun looked at him calmly and serenely. This was no gamble; he saw everything very clearly, very clearly.
In great fury, Shen Xinsu snapped the arrow in his hand.
This day, the foremost Heroic Pass welcomed the second army to cross the barrier previously considered insurmountable. Grim and resolute, the army, experienced in bloody combat with heavy infantry, light cavalry, heavy cavalry, and fearsome beasts bearing carriage crossbows, with the qilin growling lowly at the fore, crossed the impassable barrier with composure.
This was precisely Pang Shuiyun’s strategy.
Li Guanyi, crossing Chen Country!
The following day, when the army was camped fifty li outside Heroic City, the young man suddenly thought of something. He said, "I still have one more thing to take care of." Then he left alone, altering his breath and appearance, donning a Taoist robe, and with Shaking Light, he returned to Zhenbei City.
That same day, Xue Zhaoji of the Xue Family saw a brand-new sealed scroll.
His expression solemn, he slowly unrolled the scroll, seeing the text that filled its pages, and finally came upon the revised rankings of the Divine General List—
[Divine General List Number Eighty-three]
The record of achievements was simple, with a simple line stating in bright red two words, [Annihilation], and that he led his troops across Zhenbei City.
Xue Zhaoji recited the name, whispering:
Meanwhile, on the streets, the former Qiantong City Lord sighed. He was no longer a city lord, just hoping to live out his days in peace, in a now troubled time. Suddenly, someone called out to him. He looked up to see a young Taoist approaching with confident strides.
Suddenly, a flash of sword light, and the world seemed to invert before his eyes.
The scent of blood rose.
People around cried out in terror as the young man brandished his sword, laughing as he left the bustling market behind.
And so, at Zhenbei City, the head of Zhao Huairui, the hidden hand of the Yin Yang Reincarnation Sect at Zhenbei, was taken by the young man.
The up-and-coming general named Chaos Qilin returned to his camp,
Only to find a green-robed old man sitting calmly in his main tent.
In the old man’s eyes, there was nothing but deep admiration.