Magical Water Margin: They all call me brother

Page 147

"Damn it, let's go for it!"

"I finally became a free man, and even if I die, I will never go back to being a slave. I'll fight to the death!"

"Go back and tell my mother that I'm not a coward!"

Faced with the terrifying trolls pressing down like mountains, the spearmen at the front had bloodshot eyes and let out beast-like howls as they thrust their spears, which were far beyond what was used to them, with all their might! They did not expect to kill the trolls, but rather to use the dense forest of spear tips to slow down the terrible charge.

"Pfft! Crack!"

Spears pierced the troll's armored body in rapid succession, most bouncing off the thick iron armor or embedding themselves deep in its massive muscles, but few were fatal. The troll roared, swinging its warhammer, a single blow snapping five or six spear shafts in two, the impact sending the spear-wielding soldiers' arms trembling and numb. But more spears immediately surged in from all directions, pressing firmly against the troll's chest, abdomen, and even penetrating the gaps in its leg armor! The soldiers pressed their full weight onto the spear shafts, ten spearmen in a tight formation, working together to contend with this monster.

After breaking through five or six rows in a row, the giant gold troll slowed down its offensive.

At that moment, the spearmen in the rear charged forward! They advanced at breakneck speed, skimming the ground! Their long-handled sickles weren't for slashing, but rather, with a cold, arcing light, they swept precisely towards the troll's pillar-like legs. The sharp blades of the sickles bit into the troll's leg armor, sparks flying. Some were blocked by the sturdy armor, but many more successfully hooked onto the joints of the armor or the relatively vulnerable back of the knee! The soldiers pulled fiercely backward, tearing open the monster's joints and tendons.

One by one, the trolls' calves were caught and torn apart by multiple hooked scythes, letting out a roar of pain and rage. Their massive bodies staggered violently, using their warhammers as crutches to keep from falling. Many more trolls, however, truly lost their balance and collapsed to the ground. The unstoppable momentum of their charge was finally abruptly halted by Liang Shan!

Just as the troll was slowed down and even fell due to the attack on its lower body, the Liangshan champion warriors, who were carrying heavy giant axes and wearing two layers of armor, suddenly leaped up from the gaps in the spears. With their giant axes coated with oil and burning with flames, they used all their strength and the momentum of their fall to slam down on the troll's helmet, face, and even its thick neck!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!"

The clanging of metal and the shattering of bones were deafening! Even the troll's hard skull was dented by such focused, heavy blows, and green blood and brain matter splattered from the wound! And once the wound was ignited by the flaming oil, it could not regenerate!

Meanwhile, the retreating skirmishers had reached a safe position and began firing again! Theoretically, muskets fire in a horizontal line, so it's impossible to fire from behind friendly forces.

However, the average height of the Qi army was 1.7 meters, while the height of the trolls was 3 meters. When fighting the giant beasts, the gun muzzle just needed to be raised a little higher. For Wanyan Zonghan and the Jin army, the nightmare-like gunshots once again resounded through the sky!

Amidst the dense hail of bullets, their heads were struck as if by invisible hammers! The dense bullets easily tore through skin and muscle, pierced through skulls, and pulverized everything inside! The trolls' massive heads exploded one after another with a series of muffled thuds!

Red blood, white brain matter, and gray bone fragments mixed together, exploding into thick, foul-smelling blood mists, mixed with bits of flesh and hair, spraying wildly in all directions in a radial pattern! It even drenched the Qi soldiers and Jin trolls fighting below!

At this moment, after the other Jin troops had also made great sacrifices, they engaged in close combat with the other Qi troops. Each Jin infantry square was often made up of ogres that were more than three meters tall and strong, who acted as the killing spearheads to cut through the enemy lines. Dense groups of Han Chinese warriors charged like iron hammers, smashing the enemy ranks.

On the horizon, two boundless torrents of steel are locked in an unstoppable battle, two killing waves composed of tens of thousands of flesh and blood and cold steel colliding head-on in the most brutal and savage way!

"boom!!!"

The soldiers at the forefront vanished from the battlefield the instant they made contact. The cracking sound of bones shattering under immense force, the dull thud of shields colliding, the snapping of spears piercing flesh and breaking instantly… countless terrifying sounds converged into a deafening roar that swept across Shandong! Two perfectly aligned, wall-like steel battle lines instantly transformed into a jagged, indistinguishable grindstone of flesh and blood!

The Jin soldiers swung their shields with their left hands and smashed their maces with their right, trying to break through the defenses; the Qi soldiers thrust their spears desperately, attempting to halt the advance. The soldiers of both sides were crammed together, the front ranks pushed forward by the surging tide of those behind, forced to thrust, smash, and hack at any armor or flesh of a different color before them!

If a spear breaks, draw a saber or mace. If weapons fall from their hands, use their fists or helmets. When the front-line soldiers are pressed face to face, shoulder to shoulder, and have no room to even swing their daggers, they simply bite their opponents' throats!

Hundreds of thousands of soldiers from Youyun and Shandong, like wild beasts driven to desperation, fought a frenzied battle amidst deafening roars and screams. The ground beneath their feet was quickly soaked into a deep red swamp by warm blood, slippery and treacherous. People were constantly tripped and trampled into a bloody pulp by countless pairs of iron boots, disappearing without a trace.

As far as the eye could see, there were jostling heads, clashing shields, waving weapons, splattered blood, and flying limbs. The pungent, nauseating stench of blood and sweat seemed to solidify in the air, and inhaling it carried a salty, rusty odor.

Wanyan Zonghan's command flag stood firmly at the rear, coldly watching his army grind forward like a meat grinder.

Liu Hong's command flag remained unshakable; he calmly directed the army into battle, stabilizing morale like Mount Tai.

The Jin army's Youyun Legion was newly recruited in the last two years, and its equipment was excellent because it had taken over all of the Liao dynasty's assets. However, its training was mediocre.

The Qi army's hundreds of thousands of newly recruited soldiers were also newly recruited in the last two years. They had consumed 70 million taels of silver from Emperor Qinzong of Song, so their equipment was excellent. However, they only had one winter for training, so their overall strength was relatively average. The warriors of Youyun fought to a standstill with the Shandong armies, with neither side gaining the upper hand.

The two enormous formations were locked in a fierce struggle, and every inch of advance or retreat required the sacrifice of countless corpses! This was no longer a battle, but a primitive and savage act of attrition.

Wanyan Zonghan and Liu Hong frowned simultaneously. In infantry combat, the outcome was uncertain. Even though the Jin army outnumbered their opponents, the total length of the battle line was limited. The Jin army simply had more reserves, a thicker battle line, and were better at attrition warfare. In infantry-on-infantry combat, Wanyan Zonghan couldn't gain the slightest advantage.

Then, the only option is to use cavalry.

Chapter 431: Seizing Air Control and Overcoming Courage

Although Wanyan Zonghan's forces were numerous, his cavalry was limited. The vast majority of the 200,000-plus Han and Liao recruits in Youyun were infantry, and the surrendered landlord militias recruited in Hebei and Shandong were entirely infantry, lacking horses. Of the 50,000 Jin troops he brought from his own clan, 30,000 were heavily armored infantry, leaving 20,000 cavalry. Adding Guo Yaoshi's 10,000 cavalry, Wanyan Zonghan's total cavalry force amounted to 30,000.

Ten thousand of them were orphans of Guo Yaoshi's ever-victorious army, and five thousand were light archer cavalrymen without any armor, covering five thousand heavy shock cavalrymen wearing iron armor in battle.

Ten thousand were Jin Dynasty archer cavalry, wearing a set of two-piece iron armor that only protected vital parts such as the chest and abdomen, leaving the arms and thighs unprotected. They were heavy armored archer cavalry who sacrificed some speed to enhance their defense and impact capabilities, and they used powerful bows, spears, maces, and sabers to kill the enemy.

Nine thousand were heavy cavalry of the Great Jin, so they were clad in full armor. Although they were also equipped with powerful bows, they charged into battle wielding long spears, crescent blades, and giant axes. Many of them were ferocious beast-like beings such as tigers and leopards, or even ice bear warriors who rode white bears into battle.

The last thousand were Wanyan, a half-giant riding a giant dragon-transformed warhorse. The armored cavalry, with both men and horses in full armor, possessed an extremely terrifying impact. Among them were ten Mouke, one Meng'an, plus Wanyan Zonghan himself and ten personal guards, a total of twenty-two frost giants, riding twenty-two giant ancient mammoths, who joined the war.

Finally, there were the six remaining silver dragons under Guo Yaoshi's command, which were used for reconnaissance by the air force.

Surprisingly, the Liangshan cavalry force actually outnumbered the Jin forces.

Among them, 20,000 cavalrymen were members of Yelü Dashi's Fifth Legion, the last legacy brought back from the Liao Dynasty, 5,000 ogre heavy armored shock cavalrymen, and 15,000 steppe goblin light archer cavalrymen.

There were also nine thousand cavalrymen, the main cavalry force of Liangshan, assigned to the three legion commanders Guan Sheng, Lu Zhisheng, and Song Jiang. Each commander commanded three thousand men, one thousand of whom were heavily armored cavalrymen wearing bright armor, wielding lances and crescent blades, with bows and maces as secondary weapons. The other two thousand were unarmored, armed with bows and arrows, but similarly equipped with spears and sabers, capable of charging and melee combat. Their configuration was almost identical to that of the Jin dynasty, or rather, the cavalry of the Liao, Song, Jin, and Western Xia dynasties were essentially copied from each other.

There were actually three thousand cavalrymen left, but they were in Huyan Zhuo's hands and went south to seize Mizhou; they never returned.

The final four thousand cavalrymen were the elite of Liangshan, Liu Hong's Liangshan Imperial Guard. After seizing Guo Yaoshi's dragon horse, they numbered two thousand men and horses fully armored. The dragon horse was clad in double armor, leather and iron. The armored cavalry wore cotton armor and two layers of lamellar armor, making them super-heavy armored cavalry with a total of three layers of armor. Their charging power and destructive force were astonishing.

The other two thousand were light shock cavalry who abandoned all armor, maximized their speed, and were equipped with spears, bows, and short guns. They were responsible for covering the two thousand heavy armored cavalry who had maximized their charge, damage, and defense, but were relatively slow.

In the skies, including Li Cunxiao, there are a total of six blue dragons vying for air superiority.

At Wanyan Zonghan's command, Guo Yaoshi and six other silver dragons soared into the sky, beginning their struggle for air superiority. The battlefield, with its 300,000-strong force, was far too vast. Even the light cavalry scouts were not well-suited to such a massive scale. It took a cavalryman at least twenty minutes to run from Wanyan Zonghan's command flag to the edge of the battlefield. Add to that Wanyan Zonghan's strategic thinking, the local generals' descriptions of the battle situation, and the time it took for the generals to execute his orders—a delay of up to an hour and a half, a terrifyingly alarming delay.

Therefore, he had to rely on the air force to obtain more intelligence and transmit it faster in order to better command an army of hundreds of thousands of people.

Liu Hong shared the same idea, and with a command, Li Cunxiao and the other six blue dragons soared into the sky! They engaged Guo Yaoshi in fierce combat on the battlefield. In an instant, the entire battlefield was shrouded in the shadow of the dragons' wings. Blue thunderous breath and silver frost winds collided violently in the air, unleashing a deafening and terrifying roar!

Bolts of lightning intertwined with frost, transforming into towering, frost-covered trees in the clouds: these were the forked lightning bolts of the blue dragon, instantly frozen by the silver dragon's extreme frost—a wondrous sight. Bolts of frozen lightning rained down from the sky like a storm, crashing onto the battlefield between the Qi and Jin armies. The moment they shattered, the frozen thunder within erupted! The terrifying shockwaves, carrying the shattered frost, instantly tore apart the fragile flesh of humans, and the released lightning scorched the internal organs of both sides in an instant!

A blue dragon and a silver dragon clashed violently, their claws and fangs becoming their most primal weapons. Dragon scales shattered and flew everywhere, like giant metal fragments raining down from the sky. The blue dragon's lightning-fast claws roared as they tore through the silver dragon's wing membranes, leaving charred, lightning-like scars on its flesh.

The silver dragon's icy fangs scorched the blue dragon's cobalt scales, freezing them into terrifying frost. Scalding, demonically glowing dragon blood rained down from the sky, landing on the soldiers below and eliciting terrified screams—this blood itself contained immense energy, capable of electrocuting and freezing anyone who touched it!

Meanwhile, Li Cunxiao was locked in battle with Guo Yaoshi. She had grown quite large, and with the blessing of the Dragon King of Jidu, every cobalt blue dragon scale was imprinted with golden heavenly lightning runes. Although the dragon was not as large as the old dragon Guo Yaoshi, it was extremely fast. The dragon charged around like golden lightning, unstoppable. The violent golden heavenly lightning shook the entire sky. Although Guo Yaoshi had the advantage, he could not defeat her for the time being.

Seeing Guo Yaoshi's ferocity, Liu Hong waved his banner and directly dispatched Guan Sheng to join the fierce battle in the sky!

The leader of the Five Tigers had a face as red as a jujube, lips as white as rouge, and phoenix eyes that flashed with cold light when they opened and closed. Her black hair swirled like a whirlwind. In her right hand, she held the eighty-two-pound Green Dragon Crescent Blade upside down, dragging the blade across the ground, creating sparks and a teeth-grinding scraping sound. Her left hand, however, calmly and casually stroked her long hair at her temples, her movements elegant and dashing, yet she looked down upon the world as if she were not facing a thousand troops, but a deserted wilderness.

The next second, she transformed into a terrifying azure dragon that blotted out the sky, bathed in light and fire! Its body was tens of meters long, winding and twisting like the Taihang Mountains, appearing and disappearing in the clouds. Its huge head looked down at the earth, and its golden eyes burned with cold fury and supreme majesty.

The terrifying pressure originating from the ancient divine beast swept down like a tangible tsunami! Not to mention ordinary soldiers, even Guo Yaoshi was thrown into panic! Before he could react, an extremely concentrated, intensely bright bluish-white beam of light, like a spear of judgment, spewed from its gigantic maw! This was not a scattered flame, but a highly compressed subspace dragon breath containing boundless chaotic spiritual energy. Its speed was beyond imagination, instantly tearing through the air and piercing straight towards Guo Yaoshi with an aura of annihilation!

Guo Yaoshi was terrified. Relying on his instincts honed from countless battles, he frantically flapped his wings to dodge. The scorching spear grazed his armor and struck a patch of land behind him, instantly melting a huge, charred crater with glass-like edges. Lava churned within, and the heat was scorching! The mere aftershock of the grazed spear heated his dragon scales to a semi-melted, blazing white.

Before Guo Yaoshi could recover from his shock and before Guan Sheng, the Great Saber, could catch his breath, the Azure Dragon's massive body swooped down like a collapsing mountain! Its speed was so fast that it left afterimages! A huge dragon claw covered in azure scales reached out, not to grab directly, but to grasp in mid-air—the flames scattered on the surrounding battlefield, and even the scorching energy left by the light spears, were forcibly seized and compressed by it, condensing in its claw into a huge, incomparable Azure Dragon Crescent Blade made purely of raging flames.

This massive flaming blade, carrying the power to tear the heavens apart, descended from above with pure, unadulterated violence, slashing fiercely at the still-shaken Guo Yaoshi! Before the blade even arrived, the terrifying heatwave and wind pressure had already knocked Guo Yaoshi down from the sky!

Guo Yaoshi roared, straining with all his might to regain his balance. He unleashed a torrent of dragon breath, constructing a frost shield to withstand Guan Sheng's second attack. However, the charge of the Green Dragon Crescent Blade was no match for human strength! The moment they made contact, the frost shield shattered like fragile glass! The flaming blade continued its relentless assault, slamming into Guo Yaoshi's claws held across his chest. A massive circular shockwave, accompanied by flames, exploded outwards, sending Guo Yaoshi flying backwards! His dragon claws were shattered and broken!

Guan Sheng struck successfully and didn't hesitate. His long, powerful dragon tail was already poised to strike—and flames were wrapped around it, making it look like a giant, burning steel whip! The enormous azure dragon, which blotted out the sky, used its waist as an axis and its tail, taking advantage of the momentum from its dive, swept out with a sudden horizontal motion! Accompanied by the explosive burst of spiritual energy flames, it directly sent Guo Yaoshi's massive body flying!

Like her ancestor Guan Yu, Guan Sheng's charge consisted of three moves: unleashing dragon breath, slashing with her broadsword, and sweeping with her dragon tail. These three moves were virtually unstoppable, killing anyone who met her. Even the valiant Yan Liang and Wen Chou, no matter how fierce, couldn't withstand these three charges and died just like ordinary soldiers.

However, once they can hold out, they can basically engage in a war of attrition with Guan Yu and Guan Sheng, dragging it out for forty or fifty rounds, or even a hundred rounds.

Guo Yaoshi was clearly the type who couldn't withstand a burst of attack, but he wasn't about to be instantly killed either. Seeing Guan Sheng's bravery, he had no choice but to retreat. Guan Sheng, with the Blue Dragon, pursued them relentlessly until Guo Yaoshi hid beside the giants. With the Frost Giants providing cover from their long-range slingshots, Guan Sheng and his men were forced back, gaining air superiority over most of the battlefield.

Chapter 432: The Mad Cry of Battle and the Bloodshed of Qi Jin

"Bring out the Ironclad Cavalry! Launch a feint attack on the left flank to draw the enemy cavalry's attention, then have all cavalry attack the right flank! Crush the enemy's right flank in one fell swoop!!!"

Seeing that the infantry duel was evenly matched and the attempt to seize air superiority had failed, Wanyan Zonghan was furious and wanted to regain the advantage in the cavalry battle, but was persuaded to stop by the frost giant next to him.

"No! Marshal! We don't have air superiority. Qi's information gathering efficiency is several times that of us! A feint attack by the cavalry would be easily seen through. This plan is too difficult to succeed."

"Yes, Marshal, we've lost air superiority, so the cavalry must not move rashly! According to intelligence, Qi also has a terrifyingly elite cavalry force, whose ability to kill generals and capture flags is no less than ours! What if you send out your cavalry and then Qi cavalry comes to kill you? We are at an information disadvantage!"

Wanyan Zonghan frowned, realizing that his generals were right. He then raised his battle flag and ordered his 30,000 cavalry to remain still, while his hundreds of thousands of infantry continued their relentless, meat-and-bone attack along the tens of kilometers-long front, slowly whittling down both his own and the enemy's forces.

Recalling the intelligence gathered over the past two years, he had to admit that Liu Hong, the Prince of Qi who had recently entered the Jin intelligence network, was completely different from the Song Dynasty in terms of tactics.

Normally, when the Song army went on a campaign, the emperor would draw up battle plans beforehand, and during the battle, a blue dragon would drop an imperial edict, instructing them to move the three bows and crossbows five feet to the left, and so on. But Liu Hong completely ignored all of this.

The core of Song army tactics was long-range shooting. Since the Liao army's archers had a maximum range of 80 meters, the Song army also practiced archery according to this standard. Their combat tactics were standard: shield infantry held the line, crossbowmen provided output, and cavalry provided support from the flanks. It was very rigid and dogmatic.

Liu Hong didn't care about any of that. It's not easy to find information about the Jurchens in earlier history, but the most recent example of Liangshan's battle was the Battle of Puyang, where two thousand cavalry charged into a hundred thousand Song soldiers, killing them in one move, breaking through the weak point of the Song army's defenses, and capturing Tong Guan, the commander of the hundred thousand Song soldiers. The tactics used by this cavalry made Liu Hong more like the Guanzhong army from Shaanxi than a Shandong native, or even the northern nomads.

Thinking this through, Wanyan Zonghan decided to play it safe and refused to send any cavalry. He opted to wear down Liu Hong's forces. The two massive infantry groups fought from dawn till sunset before finally sounding the retreat. After carefully assessing their casualties, they found that the exchange ratio was one to one, with both sides suffering over ten thousand dead or wounded.

The next day, the two sides fought again in Qingzhou. Wanyan Zonghan and Liu Hong competed in skill, commanding their massive infantry legions to launch repeated charges, encirclements, and breakthroughs.

Swords clashed, battle cries shook the heavens, and severed limbs flew everywhere. Blood flowed like rivers. On a higher level, Wanyan Zonghan and Liu Hong were engaged in a silent yet far more perilous game. They were like the most skilled chess players, using the earth as their chessboard and their soldiers as their pieces, competing in their understanding of war, their grasp of timing, and their control of their armies.

　Every change of formation, every troop movement, contains endless killing intent and countermeasures.

The two sides fought fiercely for three days. Wanyan Zonghan refused to release his cavalry, which annoyed Liu Hong. All of his tactics this time were based on the Jin people's habit of killing generals and capturing flags. He even used himself as bait to set up a death trap. However, Wanyan Zonghan was too cautious and never fell for it!

By the fourth day, both sides had suffered more than 30,000 casualties. Although the Qi army was not at a disadvantage, it was outnumbered. If the fighting continued for several more days, the Qi army would surely be defeated.

Therefore, Liu Hong began to implement the second plan: Hu Yanzhuo ordered Baisheng General Han Tao and Tianmu General Peng Qi to lead more than 30,000 troops to guard Mizhou, and then immediately led 3,000 cavalrymen back to Qingzhou, further strengthening Liu Hong's cavalry force.

On the sixth day, after Huyan Zhuo's cavalry returned, Liu Hong took the initiative: "I've waited six days. I've waited for Huyan Zhuo to capture Mizhou, and for the only cavalry force that Liangshan had ever sent out to return. Now the Five Tiger Generals are all gathered, and the cavalry is assembled. We're at our full strength. What are you waiting for?"

Wanyan Zonghan waited for six days. He sent the message to Wanyan Aguda, wanting further instructions: "Liu Hong is really hard to defeat. I think it's too difficult to eliminate the Qi army. Even if we succeed, we will suffer huge casualties. Why don't I stay here with the Eastern Route Army to hold off Liu Hong's Qi army and prevent them from returning to reinforce?"

Your Majesty, as long as you conquer Kaifeng, the people of the Song Dynasty will surely be filled with fear and fall into disarray. Then you can deal with this brat slowly.

Wanyan Aguda tacitly approved of this plan.

However, on the sixth day, Liu Hong began to take the initiative and change course. After another large-scale clash, Liu Hong directly ordered Yelü Dashi to lead 20,000 Khitan cavalry as the main force, with Guan Sheng, Huyan Zhuo, Lu Zhisheng, and Song Jiang each leading 3,000 cavalry to provide support. The 32,000 cavalry were positioned on the right flank and launched a full-scale attack! They bypassed the entire battlefield and rushed towards Wanyan Zonghan's command flag.

"finally come."

Wanyan Zonghan snorted coldly. After a long period of lying low, he finally waited for the Liangshan cavalry to attack. Having witnessed the fighting power of Liangshan in the past few days, his arrogance had completely disappeared. He now regarded Liu Hong as a formidable enemy and dared not relax his guard at all. He quickly deployed 10,000 Jin heavy infantry to defend his command post.

Once the Liangshan cavalry charged to their positions and were entangled by 10,000 heavy infantry, the Jin army's 30,000 iron cavalry would begin to encircle them from both sides, wiping out the 32,000 Liangshan cavalry that had finally fought their way out! This number should be the total number of Liangshan's cavalry. Scouts even reported seeing all five of Liangshan's legion commanders, who were the highest military commanders after Liu Hong and Lu Junyi. This should be the main force.

Chapter 433: Yelü Dashi's Cavalry Goes Berserk

"Form ranks! Form ranks! Form ranks!!!"

The Jin's Meng'an Mouke roared loudly, accompanied by heavy footsteps and billowing dust. A massive heavy infantry force swiftly intercepted Wanyan Zonghan and the Qi cavalry, forming a towering wall forged from flesh and steel. Many Jurchens directly transformed into beasts, becoming half-human, half-bear, or half-human, half-tiger beast forms. Each of them already weighed two or three hundred kilograms, and with the addition of heavy armor, their defensive capabilities were amplified to a terrifying level!

Their physical prowess was already terrifying, but the armor and weapons they had captured from the Liao and Song dynasties, along with the spears and shield walls they had learned from, made their terror even more horrifying. When the Qi army charged within a hundred meters, the Jin soldiers in the rear rows unleashed a torrent of deadly arrows from their powerful bows and crossbows!

A cold smile still lingered on Wanyan Zonghan's lips. He seemed to already see the Liangshan cavalry weakened by the rain of arrows, then crashing into his heavily armored wall, a bloody scene of men and horses falling to the ground. However, the next moment, the curve of his lips froze instantly, and his pupils contracted sharply!

The cavalry torrent, personally led by the strongest general of Liangshan, did not slow down or try to find a weak point in the final distance as he had expected. Instead, it accelerated again amidst the roars of leaders such as Guan Sheng, Huyan Zhuo, and Yelü Dashi!

Huyan Zhuo roared, and golden halos burst forth from her body like shockwaves, instantly covering the front row of all the heavy cavalry. The twelve holy halos raised the impact, lethality, and defense of all Liangshan cavalry to the limit!

Moreover, among these heavy cavalry were elite cannon cavalrymen of Yelü Dashi's elite forces, including the Zangya Beasts. The ordinary ogre cavalrymen rode Zangya Beasts, wore two layers of iron armor, and charged into battle wielding giant weapons.

These cannon-wielding ogres, armed with hand-held cannons, combined the speed and agility of cavalry with the ferocity and tactical prowess of artillery. They represented the ultimate form of Qi's chariot-drawn cannon system.

With the help of his two layers of iron armor and the twelve halos of light brought by Huyan Zhuo, the ogre withstood the rain of arrows from the Jin army. When he reached fifty meters away, he used his hand cannon to fire at the Jin army!

"Boom! Boom! Boom!!!"

Flames erupted and cannons roared, a deafening, terrifying roar that seemed utterly inhuman as the battle lines rolled forward! Cannons spewed forth long plumes of scorching flame and thick white smoke! Countless fine iron-shot shrapnel, like a deadly rain of iron wielded by the Grim Reaper, rained down in a fan shape upon the Jin army's disciplined square formation!

In an instant, the Jin heavy infantry at the forefront suffered annihilation. Their thick shields were as fragile as paper in the face of this storm-like metal tidal wave, easily pierced and torn apart! Their fine iron armor was like fragile pottery, easily embedded and torn apart by iron filings! Their flesh and blood bodies were even less able to withstand this violent impact, and were instantly riddled with countless scarlet holes.

The soldiers in the front ranks were slammed to the ground as if by an invisible giant hand, their bodies instantly bursting open with countless bloody holes, blood gushing out like fountains! The entire front ranks of the Jin army's heavy infantry square were as if swept away by an invisible scythe, instantly falling over men and horses, with screams echoing everywhere. The originally unbreakable formation was forcibly torn open with several huge and bloody gaps, and limbs, broken armor, and weapons flew everywhere.

Smoke and the stench of blood filled the air, revealing the horrified and incredulous faces of the Jin soldiers. Their heavy infantry lines, which had served as a formidable bulwark, had been shattered by an unbelievable barrage of enemy fire!

At this moment, the ogres that had unleashed their destructive roars swung their still-smoking hand cannons high like brass hammers, letting out bloodthirsty roars. Treading on the wrecked corpses and blood, like unleashed prehistoric beasts, they launched their final, unstoppable charge toward the collapsed breach!

boom! ! !

This wasn't the sound of steel clashing with flesh and blood, but the roar of destruction! A half-ton bear-man was slammed into the head by a brass cannon barrel, half its skull shattered by the ogre! Another 300-kilogram tiger-man, before it could even react, had its chest pierced by the tusks of a tusk-like beast. The entire heavy infantry formation was thrown into chaos by the ogre's cannon fire.

The real wave of destruction came from the second and third rank cavalry that followed.

Guan Sheng took the lead, his Green Dragon Crescent Blade swung in a huge, chilling arc, the blade cutting through three or four heavy infantrymen in front of him, spears and all, in one fell swoop! He tore open a huge gap for the cavalry behind him!

Hu Yanzhuo's twin whips, one black and one white, resembled two roaring dragons, swung left and right, like two dragons dancing wildly, imbued with the celestial power of the Big Dipper. Each strike landed precisely on the center of the shield or the helmet! The immense force pierced through the armor; the soldiers inside didn't even have time to utter a sound before their skulls shattered and their necks broken! She forcefully "smashed" a path through the forest of spears and shields!

Lu Zhisheng was like a ferocious beast, his hundred-pound water-milled Zen staff sweeping across the army without any fancy moves! The heavy iron staff carried unparalleled brute force, directly smashing the thrusting spears in half, sweeping away shield-bearing soldiers along with their shields, and clearing a large area!

The personal charge of these peerless warriors became the sharpest spearheads to tear through the iron wall! The Liangshan cavalry behind them, inspired by their commanders' bravery, unleashed a hundred times more frenzy, like a flood bursting its banks, rushing, squeezing, and hacking through the gaps torn open by their generals!

Under this frenzied assault that combined extreme bravery, high morale, and a will to die, the Jin army's heavy infantry line was like butter being pierced by a red-hot iron rod, being forcibly dented, torn, and pierced inward at a speed visible to the naked eye!

Wanyan Zonghan stood on the high platform, watching helplessly as his supposedly indestructible iron wall was violently shaken at the first encounter, and several shocking cracks were torn open in the second breath. Banners embroidered with "General Guan" and "General Huyan" were rapidly approaching his command flag like deadly curses!

"How can this be!?"

Wanyan Zonghan's composure and sneer vanished completely, replaced by unbelievable horror! Cold sweat instantly beaded on his palms, dripping through his fingers. The stalemate and resistance he had anticipated never materialized; the ferocity and penetrating power of the enemy's charge far exceeded his expectations! At this rate, his central command banner would be crushed by this terrifying cavalry before his flanks could even complete the encirclement! Not only did the Liangshan cavalry outnumber him, but their charge was also no less powerful than the Jin army's elite cavalry!