Wandering the Heavens

A charge by 3,000 cavalrymen resulted in 30,000 crossbow arrows flying in a parabolic pattern onto the Yu army's formation. Screams rang out one after another, while the Liang cavalrymen brushed the edge of the Yu archers' shooting range and swept to both wings.

Yu Xian was very dissatisfied with the results of this round of horse archery. Although the crossbow had been improved, its lethality was still not ideal.

"Second cavalry team, get ready, fire your crossbows!"

Upon receiving the order, the personal guards hurriedly waved the small flags in their hands.

All that could be heard was the sound of sharp weapons cutting through the air. Dozens of huge crossbows carrying gunpowder flew towards the high wall built with huge shields in front of the enemy's formation. Explosions were heard one after another, and the high wall, which was emitting the cold light of the gun tips, was suddenly overturned by people and horses.

"The second team of cavalry, move forward fifteen steps!" Yu Xian continued to give orders.

While the Yu army was still rebuilding the giant shield wall, the second team of cavalry had arrived at the designated position. They still did not take the opportunity to rush into the enemy's formation, but took down the wooden frame hanging on the saddle and faced the sky above the enemy.

This time, because they were a little closer, the junior officers finally saw that the wooden frame held by the cavalry was a well-made crossbow. But reality did not reward them for guessing the answer. After the second round of arrow rain, the soldiers who served as the vanguard suffered heavy casualties, while the enemy lost no more than a hundred people.

"Military advisor, the crossbow has moved forward, completing the established steps before shooting." The personal soldier received the information from the crossbow and hurriedly relayed it to Yu Xian.

"Change cigarettes." Yu Xian finally waited for the wind he wanted.

The soldiers in charge of firing the giant crossbow saw the flag signals and replaced the crossbow arrows loaded with gunpowder with crossbow arrows that could emit a large amount of thick smoke in a short period of time. Without waiting for orders, they loaded the crossbow arrows, lit the fuse, and fired them.

"All units, get ready. After the third round of horse archery, the cavalry will charge from their positions and shoot for the last time. Then charge into the enemy formation to cut off the battlefield. Don't worry about killing or wounding, just disrupt the enemy's formation. Border troops and Qingli troops, charge into the enemy formation. The princess will keep 10,000 cavalry as a reserve, ready to support or intercept the enemy at any time."

"Military Advisor, please!" Mu Nihuang took over the conversation in time.

"Don't worry, Princess!"

As Yu Xian spoke, he was the first to give up his command position, mounted his horse, and led a dozen personal soldiers to rush in the direction of the third round of cavalry assembly.

"Everyone, this is the first time I fight alongside you, please!" Yu Xian came up to several cavalry commanders and bowed.

"Military advisor, you are too polite! Please give the orders!" several commanders said in unison.

"Orders, charge straight ahead, cut through the battlefield, disrupt the rear, penetrate two hundred steps into the battlefield and then launch a surprise attack to the left wing. Kill!" Yu Xian drew his saber and rushed forward.

"kill!"

The third round of cavalry had a total of 9,000 people, divided into three phalanxes. They rushed towards the enemy head-on at a distance of 50 steps. At the same time, the cavalry from the first two rounds of archers also loaded their crossbows and started this last round of archers, rushing into the enemy formation and killing indiscriminately.

Mu Nihuang only saw her cavalry rushing towards the place where the smoke was coming out of the enemy's formation. She always thought that the crossbow arrows emitting thick smoke were meant to interfere with the enemy's vision, but who knew that they were meant to determine the direction for the cavalry's charge.

Helian Wei is a very complicated person. On the one hand, he desperately wants to defeat Liang State to avenge the shame of the annihilation of his army back then; on the other hand, it is precisely because of the annihilation of his army back then that he feels an imperceptible fear from the bottom of his heart when facing the Liang State army.

This led to a brief misjudgment when he faced the Liang army's surprise attack. Although the lower-level officers of the imperial army quickly organized the battle line and prepared for the battle, no orders were issued from the general's tent. This made them only able to stand still and defend, passively accepting the cavalry's attack.

As the vanguard approached, there was a strange atmosphere in Helian Wei's tent. They had received military reports from the very beginning, but Helian Wei was like the stone lions guarding the house at the door. He neither spoke nor opened his eyes, just standing there with his hands on the edge of the table.

"Your Highness! It seems that Liang State has already prepared a response to Dayu's military action."

The one who spoke was Wang Biao. He was the only senior general following Helian Wei. Firstly, he was promoted by Helian Wei himself and obeyed Helian Wei's orders. Secondly, as Yu Xian said, Helian Wei, who had suffered a complete defeat, could not suppress those powerful generals with distinguished backgrounds, especially those young generals who were showing their talents.

Since both sides disliked each other, Helian Wei sent these people away from the very beginning of his deployment, leaving only Si Shaojie and Wang Biao with him.

"Your Highness, I'm afraid we will die here." Si Shaojie's words were even more pessimistic.

"Shaojie, Wang Biao, don't worry. Xuanbu is in front of the battle. His martial arts are the best in the world. With the elite of the imperial army and Xuanbu's martial arts, there is nothing they can't overcome. The backbone of Liang State was lost when the Red Flame Army inexplicably turned rebellious. If it weren't for the 200,000 men who were defeated near Qiuling Pass, which severely damaged Dayu's vitality, and almost every family in Wuchuan and other six counties was in mourning, they would have recovered today. Otherwise, according to the late emperor's will, he would have marched south next year."

Although Helian Wei was defeated, that was the Red Flame Army. Who are the people on the opposite side now? They are just a group of snobs who are lingering on the corpses of the Red Flame Army!

This is on the battlefield, but Helian Wei brought up politics. He didn't ask about the situation on the battlefield at all and didn't have any idea of giving orders.

I know that the Imperial Army is powerful, but they also need someone to command them to be powerful!

Helian Wei just thought it was an attack by the Liang army and he didn't take it seriously at all.

"Report! Your Majesty, the general in the front has sent news that the Liang army is about to launch a general attack!" The deputy general hurriedly walked into the tent and started reporting the situation without even a salute.

"General attack? How could they have the guts to do that?" Helian Wei asked doubtfully.

"General Helian, tell me the details!" Si Shaojie became excited.

"The Liang army took the initiative to attack. Their cavalry was equipped with a crossbow. They only shot from horseback but did not charge. It was not until three rounds later that they rushed into the army formation and killed people wantonly. The general and the soldiers had never seen this kind of tactic and could not cope with it. Now, our vanguard is in chaos and has lost its combat effectiveness." The deputy general gave a brief report on the situation at the front.

"Horse archery? This is the Hu people's way of fighting. How could the Liang cavalry do that? Wait a minute, weren't the Liang cavalry deployed in what they called the southern border? How could they appear at Qiuling Pass?" Wang Biao came from a military background, and his rich experience made him understand some things.

"General Wang, please go to the front army and take a look." Si Shaojie gave the order directly without going over Helian Wei.

"Your Highness, Military Advisor, I will go and take a look right now. Please make a decision as soon as possible!" Wang Biao knew what Helian Wei was thinking, but now he had to go to the front to give command.

"Your Highness, what are you thinking about?" As soon as Wang Biao left, Si Shaojie's expression changed immediately.

"Shaojie, it seems that I should have died at Qiuling Pass with 200,000 men more than ten years ago." Helian Wei stopped pretending at this time.

"Your Highness, what did you say?" Si Shaojie couldn't believe that the hunchbacked old man in front of him was standing like a spear just a moment ago.

"This southern expedition took only one and a half months from drafting the imperial edict to gathering an army of 200,000. This frightened other countries, but only you and I can see the problems." Helian Wei limped to his seat and sat down with great difficulty.

"Your Highness is very insightful, and Your Majesty is very talented and wise, but this time..." Si Shaojie was very dissatisfied.

Helian Xiong's misjudgment of the situation in Liang State made him determined to win this battle and think it was a matter of course. He ignored the advice of many ministers and used his last assets in order to destroy Liang State. For this purpose, he even sent envoys to connect with Yeqin, Yan State and Donghai to send troops together.

However, just as the envoy left the house, he received the news that Xiao Xuan was under house arrest. For this reason, he hastily issued an edict to raise an army without waiting to contact the envoys of various countries.