Ju Yi glanced at the Xiliang cavalry retreating in the distance and signaled his troops to regroup and assist Yan Liang. Seizing the opportunity while those "sticky troublemakers" were leaving, Ju Yi quickly led his forces toward Yan Liang's location.
For infantry to completely annihilate cavalry, aside from an overwhelming difference in combat strength, it is crucial to restrict the cavalry's mobility. Even if the First Ascendants could confidently defeat three times their number in Xiliang cavalry head-on, they wouldn't be able to eliminate more than a third of the enemy if they couldn't confine their movements.
"Advance at full speed and support General Yan!" Ju Yi spurred his horse forward, his soldiers marching swiftly behind him.
[The opponent should be Hua Xiong. There's no other Xiliang cavalry as authentic as this in the Central Plains. Yan Liang is in trouble. I heard Hua Xiong joined Liu Bei with a cavalry corps. With the 10,000 cavalry under his command, Yan Liang's forces wouldn't last two hours against those Xiliang cavalry elites.]
With that thought, Ju Yi quickened his pace. Yan Liang was one of the few comrades he got along with, and Ju Yi did not want to see him come to harm.
[I hope I make it in time and find at least a couple of thousand cavalry still intact. That way, I can stall Hua Xiong's cavalry and then wipe them out!] Ju Yi could already hear the chaotic sounds of battle and see the remnants of Yan Liang's routed troops. As more and more defeated soldiers appeared, Ju Yi's expression grew increasingly grim.
Compared to Ju Yi's worry, Hua Xiong's expression had turned downright murderous. He couldn't believe that his cavalry had been decimated within a quarter of an hour—this outcome simply defied reason!
"Du Yuan, you command the infantry and keep pressuring Yan Liang. I'll take the cavalry and test Ju Yi's strength." Hua Xiong calmly ordered. The more he understood about infantry, the more he realized how difficult well-trained soldiers could be in defensive battles. If Ju Yi managed to break through and link up with Yan Liang, Hua Xiong feared that his own death might truly be imminent.
"Yes, sir!" Du Yuan, gripping his polearm, saluted and took command under the battle flag. Meanwhile, Hua Xiong spurred his horse, leading the cavalry under Du Yuan's command, as well as his reserve forces, toward Ju Yi's approaching army.
As Hua Xiong charged forward, he soon spotted the cavalry trailing behind Ju Yi. He exhaled a sigh of relief but quickly noticed that Li Hu, Sun Yan, and the three squad leaders he had brought from Xiliang were no longer among his forces.
"Split the forces in half to rally our defeated troops. Bai Hao, Li Ming, Wang Gui—you three take command and prepare for a killing formation!" Hua Xiong commanded, pointing to his three personal guards. The hierarchical structure could be broken if necessary!
Li You's "Eight Gates Heavenly Lock" had taught Hua Xiong three formations, but he had only mastered two of them. The third formation remained elusive. Given the current situation, Hua Xiong realized that he had no other cards left to play. He decided to take a gamble, knowing that if the battle went poorly, he could retreat while his forces held strong. As for the idea of Ju Yi annihilating his troops, that possibility never crossed Hua Xiong's mind.
Quickly regrouping, Hua Xiong's cavalry reformed their ranks. Although their morale was somewhat dampened by their earlier defeat, Hua Xiong's leadership restored their basic fighting strength.
The battlefield constantly echoed with the cries of life and death. These Xiliang cavalry had long grown accustomed to such a life. This time, it was their comrades who had fallen. Next time, it could be themselves. Only by killing the enemy could they ensure a better chance of survival.
With a few brief exchanges, Hua Xiong had already learned from his soldiers the reasons for their earlier defeat. His expression became more solemn as he looked toward Ju Yi's forces. He then led the charge toward the First Ascendants. As the first volley of arrows rained down on him, Hua Xiong abruptly veered off course, dodging the arrows entirely, only to loop back again moments later.
Ju Yi sneered inwardly. [Measuring arrow distance, huh? That was a nice move. But if that's all you have, my crossbows will teach you a lesson.]
Hua Xiong returned without issuing any further orders, but his entire cavalry began following his lead, spinning in a slow but deliberate rotation. Although their speed wasn't particularly fast, their tracks overlapped in strange patterns, leaving trails of afterimages behind.
As these trails continued to intersect, phantom images of Hua Xiong began appearing at each node, gradually solidifying. At the same time, a blood-red mist started rising around the perimeter of the First Ascendants. Even Ju Yi, who didn't fully understand this phenomenon, felt a deep sense of unease. He had already seen that Yan Liang was safe, though his cavalry had been decimated. If he wanted to destroy Hua Xiong's cavalry, Ju Yi knew he would have to take some risks.
The Xiliang cavalry's rotation grew slower, while the phantom images became more defined. When Hua Xiong's soldiers finally positioned themselves at the critical points of these nodes, the rapid spinning that Ju Yi had observed seemed to freeze in time. All of Hua Xiong's fiery images merged into the nodes, and each cavalryman appeared to be clad in a suit of flame.
At that moment, four enormous wedge formations formed, and they charged toward the First Ascendants like a fiery phoenix soaring through the sky. Hua Xiong raised his massive sword, and two gigantic phoenix wings of fiery energy unfurled from his position, extending outward with earth-shattering force.
Before Ju Yi could mount a defense, similar fiery blades erupted from the other three directions, scorching the air with an intense heat. As Hua Xiong closed in, Ju Yi could almost smell the burning scent, the eight immense blades now nearly upon him.
[Which one is real?] Ju Yi felt a slight panic. If any of these eight attacks connected, even the special properties of the First Ascendants' cloud energy wouldn't be able to withstand them. What would follow would be a one-sided massacre.
[Impossible! How could all eight strikes feel identical? That means all eight are real? There's no room for a gamble here. Hua Xiong, you'll be the first to witness the soul of my First Ascendants!] As Ju Yi made his decision, the bows of the First Ascendants suddenly glowed with a layer of blood-red light. Their armor radiated the same eerie glow, transforming the soldiers into more fearsome figures as their momentum surged.
When their power reached its peak, Ju Yi signaled with his command flag and unleashed a devastating strike toward Hua Xiong's direction!
Of the eight fiery blades, only the one facing Hua Xiong directly was unimpeded, crashing into the First Ascendants. At the same time, countless blood-red mist arrows filled the air, covering the battlefield with a deafening cacophony of tearing wind.
"Die!" The blood-red banner's spectral image shattered Hua Xiong's leading blade and continued its relentless assault toward him.