The standard-bearer on the city wall waved his sky-blue flag three times. The defenders on the western hill finally received their commander's order, and at the last moment before Fang Fengyi charged forward, they retreated. Abandoning a fortified position, while slightly damaging morale, was better than being annihilated by the Peace Army's numerical superiority. Moreover, the defenders hidden behind the fortified position were physically stronger than the Peace Army, allowing them to outmaneuver them before close combat and regain their high-ground advantage.
After the wooden palisade was breached, all the Peace Army could do was use crossbows to shoot down the slower enemy soldiers. The advantage the Peace Army had gained on the western hills due to Fang Fengyi's selfless bravery was quickly restored to balance due to the retreat of the defending troops.
"Your advances and retreats are quite disciplined, sir. What do you think?" Li Jun's expression remained calm. Tactical changes were never reflected on his face. Judging from today's situation, he should be the ultimate victor in this battle, unless he makes an unforgivable mistake.
"Indeed, as the commander said, let's see how Fang Fengyi will handle this. Why is there a stalemate on the east side? Fang Fengyi has captured one of the strongholds, so why is Lan Qiao still hesitating there?"
Wei Zhan's words brought a slight smile to Li Jun's face: "He's waiting for my orders. Although he's brave, he's not reckless; sometimes he's even a little too cautious. Yang Zhenfei!"
"Present!" A rider behind him, his spirits lifted, responded and charged forward. This general, named Yang Zhenfei, was a hero who had come from the Kingdom of Lan a year ago, drawn by his reputation. He had been forced to wander after killing a wealthy young man in his hometown while defending someone, and upon hearing of Li Jun's ascension to the throne to accept patronage, he believed Li Jun possessed great ambition and came to join him. Although Li Jun had treated him with great courtesy, he had been focusing on recuperation and had not yet proven Yang Zhenfei's military talent in actual combat. Now that Li Jun had mentioned his name, it meant he intended to use him.
"You lead five thousand men to replace Fang Fengyi. Although their sprint was short, this hilltop is extremely strenuous. We cannot afford to exhaust our soldiers!"
"Yes!" Li Jun's decision not to replace the hesitant Lan Qiao surprised Yang Zhenfei slightly, but as long as there was a battle, whether to attack the western or eastern hills was the same to him. Therefore, he turned and waved to his troops, and five thousand soldiers, a mix of light infantry, armored infantry, and regulars, marched forward in unison. Even amidst a vast army, their steps were as precise and orderly as if they were a single person. The other soldiers, however, seemed oblivious, remaining solemn and composed.
Upon hearing Li Jun's order to replace Fang Fengyi, Wei Zhan raised an eyebrow but said nothing more. He said, "After two years of training day and night, we are finally seeing the results today. With an army like this, we can conquer the world."
Li Jun laughed heartily: "Indeed, in the past, in the Invincible Army, Marshal Lu's discipline was unparalleled. Later, our Peace Army was busy with its wanderings, so training naturally decreased. Later still, the Peace Army joined forces with mercenaries, which, although we learned from their strengths and made up for our weaknesses, and gained a lot of skills, it never became formalized, which is truly a regrettable thing. For the past two years, I have been single-minded, and with the full assistance of you all, the Peace Army has finally taken shape."
"Hmm, Fang Fengyi has come down." Wei Zhan nodded and suddenly interjected. On the hillside ahead, Fang Fengyi seemed to have a slight argument with Yang Zhenfei, but she still came down.
"Why were you replacing me!" Fang Fengyi's eyes widened in anger as she stared intently at Li Jun, demanding an explanation without any politeness. "Our army has broken through the enemy's defenses, and morale is high. Now is the perfect time to press our advantage and break through the remaining enemy lines in one fell swoop. Why did you send someone to replace me, thus wasting our opportunity?"
"Because I still want you to live." Li Jun's expression was calm, and his words surprised Fang Fengyi.
What do you mean?
"Previously, you led from the front, overwhelming the enemy with your imposing presence, which caused them to panic and catch them off guard. Now that the enemy has calmed down and knows to follow the orders from the city wall, I see that you still want to charge ahead. It is a small matter if you fail to break through the enemy's formation, but if I were to lose such a talented general here, how could I ever make up for it by killing all the defenders of Guanzhong?"
Li Jun's words completely calmed Fang Fengyi down. Just as Li Jun said, brute force alone was not enough to rely on. His breakthrough of the enemy's defenses had an element of luck involved. Now, the enemy's strength had not been damaged by the fall of the first barrier, and his soldiers had exhausted their strength during the charge. It was indeed not advisable to rely on brute force to capture the second stronghold.
"This subordinate understands!" Fang Fengyi gave a deep salute. With his military strategy and talent, he shouldn't have been unaware of this; he was simply blinded by his desire for merit at the beginning. His 10,000-strong unit was also replaced and returned to the main camp.
This troop movement was also observed by Dong Cheng on the city wall. His expression remained unchanged, but his eyes flickered uncertainly. Military strategy dictates that generals should not be easily subdued in battle, yet Li Jun defied this, replacing the vanguard with another force after a minor initial victory. What was his intention? The enemy general who had fought so fiercely must have been one of Li Jun's most formidable commanders. Dong Cheng had originally planned to assassinate him to boost the army's morale, but Li Jun's counter-strategy had thwarted his plans. Could it be that Li Jun, even among the enemy troops, could discern his intentions? The invincible General Lu was said to possess the ability to "anticipate the enemy's moves," as described in military strategy. Had Li Jun truly inherited this skill?
"Don't let your mind wander." Dong Cheng suddenly snapped out of his thoughts. Now was not the time to indulge in such pointless rumors; the priority was to defeat the enemy. He turned his head to look at the eastern hill. The Peace Army troops attacking the eastern hill were still hesitant to advance, and it seemed that their commander was somewhat cowardly. Why didn't Li Jun replace this general?
The war drums sounded again. Yang Zhenfei, who had just moved to the western hillside, held two axes in his hands. His thick eyebrows furrowed, and his murderous aura made his subordinates around him jump.
"Did everyone hear what the people who went down just now said?" Yang Zhenfei asked.
"No." After two years of reorganization, the Peace Army has extremely strict military discipline. Although they do not refrain from disciplining themselves in normal times, their orders are clear and strict in battle. Anyone who dared to complain would be punished by military law immediately. Therefore, Fang Fengyi only hesitated for a moment before having to go down the mountain to question Li Jun.
"No!" Yang Zhenfei lightly clashed his two axes together and said, "I heard them. They didn't say it aloud, but they were muttering to themselves that we were all getting a bargain. Well then, let's show them whether we were or not!"
The soldiers' expressions hardened. They had replaced Fang Fengyi after she led the army to breach the first fortress, and they would have felt the same way. Now they were in charge of the attack; if they failed to capture the next mountain stronghold, they would be ridiculed beyond measure even if they returned alive. In the Peace Army and Kuanglan City, where military achievements were highly valued, being mocked for such a feat was truly worse than death.
"No need for further words, General Yang, let's attack!" The loud request from his subordinates made Yang Zhenfei chuckle. He suddenly put down his double axes, took out a wine gourd from his back waist, opened the lid, took a deep sniff, and then raised the gourd high: "After capturing Wakou Pass, we'll drink three hundred cups of wine. Now is not the time to drink!"
"Capture Wakou Pass, and drink three hundred cups of wine!" the soldiers shouted. Yang Zhenfei commanded a large number of Qiang people. The Qiang people loved strong liquor and possessed immense strength, but they were generally peaceful and not particularly fond of fighting. However, if their passion was aroused, each of them would be an invincible warrior capable of taking on a hundred men. Now, Yang Zhenfei first taught them shame, then lured them with glory, causing the blood in these peaceful Qiang warriors to begin to boil.
"Attack! Attack! Attack!" Yang Zhenfei roared three times, his voice tearing through the sky. He raised his axe with both hands and charged out first. Although the Qiang people were tall and had long legs, their movements were slower, but they did not fall behind him.
"Qiang people! The Qiang people have gone mad!" Even Dong Cheng's heart skipped a beat. A thousand or so berserk Qiang warriors were an extremely formidable fighting force during this period of rapid decline in the Qiang population. Even a force of ten thousand men would likely be easily overwhelmed by these thousand or so Qiang. Moreover, the Qiang people possessed greater stamina and endurance than ordinary people. Li Jun had likely chosen them as the main force for the second wave of attacks, presumably to exploit their advantage against the defending troops who had already lost a defensive barrier after their initial charge.
"I'm out of options..." Seeing the thousand-plus Qiang warriors, clad in heavy iron armor yet still moving with agility, Dong Cheng couldn't help but feel that he could no longer continue. If he abandoned his troops, his formidable formation might be able to hold them off, but his current numerical disadvantage left him with no other options.
The Qiang people pushed up the hill like a black wall. The terrain between the first and second fortifications was not as steep as that between the first fortification and the road. The Qiang people's advance was not fast, but it was not something that the arrows shot by the defenders could stop. Even if they were not covered in iron armor, it was questionable whether such arrows could penetrate the Qiang people's bodies, which were no less than iron and stone.
As for rolling logs and stones, their power was not great due to the terrain, and the Qiang people were somewhat clumsy in their movements, but their strength was enough to make up for this shortcoming.
With a loud "Boom!", a Qiang man near the palisade didn't try to climb over it like most people would. For his heavy frame, scaling the palisade was far too difficult. Instead, he used his massive shield to ram it against the palisade. The palisade swayed a few times, but the soldiers who had set it up hadn't been lazy, so it didn't collapse.
"Boom! Boom! Boom!" More Qiang warriors howled in incomprehensible words, attacking the palisade with giant shields, axes, hammers, and clubs. Even the stone walls could not withstand such an attack. The defenders hiding behind the palisade watched in terror as their defenses were breached and shattered.
"Ah!" A Qiang man reached out his left hand and grabbed the spear thrust at him by the defender. Gritting his teeth, he used one hand to lift the defender, spear and all. The defender let out a shrill scream, forgetting to let go of the spear shaft, or perhaps using the spear as his last line of defense. The Qiang man threw the defender and his spear onto a companion beside him. The two fell to the ground, one above the other, and before they could get up, a heavy foot stomped on them. A powerful, irresistible force came from that foot, and they felt as if the entire hill had crushed them, their bones shattered and their bodies crumbled, leaving them lifeless.
"Retreat to the third line of defense," Dong Cheng said in a low voice, then repeated it loudly. The flag bearer hurriedly waved the flag. In fact, even without the order, the defending troops had already begun to retreat. Everyone understood that retreating to the end would still mean being overrun by these Qiang people, but in this critical situation, every moment of escape was precious.
"As expected, they have used the Qiang people on a large scale. I have seen General Lu's memorial, which mentions treating the Qiang and Yi tribes well and employing them. Li Jun has indeed used the Qiang people on a large scale. Although we have more than ten Qiang people in our army, how can we withstand so many enemy troops?"
Dong Cheng was filled with unease, though he didn't show it outwardly, which still surprised him greatly. From the very beginning of the battle, he was at a disadvantage in every aspect, and although he tried to outwit and outfight, he still couldn't hold on.
"Could there be mages?" He suddenly remembered that Lu Xiang's memorial mentioned the importance of using magic in large-scale wars. If Li Jun not only had talented subordinates and brave Qiang people, but also a large-scale mage army that could be used in actual combat, then who in the world could stop him?
"Order the eastern hill to launch a feigned attack downwards to distract Li Jun and prevent him from reinforcing the western flank." Although he knew it might be futile, Dong Cheng still had to give this order. If he could just stand by and watch Li Jun take advantage of the already defeated forces on the western flank and pursue them relentlessly, how could he, as the commander-in-chief, face his soldiers who were fighting to the death? Moreover, Li Jun's troops on the eastern flank had been hesitant to advance, which suggested that the general leading them was either cowardly or incompetent. If they could discover the enemy's weakness during the feigned attack, it was possible, as the military strategist said, "to turn the false into the real."
However, the feint attack by the eastern garrison angered Lan Qiao. He had been bluffing and hadn't launched a full-scale attack, waiting for Li Jun's specific instructions. Now that Li Jun had replaced Fang Fengyi on the west flank but ignored him on the east, this puzzled him, who was already lacking in resourcefulness. Just as he hesitated, the enemy troops on the east flank charged down.
"You think I'm easy to bully? You want to steal my fame and achievements!" he roared, and his men, who had witnessed the victories of both Western armies, clamored for battle. "Master said, if someone wants to make things difficult for you, then you should make things difficult for them!" The Blue Bridge Greatsword flashed in mid-air. "Anyone who dares to make things difficult for me, hmph, charge!"
Although he lacked adaptability, once his stubbornness took hold, he would never give up. Suddenly, Dong Cheng, who was monitoring the collapse on the western flank, heard shouts from the eastern front exceeding those from the western front for the first time!
The defending troops, who had initially feigned an attack down the hill, were met with a counter-attack from a surge of red figures. An enemy general, his greatsword gleaming with a dark blue light in the autumn sun, led this red torrent, charging upwards like a waterfall. The defending troops, whose attack downhill was a ruse, were caught off guard by the enemy's powerful counterattack halfway down the hill. Following Dong Cheng's prior arrangement, they turned back to retreat into their fortified positions. However, going downhill was easier than going uphill. While they had the advantage of their high ground going downhill, going uphill meant climbing the same slope as the Peace Army. Moreover, their morale had waned, and their running speed was slow. The Peace Army, having long been building up their strength, launched a sudden attack, catching up with them from both ends.
"This is bad!" Dong Cheng was covered in cold sweat. Even though he kept a straight face, his subordinates could not hide the sweat on his body.
It turns out that the enemy forces attacking the eastern flank weren't incompetent or cowardly beforehand, but rather had been patiently waiting for the right moment! This enemy general was probably even more formidable than the two generals on the western flank combined! This is exactly what the art of war calls "playing dumb to catch a tiger"! At this moment, he still hadn't forgotten to examine Li Jun's principles of personnel management and troop deployment in the military classics, but his predictions about Lan Qiao were inconsistent with the facts. Lan Qiao was neither cowardly nor incompetent, nor was he playing dumb; it was simply his nature. Li Jun knew his personality well, which is why he could use him effectively. Dong Cheng, however, didn't know his personality, and thus Lan Qiao became the fatal blow to his defeat.
The collapse on the eastern hillside was even more swift than that on the western side. Lan Qiao's ferocious attack was unstoppable; a master of martial arts, he wielded his greatsword with both hands, moving through the chaos of battle as if it were nothing. The tip, the blade, the guard, the hilt—every part of his sword was a deadly weapon; his shoulders, elbows, knees, and legs were all weapons of defeat. Wherever he went, blood flowed like a stream, slowly trickling down the foothills.
The staff watched the horrific massacre with trepidation. They didn't know when Dong Cheng had disappeared from the city wall. When he reappeared, he was fully armored and standing under the wide-open gate of Wakou Pass.
"The only option now is to launch a surprise attack on Li Jun's main camp, forcing his army to retreat. Military strategy says, 'To win a battle from defeat, one must take risky moves.' Without this, we cannot reverse the tide of war. Li Jun's attention is certainly on those two hills. If I launch a sudden attack and succeed, I can retreat unscathed; if I fail, I will simply die. In any case, if we lose those two hills, Wakou Pass will be difficult to defend; it's just a matter of time before we die!" Having made this decision, he led his eight hundred cavalrymen in a sudden attack from the pass!
The cavalry moved at breakneck speed along the road. Eight hundred cavalrymen shot straight towards Li Jun's main force like a sharp arrow.
"You really came!" Li Jun had already expected this. If it were him, this would also be the only path he could take. No, there was another path, but this man took Lu Xiang as his role model, and he wouldn't easily take that other path, at least not abandoning the remaining thousand or so garrison troops on the mountain ridge outside the pass.