This grain transport team was from Lu Xiang's Invincible Army headquarters, and most of them were young warriors recruited by Li Jun from various homeless children, who greatly respected Li Jun. Moreover, the Invincible Army had a military discipline of "not robbing a single meal from a starving person, nor taking a single piece of firewood from a cold person," so they weren't too particular about their encampment location. After setting up camp in the earthen city, Li Jun sent several riders to scout ahead. It wasn't that he was overly cautious, but rather that his heart was pounding wildly, as if something major was about to happen.
"General, look!" Standing on the earthen city wall, a soldier pointed to the northern sky and called out to Li Jun. Li Jun looked up and saw a golden meteor slowly flying through the sky, even in broad daylight. Soon he could faintly hear the vibration of the meteor cutting through the air. The meteor gradually grew larger, and it was clear that it was a six-pointed star.
"What's going on?" Li Jun asked sternly. No one answered. Just then, his spy galloped up on horseback, shouting, "A large force of bandits is ahead!"
Li Jun felt a chill run down his spine without anyone noticing. The sudden appearance of the Lan Kingdom's army in this place meant that the invincible army in front, as well as Fu Lian's army that was going to reinforce them, had been surrounded.
Just as Li Junqiang was suppressing his worries, the meteor crashed down about twenty miles from Tucheng, its light radiating outwards before disappearing after a long time.
"All troops, advance to the city!" Li Jun raised his eyebrows and shouted the order. His voice was cold and stern, calming the somewhat uneasy morale of the troops. Li Jun then turned to the large forest and ordered, "Su Xiang, lead two hundred men to cut down trees and bring them into the city as soon as possible. Zhou Jie, lead two hundred men to the city walls. The rest of you, reinforce the city defenses. There must be no negligence!"
The two centurions took their orders and left. Li Jun was extremely eager to go to the front line himself, but he was also worried that the small unit would collapse after he left. He was anxious and uneasy, but he could not show it on his face. He could only vent his anger by throwing stones at the enemy, piling stones one by one onto the battlements.
"Vice Commander, everything will be alright. Meng Yuan, you must take good care of the Vice Commander, or I will kill you!" Li Jun cried out silently in his heart.
Section 3
Half a day ago, Lu Xiang and Meng Yuan led the Invincible Army to retreat.
Through his constant use of schemes, Wu Wei and his 100,000-strong army have gradually distanced themselves from the reinforcements. As long as Fu Lian's reinforcements can catch up in time, there is a high probability that Wu Wei will be captured in one battle. Even if Wu Wei cannot be captured, it will not be a problem to take advantage of the victory and defeat the main force of the Lan army.
Victory seemed assured, yet Lu Xiang felt no joy. For every general's glory, countless lives are lost; the greater his achievements on the battlefield, the louder the cries of orphans and widows from both nations would be. Moreover, would the kings and ministers in the rear try to capitalize on their victory and invade Lan Kingdom?
The area ahead should be the rendezvous point for the Soviet support troops. Lu Xiang composed himself, sat on his horse, and looked around. Apart from a vast expanse of coniferous forest, he could see nothing.
With growing unease, Lu Xiang ordered his spies to advance and scout ahead, while the troops maintained their formation, ready to engage in battle at any moment.
The spy rode forward on horseback, but the moment he entered the woods, he lurched and fell off.
"An ambush!" Lu Xiang was greatly surprised as he watched countless Lan Kingdom soldiers shout and rush out of the woods. The place he had originally planned to ambush Wu Wei had become the place where the Lan army ambushed him.
But time didn't allow him much time to think. Wu Wei's main force would soon be charging up, and he had to fight his way through before the Lan army could encircle them. Lu Xiang shouted, "Meng Yuan, lead a thousand armored cavalry as the vanguard and break through. Chen Liang and Huang Xuan, you two lead the central army and follow closely behind. The armored infantry will follow me to the rear!"
"Deputy Commander, lead the central army forward!" Chen Liang shouted. "The Deputy Commander is a pillar of the nation; he cannot risk his life lightly."
As more and more Lan troops poured out of the forest, Lu Xiang knew that a breakout was impossible. He surveyed his soldiers, who stared at him fearlessly, showing no sign of timidity despite the overwhelming enemy force. He roared to the sky and then shouted, "Chen Liang and Huang Xuan, you two lead the infantry westward! Meng Yuan, raise my banner, and we two will lead the cavalry northward!"
The soldiers understood his meaning; he intended to use himself as bait to create an opportunity for the others to break through. Before the soldiers could object, Lu Xiang said coldly, "This is a military order! After the breakout is successful, rush to Wuyin for reinforcements. Our army is not without a chance; the Wuyin reinforcements are on their way and can join forces with our army to attack the Lan bandits from both sides!"
Only managing to say "Take care, Vice Commander" before Chen Liang and Huang Xuan could only watch as Lu Xiang and Meng Yuan led their cavalry northward. Chen Liang said, "The Vice Commander's orders cannot be disobeyed, Brother Huang, let's go quickly!"
Huang Xuan understood his meaning from his eyes: if their team could launch a full-scale attack, they could draw away the main force of the Lan army, thus creating an opportunity for Lu Xiang. Both of them were thinking the same thing: as long as Lu Xiang could break through the encirclement alive, they would spare no expense!
In a short while, the vanguards of the two armies clashed, their shouts tearing through the sky mingling with mournful cries.
Lu Xiang brandished his unstoppable Heaven-Slaying Halberd, pointed at the enemy light cavalry charging towards him, and shouted, "Meng Yuan, do you dare to compete with me to see who can slay more enemy generals?"
Meng Yuan knew he was trying to boost morale, so he shouted loudly, "Of course! Let's all have a competition!"
More than two thousand cavalrymen roared in unison, their voices so intense that they drowned out the shouts of tens of thousands of enemy soldiers. As the cavalry clashed, waves of blood surged through the crowd.
Even amidst a vast army, Lu Xiang's profound and unwavering aura remained steadfast. In his hands, the Heaven-Stabilizing Halberd seemed like a living dragon, constantly churning, tumbling, leaping, and surging. Each flash of light in the air signified the slaying of an enemy. He made almost no unnecessary movements; every strike was executed in response to the enemy's attack, so it didn't seem as if he killed the enemy, but rather as if the enemy automatically collided with his halberd's blade.
Fighting alongside him was Meng Yuan. The broadsword danced in the hands of this incredibly strong man, its blade flashing like snow waves, spraying crimson blood in its wake. It was as if all the evil spirits of heaven and earth resided within him; the boundless killing intent even made the enemy's warhorses neigh in terror. His blade showed no mercy to horses; with each strike, the enemy's weapon, body, and horse were often cleaved in two.
In the fierce battle, the two men charged through the Lan Kingdom's army, creating two gaps on either side. After breaking through the enemy's light cavalry, they found their cavalry unit still surrounded, so they turned back and charged back into the fray. Several Lan Kingdom generals tried to stop them, but were all killed in an instant. After regrouping with their men, Lu Xiang and Meng Yuan broke through the enemy's light cavalry again. Looking around, they found that of their original two thousand cavalry, more than half had been lost.
Before he could catch his breath, the heavy, thunderous sound of hooves rang out again. A dark mass of armored cavalry stood like a wall before Lu Xiang. Lu Xiang glanced at his already weary men, pointed at an enemy general among the armored cavalry, and said, "Form a cone formation! Watch me take that enemy general's head!" He spurred his horse and charged forward.
The armored cavalry of Lan Kingdom couldn't help but chuckle as they watched a lone rider charge out from the enemy ranks, hurtling towards their own lines while the rest quickly formed ranks. They reasoned that anyone charging out was either there to die or to surrender.
However, as Lu Xiang approached the enemy formation, he suddenly gathered his spiritual power and shouted, "Lu Wudi is here!" The once orderly formation of the Lan Kingdom's armored cavalry was shaken by his unparalleled aura, and it slightly broke apart. Countless well-trained warhorses even neighed wildly, trying to break free from their riders' control. As Lu Xiang pointed his Heaven-Stabilizing Halberd, a wave of people surged from the armored cavalry. The Lan Kingdom soldiers seemed to be making way for Lu Xiang, retreating to both sides and exposing Lu Xiang's target to him.
This general from the Lan Kingdom, renowned for his bravery, felt his heart tremble with fear the moment his eyes met Lu Xiang's. Lu Xiang said nothing, nor did he reveal any ferocious expression, but the general clearly sensed from Lu Xiang's gaze that Lu Xiang was saying to him, "You are already dead."
The general of Lan Kingdom cried out in terror for help, raising his spear. Lu Xiang was still some distance away, but no one dared to stand in his way. The thousands of troops on both sides watched in disbelief as the Lan Kingdom general swung his spear in vain before Lu Xiang beheaded him with the crescent blade of his Heaven-Stabilizing Halberd.
As Lu Xiang charged back as if no one else was around, another Lan Kingdom cavalry general shouted and chased after him. Just as the general was about to catch up, Lu Xiang suddenly dodged to the side, avoiding his broadsword, and then turned around and shouted fiercely, "Die!" The Lan Kingdom general immediately felt the powerful mental pressure directly shake his heart, and he was so terrified that his liver and gallbladder shattered, and he fell off his horse.
"How is it?" Lu Xiang returned to his ranks and surveyed his men. The Invincible Army roared in unison, their earlier fatigue seemingly vanished. Lu Xiang pointed his halberd, and the Lan Kingdom cavalry, whose tip he pointed at, couldn't help but panic. Lu Xiang shouted, "Charge!"
The invincible army, shouting and charging, charged straight into the armored soldiers of the Lan Kingdom in a wedge formation. The Lan Kingdom's armored soldiers, whose morale had already been dampened, were unable to control the chaos despite having ten times the number of their enemies. However, no matter how brave and valiant Lu Xiang and Meng Yuan were, the disparity in troop strength meant that fewer than five hundred cavalrymen remained with them.
Seeing that the battle had been going on for a while and that the enemy forces surrounding them were no longer a single type of soldier, Lu Xiang knew he had successfully lured the main enemy force over, so he turned east and charged forward again. He knew the terrain of this area well and knew there was a valley there that he could pass through.
They fought their way into the valley, covered in blood. Looking back, they realized that even Meng Yuan had been separated from his men by the enemy, with only a dozen or so riders still following him. Lu Xiang sighed deeply. Although he had successfully broken through the encirclement, the enemy's losses were unprecedented.
Upon arriving at the valley entrance, Lu Xiang was first taken aback, then overjoyed, exclaiming, "They've finally arrived! Wang Xian, quickly follow me and charge forward; our army will surely turn defeat into victory!"
His subordinate, Wang Xian, who had stayed behind with Fu Lian to guard Wuyin, looked at him with a half-smile. Just then, a golden shooting star streaked across the sky!
As night fell and the weather suddenly turned cold, the sweat on the warhorses froze into ice beads in the blink of an eye, binding their manes together.
Wu Wei looked down into the valley from his vantage point. The valley was darker than outside, and a chilling wind was blowing.
"Have you found it?" Looking at the soldiers rushing towards him, Wu Wei couldn't contain his complicated emotions and asked first.
"Found him!" the sergeant shouted. "Enemy Deputy Commander Lu Xiang is dead!"
Although the news was expected, it still stunned the entire central army of Lan Kingdom, followed by thunderous cheers. Lu Xiang, the invincible general of Su Kingdom, was a universally hated murderous monster in Lan Kingdom; due to his military campaigns, countless Lan Kingdom soldiers had become ghosts in a foreign land…
Wu Wei felt excited and thrilled because he had fulfilled a dream of hundreds of millions of people in Lan Kingdom over the past thirteen years. His fame would surpass that of defeated generals like the Star of Lan Kingdom and the Pillar of Lan Kingdom. Perhaps the Lan Kingdom court was already thinking about how to give him a nickname.
But beyond that, something deeper was churning within Wu Wei. Putting aside the fact that they were enemies, there must be more to Lu Xiang, this adversary, than just friendship. He shouted, "Take me to see Commander Lu!"