Chapter 92: Two Armies Collide

They were, of course, facing the rear, with their backs to the refugees on the slope. However, one refugee ran past Commander Xiao, suddenly erupted into action, pulled a dagger from his waist, and viciously stabbed at his neck!

Commander Xiao was clad in sturdy armor and armed, with basically only his neck exposed.

The night was very dark, and this strike was caught off guard; the distance between the two was no more than a few feet, and his personal guards could not reach him in time.

He Lingchuan was standing diagonally behind Commander Xiao. In the dark night, he saw a faint glimmer and immediately knew something was wrong, but it was already too late to pounce, so he could only watch helplessly—

A flash of bright, snowy blade light swept past, and head and body were separated.

Actually, strictly speaking, this blade stroke swept from the lower left to the upper right, slicing the opponent directly from the left rib to the right shoulder. Thus, the perfectly intact body broke into two pieces upon hitting the ground, blood gushing wildly.

He Lingchuan choked.

The lightning speed of this blade, the ruthlessness and decisiveness of this strike, reminded him of the feeling of facing Nian Songyu in the Panlong Illusion.

He was usually so diligent and hardworking, yet he simply could not cultivate such blade intent.

Commander Xiao lowered his blade, and a string of blood beads dripped from the tip to the ground. There was also blood splattered on his face, but he was too lazy to care, letting the rain wash it away slowly.

Why wipe it off? He would have to kill enemies in a moment, why do something unnecessary? A personal guard said guiltily: "My lord..."

Commander Xiao raised a hand to interrupt him: "Stay vigilant!"

He Lingchuan muttered: "Good blade technique."

"Heaven helps those who help themselves; you need to grow more eyes on your back." Commander Xiao glanced at him, "Not bad skills."

He Lingchuan was very ashamed: "I was slow." The assassin was still dealt with by Commander Xiao himself.

The opponent was also quite cunning, changing into civilian clothes to sneak behind enemy lines and behead the commander. If they had succeeded in one stroke, the battle here would have been over in a flash.

Just seeing how skilled Commander Xiao was, one knew how dangerous the battlefield was.

"You are a civilian, not a soldier." Borrowing the lightning in the sky, over a hundred cavalrymen were galloping over not far away. Commander Xiao stared at them while saying to everyone, "If you perform well, you can be selected for the City Army! Food and shelter will be prioritized for you!"

In wartime, resources are prioritized for the strong; no one could have any objections.

He Lingchuan's heart stirred: "Can I join the Great Wind Army?"

As soon as these words were spoken, the new recruits all turned back to look at Commander Xiao, clearly very concerned about this question.

Commander Xiao revealed a hint of a smile: "Dreaming big, you aren't qualified yet!"

Between the Panlong City Defense Army and the Great Wind Army that traversed the wilderness, there was still a deep chasm.

Everyone was a bit disappointed, and another Great Wind Army cavalryman said: "Guarding the city is stable, what's wrong with that? When the Great Wind Army goes out, there is bound to be danger."

Although he said this, his expression was quite proud.

Another new recruit asked: "When the time comes, will someone teach us how to kill enemies?"

"That goes without saying."

Commander Xiao also said: "There is a joint drill every ninety days. If you are lucky, you might even see General Hong teaching on-site."

General Hong! Even without the person appearing, just showing this name could boost morale.

In the shocked gazes of the crowd, he flourished his blade: "My blade technique was once personally guided by General Hong!"

He Lingchuan heard the smugness in his voice.

Just by being guided by General Hong, one could cultivate such a fierce killing blade technique? Then, the hundred or so fast cavalrymen opposite charged over.

Commander Xiao did not swing his blade, but instead ordered everyone to move the opening of the wagon formation a bit further apart.

These were friendly forces.

After the hundred or so people climbed the slope, they jumped off their horses, helped everyone gather the wagon formation, arranged them into three rows front to back, and then interspersed themselves into the formation, standing ready.

As soon as they came up, He Lingchuan smelled a fishy wind hitting his face; it was the thick scent of blood. Subsequently, he saw bloodstains and wounds on most of them.

The leading general high-fived Commander Xiao, and Commander Xiao laughed: "To think you escaped back alive; it looks like the Baling people didn't eat their fill today!"

The general was still catching his breath: "You want to claim credit, it's not that easy! The seven hundred Baling troops that chased us are a small detachment under Zuo Qin."

"Are there any civilians left behind?"

"Those who are alive have all been driven back. We lost six brothers."

The subtext of the first half of the sentence made one shudder. However, this was a battlefield, and civilians were just cannon fodder.

He Lingchuan had witnessed the Sandstorm Season; most of the vengeful spirits that emerged from the wells were dressed as civilians.

Those who died on the road of fleeing were eventually buried silently in the wilderness, not even being included in casualty statistics.

Clearly, the Great Wind Army was already accustomed to such human misery; as a few people chatted and laughed, the enemy also charged near this canyon.

The sound of horse hooves was rapid; it was a vast, dense mass of bright armor.

He Lingchuan looked behind him; even adding those who had just returned to help, there were still only a hundred or so people in total, less than one-seventh of the enemy's strength.

However, the opponent's cavalry only numbered two hundred or so, and the rest were infantry; after charging close, they lowered their halberd heads, wanting to cross the wagon formation blocking the road.

Horses could not pass, but people could jump.

As they charged near, Commander Xiao waved his hand, and a rain of arrows shot down from the top of the slope and the trees.

Just after the friendly forces arrived, he had deployed more people to hold bows, increasing the number of archers to eleven.

Eleven people, sixteen arrows.

Among them, several held crossbows, which could fire two arrows in succession.

There were many feathered arrows in Governor Sun's boxes, and they used them generously.

However, facing seven hundred heavily armored and armed enemy troops, this wave of arrows was still a bit thin and could not form effective suppression.

At this moment, He Lingchuan especially missed the giant crossbows and cannons on Panlong City. Firing those was what you called satisfying, and the lethality was top-notch.

Commander Xiao shouted: "Charge! Kill them until not a single piece of armor remains!"

The Great Wind Army roared in unison and wielded their weapons to meet the enemy.

On their bodies, pale yellow light erupted—

Commander Xiao had activated the State Decree to provide a bonus to the soldiers under his command.

Counting it up, everyone here had to face at least seven enemies; having one more point of assistance reduced one point of pressure.

The light blooming on the bodies of the opposing Baling troops was pale green.

This indicated that the rank of the opponent's military officer was below Commander Xiao's, or that the morale of this unit was not as high as the Great Wind Army's. However, no matter how good the State Decree was, it was only a bonus; the true outcome still depended on the basic combat strength of both sides.

Zero multiplied by any bonus is still zero; He Lingchuan's basic math was also quite good.

The State Decree had miraculous effects on the battlefield, but it was not the only variable that determined the outcome. This point had been proven by countless battles throughout history, so the Baling army was not afraid of the Great Wind Army behind the wagon formation.

In the blink of an eye, the two armies collided.

Commander Xiao stood right behind the first row of the wagon formation, being the first to face all the enemies. If the Baling army was a spear and halberd, he was the silent, solid rock that fiercely withstood the first wave of the offensive.

He Lingchuan stood beside him and slashed out with his blade at the enemies pouncing over.

This was his first time experiencing the miraculous nature of the State Decree; the most intuitive feeling was that his strength was greater and his movements were more agile. A sidestep forward allowed him to jump further than before, as if a spring had been added to the soles of his feet, which actually startled him.

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(End of chapter)