Chapter 1619: If You Do Not Kill Shennong, Do Not Return Home

The great army finished assembling; Lu led the Heavy Armored Ox Cavalry to take the vanguard, Shaoyin and Yinglong led the infantry to hold the center, Xuanyuan led troops to charge the left flank, and Limu led troops to charge the right flank. Baifeng was at the foot of the mountain, commanding the artillery to attack and directing the arrangement, advance, and retreat of the battle formations through War Flags and Drums.

After the troops had arranged their formations, Baifeng and Xuanyuan began to cheer on their Soldiers and boost morale.

Baifeng spoke very bluntly.

"Soldiers, this should be our final battle against the Shennong Clan. The enemy's strength is weak; we are certain to win this war!"

"I want you to charge hard and fight bravely. Your merits will naturally be recorded. Once this war ends, we will go home. Upon returning, those due for promotions will be promoted, and those due for titles will be ennobled. I believe that after this war, most of you here will be able to obtain your own surnames; you will all be officers, and you will all be the glory of Huaxia!"

"Kill! Kill! Kill!"

Lu even took the lead in chanting: "If we do not kill Shennong, we shall not return home; before we start, we kill eight million, blood flows like a river, corpses pile like mountains, the Shennong Clan cannot stand on Changyang Mountain!"

All the Huaxia Soldiers roared and chanted along; there was no technique to it, only pure emotion. This way of boosting morale gave the people of the Xuanyuan Tribe a huge shock. They all wanted to sing along, but unfortunately, they had no idea what the next line was.

Xuanyuan also finished encouraging his Soldiers, then, according to the arrangements made by both sides, quickly organized the ranks and mixed the Soldiers of both sides together.

Baifeng gave the first order: "Push the Bomb-throwing Carts forward! Push them to the foot of Changyang Mountain!"

Xuanyuan gave his order, and then he led their Soldiers as they set off in a grand, imposing manner. Baifeng took the large drum from a Soldier's hands and began to beat it. The drumbeat of Phoenix Three Nods was extremely aggressive. Six drums followed the rhythm of Baifeng's beat and began to strike in unison. The sound of the drums shook the entire plain; they made no attempt to conceal their offensive.

From the moment the Huaxia Soldiers began their chanting, the people of the Shennong Clan had already heard it. The earlier harassment by the Cavalry had already frightened them into a bit of chaos, but fortunately, after Xingtian's reassurance, their morale had stabilized again.

However, as that high-pitched chanting reached them, they all heard it. The members of the Shennong Clan, who had been sitting under the scorching sun, all stood up in fright. Then they saw those large wooden frames beginning to move forward, and those dense masses of Soldiers instantly split into three directions, rapidly coming toward them.

"They are attacking! They are attacking!"

The people of the Shennong Clan began to shout, and the army's morale fell into chaos. Xingtian roared: "Do not be afraid! Hold this position to the death, do not go down! Do not be afraid! Do not be afraid!"

Xingtian had already taken up his Weapon and stood in the very center like a guardian deity, but he had no confidence in his heart because the reinforcements he wanted had not been seen in any significant numbers. His true strength, added up to now, was only about four thousand men. The remaining six or seven thousand were all Slaves filling the numbers here. Xingtian did not think they had any combat effectiveness, and his strategy, after the Cavalry had come up earlier, should have been seen through—it was clear as day.

Xingtian had someone call Shennong, asking him to take command of the main formation here, preferably to personally enter the fray and kill the enemy, so that their army's morale could be lifted.

The drums beat "dong, dong, dong," and every strike felt like it was hitting the hearts of the Shennong Clan Soldiers, making them sprout the desire to flee.

Xingtian saw a Slave who had taken a few steps back and turned around, so he strode over, grabbed the man by the neck, threw him to the ground, and then brought a large axe down on his neck; blood splattered on the spot.

"Anyone who dares to run! I will kill them first! No one run! If the Shennong Clan loses and is wiped out, you won't get any benefits either! Fight to the death for me!"

With this deterrent from Xingtian, the people of the Shennong Clan finally settled down a bit, but there were too many people here; in places Xingtian could not see, there were still people quietly retreating.

Shennong was already so terrified he could not control himself. The drumbeats and the singing all made him afraid, and now there were Soldiers calling for him to go forward to personally oversee the battle or even join the fight.

Shennong's hands were shaking, but he could not continue to stay there, so he took the last few Soldiers guarding him and strode out, looking somewhat imposing.

The distance to the catapults was already very close. The person in charge of throwing the Bombs used the Thumb Ranging Method to judge the distance. Because these catapults were manufactured somewhat crudely and had not been calibrated, he did not know exactly where they would hit, so he prepared to throw a few first to test it.

The drumbeats also stopped; the role of the drums would be very important later, so they could not keep beating them, lest it affect the battle situation.

Several large War Flags had been prepared, with different colors and combinations. Different ways of waving them would have different meanings. These had already been explained to the main Soldiers of the Xuanyuan Tribe, and they had all learned them well; on the battlefield, they only needed to take one look to know what to do.

The Bomb-throwing Carts used small flags to signal, requesting to test the distance first. Baifeng's side also signaled approval, because the Soldiers of all three sides were not far from their designated positions. They had to wait for the artillery to fire a few rounds before they would begin their charge; this interval was just enough to rest a little more.

The artillerymen who received the order began to tighten the ropes, lowering the force arm, and then had people place the Bomb into the pouch, ensuring it was packed tightly. The commander ensured the process was error-free and that the direction was correct, then ordered the ignition. After the person who ignited and released the bomb retreated to a safe distance, they released it immediately. The force arm drew a large arc, throwing the wrapped Bomb far away.

The three machines fired at almost the same time and the same distance, but the positions they hit were completely different. Plus, the Bombs would scatter upon impact, so explosions appeared almost everywhere from the foot of the mountain to the mountainside. For a moment, they did not know which machine's position had been too low.

However, the explosions were successful, and seeing that they had hit some people, there was no problem; at the very least, it showed that their control over the timing of the detonation was not an issue.

Subsequently, the three Bomb-throwing Carts each conducted tests, and after discovering the problems, they made adjustments so that the explosions of the Bombs could occur on the mountainside and slightly above the mountainside. Finally, they confirmed that everything was in order and prepared to carry out a saturation attack.