Chapter 207: The First Step to Victory

"Those who flee the battle will be executed without mercy!"

Yuan Li was furious.

More and more fleeing soldiers were crashing into his battle formation.

If this continued, his own main formation would also be thrown into chaos.

Seeing the officers beside him looking distraught, he barked, "What are you doing? Why haven't you killed these stragglers crashing into the formation yet?"

"Yes, sir." Seeing Yuan Li's rage, the officers' expressions changed instantly.

Yuan Li comforted them, "Do not worry. The Northern Di army is right at the North Gate. As long as we break through the North Gate, they will come to support us, and then Yan Wang will only die a miserable death."

The only belief left in the officers' hearts was the Northern Di people.

Otherwise, like these routed soldiers, they would only want to flee.

Returning to their respective units, they immediately ordered the Yuan Family soldiers to flee toward the battle formation.

Just as the returning Yuan Family soldiers ran into the formation, they saw the soldiers raise their blades and swords against them.

"Fleeing the battle, death without pardon!" a soldier in the formation shouted loudly.

The routed soldiers only wanted to save their lives; this was the Yuan Family Army formation, so they naturally ran toward their own side.

Now that their own side had raised blades and swords against them, they stopped in their tracks, not daring to advance.

But the soldiers behind kept surging forward, and the routed soldiers were pushed ahead.

Seeing this, the officers shouted, "Kill!"

The order was given, and the soldiers in the formation immediately swung their blades and swords down; over a dozen routed soldiers fell into a pool of blood instantly.

These soldiers fleeing back to the formation were not like those who had scattered and completely lost the will to fight, caring only for their own lives.

They still wanted to continue fighting Yan Wang under the organization of their officers.

But now that the soldiers in the formation had raised their butcher knives against them, they were thoroughly enraged.

"Why kill your own people? Why kill your own people?" a routed soldier screamed.

His voice stopped abruptly as a sharp sword pierced through his body.

"You bastards, I'll kill you!" As one routed soldier after another fell, some went mad.

They picked up blades and swords and hacked at the soldiers in the formation.

For a time, the formation fell into even greater chaos.

Yuan Li grew increasingly anxious at the sight.

Yan Wang's army was getting closer and closer, and there was not much time left for him.

He once again dispatched over five thousand men to rush toward the gap at the Nanmen.

He kept ordering the officers to clear out the routed soldiers to ensure the integrity of the formation.

He knew very well that once the formation fell into chaos, his main force would suffer the same fate as Yuan Xiu's formation.

Under his orders, the Yuan Family officers gave orders one after another to execute the routed soldiers.

These routed soldiers had no formation and were like scattered stragglers, no match at all for the soldiers in the strict battle formation.

Before long, the routed soldiers were chilled to the heart by the slaughter.

They fled toward the wilderness one after another, never looking back.

At this moment, the Yan Wang soldiers' formation arrived at a distance of less than three hundred meters from them.

The Yuan Family officers in the formation saw horses pulling things that looked like Firearm.

When Yan Wang's formation stopped, these things were positioned on both sides.

It was these things that had crushed Yuan Xiu's formation.

"The command below is left to you." Zhao Xu turned to Chang Wei.

To him, the battle below was merely a repetition of what had just happened.

Sometimes, certain tactics are effective on the battlefield and only need to be used repeatedly until the enemy finds a way to break them, at which point other methods are required.

"Yes, Your Highness." Chang Wei licked his lips excitedly.

Now he could see the Yanguan soldiers fighting at the Nanmen.

Now, as long as they defeated this last Yuan Family force, they could enter Yanguan and support Mo Yu.

"Grape Shot!" he shouted loudly.

When the sound that the Artilleryman were ready reached him, he drew his Long Sword and pointed it at the Yuan Family army, "Give it to me with everything you've got."

"Boom, boom, boom..."

Over a hundred Artillery spat out tongues of fire, pouring Cannonball into the Yuan Family army.

The Yuan Family soldiers fell in rows again, just like wheat.

He stood on the raised platform, watching the battlefield from above.

When he heard the deafening roar at close range and saw his soldiers dying in large numbers instantly.

He knew he was finished.

The Weapon Yan Wang was using now completely exceeded his understanding.

It was impossible for him to achieve victory under this kind of Weapon, especially since Yan Wang's troops were basically intact.

Sure enough.

Amidst the sounds of the Artillery, the soldiers at the front of the formation collapsed.

They scattered and fled just like the routed soldiers, dropping their blades and swords, and even taking off their Armor, just to run faster.

Once the rout began, it could no longer be contained.

As more and more soldiers fled, his main battle formation disintegrated.

The officers shouted repeatedly, but could not make a single soldier return to the formation.

And after the military formation fell into complete chaos, the troops of Yan Wang moved.

Yuan Li's heart pounded along with the heavy thundering sound of the Heavy Cavalry's hooves.

As the Heavy Cavalry crashed into the chaotic soldiers and charged straight toward him, his ambition was replaced by fear in that moment.

"My lord, flee quickly, we cannot win this," Yuan Xiu said, arriving at Yuan Li's side in a disheveled state.

He had just been scattered by the chaotic soldiers and had only now managed to find his way back.

He had a very clear understanding of the Yuan Family's troops.

Although the Yuan Family claimed to have two hundred thousand Black Armored Army soldiers, the elite among them numbered only over eighty thousand.

These eighty thousand men were the backbone of the Black Armored Army.

They received the highest military pay, ate the best food, and wore the best equipment.

The remaining one hundred and forty thousand were merely at the level of private soldiers of a Rich Clan.

In a favorable battle, they could fight, but when encountering an unfavorable battle, they collapsed very quickly.

Furthermore, during combat, the elite Yuan Family soldiers usually stood at the very front, so that they could win the victory in the first wave of engagement.

In the day and night of fighting against the Yan Pass Imperial Guard, these elites suffered over twenty thousand casualties.

Now, Yan Wang's Artillery specifically targeted the front ranks, wiping out a large number of elites in one go.

Such terrifying lethality caused even the elite soldiers in the front ranks to collapse.

It was easy to imagine how the other soldiers would fare.

"Flee?" Yuan Li muttered, "I am not reconciled; Yanguan is right before our eyes, as long as we break the Nanmen, we win."

"My lord, our Yuan Family has done everything that should be done, let the rest be left to the Beidi people; as long as Yanguan is broken, our Yuan Family will still be heroes," Yuan Xiu said.

Upon hearing this, Yuan Li stamped his foot.

He did not want to give up, but with Yan Wang's great army constantly closing in, if he did not leave now, he would truly lose his life.

Glancing at Yan Wang's military formation with resentment, he mounted his horse and fled toward Fanyang.

The Yuan Family's rout was like a landslide; watching the Yuan Family's routed soldiers fleeing south, Zhao Xu immediately ordered Zhong Li's Light Cavalry to pursue and encircle them.

Then he said to Chang Wei, "Immediately enter Yanguan, and transport all the Artillery to the North Gate."

Although he now wished he could immediately slaughter Yuan Li and his troops to the last man.

But Yanguan was clearly more important now; he had to head to the North Gate immediately to prevent any changes.

"Yes, Your Highness." Having defeated the Yuan Family, Chang Wei had originally felt a bit more relaxed.

Hearing this, he tensed up again; yes, the battle was not yet over.

They had only defeated the Yuan Family.

The true enemy, the Beidi people, were still launching a massive offensive outside Yanguan City.