Chapter 630: Prelude to the Great Battle

It was the third quarter of the Chen hour.

Sunlight pierced the thin clouds, falling on the vast, desolate battlefield before Zhenbei Pass.

Yet it could not dispel the solemn killing intent and chill that filled heaven and earth.

South of the pass wall, the Chen dynasty army stood in grim order.

At the forefront was a line of heavy infantry, relying on the pass wall and peripheral makeshift works.

Iron shields formed a wall, spears a forest.

The soldiers stood silently at their posts; only their heavy breaths formed faint white mist behind their faceguards.

On the pass wall, the torsion mechanisms of the ballistae had been wound tight.

The bowstrings of the bed-mounted crossbows were seated in the trigger lugs.

The counterweight baskets of the trebuchets were hoisted high.

The operators rested their hands on the firing levers or ropes, their eyes fixed firmly northward.

Behind the pass wall, on the reserved open ground,

Shi Dun's Iron Anvil Battalion stood like a black boulder, silently upright.

Their heavy armor reflected a cold, hard light.

Further back, several cavalry units lay concealed in the standby area, horses bitted, riders' faces stern.

The entire Chen dynasty army lay like a crouching beast.

Its claws and fangs retracted,

yet it turned its hardest shell and sharpest weapons toward the incoming foe.

And north of the pass wall,

five li out,

the Bei Yuan army had already completed its formation.

The sight made one's scalp tingle.

Black banners nearly obscured the northern horizon.

The cavalry masses moved like a black forest, dense and endless to the eye.

They were not the usual noisy, disordered crowd.

Instead, they were organized by thousand‑man units into relatively neat square formations.

Warhorses occasionally shifted uneasily, exhaling puffs of white vapor.

The cavalrymen were mostly silent, only their eyes flickering with a light that mingled wildness and ice.

In the gaps and rear of the cavalry masses,

lay even larger infantry formations.

Some held spears, some gripped sword and shield, some drew bows.

They were equally disciplined, their formations solid.

A mixed odor of leather, steel, livestock, and a peculiar sweet‑sour stench.

Accompanied by the heavy breathing of tens of thousands gathered together.

Forming a visible, suffocating pressure.

Slowly pushing southward toward the pass wall.

Between the two armies,

on that expansive battlefield covered in frozen earth and withered grass,

the air seemed to have solidified.

Only the sound of the wind snapping the banners could be heard.

and the occasional muffled metallic scrape from within both ranks.

……

Yingyan Rock.

Chen Wen lowered the long‑range scope.

The metal tube of the scope was warmed by his palm.

But his heart felt as if immersed in icy water.

He calmly analyzed the enemy formation.

"Cavalry in front, divided into left, center, and right major groups, each group further split into several echelons."

"Infantry in the rear, likewise divided into three parts corresponding to the cavalry groups."

"The core of the central army……where the banners are thickest, the forces are also strongest. That 'filthy' core is also there."

He muttered to himself, as if sorting his thoughts.

"They have deployed a standard offensive formation."

"The cavalry groups will charge to tear a gap."

"The infantry will follow up, expanding the gains and securing the line."

"Quite routine."

"But…"

His gaze fell on a particularly conspicuous cavalry unit ahead of the Bei Yuan central army.

Numbering about three thousand.

Their attire was essentially no different from that of other Bei Yuan cavalry.

But their warhorses were taller and more divine.

The cavalrymen's posture, sitting upright on horseback, revealed an unusual stiffness and fervor.

Even at such a distance, Chen Wen's Shi Yong could clearly detect it; from them emanated an intense sense of contamination and danger far beyond that of ordinary inlaid crystal cavalry.

It seemed as if they were not three thousand cavalry.

But rather three thousand monsters clad in human skin, forcibly infused with violent power.

"Is that…… the vanguard that has been given 'special attention'?"

Chen Wen's eyes narrowed slightly.

He could almost be certain.

This cavalry was the sharpest spearhead of Bei Yuan's offensive this time.

It was a heavy hammer used to smash open Chen Chao's defenses.

"My lord."

Zhang Cheng's voice sounded from beside him.

He likewise held up a spyglass, his face solemn.

The enemy formation is tight, their morale—or rather that frenzied intent—is high. Completely different from before at Wild Fox Ridge.

"Hmm." Chen Wen nodded, "They've been 'fed'."

"How do we fight?" Shi Dun asked in a deep, resonant voice, his fists clenched and cracking, "Or should we do as last time, let them approach, then greet them with crossbow cannons and ambush troops?"

"This won't work." Chen Wen shook his head, "Their numbers are too many, their formation too wide. The terrain advantage of the valley ambush last time is gone. To clash head‑on in open ground would play right into their hands."

He paused briefly in thought.

His gaze swept over our own forces, then fell on that unusually conspicuous 'monster cavalry' to the north.

We cannot let them freely accumulate their cavalry's charge momentum.

Especially that vanguard must be knocked out or crippled first.

Pass the order.

Chen Wen's voice turned decisive.

All crossbow cannons and bed crossbows, adjust your fields of fire, prioritize covering that abnormal cavalry at the forefront of the enemy center, as well as any possible second and third cavalry echelons that might follow.

Once within range, fire freely and rapidly without waiting for orders.

Catapults, target the enemy center's infantry assembly area, conduct disruptive bombardment.

Archers, begin volley fire when the enemy advances within three hundred paces.

Iron Anvil Battalion...

He looked at Shi Dun.

Your position, move forward. Move to the reserved ground between the pass wall and the first infantry line.

But not to charge now.

I want you to be like a true anvil, nailed there.

If… I mean if, our long‑range fire fails to fully check that vanguard and they break through the first infantry line,

your task is to hold them off.

With the hardest shields and sharpest spears, smash them to pieces beneath the pass wall.

Can you do it?

Shi Dun grinned, revealing his white teeth.

My lord, rest assured! If they dare come, I'll beat each one into minced meat and smear it on the wall!

Good.

Chen Wen patted his shoulder armor.

Go prepare.

Shi Dun gave a heavy clasped‑fist salute, turned and strode away.

Zhang Cheng looked at Chen Wen and said quietly:

My lord, moving the Iron Anvil Battalion forward—isn't that too risky? What if the enemy cavalry flanks around for a side attack, or showers us with arrows…

I know the risk." Chen Wen cut him off, his gaze still fixed on the north, "But to check that 'monster,' ordinary infantry lines won't suffice. We need an elite capable of hard contact, positioned at the crucial spot.

The Iron Anvil Battalion is that nail.

As for the flanks…

He paused.

Have the reserve cavalry ready. If the enemy attempts a large‑scale detour, or if that vanguard's charge is thwarted and scatters, send them out to counter‑charge and disperse.

Remember, our cavalry does not seek annihilation, only to harass, delay, and disrupt the enemy's rhythm.

Yes." Zhang Cheng received the order.

The orders were swiftly relayed via signal flags and messengers to every part of the army.

The Chen Chao army began making fine adjustments.

The Iron Anvil Battalion's black formation, under countless watchful eyes, moved forward steadily about two hundred paces.

Between the pass wall and the first infantry line, it seized a crucial area.

Like a heavy weight.

Placed upon this scale about to tip.

The north.

The Bei Yuan forces seemed to notice the Chen Chao army's movements.

From the center direction, a short, stirring bugle call sounded.

Then immediately.

That three-thousand-strong, extraordinarily conspicuous vanguard cavalry.

They began to move.

Initially, they proceeded at a slow walk.

Hooves struck the frozen ground, emitting a deep, rhythmic rumble.

Like the prelude to war drums.

Then, their speed gradually increased.

From a trot to a gallop.

The three thousand cavalry gradually spread into a broad, slightly loose wedge formation.

The dust kicked up by their hooves trailed behind them as a long, earth-yellow tail.

They did not shout.

Only the sound of hooves grew more urgent and louder.

It merged into a deafening thunder.

Toward the south.

Toward the Chen Dynasty army formation.

Toward that great "Chen" flag fluttering loudly.

The charge began!

The true collision.

It began.

Chen Wen stood on Eagle-View Cliff.

His body leaned slightly forward.

His gaze locked onto that "monster" cavalry charging forward.

He could feel it.

Within his own body.

That layer of "ice surface" separating realms.

Under the stimulation of battlefield killing intent.

Cracks.

Spreading wildly.

The curtain of the decisive battle had already been drawn.