Chapter 146: First Volume, Chapter 146: Breaking the First Formation

First Volume, Chapter 146: Breaking the First Formation

Behind Cheng Zhang, the garrison army's elite troops erupted in laughter.

"Qin Feng Xiao'er really only knows how to talk big—he collapses the moment he faces real combat. Isn't his father the Minister of War? Why didn't he pick elite soldiers from the Ministry of War? Instead, he chose City Patrol Bureau guards? This is hilarious."

"Hahaha, City Patrol Bureau guards? These guys only bully bandits with numbers—do they really have the guts to step onto the battlefield? Everyone, go easy on them later, don't make these kid soldiers cry."

"Aren't Qin Feng Xiao'er supposed to break the formation in one cup of tea time? Heh, if these embroidered pillows can hold their formation for a full cup of tea without collapsing, I'll bow down and apologize to them."

Hearing the mocking from the opposite side, Xu Mo was furious yet helpless.

After all, regular armies have always looked down on local governance troops.

Not even the so-called elite Imperial Guard is spared from being mocked by battle-hardened Border Army soldiers, who call them pampered lordly troops.

At that moment, Qin Tianhu's voice rang out: "Open the formation!"

At his command, Cheng Zhang decisively chose the simplest, most brutal tactic: a full-scale charge, leveraging the regular army's courage and training advantage to crush Xu Mo's forces head-on.

"Kill them!"

Cheng Zhang, wielding an unsharpened armor-piercing blade, led the charge straight at Xu Mo's front line, followed by three hundred elite troops surging like a tidal wave.

Feeling the aura of the regular army, every City Patrol Bureau guard swallowed hard, palms sweating; some even stammered in terror: "T-this… is the regular army?! The gap is too huge!"

Xu Mo took a deep breath and roared: "Form the line! Beidi War Response!"

Though the guards were already trembling, after a night of Xu Mo's brutal training—beating and yelling—they had developed faint reflexes and hastily stabilized their formation.

Since the preliminary battle forbade the use of shields, the front-row guards could only rely on their heavy armor and long spears to withstand the impact.

Whoosh—

Cheng Zhang's forces slammed into the line; armor clashed, a cacophony of clanging.

Too nervous, Xu Mo's front-row guards forgot to thrust with their long spears—instead, the enemy closed in face-to-face, rendering the spears useless.

Facing Cheng Zhang's troops' slashing blades and chopping axes, the front-row guards collapsed almost instantly.

By the rules, falling meant military death.

In the instant of contact, twenty front-row guards were eliminated.

Xu Mo's military morale shattered; especially the front-row guards, who instinctively wanted to flee—but were pinned in place by guards behind them, left only with the helpless expression of those awaiting death.

Xu Mo himself, positioned at the center, was startled—he hadn't expected the gap to be this vast; so many were eliminated in a single clash.

But in the next breath, Xu Mo grew excited: because the heavy armor formation was too tightly packed, even with morale damaged, the formation remained perfectly intact.

Xu Mo didn't hesitate—he shouted: "What's there to fear? What damn elite troops? Full charge—they've only peeled off a thin layer! That's all!"

At these words, the panicked guards stared in disbelief.

"I-it… didn't break?!"

"Am I dreaming? Did we actually hold against the regular army's charge?"

Xu Mo's eyes blazed with determination—he shouted: "Push them back!"

The front-row guards gathered courage, relying on their thick heavy armor, and began to push back.

The guards behind remembered they still held long spears—they thrust them through the gaps in the front row, not caring if they hit anything, eyes closed, stabbing wildly.

Though the long spears were blunt, Cheng Zhang's troops wore only light armor—a spear to the belly or chest still made them grimace in pain.

Back and forth, it was Cheng Zhang's front line that began to crack—either stabbed down outright, or collapsing voluntarily from the pain.

Once Xu Mo's formation stabilized, the advantage of heavy armor became clear; combined with every soldier armed with a long spear—a uniform array of long weapons—their defense was astonishing, their reach extended, forming a hedgehog-like wall that pushed Cheng Zhang's troops back over ten zhang, leaving countless helmets and armor discarded.

As victory tilted toward them, the guards' fear vanished, replaced by exhilaration.

They finally understood: with proper command, even pampered troops could match the combat effectiveness of regular armies; without command, even regular armies were just scattered sand.

As their mindset steadied, the guards' coordination grew increasingly seamless.

Front row held firm with heavy armor; rear row stabbed relentlessly—back and forth, they shattered Cheng Zhang's formation; the entire ShiZhen was littered with Cheng Zhang's soldiers, while Xu Mo's troops remained tightly bunched.

Li Xu's expression shifted from initial excitement to shock, then to fury: "Useless trash! The garrison army has been crushed by the City Patrol Bureau!"

Qin Tianhu was also secretly astonished; as a general who had once fought on the battlefield, he knew the importance of forming a line. Every time Qin Tianhu led his army out to meet the Beidi Cavalry, defeat came because the line broke—allowing the Beidi Cavalry to sweep in and slaughter them.

This Xu Mo understood how to lock the line without breaking—just this one point, he surpassed Cheng Zhang a hundredfold.

Victory was merely a matter of time.

The Liang Emperor's lips curled slightly as he murmured: "Good. Among these Candidate Vice-Generals, someone finally understands the importance of strategy."

As he spoke, the Liang Emperor glanced at the tea cup before him—steam still rose from it; less than one cup of tea time had passed, and Cheng Zhang's forces had already collapsed.

The Liang Emperor looked up at Qin Feng, bouncing on the City Wall, cheering wildly, and smiled knowingly: "I'd like to see whether this boy is just lucky—or truly has the talent to command troops."

Qin Tianhu's voice rang out: "Xu Mo Army wins!"

The ShiZhen erupted in ecstatic cheers from Xu Mo's guards—having decisively defeated a regular army was something they'd never dared dream of.

Xu Mo scrambled up the City Wall, ecstatic: "Brother Qin, you were right—locking the formation like that actually won!"

Watching Xu Mo's flushed, excited face, Qin Feng grabbed a handful of peanuts and handed them to him as a reward, then warned: "Don't get too cocky—light armor versus light armor, we'd lose. This heavy armor is just to boost the guards' confidence, to show them that regular armies aren't invincible. Only with confidence and obedience to command can you win."

At this point, Xu Mo fully believed Qin Feng's words—his eyes burned with fervor: "If we hold the formation steady, we'll win the championship!"

Qin Feng lowered his hand, dousing Xu Mo in cold water: "Several guards were taken down by cold arrows just now. The enemy, desperate to win, will use any means—don't let your guard down."