Chapter 689

"The Grand Tutor's words are truly the best choice.

However, there is still a problem here. Yanmen Pass not only has those giant siege crossbows, but also another very tough nut to crack.

If we concentrate our fifty thousand troops, along with the disciples of the Demon Tutor Palace and the Wuzun Sect, we might be able to breach the city.

But this Wang Xiaojie is full of tricks, deliberately leading his men away.

Most likely he's thinking of finding an opportunity for coordinated attack from within and without.

This is the reason why I, this general, have been staying here and have not advanced south to attack Yanmen Pass."

Seeing Meng Chixing only learned of the giant siege crossbows from Bi Xuan's defeat this time.

Now that Bo'erhu actually said Yanmen Pass had something no less than the giant siege crossbows, he immediately asked,

"May I dare to ask what the other tough nut to crack is?"

"Yanmen Pass has been inscribed with a formation by the Great Tang's Court of Astral Observation.

This formation can not only reinforce the city walls, making them as hard as metal.

More critically, this formation can enable the defending troops to recover quickly.

If they form a Great Tang military formation, they can even merge their auras, with several or even over a dozen people acting as one.

The reason the Wuzun Sect disciples suffered a setback tonight, the small crossbow is one reason, but actually the Great Tang military formation is another reason."

Just now, Bi Xuan's seventh disciple, when speaking of tonight's encounter, emphasized the giant siege crossbows and the small crossbow held in hand.

The matter of Great Tang defenders, in groups of seven or eight, surrounding and killing Bi Xuan's disciples.

He only mentioned it in passing, saying the Great Tang people had no martial virtue, using their numbers to bully the few.

If this were said in the jianghu, it would naturally be considered shameful.

But on the battlefield, victory and defeat are all that matter.

Bo'erhu had long since experienced the might of this important border pass of Great Tang.

He naturally guessed roughly where Bi Xuan's disciples had suffered their losses.

Seeing Meng Chixing heard this, he instead laughed,

"So it's this! Grand General, you must know that all formations have an eye.

Since it's merely a formation inscribed by the Court of Astral Observation, it certainly has its eye.

As long as we find the eye, this old man will personally take action and destroy their eye, and this so-called great formation will collapse without being attacked."

Indeed, all formations have an eye.

This great defensive formation of Datangyan Sect also has an eye.

Bo'erhu had long since discovered the eye, and by bringing it up this time, he meant to have the offering experts take action to destroy the eye.

Seeing Meng Chixing jump out on his own, he was happy in his heart, but said with his mouth,

"Grand Tutor, this won't do! You are a person of immense value, how could you charge into battle.

How about this! I'll make some arrangements, and when the time comes, you'll appear and contain the Tang Army's giant siege crossbows and the like.

Then the Wuzun Sect and other offerings will break into the city and destroy their eye."

"That works too!"

Seeing Meng Chixing had no objection, he was also very curious whether the so-called giant siege crossbows, which could stop Bi Xuan, could stop him or not.

It should be noted that Seeing Meng Chixing ranked thirty-ninth on the Heavenly Dao Golden List, and was bestowed the Divine Mirror-Breaking Pill.

Afterwards, Tie Muzhen, for the sake of the Great Yuan's strength, although Seeing Meng Chixing was only a royal offering, opened the Earth Yuan Qi fortune to him.

With the aid of fortune, plus the Divine Mirror-Breaking Pill, Seeing Meng Chixing had already reached the half-step Realm of Myths.

Compared to before, naturally incomparable.

So he actually wanted to test out these giant siege crossbows that could trouble Bi Xuan.

The next day, Bo'erhu finally led the army south.

Fifty thousand troops, plus the accompanying laborers and so on, numbered over a hundred thousand.

The so-called saying goes, ten thousand people form a sea of humanity.

Once it reaches a hundred thousand, it becomes boundless.

The north of Yanmen Pass was a rather open plain.

A hundred thousand people surging over from the border line was almost like a dark cloud, pressing forward with might.

The Great Tang soldiers on the pass walls, watching the north, were all secretly clicking their tongues.

Since the emergence of the Ziqinglong Society, the return of Yunzhou, and the entry into the Age of Great Contention.

Although the world was divided into several major powers in a tripod, the scale of wars among the mundane had instead shrunk.

Especially since the Great Yuan's hundred thousand Kheshig troops were slain by Ximen Wudi with a single sword at the Western Xia border pass.

The deployment of large armies for warfare among the mundane had become increasingly rare.

Although Yanmen Pass was located at a strategic point, the key between Yunzhou, Great Tang, and Great Yuan.

But with the continuous emergence of transcendent-level power, it had instead been peaceful for a long time.

That is to say, among these Yanmen Pass defenders, there really weren't many who had seen this swarming hundred thousand troops pressing on the border.

For a moment, although the Great Tang soldiers still stood tall.

Quite a few of the young soldiers were actually trembling in their legs.

This wasn't because they were cowardly, but rather because their strength hadn't reached a certain level, and seeing such a scene would naturally bring fear.

Unless one reached the Heavenly Being Realm, where even if they couldn't defeat this hundred thousand troops, running away wouldn't be a problem, then they wouldn't be afraid.

Captain Chen, with his world-shaking cultivation, had naturally seen such scenes.

Sensing the nervous mood of some young soldiers, he walked along the city wall and said,

"Everyone need not be afraid. How long is this city wall? How many of them can attack up at one time?

We're all men with two shoulders carrying one head—our cultivation may vary, but when it comes to courage, our Great Tang soldiers will not lose to the grassland barbarians!

"Long live the Tang Army!"

Speaking of courage—these soldiers who, when nearly all the military and civilians across the entire Northwest had withdrawn, still held their ground at Yanmen Pass.

Whether young or slight of build, not a single one was faint-hearted.

Hearing Captain Chen's rallying words, they too raised their voices in a great shout,

"Long live the Tang Army!"

Over a thousand men stood atop the city wall, shouting in unison, their voices shaking the heavens and the earth.

The Yuan soldiers and laborers on the march over there were struck by that blood-and-qi-charged roar.

The faint-hearted couldn't help their legs trembling, and the entire formation instantly fell into turmoil.

"Good, what a fine Tang border army!"

Borhu noticed the disturbance here, immediately dispatched men to handle it, and at the same time praised his opponent with a single line.

Turning back, he addressed the general who had proposed a direct strike on Chang'an the night before,

"Well? What do you think? With such a spirited army, if I gave you ten thousand men, could you hold them in check?"

Though that general was a man of mettle, he also knew that with merely ten thousand elite cavalry, trying to pin down these five thousand Tang soldiers brimming with fighting spirit would be as hard as ascending to heaven.

His face flushed with shame, and he could only clasp his fist and say,

"It was rash of this junior general. I beg the Grand General to punish me."

"No matter! You will lead two thousand elite cavalry, and together with the Vanguard Commander's three thousand elite cavalry, you must find that Wang Xiaojie for me across this Northwest land.

This man appears to be retreating south in high spirits, but I have always felt he is lying in ambush somewhere, waiting for the right moment to stab us in the back.

If you can locate his forces, best to kill Wang Xiaojie for me; if your strength is insufficient, containing him will do.

As long as you accomplish either, it still counts as a merit for you."

Borhu looked at the soaring momentum atop Yanmen Pass, then thought of Wang Xiaojie, and still felt uneasy.

So he went ahead and issued this subordinate general a direct order to search for Wang Xiaojie.

Five thousand elite cavalry is neither many nor few.

Perhaps they truly cannot kill Wang Xiaojie, but as long as they locate where he is, Borhu can set his mind at ease and boldly attack Yanmen Pass.

"This general accepts the order!"

Having spoken out of turn, he was not only unpunished but also given a chance at the Gongdeji Society.

This subordinate general was overjoyed, immediately accepted the command, and went off to muster the cavalry.

Before long, he led two thousand elite cavalry, bypassed Yanmen Pass, and headed south to find that Vanguard Commander.