Conquering Myriad Worlds from the Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 1078 Vanguard Showdown
The Star River army swept in.

While employing a scorched-earth policy to buy time, Joan of Arc also used propaganda to demonstrate the threat posed by the Star Han army, thus rallying morale among the military and the people.

In an effort to halt the advance of the Xinghan army, they continuously dispatched men to cause disturbances, attempting to slow their march.

"Joan of Arc's military tactics are truly unconventional!" Bai Qi was somewhat surprised as he looked at the intelligence report delivered to him.

According to previous intelligence, the commander of Joan of Arc's army should be Gilles de Rais, who has already been captured by Lu Xun, and Joan of Arc is just a figurehead to gather the army.

Now that Joan of Arc herself is doing it, it's a whole level better than before.

In particular, the other side seemed to have known their route in advance and had set up many magic arrays along the way, which actually slowed down the advance of the vanguard.

The central army has now arrived, yet the vanguard is still lingering and not advancing.

"Using a large-scale skirmishing formation to conduct small-scale harassment and intervention is similar in principle to the 'scattering stars' formation, but it is more ingenious..."

Bai Qi flipped through the intelligence reports, sketching out Joan of Arc's movements in his mind, and pondering where Joan of Arc would go next.

"Report, Marshal! The enemy has launched a large-scale elite attack, and the vanguard has been scattered!"

Bai Qi stopped what he was doing and looked at Lu Xun with some dissatisfaction.

The vanguard was a local auxiliary force recruited by Lu Xun. Although they all possessed dual talents, they were all quick-learners, essentially cannon fodder in the conventional sense.

Sending them to lead the way was itself aimed at paving roads and building bridges, clearing mountains and constructing bridges.

Therefore, Bai Qi did not show any surprise when he was blocked by various magic arrays and ambushes. After all, they were cannon fodder troops, so it didn't matter if their advance was a little slower.

But if you're defeated and can't even call for help, that's a matter of capability.

The person was recommended by Lu Xun. Bai Qi originally believed in Lu Xun's abilities, so he did not object or replace him.

However, it is clear that Lu Xun was not particularly good at judging people.

"Dispatch two Imperial Guard units to provide support!"

"Let the Dijiang Army take action and drive those fleeing soldiers to the sides. General Lu, you will personally gather the fleeing soldiers!"

Bai Qi did not reprimand Lu Xun, but directly began to solve the problem, leaving Lu Xun to clean up the mess himself.

"This subordinate obeys your command!" Lu Xun bowed helplessly.

This was not something he should have done; he could have just sent a subordinate. But since he was the one who recommended the person, it was natural for him to handle the situation.

"Marshal, this humble general requests to fight!" Ma Chao jumped out, clasped his hands, and volunteered for battle.

"This humble general requests to fight!" Sun Ce jumped out from the side almost simultaneously and asked Bai Qi for permission to fight.

"..." Bai Qi looked at the two bastards in front of him speechlessly.

They're the attackers, and the other side is the defenders. Heaven knows how many traps they've prepared; how could they possibly send the two of you out on the field directly?

If one has three talents and the other has a military spirit, and something happens to them while they're in a trap, it would be a huge loss.

In situations like this, you have to use cannon fodder to clear the way.

However, Bai Qi did not refuse outright. Since Lu Xun had gone to organize the cannon fodder, letting the two of them charge into battle would actually speed up the march.

Although there was no rush, Bai Qi knew that the opposing force was growing stronger every day, and he should arrive as soon as possible.

"Go and organize the troops to await my orders!"

"Here!"

Sun Ce and Ma Chao's faces lit up with joy, and they quickly ran to reorganize their troops, awaiting Bai Qi's orders.

On the other side, two Imperial Guards who had received Bai Qi's military orders had arrived at the forefront, formed a battle formation, and were ready to attack with their equipment at the command of their commander.

"Woo!" The bugle call of the Dijiang Legion reached the scattered soldiers even faster.

In just a moment, the panicked soldiers regained their composure, and the things they had been trained in came to mind. They began to retreat to the sides on their own, not daring to charge into the army's formation.

"Report, General, have the routed soldiers dispersed?"

"I saw it!" Oliver exclaimed, his face grim. "We'll rush over in the chaos; this is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity!"

As one of the twelve paladins chosen by Charlemagne II, they inherited the name of the first paladins, half voluntarily and half involuntarily.

After Charlemagne II was defeated and captured by Dian Wei, the twelve paladins were instantly dismantled into twelve paladin legions in Joan of Arc's hands, with the skeletons being dismantled from the original Charlemagne legions.

Seeing this rare opportunity, they immediately decided to launch an attack to test the waters.

On the other side, looking at the routed soldiers, City Princess Zhang Bao had a blank look on her face. It seemed that they had once been just like that.

"General, a legion is rushing towards us at forced march speed after the routed soldiers."

A notification sounded from among the slowly advancing imperial guards, startling Zhang Bao from his reverie.

Commanding the Emperor's Imperial Guard was a job that Mu Yi gave to these veteran officials, and it was also an affirmation of their loyalty.

Zhang Bao was quite satisfied to witness the true arrival of the Yellow Heaven era and was willing to serve Mu Yi to the death.

"They actually dared to charge the Imperial Guard's defensive line. Are they some fearless madmen?" Zhang Bao sneered. No one knew the Imperial Guard's defensive capabilities better than them.

Using infantry to resist cavalry charges was just routine training.

"Pass on my order: halt and form ranks, load all crossbows, and prepare for the first wave of horizontal fire, followed by volley fire."

"Report! General, the enemy has used some kind of secret technique to create a large shield. The shield is extremely thick, and it seems that crossbows are completely ineffective beyond a hundred paces!"

No sooner had Zhang Bao issued his order than a scout brought in new intelligence.

"Hmph, after three rounds of firing, switch from crossbows to javelins. After breaking through the formation, fire with crossbows again!" Zhang Bao's expression turned slightly serious after hearing this, but he didn't feel uneasy. If crossbows didn't work, there were javelins.

A mere shield made of cloud energy would be easily breached in one go; the power of the Emperor's Imperial Guards is not to be underestimated.

Following Zhang Bao's command, a large number of crossbow bolts rained down on the paladins from the air.

The crossbow bolts struck the barrier almost instantly.

After three volleys of crossbow bolts, numerous fragmented marks appeared on the barrier.

Seeing this, Zhang Bao smiled.

They were the Emperor's personal guards, and their equipment was personally provided by Huang Tianji, making them armed to the teeth.

It's like this: no matter what skills you have, I'll first use my crossbow to sweep you twice.

At this distance, the other side could easily fire a dozen or more shots at once.

I'll take down as many as I can. Once they get close, I'll drop the crossbows and switch to swords and shields for melee combat. The Emperor's Guards are standard heavy infantry; what am I afraid of?

This is also why they cannot serve as the vanguard; they are carrying far too much and need help transporting supplies. The Imperial Guards carry heavy loads, but their physical equipment is also very heavy, and when they go all out, they are completely overloaded.

This also meant they were not suited for rapid marches or serving as vanguards.

Their main task was to act as a human Great Wall, blocking the positions designated by the marshal.

Wherever they are stationed, it is an impregnable fortress.

Although they are not as powerful as the original Imperial Guards, capable of going toe-to-toe with Miracle, they are by no means ordinary people who can deal with them.

"Holy Light, prepare for a full-scale counterattack!" Facing the overwhelming barrage of crossbow bolts, Oliver shouted the order. The soldiers at the forefront raised their spears, gathered holy light, and thrust them forward.

Beams of holy light, like lasers, blasted into the ranks of the Emperor's Guards.

Hundreds of holy lights crashed down, but when they hit the Emperor's guards, they vanished with a lot of noise but little effect.

"What?" Oliver's pupils shrank dramatically, completely unprepared for this turn of events.

The most important reason why he dared to use cavalry to charge heavy infantry was that he was confident he could directly break through the formation of the Emperor's Imperial Guards.

Charging a well-formed heavy infantry formation is suicidal, but charging a disorganized heavy infantry formation is not necessarily suicidal.

Oliver was filled with doubt and uncertainty, unsure whether the Emperor's Guard's move was a form of psychological defense or something else entirely.

A barrage of spears rained down from the sky, shattering the barrier under its weight. The spears pierced through the barrier, and any soldier hit by them, except for a very few top-tier veterans who could rely on their experience to parry and deflect the attacks to save their lives, was simply pierced through by the spears.

The gruesome manner of death greatly alarmed the surrounding paladin soldiers.

Oliver glanced around and saw that their charge was rather loose and the enemy's accuracy wasn't very high, but the loss of more than a hundred men still sent a chill down Oliver's spine.

To be honest, the loss of over a hundred people wasn't much for Oliver, who had also participated in the First War.

He knew very well that Xinghan was an extremely powerful force, and its opponents were all extremely difficult to deal with.

Any kind of loss is possible.

What truly surprised him was that the secret technique had been broken. Although he didn't know what method it was, the cloud barrier they had erected was not something that could be shattered by spears.

"Rush over!"

But no matter what he thought, he had already rushed to such a close distance, and now he had no choice but to grit his teeth and keep going.

The soldiers on Xinghan's side naturally wouldn't hold back either.

All the newly repaired crossbows were taken out and fired according to military orders.

"Bang!" What should have been a muffled thud of a twisted bowstring sounded like thunder at this moment. Three thousand crossbow bolts, fired without aiming, swept towards the approximate location of the enemy troops ahead. When crossbows are used in an organized manner, aiming is unnecessary.

The charging paladins were thrown into chaos once again. Although the spears were not as lethal, the accuracy was much higher at such close range.

The Emperor's Guards were incredibly fast at raising the moon. Even with their opponents right in front of them, they managed to complete another round of raising the moon by taking advantage of the last bit of time.

More than two thousand crossbow bolts once again struck the paladin legion with a whooshing sound.

"Front row, drop your crossbows and use your shields!"

Zhang Bao raised his spear and roared. At the same time, a bamboo scroll appeared in front of him, then emitted a dazzling light that covered the soldiers.

As Zhang Bao roared, the Han soldiers in the front row, who were half-crouched, dropped their crossbows and picked up their shields with one hand.

"Boom!" A series of explosions and various cries of pain.

The paladin legion crashed directly into the shield formation.

Both sides suffered heavy casualties, but in the end, the Paladin Legion failed to break through the Emperor's Guard's formation.

The imperial guards on both flanks immediately dropped their shields, picked up long swords, and flanked the center from both sides.

Oliver had tried his best to target vulnerable spots, but he was still forcibly intercepted.

Cavalry that loses speed not only suffer a sharp decrease in lethality, but their own survival also becomes precarious.

"Where are the Yellow Turban warriors? Quickly kill the enemy!"

Zhang Bao pointed his spear, and hundreds of illusionary warriors rose from a large banner, landing directly behind the cavalry.

There stood a group of robust, three-meter-tall men, each wielding a large knife, with a yellow turban wrapped around their foreheads, their bodies radiating a golden glow.

Although these Yellow Turban warriors were few in number, they were extraordinary, directly charging into the ranks of the paladins and disrupting the rear.

"Oh? This is a Taiping Dao spell?" Bai Qi looked at Zhang Bao's actions with great interest.

He had also studied the Illusionary Warriors, and Zhang Bao's move gave him a lot of novel feelings.

"This technique is recorded in the secret manual, I never expected it to come from this person!" Chen Gong explained to Bai Qi.

"This technique is called the Yellow Turban Warriors Mountain Moving Technique. It was created by General Zhang Bao by combining the Taiping Essentials, the visualization of gods and Buddhas, the divine power and Dharma images, and the illusionary warriors. It is still being perfected and can only summon a hundred Yellow Turban Warriors at present."

"What's the maximum you can achieve?" Bai Qi, knowing Zhang Bao's background, showed a hint of amazement on his face and immediately asked.

"The Yellow Turban Warriors summoned so far are roughly equivalent in strength to the participating legions. The First Yellow Heaven has tried to reach its limit, and at most it can reach the level of a third-talent!" Chen Gong's answer made Bai Qi's eyes show a hint of surprise.

This limit is not low. If it could be popularized, each legion could summon a bunch of fearless fighters directly to the side or rear of the enemy during battle.

This was a fatal blow to spearmen phalanxes and cavalry whose charge had failed.

"The Emperor also values ​​this method highly, but currently only Generals Zhang Bao and Zhang Liang are proficient in it!"

"This seems to involve some secrets that only those of the Way of Peace can understand. We are still analyzing it!"

Bai Qi nodded. The greater the difficulty, the more useful this thing is.

He was extremely curious about this thing and would definitely study it carefully when he got back.

For Bai Qi, who loved annihilation warfare, this technology was practically made for annihilation.

The ability to summon phantom warriors anytime, anywhere, would be truly extraordinary if it could be deployed and implemented.

At this moment, the Holy Knight Legion was utterly defeated by the Imperial Guards led by Zhang Bao. They had completely lost their previous arrogance and could only turn back in disarray and flee, leaving behind thousands of corpses.

"All troops halt!"

Zhang Bao didn't give chase. The Emperor's guards were simply too short-legged to catch up, and besides, the opponent was no weakling.

Oliver's face was extremely grim. He had lost nearly two thousand men. Even if Joan of Arc didn't punish him, he himself couldn't get over that hurdle in his heart.

But this time, his probing did yield some results.

Those auxiliary troops were insignificant, but the regular army was truly terrifying, and their methods were endless.

(End of this chapter)