Conquering Myriad Worlds from the Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 971 Sima Yi's Art of War
"Having lost your proudest abilities, and now you're merely testing your basic skills, do you still have the confidence to win?" Sima Yi looked coldly at the Jin army in front of him.

No matter how stubborn the Jin army was, the sense of helplessness they felt after being dealt a heavy blow could not be made up for.

"In the name of Wang Jun, I will slay the enemy before me for the sake of the empire!" Wang Jun roared, raising his sword high. The cloud energy he had forcibly activated shone with dazzling light.

"You do have some skill, but that's not enough!"

Sima Yi dismissively commented on Wang Jun's actions, his use of cunning tactics and acting to boost morale. While this might indeed undo what had happened before, it was ultimately just patching things up on ruins; how could it possibly be exactly the same as before?

With Wang Jun's roar and the added boost from the clouds enveloped in radiance, the Jin army's momentum, which had been stalled, began to rise again, but it just didn't feel the same as before.

"Fire arrows!"

The Jin army advanced at a relatively fast pace, and as they drew near, both sides unleashed tens of thousands of arrows in an instant.

Unlike the Jin army's almost endless rain of arrows, Xinghan's side only had three waves of arrows this time.

However, the arrows in these three waves of arrow rain were different colors; one half was covered with a layer of dark gray, while the other half was covered with a bright color. This was a new invention jointly created by the Mohists and the Yin-Yang School—the Yin-Yang Arrow.

This is no longer a simple remote attack.

The moment the yang arrow and the yin arrow fell, the yin and yang energies began to react, forming a rotating vortex of airflow.

The Yin-Yang arrows are like two points in a Tai Chi diagram, guiding the convergence of vortex air currents.

Countless vortexes rubbed against each other, causing large numbers of soldiers caught in them to lose their balance. The rain of arrows that followed reaped many Jin soldiers like a harvest.

On the other hand, the Jin army inflicted almost no damage on the Xinghan army, clearly demonstrating the superiority of the two sides.

Moreover, due to the Yin-Yang Arrows, the soldiers at the front were in complete chaos, and their formation had been scattered into a mess.

"Open the door, release the fire ox!"

Sima Yi coldly issued the order. He originally wanted to build chariots, but there were simply not enough chariots, so he had to settle for fire oxen as a second choice.

These cattle were logistical supplies coordinated by Sima Yi, and at this time they were adapted to be used as weapons.

The drugged fire oxen charged madly into the chaotic Jin army, causing even greater chaos.

The entire vanguard was thrown into chaos and was unable to advance any further. Their initial momentum vanished before it could even be released.

The feeling of using all his strength but being unable to strike made Wang Jun feel like he was choking on blood.

"Attack from both flanks!"

Wang Jun felt a lump in his throat, but he couldn't care less about anything else. Since Sima Yi had made his move, he could only respond and counter it.

But his command was once again anticipated by Sima Yi.

When the Jin army adjusted its formation on the left flank and used a legionary attack to smash through the outer wall of the camp, what appeared before them was Xu Huang's legion, which was ready for battle.

"Let's fight!"

Xu Huang unleashed the accumulated Legion Talent in his hands, and then led his Legion to charge towards the Jin army.

Almost instantly, Xu Huang's main force broke into the left flank of the Jin army. Even without the support of the Legion Talent, Xu Huang's main force had already mastered the technique of explosive attack.

The soldiers who were putting up a frontal resistance were sent flying by the explosive force of the blow and were never able to stand up again.

On the other side, the reorganized 13th Eagle Banner Army Corps coldly advanced towards the right flank of the Jin Army.

As a reorganized legion, they are still heavy infantry, and even their talent framework is similar to the past, but they are far inferior to the legion of the past.

Even so, their legion remained incredibly strong defensively. Arrows that landed on them were easily deflected, and ordinary ranged attacks were completely ineffective against the Thirteen Roses.

"Raise the eagle flag, attack!"

At the command of the Thirteen Roses Legion Commander, he raised the eagle emblem, and the pale red glow instantly turned into a bright fiery red, enveloping all the soldiers of the Thirteenth Legion.

The Thirteen Rose Legions replicated by Zhuge Liang are identical to the original Rose Legions.

Or perhaps it's more accurate to say that Zhuge Liang activated the Eight Trigrams Formation, awakened the power of the former Thirteen Roses, and then bestowed it upon the current Thirteen Roses.

Although the Thirteen Roses were not fully digested, it was enough to set this legion apart from ordinary dual-talent legions.

The defense, composed of large shields and armor, and the attack, composed of spears and greatswords, are cleverly combined to achieve a perfect unity of opposites in offense and defense.

Relying on their steel defenses, they withstood the Jin army's attacks, fiercely slaughtering their opponents and directly pushing the Jin army legion in front of them.

The dense forest of spears, combined with the javelins and arrows behind them, formed a perfect offensive posture that the Jin army in front could not stop at all.

Before the attacks from the left and right flanks could be fully launched, Sima Yi forcibly suppressed them.

Wang Jun was completely numb; how could he fight like this?

The front was in complete chaos, while the flanks were being forcibly suppressed.

The army was already showing signs of weakness from the very beginning, and it was doomed before it could even begin to fight.

Wang Jun felt frustrated because his opponent was ahead of him in every move, making it impossible for him to make full use of the advantages of his large army.

This should be a time for vigorous progress, but now we are tied up and unable to move.

Sima Yi, however, was not one to back down and ordered a fierce attack.

"Siege engines, ranged attacks, charge!"

Naval cannons, ballistae, and scattered archer squads immediately opened fire, plunging the already beleaguered Jin army into complete chaos.

Unable to advance further, the Jin army, caught in the middle, could only watch helplessly as ranged attacks pounded them.

They couldn't even retaliate. With the earthen platform as a base, Xinghan had a range advantage, and they simply couldn't counterattack.

It's like a martial arts master who has been thrown into the sea, unable to unleash his full power, and being utterly and utterly humiliated by being beaten one-sidedly.

Sima Yi smiled, realizing that the person opposite him was completely being led by the nose.

There are also differences in the command of large armies.

The skill level of both sides directly affected the battlefield. After all, this was not a battlefield involving dozens or hundreds of people, but a battlefield involving an entire army group.

Sima Yi, however, was in the lead in every aspect.

With coordinated movement, some attacked, some defended, and some broke through enemy lines. Under Sima Yi's command and coordination, each group functioned like a component of a precision instrument, perfectly showcasing the advantages of large-scale army operations.

On the other hand, Wang Jun was already dizzy and confused, and was vaguely stunned by Sima Yi's attack.

He never imagined he would encounter such a formidable opponent.

Every step you take is seen through, every decision you make is guessed. Wang Jun clearly understood that he could never defeat Sima Yi.

He now faces two choices.

Either adopt a defensive stance and stalemate with the opponent, then wait for reinforcements to wipe them out in one fell swoop.

Either delegate command to increase the variables involved. For a cautious and prudent old general, this choice doesn't seem difficult.

All it takes is to back down once, and you'll have a much better chance of winning.

But Wang Jun's face was full of struggle. He was so full of vigor when he destroyed Wu, but now he was being played like this time and time again. How could he swallow this insult?

"Therefore, you will choose to hand over command to Malone and let him organize the attack to increase the unpredictability!"

Sima Yi gave a mocking smile, which then turned cold.

He couldn't fully predict what Ma Long would do, but he was certain that Ma Long and Wang Jun's command styles were completely polar opposites, so Ma Long would choose to launch a strong attack.

The all-out attack was also to prove themselves.

"Attack! All troops, advance! Attack with me!"

Just as Sima Yi had predicted, Wang Jun gave half of the command to Ma Long, and Ma Long lived up to expectations by choosing to launch a frontal assault.

Malone believed that they had an overwhelming numerical advantage, so a direct attack was the most reasonable tactic, even if it meant making some sacrifices.

Sima Yi disliked this reckless tactic because it truly dragged the war back into the most basic war of attrition.

This is absolutely the worst-case scenario for Xinghan, which is outnumbered and has a large number of new recruits.

"Let the Northern Song imperial guards take their place!" Sima Yi issued the order expressionlessly.

His opponent wanted to outlast him, but he wasn't willing to do that, so he revealed his trump card first.

The reason why new recruits are afraid and easily lose morale is mainly because they are too weak and the enemy is too strong.

There is one unit that is a perfect fit for them.

The original version of the Northern Song Imperial Guards had the simplest combination of Fearlessness and Defense, which together gave recruits the strongest sense of security.

The shields and armor, even superior to those of the Thirteen Roses, stood like a wall of sighs, silently awaiting the arrival of the Jin army.

Human fear stems from weakness.

Once one feels the security brought by their own strong defense, their fearlessness and courage will be amplified.

Ma Long led the Jin army in a frenzied charge, only to crash into the steel city wall in front of them.

The Northern Song imperial guards were naturally suppressed, but suppression did not mean a breakthrough. The time required to break through this steel wall was unbelievably long.

"The Ninth Eagle Banner and Taishi Ci's main force shall immediately move out to cooperate with Xu Huang and make infiltration from the left flank to disrupt the enemy's formation and delay their offensive rhythm!"

Ma Long's tactics did indeed cause Sima Yi some trouble, but the combined attack of the Ninth Eagle Banner and Taishi Ci's main cavalry threw the problem back into the spotlight.

Like the thirteenth rose, the Ninth Eagle Banner represents the strongest force that Zhuge Liang pulled back from the past.

The Ninth Eagle Banner Legion, charging without a start, was like a broadsword, cutting a wide path, while Taishi Ci followed like a branch growing and blossoming, creating chaos on both sides.

The combination of heavy cavalry charging into battle and assault cavalry made them break through the Jin army three times.

Taishi Ci's main force, which had reached the level of the third-tier talent, naturally launched a sabotage operation against a group of troops whose resistance had already been crushed by the Ninth Eagle Banner, disrupting the entire Jin army formation.

The Jin army organized ten internal energy-escaping soldiers to act as the vanguard, attempting to break through the frontal defenses.

However, Sima Yi dispatched even more experts with internal energy separation abilities to intercept them.

"Want to get past me? Dream on!"

Li Fenfeng, who had been lured by Sima Yi, led a group of guardians and intercepted all the strongmen of the Jin army.

Ma Long still wanted to rely on his power to break through boundaries to carve out a bloody path, but unfortunately, Li Fenfeng possessed power no weaker than his.

The battle was completely deadlocked, but both sides were satisfied.

Because both sides are waiting for reinforcements to return.

The outcome of the battle will be determined by which side's reinforcements arrive first.

On the second battlefield, Pang Tong, in the center, commanded Wei Yan and four cavalry units, directly shredding the Jin army of 50,000.

"Ma Mengqi is really useful!" Pang Tong said with a sigh as he watched Ma Chao wreak havoc.

This is completely different from the Ma Chao he remembers.

This Ma Chao, in terms of leading troops alone, completely surpasses generals like Lü Bu and Zhao Yun.

It truly combined the ability to command troops with one's own bravery.

During the first wave of attacks, they moved like dragons, precisely weaving through the gaps between the Jin army units, disrupting their formation and creating opportunities for the cavalry behind them to attack.

Wei Yan appointed ten generals at the Inner Qi Departure level as vanguards, and the entire army deployed ten main force squads, combining the most suitable elite talents to break through the enemy formation. They forcibly turned the chaos created by Ma Chao into a weakness, tearing open several gaps in the Jin army.

Pang De, Xiahou Dun, and Xiahou Yuan were no match for these two; they could only exploit the weaknesses created by them to maximize their gains.

At this moment, Ma Chao, who had already killed one of the two, launched another counterattack.

"Kill them all!"

With a roar from Ma Chao, the Liangzhou cavalry roared in unison and charged fiercely into the Jin army.

The fierce charge naturally shattered the defenses of an entire legion.

The lightning-fast charge was destructive, even piercing through the large shields of the Jin army's heavy infantry.

Wherever Ma Chao went, the Jin army was routed.

It can be said that the entire battlefield was Ma Chao's stage, where his infiltration and breaking through enemy lines were displayed to the fullest extent.

Although he benefited from Pang Tong's cloud-based chains securing his position, Ma Chao's performance was more significant.

The Jin army quickly and completely collapsed, caught completely off guard when Wei Yan and his men attacked from the rear.

Furthermore, they were not elite soldiers like the Xiangyang soldiers, but rather county soldiers recruited from nearby areas. Even if they possessed the abilities of elite soldiers with dual talents, they could not be considered true dual talents.

"Pang De, Xiahou Dun, Xiahou Yuan, you stay here to clean up the battlefield. Ma Chao, Wei Yan, you two hurry back to the main battlefield immediately!"

Seeing that the battle was coming to an end, Pang Tong immediately divided his forces, sending Ma Chao and Wei Yan ahead first.

Even among cavalry, there is a difference in their speed.

The fastest were naturally Ma Chao's Liangzhou Iron Cavalry. As one of the fastest cavalry under the White Horse Cavalry, their ability to launch long-distance raids was almost unparalleled.

Xiahou Yuan was also very fast, but his speed was mainly due to the support of his Legion talent.

The main battlefield was overshadowed by Sima Yi's spiritual talent, making it unsuitable for Xiahou Yuan to go there.

Although Wei Yan was also affected, his soldiers were already an infinitely variable force, so they were not greatly affected and were still able to exert their full fighting power.

(End of this chapter)