Choose Liu Bei at the start, I am the only one who knows the plot of the Three Kingdoms.

On the front, the overwhelming charge of Cao Cao's infantry was already closing in!
When the vanguard of that dark, surging crowd stepped about 150 paces in front of Gu Rubing's army—a carefully calculated distance where crossbows and bows were at their most powerful—

On the high platform in the center of the army, Gu Rubing suddenly waved a small red triangular flag down!

"Arrows——!!!"

Almost at the same moment, all the officers and soldiers on the front line who were in charge of commanding long-range strikes roared in unison!

“Buzz——!!!”

A strange, resounding boom, like the simultaneous firing of ten thousand bows! Immediately afterwards, the sky suddenly darkened! Not with dark clouds, but with tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands, of arrows, like a swarm of dead locusts suddenly rising into the air, densely packed, blotting out the sun!
They soared into the air from all directions of Gu Rubing's army formation—the front, the flanks, and even the rear of the reserved launching positions—drawing countless heart-stopping parabolas in the air, accompanied by sharp whistling sounds as they pierced the air, and then, like a torrential rain, crashed down on the charging black tide!
"Pfft! Pfft! Pfft—!"

"what--!"

"my eyes!"

"Shields! Raise your shields!"

The sound of sharp blades tearing through leather armor and piercing flesh was so dense it was like popping beans! The Cao army soldiers who charged at the front and raised their shields were the first to be hit. Even with their shields to block, the continuous rain of arrows made their arms numb and sore. Their shields were instantly covered with arrow shafts, like hedgehogs.

Those soldiers with weaker defenses or bad luck were riddled with arrows from the sky, screaming as they collapsed to the ground, their bodies instantly blooming with countless flowers of blood!
The charging black tide seemed to be swept across by an invisible giant scythe, and swathes of soldiers fell like cut wheat, their crimson blood instantly staining the dry earth!

Screams, roars, and dying groans were drowned out by the even more deafening shouts of the charge and the thunderous footsteps of the following troops trampling over the corpses!

Cao Jun's charge only paused briefly before continuing forward with even greater ferocity! The soldiers behind them completely ignored the deaths of their comrades ahead, or rather, they were unable to stop. They could only continue charging, their eyes red, roaring, as they stepped over the still-warm corpses and slippery pools of blood!

"Fight back! Archers, fight back!"

Within Cao Cao's army ranks, the roars of generals also rang out.

Almost the instant the arrows rained down from Gu Rubing's army, a similarly dense barrage of arrows from the rear of Cao's army also pierced the sky, whistling mournfully as they fell into Gu Rubing's ranks!

"Knock knock knock knock—!"

"Raise your shield——!"

Gu Rubing's shield bearers at the front desperately huddled behind their shields, and a dense, pounding sound like raindrops hitting banana leaves echoed from the shields. Many iron-clad wooden shields were instantly riddled with holes, and arrowheads pierced through the shields, wounding the soldiers behind them.

Arrows occasionally pierced through the gaps in the shields, or flew over the front ranks of the shield formation, landing in the ranks behind, spraying blood and eliciting short screams. Soldiers fell to the ground, constantly struck by arrows, only to be quickly dragged to the rear by their comrades, their positions immediately filled.

The mere hundred paces had become a veritable death zone! Both sides were using the most primal and brutal methods to deplete each other's strength. Arrows crisscrossed through the air, whistling sharply before piercing flesh or shields.

Blood continued to splatter, quickly turning the originally grayish-yellow land into a dark red. The pungent smell of blood began to permeate the air, mixed with dust and gunpowder smoke, making people nauseous.

Finally, after paying a heavy price, the black tide crashed into Gu Rubing's rock-solid defenses!

"boom--!!!"

That wasn't a single loud bang, but a terrifying sonic wave formed by countless loud bangs converging! It was the muffled thud of thousands of shields being struck by tremendous force, the tearing sound of countless spears piercing flesh, and the ear-piercing friction and metallic clang of swords striking shields and armor!

In an instant, a chilling symphony of death erupted at the front line, a mixture of metal, wood, and flesh colliding!

"Hold on! Hold on for me!"

The captains and colonels in the front row shouted themselves hoarse, their voices as broken as a broken gong.

The shield bearers in the front row pressed their shoulders firmly against their shields, pushed off the ground with their feet, leaned forward, and trembled all their muscles as they resisted the waves of impact that surged towards them!

The spearmen behind them gritted their teeth and, through the gaps in their shields, frantically thrust their spears forward! The sharp spear tips easily pierced through the leather armor and plunged into the bodies of Cao's soldiers, drawing out scalding blood and fragments of internal organs!
The soldiers of Cao's army were equally fearless! They used their swords and axes to hack wildly at the sturdy shields and the forest of spears in front of them, trying to break through; some even threw themselves forward, using their bodies to hold down the spears that were thrusting at them, creating opportunities for their comrades behind them.
Others wielded heavy iron hammers, maces, and other armor-piercing weapons, smashing them hard against the shields. Each heavy blow caused the shield-bearing soldiers to spit out blood and the shields to crack!
From the very beginning, the battle skipped all probing and preparation, going straight into the most brutal, bloody, and primal stage of hand-to-hand combat! The battle line was like a giant, constantly writhing maw, frantically devouring the lives of soldiers on both sides.

Every advance and retreat on every inch of land was accompanied by countless screams and piles of corpses. Broken weapons, shattered shields, severed limbs, and rolling heads... quickly covered the battlefield. Blood flowed like streams, pooling together and even making the ground muddy and slippery.

The central front has completely transformed into a massive, high-speed meat grinder!
On the right flank, Zhang Fei could no longer contain himself. Seeing that a defensive line was on the verge of collapse under the fierce attack of Cao Cao's heavy infantry, and the formation was beginning to crumble, he roared and, without waiting for orders, spurred his horse forward!

"Zhang Yide of Yan is here! You scoundrels, prepare to die!"

The eighteen-foot spear transformed into a black whirlwind of death, sweeping across! Three fierce Cao army soldiers who were desperately hacking at their shields were swept away, weapons and all, their bones broken! Zhang Fei was like a tiger among sheep; wherever his spear went, no one could withstand a single blow!
He didn't care about his own defense at all. Relying entirely on his unparalleled strength and valor, he managed to tear a gap in Cao Cao's offensive line and stabilize the collapsing local line again!
Wherever he was, the morale of Gu's soldiers soared, and they roared as they followed him in a counterattack, temporarily suppressing Cao's offensive!

On the left flank, Guan Yu's performance was completely different.

He remained firmly under the banner of "Guan," not easily joining the chaotic battle at the front. His phoenix eyes calmly scanned the entire left flank, and no sign of weakened forces, loose formations, or enemy breakthroughs escaped his notice.

He simply waves his command flag or gives a few clear and concise orders to the messenger beside him, and the reserve force is promptly deployed to where it is most needed.

The range of the archers will be slightly adjusted, and small-scale counterattacks will be organized to repel wave after wave of Cao Cao's attacks.

Under his command, the left flank defense, though under immense pressure, remained intact and resilient, like a resilient rattan armor. No matter how fiercely Cao Cao's army attacked, they could not truly shake its foundation. Gu Rubing sat on the soft palanquin in the center of the army. Although the wound in his ribs tore apart with every breath, and blood loss and exhaustion blurred his vision from time to time, and cold sweat had already soaked through his inner shirt, his mind was working at high speed.

Several messengers stood in front of him, each holding a flag of a different color, ready to relay his orders at any time.

"Third formation of the central army, advance fifty paces and fill the gap in the A-shaped area!"

"Tell Zhao Yun that the White Horse Cavalry should move forward to prepare to deal with the Cao army's cavalry's attack on the rear of the central army."

"The right wing informed Yide that he should not advance too far, but simply hold the line!"

"The left wing... there's no need to say more about Yun Chang."

His orders were issued one by one, clear and decisive.

His gaze was like the most precise ruler, measuring every change on the battlefield. Cao's army's first fierce attack, though terrifying in its momentum and overwhelming in its advance, was ultimately held back by their own rocky formation, which relied on fortifications and was well-prepared.

At the front lines, Cao Cao's army left behind layers upon layers of corpses, with the bodies piled up in many places to form low walls, severely hindering the subsequent charge of Cao Cao's army.

Although Gu Rubing's defenses suffered dents in many places and heavy casualties among his soldiers, the overall formation remained intact, the flags stood, and the morale was not broken!

The setback of the first fierce attack did not move Cao Cao's face, which was shrouded in a faint black aura, in the slightest.

He remained firmly atop the central chariot, his gaze as cold and unwavering as a frozen lake, surveying the stalemate across the battlefield. The central front was temporarily deadlocked, and the cavalry engagements on both flanks had failed to achieve a decisive breakthrough, but this was clearly within his expectations.

He slowly raised his right hand, and waved the black command flag in his hand once more.

This time, the flag signal pointed to the right flank, or more precisely, to the special force on the right flank that had never truly engaged in combat and stood silently like a black reef—the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry!

“Boom! Boom! Boom—!”

In Cao Cao's army, the central war drum, which had always been responsible for controlling the overall rhythm, changed its rhythm once again! It became more steady, yet carried an oppressive feeling of impending storm! The drumbeats were like heavy hammers, striking the hearts of everyone watching the right flank battlefield.

On the right flank, Cao Cao's light cavalry and Ma Chao's Xiliang cavalry were locked in a fierce chase and close combat, neither gaining the upper hand. But just behind this entanglement, the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, clad in heavy armor, their riders and horses covered in iron armor, resembling a mobile fortress, finally began to move slowly at a low command!

Instead of immediately sprinting, they began to accelerate at a very aggressive, steady pace, their target being the middle section of Gu Rubing's right flank defense line—where, due to Zhang Fei's previous counterattacks, the formation had slightly protruded forward, and there seemed to be a barely perceptible weakness at the junction with the main formation behind them!

Once the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry set off, their momentum was unstoppable! Their heavy iron hooves pounded the earth, producing a muffled thunderous roar, and the ground trembled slightly!
They surged forward like a wall of steel, their spears pointing straight ahead, determined to crush everything in their path with their unparalleled force!
However, just as the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had picked up speed and were about to reach the peak of their charge—

"White Horse Cavalry! Follow me to defeat the enemy!"

A clear and resounding shout, like the sound of tearing silk, suddenly rang out from the flank and rear of Gu Rubing's army! It was Zhao Yun!

He led the White Horse Cavalry to hide behind the lines, his eyes never leaving the battlefield, especially the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, which posed the greatest threat.

When he saw the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry finally move out and choose the right flank as their point of attack, he immediately realized that the time for the decisive battle had come! His lord had already given orders that the White Horse Cavalry's mission was to deal with this sharpest spear of Cao Cao's army!

"kill--!"

Zhao Yun, clad in silver armor and riding a white horse, took the lead, like a silver lightning bolt released from a bow, suddenly charging out from the side and rear! Behind him, hundreds of elite White Horse Cavalry soldiers, also dressed in white armor and full of spirit, followed closely like a flock of geese following their lead goose.

They quickly deployed into a sharp arrowhead formation, drawing a precise arc at astonishing speed, and surprisingly, they arrived first, diagonally piercing the right flank of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's charging formation!

The timing was absolutely perfect! It was precisely the moment when the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry had picked up speed but hadn't fully unleashed it, and were at their most cumbersome when turning!

"Zhao Zilong of Changshan is here! Tiger and Leopard Cavalry, take this!"

Zhao Yun roared, using the momentum of his horse and the horse's support, his gleaming silver spear instantly bursting forth with dazzling light! He wasn't foolish enough to charge head-on into the steel wall; instead, he brought the "skill" and "speed" of his spear technique to its extreme!
The spear tips transformed into countless cold stars, like a sudden storm, specifically targeting the gaps in the armor of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's heavy knights—their necks, armpits, joints, and the less armored areas of their warhorses, such as the face and the backs of their legs!

"Pfft! Pfft!"

Just as a Tiger and Leopard Cavalry centurion adjusted his lance to aim at his side, a sharp pain shot through his throat—he had been pierced by a spear! His heavy body crashed to the ground from his horse.

The warhorse of another knight was struck in the eye by the spear tip, and immediately reared up with a mournful cry, throwing the knight off its back. It was then trampled by its comrades who were unable to stop in time!

Zhao Yun was like a silver ghost, quickly weaving through the edges of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's somewhat cumbersome formation. Every thrust of his spear was precise and deadly, specifically designed to disrupt their charging rhythm and the integrity of their formation!

The White Horse Cavalry, following closely behind, made the most of the light cavalry's mobility! They did not engage the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry in direct combat, but rather moved like agile fish, circling the flanks and rear of this steel behemoth.

They relentlessly thrust with their spears and slash with their sabers, attacking the relatively weak sides and hooves of the heavy cavalry! The arrows they fired were also extremely cunning, targeting gaps in the visor and the joints of the warhorses.

The Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's charge was abruptly halted! The knights in front tried to turn to deal with the threat on their flanks, but their heavy armor made turning extremely difficult; the knights behind were blocked by their companions who had suddenly slowed down and become disorganized, and the formation began to become crowded and chaotic.

The advantages and disadvantages of light and heavy cavalry were now crystal clear! The agility of the White Horse Cavalry and Zhao Yun's extraordinary martial arts skills, like the most skillful needle, pierced the vital joint of the Tiger and Leopard Cavalry's heavy hammer, greatly diminishing its deadly charging power! (End of Chapter)