Desert Eagle Suletan Khan

Originally, Cen Jilu was worried that the Wei army would launch an attack before his formation was complete. He ordered his most elite generals, Cen Jigang, the native prefect of Guishun Prefecture, and Cen Guangyu, the chief envoy of Anlong, to lead 20,000 wolf soldiers down the mountain to form a defensive line. However, seeing that the Wei army did not react, he finally breathed a sigh of relief and said to his men, "The emperor of Wei is too arrogant. He actually dares to let us form a defensive line. Today, let him see the power of the Sicheng wolf soldiers!"

"Beat the drums! Forward!" At the command, the wolf soldiers moved slowly forward in neat formations.

In the central army formation, Cen Jigang, the native prefect of Guishun Prefecture, and Cen Guangyu, the chief of Anlong Prefecture, led 20,000 spearmen in the front; Cen Maoren, the native prefect of Tian Prefecture, and Cen Zhaoxian, the chief of Shanglin Prefecture, each led 10,000 swordsmen and shieldmen on the flanks; Cen Jilu led 10,000 personal guards behind the spearmen; and Cen Jixiang, the native prefect of Zhen'an Prefecture, led 10,000 double-sword soldiers at the rear of the formation, responsible for covering the rear and supervising the army, and anyone found not ordering retreat would be executed on the spot.

The belief that there is no retreat once the war drums sound is deeply ingrained in the blood of the Cen clan's jackals. The boxing style they use in training is called Angquan, also known as Junquan, which is based on this kind of advance-only formation training. The entire set of boxing styles only has two footwork methods: advancing forward and changing stances to the left and right. There is no retreating footwork at all.

The 50,000 Huang clan soldiers on the left wing and the more than 30,000 troops of other chieftains on the right wing also advanced slowly in sync with the drumbeats of the central army.

"Hmm? As expected of the Cen Di of Sicheng who have dominated Guixi for over seven hundred years, they are truly remarkable! It's a pity that their flanks are a bit weak." The Great Khan, who had experienced countless battles, naturally knew their worth. Seeing the fierce Cen clan wolf soldiers surging in with an indomitable momentum, he couldn't help but praise them repeatedly. However, as wise and powerful as he was, he could tell at a glance that although the central army of the earth wolf was strong, their flanks were much weaker.

"Are you confident?" The Great Khan glanced at Wei Zhaobi, the prefect of Donglan, beside him, and asked in a gloomy tone.

"Your Majesty, rest assured, there will be no mishap!" Wei Zhaobi said confidently.

"You must immediately proceed to the left flank and crush the enemy's right flank as quickly as possible," Sultan instructed.

"Yes," Wei Zhaopi acknowledged and withdrew.

"Fire! Once the cannon fire stops, the entire army will attack! All units must fight bravely and defeat the enemy as quickly as possible, demonstrating the might of our army!" Sultan then gave the order.

"Boom~boom~boom~"

The cannons hidden in the central army formation of the Wei army opened fire fiercely. Contrary to Cen Jilu's expectations that the mountain roads were rugged and the cannons would be difficult to transport, these cannons were very light and could be carried up the mountain by a few men. Although their power was not as great as that of heavy artillery, they were a deadly weapon against infantry. Moreover, their rate of fire was very fast. More than 600 light cannons stacked together formed a dense rain of bullets. Cen's wolf soldiers fell in droves, and more than 4,000 men fell in less than half an hour. Yet no one retreated, howling as they continued to advance.

Cen Jilu's heart ached terribly. These were the elite troops of Sicheng Army, the foundation of the Cen family's dominance in western Guangxi! But he dared not retreat, for a retreat would lead to the complete collapse of his army. The only option was to accelerate his advance and engage the enemy. The two armies clashed, rendering the Wei army's cannons useless.

Suddenly, the cannon fire stopped. The Dzungar chieftain, Urgendalai, and the Henan governor, Cai Lu, led their vanguard troops in a charge against the Turkic vanguard led by Cen Jigang and Cen Guangyu.

"Kill! Kill! Kill!" The two sides clashed and fought each other.

On the other side, the right wing of the Guards led by the veteran Xirimo was also engaged in fierce fighting with the 50,000 Huang clan soldiers on the left wing of the Tu army.

On the left flank of the Imperial Guard, Mandulatu, the First-Class Duke of Luntai and Governor-General of Guangdong and Guangxi, sat astride his tall, green horse, holding a spiked club in his right hand and anxiously observing the scene ahead with his binoculars raised in his left. He muttered to himself, "Why is there still no movement? Is Wei Zhaobi talking nonsense?"

Wei Zhaopi, the local prefect of Donglan, led over six thousand soldiers from the Wei, Luo, Deng, and Peng clans who had surrendered to the Wei Kingdom, slowly approaching the right flank of the local army. Before them stood enormous elephants, their trunks swaying—elephant troops from the Zhao clan of Longzhou and the Li clan of Pingxiang Prefecture. "Brother Zhao," Li Youpei, the local prefect of Pingxiang Prefecture, said proudly to Zhao Guoliang, the local prefect of Longzhou, "our two families have over five hundred war elephants. If we all charge forward, the Wei army will be unable to stop us." The Li clan, allied with the Cen clan by marriage, were very enthusiastic about assisting Cen in attacking Wei.

“The Wei army is numerous, powerful, and brave; it will probably not be easy to defeat them,” Zhao Guoliang replied with a smile.

"Brother Zhao, please witness my skills later," Li Youpei said confidently.

Suddenly a commotion arose, as Wei Rongyao, the native prefect of Siling Prefecture, led his troops and disrupted the elephant cavalry.

"What's the rush, Wei Rongyao? Our war elephants haven't even been deployed yet," Li Youpei cursed as he turned to look back.

No sooner said than done, Zhao Guoliang leaped up from his own elephant onto Li Youpei's, brandishing his twin swords and cutting down Li Youpei, a charioteer, and an archer from beneath the elephants.

"You're the fool! Trying to stop a chariot with your bare hands, you're overestimating yourself!" Zhao Guoliang sneered and charged towards the Li family's elephant corps with Wei Rongyao. After annihilating the leaderless Li family elephant corps, they turned and attacked the Turkic army. The Turkic army's right flank was thrown into chaos when their own elephants actually attacked them.

"It's done!" Wei Zhaobi was overjoyed and led the troops of the various chieftains of Qingyuan to take advantage of the chaos and attack the enemy.

"Warriors, follow me to kill the enemy!" The battle-hardened Mandulatu immediately seized the opportunity and led his troops forward.

In less than two hours, the right wing of the Tujia army collapsed. Tujia chieftains Feng Tingzong of Jielun, Zhang Tianzuo of Jiean, Xu Hongji of Wancheng, Qin Dinghan of Sien, Wang Xusheng of Nama, Su Li of Dingluo, and Huang Meng of Jiucheng were killed in battle, and the remaining chieftains fled in panic with their remaining tribes.

At this time, the left flank of the Tu army also fell into a passive position. The veteran general Xirimo led 70,000 elite guards, forcing 50,000 Huang clan Tu army troops to retreat steadily. Huang Shifan, son of Huang Tingjie, the Tu prefect of Jiangzhou, eager to avenge his father's death, charged to the front lines, only to be surrounded by guards and pierced through the heart by a tiger-pike from the fierce guard general Sonom Tsering. The Tu army's valiant general, Huang Yuji, the Tu prefect of Xiangwuzhou, was also shot through the neck by a guard archer. With his death, the morale of the Huang clan Tu army plummeted, and the entire battle line teetered on the brink of collapse.

In such a short time, the left wing was in imminent danger, and the right wing was directly defeated. Cen Jilu's face was ashen. At this moment, his central army was fighting fiercely with the central army of the Wei army. It was difficult to retreat, but if he did not retreat, he was afraid that the Wei army would defeat his two flanks and then surround him.

What he feared most came to pass. Suddenly, his eyes widened as enemy forces appeared on his right flank. The enemy general, wielding a massive spiked club, looked like a ferocious demon. Reason told him that if they didn't retreat now, the entire army would be doomed!

"Retreat! Retreat quickly!" Cen Jilu issued the military order with a stiff neck.

Upon receiving this order, the once-fierce hyenas instantly crumbled, each one wishing they had two more legs, desperately fleeing up the mountain. Cen Jigang, the native prefect of Guishun Prefecture, Cen Guangyu, the chief envoy of Anlong, and Huang Jia, the native prefect of Fengyi Prefecture, were unable to retreat in time and perished in the battle. The imperial guards seized the opportunity to launch a counterattack, killing countless more.

In this battle, the Wei army achieved a great victory in just over three hours, suffering no more than 6,000 casualties, beheading more than 30,000, and capturing more than 40,000, striking fear into the hearts of the local soldiers.

(End of this chapter)