Isolated town in northern border region

"First team, escort the prince into the city!"

The northern barbarian cavalry surged in like a tidal wave, and Luo Daniu made a decision immediately.

Without saying a word, two soldiers tried to drag Xiao Lie away, but Xiao Lie just turned his head and glared at them before pushing the soldiers aside and walking to the front.

"With a great battle imminent, how could I possibly desert my post?"

The scene at the foot of Cangwu City involuntarily surfaced in Xiao Lie's mind.

A group of brave warriors jumped off the city wall, Shen Chongyuan risked his life to protect them, and the people fought back desperately...

At that moment, Xiao Lie was helpless.

But at this moment, where we are trapped, the only ones who should retreat are the enemy!

Xiao Lie drew his sword.

"Luo Daniu! Raise the banner and hoist the battle flag!"

"Let these Tartars know that I am here!"

"All personnel, form a barricade!"

Xiao Lie's voice wasn't loud, but it reassured the soldiers of the Trapped Camp.

The exceptionally high level of discipline displayed by the Trapped Camp was on full display at this moment.

Even with tens of thousands of Northern Barbarian cavalry approaching, the formation of the Line Army remained perfectly orderly, displaying a beautiful and well-organized appearance.

In the blink of an eye, 2,700 soldiers of the Vanguard Camp surrounded Xiao Lie, along with the Prince of Ning's banner and the Vanguard Battle Flag.

The entire formation was circular, with the outermost layer consisting of shield guards personally led by Luo Daniu. Each shield was a full-length shield, driven firmly into the ground, and there were buckles on both sides of the shields to connect them into a single unit.

Then came two rows of spearmen. The two groups of soldiers were arranged in a staggered manner, with one end of their three-meter-long spears stuck in the ground and firmly stepped on by their comrades behind them.

The other end protruded diagonally upwards, awaiting the arrival of the northern barbarian cavalry.

Further inside were three rows of archers, who had already nocked their arrows and were waiting for Xiao Lie's command.

Three hundred paces away, Tug took the lead and immediately spotted the two flags erected in the middle of the road.

The shorter flag was as black as ink, with a tiger descending a mountain outlined in silver embroidery, and the words "Trapped in the Enemy's Formation" written above the tiger's head.

The other flag was even more magnificent, with a bright yellow flag all over and dragon patterns embroidered along the edges, which were reserved for the royal family of Chu. The words "The King of Ning of Great Chu has personally arrived" were written in the center.

Tuge originally wanted to split up his team to bypass the Trapped Camp and recapture Youzhou City first, but when he saw Xiao Lie's banner, he immediately gave up on returning to Youzhou City.

"Xiao Lie! Haha! What a tremendous achievement!"

"What difference would it make if I returned all five prefectures of the Northern Frontier to you once you're dead?"

"If we, the warriors of the grasslands, can win once, we can win a second time!"

Tug raised his scimitar and reined in his horse.

"My comrades! Xiao Lie of Chu dares to block my tens of thousands of iron cavalry with only a few thousand men!"

"Such an outstanding achievement deserves a reward from the young men today!"

"All troops, form ranks!"

At Tug's command, the cavalry, which had been lined up in a long queue, immediately changed. Forty-five thousand men formed a horizontal formation with the sound of hooves, spreading out a large net of scimitars across the plain.

The breathing in the Trapped Camp began to become heavy. Xiao Lie knew that although the Trapped Camp's training was extremely rigorous, they had not yet experienced actual combat, and the brothers were feeling panicked.

Xiao Lie picked up the crossbow and gently plucked the bowstring twice.

"The Tartars are lining up to die!"

"What's the panic? These are all military merits!"

"Once we take Youzhou this time, plenty of land will be waiting for our brothers!"

"When the time comes, Luo Daniu's father will still be alive and will have to watch his eldest son build his grave!"

When Luo Daniu heard Xiao Lie mention him, he turned around and gave a simple, honest smile.

"Your Highness! This is what true filial piety looks like!"

"Only when my dad sees it with his own eyes will he know if he's satisfied. If we wait until the old man kicks the bucket, who knows what kind he'll like?"

Xiao Lie's relaxed and carefree demeanor, along with Luo Daniu's simple-mindedness, caused the soldiers of the Trapped Camp to burst into laughter, instantly dispelling the tense atmosphere.

Xiao Lie gestured with his chin toward Luo Daniu and reached out to nock an arrow.

At this moment, the Northern Barbarian cavalry had begun their orderly charge, with the first echelon only two hundred paces away from the Trapped Camp!

"Archers! Launch!"

Xiao Lie struck the hammer, and a swarm of arrows, like locusts, flew out from the Trapped Camp.

The Northern Barbarian cavalry were also exceptionally brave, defiantly whipping their horses against the rain of arrows, making their charge even more ferocious.

"Swish, swish, swish!"

As the arrows rained down, considerable panic broke out in the Northern Barbarian cavalry formation, but the subsequent cavalry immediately filled the gaps created by the arrows.

The cavalrymen were moving faster and faster, and the distance between the two sides was only a hundred paces or so!

At this moment, the archers of the Trapped Camp had already loaded their second volley of arrows.

"Forwards take a low shot! Backline players launch a volley! Release!"

As soon as Xiao Lie finished speaking, he immediately slung the crossbow behind his back.

"Raise your shields!"

The next second, all the archers pulled out their original shields and quickly moved into the spaces left by the spearmen, raising their shields high!

In an instant, the entire Trapped Camp transformed into a monster covered in steel scales!

The next second, the barbarian cavalry's retaliatory arrow rain arrived as expected.

"Ding ding ding..."

The arrows struck the shield with a clanging sound, and Luo Daniu suddenly burst out laughing.

"Pfft! Hehehe."

"These barbarian barbarians, their arrows are less effective than my piss!"

"Luo, you're bragging!"

"If we're talking about this, I, Ma Shuokun, am the first to disagree!"

"Hahaha, I, Li Hao, am the second one to disagree!"

The archery skills that the northern barbarians were once so proud of could not harm the Trapped Camp in the slightest at this moment.

Xiao Lie had long since figured out the Northern Barbarians' tactics under the guidance of Xiao Xiong, a veteran of many battles.

First they charged, then they fired arrows. The enemy panicked from the rain of arrows, and the next second they would be met with the scimitars of the northern barbarians.

However, this tactic also has a fatal flaw: in order to achieve speed, the Northern Barbarian cavalry used soft bows with a relatively short range!

Therefore, Xiao Lie directly equipped the Trapped Camp with crossbows with a longer range!

In this way, the Trapped Camp can strike first and defeat the enemy, and by the time the Northern Barbarians retaliate, they will already be prepared to defend themselves!

"quiet!"

"Prepare for engagement!"

"Luo Daniu! Hold on!"

The next moment, a wave of Northern Barbarian cavalry crashed heavily onto the reef of the Trapped Camp!

The shouts of battle, the chopping sounds, the cracking of bones, and the piercing of spears into flesh intertwined to create a symphony of death!

The warhorse crashed directly into the large shield, while the cavalrymen on horseback met the sharp spears!

Fortunately, Xiao Lie improved the large shield, connecting each shield together to disperse the force of the charging warhorse.

After the first wave of attacks, the Northern Barbarian Iron Hoof was split apart by the stubborn rock of the Trapped Camp, leaving only the hundreds of corpses hanging on the spears to prove what had just happened.

"Form ranks! Fire!"

Xiao Lie gave the order again, and the front-line shield guards immediately began to adjust the shields, inserting the spikes at the bottom deeper and re-fastening the disconnected joints.

The archers retreated, reloaded their arrows, and fired at the Tartars who were preparing to turn their horses around.

The spearmen switched positions, cleanly smashing the Tartar corpses against their large shields before regrouping.

The instinct to obey orders instantly overcame the awkwardness and fear of the first battle, and the soldiers regrouped, their panic turning into joy.

So it turns out... all the training was useful!

So it turns out... infantry in formation really can withstand cavalry!

As long as... you do as the prince says, you can survive! You can earn military merit! You can rise above others!

"We can win!"

In the queue, someone suddenly muttered something under their breath.

Luo Daniu immediately chimed in.

"Nonsense! With the Prince here, we can't lose!"

"Exactly! Look what we've been through! They're just a bunch of Tartars, what are we afraid of!"

The soldiers chatted amongst themselves, and their morale soared.

Xiao Lie looked around and saw the smiling faces of his soldiers, feeling extremely pleased.

What happened in Cangwu City will never happen again!

Xiao Lie raised his waist sword high with his right hand and gripped the battle flag tightly with his left.

"Charge into battle!"

"Marching forward!"

The entire battalion marched forward simultaneously, shouting in unison.

"kill!"

The deafening battle cries echoed across the plains, causing the northern barbarian warhorses to retreat in fear.

With only 2,700 men, they unleashed a power that even tens of thousands of enemy soldiers dared not look directly at!

Tug's face darkened, his eyes narrowed, and he looked at Xiao Lie in the army formation like a hawk.

At this moment, his deputy general came over.

"General, we can't take down this elite infantry unit in a short time. I think we should bypass it and reinforce Youzhou City first!"

Tug shook his head and slammed his riding whip hard on the ground.

"idiot!"

"The Trapped Camp was trained by Xiao Lie! To be able to train an army that can withstand cavalry charges with infantry, his head is worth ten cities of Youzhou!"

"Kill him! You must kill him!"

"Even if we all die here, we must kill him!"

"Otherwise, within a year, all the sons of the grasslands will become lambs to the slaughter!"

"Pass the order! Continuing the attack, they will refuse!"

"The cavalry will form ranks and charge in four waves, giving them no chance to regroup!"