Chapter 3530
Clash with Flying Bear
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Virgilio and Vincenzo led the Tenth Legion against the unarmored Flying Bears and the armored cavalry with lances, achieving an exceptionally high casualty ratio.
The original plan was to teach the Han army a lesson with overwhelming strength, to make them understand the true extent of their power and realize their own strength, thus forcing them to back down. This would be better for everyone.
The Han Empire suffered fewer casualties, and the Tenth Legion was able to preserve its strength and take advantage of the chaos to maintain the proper behavior and conduct of the knightly class.
As the commander of the Ma Shuo Armored Cavalry Legion, Xu Shu indeed possessed the corresponding calmness and rational judgment in war. He knew that the Tenth Legion was not an opponent that his own legion could defeat. After the Tenth Legion took the initiative to withdraw, he also gathered his remaining troops and allowed them to recuperate.
The fully-equipped armored cavalry legion originally brought from China, after so many years of war, even though it did not deploy as frequently as other legions, suffered heavy casualties during its offensives due to its unique nature and relentless attack methods and behaviors.
As a result, even now, the entire cavalry legion, after being replenished, is no more than half its original size.
Even though the soldiers' fighting spirit and skills have improved considerably, their battlefield deterrence and dominance are still far less than they showed at the beginning due to the limited scale of the battle.
It was precisely because he understood the losses of his own army that Xu Shu became more cautious when commanding the army in the future, and he was more demanding in his grasp of weaknesses and timing.
The goal is to achieve better results at a lower cost, if necessary, thereby minimizing losses for one's own forces.
It was only after bearing the lives of many on the battlefield that Xu Shu, who was already exceptionally talented, began to work diligently and tirelessly, without the slightest slackening, and devoted all his efforts to developing his talent, studying military strategy and understanding military texts. He was no longer the wise man he had previously created by arbitrarily piecing together basic knowledge.
With such extra effort put into this aspect, Xu Shu sometimes forgot to consult with Sima Yi about the subsequent plans and arrangements for Parthia.
Sima Yi, who knew Xu Shu well, didn't say much about it, nor did he interfere with Xu Shu's choices and actions. He simply took over Xu Shu's work and helped him complete it, thus giving Xu Shu more time to think and research, and to go further in his talent.
The Flying Bear Army is completely different. As the commander of the Flying Bear Army, Duan Yun is a very cautious person. Combined with the observation effect and accuracy brought by his talent, and the talent effect of the Flying Bear Army itself, theoretically speaking, the Flying Bear Army can choose the opponents they want to face, and can also discover and identify opponents that they can defeat.
If he wanted, Duan Yun could even lead the Flying Bear Army to achieve a series of terrifying victories.
If you determine that you have the advantage through your talent, then attack directly; you'll have a very high chance of winning. Conversely, if you determine that you are at a disadvantage through your talent, then rely on the abilities granted by your gravity manipulation talent; if you want to run or retreat, no one can stop you.
However, after truly possessing this talent, Duan Yun became less and less cautious.
It's not because I can rely on talent to judge the strength of the enemy, so I don't need to do any additional information gathering; I already know the answer in my mind.
Rather, it was because after fighting with the White Feather Soldiers, Duan Yun understood a fact.
Talent can indeed distinguish the strength of enemies, and the Flying Bear Army also has the mobility to deal with all kinds of possibilities, as well as the selectivity based on this mobility, but so what?
On the battlefield, there will always be battlefields that cannot be avoided, and battlefields where you cannot have the upper hand. In such cases, should you just stop fighting?
Faced with an inescapable battlefield, an unpredictable future, and even an opponent with an advantage, should we still believe in so-called talent?
How could that be? As a member of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, Duan Yun was also influenced by them. Perhaps not as much before, so he was able to maintain the corresponding caution.
However, after arriving in Central Asia and having more contact with Li Jue, Guo Si, and others, he was influenced even more deeply.
However, this influence is ultimately based on subjective factors, and Duan Yun's self-control is quite good.
When faced with the tenth, this external objective factor caused Duan Yun to lose his temper.
After a bloody battle with the Tenth Legion, the troops lost 30% of their strength, not counting the wounded. This was heartbreaking for Duan Yun.
Duan Yun found the casualty ratio resulting from the all-out attack and strikes completely unacceptable.
It was also because of these realistic factors that Duan Yun understood the level of strength of the tenth-ranked opponent and the opponent's power.
Having fought so many wars in Parthia, the Flying Bear Army's strength has increased considerably; it's a kind of growth that everyone can feel.
The smooth progress of the war and the relatively small losses led the Flying Bear Army to misjudge its own position until the bloody battle with the Tenth Army completely changed its mind.
It was precisely because of the losses in this war that Duan Yun's idea of leading the Flying Bear Army back to China was abandoned.
After understanding the strength of the tenth level, Duan Yun and the Flying Bear Army did not underestimate it in the slightest. They immediately adopted a full-fledged attitude, preparing to deal with the White Feather Soldiers, and went all out, fully armed.
Over 600 kilograms of armor were worn by the Flying Bear Army soldiers and horses, and the variety and quantity of weapons were also increased, including not only spears and ring-pommel swords, but also javelins, single-shot crossbows, arm blades, and so on.
The terrifying physical defenses acted directly on the Flying Bear Army soldiers.
The entire Flying Bear Army, from top to bottom, was prepared, both in terms of their equipment and their inner will.
Upon learning that Duan Yun was going to challenge a stronger opponent, Li Jue, Guo Si, and the others were greatly pleased and brought their own troops to help the young man.
Duan Yun did not verbally refuse Li Cui, Guo Si, and others' actions, which can be considered as tacit acceptance of their help.
They have the idea and the will to challenge their opponent.
With someone backing them up and knowing the location of the Tenth Legion, Duan Yun led the Flying Bear Army to charge forward.
It was precisely because of this second encounter that Virgilio and Vincenzo realized the troublesome nature of the Flying Bear Army and understood that they were not an easy opponent to deal with. (End of Chapter)