Chapter 1449
Wu Qi, the Second Sage, fights 1 against 3!
Chapter 1449 Wu Qi, the Second Sage, One Against Three!
Just when the Yellow Turban army's morale was soaring and they thought they were about to turn the tide of the battle, Wu Qi on the watchtower suddenly laughed.
"What's the panic? It's just two cavalry units. Order: the left-wing cavalry, immediately move to the right wing and form a 'counter-charge formation' to block Lan Yu's cavalry; Tian Zaibiao's White Tiger Cavalry, abandon the entanglement and immediately return to reinforce the archer battalion, making sure to hold the drummers and signalmen; the right-wing guerrilla cavalry, engage Li Wenzhong!"
He showed no sign of panic. Instead, he calmly drew his sword and addressed the signalman and drummer beside him in a deep voice.
Despite his arm injury, the signalman endured the pain and waved the command flag rapidly; the remaining drummers immediately adjusted their rhythm and gave out new war drum commands.
Wu Qi now needs to command three battlefields simultaneously: the Hengwu infantry on the left wing, the White Tiger cavalry and guerrilla cavalry on the right wing, and the main force in the center. It can be described as "multi-threaded work." Any other general would probably have lost his composure long ago, but Wu Qi still appears to be handling everything with ease.
"Ding! Wu Qi's skill, Quasi-Saint, has been activated!"
When the second effect of the skill "Sub-Saint" is activated, the attack power of all allied generals increases by 1.
Wu Qi's current leadership stat has increased to 106, and his intelligence stat has increased to 101!
Zhao Gongming, who had been following him without moving, immediately took action, leading two thousand guerrilla cavalry on the right wing to charge towards Li Wenzhong's cavalry.
"Ding! Zhao Gongming's skills Xuan Tan and Binding Dragon have been activated!"
Zhao Gongming's current base martial strength is 107 (108). His weapon, the Dragon Tiger Ruyi Whip, grants him +1 martial strength. His warhorse, the Black Tiger Steed, grants him +1 martial strength. His skill, the Mysterious Altar, grants him +8 martial strength upon activation of effect one, +5 martial strength upon activation of effect three, +1 martial strength upon activation of effect four, and +1 martial strength upon activation of effect five.
The skill "Dragon Binding" effect 2 activates once, increasing attack power by 2; effect 3 activates, increasing attack power by 3; and the sub-saint skill increases by 1 again.
Zhao Gongming's current combat strength has increased to 130!
Before Li Wenzhong's cavalry could expand their gains, Zhao Gongming's two thousand guerrilla cavalry had already attacked from the side. With a flick of his Dragon Tiger Ruyi Whip, twenty-four Dinghai Pearls streaked through the air, forcefully cutting Li Wenzhong's charging column in half.
"Tell Li Wenzhong to hold his ground! Don't linger in the fight, eliminate the remaining signalmen first!"
Xu Da, who was on the command platform, saw the situation clearly and immediately ordered the signalman to give the signal of "clearing obstacles first." He knew that Zhao Gongming's guerrilla cavalry were good at close combat, and that dragging things out would be disadvantageous to the outflanking troops. They had to win quickly.
But as soon as Li Wenzhong adjusted his formation, he discovered that the Hengzhou army's archer and crossbowmen had spontaneously formed a "circular formation"—without any flag or drum commands, the captain, relying on the tacit understanding honed through daily drills, had the archers defend on the outer perimeter while the crossbowmen provided continuous fire from the inner flank, managing to withstand the cavalry charge.
Meanwhile, Lan Yu also encountered a setback.
He had intended to take advantage of the chaos in the Hengwu infantry formation to charge to the end, but he found that the Hengwu infantry on the left flank were surging in like a tide, forming a textbook-level "counter-charge formation": the front row of heavy shield bearers formed an iron wall, the rear row of long spearmen pointed diagonally to the sky, and there were also javelin throwers in the middle, specifically targeting the cavalry's legs.
Lan Yu roared and urged his black horse forward, his spear piercing through several men. But the Hengwu soldiers' formation was as solid as iron. As soon as one gap was breached, another soldier would immediately fill it, giving no chance to widen the gap.
"Commander Xu, General Lan is tied up! Should we send the Fifth Army Battalion forward again?"
The deputy general said anxiously from the side.
“That old fox Wu Qi had already prepared a backup plan. He ordered the left-wing cavalry to move to the right, seemingly to save the right wing, but in reality, he wanted to lure Lan Yu’s cavalry into an encirclement. Look, his long spear camp in the middle has already quietly spread out to both sides.”
Xu Da waved his hand, his eyes fixed on the battlefield.
As soon as he finished speaking, the Long Spear Camp of the Hengzhou Army in the central route indeed moved. The two wings of the wild goose formation spread wider and wider, vaguely showing the posture of encircling Lan Yu's rear.
"Send the order! Jiang Xiaobai's allied forces will immediately launch a frontal assault on the left flank of Hengzhou Army Commander Ge's camp! The left flank garrison's water-based formation will circle around to Lan Yu's rear and protect his retreat!"
Xu Da made a decisive decision.
The "besieging Wei to rescue Zhao" tactic was used extremely quickly. Although Jiang Xiaobai's private soldiers had poor discipline, they were well-equipped. They charged forward with iron shields against a hail of arrows, managing to suppress the encirclement momentum of the Hengzhou army.
The soldiers of the Water Formation, as slippery as eels, quickly slipped behind Lan Yu, blocking the pursuit of the Hengwu Soldiers. But Wu Qi's side reacted even faster. The command flag on the watchtower changed again, and the drummer beat the "Change of Formation Drum." The Long Spear Battalion, which had been flanking Lan Yu, suddenly turned and charged towards Jiang Xiaobai's allied forces. The long spears shot out like a forest, instantly piercing several holes in the allied forces' square formation.
"Damn it! Wu Qi reacted so quickly?"
Jiang Xiaobai cursed under his breath and could only order his troops to retreat into formation. His private army was good at fighting when things were going well, but when faced with such elite troops who were going to fight head-on, they were completely helpless.
"Wu Qi's on-the-spot command is ridiculously fast."
Xu Da raised an eyebrow and sighed inwardly.
"Tell Li Wenzhong's troops to disregard the crossbow battalion and lead them back to reinforce Jiang Xiaobai! Lan Yu's troops should take the opportunity to break through the right flank of the Hengwu infantry and form a pincer attack with Li Wenzhong!"
He immediately adjusted the instructions.
This strategy involves concentrating the strength of two elite cavalry units to first eliminate the right flank of the Hengzhou army, and then turning back to deal with the central route.
Just as Lan Yu was about to exert his strength, he saw that Tian Zaibiao's White Tiger Cavalry had returned to reinforce them. The white horse and silver armor were like a white lightning bolt, forcefully inserting themselves between Lan Yu and Li Wenzhong, nipping their attempt to attack in the bud.
"Damn it! Are you never going to stop?"
Lan Yu's eyes reddened, and he was about to lead his troops to charge forward and fight the White Tiger Cavalry head-on.
"Lan Yu, stop! The White Tiger Cavalry are equally elite cavalry; a direct confrontation would be a losing proposition!"
Xu Da, watching from the command platform, felt a pang of anxiety and immediately instructed the signalman to use the "steady" signal.
But once Lan Yu went to the battlefield, he focused entirely on his own perception of the situation and refused to listen to any advice.
His cavalry had already charged out with him, spears against lances, hooves against hooves, the two sides clashing in a chaotic melee on the open field.
"Lan Yu was arrogant and fell into the trap."
"Send the order! Qin Niu will lead the central cavalry to attack the flank of Lan Yu's cavalry! Shebi Shi will lead his troops to turn back and hold off Li Wenzhong, preventing him from providing reinforcements!"
Upon seeing this, Wu Qi curled his lips into a cold smile.
Qin Niu brandished his twelve-foot steel spear, and the Hengwu soldiers' arrowhead formation was activated again, piercing Lan Yu's flank like sharp knives—cavalry charge is most vulnerable to flank attacks, and Lan Yu's formation instantly fell into chaos, with many cavalrymen being knocked off their horses by the Hengwu soldiers' spears.
"Oh no! Lan Yu acted impulsively!"
Xu Da's heart skipped a beat, and he immediately tried to remedy the situation.
"Right Wing Army, in full formation, advance and block Qin Niu! Send half of Li Wenzhong's troops to rescue Lan Yu!"
Upon seeing the banner, Li Wenzhong dared not delay. He immediately led 750 cavalrymen to turn around, unleashing a barrage of short crossbow bolts that forced back Shebishi's troops. Then, he headed straight for Lan Yu's flank.
Wu Qi had anticipated this, and Zhao Gongming's guerrilla cavalry once again entangled Li Wenzhong's elite troops.
In this back-and-forth exchange, Xu Da changed tactics three times, and Wu Qi deflected them three times. Lan Yu's fierce charge and Li Wenzhong's clever attack were both blocked by Wu Qi's precise troop deployment.
(End of this chapter)