CHAPTER 409: CHAPTER 40: DEFEAT AND STEALING CREDIT! _1

Li Fusheng was the spearhead. Behind him, a thousand Assault Camp knights followed closely. Their charge was like the final straw that broke the camel’s back.

The front lines of the Qian army, a strong formation primarily composed of the Zu Family Army, now had a breach forcefully ripped open—a breach that was continuously expanding.

The armor on the Qian soldiers seemed as flimsy as paper before the lances propelled by the momentum of the charge. Their bodies were pierced, one by one.

Time seemed to freeze, yet the slaughter unfolded at an unimaginable speed.

This was the sensation shared by most soldiers within the Qian army formation. The soldiers in the front line watched as their bodies were impaled, lifted high, and then slammed down heavily. They watched themselves being flung away. The Qian soldiers at the rear could only watch as their fellow soldiers before them were swept aside, trampled, and crushed.

This scene was something they had never witnessed in their entire lives.

They forgot to run, they forgot to shout; they even forgot to think, lost in a dazed stupor.

This continued until a Yan officer let out a long cry. First, he discarded his lance, from which hung the bodies of four men. Then, drawing his saber, and after his warhorse crashed into a shield, he vaulted from his saddle and plunged into the enemy ranks.

The Assault Camp knights behind him swiftly followed. They used their warhorses to smash and their own bodies to ram, creating better conditions for the cavalry following them to charge.

Shield-bearers were sent flying, knocked to the ground, and slammed so hard they vomited blood. Finally, the shield line collapsed.

The cavalry’s charge surged onward, leaving the archers and crossbowmen at the rear completely exposed.

"HA!" Li Fusheng’s blade relentlessly cut down any Qian soldier he could see around him, savoring the sensory experience of their spurting blood.

If only this world were always red, always viscous, how wonderful that would be.

When a battle reached this stage, where archers and crossbowmen had to directly face the trampling charge of enemy cavalry, the outcome was, in truth, already sealed.

Furthermore, the various cavalry units that had been harassing and pressuring the enemy from the flanks, circling and maneuvering, began their true charge the moment the Assault Camp plunged into the Qian army formation!

No more feints, no more diversions—just a direct, brutal charge, displaying the raw power of cavalry assaulting a formation!

Zu Dongcheng felt his limbs turn to ice. Something within his mind began to shatter. It was the image of his father’s heroic, triumphant returns, witnessed since his earliest memories; it was the conviction forged from countless victories achieved alongside his father after joining the army; it was the unwavering faith that the Zu Family Army was the finest fighting force in the world!

It shattered, crumbled, and utterly collapsed.

We can’t win. We truly can’t win!

Once faith crumbles, people often become exceedingly vulnerable, having lost their spiritual pillar. An emotion called fear began to engulf the heart of this young commander of the Zu Family Army.

How can we fight a Yan Army like this? How could we possibly defeat them? They’re a pack of madmen, madmen who know no pain, who fear no death! And yet, these madmen are terrifyingly formidable, both in their tactics and their individual prowess!

"Brother Dongcheng, go! Quickly, go!" Zhong Mao yelled frantically beside Zu Dongcheng. But in Zu Dongcheng’s "world," it was as if an invisible membrane sealed off everything around him. Nothing seemed real anymore; nothing held any meaning.

"SMACK!" Zhong Mao’s longsword struck Zu Dongcheng’s horse on the rump. Startled, the warhorse bolted. The jolting and loss of balance forcefully dragged Zu Dongcheng’s consciousness back to his body.

"Brother Dongcheng, ’as long as the green mountains remain, there’s no need to worry about firewood!’ This defeat isn’t your fault! Escape! Get out of here!"

Zu Dongcheng’s pupils began to refocus. Yes... run. I have to run. I can’t die. I absolutely cannot die!

No one knew whether the young commander of the Zu Family Army was genuinely holding onto the thought of preserving himself for a future purpose, or if he was purely driven by fear. Even he himself wasn’t sure.

But now, like a drowning man clutching a pole, he instinctively began to scramble upwards, unwilling to let go.

Once the Assault Camp successfully split the Qian army’s front line in two, the entire tactical system of their vanguard collapsed. The surrounding cavalry units then seized the opportunity to charge in, causing the Qian army formation to finally disintegrate completely.

Zheng Fan recalled how his Green Willow Fortress cavalry had once faced the Wolf Land Soldiers who pursued them out of the city. That battle had been exhilaratingly one-sided, because those Wolf Land Soldiers had never been properly trained in how to fight against true cavalry.

The Qian army before them, however, was aware of the terrifying power of cavalry. They had also made extremely sound judgments and choices.

But it couldn’t be helped. Firstly, there wasn’t a significant numerical disparity; thirty thousand infantry against twenty thousand cavalry already put the infantry at a disadvantage.

Moreover, they were facing the most formidable iron cavalry in the world!

Zheng Fan couldn’t help but feel a surge of emotion. He realized that although Li Fusheng seemed somewhat unhinged, his strategic acumen in battle was exceptionally sharp and ruthless.

Li Fusheng hadn’t chosen to attack the Qian army’s eastern flank; instead, he had opted to go for the toughest nut to crack right from the outset.

This wasn’t about a warrior’s petty pride, nor was it a mere pursuit of a challenge.

Because the facts had already proven...