Chapter 828: Battle Again
"That's just human nature." Chen Xi took the cue with a dissatisfied expression and said, it would be strange if he still didn't understand by now, so he spoke irritably.
"Everyone has the idea of seeking benefit and avoiding harm. Precisely because everyone thinks that missing one person wouldn't make a difference, no one went." Lub Su said this with a face full of helplessness.
"Yes, exactly. The formation is good, but ultimately, it's still people managing it." Jia Xu drew the sword from his waist and, with a horse-riding posture as if he were about to charge in, showed an expression of zeal. After Liu Bei charged in, Jia Xu decisively returned the sword to its scabbard and turned back to continue chatting idly with Chen Xi and the others.
"How is this possible?" Guan Yu's strike directly split the entire Xuanxiang Formation, causing the civil officials on Yuan Shao's war carriage to be shocked.
"Quickly coordinate the soldiers under your command to resist Liu Bei's army!" Sheni Pei reacted the fastest and immediately shouted at the messenger beside him.
"What is going on? How could such a situation arise?" Ju Shou asked Tian Feng in panic, as earlier the situation was favorable, but now it had suddenly turned into this. No matter how the Xuanxiang Formation changed, it shouldn't have weakened to the point of being cleaved by such a legion attack!
"Don't worry about what happened, just block Liu Bei's army and then later think about what went wrong. Liu Bei's army has already stormed in through that gap!" Xuu You said somewhat frantically, although at least he knew the importance of priorities, "Lord, retreat quickly!"
"Retreat?" At this moment, Yuan Shao also came to his senses, looked around, and saw that the original Xuanxiang Great Formation had been split in half.
Yuan Shao then narrowed his eyes slightly, carefully observing the entire army. Although the military formation had collapsed, the losses in the main body of the army were not significant, and the Xuanxiang Formation, by design, appeared chaotic but was internally connected, meaning the real loss to the army was just a small portion of soldiers and morale!
"Transmit my order, the whole army is to press forward. If Liu Bei wants to fight, I'll accompany him in battle. I must see what abilities Liu Xuande has! Transmit my order, all troops attack!" Yuan Shao, turning his head to glance at Sheni Pei and the others, spoke with a surge of boldness.
Xuu You was unfamiliar with commanding troops, so naturally, no one listened to his opinion on military dispatch, while Ju Shou was merely shocked by why his great formation had been broken. He didn't think that the breakage of the formation signified the need to flee; their Hebei brave warriors were still among the elite even without the formation.
The reason Ju Shou didn't use the advanced Six Ding Six Jia Formation, which upgrades the Xuanxiang Formation, besides the difficulty in dispatching it, was mainly because in comparison to the Eight Gates Golden Lock and other upgrades of the Xuanxiang Formation, the enhancement it provided to the soldiers' capabilities was significant, almost reaching a level of Legion Talent effect, but the downside was that once broken, death was certain!
Therefore, a cautious person like Ju Shou naturally didn't want to bet that the enemy wouldn't recognize the formation. As the saying goes, better safe than sorry; deploying a Eight Gates Golden Lock with extreme changes that might mislead the enemy about the soldiers' movements, but if faced with someone familiar with it, directly exposing your formation would definitely be fatal.
As for the Primal Xuanxiang Formation, besides confusing the eyes, it didn't significantly enhance the soldiers themselves, but since the enhancement was focused on the sharpest Vanguard Death Squad, it made the formation seem unsolvable; otherwise, if it enhanced ordinary soldiers, charging in and taking them out wouldn't be impossible.
However, every loss has a gain; after the Primal Xuanxiang Formation was shattered, the ensuing chaos in military dispatch wasn't too severe. With proper dispatch, it could quickly be adjusted, and in this level of dispatch, Tian Feng, Ju Shou, and Sheni Pei were all very confident, since it was much easier than constructing the Xuanxiang Formation.
Xuu You was thus despised by the four people in front of him who understood military command. Though he panicked previously, entirely due to Ju Shou's shocking cry that gave the expression of total defeat from the broken formation, it was completely misleading!
Although Yuan Shao's army was in chaos for a while, it quickly began to resist under the leadership of their respective military officers.
Of course, one aspect remained unchanged, which was that Yuan Shao's army was divided into large and small groups, an outcome truly beyond Ju Shou's expectations. Even though he had estimated the enemy might break the formation, he hadn't anticipated such a manner of breaking.
Surrounded in the Xuanxiang Formation, Sunx Guan and others immediately launched a counterattack in the moment of chaos after the Xuanxiang Formation broke, coordinating with the external assault of Guan Yu's Army to open a gap and break through, then gathered to fiercely suppress the Yuan Shao's Army that had previously besieged them.
Meanwhile, Zhao Yun also seized the chance amidst the chaos and broke out of Yuan Shao's army under the cover of Liu Bei's Personal Army Tiger Guard, then turned back to encircle and perform mounted archery against Yuan Shao's Army, quickly shooting down the surrounding circle of Yuan Shao's troops.
"Zhao Yun!" After eliminating the surrounding circle of Yuan Shao's troops, Juo Yi finally arrived with the Vanguard, staring at Zhao Yun with apparent fiery eyes.
Zhao Yun casually glanced at Juo Yi, ignoring him, as White Horse Soldiers are not a type for frontal battle, seeing no need to stubbornly fight the Vanguard's frontal assault type head-on. Casually turning his horse, Zhao Yun circled towards another direction, leaving only a cloud of dust and a rapid shower of arrows for the Vanguard.
"Let's go to the front, the decision of victory or defeat will certainly not rest on the White Horse Soldiers!" After glaring resentfully at Zhao Yun's back, Juo Yi took a deep breath to suppress all anger, his eyes regaining clarity.
At this moment, Juo Yi's resentment towards White Horse Soldiers almost reached its peak. It's not that he couldn't defeat the White Horse Soldiers; according to him, a troop so lightly armored that even the Yellow Turbans could pierce with a manure fork had no other advantage besides speed, but no one could deny the crucial point: they were extraordinarily fast, unbelievably fast!
Juo Yi led the Vanguard back to the frontline to clash head-on with the School Sabre Bearers led by Guan Yu, channeling all his previous grievances about the White Horse Soldiers against them. Soon, with their superior combat power, they suppressed Liu Bei's Army's offensive, and, with the fearless counter-charge of the Vanguard, greatly boosted Yuan Shao's Army morale, starting a counterattack along the entire line.
"Indeed, they are Hebei's brave and valiant warriors!" Liu Bei, riding his horse, watched the frontline with Wu Anguo guarding his sides, speaking with a face full of admiration, "Anguo, lead my main forces up, let Yuan Shao experience it for himself!"
Wuu Anguo hesitated slightly, then, seeing Xuu Ding rushing back, immediately ordered Xuu Ding to lead Liu Bei's main forces up, while he continued holding two massive iron hammers to guard in front of Liu Bei. Wuu Anguo had a good sense of his abilities; he wasn't adept at commanding troops, only serving as an escort.
As Xuu Ding led Liu Bei's main forces forward, the previously fierce situation came to a halt for a moment, following which Liu Bei's main forces, combined with Guan Yu's School Sabre Bearers, two elite warrior troops, firmly held against the Vanguard's impact, yet they could only manage to do just that!
"What a terrifying combat power!" Lub Su said, with disbelief in his eyes as he stared at the center of the fierce battle between both sides. (To be continued. If you liked this work, feel free to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendations, monthly tickets. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please visit m.qidian.com to read.)