Chapter 552
Chapter 552
The envoys found the appearance of these three men utterly unbelievable.
Would the King of Chu go this far just to win? Doudai, Douyi, and Huyan Ye—all three had been deployed. Was there anyone who could stand against them? The mere mention of their battle records was enough to make one shudder.
“Kill them. Kill them all.”
Doudai and Douyi were colossal figures, and their armor pushed their weight past 770 pounds. Coupled with the wolf-tooth clubs they wielded, weighing nearly four to five hundred pounds each, their total weight exceeded 1,100 pounds. No warhorse could bear them.
Not a single blade of grass was left standing where these two passed. Those they killed were not only left without intact corpses but were mashed into a bloody pulp.
Did the State of Yue have anyone who could match these two butchers of the battlefield? Aside from Nan Po, it would be impossible to find a worthy opponent. But unfortunately, Nan Po was not participating in this battle. He was the Third Prince’s man; why would he lay down his life for Shen Lang?
Just then, everyone’s eyes widened. A giant had suddenly emerged from Shen Lang’s side.
Damn it, he was even more astonishing than the men from Chu. He was holding an entire tree as his weapon. The tree was thicker than his thigh and stretched over thirty feet long.
The giant held the tree as if it were weightless, sprinting with an insane speed that surpassed even a warhorse. He was, of course, Big Dummy.
The moment Doudai and Douyi saw him, they charged madly toward Big Dummy. Their eyes seemed to say it all.
‘You are the one we must kill.’
“Die!”
Though none of them were mounted, the three giants rushed at each other with a demonic speed that outpaced any warhorse.
Meanwhile, Goduhwan and Huyan Ye locked eyes, each recognizing the other as their true opponent. They spurred their warhorses on, charging furiously toward one another.
Just watching these matchups made the blood of the envoys from the various nations boil. They had initially expected this battle to be utterly dull. Who would have thought they would witness a clash between such supreme masters? And what’s more, three such duels were unfolding simultaneously.
‘Ah! It’s a shame I only have one pair of eyes. Which fight should I watch? It’s like having three peerless beauties kneeling before me, but I only have…’
Presently, as if by unspoken agreement, everyone chose to focus on the most crucial confrontation: the two thousand soldiers of Yue’s New Army against the three thousand heavy cavalry of Chu. This was the most blood-pumping, the most unfair, and the one that made them worry most for Yue’s inevitable defeat.
“Charge! Charge!”
The three thousand heavy cavalry of Chu madly picked up speed, their warhorses galloping faster and faster. They charged with the overwhelming momentum of a towering tsunami, with the force to snap dry wood.
Cavalry was already invincible on an open field, and heavy cavalry even more so. Every heavy cavalryman from Chu held an unparalleled arrogance in his heart, looking down on the Yue army.
Though this New Army from Yue had just performed a miracle, they would surely die before the might of their heavy cavalry. No infantry could withstand the charge of heavy cavalry.
The distance between the two armies shrank from one hundred and fifty meters, to one hundred, then fifty.
“Halt!”
The ten commanders of Yue’s army gave the order, waving their battle flags.
At that moment, their general, Goduhwan, was clashing fiercely with the Chu general, Huyan Ye, their swords locked in a heated battle. As the commanding officer, he should have been directing the battle, not fighting on the front lines, but there was no one else who could match Huyan Ye.
Besides, Yue’s New Army didn’t need his command. What was a commander's role on the battlefield? A commander was the embodiment of the soldiers' courage. He maintained the army's morale and discipline, and it was his duty to cut down any who fled.
But for these two thousand men whose bloodlines had been transformed, none of that was necessary. They were the elite of the elite, a powerful army that knew no fear.
Faced with the mad charge of three thousand heavy cavalry, any infantryman would be terrified, his legs trembling, perhaps even wetting himself. The heavy cavalry of Chu, in particular, were veterans of countless wars, and their killing intent pierced the heavens. Any unit of new recruits would turn tail and flee at the sight of such a murderous charge.
But these two thousand men didn’t even bat an eye.
‘What is fear? Yes, we feel fear. In fact, we are afraid most of the time, anxious and fearful even in our sleep. But what we fear are the disgusted looks from our parents and family, the contemptuous stares of passersby, the dread of being isolated. Apart from that, nothing else scares us. We are not afraid of death. Even when my sister-in-law poured boiling water on me, I didn’t hide or run.’
Yigujia had a large scar on his forehead, a gift from his uncle. Once, at an important gathering, his drunk uncle had ordered Yigujia to do something, but he refused because he truly couldn’t do it. His uncle had told him to embrace and touch a certain courtesan. But he would rather die than do such a thing.
His drunken uncle, feeling humiliated, grew furious. He drew his blade and threatened him: either touch the courtesan or be cut down. When his uncle’s blade truly swung at him, Yigujia stood still like a fool, letting him strike.
‘You are my uncle, my family. If you want me to die, then I will die.’
Of course, his uncle had only meant to scare him, but the fool actually stood his ground. In that split second, his uncle couldn't stop his hand, and he deeply gashed his forehead.
‘We are not afraid of blades. But we are afraid of people's gazes and their words.’
The three thousand heavy cavalry charging toward them looked incredibly fierce. But to the two thousand men of the New Army, it felt as if they were watching something that had nothing to do with them.
“Stand like pines!”
At the command of the ten Nan brothers, the two thousand men stood rooted to the ground as if nailed down, their bodies slightly bent. They truly resembled pine trees.
“Prepare the second form!”
The ten commanders issued another order. The two thousand men raised their top-quality Greatsabers high, tilting them at a slight angle. The first form was for cutting men; the second was for cutting horses.
In the eyes of these two thousand men, there was neither killing intent nor fear. They stood there like a steel rampart. They stood there like a solid levee, waiting for the crashing waves to arrive.
The fine hairs on the necks of the officials in the envoy delegations stood on end. Some even rose to their feet. They couldn't believe what they were seeing. Was Yue's New Army truly going to stop the charge of heavy cavalry with their bodies alone?
‘Are they… are they insane?’
If they failed, the scene would be utterly catastrophic.
The scales in everyone’s hearts instantly tipped toward Yue’s New Army. They couldn't even remain seated, all standing and holding their breath, waiting for the moment of cataclysmic impact.
A phrase suddenly surfaced in Shen Lang’s mind.
‘A comet is about to strike the Earth.’
At this moment, Shen Lang was incredibly tense. He knew of historical precedents where saber infantry had fought cavalry. The Greatsaber squads of the Tang Dynasty had indeed won numerous victories against the Turkic cavalry, and they had achieved great merit in suppressing the rebellions of An Lushan and Shi Siming.
But seeing it about to unfold before his very eyes, he somehow lost his confidence.
***
“Kill!”
The Chu heavy cavalry charged, reaching their maximum speed.
Thirty meters, ten meters, five meters!
And then, the thunderous collision.
In that instant, it was as if the world had lost all sound, leaving only the savage crash of the two armies. The heavy cavalry of Chu slammed violently into the formation of Yue's New Army. It was like a terrifying wave crashing relentlessly against a levee.
No, that wasn’t right…! The situation was slightly different.
When the enemy warhorses were about two meters away, the front rank of Yue’s soldiers suddenly swung their Greatsabers. This time, however, their movements were no longer synchronized. Each man locked onto his own target, found the most precise moment, and slashed down with tremendous force. Not a tenth of a second too slow, nor a tenth too fast—the timing had to be perfect.
‘Cut in two with one stroke!’
*Swish!*
The neck of a furiously galloping warhorse was severed, and crimson blood sprayed everywhere. The horse was split in two, from its head down to half its body.
The rider, who had been preparing to viciously swing his own blade to decapitate a soldier of the New Army, was sent flying as his mount was cleaved apart. But before he could even land—
‘Cut in two with one stroke!’
The blades of the Yue soldiers in the rank behind swung down, splitting him in two in mid-air.
The scene was so intense it made even Shen Lang’s scalp tingle, a tremor running through his heart.
‘What virtue have I to possess such an elite army?’
Previously, Shen Lang had believed the primary reason for the New Army’s strength was their bloodline. He thought they were this strong because he had transformed it for them. But now, he felt the need to change that thinking.
The core reason for their strength was their spirit and their inner world. They were focused, fearless, sensitive, and simple. These were the innate qualities that allowed them to become the strongest, the qualities that made them invincible.
Because they had no fear of the enemy, they did not flee. Because they were highly focused and sensitive, they could find the perfect timing.
*Swish, swish, swish.*
Hundreds of top-quality Greatsabers swung down, and hundreds of charging warhorses were instantly slain. But even a decapitated warhorse still carried incredible momentum as it crashed forward.
*Thud, thud, thud, thud.*
A great noise resounded as hundreds of horse carcasses slammed into the bodies of the New Army.
“Hmph.”
Many soldiers coughed up a mouthful of blood, but they only staggered slightly, neither falling nor retreating.
The Chu heavy cavalrymen from the rear were blocked by the corpses of the warhorses, their formation thrown into chaos. When cavalry charged an enemy line, a smooth, unimpeded advance was crucial. With the front rank of horses all slain and their bodies piling up, the cavalry charging from behind could only crash violently into the heap.
*Thud, thud, thud, thud.*
Countless cavalrymen collided with one another, their fearsome charging tactic brought to a halt.
But they were, after all, the elite heavy cavalry of Chu. The riders clamped their legs tight against their horses’ flanks, yanked the reins, and leaped, jumping over the pile of horse carcasses to continue their assault on the New Army’s formation.
However, the unstoppable, overwhelming momentum from before was gone. The two armored forces were now locked in close combat.
The only advantage the Chu heavy cavalry had was their height advantage from horseback, but they were not stronger than the soldiers of the New Army. Their armor was inferior, their weapons were inferior, and their fearlessness was certainly inferior.
What they lacked most of all was the sheer power of a collective fighting force.