Mythical Three Kingdoms

Li Jue and Guo Si led their troops in pursuit, but not very fast. Their Single-Shot Crossbows were already strung up, just waiting to concentrate firepower. After so many years, they’ve only done this a few times. However, the Empire’s Vanguard is not something one can easily withstand.

The Crossbow Bolts were loaded onto the Heavy Crossbow, three Three-foot Short Spears were tied securely, charging arrows were replaced with Dayuan Fine Steeds, clad in Ma Kai armor, wielding a Super Long Spear that was a full ten feet long. Everyone else switched to Long Spears used for charges, paired with Horse-Cutting Blades for backup and Great Broadswords for close combat harvesting.

It could be said that this was the most fully equipped effort since Li Jue followed Dong Zhuo, except for the battle against Liangzhou Local Tyrants Beigong Boyu and Bian Zhang. However, thinking about that time, it was perhaps a rare defeat for the Iron Cavalry.

Likewise, Li Jue and others donned full body armor, even layered twice, because this time they were at the forefront, and unfortunately, in terms of Combat Power, they weren’t particularly outstanding.

The speed of Xiliang Iron Cavalry wasn’t particularly fast, but being one man with three horses, they ran much faster than the short-legged Roman Infantry. It didn’t take long before they saw the black line on the horizon.

At the same time, Roman Scout Cavalry also saw the cavalry rolling in from the horizon at a moderate pace. It lacked the wild fury of a storm, but the orderly feeling of power, like waves pressing in, gave Romans a sensation akin to the rolling sea.

After the Scout Cavalry reported this to Ganasis, the entire Romans lined up and halted. Unlike regular Roman legions, Ganasis’ Roman legion’s infantry were experienced and well-equipped Adult Soldiers, and their rear included veterans who had participated in numerous wars and assisted in command.

Through the hierarchical relay of these men, Li Jue hadn’t yet reached a league’s distance from the Roman legion, yet the entire legion was already battle ready.

Rank upon rank of Long Spears connected into a continuous Spear Formation, all Heavy Infantry positioned outside, coldly watching the Iron Cavalry charging towards them as though a grand battle was imminent.

Li Jue and others were no fools. Upon seeing the Roman Infantry’s coordinated movements, they knew this battle wouldn’t be easy. This kind of infantry that could automatically find their position without instruction hadn’t been seen since the effort to suppress the Xiliang rebellion with Tao Qian.

However, as the Vanguard, even if faced with tough bones, they had to be gnawed on. Li Jue led the forward Heavy Cavalry to halt a league away, while Guo Si and Fan Chou, in tacit understanding, burst out from behind Li Jue, circled left and right around the Roman formation, without launching an attack.

Almost simultaneously, the Roman Adult Soldiers, under the veterans’ command, all lowered themselves, pressed down their Long Spears, contracted formations, and prepared defense.

At this point, Li Jue was no longer viewing the Romans’ dispatching from an adversarial perspective, but rather from a recorder’s angle, remembering every move Romans made during this battle, documenting every exposed detail of Rome’s strategy.

After Guo Si and Fan Chou circled out, they did not quickly approach the Roman soldiers but sought vulnerabilities in the Roman soldiers with a slightly faster speed than before.

This speed wasn’t very fast, posing no pressure for the Iron Cavalry, maintaining a distance of about a league. Unless a Stone Thrower was used, no weapon of this era could reach this range save for Elite Archers.

However, Stone Throwers had to be dismantled to carry, otherwise constructed on-site during a siege, rendering them a near-impossible dream to transport—an exceedingly challenging task.

Thus, Romans did not react radically to Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s encircling action, only silently making defensive preparations.

A simple Round Formation manifests as entirely different things under different people, like now under Ganasis’s hands, where it demonstrates an almost miraculous transformation.

Silver-gray Radiance encircled the Romans’ defensive line, Cloud Qi condensed on the Long Spears. As Li Jue anticipated, Romans could push out of their own country, the legion they brought was at least of regular Elite Troops caliber.

Guo Si and Fan Chou didn’t complete their encircling task; as they circled to a quarter, they realized today’s matter couldn’t be resolved peacefully. Great Qin’s Commander-in-chief was remarkably skilled; there was no vulnerability in their Military Formation.

As they turned their horses around, both Guo Si and Fan Chou performed the same actions, steadily compressing the distance between them and Romans while the Romans stood like silent reefs, unflinchingly planted there, without a single sign of movement.

Until compressed to sixty paces—just a breath away from a dangerous charging distance—the Roman formation suddenly erupted with countless arrows. Similarly, Guo Si and Fan Chou, as if perceiving danger, pulled back, dodging all the arrows.

Even though Roman Short Bows couldn’t pierce their defense, Guo Si and Fan Chou adhered to Li Ru’s teachings: avoid exposing oneself to others’ attacks if possible.

Ganasis looked deeply at the two black torrents sliding past like tides. Han Army’s caution clearly told him this battle wouldn’t be easy.

[No good, Han Army is too cautious. Hidden Longbowmen hadn’t any chance to show their skills.]Ganasis could already see the sweat on the infantry’s foreheads. Even for elite troops, surrounded by powerful enemies yet not attacking, the psychological pressure was immense.

Guo Si and Fan Chou withdrew and advanced repeatedly, at their closest even assuming a charging posture. Under such action, Romans’ pressure grew louder, readying, waiting, waiting, preparing, releasing, tiring more than an actual chop down.

After converging, Guo Si and Fan Chou swung broadly and merged behind Li Jue, both solemnly. They had exhausted all techniques taught by Li Ru but didn’t yield any result, leaving the last resort.

”Zhiran, it won’t work. Great Qin is a very hard bone to chew,” Fan Chou said focusedly, eyes straight ahead.

”If not strong, then they’re still worth testing. Tough bones? Then crush them!” Li Jue coldly took out the Heavy Crossbow from his horse, ”Romans’ infantry configuration is quite decent, but if they think it’s enough to stop us, they must be dreaming!”

All Xiliang Iron Cavalry gripped the Long Spear with their left hand, cradled the spear shaft in their arm, gripping the Heavy Crossbow with their right, eyes resolute as sand and wind swept past, Li Jue roared, transforming Xiliang Iron Cavalry into a black angered dragon, charging at the Romans.

Almost concurrently, Romans made adjustments, supporting Long Spears to the ground to form formations directly against Li Jue, readying to defend against cavalry charges.

Meanwhile, Fan Chou and Guo Si led two cavalry units charging out even faster, extending into a funnel within brief moments. As Roman arrow rain shot towards Li Jue and others at the front, everyone raised their right hand, and a collision between empires began! (To be continued. If you like this work, you’re welcome to vote for recommendation or monthly tickets on Qidian (qidian.com). Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please visit m.qidian.com to read.)