He Lingchuan had set his sights on the mid-slope flanking the high ground. Shaped like terraced fields, discarded carriages and all sorts of clutter were piled here. Most importantly, the Yuan army's armory was stationed right here!
The armory was bound to be one of the enemy's primary targets for destruction.
He Lingchuan had just finished setting up positions here with his men when the enemy swept in.
Zhao Pan's main tent was pitched on the high ground. Several paths led up from the riverbank, and the Xunzhou army's main force naturally chose the shortest main road to charge up, while the rest fanned out in all directions, attacking from various routes to ultimately encircle the heights.
The mid-slope He Lingchuan had chosen lay off to the flank, so fewer enemies attacked their way, which favored fighting steadily and holding their ground.
As for the Xunzhou main force?
Oh, the Yuan army's main force would be defending Zhao Pan's tent to the death—they were formidable elites themselves, so leaving the two sides to clash it out was just fine.
Eat only as big a bowl of rice as one's stomach can hold. He Lingchuan would never get greedy for military merit at a time like this.
Chaotic and complex as a clash between two armies seemed, it ultimately broke down into individual squads fighting their own battles.
As long as He Lingchuan led his squad and fought, he was contributing to their side. Not to mention, what he had to intercept was the enemy rushing straight for the armory.
As for his father—
He glanced back at the main camp. He Chunhua was right beside Zhao Pan, at the very core of the army's protection—practically as safe as could be.
A messenger rushed out from the main camp and dashed up to He Lingchuan, shouting, "Order from the Governor-General: He Lingchuan is to hold the armory at all costs!"
Though half a beat late, He Chunhua had quickly realized the importance of this position.
He Lingchuan turned around, pointed toward the woods, and said to the medicine ape, "Get up in the trees." In battle, blades and spears had no eyes; a non-combatant like it was better off keeping clear of the fighting.
Lingguang put on no pretenses, springing up into a tree in two leaps and vanishing from sight in the blink of an eye.
No sooner had the men finished their preparations than the enemy came howling in.
Two large warhorses led the charge, slamming forward like a gale. The cavalrymen atop them grinned savagely, brandishing their spears and aiming straight for the space between He Lingchuan's brows.
This kid looked like a squad leader and an easy weakling to butcher, perfect for claiming the first kill.
To an enemy lacking such discernment, He Lingchuan's response was simply raising his middle finger in a universal gesture.
Seeing this, his men yanked fiercely on the trip ropes.
With a loud crash, the forelegs of both warhorses caught the ropes, and mounts and riders alike flew several dozen feet through the air.
The two cavalrymen were dazed and battered by the fall, and before they could even scramble to their feet, they were dispatched beneath the blades of Shan Youjun and the others.
The remaining infantrymen were startled, then roared and charged forward.
The archers concealed in the tall trees behind opened fire in targeted volleys. Even in such murky darkness, they managed to drop a man every two or three arrows—swift and lethal.
The rest of the infantry pushed forward a few steps through the arrows, only to cry out in agony and double over.
It turned out poisoned caltrops had been scattered across the ground. These three-dimensional little triangular spikes were known as the bane of foot soles; let alone mortals, even a bear demon would wail in tears upon stepping on one, its sole swelling up like a water bucket before long.
When He Lingchuan had led his men to hunt down troublesome monsters, these poisoned caltrops had worked wonders time and again, and today they proved just as effective against humans.
He Lingchuan certainly wasn't going to show mercy; he struck while they were crippled to finish them off.
The remaining lucky ones who hadn't stepped on the caltrops could finally engage them in open combat.
Although the Xunzhou troops had slipped across to the south bank under cover of the night rain, their boats were limited after all. To ferry over as many troops as possible in a short window, they had been forced to carry fewer horses and more men. This left them severely short on cavalry, so the attacking forces were predominantly infantry.
Fortunately, in mountain warfare like this, infantry was hardly at a disadvantage.
Still, their momentum was noticeably weaker.
He Lingchuan hacked down one foe with a sweep of his blade, shoved another back with a shoulder barge that easily sent him flying, and paused in surprise:
Were the Xunzhou soldiers really this weak?
They clearly weren't small, and looked sturdy enough.
Over on the other side, Shan Youjun and the others were also fighting with tremendous momentum. Were it not for the arrows and stray projectiles flying in from behind, they could practically have taken on three or four men each.
Not to mention the rock wolf, which was displaying its might, tearing an enemy to death in just four or five bites. In its jaws, these Xunzhou men seemed soft and easy to crunch through.
In contrast, their own attacks were feeble; two axe blows struck the rock wolf, but they only left a faint white crease on its pelt, without drawing a single drop of blood.
Granted, its defense had always been formidable, but battles had never gone like this before.
At this rate, not only could they hold the slope, they might even have a chance to mount a counter-push.
What was going on?
Jiao Tai had been silently hacking away at the enemy. After felling three, he suddenly turned to He Lingchuan and shouted, "Boss, these Xunzhou men are weak! Look at their bodies!"
He Lingchuan was already puzzled, and prompted by the reminder, he focused his gaze:
As the Xunzhou soldiers fought, there was not a trace of faint glow shimmering on their bodies.
It was true of those before him, and equally true of those in the distance.
Earlier, when the Xunzhou men were lurking and creeping up from the riverbank, an absence of light had seemed normal enough. But for it to still be absent now in close-quarters combat could only mean one thing—
He Lingchuan turned and channeled his true power, roaring toward the slope, "The Xunzhou army has no origin power!"
His shout boomed like thunder, cutting through the roaring wind and rain to carry far across the field.
He even yelled it three times, until practically the entire battlefield could hear.
For the same army, having origin power versus lacking it made a world of difference in combat capability.
It wasn't just a matter of boosts to strength and agility; origin power even affected damage reduction, immunities, and accuracy. That was why regular troops always handled bandits with relative ease, and why the Yuan army fighting Xunzhou—
Had no reason to panic at all!
At this moment, chaos reigned across the battlefield. The Yuan army had been caught completely unprepared. Facing the swarming ranks of enemies charging with raised weapons, some hadn't even fully donned their armor, and others were knocked sprawling by scrambling comrades or panic-stricken horses. How could they muster much will to fight?
Right now, the Yuan army's morale was at rock bottom. If the Xunzhou troops had been powerful, they could have shattered the entire force in just a few exchanges.
In the end, a battle was a contest of strength and confidence. A successful night raid often laid a firm foundation for ultimate victory.
At this juncture, He Lingchuan's shout arrived like rain in a drought, jolting everyone out of their stupor!
Zhao Pan had already been unable to restrain himself and charged out in person, cutting down two or three enemy soldiers. He too had felt his opponents were remarkably weak, and upon hearing He Lingchuan's words, the truth dawned on him at once:
The Xunzhou troops couldn't fly across the river, yet the Han River had suddenly turned so tranquil. Old bastard Nian had almost certainly pulled some trick.
He couldn't withstand the fury of the Han River with his own strength alone, which meant there was a ninety-percent chance he had siphoned the entire army's origin power!
No wonder! No wonder they could cross the river!
No wonder the Xunzhou troops were so feeble—at this moment, they had no origin power at all!
"The Xunzhou dogs have no origin power! Cut them down like vegetables!" Zhao Pan bellowed. "Kill them! Drive them all back into the river!"
Bullies shrink before the strong and prey on the weak; it was an instinct etched into the marrow of their bones. The Yuan soldiers who had been scurrying in panic were skeptical at first upon hearing that their opponents lacked origin power. But after parrying a couple of blows, they realized:
Hey, it's true!
Their courage surged, and they began to fight back.
In truth, the Xunzhou troops had troubles of their own that they could not voice. Only because the Verdant Flask continually drained their origin power could it swallow the torrential floods rushing down from upstream, buying more time for the flotilla behind to force the crossing. Consequently, upon coming ashore, every Xunzhou soldier felt mentally drained, physically exhausted, dispirited, fearful of the enemy, and sick of fighting. It was like running thirty li weighted down through a rainy night; they wanted nothing more than to collapse headfirst into an endless sleep.
It could be said that their morale was already in the negative.
Though ambushed and thrown into disarray, the Yuan soldiers at least still had origin power protecting them.
If this tug-of-war dragged on, the scales of victory would sooner or later tip back to the Yuan army.
Going against nature indeed came at a heavy price.
Fortunately, Nian Zanli had anticipated this. Before departing, he had conducted two or three rounds of mobilization, explicitly telling all his men that "victory is ours as long as we hold on for an hour." Now, the rear-guard discipline squad was shouting, "Charge forward and live; retreat and die!" forcing everyone to rush forward and fight for their lives.
Both sides were doing everything they could to pump up morale and rally their spirits.
Whoever's resolve collapsed first would lose.
With an order from Nian Zanli, the twelve cannons on the riverbank were reloaded and began another round of high-angle bombardment!
When martial prowess falls short, make up for it with firepower.
At this moment, the Yuan elites were gathered tightly around Zhao Pan and He Chunhua, locked in combat with the Xunzhou main force. Once troops clustered together, they became the prime target, and at least nine of the twelve cannons trained their fire here.
With thunderous booms, four or five shells landed across the high ground in succession. The mother-and-son cannonballs blasted a great swath of men to the ground.
The personal guards behind Zhao Pan collapsed under the blast, and he was nearly hit himself. Enraged, he bellowed, "Disperse! Disperse, damn it all!"
A shell also fell near He Lingchuan. Warning bells blaring in his mind, he had already ordered everyone to scatter, yet two guards standing too close were unable to dodge in time and were killed on the spot.
Even Jiao Tai was struck in the left arm by an ejected lead shot, though fortunately the bone wasn't broken.
He Lingchuan cursed under his breath and looked back toward He Chunhua. Seeing him issuing orders with a grim expression, apparently unhurt, he breathed a sigh of relief.
Above the Yuan main camp, a thin, pale-green light barrier suddenly materialized, faint and translucent, barely noticeable in the dark.
Yet the cannonballs fired from the riverbank smashed into the light barrier before touching the ground, setting off a chain of explosions.
The barrier flickered several times, but remarkably held firm.
Afterward, the lead balls from the mother-and-son shells dropped down; without the added explosive blast behind them, their threat to the troops below was very limited.
Wave upon wave of arrow rain was also intercepted, with only a scant few managing to slip through the gaps.
The tactical formation was finally activated, drastically relieving the pressure on the Yuan army for the moment.
In truth, this tactical formation was not exceptionally tight and nowhere near all-encompassing or impenetrable. Gaps would randomly appear across the barrier, caused either by coordination issues among the formation masters—after all, this formation required over twenty people working in concert—or insufficient energy supply from the profound crystals.
Both issues were nearly unavoidable under the circumstances. Given how abruptly everything had unfolded, Zhao Pan hadn't asked much of the formation, so long as it withstood wide-area attacks as best it could and bought as much time as possible.
Amid the eager anticipation of the Yuan soldiers, the armory behind He Lingchuan's squad finally went into action. Over a dozen trebuchets launched stones, the smallest of which was larger than a millstone, all aimed at the artillery on the bank and the boats close to shore.
Due to the downpour, several Yuan cannons couldn't be operated at all. Lacking water-warding talismans like their foes, their long-range firepower was significantly reduced.
Even so, the hurtled boulders smashed three cannons and two ferries, while the rest crashed into the enemy ranks, sending flesh and blood flying in massive sprays.
The Yuan troops broke into cheers.
As time wore on, the scales of victory began tipping in their favor. Having weathered the fiercest initial waves of assault, the Xunzhou army was clearly displaying its lack of endurance.
Chapter 299