In front of the battle, Bai Lin's expression remained unchanged. Before the army is defeated, there will often be a battle between trapped beasts. What he has to do is to completely trap and kill this trapped beast here.
The faces of all the soldiers were filled with joy before a great victory. The crossbowman, who was waiting for the opportunity to move, cast a cold gaze over.
On the ground, dead soldiers from both sides lay in different postures on the wet mud path. He only hoped that his side would win a great victory, collected the corpses, and sent a jar of ashes back to his hometown.
The sky is dark and cloudy, but it is gradually drying up. The overcast sky makes the small battlefield below even more desolate.
A scholar is to guard his family, and a scholar is to open up frontiers. There is nothing wrong with both. What's wrong is that this dynasty has already been torn apart.
"Please Xu Buyi to die." Bai Lin's eyes were bright, and his voice was like thunder for a moment.
"Please Xu Buyi die!" Countless soldiers shouted.
"Hingyi——"
…
"Everyone, please raise your weapons!" Xu Mu gritted his teeth and pointed his sword forward.
Not long after, shouts of killing filled the air from behind, and they roared endlessly.
"Si Hu, go and clear the way!"
"Longbow, cover you Brother Tiger."
"kill."
Throughout the ages, breaking formations has often been extremely difficult. If you cannot find the weak point in the enemy's formation, you will be unable to save it.
But in this filthy world, there will eventually be those who risk their lives to survive.
"Pierce the left wing!"
Instead of rushing towards the crane head where Bai Lin was, Xu Mu led the soldiers behind him and roared towards the left wing.
The incoming soldiers slashed down with their swords, and the corpses of Xu family soldiers rolled in the muddy water. Another crossbow bolt came, and from time to time someone screamed in pain from the side columns without shield protection.
Fortunately, with the military's concentration, the piercing formation was finally stabilized.
"Pick up the bamboo spear, approach the enemy, and respectfully request to kill the enemy -" a Xu Jiajun junior general shouted. Before he could finish his voice, a soldier rushed towards him and chopped off his head.
"Liannu!" Xu Mu turned around, his face covered with blood.
This battle involves death or life, and only those who survive are qualified to look to the future.
In the charging formation of the Xu family's army, the soldiers of the company's crossbow battalion rushed to the side, blushing, and raised their crossbows to fire back at the enemy.
There were casualties on each side, and on the wet flat ground in Daoyuan, the crossbowmen fell to the ground one after another, screaming sadly after being hit by arrows.
Si Hu, who rushed at the front, held a giant ax and kept killing the soldiers blocking the way. A subordinate of the government soldiers made a sneak attack and struck with a knife in the chaos. The knife fell on Si Hu's waist and ribs.
Bang.
A small arrow shot from the palace pierced through the right eye of General Pi.
"Brother Tiger!" Gongou shouted in shame.
"There's something about the eggs!" Si Hu bulged his eyes, dragged his giant ax and continued to kill them.
Han Jiu covered the stab wound in his abdomen and wanted to kill him again, but was dragged back to the formation by several new soldiers with childish faces.
"Break the left wing of this wild crane!" Xu Mu shouted angrily.
"Broken wings!"
The old soldier of Xu Jiajun who was in charge let out a roar that filled the sky.
"Set up the bamboo spear! Cover with shields!"
"Listen to this general's order and rush forward without fear of life or death!"
"Kill, kill!"
…
Bai Lin's expression gradually became silent.
In front of him, a huge sharp arrow was shooting towards the left wing of the Crane Wing Formation. Even though there was a road lined with corpses, they still refused to retreat and rushed out in the face of the blocking soldiers.
Sighing, Bai Lin closed his eyes bitterly.
He suddenly saw a huge crane flying in the sky. An arrow came and hit the crane's left wing.
The crane fell to the ground and died.
"Why not attack the crane's head instead of the left wing?"
There are eight formations of crane wings, three formations of the right wing, three formations of the crane head, and only two formations of the left wing. Among these two formations, most of them are old soldiers.
"How did he figure it out... Pass my military order and use the right wing as cover——"
"Retract your wings." Bai Lin's tone was dejected.
Unfortunately, it was too late.
"Break off the enemy's left wing!" Xu Mu kept giving orders while he was in the formation.
"Bamboo Spear——"
I don't know how many people died, but Xu Mu didn't dare to look back. The only chance now is to break the left wing of this giant crane and cause chaos in the enemy's formation.
"Stab, stab!"
Bamboo spears roared and thrust out again and again at the forefront of the massacre. The white-haired old soldiers of the government raised their swords to fight, but they were stabbed to the ground one after another.
"Lian Nu! Get up!" A lieutenant of General Xu, with blood stains on his face, commanded the Lien Nu battalion to break through the formation and kill the enemy.
With all their efforts, the left wing of the huge crane wing formation seemed to be broken. The Xu family's army rushed into the formation as one, and finally pierced the big crane like a sharp arrow.
…
The Crane Wing Formation, whose left wing was broken off, suddenly lost the advantage of being surrounded.
"Listen to my military order, form a flat formation, and focus on defense." Looking at the battle ahead, Bai Lin ordered in a solemn voice.
Until now, he still didn't understand how the commoner in front of him could see the formation.
"General, there is an ambush coming from behind!"
"How could there be an ambush?" Bai Lin's eyes were slightly startled. He had been calculating Xu Mu's army along the way.
As a Shuzhou native, he naturally understands the horror of barbarian mountain warfare. Therefore, when he saw the Pingman camp among the enemy troops, he was relieved and thought that Xu Mu did not have an ambush.
"General, he seems to be a barbarian, carrying an ax and a hammer!"
Bai Lin was shocked, turned around and looked around, and found countless figures in the mountains and forests on both sides of Daoyuan, heading towards them.
Without waiting to get closer, a wave of forest bows were fired first. Many of the soldiers who were caught off guard were killed on the spot.
"Fell into a trap." Bai Lin smiled bitterly, and his body standing on the wet ground began to shake.
"No wonder the young Marquis would choose him."
"In these troubled times, we really need someone to find a clear way out."
"General, the enemy is about to counterattack!"
…
After breaking the formation, Xu Mu didn't show any arrogance and remained calm.
With only more than 6,000 people behind him, he continued to attack from left to right. Almost half of those crossbows that had no cover were shot dead.
"Raise your shield!"
"call!"
"Raise the bamboo spear and rush forward to kill."
Even though Bai Lin had given command and focused on defending, in hand-to-hand combat, the formation changes were too slow and it was too late.
The last six thousand men of General Xu condensed into a sharp arrow, carrying the great victory that broke the formation. For a moment, their morale was like a rainbow, and they continued to kill left and right on the flat ground of Daoyuan.
The Pingman camp ambushing behind them also cooperated with the Xu family army, constantly widening the distance to contain the enemy.
Of the 20,000 imperial soldiers, only about 10,000 were left dead or injured.
On the Xu Jiajun side, plus the ambushed Pingman camp, there were originally about 15,000 men and horses, but there were more than 6,000 or 7,000 casualties.
This battle can be regarded as the most brutal one since entering Shuzhong. The general who commanded the company's crossbow battalion was changed at least three times.
"Old general, why don't you put down your weapons and stop fighting before we talk." Standing in the formation, Xu Mu spoke in a solemn voice.
This was originally just a word to encourage morale, but what Xu Mu didn't expect was that the white-haired Sichuan general actually slowly gave the order to let the surrounding soldiers move away.
Xu Mu didn't understand for a moment.
"You can go to Shu." Bai Lin raised his head and sighed.
"Old General, why is this?"
"That year, the young Marquis entered Sichuan and told me that he was trapped in the imperial court and could not move. He wanted to find someone who could take charge of the overall situation and carry the flag for him."
"If it weren't for my old age, I would probably agree."
"But I know that he chose you in the end."
"Young Master's vision is so far-reaching."
Bai Lin's old body slowly retreated. Around him, there were only more than 10,000 soldiers left, and they retreated silently.
"General, we are waiting for the order of the King of Shu——"
There was a general in the army who came over in a hurry to angrily persuade him, but Bai Lin killed him with a sword. The surrounding soldiers were silent for a while, without any movement.
"The world is uneasy and the world is dirty. If you can wield a sword and kill a piece of blue sky——"
"I'll give you one last ride!"
Xu Mu's chest burned, and he cupped his hands and fists. This battle is actually more like a test.
"I only have one request: let these last ten thousand warriors from Shu escape with me. If you enter Shu, they will be punished by death just like me."
"Easy to say."
These ten thousand soldiers are extremely elite. If you say you're not moved, it's definitely a lie. But Xu Mu understood that these ten thousand soldiers were more like Bai Lin's dead soldiers.
"Where are you going, old general?"
"Entering the south of Shuzhou, there are still many tiger barbarian tribes there. Kill the tiger barbarians to establish Shuzhou. The original policy of being gentle was unreasonable."
Xu Mu believes that this is not an excuse. Some people, like the young Marquis, are always upright in their lives.
"Old General, I will definitely do these things."
"It's different. I've been holding it in for several years. If I don't kill him, I'll be holding my breath and I won't be able to enter the coffin."
Xu Mu's eyes turned red. How could he not know that Bai Lin was dying. He couldn't persuade him, and he couldn't persuade him.
This is a very complicated choice. To be loyal or to be righteous, or even to die in battle, there is no perfect choice in the world.
"Are you with me?" Bai Lin turned around and walked forward.
Of the more than 10,000 soldiers in the palace, only a thousand or so ran into the forest. The remaining 9,000 people, all with firm faces, followed Bai Lin.
"Xu Mugong presents to the general!"
"Congratulations, General!"
