Liu Xuan's Maiden War (Part 2)

  Liu Xuan looked at the enemy army, which was already within eighty paces. His starry eyes swept across, his right arm suddenly dropped, and he coldly said: "Release arrows..."

  "Hsss... Hsss... Hsss..."

  The numerous archers, who had long been harboring a nameless fire in their hearts, suddenly drew their bows to the full moon, and the arrows shot out with a cold gleam, pouring into the enemy army like rain.

  "Ah... Ah... Ah..."

  Suddenly, there were some faint cries in response, but only a dozen or so before they stopped.

  "First row, sword and shield hands raised shields..."

  The warriors in the first row shouted "Hai yo" and raised their wooden shields high, instantly a wooden wall rose to the sky.

  "Kill, kill, kill..."

  The enemy soldiers had all climbed up, their eyes were red, and the war knives in their hands shone brightly as they hacked down. In just over a dozen breaths, only a few of the first row of troops who had not defended well fell to the ground, and then there were knife-shield men who came forward to replace them. Liu Xuan slightly frowned, these enemy soldiers' combat power was beyond his expectation. Liu Xuan's face sank as he shouted: "Knife-shield men counterattack, second row long spear soldiers charge..."

  "Hmm..."

  The second team's long gunner, with all his might, stabbed the enemy who was just getting up, and in an instant, there were sounds of "hissing" into the flesh, as well as miserable cries and groans.

  "Ah..."

  An enemy soldier was stabbed into the body by a long spearman, and he couldn't help but cry out in pain. He lowered his head to take a look, only to see that the spear had pierced through his chest, and as it was suddenly withdrawn, fresh blood flowed out like a pillar, fluttering and flying out.

  Liu Xuan stood behind with a cold eye, Liu Xuan arranged the 1,000-strong army into three divisions. According to the military system of this era, there were six basic formations: division, song, tun, team, shi, and wu.

  The lowest unit is Wu, with five people under its jurisdiction. The next level up is Shi, consisting of two Wu units, then comes Dui, consisting of five Shi units, and two Dui units form a Tuan. Five Tuan units form a Qu, and two Qu units form a Bu. Below them are also set up: Wuzhang, Shizhang, Dubo, Bairen Du, Qulang, Qiannian Du.

  A thousand people come down, temporarily can be two songs and one department.

  The first row of two hundred knife shield men in front, the second row of three hundred long gun soldiers behind, the third group of five hundred people stayed beside Liu Xuan and did not go into battle for the time being. In a twinkling of an eye, the two armies had been fighting for more than an hour, with casualties on both sides. However, Liu Xuan was inexplicably slow to deploy this army into the battlefield.

  I don't know what Liu Xuan is thinking, but Gan Xiong hastily came to the rear, his expression slightly anxious: "Liu Gongzi, the front line can't hold on any longer, let's put in the 500 soldiers."

  "No...” Liu Xuan flatly refused, his face cold and calm: “I've taken a look, the enemy is indeed fierce and brave, but our defensive line has not been breached by the enemy, there's no need to add more troops.”

  Liu Xuan's tone paused slightly, and he chuckled softly in a low voice: "Gan Xiong big brother, these 500 people are the key to our army's victory, it's not suitable to deploy them too early."

  "Huh?" How could Gan Xiong's words be a match for Liu Xuan's... For a moment, Gan Xiong was at a loss for words, his mouth opening and closing without knowing what to say. A hint of bitterness appeared on the corner of his mouth as he said reluctantly: "Young Master Liu, although the enemy army only has a few hundred men, they are all well-equipped and fearless in death. I fear our vanguard won't be able to hold them off."

  "This prince said that what cannot be done, is not to be done. Those who disobey will be beheaded..." Liu Xuan's expression turned solemn, his tone was cold and stern, his eyes gleaming with a fierce light as he swept his gaze over the officers gathered behind Gan Ying, his gaze lingering on the angry faces of the soldiers. Liu Xuan grunted softly, then fixed his attention on the development of the battle, but a hint of a sly smile played on the corner of his mouth.

  Gan Xiong originally wanted to go forward and persuade, but was blocked by Liu Xuan's personal guards with a cold eye. Gan Xiong saw that Liu Xuan was resolute in this way, and also said that Liu Xuan left 500 soldiers here as a means of escaping his life. In his heart, he secretly hated the fact that the lives being used at the front were those of living soldiers, who were like brothers to him.

  Time flew by in the blink of an eye, and after half a time, Zhang Ming led the remaining hundreds of desperate men to gradually gain the upper hand. Liu Xuan's army was killed and retreated step by step. The front-line soldiers of Jingzhou Army were reduced to less than 100 people, but they still gritted their teeth and struggled hard. Seeing that his comrades died from time to time, Liu Xuan still looked at them coldly. After that, hundreds of colleagues were not moved either. The remaining soldiers in the front line were filled with great hatred.

  At this moment, Liu Xuan's eyes moved slightly, and there was a hint of pain in the depths of his pupils, but it was immediately covered up by Liu Xuan. Replacing it was an extremely cold and calm demeanor.

  Time passed for a moment... Liu Xuan suddenly turned around and looked at Gan Xiong, whose eyes were bloodshot and face was ferocious. The smile on Liu Xuan's face seemed even more gentle, and he ignored Gan Xiong's anger, saying lightly: "Where is Gan Xiong?"

  Gan Xiong let out a low hum, turning his face to the side, ignoring Liu Xuan. Liu Xuan's eyebrows furrowed, and with a hint of anger, he growled: "Where is Gan Xiong?"

  Gan Xiong did not want to answer, but remembering Gan Ning's repeated warnings before he left, he could only suppress the anger in his heart and said in a low voice: "Gan Xiong is here."

  Liu Xuan strode forward, his eyes scanning the five hundred soldiers before him. The five hundred soldiers gazed back at Liu Xuan with cold, unforgiving stares, their expressions far from friendly. At this, over a hundred of Liu Xuan's personal guards hastened to form a tight circle around him, shielding him in the center as they gripped their blades and cast cautious glances about the five hundred soldiers.

  "If there's a military coup, it'll be disastrous!"

  Liu Xuan's mouth curled up slightly as he smiled, striding out of the circle surrounded by his guards. With a faint smile, he said lightly, "Do you hate me?"

  Liu Xuan didn't say anything, but as soon as he mentioned this matter, the soldiers suddenly became agitated and stared at Liu Xuan with fierce eyes, as if they were about to swallow him whole. Liu Xuan waved his hand to stop his guards from taking further defensive action, took a few steps forward, and said in a low voice: "I know you are all feeling stifled, but don't you hate the enemy soldiers in front of us?"

  "Hate..."

  Liu Xuan's eyes flickered slightly, as if a hint of a smile had flashed across his face. At this moment, Liu Xuan's goal had already been achieved. He still maintained an air of nonchalance, but his tone was tinged with mockery: "Oh? If you hate them so much, why didn't you make a move when you saw Tong Ze in danger?"

  "Oh no...!"

  Liu Xuan's words came out, and the 500 soldiers were stunned for a moment. They suddenly stood up, and Gan Xiong was also stunned, looking at Liu Xuan in confusion.

  "Isn't it your damn fault for refusing to send help?"

  "What did this young master say? Does this young master have such great abilities? You have a total of 500 people, and this young master has no power to even tie up a chicken. How can he stop you?" Liu Xuan's mouth curled into a sneer as he coldly said: "This young master thinks you are doing it on purpose."

  "Damn it, we are all men of great stature and integrity. Those in front of us are my sworn brothers and comrades-in-arms. If not for you, this incompetent prince, I would have charged into battle with my brothers long ago."

  "Oh, you mean to fight alongside the vanguard warriors and shed blood together?"

  "Nonsense!"

  "Alright, since you say so, I'll give you an opportunity." Liu Xuan said, then turned around and whispered to Gan Xiong: "Gan Xiong, listen to my order. I command you to lead 500 soldiers and merge with the front-line soldiers to attack the enemy together."

  "At this time, the enemy has been fighting for a long time, their morale is lost and their strength is greatly damaged. You are well-rested and your spirit is high, you can win with one blow! Liu Xuan's expression was solemn, he said seriously: "Gan Xiong, I only have one request, take the soldiers back."

  Having said that, Liu Xuan slightly bowed to the many generals and sincerely said: "Everyone, I had no choice but to do this, I hope you will understand."

  Gan Xiong's eyes were complex, looking at Liu Xuan, thinking to himself: "It seems that General Zuo was right, this Liu Gongzi is indeed not simple." As he thought of this, Gan Xiong no longer had any doubts, turned around and roared at the 500 soldiers: "Brothers, let's go kill the enemy..."

  The five hundred warriors' resentment and disdain towards Liu Xuan had dissipated in his apology and sincere words. The five hundred warriors, having heard Gan Ying's angry roar, recalled the enemy army's ferocious appearance and the bitter resistance of their comrades at the front lines. For a moment, they all revealed a fierce smile, their eyes gleaming red, as they charged forward with flashing blades, shouting loudly.

  When he saw a soldier or a low-ranking officer, either muttering to himself in anger or looking up at the sky and letting out a long sigh, like a fierce beast that had been trapped for a long time and finally gained its freedom, needing to vent its emotions and have a good fight, Liu Xuan's reason for suppressing his troops was precisely this moment.

  Liu Xuan suppressed all the anger and resentment in the hearts of the 500 soldiers, enduring the humiliation, just to let them vent their anger and frustration when they clashed with the enemy, so the outcome of the battle was already predictable.

  "The overall situation has been settled."

  At this point, Liu Xuan's tender face also finally revealed a hint of a relieved smile.