Chapter Twenty-Five: Unable to Win, He Withdraws

  "Kill!" A tall and sturdy White Wave army general squeezed out of the crowd, waving a long-handled battle axe and letting out a loud roar. By the time he finished roaring, the surrounding area was packed with the elite troops of the White Wave army, consisting of fifty squadrons belonging to Li Le. In addition, there were nearly fifty battalion commanders who couldn't find their units, each holding their weapons and guarding them from all sides.

  Gongsun Ce held his breath and concentrated, this battle he had a small loss, the outcome was brilliant, but for the unknown number of enemy troops, it couldn't be said that they were severely injured. He wanted to withdraw, but also wanted to make them suffer, let them remember him! So those iron-clad elite must be beaten to pieces, not just because he needed their souls to upgrade his symbol soldiers.

  "Little one, don't be infatuated with war, don't get caught up in their sea of people, or no one will be able to save you!" Gong Sun Ce liked Guo Liang's brave and fierce fighting style. For two or three days, he couldn't understand why this eighteen-year-old youth, who had just come of age, was not afraid of the killing fields of war, but instead showed great bravery and vitality.

  Unlike him and Liu Wei, Liu Wei was originally a model army, a troop for review and escort. Such troops are not easy to enter. Military quality is hard, loyalty is required, and finally, they must be handsome. The generals above like troops with killing intent, and such troops naturally select soldiers with actual combat experience.

  What is a strong military quality? It's an elite with actual combat experience, having killed people and achieved impressive results. That's why Liu Wei could adapt to the battlefield so quickly, because for him it was just a different way of fighting. As for himself, he had only opened his golden fingers, not even his golden hand or golden leg.

  The biggest difference between him and all the predecessors is that he awakened all his souls, fully releasing his nature. He has already looked at killing very lightly, and matters of life and death, except for those few people, are just a symbol to him. This symbol may be just a incomplete name, or just an unremarkable entry in a statistical data.

  Kuang Liang pulled down the face mask built into his helmet, covering his face. A pair of dark eyes gleamed with a bright light, full of hope. He didn't dare to charge forward like he did in that battle at Xiaoheli Village. In that battle, he went to the horse farm to look for horses, but actually wanted to find people. However, everyone at the horse farm was dead, and he couldn't find Li Jing. He thought Li Jing had met with misfortune. Sorrow filled his heart, and he only wanted to vent in battle.

  "Brother Gongsun, Li Jing is still waiting for me to return. Now, with just one blink of an eye, I can see her smiling at me and blessing me." Guo Liang felt his heart beating rapidly, he could feel the scorching blood in his veins surging. His blood was boiling, yearning for battle, he said firmly: "Now I only want to take them down, then return and find her."

  "My she is also waiting for me." Gong Sun Ce took a deep breath, as if only fighting, constantly fighting, could make himself temporarily forget her. Looking up at the sky, Gong Sun Ce's tone was firm: "So not just for us, but for them, for everyone to live a peaceful life, we must send these ghosts to where they belong. Their era is over, this era is ours!"

  "This era is ours!" Gong Sun Ce roared, seeing the opposite side with iron armor as the arrowhead, launched a charge, a vast and dense mass of people, heads crowded together, countless.

  The entire land was trembling, and the sound of enemy troops' killing shouts filled his ears. Du Yuanzheng, though in the rear array, still had his face turned pale with shock. He hadn't expected that the charge launched by nearly ten thousand men would be like a landslide or tsunami, seemingly unstoppable. His own Du clan's heavenly soldiers were also trembling one by one along with heaven and earth; if not for the battle spirit within them, they would have collapsed and fled in disarray.

  Gongsun Zan gazed at the Li general under the enemy army's central command flag. He felt a little disappointed that the general didn't lead by example. If he led the charge, Gongsun had three layers of assurance to cut down the opponent's formation. However, since the opponent was willing to stay behind on the battlefield, although it was safe, it also limited his command over the troops.

  "Winds! Winds! Great winds!" Two hundred Yu riders shouted in unison, ignoring the enemy's overwhelming momentum. Gongsun Zan was even more so, charging out on horseback first, with Guo Liang closely following behind him, and then another hundred Yu riders galloping forward with whips raised high. Du Yanzhi admired Gongsun Zan's bravery, risking his own life to achieve a tactical goal.

  "Gongsun the Great is right in front, he's not afraid to die, what are we afraid of!" Du Yuanzheng loudly rallied the two hundred Du Clan Heavenly Soldiers, urging them on. He shouted: "Five-wheel shooting! Two hundred meters ahead, only allow long-range shots, do not shoot below this range!" As soon as he finished speaking, he drew his bow and nocked an arrow, the steel arrowhead pointing towards the sky.

  The distance of several hundred meters seemed so short when the two armies charged, it could be said that it was just a blink of an eye. Gong Sun Ce rode at the forefront, seeing an opponent holding a large axe and leading other iron-clad soldiers with big strides, he shouted loudly, swung his axe with both hands, and chopped towards Gong Sun Ce's horse.

  Gongsun Zan wouldn't let him chop down his own mount, holding a halberd in both hands and using the horse's strength to charge at that iron-armored giant axe warrior. He was relying on his long weapon, as long as he could strike accurately with one thrust, that iron-armored warrior would definitely be sent flying, even if his axe swung around in circles, it wouldn't reach him anyway.

  Gongsun Zan's spear pierced the chest of the iron-armored axe-wielding general, who was a subordinate under Li Le. Despite wearing excellent iron armor, he could not withstand the sudden thrust of the spear. This general was also ruthless and had intended to attack Gongsun Zan's warhorse based on the principle of attacking where his opponent must rescue. He then relied on his own divine strength to knock away his opponent's weapon with one axe strike, and with the remaining force, he could still kill his opponent's mount.

  He didn't want Gongsun Zhan to come directly with a pot-bottomed draw, and he thrust his spear towards himself. He didn't even have time to react before being pierced through the chest and back. He was also a ruthless man, and the battle axe in his hand happened to be swung open. When he was suddenly lifted by Gongsun Zhan's spear, he let go of his hand, and the sharp blade of the axe continued to aim at Gongsun Zhan's horse under the inertia! He was thrust into the air, and in mid-air, he saw that his large axe was actually blocked by Guo Liang's horse spear. Suddenly, his eyes widened.

  He almost fell off, if it wasn't for Guo Liang deflecting the axe with his own, Xue Ma would have been injured and he himself would have been thrown off at high speed. Even if nothing happened to him, he would still be trampled into a pulp by the cavalry behind! Although the soldiers listened to him, they couldn't defy the laws of physics after all!

  Gongsun Zan was now thoroughly enraged, he had always thought his life was safe, but just now he almost got killed by someone. The crisis earlier gave him a clear slap in the face, no mistake, he did get Lu Bu's inheritance and the favor of Goddess Diaochan. But after all, he wasn't Lu Bu, Rome wasn't built in a day, and neither could Lu Bu grow up overnight!

  Fu Ma charged forward, opening up a path through the two iron-clad soldiers. With one swift motion, he thrust his spear into the chest of the first soldier, who had not yet reacted. The soldier let out a heroic cry as he grabbed onto the spear shaft with both hands, spitting out black blood from his mouth as he endured the intense pain, refusing to let go. Fu Ma continued to charge forward on horseback, while the iron-clad soldier used all his might to try and knock Gong Sun Zan off his horse by pushing against the spear shaft with his legs!

  Gongsun Zhan held the halberd with both hands and lifted up that iron-armored soldier, standing on his head. The iron-armored soldier also tightly hugged the halberd pole and refused to let go, wanting to drag Gongsun Zhan down with him even in death. Gongsun Zhan knew what he was thinking, he didn't want to die, he wanted to live! Gongsun Zhan's face was ferocious, full of murderous intent. He roared loudly: "Go die!"

  With both hands holding the halberd, he swung it forward with inertia, and the Qinglong Halberd brought the iron-armored soldier tied to the halberd head, heavily knocking down three or four hundred men in front of him. One of the hundred men was killed on the spot, decaying into ashes. Just like that, the iron-armored soldier's physical function had not been completely damaged, still maintaining its human shape. However, his hands were powerless to let go, and Gong Sun Ce pulled out the Qinglong Halberd with one hand and pulled the horse reins violently.

  Fu Ma eats pain, front hoof high, standing up. Gong Sun Ce holds a halberd in his right hand and stabs the iron armor soldier who has not died yet with one halberd. This halberd directly pierces the face of the iron armor soldier, and Gong Sun Ce instantly feels the joy of the Qinglong Halberd. Just as he killed this iron armor soldier, Guo Liang had already ridden his horse to surpass him, fiercely colliding with a group of enemy soldiers in front, followed by the Symbol Riding Soldiers who broke through the iron armor soldiers, all of whom were injured, and joined forces with Guo Liang to attack the enemy soldiers.

  Houfang Chengshen saw Gongsun Zan kill through the iron armor elite, although he lost more than 20 riders, but this was not what he should take care of. His task was to let Gongsun Zan break through the iron armor elite, and then launch another charge, using the momentum of the charge to completely disperse the remaining iron armor elite, and then join forces with Gongsun Zan's vanguard cavalry to annihilate them!

  After the 100 riders launched a charge, the 200 heavenly soldiers of the Du family followed closely behind, stopping their horses 100 meters away from the iron-clad vanguard. They drew their bows and shot, with arrow after arrow flying into the air, drawing out a death trajectory that fell more than 200 meters away. Just in time to shoot down the military soul following behind the hundred generals, isolating the White Wave Army's vanguard unit, and greatly relieving the pressure on Gongsun Zan's leading cavalry.

  The enemy's iron armor elite was lifted by Gong Sun Ce with one halberd, and the big axe iron armor soldier flew away. The dragon has no head, and it is unclear where to go. In the end, they all chose to turn back and kill Gong Sun Ce. Their own general Li Le's order was to kill the opponent's silver armor riding general, now is not the time to kill?

  Gongsun Zan seemed to have entered a state of frenzy, his three-meter-long Green Dragon Halberd striking out with ferocity, each blow fatal, killing seven or eight hundred-man generals. The arrows shot by the Du clan's heavenly soldiers fell sparse and scattered about ten meters in front of Gongsun Zan, and as he charged forward, his vanguard suddenly faced a baptism of arrow fire. Wanting to retreat, but with his own troops behind him, retreating was impossible; passive defense would undoubtedly lead to death, and only charging forward offered a way out. Thus, one by one, they fought bravely, killing their way forward.

  "Hold on! These mobs only lasted for a breath, and when that breath was gone, they weren't even worth as much as a rural woman or child!" Gong Sun Ce slaughtered these tattered and worn-out soldiers, their minds nearly in a daze, with only their instincts remaining sharp. His spear technique was already refined and exquisite, one thrust of the spear would hook, pull, and slash.

  These lowest-level chaotic army corpses accumulated layer upon layer under his horse, the speed at which the dead army souls' remnants rotted was actually unable to keep up with Gong Sun Zan's production of corpses! The symbols on his subordinates' horses were like scythes, harvesting the enemy's heads layer by layer, and the tiger symbol in Gong Sun Zan's arms began to emit heat once again.

  The most troublesome were the opponent's elite iron armor, who repeatedly joined forces to kill the symbol riders along with their horses. Seeing the arrow rain suppressing the military soul behind, Gong Sun Ce abandoned these chaotic military souls and turned his horse around to kill these iron armor soldiers again. The Qinglong spear in his hand was sharp and unstoppable, and with Gong Sun Ce's fierce and violent moves like a strong wind, the iron armor soldiers in front of him couldn't withstand his three moves!

  After Cheng Shen's hundred elite riders fiercely re-plowed the iron armor, the remaining iron armor soldiers were sparse. The symbol soldiers seemed to know that these iron armor soldiers were all big tonic, even if they couldn't beat them, they would fight to the death without hesitation.

  There is a saying that two fists cannot defeat four hands, and in an instant, the iron-clad army's souls were all annihilated. Just as Du Shi's heavenly soldiers' five-wheel arrow rain fell to the ground, Gong Sun Ce reorganized the remaining hundred or so cavalrymen and launched three fierce charges against the White Wave Army, although they achieved some victories, but could not shake the enemy army's fighting will.

  The remaining Yu Ji cavalry were precious, and Gongsun Zan couldn't bear to send them to their deaths, so he protected the wounded and slowly retreated. The White Wave army's vanguard pursued several times, but each time they were beaten back by Gongsun Zan with lightning speed.

  The morale of the White Wave Army was low, and the vanguard lacked officers, so they did not advance. No matter how much Li Yue urged them on, they still didn't see any progress. After seeing Gong Sun Zan retreat, he also knew that his infantry couldn't catch up with the cavalry. So he led his army to withdraw and planned to reorganize again.

  This time he lost big, although he killed nearly a hundred of Gong Sun's cavalry, but his army's morale was broken by one thousand seven or eight. The backbone of his forces, that is, the hereditary troops, were about to be completely annihilated, and this was what truly pained him.