333: Chapter 0333 Even More Anxious Than Us

From a distance, Lin Xiao saw thousands of cavalrymen, armed with bows and crossbows, rapidly approaching.

They were clearly well-trained; upon spotting the Zhenbei Army, they immediately maneuvered to the flanks instead of charging directly.

This was a major characteristic of combat on the grasslands—because it was so vast, formations could be spread out very thinly.

Under these circumstances, it wasn't easy for Lin Xiao to kill a large number of enemies single-handedly; the importance of crossbowmen began to become particularly prominent.

A leading general rode a tall horse, wearing a silver helmet, with eyes like a hawk.

[Enke, 47 years old, Northern Barbarian Army Myriarch, Aptitude: Earth Grade]

Lin Xiao had heard from Princess Meng Xi that there were no more than ten Myriarchs in the entire Northern Barbarian lands, making them high-ranking generals second only to Marshal Suhe.

It seemed Khan Jilun knew they were about to enter Tengri and was finally getting serious.

"General Lin, those are the elites of the Northern Barbarian Army. Their crossbows have a long range. Once they get within two hundred paces, they can pierce through armor!"

Princess Meng Xi quickly warned him, her heart jumping into her throat as she watched the equivalent number of Northern Barbarians approach.

She knew the Zhenbei Army was powerful, but the problem was that they were deep in enemy territory.

The Zhenbei Army's reinforcements—Lu Sanchuan, Zhao Yunting, and the others—would still take several days to arrive!

Of these five thousand men currently present, every injury was a permanent loss!

"Fire!!"

But just then, Li Xu shouted the order, and the Zhenbei Army's crossbowmen released their bolts ahead of time!

Dense volleys of arrows shot from composite crossbows, cutting through the unobstructed grassland sky and falling directly onto the Barbarian Army!

The Barbarians' leather armor couldn't stop the highly penetrative fine iron arrowheads at all; they fell one by one in an instant!

Princess Meng Xi was stunned!

This distance had to be at least three hundred paces, right!?

The Barbarian Army clearly hadn't expected to be outranged by the very weapons they took pride in!

In an instant, hundreds of Barbarians in the front fell. Those behind couldn't advance or retreat, and they froze in place!

But the Zhenbei Army didn't stop; the main force pressed forward, firing round after round of crossbow bolts.

Their strategy was simple: I can hit you, but you can't hit me!

"Such powerful crossbows... General Lin, why are your crossbows different from those of the Qing Kings Army?"

"Princess Meng Xi, do you think my Zhenbei Army's military factory is just for show?"

As Lin Xiao spoke, a group of men in the back pushed out several massive crossbow carts from seemingly nowhere.

These crossbows required two people to assist in moving and loading, while one person operated them from the rear.

They were loaded with over a dozen long bolts each!

"This... what is this now!?"

Princess Meng Xi had never seen such a thing, but just looking at the thick bolts, she knew their power wouldn't be small!

"This is called a Ballista. It's not some high-end tech; I just had the masters at the military factory modify it so it can be easily assembled and disassembled."

"When needed, just unload it from the horse and assemble it."

At Lin Xiao's command, thirty-odd Ballistas began a devastating performance!

Swoosh! Swoosh! Swoosh!—

Countless sounds of whistling air rang out. Not only were the Barbarians shot down, but even their horses were pierced through!

Seeing this, Princess Meng Xi's mouth hung open in shock, unable to say a word!

If they had a few hundred of these things, what was the point of fighting? They could just steamroll everything!

What kind of terrifying place was the Zhenbei Military Factory!?

Not only had Princess Meng Xi never seen it, but the Barbarian Army was completely panicked. Several Centurions shouted for them to maintain formation, but it was useless.

After two rounds of baptism by the Ballistas, over a thousand Barbarians had lost their fighting capacity!

In the rear, Myriarch Enke's brow was furrowed, his eyes filled with bewilderment and rage.

"Retreat!!"

He knew the Zhenbei Army was not to be trifled with, but he didn't expect it to be this ridiculous—they couldn't even get close!?

Following Enke's order, the Barbarian Army fled in panic.

Lin Xiao was about to give chase when Princess Meng Xi stopped him.

"General Lin! Don't chase them yet!!"

Lin Xiao frowned. "Why?"

"Up ahead is the Xiata Valley; it has a funnel-shaped terrain."

"If I'm not mistaken, the purpose of the enemy general's strike was to lure you into the valley!"

"The Northern Barbarian Army's specialty is luring the enemy deep and then flanking them."

"We Western Qiang have suffered many losses to this. I am definitely not being alarmist!"

Princess Meng Xi said solemnly, "If you don't believe me, you can send scouts to investigate. They certainly have their main ambush force nearby!"

General Wu Jinzhe and the others behind them nodded repeatedly, thinking it made sense.

"General Lin, I've also heard of Xiata Valley. Many famous generals in the history of the Central Plains have lost troops and officers at this location."

Zhao Caiwei said, "Husband, should I personally take some people to scout it out?"

Lin Xiao shook his head. "No need. Since it's likely a trap, we'll just step right into it!"

He turned his horse around and said to everyone, "I'll go meet the enemy general first. You all follow behind and come over after half an incense stick's time!"

The two women and the soldiers were stunned for a moment, then they all nodded silently.

"Yes, General!"

After speaking, Lin Xiao galloped off in the direction the Barbarian Army had fled.

Princess Meng Xi didn't even have time to react. When she regained her senses, she realized how absurd the situation was!!

"General Mu, General Zhao, you... you just let him go like that!?"

Wanying nodded. "That's right."

"What do you mean, 'that's right'!!"

Princess Meng Xi was frantic, her face flushed with anxiety. "He's one man! How can he face the Barbarian Army's thousands of troops!? Once he enters Xiata Valley, it'll be hard to get out!"

Wanying and Zhao Caiwei exchanged a look; it was hard to explain that their husband was already a Land Immortal and it would be hard for him to die even if he wanted to.

However, Princess Meng Xi's reaction was truly interesting.

"He is our husband. Why is the Princess more anxious than us?" Zhao Caiwei asked calmly.

"I..." Princess Meng Xi was speechless. Was this the time for that!?

Crucially, General Wu Jinzhe and the others were actually smirking nearby, seemingly finding her reaction very amusing.

"Alright, Your Highness, there's no need to worry about our General. He's always liked to fight alone. He's been like this since the day we met him."

Qin He and several other veteran Border Army generals all nodded in agreement.

"Back then, General Lin became famous in the Northern Border by repelling Batu's ten-thousand-man vanguard all by himself. This is a small scene!"

Princess Meng Xi sat on her horse, dumbfounded, her thoughts scattered in the wind.

She realized that she seemed to know... nothing about Lin Xiao or the Zhenbei Army.

Meanwhile, Lin Xiao was excitedly galloping into Xiata Valley.

Through his perception, he confirmed that there was indeed a large number of Barbarians nearby.

He had been bored to death these past few days. Not only was there no need for him to act in battle, but these grasslands were so poor there wasn't even much grass left. He couldn't find any treasures with Dragon Seeking and Point Locating, so he'd just been looking at the scenery!

Now that he'd finally caught a main force of the Barbarian Army trying to "surround and annihilate" him, he naturally had to cherish it.

At the same time, Enke, who was feigning retreat, felt something was wrong.

"Why is there no movement behind us?" Enke stopped his horse and asked the subordinate next to him.

Before long, the cavalry from the rear guard came to report:

"Lord Enke, the Zhenbei Army didn't follow! Only their commander-in-chief is chasing us!!"

"..."

Enke was stunned for several seconds before asking again, "You said... just him alone?"

The cavalryman nodded vigorously, fearing Enke wouldn't believe him:

"Really! Just one person!"