Chapter 278 Dominating Jiannan Road

The yak horn bugle sounded, and the formation of the Xikang Army began to shift; the Cavalry appeared on the right flank, while the Sword and Shield Soldiers in the center began to stride forward, heading toward the caltrops that lay across the middle of the battlefield.

"The Commander is truly prescient; the Xikang Army has indeed sent out their Sword and Shield Soldiers first. It looks like they intend to destroy our caltrops."

Liu Rengui's expression remained calm, his mood completely unaffected by his subordinate's flattery. He simply gave a hum of acknowledgment before ordering,

"Proceed according to the plan."

"Understood!"

As the command flag waved, the formation of the Nanyue Army also began to change. The caltrops were moved and placed on both flanks of the main army, revealing the heavily armored Sword and Shield Soldiers in the center.

However, facing the opponent's Sword and Shield Soldiers, the weapons in their hands had been swapped for Golden Gourd Maces.

Having suffered several losses from blunt weapons, the Xikang Army had equipped themselves with quite a few this time. However, due to their backward smelting technology, they had only managed to equip less than a thousand iron maces.

Yet even with only a thousand, they played a significant role. As the two armies clashed, these Xikang soldiers wielding iron maces still inflicted considerable casualties.

Unfortunately, their numbers were simply too few. In less than half an hour, these heavy infantrymen had been wiped out, and the Xikang Army quickly fell into a disadvantageous position.

By this time, the infantry of both sides were already locked in combat, and the Xikang Cavalry could not charge the formation at all, only able to fire arrows from a distance on the flanks.

However, to the heavily armored soldiers of the Beiwei Army, these arrows were no different from a tickle. Conversely, the counterattacks from the heavy crossbows in the Nanyue Army formation caused significant damage.

Seeing that they couldn't break through at all, Tuoba Rui became anxious. He drew a command flag and handed it to two chieftains beside him.

"Take your own troops and go up; you must find a way to tear open a gap."

"Understood!"

Tuoba Rui had long since devised several plans to deal with the Nanyue Army's heavy infantry, and the one currently being employed was naturally the second plan.

Four or five Xikang soldiers charged at a Beiwei Army soldier as if their lives didn't matter. Together, they pinned the Beiwei Army soldier to the ground, then opened him up like a tin can, stripping off his helmet before killing him with a blade.

This tactic was very effective, but the price paid was extremely brutal; often, to kill one Nanyue Army soldier, the Xikang Army would suffer three or four casualties.

Liu Rengui was not afraid of such a war of attrition. He continuously directed his soldiers to step forward and plug the gaps in the defensive line, which caused the Xikang Army's front line to not only fail to advance an inch but instead retreat by dozens of paces.

Just as the two sides were locked in melee combat, chaos suddenly erupted behind the Xikang Army.

Tuoba Rui was just about to find someone to investigate what had happened when a soldier ran over quickly.

"Re... Report to the Commander, a Nanyue Army unit has appeared behind... behind our army and is attacking the rear guard and the laborers. I implore the Commander to send troops to rescue them immediately."

Tuoba Rui finally remembered something he had overlooked: where had the Nanyue Army that had been attacking them all along the way gone?

Now the answer was revealed. After completing their tasks, those Nanyue Army soldiers had secretly gathered together, watching them intently from the shadows like a poisonous snake, ready to deliver a fatal blow at any moment.

Now, this surprise force of over four thousand men led by Xia Luqi had appeared, and while Tuoba Rui was unable to free himself, they struck a fierce blow to their rear.

What kind of combat capability could a rear guard have? Coupled with some laborers who were purely there as cannon fodder, how could they withstand thousands of elites led by a top-tier killer like Xia Luqi?

The rear guard commander was a young general from the Feiting clan. After clashing with Xia Luqi for only three rounds, he was pierced in the throat by a spear, and his young life came to an end at that very moment.

Once the commander was dead, the rear guard fell into complete chaos. The soldiers and laborers fleeing in panic instead crashed into the center army, causing the Xikang center army to fall into chaos as well.

This was fatal for the Xikang Army. By the time Tuoba Rui sent two tribal chieftains with three thousand men to turn back, Xia Luqi had already gone berserk.

The long spear in his hand was like a silver vicious dragon, continuously devouring the lives of the Xikang soldiers.

Just as the Xikang rear guard was in turmoil, the Beiwei Army at the front also began to shift formations. The Sword and Shield Soldiers, having completed a bloody battle, retreated, and the Great Shield Soldiers appeared, beginning to advance slowly like a wall of steel.

As the formation advanced, medical soldiers rushed forward to begin rescuing the wounded, sending them to the rear after simple bandaging and disinfection.

Caught in a pincer attack from front and back, Tuoba Rui knew he had to fight for his life today, otherwise, the outcome would be total annihilation. With a wave of his command flag, the Xikang Cavalry began to charge at the Nanyue Army formation regardless of casualties.

Against the Northern Liang Iron Cavalry, the Great Shield formation's effect was not obvious, but against the relatively poorly equipped Xikang Cavalry, the Nanyue Army's Great Shield formation was very effective.

The Great Shield formation, which had been advancing slowly, suddenly stopped and began to move to the flanks, blocking in front of the spearmen. Spears poked out diagonally from the gaps, and behind them, archers and crossbowmen fired continuously in high arcs.

"Boom..."

"Ah..."

The sound of flesh and blood colliding with steel shields rang out continuously, and the screams coming from everywhere gave one a chilling feeling.

Tuoba Rui knew this was sending the Cavalry to their deaths, but he had no choice. He needed to buy time—time for him to lead his men to break out of the encirclement.

Seeing that the Cavalry had already charged up, Tuoba Rui gritted his teeth, turned his horse around, and led his men to charge toward Xia Luqi.

Tuoba Rui was also a fierce and brave man. Combined with his resolve to fight to the death and his superior numbers, Xia Luqi was unable to hold him back for a moment, allowing Tuoba Rui to lead his men and break through.

However, most of the Xikang soldiers were still stopped by him, which had already achieved Gao Yuan's goal.

As long as the main force of the Xikang Army was wiped out, whether or not Tuoba Rui's head was taken didn't really matter much. In a sense, beheading Tuoba Rui might provoke the anger of the Xikang people even more, and the retaliation would come faster.

Having fought his way out, Tuoba Rui's mind was exceptionally clear at this moment. He knew there was no hope for Song Prefecture, so he could only send someone to take a side path to notify Ye Cijian to immediately lead his army to withdraw from Song Prefecture and detour back to Yaizhou.

But when he saw the Nanyue Army flag flying on the walls of Yaizhou, he knew all his hopes had been shattered.

Taking one last unwilling look at the city walls, Tuoba Rui gritted his teeth and spat out a sentence,

"Retreat, withdraw directly to the plateau."

On the other side, Ye Cijian in Song Prefecture received the news and also led his army to break out under the cover of night. Although Gao Yuan intercepted the troops from the flank, they managed to retreat with most of their men, preserving their strength.

At this point, Gao Yuan had successfully recovered Song Prefecture and Yaizhou, routed the thirty-thousand-strong Xikang Army, beheaded over four thousand, captured nearly twenty thousand, rescued nearly ten thousand Han slaves, and seized nearly five thousand warhorses.

As for these twenty thousand captives, they were all used to exchange for the abducted Han civilians and some livestock.

On the road to triumph, the system's notification also arrived.

"SS-rank Life Module, Overlord's Notebook Exclusive Event: Fatherly Love is Like a Mountain;

Event Goal: Completely occupy Jiannan Circuit within two years (Completed);

Congratulations, Host, the physical fitness of the Host's son, Gao Cheng, has been greatly enhanced. Acquired character template: Zhu Di, maximum character comprehensive rating: S+."

Lacking culture, Gao Yuan could only use the phrase "What the hell" to describe his current mood. He had worked hard for over a decade just to reach an A-rank rating, and his son was guaranteed an S+ upper limit right from the start.

"By the way, System, what is the rating for the Emperor Taizong of Tang, Li Shimin template?"

"Li Shimin template, maximum character comprehensive rating: SS."

His heart ached so much he couldn't breathe.