461: Chapter 461 The Situation is Set

Upon receiving news of the enemy's arrival, Di Pingjian and the King did not dare delay for a moment, immediately setting out to organize their troops.

Fortunately, as they had just undergone a fierce battle, the soldiers were essentially already in a state of battle-readiness, allowing the reorganization to proceed with exceptional speed.

In only half a stick of incense's time, the entire army had already formed into powerful and tight military formations.

When they learned that the incoming Alliance Army numbered only about three hundred thousand, Di Pingjian and the King did not choose to defend passively in place. Instead, they decisively made the same choice as before—taking the initiative to attack, leading five hundred thousand soldiers like a surging torrent to strike at the incoming Alliance Army.

Before long, the two massive armies met in a hilly region a hundred miles away. Neither side wasted breath on words; the moment they met, they launched into a soul-stirring slaughter like hungry tigers pouncing on their prey.

Since the Alliance Army's numbers were nearly half of the Chaotian Dynasty army led by the King and Di Pingjian, and because the Alliance Army lacked cavalry—consisting entirely of ordinary soldiers skilled in siege warfare—they were at a disadvantage. In contrast, the King and Di Pingjian's side not only possessed a vast number of infantry but also nearly thirty thousand cavalry. As time passed, the Alliance Army gradually fell into a passive state, being beaten back step by step as many soldiers began to flee in panic in all directions.

Seeing the enemy retreat like a ebbing tide, the morale of the Chaotian Dynasty soldiers soared. They raised their voices in deafening battle cries, charging toward the enemy like a surging torrent with the force of an overwhelming mountain.

In the face of this powerful Aura, the enemy's defensive lines collapsed instantly. The soldiers were struck with terror, discarding their armor and weapons as they fled like cornered rats.

After half a day of fierce slaughter, this incoming Alliance force had been utterly annihilated by the Chaotian Dynasty army led by the King and Di Pingjian. On the battlefield, corpses littered the ground and blood flowed like rivers; the tragic scene was shocking to behold.

However, just as the massacre was about to end, Di Pingjian made an unexpected decision—she deliberately let the final remaining Alliance fugitives, numbering less than thirty thousand, escape.

Di Pingjian's reason for doing this was rooted in deep strategic considerations. She knew that this war was not just about eliminating the enemy's active forces, but more importantly, about completely crushing the enemy psychologically.

By letting these defeated soldiers go, Di Pingjian wanted the enemy's army of over nine million to know the invincible bravery of the Chaotian Dynasty's soldiers. She wanted to plant the seeds of fear in the enemy's hearts toward the Chaotian Dynasty's army, letting that fear take root and become an indelible shadow.

In this way, as soon as the Alliance Army heard news of an impending attack from the Chaotian Dynasty, they would feel fear from the depths of their souls, like sheep seeing wolves or mice seeing a cat. This fear would cause them to lose their courage to fight, and even their will to resist would vanish.

Furthermore, there was another important reason. Just as the battle was nearing its end, a soldier had rushed over to report: the five thousand Martial Artists sent out earlier had actually succeeded in intercepting and killing the enemy's one hundred and fifty thousand cavalry! This was undoubtedly a massive victory, but it also brought some problems.

Although the Martial Artists were powerful and prepared, the enemy's numbers were simply too great. Unlike Qi Refining Cultivators, the Martial Artists did not have their own Magic Treasures and Talismans to rely on, so they had exerted immense effort and paid a heavy price in that fierce battle.

According to the soldier's report, while most of the Alliance's relief cavalry had been successfully killed, several tens of thousands had managed to escape. Meanwhile, our five thousand Martial Artists were exhausted after such a tragic battle; many had collapsed to the ground, and several thousand had sustained light injuries.

Facing this situation, Di Pingjian knew that if she forcibly ordered these exhausted Martial Artists to immediately strike the enemy's main camp, it would be difficult to achieve ideal results and might instead lead to greater losses. Therefore, she did not suggest the King issue such an order immediately, but instead advocated for the Martial Artists to take a short rest to recover their strength before making further plans.

After a full hour of intense reorganization, the originally chaotic situation was finally brought under effective control. The ten thousand soldiers who were injured or unfortunately killed in the recent fierce battle were properly settled and handled. At the same time, those five thousand Martial Artists utilized pre-prepared high-nutrition, high-energy supplements to quickly recover their strength, essentially returning to their original state.

Once everything was ready, the King and Di Pingjian issued the formal order without hesitation: The entire army is to attack and strike directly at the heart of the Alliance Army's main camp!

Surprisingly, after the previous two rounds of soul-stirring battles, the army led by Di Pingjian and the King had not decreased at all. Instead, like a rolling snowball, their numbers had actually increased to seven hundred thousand!

The main reason for this was that the subsequent large army deployed from the city had moved with exceptional speed, far exceeding Di Pingjian's expectations. The timely arrival of these fresh reinforcements not only greatly enhanced their strength but also injected new vitality and confidence into this crucial campaign.

Di Pingjian proposed a bold plan: dispatch fifty thousand ordinary cavalry as a vanguard to spread rumors within the Alliance Army. These rumors claimed that the Alliance Army's grain supplies had been completely burned to ashes by the Chaotian Dynasty's divine troops, and that the Chaotian Dynasty was aided by Divine Beings who possessed immortal arts and divine techniques of terrifying power, which ordinary Alliance soldiers could never hope to resist.

The King deeply agreed with this proposal, believing it to be a brilliant strategy that could effectively disrupt the enemy's morale. Thus, he unhesitatingly ordered fifty thousand ordinary cavalry to execute this mission.

However, Di Pingjian was not entirely certain whether the thirty thousand Shadow Kill Squad members she and the King had sent out earlier had successfully burned the enemy's grain and supplies.

Nevertheless, she analyzed that even if the enemy's grain and supplies weren't completely destroyed, the Alliance Army had now lost its reinforcements.

And their own side not only possessed elite units like the Flying Horse cavalry but also the support of numerous Martial Artists.

Under these circumstances, even if they couldn't annihilate the entire nine million strong Alliance Army, they were fully capable of dealing a heavy blow and sending them fleeing in disarray.

Just as the fifty thousand Chaotian Dynasty soldiers began spreading the rumors ordered by the King near the Alliance Army's encampment, the Alliance Army's morale began to waver. Many soldiers knew that not long ago, a powerful army of black-clad cavalry had suddenly appeared like divine troops from the heavens, not only burning a large portion of their grain and supplies but also putting the Alliance Army in a passive position.

Although the high-ranking generals of the Alliance Army had claimed the mysterious black-clad cavalry had only burned a portion of the grain, this claim was clearly no longer sustainable. As rumors flew everywhere, soldiers began asking around, only to find that news of their grain being completely destroyed was being spread everywhere.

This news was like a bombshell, instantly causing a massive uproar within the Alliance Army. The soldiers' moods grew increasingly heavy as they began to worry about how they would survive without grain. After all, food is the staff of life; without it, how could they have the strength to fight?

Panic spread rapidly, and the Alliance Army, which had been relatively stable, now became fraught with anxiety. Soldiers whispered and discussed amongst themselves, filled with worry and fear regarding the future of the war.

The originally calm Alliance camp suddenly became noisy. Numerous soldiers surged toward the generals' tents like a tide, shouting emotionally and demanding that the generals immediately distribute their rations.

However, faced with the soldiers' strong demands, the generals appeared helpless. They looked at each other with expressions of helplessness and embarrassment on their faces, because they knew in their hearts that there was simply not enough grain to distribute.

As time passed, the soldiers' emotions became increasingly agitated and uneasy. They began to push, shove, and argue with one another, and some even started fighting. The entire camp fell into chaos, and the originally orderly ranks were thrown into complete disarray.

Although some generals tried to pacify the angry soldiers, their efforts were like a drop in the bucket. The soldiers had lost faith in the generals' promises; they only wanted actual rations to fill their stomachs.

After their demands for grain went unanswered, the soldiers' dissatisfaction escalated further. They began to shout in unison, demanding to withdraw back to their own dynasties and return home to reunite with their families. The cries of the soldiers from outside the two Great Dynasties were particularly loud and emotional.

Facing this situation, the commanders of the Alliance Army were caught in a dilemma. On one hand, they knew the difficulties and risks of continuing the invasion of the Chaotian Dynasty; on the other hand, they could not satisfy the soldiers' demands, and morale was already in total chaos.

After a round of fierce discussion and weighing the options, the Alliance commanders finally made the helpless decision to withdraw, abandoning the plan to attack the Chaotian Dynasty. Although this decision left them frustrated and unwilling, under the current circumstances, there seemed to be no better choice.

The Alliance Army had no time to continue their encirclement of the Shadow Kill Squad cavalry, as the Shadow Kill Squad had already suffered immense losses. The originally grand force of thirty thousand Shadow Kill Squad members was now reduced to less than twenty thousand under the heavy siege of the Alliance Army, and they were still struggling bitterly.

However, despite such a predicament, the Shadow Kill Squad cavalry showed no intention of retreating. They knew their mission was accomplished—they had successfully burned all of the enemy's grain and supplies. This undoubtedly dealt a heavy blow to the Alliance Army and was a major contribution to their country.

At this critical moment of life and death, these heroic and fearless Shadow Kill Squad cavalrymen chose to sacrifice themselves for their country on the battlefield. They fought a life-and-death struggle against the Alliance soldiers without fear, everyone giving their all and putting life and death aside.

The fall of every Shadow Kill Squad cavalryman meant taking more than ten Alliance soldiers with them. They used their lives as the price to inflict massive losses on the enemy. Had the Alliance's battle formations not been so exquisite, each of them likely could have taken even more enemy soldiers down before they fell.

The Shadow Kill Squad cavalry fought bravely in the enemy camp, charging at the foe without fear, their spears and sabers flashing like cold light in the air.

However, facing the enemy's attacks that came like a rising tide, they already felt their strength failing. A sense of despair couldn't help but well up in their hearts: Were they to be buried here today?

Just when they felt certain they would die, a miracle occurred—the enemy's attacks suddenly weakened!

The originally fierce offensive became weak and listless, as if they had lost their fighting spirit.

This sudden change left the Shadow Kill Squad cavalry astonished, but they had no time to ponder the reason, as the enemy's withdrawal was already underway.

Within just a few minutes, those Alliance soldiers who had been surrounding and slaughtering them actually began to take the initiative to retreat, bit by bit.

This scene filled the Shadow Kill Squad cavalry with overwhelming joy; they could hardly believe their eyes.

However, joy did not cloud their heads. They quickly realized that the King and the State Preceptor must have led the army to support them!

At this thought, the Shadow Kill Squad cavalry all breathed a sigh of relief, the tension and fear in their hearts instantly replaced by a sense of being unburdened.

They were filled with gratitude toward the King and the State Preceptor; had they not arrived in time, they would likely have already lost their lives in the Yellow Springs.

At this moment, the Shadow Kill Squad's reverence for the King and the State Preceptor grew even deeper. They resolved to fight bravely in the coming battles to live up to the King and State Preceptor's grace in saving them and not abandoning them.

Di Pingjian and the King were both quite surprised. They had originally thought the enemy would put up a desperate struggle, but they hadn't expected the Alliance Army to be so fragile; they had already begun to retreat before they even truly engaged in battle.

Di Pingjian and the King led the army in pursuit. Those Alliance forces they caught up with were like a heap of loose sand, possessing no power to fight back. Many soldiers had already raised their hands in surrender before the fighting even started, which was somewhat unexpected for Di Pingjian and the King.

However, this time Di Pingjian and the King did not execute all these surrendered soldiers as they had in the past. Instead, they chose to accept their surrender and handed them over to the army continuously being deployed from the city to handle them.

Naturally, during the pursuit, some Alliance soldiers chose to resist, but their strength was simply too weak and they were easily killed by the Chaotian Dynasty's army.

This soul-stirring pursuit lasted for a full half-month. Ultimately, the Alliance Army of over nine million was nearly wiped out entirely, with only a few generals from the two Great Dynasties managing to escape under the escort of a small number of cavalry.

After a month's time, the Chaotian Dynasty conducted a thorough clearing and reorganization of these surrendered troops.

In this tragic war, the Chaotian Dynasty took in a total of five million surrendered Alliance troops, the vast majority of whom were soldiers from small and medium-sized dynasties.

During the fighting, the Chaotian Dynasty had also slain as many as four million Alliance soldiers and generals. As for the remaining several hundred thousand, their whereabouts were unknown; perhaps they had already perished in the mountains during their flight.

After this battle, the two Great Dynasties were no longer able to organize another Alliance Army from the various small and medium dynasties to crusade against the Chaotian Dynasty.

Di Pingjian and the King believed that their unification of the human dynasties was now a settled matter!

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