Guo Luo stepped out of the military tent, looked at the starry sky, and took a deep breath of the crisp, cool air.

If we win this battle, the crisis in Longyou can be resolved; if we lose, the Western Expeditionary Army will suffer heavy losses, and Liangzhou will surely fall.

"Brother Guo Luo, are you nervous?" Wu Shangzhi walked up to him without him noticing.

Guo Luo smiled and said, "It would be a lie to say I'm not nervous. But think back to when we were in Shuozhou, we had only a few hundred men defending the city, and we didn't even have a heavy cavalry battalion. We weren't afraid of the tens of thousands of troops under the King of Loufan. Now we have 15,000 elite troops, what's there to be afraid of?"

Wu Shangzhi smiled as well: "Indeed. The Grand Commander often says that when two armies meet on a narrow path, the brave shall prevail. In this battle, we must win."

The two stood side by side, looking towards Liangzhou.

There, flickering lights mark the campfires of the Northern Barbarian camp.

Tomorrow, blood will flow there.

That night, in Broken Heart Valley.

The moonlight, like water, spilled onto the steep cliffs on both sides.

The valley was eerily quiet; not even the chirping of insects could be heard—they had long been startled away by the infiltrated soldiers.

Liu Yi stood behind a hidden rock and observed the valley with his telescope.

This telescope was made by Lu Da according to the blueprints given by Zhao Muyun. Although it was simple, it could clearly see the movements several miles away.

"Are the gun positions all set up?" he asked the artillery captain behind him.

"Twenty cannons, placed in ten positions, two cannons per position, fifty paces apart, all camouflaged," the centurion whispered. "Fifty shells for each position, ten of which are high-explosive shells."

Liu Yi nodded: "Tell the gunners that without orders, they are not allowed to move even if a knife is held to their throats. Anyone who exposes their position will be court-martialed."

"yes!"

On the other side, Lin Yuan's crossbowmen camp occupied a higher position.

Two thousand crossbowmen were divided into five teams and concealed themselves, with repeating crossbows in front and compound bows behind. Twenty ballistae were disassembled and transported up the mountain, where they were being reassembled.

"Aim the ballistae at the valley entrance and the open areas in the valley," Lin Yuan instructed. "The repeating crossbows will provide close-range coverage, while the compound bows will fire at medium range. Remember, fire in tiers; the rain of arrows must not stop."

"Don't worry, Commander. After three months of training, the brothers can shoot with their eyes closed."

Xi Sheng's Mo Dao battalion ambushed in the dense forest inside the valley entrance.

Two thousand brave warriors knelt on the ground, their long swords planted beside them, gleaming coldly in the moonlight.

"This battle is the first since the reconstruction of our Mo Dao Battalion."

Xi Sheng's voice wasn't loud, but every word struck the soldiers' hearts: "You all know how much silver the Grand Commander spent to forge these Mo Dao. Today, we will show the Northern Barbarians what it means for men and horses to be annihilated under the Mo Dao!"

Two thousand brave men silently gripped their sword hilts.

At midnight, Wu Shangzhi and Guo Luo led the main force out of the valley quietly, detoured north, and hid in a hilly area east of Liangzhou City.

The armor reflected the moonlight, but was then covered by a layer of mud and ash.

Everything is ready; we're just waiting for dawn.

......

On the walls of Liangzhou, Zhang Zan spent the entire night without sleep.

He received a secret message from a scout outside the city, learning of the plan to lure the enemy into an ambush.

At this moment, he felt both anticipation and worry.

The expectation is that if this plan succeeds, the main force of the Northern Barbarians will suffer heavy losses; the concern is that if Wuhan does not fall for it, or if the ambush fails, Liangzhou will be in dire straits.

"Sir, look." The lieutenant suddenly pointed north.

Zhang Zan looked in the direction the Northern Barbarian camp pointed and saw that the fire suddenly blazed brightly, and there were shouts and neighing of horses, as if there was a disturbance.

"What happened?"

Soon, a scout reported: "A fire has suddenly broken out in the Northern Barbarian camp, the cause of which is unknown."

Zhang Zan was taken aback, then a realization flashed in his eyes.

He looked towards the eastern horizon, where the sky was already beginning to lighten with the first hint of dawn.

It's almost dawn.

At dawn, ten miles east of Liangzhou City.

Murong Chunhua's three thousand light cavalry have already formed ranks.

In the dim light of dawn, the cavalrymen silently checked their bowstrings and swords, and fed their warhorses one last handful of beans.

They were the most mobile force in the western expeditionary army, a mercenary cavalry legion composed entirely of foreign tribes.

Each person was equipped with a horse bow, thirty arrows, a sword, and light armor to protect their vitals.

"Listen up, everyone."

Murong Chunhua rode slowly in front of the formation, his voice not loud, but clearly reaching the ears of every soldier: "Our mission is to lure the enemy, not to fight to the death."

"When you see the Northern Di soldiers, fire three volleys of arrows and then retreat towards Broken Heart Valley. Remember, you must look like you're losing, but don't panic. Anyone who is greedy for glory and wants to fight again, or who panics and flees, will be punished according to military law!"

"Yes, sir!" the three thousand men roared.

Guo Luo looked north.

On the horizon, the outline of the Northern Barbarian camp was faintly visible in the morning mist.

According to reports from last night, a fire suddenly broke out in the Northern Di camp. Right Wise King Wuhan was furious and executed a centurion.

This is a good thing, but it may also make Ughhan more vigilant.

"Brother Murong, the time has come," Huan Wu reminded him from the side.

Murong Chunhua nodded and drew her Embroidered Spring Blade: "Let's go!"

Three thousand light cavalrymen sped like arrows released from a bow towards the Northern Di camp.

The horse's hooves kicked up billowing dust, resembling a yellow dragon in the rising sun.

In the Northern Barbarian camp, the soldiers on the watchtowers were the first to notice the anomaly.

"Yinren cavalry! A large number of cavalry!"

The siren blared throughout the camp in an instant.

The Northern Di soldiers grabbed their weapons and, under the command of their officers, charged toward the camp.

What they saw was this scene: about three thousand light cavalrymen of the Yin Dynasty reined in their horses a mile outside the camp and began to draw their bows and nock their arrows.

"put!"

At Murong Chunhua's command, three thousand arrows rained down on the Northern Di camp like locusts.

The third-generation composite bow had an extremely long range; arrows fired from 300 paces away landed on the palisades and tents, causing chaos in the Northern Di camp.

"How dare they!" Inside the golden tent, Wuhan was furious upon hearing the news. "I haven't even gone to find them yet, and they've delivered themselves to my doorstep! Issue the order: ten thousand cavalry will follow me into battle and annihilate these ignorant southerners!"

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