When passing through the capital, Lin Mo did not enter the city. Instead, he ordered the Imperial Guards stationed in the capital to leave the city, and then led them away at full speed.

The battle situation in Liangzhou did not allow him to linger.

With the disappearance of Tyrant Mode, all Nightmare Cavalry have reverted to Faith Points, becoming "points" in Lin Mo's system!

The good news is that the Imperial Guards he previously redeemed still exist, although their abilities have been greatly weakened.

Their current strength is only 30-40% higher than that of the Tang Dynasty's Xuanjia Heavy Cavalry.

Lin Mo had counted the number; there were over five hundred people in total.

Unfortunately, this unit system shop no longer supports redemption and upgrades.

Since it's a new system, all the settings have to be redone from scratch.

The points mall naturally became level one!

The Imperial Guards are an elite force that can only be redeemed in the four-star shop.

And of these 500 people, every death is one less.

Lin Mo didn't want to use it lightly unless absolutely necessary!

Following the scouts to the Great Xia army's camp in Liangzhou, Lin Mo dismounted and ordered, "Raise the tent and hoist my banner."

I didn't keep him waiting long.

The tent flap was then lifted.

Important generals such as Qin Liangyu, Xu Chu, and Sun Yang were all present.

"My lord, you've finally arrived!" Xu Chu shouted, his body crowding the entire doorway.

As he spoke, he opened his arms and gave Lin Mo a warm hug.

"It's not like we've been apart for a long time, don't make it so bromance-filled!" Lin Mo said.

"Hehe, I, Old Xu, am not gay!"

"Damn!" No matter when, no matter how bad his mood was, Lin Mo would always be amused by Xu Chu's goofy antics. "Everyone's here? Let's begin! Qin Liangyu, you give the report."

"Yes, my lord!" Qin Liangyu cupped his hands in greeting, then unfolded the map and laid it flat.

"The remnants of Huo Minggao's son's forces are in our north, and our enemies still hold Longxian and Hanyang. On the other hand, that guy who calls himself Constantine is stationed in the west, and unless war breaks out, they will continue to threaten Shu!"

Seven days ago, the 30,000 troops I sent out were completely annihilated by them, and their morale is high.

Looking further east, there's still that savage army.

Meanwhile, reliable sources indicate that the barbarian army intends to advance eastward and attack the capital of our Great Xia!

"Have you found out the name of the savage army's commander?"

Bjorn!

Lin Mo frowned immediately. This person must be "Warrior Bjorn"!

This man was the youngest son of Ragnar Lodbrok, a pioneer of early Viking expeditions.

He successively conquered Paris, the capital of France, swallowed up "Rome," and set fire to the city, a small town where Caesar, Pompey, and Crassus met 900 years ago and decided the fate of the Roman Republic.

Later, they established the Musso dynasty in Sweden, which ruled for more than 200 years.

"These are all incredibly famous big shots!" Lin Mo couldn't help but think.

Upon hearing Qin Liangyu's report, Lin Mo began to ponder.

“No matter how strong the Vikings are, they are still infantry,” Lin Mo analyzed. “Logically speaking, heavy cavalry would be their nemesis.”

"Or, we could use a dense formation of horse archers to engage them in a prolonged stalemate."

"At the same time, these Nordic barbarians are all very strong, and tactics may be their weakness."

But relying solely on heavy cavalry is definitely not an option.

Why?

The existence of Constantine I!

Besides armored cavalry, the Eastern Roman Empire also had another famous military unit: the Roman phalanx!

Both the Macedonian phalanx and the ancient Roman phalanx originated from the classical Greek pike phalanx, so they have many similarities!

The Roman phalanx, on the other hand, possessed a long-range weapon called the javelin.

This heavy javelin has a maximum throwing range of approximately sixty feet. It has a four-and-a-half-foot-long metal shaft with an iron tip.

The rear end is a 4.5-foot-long wooden pole with a rope wound around it. Pulling the rope at the moment of throwing causes the javelin to spin forward, capable of piercing shields or armor. The front and rear ends are usually secured with two pins.

The most distinctive feature of a javelin is its sharpness and thinness. This allows the spearhead to bend and deform after killing an enemy, preventing the enemy from picking it up and throwing it back.

When Qin Liangyu confronted them, she suffered many losses due to a lack of information.

Based on Lin Mo's knowledge on Earth, the best way to deal with well-trained Roman phalanx soldiers was to lure them into the mountains, making it impossible for them to maintain their formation, and then annihilate them in disarray.

But firstly, the opposing general is the renowned Constantine, who is not so easily fooled.

Moreover, if they were to engage in open field battles in the mountains, the Tang heavy cavalry would lose their advantage of open terrain, and wouldn't the Vikings be laughing all the way to the bank?

Finally, there's another headache-inducing problem.

The system also includes Byzantine heavy armored cavalry, and the required faith points (points) for upgrading them are almost identical to those for the Tang Dynasty Xuanjia heavy armored cavalry. Given the system's straightforward design, the combat strength of the armored cavalry and the Tang Dynasty Xuanjia heavy armored cavalry should be roughly the same.

"This is difficult, so difficult!"

Just as I was struggling with this decision, a system notification came through.

[Young man, you noticed the Byzantine heavy armored cavalry, but have you noticed the Jin Dynasty's Iron Pagoda heavy armored cavalry?]

"Hmm?" Lin Mo narrowed his eyes.

The Iron Pagoda, also known as the Iron Pagoda Cavalry, was a type of heavy cavalry in the Jin Dynasty. It belonged to the Jin general Wanyan Zongbi (Jin Wuzhu) and accompanied Jin Wuzhu in his campaigns, along with the Guai Zi Ma (Hooked Horse Cavalry), achieving great military exploits.

My dear reader, there's more to this chapter! Please click the next page to continue reading—even more exciting content awaits!