Chapter 503 Coming to Battle
Duke Ji pulled on the reins and led his men towards the spot the scouts had discovered.
Now, the only option is to confront them head-on. The King of Chu is no pushover, and his troops are mostly elite soldiers. No matter how ingenious the strategy, it's useless in the face of absolute strength. Now, we can only lead our army and fight it out.
Duke Ji took the lead and charged forward with his army. On the other side, King Chu, sitting on his horse, squinted at the billowing dust as the army sped towards them and quickly drew his sword.
"Mingde, lead three thousand cavalry to flank from the rear! Mingxiu, five thousand men to encircle from the right flank! Changning! Mingxiao! Charge head-on with me!! Kill!!"
After speaking, the King of Chu led the charge and rushed forward instantly, with Lin Changning and Li Mingxiao following closely behind. The cavalry behind them kept up closely, and Lin Changning gripped his newly issued sword tightly in his hand, following beside the King of Chu.
Behind the two men were cavalrymen carrying battle flags. As they charged, the flags fluttered loudly in the wind, and the two armies stood facing each other like two torrents of steel under the sunlight.
"kill!"
It's unclear who shouted first, but the imperial soldiers in red armor raised their spears at the head of the army formation, cleaving the air diagonally as they charged towards the King of Chu.
Lin Changning followed beside the King of Chu and saw that the enemy's leader was an old man with gray hair who was over fifty years old. The King of Chu laughed twice and said, "Duke Ji, His Majesty really thinks highly of us. He even invited you out."
Duke Ji swiftly swung his long sword toward the side of King Chu, but before he could get close, Li Mingxiao and Lin Changning blocked him from the left and right. Lin Changning forcefully deflected Duke Ji's long sword that was aimed at King Chu.
As expected of a veteran general, Duke Ji was ruthless and taciturn, and his swordsmanship was superb. He actually fought Lin Changning to a standstill, and Li Mingxiao was almost knocked off his horse by Duke Ji's sword several times.
Seeing this, Lin Changning and the King of Chu each held the general beside the Duke of Qi's arm, while Lin Changning fought back and forth with the Duke of Ji. The soldiers behind them seemed to be on steroids, their black armor surging into the red battle formation like a steel torrent.
Lin Changning's side had the advantage. Overwhelmed by numbers, the red battle formation was crushed in no time, and countless imperial soldiers perished.
Lin Changning, the Prince of Chu, and Li Mingxiao together restrained several generals leading the imperial forces. Soon after, horns sounded from the army formation behind them.
Li Mingxiu led a thousand light cavalrymen out on horseback. The riders held the reins with their left hands and their sabers with their right hands. Their hooves pounded the frozen ground, and the dust they kicked up resembled a giant yellow dragon, rushing straight towards the flank of the imperial court.
The Duke of Ji, who was engaged in battle, was unable to spare any attention to deploy his troops. The Vice Minister of War behind him quickly retreated under the protection of his personal guards, and after being tightly protected in the battle formation, he gave the order: "Raise your spears!!!"
The roar pierced through the sounds of battle, and the soldiers in the rear row thrust their twelve-foot-long spears diagonally out from the gaps in the shield formation, the dense spear tips forming a metal jungle.
The black-armored cavalry at the forefront had no time to stop. The moment their horses' hooves struck the shield wall, the cavalrymen were thrown into the air by the enormous force. Their bodies arced through the air in a bloody arc, and as they fell, they were pierced by spears, with blood dripping down the spear shafts.
Seeing this, Li Mingde quickly drew his long sword from his waist and led the cavalry behind him to circle the battle formation in an attempt to find a breakthrough.
"Follow me to break the formation!"
Li Mingde shouted loudly, and as soon as he spoke, the cavalry behind him immediately changed formation. Hundreds of heavily armored infantrymen emerged from the gaps in the formation, each carrying a thick-backed cleaver and a square rattan shield, and charged toward the imperial shield formation with orderly steps.
"Bang! Bang! Bang!" The muffled sounds of rattan shields colliding with iron shields echoed one after another. Li Mingde once again led his cavalry to circle around the imperial soldiers and then charged towards their weakest point.
Using the opening torn open by the shield bearers, Li Mingde led his cavalry like a sharp arrow, piercing through fiercely.
Lin Changning was holding back Duke Ji tightly. Perhaps because he had just been injured, Lin Changning actually felt some pressure when fighting this veteran duke.
The wound on his shoulder seemed to have reopened, and he was throbbing with pain. At one point, because of the pain in his wound, Lin Changning almost failed to catch the Duke's knife. Fortunately, the Prince of Chu was there to watch over him in time. After catching the Duke's knife, he quickly engaged in a fight with the other person.
Duke Ji was not as relaxed as he seemed. Although he was a master swordsman and had fought on the battlefield for many years, he was getting old and was taken aback when he fought Lin Changning.
No wonder everyone says that the King of Chu has gained another fierce tiger by his side. Look at this little boy, he is not very old, but his swordsmanship is very superb. If he hadn't fought with others on the battlefield for many years and had a good physique, he would probably have suffered some losses as soon as they met.
This little kid is incredibly strong and difficult to deal with. After fighting for a while, his forehead was covered in sweat, but he also seemed to have some injuries.
After noticing that Lin Changning had an injury on his shoulder, Duke Ji focused all his attacks on Lin Changning's injured arm, and actually managed to find a weakness in his defense.
Unfortunately, the little boy was accompanied by the King of Chu, who had also fought on the frontier for many years and was a formidable and difficult opponent.
After the fight with the King of Chu began, Duke Ji hardened his heart and slashed at the King of Chu's vital points with every move. The King of Chu was no match for him, but it would take some time to subdue him.
If we can kill the King of Chu in this battle, then we will have no worries about the future of our sons.
Therefore, when Duke Ji saw that the King of Chu had come to him to fight, he immediately engaged in combat with him.
While fighting with others to capture the King of Chu, Duke Ji also observed the situation around him. After fighting with the King of Chu for a while, he became anxious again.
Suddenly, a troop of Chu cavalry broke through the battle formation and plunged straight into the center of their army, seemingly attempting to divide their main force with a single cavalry unit.
Duke Ji sensed something was wrong and turned to turn back. If his army were to be divided by the Chu King's troops, they would truly become fish on a chopping board, at the mercy of others.
Lin Changning took the opportunity to eliminate several of the guards around Duke Ji. Seeing that the King of Chu was chasing after him, he quickly followed and shouted, "Where do you think you're going!"
As Lin Changning shouted, he quickly caught up with Duke Ji and slashed fiercely at Duke Ji's back. Duke Ji noticed the sound and the strong wind behind him and ducked forward to avoid Lin Changning's blow.
After getting up, he quickly turned his horse around and started fighting Lin Changning again, muttering to himself once more about how difficult Lin Changning was to deal with.
Seeing his own army being driven into the center by a cavalry force, and the infantry in the middle being slaughtered as if being chopped into vegetables by the opposing cavalry, he became increasingly anxious.
"Maintain battle formation!"
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