A major battle is imminent.
The Pyu elephant cavalry, seated atop the massive backs of their war elephants, wielded spears and bows, urging their elephants to charge in a dense formation.
With each step the massive war elephant took, it seemed to make the earth tremble.
In the brief intervals of their rapid charge, the war elephants swung their trunks wildly, displaying not only astonishing power but also creating a series of whooshing sounds as they pierced the air.
Lu Jiang led the Longcheng cavalry, overcoming the terrifying threat posed by the elephant cavalry on the battlefield with their strong fighting will and courage. With firm eyes, they charged forward on horseback.
Clang!
Thump thump thump!
The thunderous hoofbeats of the warhorses charging at full speed shattered the void, as if they were about to crush any obstacle that dared to stand in the way of the Dragon City cavalry's charge.
One thousand steps!
Eight hundred steps!
Five hundred steps!
The distance between the two armies was constantly closing, and Lu Jiang, the vanguard general of the Longcheng Southern Expeditionary Army, riding on horseback, could even clearly see the wild glint in the eyes of the war elephants.
When the two sides were less than three hundred paces apart, Lu Jiang immediately gave the order: "Archers, fire!"
In an instant, the archers and crossbowmen of the vanguard, who were already prepared, unleashed a barrage of arrows, crossbow bolts, and ballistae. Thousands of arrows pierced the sky and struck the moving Pyu elephant cavalry.
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Whoosh!
Arrows rained down, creating a whistling sound as if death itself was sounding its horn to reap lives.
The next moment, countless arrows fell, turning the elephant soldiers of the Pyu Kingdom who did not have time to raise their shields into pincushions, while the thick-skinned war elephants were rarely killed by the arrows.
Even the thick arrows fired from the ballista, unless they directly hit the war elephant's eyes, joints, or other vulnerable parts, are unlikely to render it incapacitated in a short time. Instead, they may cause the aching war elephant to unleash its full potential and charge forward.
The Nanzhao cavalry, who followed closely behind, were also continuously killed by arrows from the Longcheng Southern Expeditionary Army.
However, this did not stop the elephant troops' charge; on the contrary, it made them accelerate their sprint.
"Change formation!"
Lu Jiang, the vanguard commander who was charging ahead on horseback, immediately gave the order to change formation the moment the vanguard of Longcheng cavalry was about to make contact with the Pyu Kingdom elephant troops.
The well-trained Longcheng cavalry, who had been charging in a wedge formation, immediately split into two following the flag bearer's guidance after the vanguard commander's order to change formation, giving space to the Pyu Kingdom's elephant cavalry.
Longcheng's uprising involved circling around to the flanks of the elephant cavalry, and then using his spear to stab the Pyu Kingdom elephant cavalry on the back of the war elephants during a high-speed charge.
He thrust out his spear, never turning back regardless of whether it hit or not, and continued to ride forward, drawing his saber and engaging in fierce combat with the Nanzhao cavalry close behind.
Boom!
Moments later, the Pyu Kingdom's elephant cavalry broke away from the Longcheng cavalry and ran headlong into the Longcheng army's second line of defense—the infantry composed of chariots and shields.
The elephant cavalry's charge was so fierce that it shattered the Dragon City infantry's chariot shield formation with just one charge. Countless soldiers were sent flying to the ground by the fierce impact of the war elephants, spitting blood.
The defensive line formed by the battlefield and shields finally slowed down the elephant cavalry's advance.
At this moment, Longcheng infantrymen, who had been waiting in formation, immediately stepped forward with weapons such as spears, sabers, and hook-and-sickle spears, and thrust at the war elephant's eyes, joints, and other vulnerable parts, attempting to bring down the massive war elephant.
The elephant soldiers on the backs of the war elephants naturally would not surrender without a fight, and immediately used their long spears to fight the surrounding Longcheng soldiers from their high ground.
Under the command of the elephant corps, the war elephants kept swinging their trunks in an attempt to force back the Dragon City army soldiers who were surrounding them.
People were constantly being knocked away by the elephant trunks, but even more soldiers of the Dragon City army charged forward to besiege the elephant troops.
For a time, the Pyu Kingdom elephant troops that had charged into the Longcheng infantry battle formation were caught in a dilemma, and were engaged in a fierce battle with the Longcheng army.
The ten thousand Nanzhao cavalrymen who followed closely behind were also surrounded by the Longcheng cavalry.
Lu Jiang, the vanguard commander, saw through the intentions of Emperor Murong Fu of Nanzhao at a glance. This fellow planned to use war elephants to charge into the enemy lines and directly attack the central army.
A sharp shout came from Lu Jiang on horseback: "Hey!"
"That treacherous Nanzhao dares to launch a surprise attack on the central army of my Longcheng army? They'll have to get past General Lu first!"
With that, Lu Jiang spurred his horse forward, the tip of his spear pointing directly at Emperor Murong Fu of Nanzhao: "You dog, take this!"
Speaking of the former Prince of Pingxi, now Emperor Mu Rongfu of Nanzhao, his horsemanship skills have not declined over the years, and he even fought Lu Jiang, the vanguard general in his prime, to a standstill.
Unfortunately, his hopes of launching a surprise attack on the central army of Longcheng were dashed. He could only fight Lu Jiang on horseback while roaring to the sky, "I have the will to kill the enemy, but I am powerless to turn the tide!"
"Heaven is going to destroy my Nanzhao Kingdom!"
"It's not Heaven that wants to destroy you, it's General Lu who wants to destroy you!"
On the other side, Lu Jiang, on horseback, seemed to have recognized Mu Rongfu's identity as well, and thrust his spear again, shouting, "Die, you dog!"
On the battlefield, the vanguard general Lu Jiang and the Nanzhao emperor Murong Fu fought back and forth, while the Pyu elephant cavalry and Longcheng infantry, who were surrounded, were also fighting fiercely.
Under the overwhelming force of the Longcheng army, the war elephants began to falter under the barrage of arrows and countless spears.
As it turned out, the elephant corps, having lost the cover of infantry and cavalry, was like the tank and armored forces in modern warfare that had lost air superiority and infantry cover; on the battlefield, they were destined to be passively attacked.
As time went on, the war elephants, under the close coordination of the Dragon City cavalry and infantry, finally succumbed to their strain. Countless tall war elephants collapsed to the ground after being severely wounded, kicking up clouds of dust.
After falling to the ground, the elephant soldiers naturally received special attention from the soldiers of Longcheng. They were either hacked to death or trampled into a pile of rotten flesh by the iron hooves of warhorses.
On the central observation platform of the Longcheng army, seeing that the allied forces of Nanzhao and Pyu were doomed, Chang Yuchun, the deputy marshal of the army who had been holding the central command tent, finally got up.
He said to his deputy, Su Chen, "Lord Su, let's go. Let's accept the surrender of Pyu Kingdom!"
ah?
Su Chen was completely bewildered. He was just about to mention that there were at least 10,000 to 20,000 Pyu Kingdom infantrymen on the opposite hill who hadn't yet been deployed to the battlefield, and he was worried about a trap, so he wanted to remind the deputy marshal of the army.
Unexpectedly, this Deputy Commander Chang directly summoned him to accept the surrender of Pyu Kingdom. What was going on here?
Despite his many doubts, Su Chen followed closely behind Chang Yuchun to see what the deputy commander was really up to.
"Report—"
"Reporting to Vice Commander Chang, the vanguard commander Lu Jiang has killed Emperor Murong Fu of the Nanzhao Kingdom on the battlefield!"
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