The wind grew stronger.
Dugu Xian ordered the first ten-thousand-man army to advance. Its battle flags snapped in the wind, nearly drowning out the thunder of hooves. The soldiers in the rear could feel only a faint tremor through their mounts.
Distance was the foundation of mounted archery. Only by keeping an appropriate distance could the Beiting cavalry attack at will while keeping themselves alive. When two such armies met, the battlefield naturally spread across a vast expanse. A thin veil of dust rose into the air, and the opposing sides could no longer see each other.
Dugu Xian had ordered more than a dozen watchtowers built ahead of them, each five or six zhang tall. The soldiers stationed on them took turns reporting the state of the battlefield, while scouts traveled constantly between the front lines and the commander.
News soon came that the Luoluo army had sent out twenty to thirty thousand men to meet them. Dugu Xian waited a while longer before ordering the second and third ten-thousand-man armies forward, keeping a certain distance between them to ensure they would not enter the battlefield at the same time.
The ten thousand Dragon Army soldiers did not move. Their weapons were mainly swords and spears; against an equally large force, they would only be throwing their lives away. Like the ordinary generals, Gu Shenwei stayed by Dugu Xian's side. On the battlefield, he too had to obey the commander's orders.
The fighting began ahead. Ten thousand horses thundered forward, their cries shaking the sky. Dust blotted out the sun, and only the watchtowers at the far edges could see through it to the other side of the battlefield.
Luoluo sent no more soldiers, and Dugu Xian held his position.
The reports brought back by scouts on the front