"Charge!"
Zhu Zhanjun's command lit the powder keg.
Three thousand Great Snow Dragon Riders, this enormous and precision-engineered War Machine, switched from a standstill to full speed in an instant.
"Thud! Thud! Thud!"
The heavy pounding of hooves surged together into a torrent.
The black torrent of iron armor made no fancy maneuvers. It simply charged straight ahead in the most direct way possible, crashing hard into the rear ranks of the Oirat army, which had already fallen into utter chaos.
"Splurt!"
The Oirat soldiers at the very front didn't even see how the enemy struck. The terrifying impact sent them and their horses flying backward, their bodies already broken apart in midair.
Then the gleaming Mo Dao began to swing.
There were no elaborate techniques, only the simplest and most efficient moves: chop, hack, slash!
The Mo Dao, over a zhang long, felt weightless in the hands of these system-enhanced riders.
Every swing raised a crimson tide.
Heads in fur caps flew skyward, while bodies cut in half at the waist twitched in the snow.
Warm blood stained the pure white snow a shocking red.
It was a massacre.
A one-sided slaughter, through and through.
The mounted archery the Oirats prided themselves on was a complete joke against these moving steel monsters.
Their arrows struck the enemy's heavy armor with a series of bright clinks, failing even to leave a white mark.
Meanwhile, every powerful swing of the enemy's Mo Dao could easily cleave horse and rider in two.
The several hundred decoy troops in the valley also played a vital role.
Using the Shenbi Crossbow's rapid-fire advantage, they pinned down the archers on the mountainside, preventing them from providing effective fire support to the charging Great Snow Dragon Riders.
Attacked from front and rear, their Military Morale crumbled.
"Run! Run! They're demons!"
"We can't stop them! We can't stop them!"
The Oirat soldiers' psychological defenses were utterly shattered at the very first clash.
They threw down their weapons and fled, crying out, scrambling in every direction they could find.
The casualties caused by their own trampling were even greater than those directly inflicted by the Great Snow Dragon Riders.
"Hold steady! Every one of you, hold steady for me!"
Yesen's eyes were bloodshot. Waving his golden saber, he hacked down several guards who tried to flee and shouted himself hoarse.
"No retreat! Anyone who retreats will be executed!"
But in the face of absolute terror, his orders were utterly powerless.
The army collapsed like a landslide.
Watching his troops melt away and the black army charge back and forth through his ranks as if they were empty ground, Yesen was overcome by boundless despair and regret.
He regretted ever provoking these demons.
He regretted not listening to that Commander of Ten Thousand's warning.
Most of all, he regretted foolishly believing the lies of Prince Han and Prince Zhao, thinking he could reap an enormous windfall.
"Retreat! Head west! Everyone, retreat west!"
Yesen finally abandoned all unrealistic hopes. He turned his horse and, surrounded by his guards, fled in disarray toward the only opening—the west side of the valley.
That opening had been deliberately left by Zhu Zhanjun.
He knew that cornering the enemy would only make them fight like trapped beasts.
Leave them a way out, though, and their fighting spirit would completely collapse. All they would think about was escaping.
"Trying to run?"
Looking at the map, Zhu Zhanjun saw Yesen's conspicuous red dot moving rapidly. A hint of mockery crossed his face.
"Commander of a Hundred!"
"This General is here!"
"Take a hundred men, switch to the 'Soul Chasing Arrow,' and come with me!"
Zhu Zhanjun squeezed his legs against his horse's flanks. The Wuzhui Horse beneath him let out a whinny and surged forward, breaking away from the main force and charging straight toward Yesen's escape route.
The so-called "Soul Chasing Arrow" was a specially made crossbow bolt Zhu Zhanjun had commissioned from the system. Lighter and longer-ranged, it was designed specifically for pursuit and sniping.
One hundred and one riders streaked across the chaotic battlefield like a black bolt of lightning.
With several hundred guards desperately protecting him, Yesen furiously lashed his horse, wanting only to get as far away from that Asura's battlefield as possible.
He could hear the screams behind him growing fewer and farther between, and a glimmer of relief had just begun to rise in his heart.
But just then, a sharp whistle split the air behind him!
"Protect the Grand Preceptor!"
One of his guards roared and threw himself behind Yesen.
"Thwack!"
A black crossbow bolt pierced his armor with ease, emerging through his chest.
Then dozens more bolts flew, precisely targeting the guards around Yesen.
Screams rose one after another.
The guards around Yesen fell from their horses, one by one.
"Grand Preceptor, hurry!"
The last few guards had bloodshot eyes. They wheeled their horses around and charged fearlessly at the hundred or so riders pursuing them, trying to buy Yesen even the slightest chance to escape with their lives.
But before Zhu Zhanjun, their actions seemed both laughable and pitiful.
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