Yu Ke was not idle either.
While there was still time, he had someone bring him paper and wrote down some of his ideas.
He wrote on the page:
Iron Pagoda Cavalry.
He was not versed in military strategy or battle formations, but in his previous life, he had been a history fanatic.
He had studied these ancient pinnacle cold weapons.
Those knights clad in heavy armor, along with the Linked Horse Cavalry spreading out on both flanks like a torrent of steel, were unstoppable.
They were all heavily armored cavalry, defended to the teeth.
This kind of heavy cavalry possessed peerless defense. Every three horses were linked together with iron chains, and once they charged into battle, none could withstand them.
However!
Their drawbacks were equally obvious. The horses bore immense burdens; once a rider fell from the saddle, he was like a bird stripped of its wings, unable to move any longer.
Yu Ke combined this with the knowledge from his previous life.
Break their horses' legs!
That was an excellent method. After all, horse legs could not be covered in iron armor, or the horses would be unable to run.
The generals in this simulated world were not fools, and Yu Ke could also sense how real this world was.
The records before him also documented certain battles, including stratagems such as ingenious schemes and poison.
The method of breaking horses' legs had long since been devised.
Some used heavy axes, horse-chopping sabers, and the like.
The results were good, but all relied on terrain.
It might work once, but after being used too often, it would no longer work.
Now, outside Hulao Pass lay a vast plain.
The two armies formed their ranks and faced one another openly and honorably.
Yu Ke put brush to paper, and three words sprang vividly from the page.
Three Lives Formation!
As its name suggested, this formation required one to "first set a circular formation at the vanguard, then spread the two wings for a left-and-right pincer attack," hence its name, the Three Lives Formation.
The tactics were exquisitely subtle. First, the Linked Horse Cavalry on both wings launched a pincer attack to probe out the enemy's weak points. Then the "spread wings" struck fiercely, and finally, with the Iron Pagoda Cavalry's hard-edged might, they drove straight for the yellow dragon, forcing the enemy army into collapse.
This tactic appeared simple, but in truth, it deeply understood the way of war.
When great armies faced each other and deployed their ranks, anyone capable of employing such marvelous tactics was clearly formidable.
The reason the North Wind Profound Kingdom could fight every battle without defeat and conquer every attack
Was precisely because they had mastered the Three Lives Formation to the point of perfection, without a single flaw.
In many large-scale battles, soldiers did not all die beneath enemy blades. More often, formations fell into chaos, and men trampled one another beneath their feet, like lambs awaiting slaughter, left to be carved up by others.
Yu Ke pondered for a moment and combined it with memories from long ago.
His brush swept across the page as he slowly wrote, "Scatter their soldiers into open-field combat; arrange them in groups of ten and five, spread like stars in the sky."
These words were not his own, but came from a great military strategist of his previous life.
On the battlefield, heavy cavalry crashed into infantry formations like floods and savage beasts, intending to scatter their ranks.
Once the infantry formation was broken apart, the battle was effectively over.
Since they could not repel the Iron Pagoda Cavalry with a complete formation, why not break the whole into parts and fight them while dispersed?
Only by fostering strengths and avoiding weaknesses could they find a chance of victory.
Ancient records described armies that "gathered at the sound of drums and scattered at the sound of gongs," sometimes coordinating in small groups, sometimes fighting in large formations, ever flexible and changing.
Once the Iron Pagoda Cavalry charged onto the battlefield, they would fall into the encirclement of dispersed infantry.
Break their horses' legs, then annihilate the cavalry!
He wrote the words on the paper again, firm as nails driven into iron.
"Fight to the death!"
Breaking the horses' legs was the beginning of a fight to the death.
Faced with the Northern Xuan Kingdom's astonishing combat power and immense endurance, if they wanted victory,
They could only steel themselves with the resolve to die!
This was a battle of morale, the critical moment that tested an army's will and a commander's capability.
In ancient times, there had been the magnificent feat of eight hundred warriors breaking an enemy force of ten thousand, achieved through unwavering faith and blazing morale.
The commander-in-chief had to sit at the center and direct the whole army.
Only when generals personally entered the battlefield, fearless of life and death, could they inspire morale and unleash the soldiers' potential.
Just as Yu Ke finished writing, his father, Lu Jiaxuan, silently watched from the side, his eyes filled with seriousness and contemplation.
His gaze grew brighter and brighter, as though those words had stirred him. A thoughtful look appeared on his face.
At this moment!
Lu Yu had finished his preparations and entered the tent, reporting to his father, "Father, everything has been arranged."
At that moment, Lu Jiaxuan's gaze lingered for a long time on Lu Chen's paper, where the ink had not yet dried.
"Scatter their soldiers into open-field combat; arrange them in groups of ten and five, spread like stars in the sky."
"Fight to the death."
He murmured the words softly, and a trace of shock flashed through his eyes.
Lu Jiaxuan, a general well versed in military strategy and tempered by countless battles, understood the gulf between armchair tactics and actual warfare better than anyone.
Yet when he carefully read Lu Chen's strategy, he was deeply shaken.
Though some ideas seemed immature, the overall approach was highly practical and feasible.
He excitedly picked up the paper, gently blew the ink dry, and carefully put it away.
The more he looked, the more he felt that this was absolutely not something a young boy could casually write.
This was clearly the work of a great general who had fought the North Wind Profound Kingdom for years and survived countless battles.
Only when Lu Yu urged him again did he come back to his senses.
Under the flickering candlelight, Lu Jiaxuan gazed at the composed youth who had rolled up his sleeves and set down his brush, and an indescribable pride surged within him.
He threw back his head and laughed, his voice loud and hearty:
"As expected, truly worthy of being a son of my Lu Clan!"
According to the plan decided earlier, on a fog-shrouded morning,
Two thousand Lu Family Army soldiers quietly left the city under Lu Yu's lead.
Lu Chen and Lu Jiaxuan remained behind to prepare for reinforcement.
The city gates slowly opened, and the bridge across the river was lowered, presenting the air of "inviting the gentleman into the jar."
Yu Ke thought that if someone could sit atop the city gate and play the zither,
Then this scheme would truly come alive.
Yu Ke stood atop his horse, gazing toward the distant camps beyond the Western Gate, where clusters of tents had been erected. Then he looked at the white-haired Lu Jiaxuan beside him and silently prayed:
I hope everything goes smoothly.
North Wind Profound Kingdom, inside the military tent.
Tuoba Shuyi sat alone, having dismissed everyone around him, quietly reading the military text in his hands.
Unlike his other royal brothers, when he marched south to war, he did not keep beautiful wives and concubines by his side, drinking and making merry as he traveled through mountains and rivers.
After entering the military camp, he had kept strict discipline over himself. He avoided women, did not touch even a drop of wine, and kept his mind clear and sharp at all times.
The bed he slept on was no different from an ordinary soldier's.
He ate and lived alongside them, without the slightest special treatment.
The military text in his hands was an extremely famous work on military strategy from the history of the Great Qing Kingdom. Though the Great Qing Kingdom no longer possessed its former glory and was now like fish on a chopping board,
Tuoba Shuyi knew deeply that there was much to learn and draw from it.
"Know yourself and know your enemy, and you will win every battle."
At that moment, a burst of hurried footsteps suddenly sounded outside the tent, followed by a loud report:
"Report! Military news has arrived from the west of Hulao Pass!"
Tuoba Shuyi slowly raised his head, his gaze sharp as an eagle's, and asked in a deep voice, "They dared to leave the city?"
Tuoba Shuyi could not help but wonder. Were the defenders or the rebel forces within Hulao Pass daring enough to leave the city?
He quickly dismissed the possibility. In his view, the defenders and rebels in Hulao Pass had already been frightened senseless by them. They could not possibly have the courage to launch an attack on their own.
The Lu Family Army west of the city?
Tuoba Shuyi knew of the Lu Family Army. Though they numbered only four thousand, their combat strength could not be underestimated.
However, he did not take Lu Jiaxuan, this general, seriously.
A talent of the Doctrine of the Mean.
Lu Jiaxuan only possessed the ability to preserve what he had; he lacked the drive to advance and could hardly become a real threat.
"The Lu Family Army..."
Tuoba Shuyi muttered to himself, a trace of disdain flashing through his eyes.
Such a Lu Family Army was nothing to worry about.
"Report!"
"Hulao Pass's Western Gate is wide open."
Tuoba Shuyi could not help rising to his feet.
"What? The city gate is wide open!"
Before you continue