The hour of midnight was half over.
Outside Canyon Pass, banners snapped in the wind, and battle cries shook the heavens.
The Imperial Court's army charged toward First-Line Heaven once more, like locusts blanketing the ground.
On the grassland, Zuo Xuan sat astride a tall horse in the central formation, issuing orders in rapid succession.
He ordered the cavalry into columns of three hundred, each led by an experienced Hundred-Household Officer; he then ordered those officers to divide their men into squads of ten, each squad keeping ten paces apart as they charged into First-Line Heaven in waves.
This was not an attempt to break through Qingliang Prefecture's defenders in one stroke, but to scout the way with human lives.
Wave after wave of cavalry rushed into Canyon Pass, galloping freely while avoiding contact with any defenders as much as possible. As long as their horses could still run and they remained conscious, they pushed forward.
Above Canyon Pass, Yang Nan waved his hand and roared, "Quick, everyone, throw down anything burning!"
Whoosh, whoosh, whoosh...!
Lit torches, flammable objects, and all manner of flaming arrows poured down like a torrential rain.
The burning objects struck the ground, igniting the Fire Oil on the walls of corpses.
Flames surged up at once, forming walls of fire that stretched across Canyon Pass.
Thud, thud, thud...!
In the pass, wave after wave of warhorses crashed into the corpse walls and Horse-Tripping Ropes like moths to a flame... The soldiers riding them fell screaming to the ground and burned to death.
Under these repeated charges, the enemy cavalry did not dwindle; instead, more and more came charging in. In less than a quarter of an hour, over half the obstacles the New Year's Watchers had prepared were cleared away.
During this time, the New