Qu Yi led the First-to-Scale Death Warriors in blocking the White Horse Volunteer Cavalry's attack. Holding the line at the rear, Yuan Shao swept his sword, and Zhang He and Gao Lan reacted at once, leading the Hebei Armored Cavalry into battle.
The terrain at Jie Bridge was narrow to begin with. Zhang He and Gao Lan were not trying to inflict heavy casualties on the White Horse Volunteer Cavalry, but to constrain their movements and force them into a head-on clash with the First-to-Scale Death Warriors and Great Halberd Soldiers.
The White Horse Volunteer Cavalry were light mounted archers and crossbowmen, unmatched in speed throughout the world. On open ground, they could also use powerful crossbows to kite their enemies while riding.
Moreover, apart from the Luo Clan's small stock of armor resembling infantry plate armor, most armored soldiers still lacked protection strong enough to keep them from being wounded.
Bows and crossbows were capable of killing and wounding armored infantry. That was why Gongsun Zan had been beating Yuan Shao into the ground in the early stages.
But for two years, the Hebei Strategist Corps had fought while shifting positions.
They had previously chosen terrain similar to Jie Bridge, only for Gongsun Zan to smash straight through their forward camp. That time, two or three of Hebei's strategists had nearly broken down.
Yuan Shao had then questioned Ju Shou, Xun Chen, Shen Pei, and Qu Yi.
Was this method of using formations to break Gongsun Zan's momentum viable? Shen Pei and Qu Yi were both relatively decisive men, and they had declared with the finality of cut iron and severed nails that it absolutely was.
Yuan Shao had therefore resolutely chosen to keep fighting Gongsun Zan. At the most critical moments, he had even taken the field himself