The moment the defensive line was trampled to pieces, Xiqi's battle formation collapsed.
Soldiers could not find their commanders, and commanders could not call their soldiers back.
Command flags were dragged into the dust by pounding hooves, war chariots overturned beside the shattered formations, and messengers shouted until their voices broke, yet still no one turned back.
Great Shang's armored cavalry charged into the formations, golden flames blazing around them. At the sight of that torrent of iron, the Xiqi soldiers lost half their courage. Long halberds slipped from their hands, and they turned and fled.
The rout swept from the vanguard toward the central army. Banners swayed wildly throughout the camp, and dust obscured half the sky.
Jiang Ziya stood before his chariot with his hair loose and his eyes bloodshot, waving the command flag in his hand until it snapped in the wind.
"Hold your ground! All of you, hold your ground!"
His roars were soon swallowed by the thunder of hooves. A million troops surged forward, while Xiqi's routed soldiers collided with one another, wailing and shouting. No one could hear their commander's orders.
The army he had built with his own hands was now being torn open by Great Shang's armored cavalry, its soldiers falling in swathes before the formations. Bloody mud splashed onto the chariot wheels. Jiang Ziya's chest heaved, and the hand gripping his flag shook uncontrollably.
"Yin Jiao, you brat! How dare you!"
With defeat looming before him, the dying embers in Jiang Ziya's eyes flared anew.
He raised his head, looking over the chaotic army to fix his gaze on Yin Jiao atop the distant Nine-Dragon War Chariot.
Capture the king.
As long as Yin Jiao died, perhaps a sliver of survival could still be wrested from this hopeless game.
**"The Heavenly