"Great General, General Guo collapsed at the first clash, and the rebels are coming on fiercely. Why not hold the main camp?"
Seeing the torches blaze up, Gentleman of the Palace General Wang Yu suddenly stepped forward, seized the reins of his commander Xue Changxiong's mount, and offered his advice.
"What nonsense are you talking?" Xue Changxiong shook his reins and immediately snapped at him, making the scarlet cloak on his back flutter. "If we stay in camp now, our entire army will be defeated. Our only chance of victory lies in pressing forward without hesitation! Get back at once and prepare to fight with everything you have!"
Wang Yu dared say no more. He could only release the reins and hurry away to prepare.
Moments later, banners rose and drums sounded in the government army's main camp too. All its gates opened, and tens of thousands of regular troops poured out in what was a classic crane-wing formation.
By comparison, the Exorcising the Dragon Army approaching from only three or four li away naturally formed a classic arrowhead.
In reality, however, neither side was deliberately arranging a formation. These dispositions had formed naturally for ease of advance.
Under orders, Murong Zhengyan sent half his cultivators at the Extraordinary Meridian level and above to the center. Returning to his own formation, he met his deputy-his younger clansman Murong Huailian-and several trusted followers. After they halted their horses together to observe briefly, he could not help feeling uneasy.
"With formations like these, victory or defeat will probably be decided in a single morning! Either we crush the rebels' first ten battalions and their supporting forces on the flanks head-on, winning a magnificent victory as we roll them back like a pearl curtain, or they grit their teeth and hold, allowing their