These heavily armored light guards followed Wu Shuangren and were the first to fight their way out of the jungle. They had already repelled three waves of enemies, and most of them were exhausted.
Even Wu Shuangren, with his Sixth Rank Internal Skill cultivation, has exhausted nearly half of his strength by now.
On the contrary, Xu Yu, despite having a lower level of Internal Skill cultivation, seemed to be handling things with ease.
"Everyone, move to the rear queue!"
Wu Shuangren issued the order.
Behind them, the militia, arrayed in formation, had caught up, their spears like a forest and their shields like a wall.
The heavily armored light guards obeyed orders and joined the hundred-man spear formation, then regrouped at Wu Shuangren's signal.
Wu Shuangren stood in the center of the first row of the team, with Xu Yu on his left and a heavily armored bodyguard on his right.
The first rank of the formation had been completely transformed into heavily armored guards, Wu Shuangren led the group to continue pressing forward.
Ahead, the Mount Liang troops were somewhat agitated due to the defeat of the Great Saber Guards.
"They don't have much strength left!"
A Han Dynasty riding a yellow horse spat on the ground, "There are only about a hundred people. We can drown them all with just one spit from each of us!"
"Brothers, we have several thousand men, we have nothing to fear!"
Several leaders also shouted slogans, using their personal prestige and brotherhood to stabilize morale.
Some gathered the fleeing Great Saber Guards back, while others ordered their men to form ranks.
"Fire arrows! Fire arrows!"
Some people were shouting.
Dozens of arrows were fired at Wu Shuangren and his men who were charging forward.
Some of the archers had already been scattered, and others had not yet regrouped, so the number of arrows fired was not large.
Most of the arrows were blocked by the infantry in the front ranks, while some fell into the ranks behind. Some were blocked by shields, and some by the lamellar armor worn by the militiamen. Only a few militiamen were wounded.
"Raise your shields! Forward!"
Wu Shuangren did not order a stop.
In the ranks, many militiamen raised their shields to shield themselves and those around them.
After surviving another volley of arrows, the two sides were only ten paces apart.
"Brothers, follow me and kill them—"
Several leaders shouted, urging their subordinates to charge forward.
Wu Shuangren broke out of the queue and rushed to the front.
In this battle, we must break through the enemy lines ourselves to create an opportunity for victory!
He swung his longsword, cleaving a Mount Liang in front of him, who was only wearing leather armor, in two, along with his armor!
Before the enemy's corpse even fell to the ground, a spear came thrusting from the right. Wu Shuangren dodged to the side, his Mo Dao slicing along the spear shaft, severing three of the enemy's fingers, and then slicing open the enemy's throat.
No one could stop him for a moment!
Behind him, the two sides clashed, their spears clashing back and forth, thrusting out repeatedly.
While there were certainly more martial arts practitioners on Mount Liang's side, such a battle formation offered virtually no opportunity to utilize their skills.
Apart from a very few experts, the rest could only desperately thrust their spears or slash with their swords like ordinary soldiers.
Wu Shuangren's front rank consisted of personal guards clad in infantry armor, undaunted by the thrusting spears, while Mount Liang's front rank wore leather armor and was quickly felled.
Furthermore, Wu Shuangren, wielding two mountain-splitting axes with Xu Yu, forcefully broke through the enemy's formation and disrupted their ranks. As a result, it was the Mount Liang side, which outnumbered the Liangshan forces, that was forced to retreat continuously!
"Go into the woods and get behind them!"
A leader from Mount Liang gave the order and then led his men into the nearby jungle, circling around to the rear of the militia formation.
This tactic is undoubtedly effective!
Because what a square formation fears most is being outflanked by the enemy at the flanks and rear.
"Change formation! Change formation!"
Someone in the militia line shouted loudly.
Because the official road was not wide, and the militia in the back rows had not participated in the battle, they were able to turn around in time and change formation.
So the militia's spears split into two directions, one in front and one behind, and they fought the enemy.
The Mount Liang leader who ordered the flanking maneuver was very shrewd. Seeing this, he ordered another group of men to rush into the jungle with spears. They simply stood in the woods and thrust their spears wildly. Even if they couldn't see clearly, it didn't matter; they could still attack the right flank of the militia.
For a moment, the militia's formation began to fall into disarray!
On the other side, Wu Shuangren led Xu Yu at the forefront of the charge, intending to continue the beheadings with Xu Yu and kill the several leaders of Mount Liang who were giving orders.
Coincidentally, these leaders also had their eyes on Wu Shuangren.
"Kill this man, and the enemy will collapse!"
Several Mount Liang leaders had already gathered a group of skilled fighters, who then surrounded and attacked.
Mount Liang may lack disciplined elite soldiers, but it has no shortage of individual martial prowess.
In his pursuit of the decapitation strike, Wu Shuangren led Xu Yu Xu Yu far into the enemy territory, becoming somewhat separated from the rest of the group. At that moment, more than a dozen Mount Liang heroes pounced on the two of them!
These people all carried different weapons: some wielded iron spears, some swung copper hammers, some wielded double swords, and some used mountain-splitting axes...
Just as Wu Shuangren had cut down one person, three weapons attacked simultaneously from three directions.
He raised his sword to parry the saber in front of him, and shifted his feet to the side to avoid the blade on his left. But the blade on his right did not miss, and it slammed into his ribs. Sparks flew from the blow to his armor, and a piece of the armor plate was dented!
The immense impact caused half of Wu Shuangren's body to go numb, and he swayed. Before he could regain his balance, a bronze hammer swung from behind, while a horse-slaying saber came slashing down from the front, and an iron spear thrust at him from the side!
Wu Shuangren's eyes were like ice, showing no fear. He stepped forward, dodging the spear while exchanging a blow with his opponent wielding a horse-slaying saber, forcing the opponent to reveal an opening. Then, he thrust forward with his next slash, piercing the opponent's throat.
But at the same time, the copper hammer behind him slammed heavily into his lower back!
With a clang, like a bronze bell being struck in a temple, Wu Shuangren staggered forward two steps, a metallic taste of blood rising in his throat.
He didn't look back, and continued killing forward.
Xu Yu had already attacked from the side, and clashed head-on with the man wielding the copper hammer. With one stroke, he knocked the copper hammer from the man's hand, and with another stroke, he beheaded his opponent!
Wu Shuangren led Xu Yu forward, and the two were surrounded in the center, with Xu Yu dozen Mount Liang masters circling around them, constantly attacking them.
Bayonet, knife slash, axe chop, hammer smash!
These Mount Liang heroes were mostly martial artists of the Fifth Rank or close to the Fourth Rank. Wu Shuangren could kill one of them in two or three moves, so he hardly dodged or evaded, relying on his infantry armor to withstand attacks and prioritize killing them.
A tall, thin man wielding twin swords lunged forward, one aimed at the head and the other at the leg. Wu Shuangren shifted her stance, causing the swords to miss their mark, while simultaneously slamming the sword hilts into the man's face, breaking his nose and causing him to cry out in pain.
Immediately afterwards, Wu Shuangren swept the hilt of his knife again, striking his opponent's throat and sending him flying backward. The opponent lay on the ground, barely breathing.
Another gunman rushed up from the left, his gun tip flashing three cold stars as he thrust it toward Wu Shuangren's face.
Wu Shuangren twice to break the opponent's spear stance, then stepped forward and slashed with his sword, cleaving the man in two from shoulder to waist!
He was incredibly efficient at killing; anyone he targeted couldn't withstand more than a few moves.
After killing Guo Fan, slaying through the Great Saber Guards, and finally arriving here, Wu Shuangren's iron armor was stained with blood on one side. Like a demon from hell, he broke through the formations and advanced!
For a time, these Mount Liang heroes were terrified and were forced out of their formation by Wu Shuangren!
Wu Shuangren charged toward the burly man riding a yellow horse who was shouting incessantly.
Upon seeing this, the man's expression changed, and he immediately abandoned his horse and fled!
Wu Shuangren then turned to the next leader, who also dared not fight and fled in terror.
When one leader escapes, dozens of people around him will follow suit.
The fact that two leaders turned tail and fled in succession immediately threw the Mount Liang ranks into disarray and affected their morale.
Just then, at the very back of the Mount Liang group, the bushes on the right side of the official road shook, and figures rushed out.
The leader was Xu Jing, with Bai Jinhuan carrying a Guan Dao beside him!
This was the tactic Xu Jing proposed to Wu Shuangren.
Since they were outnumbered, simply engaging the enemy head-on was not enough to completely defeat them. Therefore, from the beginning, Wu Shuangren divided the more than two hundred militiamen he brought into three teams.
He himself led several dozen heavily armored guards in the middle, while the remaining two hundred militiamen were positioned in ambush at the very front and rear of the Mount Liang forces.
Xu Jing and his hundred-plus men had been lying in ambush until now, waiting for the most opportune moment.
Even though he saw with his own eyes that the hundred-man squad behind Wu Shuangren was on the verge of being routed, he remained unmoved.
It wasn't until Wu Shuangren defeated the enemy's Great Saber Guards and broke through their encirclement that the two leaders turned tail and fled, affecting the entire team.
Xu Jing felt the opportunity had arrived, so he led his men out to fight!
The militiamen quickly formed ranks, with the front-line militiamen carrying shields in one hand and crossbows in the other.
From the very beginning, Xu Jing had Wu Shuangren hand over all the repeating crossbows to him, because this 'surprise force' he was leading had to make a name for itself as soon as possible!
The militiamen charged forward and fired their repeating crossbows.
More than thirty crossbows fired over a hundred arrows in a short time, causing the rear ranks of the Mount Liang troops to fall and cry out in pain!
You've fallen for their trap!
Xu Jing activated his Internal Skill and shouted loudly.
"You're surrounded!!"
Bai Jinhuan shouted immediately afterward.
Hundreds of militiamen ran while shouting in unison:
You've fallen for their trap!
"You're surrounded!"
The sound momentarily drowned out the sounds of fighting on the official road.
The Mount Liang troops had already suffered repeated blows, and now they were suddenly attacked from behind, with the rear ranks being severely injured in a single exchange.
Hearing such shouts again, the morale of the troops completely collapsed!
If a leader had stepped forward to reorganize the forces at this moment, there would still be a chance to turn the tide. Unfortunately, Guo Fan was already dead, and the remaining leaders had been terrified by Wu Shuangren's killings!
Upon hearing that Xu Jing had led his men out to attack, Wu Shuangren decisively mustered his last bit of strength and led Xu Yu to attack the next leader.
The Mount Liang leader panicked upon hearing the commotion behind him, and then he saw Wu Shuangren charging towards him like a god of death.
His face turned pale, and he shouted, "Retreat!"
He turned and fled with his dozens of trusted men.
Now, the fear could no longer be suppressed!
More and more people were fleeing, and those at the back of the line were also running forward, so the two sides were squeezed together.
Soon, the Mount Liang group began to disappear into the woods.
Xu Jing, leading a fresh force, seized the opportunity to commit massacres!
Repeating crossbows fired arrows again and again, spears pierced flesh, and blades severed heads...
On the official road, the Mount Liang army of more than two thousand men was completely defeated by more than two hundred men!
137. The demeanor of a warrior, the spirit of a scholar.
The road was filled with the stench of blood, and cries of pleas for mercy and wails echoed everywhere.
"He can still be saved! Someone, come quick!"
"Bring me some medicine!"
"..."
The militiamen rushed to treat their comrades, their voices filled with immense exhaustion.
This battle was the most brutal and deadliest battle Wu Shuangren's militia had ever experienced since its establishment!
"Immediately send someone into the woods to bring our warhorses out; lest they be led away."