diymy Chapter 54 What audacity!
Chapter 54 What audacity!
The news quickly reached Linzi.
Inside the Prime Minister's study.
The atmosphere was frighteningly cold.
Li Zhao remained expressionless after hearing the scout's report.
But the teacup in his hand was crushed to pieces.
The tea mixed with porcelain shards pierced his palm.
Fresh blood dripped onto the ground.
"My lord!"
Liu Bei and Xu Shu were shocked and rushed forward to check on the injuries.
Li Zhao waved his hand, indicating that it was alright.
He casually tore off a strip of cloth and wrapped it around his hand.
His eyes were as cold as ice.
Chunyu Qiong.
Li Zhao squeezed out these three words through gritted teeth.
"What audacity!"
"How dare you rob my Qingzhou caravan! And kill my people!"
"This is a slap in the face for me, Li Zhao!"
Liu Bei advised, "My lord, please calm down. Chunyu Qiong's actions must have been instigated by Yuan Shao. Yuan Shao is now desperate and resorting to desperate measures; we must not fall for this provocation."
"In my opinion, it would be better to first write a letter to Yuan Shao to protest and demand that he hand over the murderer and compensate for the losses."
"Courtesy first, then force; only then can one uphold the greater good."
Li Zhao sneered.
"Courtesy first, then force?"
"Lord Xuande, you are still too kind."
"If you try to reason with this kind of hungry wolf, he'll only think you're weak and easy to bully."
"Only by hitting him hard enough to scare him will he learn what rules are!"
Li Zhao suddenly stood up, and an overwhelming killing intent erupted from his body.
"Pass on my orders!"
"Order Taishi Ci to lead three thousand Divine Machine Battalion soldiers!"
"Order Zhao Yun to lead five thousand White Horse Cavalry!"
"Set off immediately!"
"Target: Chunyu Qiong's troops!"
"No prisoners are needed!"
"I will turn all five thousand of these people into corpses!"
"I will use their blood to warn the world!"
"Those who offend Qingzhou, though far away, shall be punished!"
……
North of the plains lies a vast wilderness.
Chunyu Qiong's five thousand soldiers are encamped here.
They've robbed a lot of caravans these past two days, and they're all eating until their bellies are round and full.
They are either lazily basking in the sun or gathered together gambling.
There was absolutely no warning.
In their view, even if the Qingzhou army wanted to retaliate, it wouldn't be so quick.
Moreover, there are five thousand people here.
If the Qingzhou army wants to wipe them out, they'll need at least 20,000 men, right?
With such a commotion, there's no way they wouldn't have noticed it.
However, they were wrong.
The force Li Zhao sent this time was not a large one.
Rather, they are his two most elite trump cards.
The Divine Machine Battalion and the White Horse Cavalry.
Together, those two only have eight thousand people.
However, their fighting strength was enough to crush 50,000 ordinary troops!
Around noon.
The sun was shining brightly.
Suddenly, a black line appeared on the horizon.
Immediately following was the thunderous sound of horses' hooves.
The earth began to tremble.
"Enemy attack! Enemy attack!"
Yuan Jun's sentries finally noticed the anomaly and sounded the horn in alarm.
Chunyu Qiong was startled awake from his sleep and hurriedly rushed out of the tent with his broadsword.
In the distance, a white cavalry unit, like a white lightning bolt, was rushing towards them.
Those were the five thousand White Horse Cavalry led by Zhao Yun!
"Form ranks! Form ranks quickly!"
Chunyu Qiong roared at the top of his lungs.
His halberdiers began to assemble in a panic.
They raised their large shields and spears, attempting to form a defensive formation.
However, before their formation could be fully formed...
Two hundred paces away from them, the White Horse Cavalry suddenly split into two and flanked them from both sides.
They did not charge directly into the enemy lines.
Instead, they used their skillful mounted archery to unleash a hail of arrows on Yuan's army positions while galloping.
"Bang bang bang—"
The sound of bowstrings rang out in unison.
A dense barrage of arrows rained down like locusts.
Although Yuan Jun's large shields could block some of the arrows, many soldiers were still hit and fell to the ground.
The formation began to loosen.
Chunyu Qiong was so anxious that he was covered in sweat.
"Stay calm! Everyone stay calm!"
"They only have cavalry! They can't break through!"
He thought that was the end of it.
However, the real nightmare has only just begun.
Just as the White Horse Cavalry were flanking them from both sides...
Directly in front of Yuan Jun's position.
An infantry unit, marching in orderly steps, slowly advanced.
They were few in number, only three thousand.
They did not carry spears or broadswords.
Instead, each person carried a strangely shaped wooden box.
It was the Divine Machine Battalion led by Taishi Ci!
"What the hell is that thing?"
As Chunyu Qiong looked at the wooden boxes, an ominous premonition rose in his heart.
Taishi Ci, mounted on his horse, coldly gazed at the Yuan army's position ahead.
One hundred and fifty steps.
"stop!"
The soldiers of the Shenji Battalion stopped in unison.
They raised their Qingzhou repeating crossbows.
It aimed at Yuan Jun's densely packed crowd.
"First row, ready—fire!"
Taishi Ci waved his command flag.
"Boom boom boom boom boom—"
A thousand short arrows, accompanied by the howl of death, hurtled towards Yuan's army's position.
"Puff puff puff puff puff—"
The sounds of arrows piercing flesh filled the air.
The halberdiers in the front row of Yuan's army, although wearing heavy iron armor, held large shields.
But at a distance of eighty paces, they faced the terrifying penetrating power of the Qingzhou Repeating Crossbow.
Their defenses were as flimsy as paper.
The short arrows easily pierced their shields, penetrated their iron armor, and embedded themselves deeply in their bodies.
More than a thousand halberd warriors fell in an instant.
Screams echoed throughout the room.
Before they could even react...
"Second row, place them!"
"Third row, place it!"
Taishi Ci waved his command flag repeatedly.
The Shenji Battalion's three-stage attack tactic demonstrated terrifying lethality.
The rain of arrows came wave after wave, without end.
They gave Yuan Jun absolutely no chance to catch his breath.
Chunyu Qiong was completely dumbfounded.
He had never seen such terrifying weapons, such dense firepower.
His proud halberd warriors, faced with this rain of arrows, were like lambs to the slaughter.
Before they even saw the enemy's face, more than half of them had already been killed or wounded.
"This...this is impossible..."
Chunyu Qiong muttered to himself.
"What kind of sorcery is this?!"
He wanted to organize a counterattack.
However, his soldiers were already stunned.
Faced with the fear of death, where would they find even the slightest fighting spirit?
They began to flee.
They threw away their weapons and shields, then turned and ran.
"Don't run! Hold the line!"
Chunyu Qiong brandished his broadsword and cut down two deserters.
But this was of no use.
The army was defeated like a mountain.
Just then.
The White Horse Cavalry on both flanks completed their encirclement.
Zhao Yun took the lead, brandishing his silver spear.
"kill!"
Five thousand cavalrymen, like a giant pair of pincers, clamped down hard on the fleeing Yuan army.
This was a massacre with no suspense whatsoever.
Under the combined attack of crossbows and cavalry.
Chunyu Qiong's five thousand soldiers were completely wiped out in just half an hour.
Not a single one survived.
Chunyu Qiong himself was also knocked off his horse by Zhao Yun's spear, dying with his eyes wide open in disbelief.
On the wasteland, corpses lay strewn everywhere, and blood flowed like rivers.
The air was thick with the stench of blood.
Taishi Ci and Zhao Yun looked at the tragic scene without any change in their expressions.
They were just following orders.
Kill them all.
Not a single one was left.