“Success or failure hinges on this moment!”
Cheng Peng couldn’t help but clench his fists.
His family’s influence was not particularly strong, relying on the Vice Minister of War to secure a foothold in the court, so he was more determined than other noble-born generals.
If this battle was won, his family could rise to a new level.
Ambitious by nature, Cheng Peng felt no fear as he watched the approaching Dangxiang cavalry, only excitement.
Without the buffer of horse-trapping pits, the Dangxiang cavalry charged at full speed, like dark clouds driven by a fierce wind, sweeping in.
“Defensive formation, prepare!”
With the herald’s roar, several phalanxes immediately planted the ends of their bamboo poles in the ground, tips facing forward, ready to meet the cavalry’s charge.
But unexpectedly, the Dangxiang cavalry suddenly split into groups of a hundred, avoiding the phalanxes’ fronts and galloping past their flanks.
“Not good, they’re attacking the phalanx flanks!” Cheng Peng immediately spotted the problem and shouted, “Quick, pass the order, change formation, guard all sides!”
An experienced battlefield commander, he had studied the phalanx for several nights after acquiring it, fully aware that its flanks and rear were its fatal weaknesses.
So, he not only mastered the offensive and defensive formations demonstrated by the Tielin army but also innovatively developed a new formation to address defensive issues in open terrain.
As the order was relayed, two of Yongan army’s adjacent phalanxes immediately merged back-to-back into a single formation. Though immobile, this effectively protected their rear.
The “guard all sides” formation also had additional phalanxes on the left and right to counter threats from either flank.
But the cavalry was too fast, and the phalanxes on the left and right had already been separated, unable to converge.
If Yongan army was struggling, Ding Yunfei’s Ansu army was in an even worse state.
Yongan had managed to form six phalanxes, while Ansu had only formed two.
However, these were composed of veterans who reacted quickly. Seeing the Dangxiang bypass their flanks, the commanders of two phalanxes, without waiting for Ding Yunfei’s orders, mimicked Yongan’s back-to-back formation.
The last phalanx, too far from the others, moved to Yongan’s left flank, forming a triangular formation.
As for the soldiers who hadn’t yet formed up, they were in dire straits. The Dangxiang cavalry swept through, charging into the crowd.
The momentum of galloping warhorses was no less than that of a speeding cart.
It was like a pack of huskies charging into a flock of chickens. The Dangxiang cavalry didn’t even need to swing their blades; a single collective charge killed or trampled hundreds of unformed Ansu and Yongan soldiers.
Turning a large cavalry force was no easy task. After breaking through the allied forces, the cavalry didn’t stop but continued forward, planning to loop back for another charge.
This gave the allied forces a brief moment to regroup.
But their formations were already shattered, with Yongan soldiers mixed among Ansu troops and vice versa.
With different training, forming phalanxes was no longer possible.
“What are you all standing around for? Point the bamboo at the rear!” Cheng Peng shouted frantically.
But the battlefield was filled with the sound of hooves, screams, and chaos, drowning out his orders. The heralds had also been scattered.
Seeing the situation, Cheng Peng had no time to manage the scattered troops. He grabbed the terrified Ding Yunfei, pulled him onto his horse, and galloped toward the assembled phalanxes.
By now, the Dangxiang cavalry had completed their turn and were charging again.
Though Cheng Peng’s orders couldn’t be heard, some veterans reacted instinctively. Driven by survival instincts, those near the carts grabbed bamboo poles, forming small phalanxes of three to a dozen men, planting the poles’ ends in the ground to face the Dangxiang cavalry.
But only a few soldiers were near the carts. Many more were in a daze, running aimlessly like headless flies.
The cavalry, moving in groups, couldn’t easily turn, as it risked collisions or even large-scale trampling.
So, the cavalry facing the bamboo poles had no choice but to charge straight into them.
The outcome was predictable: the lucky ones knocked the poles aside and survived; the unlucky were pierced through.
The cavalry swept through, claiming hundreds more Dakang soldiers.
But as they passed through the scattered troops, they were stunned.
In that brief moment, Cheng Peng had reached the rear and swiftly reorganized eight phalanxes into two larger ones, both in the “guard all sides” formation.
The two formations stretched over three hundred metres, a dense wall of bamboo poles blocking most of the cavalry’s path.
With the cavalry’s speed too great and the distance too close, many couldn’t turn in time and crashed head-on.
This cost the Dangxiang cavalry over two hundred men.
Combined with those killed by the smaller, scattered phalanxes, their losses exceeded three hundred.
This was something Zhuo Ban hadn’t anticipated.
Moreover, the Dakang commanders reacted quickly, finding ways to counter their weaknesses so soon.
The staff officer’s advice was now useless.
But Zhuo Ban wasn’t discouraged. He turned to his deputy and said, “These two phalanxes are fully formed. Leave them for now, Ashuo. Split our forces and bypass the phalanxes. First, clear out those scattered Dakang soldiers in the rear.”
“Yes!” Ashuo replied, leading half the cavalry around the phalanxes’ left side.
As before, the cavalry split into smaller groups, bypassing the phalanxes to attack the scattered soldiers behind.
Most of these were new recruits, already demoralized, and no match for the Dangxiang cavalry.
A one-sided slaughter began.
The scene turned gruesome, with several Dakang soldiers killed every second.
The battlefield was littered with severed limbs and corpses, like a vision of hell, with blood staining the ground and the Dangxiang cavalry’s horses.
Ding Yunfei and Cheng Peng were heartbroken but powerless.
The “guard all sides” phalanxes had lost all mobility, and no matter how much it pained them, they couldn’t send aid.
Ding Yunfei’s feelings mirrored Zhang Qiwei’s from days ago. His regret was overwhelming, and he realized the terror of the Dangxiang cavalry and the gap between the Ansu and Tielin armies.
Though Cheng Peng felt no regret, his heart was ashen.
He knew the Yongan army, painstakingly built by his family, was likely finished.
In just ten minutes, over two thousand allied soldiers who hadn’t formed up, along with hundreds of auxiliaries and logistics troops, perished under the Dangxiang cavalry.
“The appetizer’s done. Time for the main course!” Zhuo Ban sneered, ordering his cavalry to spread out and surround the two large phalanxes.
