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Chapter 705: A Night of Murder Under the Black Moon and High Winds
🕑 Added 2024-10-05 05:05:59 +0000 UTC"What surprises me is the ruthlessness of your actions and the decisiveness in trading cavalry for infantry. It truly shocked me, but as long as I am here, I will not lose!" Chen Xi's eyes were cold as he quickly adjusted his spiritual energy. The once-bright moonlight was gradually obscured by clouds, plunging the night into darkness, leaving Yuan Shao's army unable to see five steps ahead.
"Kill Xu You for me!" Chen Xi commanded furiously in the darkness.
For the first time, Chen Xi had suffered such a significant loss. If not for the desperate efforts of his soldiers, Xu You's strategy of trading cavalry for infantry could have destroyed his entire army in a short time. If not for the second desperate struggle, Chen Xi would have been completely overwhelmed the moment his battle formation was shattered, even if he had blocked out all the moonlight.
However, even if Chen Xi had blocked the moonlight in that situation, it wouldn't have stopped Wen Chou's cavalry charge. In the end, strategies are only effective when backed by strength. A single plan might stop a hundred thousand troops, but it could also crash into an unyielding wall of iron.
Chen Xi knew that his strategy was correct, but when Wen Chou's iron cavalry broke through the formation, he realized that no amount of strategy could avoid a final deadly blow. If that step couldn't be achieved, all strategies were nothing but jokes.
When Zhuge Liang's army arrived, Chen Xi knew the battle should have ended. However, at that moment, it was clear that Xu You had the upper hand. With Wen Chou's cavalry breaking through the center, Zhuge Liang's forces, originally meant to encircle, came up behind Chen Xi, failing to block Xu You's retreat.
What frustrated Chen Xi even more was that as soon as Zhuge Liang arrived, Xu You, despite having the upper hand, immediately sounded the retreat, regrouped his forces, and joined up with Lü Kuang's army, waiting for Chen Xi and Zhuge Liang to combine their forces.
This made Chen Xi understand what Guo Jia had meant when he said Xu You was incredibly decisive. It was clear that Chen Xi's reinforcements had arrived, and the bravery of the Taishan soldiers surpassed that of Yuan Shao's troops. With Yuan Shao's numerical advantage, continuing the fight would only lead to a stalemate. Thus, Xu You chose to retreat, claiming a small victory.
Had Xu You retreated earlier, no matter what tactics Chen Xi employed, he would have been limited. At that point, even if Xu You's army had fallen into chaos during the retreat, they wouldn't have been surrounded and blocked by Chen Xi's forces, with losses amounting to no more than thirty percent, and certainly not the subsequent rout.
Unfortunately, Xu You was fixated on striking a blow against Chen Xi. As a result, even though the armies of Wen Chou and Lü Kuang had distanced themselves by a hundred steps from Chen Xi's forces, they hadn't retreated entirely, and this was Chen Xi's opportunity.
The moment the clouds covered the moon, the bright moonlight was swallowed by darkness, making the night even more silent. However, in the next moment, a fierce battle erupted.
"Archers, nock your arrows! Cavalry, charge! Block Yuan Shao's forces! Shield bearers, get to the front!" Chen Xi shouted, ordering his troops. Compared to Yuan Shao's soldiers, who were virtually blind in the night, Chen Xi had long studied how to prevent night blindness among his troops.
Well, preventing night blindness among all civilians was something Chen Xi could only try to achieve, but preventing night blindness among soldiers was a must. Fish soup, liver, and any other methods that could prevent night blindness had all been tried by Chen Xi. By now, there were no soldiers in Liu Bei's army who turned blind at night.
Xu You was stunned, but before he could mock Chen Xi, he saw that Liu Bei's soldiers had accurately followed Chen Xi's orders, with none of the chaos he had anticipated.
"This is bad!" Xu You was shocked. Without any hesitation, he immediately turned his horse around and shouted to Wen Chou, "Order the troops to retreat!"
As night fell, the brave soldiers under Wen Chou and Lü Kuang suddenly found their vision shrinking. By the time darkness fully enveloped them, they couldn't even see the comrades next to them.
"Retreat!" Wen Chou shouted. In this situation, the advantage in numbers meant nothing; even ten thousand men would lose to a thousand in the dark if they were effectively blind.
Wen Chou's desperate cry instantly threw Yuan Shao's army, already disoriented by the loss of vision, into chaos. A barrage of crossbow bolts rained down, and Yuan Shao's forces collapsed almost instantly. The once-dense formation turned into a death trap, with soldiers pushing, shoving, and trampling each other in a panic.
"Open up!" At this moment, Xu You abandoned all previous composure, frantically channeling his spiritual energy. He tore a huge gap in the clouds, letting the bright moonlight shine down once again. The chaotic Yuan Shao army suddenly halted.
"Quickly, retreat to Chiping and hold the crossing!" Xu You roared. The moment he tore open the clouds, he felt an overwhelming force pressing down on him.
"Trying to escape?" Chen Xi clasped his hands together, and the clouds that Xu You had torn apart merged back into one. Darkness returned, and Xu You saw the last sliver of moonlight fall upon Chen Xi before vanishing. At that moment, Chen Xi's smile was cold and full of mockery.
"Strategist, retreat!" Wen Chou shouted as he rushed back with Xu You. The army was already in chaos; although the brief moment of light had shown Yuan Shao's soldiers where to go, the subsequent return to darkness threw them back into disarray.
"Advance, capture Xu You alive!" Chen Xi shouted.
The soldiers under Chen Xi, who had been beaten back by Yuan Shao's forces earlier, now seized the opportunity to retaliate. Shouting "Capture Xu You alive!" they abandoned their formations and pursued Yuan Shao's troops. The chaotic battlefield had already determined the outcome.
"Wen Chou, order the troops to follow the moonlight!" Xu You almost spat blood upon hearing Liu Bei's soldiers' shouts from behind. He had just been mocking Chen Xi, only for the situation to reverse in an instant. The saying "you reap what you sow" was never more apt.
"Open up!" Xu You made a gesture, and the clouds in the sky suddenly dispersed, letting the moonlight shine down again. In the darkness, people become extremely sensitive to light, and Yuan Shao's soldiers all looked up toward the source of the light. They couldn't see their surroundings, but they could see the place where the light shone.
"All troops, follow the moonlight!" Wen Chou shouted, but the next moment, the moonlight was cut off again, and a more distant patch of clouds dissipated, letting another beam of moonlight shine through.
Chen Xi had a vast amount of spiritual energy, but Xu You wasn't directly competing with him. Xu You would clear a patch of clouds, and if Chen Xi tried to cover it up, Xu You would quickly find another weak spot in Chen Xi's spiritual energy and create another opening. He knew his soldiers only needed a guide, and that one beam of light was enough.
【This terrifying amount of spiritual energy...】 Blood trickled from the corner of Xu You's mouth. Even though his spiritual energy retreated quickly each time, the repeated clashes with Chen Xi's spiritual energy still took a toll on him.
"Hand over your monthly tickets and recommendation votes, by the way, isn't the new version of Point Daughter (Dian Niang) pretty terrible?"
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