Chapter 503: Face to Face

Chapter 503

The Northern Nomad attack came suddenly and swiftly. After a fierce battle on the grasslands, both sides retreated back to their strongholds.

"General, I've scouted it out clearly. The five thousand elite Northern Nomad troops we fought were just a small part. There are about fifty thousand elite Northern Nomads attacking the Guanjin Line." General Jin reported.

Jiang Jizu frowned.

Over the years, the Dayu Dynasty had never stopped building defense lines to defend against foreign invasion. They were currently at the southernmost end of the Guanjin Line, which had just been erected three years ago.

The entire Guanjin Line was garrisoned with one hundred thousand elite Dayu troops. It was not something that just fifty thousand elite Northern Nomads could shake.

With ingenious defenses and troop deployment, it formed the Dayu Dynasty's strongest barrier.

Although there were still some cavalry who snuck through small paths and mountain roads, raiding and plundering small villages, as long as the main roads were all blocked, the Northern Nomad armies could only stare helplessly from outside.

This was the key to border defenses - to prevent the passage of major armies.

As long as the Northern Nomad cavalry could not trample into the inland Central Plains, the entire Dayu Dynasty would remain stable and prosperous, with singing and dancing.

"General, shall we lead troops to reinforce the Guanjin Line?" General Jin asked again.

Theoretically, reinforcements were not needed. Considering the abnormal situation, Jiang Jizu still decided to go take a look.

He took thirty thousand elite troops and arrived at the Guanjin Line's defenses through the heavily guarded official roads.

As expected, the Northern Nomads were defeated in every charge.

Zhou General, who was in charge of the Guanjin Line, came over smiling and greeted, "General Jiang came personally for such a trivial matter. They are just fifty thousand elites, who can't even get past the gates of the Guanjin Line."

Jiang Jizu remained silent, continuing to observe for half an hour to confirm the Northern Nomads were fruitlessly wasting their efforts.

The earlier doubts grew even more in his mind.

The two armies had been fighting for many years now and were quite familiar with each other.

The reason why the Dayu Dynasty had not been able to annihilate the Northern Nomads was because the Northern Nomads had superb cavalry skills and no fixed settlements, making them difficult to pursue and only able to defend passively instead of attacking actively.

The Northern Nomads were unable to break through the Dayu Dynasty's defenses because the Dayu troops had sufficient numbers and were capable of troop deployment and formation, especially adept at defensive line tactics.

Simply put, the two armies were usually like the Northern Nomads galloping ahead and the Dayu troops chasing behind.

Without the cavalry, the Northern Nomads were like tigers without teeth.

Although the defenses of the Guanjin Line had somehow inexplicably collapsed, victory was still undoubtedly certain.

Zhou General heaved a sigh of relief. Before he could smile, he saw the Northern Nomads array themselves orderly, as if they knew the weak points of the troop formations, and directly charged over murderously.

Wave after wave after wave.

The one hundred thousand elites fell like wild grass, unable to get back up.

Although the Northern Nomads were also taking losses, their spirits remained high, ceaselessly shouting battle cries - like they were celebrating victory, while also clamoring to press the attack.

Finally Zhou General's face turned ghastly pale. He had been one of General Fang's subordinates back then. The Guanjin Line was based on General Fang's vision, and the elite troops had trained in General Fang's military formations.

This had once made the Guanjin Line the strongest force within a hundred miles.

His arrogance came from their might. He was not blindly arrogant. He knew the power of the Fang family formations and the solidity of the Guanjin Line.

But he would never have imagined that General Fang's military manuscripts could be lost and traitors could appear in the Dayu Dynasty.

Perhaps the Northern Nomads did not actually understand the Fang family formations, but they could find the weaknesses in the formations. They had shattered the Guanjin Line's defenses and were whooping as they charged through the city gates.

"Reporting, General, casualties are nearing ten thousand. The Northern Nomads are pressing closer and closer, the Guanjin Line is about to collapse." A vice general staggered over. "General, let's go."

"Go, General!" A boy of thirteen or fourteen also looked back and shouted. The next moment, an arrow pierced his chest and he softly collapsed.

Zhou General's eyes brimmed with tears, filled with guilt and regret, anger and resolve.

He drew the long sword from his waist, looked back at Jiang Jizu, and said, "General, hurry and go. I am the garrison general of the Guanjin Line. As long as I'm here, the Guanjin Line will stand. If the Line falls, I fall."

After speaking, he charged into the crowds without hesitation, slashing and hacking away.

Jiang Jizu reacted quickly but was still unable to stop him in time.

"General, I've already sent people back to request reinforcements," said Vice General Jin at his side. "You are the top general and cannot have any mishaps. Leave first."

"No." Jiang Jizu shook his head. "Look at the situation here. No matter what formations our troops use, the Northern Nomads can quickly break through them. If we really leave, Old Zhou can only await death."

"General, could you be thinking of..." Vice General Jin said with eyes wide open in shock.

"Yes, that's right. Old Fang's personally planned Guanjin Line has been broken through, along with the Fang family military formations. I don't know if there's some connection here, but I want to try the Jiang family formations with the troops from headquarters." As soon as he finished speaking, he stood on top of the highest city wall and commanded at the top of his lungs, "Men! Change formations! Retreat! Dragon Twist!"