Mythical Three Kingdoms

Chapter 373 - 356: The Crushing Defeat of Cao Chun

Zhao Yun kept probing Cao Chun’s formation time and again, yet never actually stepping into it. Likewise, Cao Chun had no solution for the nimble, swift White Horse Soldiers; even archery couldn’t match their range, which was simply inconceivable to him.

Cao Chun finally understood just how formidable Gongsun Zan’s renowned White Horse Soldiers were. This was with the benefit of a formation to protect them. Without this layer of protection, the White Horse Soldiers wouldn’t need to engage in formations, simply circling and engaged in mounted archery would be enough to cause his troops to crumble.

[The speed is too fast, and if they decide to leave, there simply isn’t a way to stop them. To defeat this kind of unit, one can only rely on special terrain. Otherwise, their freedom to come and go is too unrestrained. We must restrict their mobility!], Cao Chun thought to himself as he watched the graceful, quick maneuvers of the White Horse Soldiers with a rising sense of realization.

[The advantage of the White Horse Soldiers is too significant. The overall improvement in speed even allows their mounted archery range and firing rate to surpass that of normal archers. Coupled with their own exceptional movement speed and agility, my cousin was right; the White Horse Soldiers truly are among the strongest cavalry!]

Li Zheng, hiding in a snow pit, made a hole to peer through, his eyes wide as he closely followed Zhao Yun’s every move. The superiority of the White Horse Soldiers was thoroughly exploited by Zhao Yun. If the stalemate dragged on, even with the protective formation, Cao’s army would be exhaustively dragged to ruin by Zhao Yun, who sustained virtually no damage. After all, as long as it’s a formation, there will be consumption! It was clear that the White Horse Soldiers’ consumption was far less than Cao Chun’s, a true case of being hoist with his own petard!

"Found it." A smile emerged on Zhao Yun’s face, and without hesitation, he split about five hundred cavalry from the swirling White Horse ranks, then, taking the lead, the cavalry behind him adeptly shifted into a Spearhead Formation, and their speed surged again. They charged like a white streak directly into the mist.

Seeing this, Li Zheng first stiffened, then panic set in. Judging from Zhao Yun’s earlier performance, he knew that the man belonged to the type of military general who remained calm; making such an irrational move was uncharacteristic, there was only one possibility—Zhao Yun had spotted a vulnerability in the Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation.

"All units, prepare." Li Zheng signaled to the soldiers beside him. He feared the unexpected, as his cousin Li Jin had once told him: any formation could have an atypical method of being dismantled, and it was this kind of accident he feared now.

When Zhao Yun plunged into Cao Chun’s formation, Cao Chun himself was thrilled. Li Zheng outside couldn’t see clearly, but Cao Chun could, and he saw Zhao Yun charging into the death gate!

"Block them for me!" Cao Chun laughed loudly, feeling as if fortune had fallen from heaven. He had thought Zhao Yun, unable to find a way to break his formation or wear him down with speed, would simply turn tail and leave. But in the end, Zhao Yun charged headlong into the death gate. "Hahaha, can’t stand the frustration, huh? Then go to your death!"

The moment Zhao Yun charged in, the Spearhead Formation sharply elongated, and its speed increased yet again. They almost completely ignored the approaching Cao soldiers from all sides, just charging forward stubbornly, as if seeking their own doom.

"Break through!" Zhao Yun flicked his Long Spear, hurling several men blocking his way into the air, leading the charge into the heart of the formation. In Cao Chun’s incredulous gaze, Zhao Yun turned sharply and charged directly from the center toward the wounded gate. The Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation was designed to defend against external rather than internal threats. With its attack power and defense focused outward, Zhao Yun’s back attack threw the formation into disarray in an instant; chaos ensued as soldiers were thrown off their horses and before they could adjust their direction, Zhao Yun had already penetrated straight through!

"All troops, charge!" Military Marshal Xue Shao, upon seeing the enveloped grand formation fall into disarray, did not hesitate to give the order to strike, leading a battalion in Zhao Yun’s wake directly into the torn pathway, slicing the already chaotic grand formation into three sections.

As for the outer perimeter, the White Horse Soldiers unleashed a rain of arrows upon the enemy’s disordered ranks before intermittently charging through the gaps they cleared, a hundred men at a time. In just the time it took to brew a cup of tea, the White Horse Righteous Followers, with their ultimate speed and nimble mobility, effortlessly shredded Cao Chun’s formation of three thousand elite troops.

Cao Chun’s mind was in disarray, as the situation went from a godsend to his three thousand elite soldiers being fragmented into tiny teams—all within the time it took to brew a cup of tea. He had hardly grasped what had happened in that brief period; Zhao Yun had clearly charged into the jaws of death, yet why did the next moment bring such an earth-shattering transformation?

"All units, attack!" Li Zheng, watching this terrifying scene from his snow pit, knew that disaster was imminent. He leaped out and charged directly toward the cavalry led by Zhao Yun.

Although the current situation was nothing like what Cao Chun had described, with him holding off Zhao Yun’s White Horse Righteous Followers, those same followers, who were now aggressively weaving through and slicing up Cao Chun’s ranks, were not able to break away instantly. This gave Li Zheng the opportunity to carry out his previous plan; even if it couldn’t succeed, it could at least rescue Cao Chun, who was trapped within the military formation.

The White Horse Righteous Followers on both flanks, as Cao Chun had estimated, had many who were too slow to dodge and were directly knocked off their horses, while those who reacted in time managed to turn sharply enough to avoid falling, but in doing so, they cleared a path for Li Zheng to burst through.

"General, flee quickly!" Li Zheng’s chaotic charge threw the whole situation into further disarray, and Cao Chun took the opportunity to join up with him.

"Duanfang, many thanks!" Cao Chun had calmed down by then and quickly called upon the surrounding Cloud Qi to promptly form a Circle Defense.

"General, retreat quickly. I’ll hold them off for now. The Xuzhou Plain offers too much advantage to the White Horse Righteous Followers without the protection of city walls, we cannot defeat Zhao Yun. You should hurry to Linyi and defend the city while waiting for reinforcements," Li Zheng said swiftly.

"Alright, Duanfang, be careful yourself!" Decisive when it was time to cut losses, although the number of Cao Chun’s men who had died at the hands of the White Horse Righteous Followers since the beginning of the engagement was not less than five hundred, and fewer than a thousand had managed to escape and regroup with Li Zheng, leaving nearly two thousand still encircled by Zhao Yun’s forces. If not for Zhao Yun’s decision to grant no quarter, wanting to annihilate these bandit executioners, Cao’s army would have collapsed long ago. Yet even so, if they dallied any longer, Cao Chun would be left without the strength to counterattack.

Li Zheng nodded, immediately forming up with shields bristling like a porcupine, the archers compacted together to shoot in volleys.

"Zhangming, take a thousand men and pursue that fleeing unit, show no mercy; execute them on the spot!" As the White Horse Righteous Followers made another swift incursion, Zhao Yun ordered Xue Shao upon their meeting.

Xue Shao intersected with Zhao Yun and quickly swept out in a large loop, leading the forces of two Military Marshals in pursuit of Cao Chun.

Watching Li Zheng form into a Round Formation, Zhao Yun led his troops in a frenzied slaughter of Cao Chun’s remaining forces, then took the survivors of the White Horse Righteous Followers to practice their Mounted Archery around Li Zheng’s position. Li Zheng’s planned withdrawal while fighting crumbled under Zhao Yun’s agile offense, and before he could retreat much, his forces were routed. Seizing the opportunity, Zhao Yun ordered a charge that scattered Li Zheng’s troops.

(To be continued. If you like this work, please visit Qidian ) to cast your recommendation votes and monthly votes. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users, please read on m.qidian.com.)