Chapter 266
Chapter 266 – Mental Attacks of Elite Generals
Idly riding a horse or standing still was still a tiring job . All soldiers on both sides sweat under the spring sunlight . The weather was perfect for an outing, but it was a torture to all men on the battlefield .
The wait and the suspense of their situation exhausted their mind . Even though all soldiers had not contributed anything to the killing yet, the battle had already started without their realization .
Lu Bu used his mental strength and his killing intent to pressure Yuan Shao"s soldiers .
Yan Liang and Wen Chou also did the same as they were also targeting Lu Bu"s soldiers .
Li Feihong, however, got used to Lu Bu"s domineering mental attack . He did not feel anything from Yan Liang and Wen Chou .
As he did not have to send out his mental attack, nor did he know how to use it, Li Feihong continued to observe all monitors in front of him as if he was watching a show on TV .
"I wish I have a smoke . I would have been nice to have something in my mouth . "
Li Feihong missed his cigarettes in the previous world . He tried to explore the system shop for a laugh, but the system denied his access, claiming the dimension was unstable again .
"Once this war is over, I"ll research about tobacco and weeds . Maybe I"ll plant some in my farm world … Dammit, my thought turns into a junkie"s . "
If a soldier from Lu Bu army knew about what Li Feihong was thinking about, they would have retorted "We"re dying from the killing intent pressure, but you"re chilling thinking of a smoke?"
It did not take long for the stalemate to s.h.i.+ft as Li Feihong noticed a new army approaching from the north . Gao Shun and his 3,000 armored hors.e.m.e.n had crossed the moat, and they were free to attack the workers and the reserve troops of Yan Liang and co . "s forces from behind .
"They"re here . Boss, let"s give them a push to distract the main army . "
…
…
Yan Liang"s face change . He turned toward the north as he felt something was amiss even though n.o.body had informed him about any change .
"What"s wrong, Liang?" Asked Wen Chou .
"Omen . Bad luck is coming from the north . I"m taking a few troops back to the other side . "
Had it been other generals, they would have thought that Yan Liang was pulling their legs .
However, Wen Chou understood Yan Liang as if they were brothers with the same mother . He knew why Yan Liang acted that way .
"If you say so, I"ll trust your guts . "
Wen Chou was a general who relied on his logic and stratagems . On the contrary, Yan Liang succeeded in his career as a general because he relied on his instinct . He could often sense an omen that they could have suffered a significant loss .
As long as he was responsible with a battalion with over 5,000 men, he could get this sixth-sense feeling .
There were times that his sense did not work, for example, when he and Wen Chou were tricked and captured by Tong after the battle of Anping was over . Yan Liang also suffered defeat many times in his career, but those were the times when he led small task forces .
In other words, Yan Liang"s sixth sense only worked on a large scale battlefield . If he commanded small troops, he would not sense anything .
All heavy cavalries on Wen Chou"s side rushed back to the workers" side and formed an array toward the north .
Yan Liang rode to the front and bellowed, "Set up the towers behind our back . Get archers on the towers, we"ll be under attack in a few minutes! Also, call Gao Lan! Get that chicken over here!"
. . .
Lu Bu frowned . At the same time, Li Feihong"s face paled .
"Boss!"
"I know . I can sense the enemies movements . One of those sc.u.ms is the same type as mine . He knew about Gao Shun! Feihong, give me your tactic . "
"Okay! All their hors.e.m.e.n were rus.h.i.+ng back, leaving only infantries with repeating crossbows and explosive bombs . We"ll push our infantries and our range weaponry forward until they get into the range!"
"Good! Footmen, trebuchets units, ballistae units, forward!"
*RUMBLE*
Hundreds of siege weapons were being pushed forward as Julu infantries stomped their feet as they marched .
Li Feihong immediately reported the situation to Jia Xu in the clan chat .
"Report! The ambush plan has been discovered . Yuan Shao Army is moving to intercept Gao Shun!"
Jia Xu replied, "Move Lu Bu forward but use the range attack on their remaining troops . Don"t charge into their formation yet . Also, I want you to a.s.sa.s.sinate one of their generals . It doesn"t have to be the leading general, a 1000-man commander is fine . "
"Roger!"
"Can I deploy my troops to help them?" Asked Zhang Liao .
"No, you will station inside the fort for the time being . If you move, the entire Yuan Shao 200,000 men will move . That Tian Feng will never let go of this chance when you are out of the fortress . "
"I see . I"ll stay here then . "
…
Jia Xu had moved to command the army in the south fortress .
The northern fort was not the only place that Tian Feng had moved his pieces . Currently, 20,000 men of Yuan Shao gathered in front of the fort with siege weapons . They were preparing to siege the fort directly to probe its strength .
Lu Zhi, Zhou Cang, and Xu Huang were present in this garrison, a.s.sisting Jia Xu organizing the men .
None of the soldiers in the fort was panic . Everyone was ready and knew that they had the full advantage over the invaders if they were sieged on the front .
Jia Xu muttered to Lu Zhi, "A p.r.o.ng attack . Distract the north while probing south . If we show a single weakness, they will know it instantly . "
"Want me to do something particularly?" Asked Lu Zhi .
"Head to the north fort with 5,000 hors.e.m.e.n . Instead of using your flags, take Zhang Liao"s flags with you . Make them think that Zhang Liao has exited the north fort . "
"I see . I"ll go!"
"Zhou Cang, Xu Huang, I need you two to stay with me in the south fort . This place will get hit the hardest . Your strength will be more useful here . "
…
Gao Shun and his 3,000 armored hors.e.m.e.n detoured the moat line and arrived at the north of Gao Lan and his reserve army .
As planned, they had to catch this reserve force off guard and crippled their siege weapons . Looking at the situation in front of Gao Shun Army, he could not follow through with their plan .
Yan Liang, Gao Lan, and their 3,000 heavy cavalries also formed a defensive line with 100 archer towers and 50 trebuchets behind them .
With that kind of defense, Gao Shun decided that he could not proceed further . He had to come up with a new plan on the spot or retreat . If he were to stay idly on this position, the main force of Yuan Shao could sneak at their east flank, which could surround their troops .
"All units, hold! Do not pursue the enemies, move back and regroup!"
The 3,000 armored horses changed the direction from the south toward the east then north, making a U-Turn back as they could not stop the galloping horses in the middle of their rush .
.
Gao Lan, who had been hiding behind the line, could see the opponent"s flag . The leader of the ambus.h.i.+ng party also had the same surname as him .
"Gao? Which branch family is he from? Ah, right . That is Gao Shun of Jinyang, the master of that [Formation Crus.h.i.+ng] stratagem . "
The Gao Family in this period was not as prosperous as the Gao Family in the future Dynasties . They were still climbing their ranks as followers of n.o.ble clans or subordinates of warlords . Both Gao Shun and Gao Lan shared the same surname, but they did not have a family-relations.h.i.+p tie like a proper aristocrat family .
Seeing that Gao Shun was retreating, Gao Lan took it for granted that Gao Shun was afraid of them . He turned to Yan Liang .
"Sir Yan, let"s pursue and chase after them! We have equipped our men with repeating crossbows and gunpowder bombs, so let"s get rid of them when we can . "
Yan Liang glanced at Gao Lan, "We won"t . We have the direct order from Tian Feng that we can"t move beyond the orders . He told us to secure the perimeters on the north of their fort, and we shall follow through with it . "
Gao Lan sighed in a disappointment .
Yan Liang mocked him, "You"re lucky that Chou and I are here . Had you come here alone, you would have been dead two hours ago . "
"What?"
"Be careful, there"s another guy in Lu Bu Army that has been wanting you dead . I can feel his killing intent and his mental strength . It"s on the same level as Chou and me . We can"t even make him flinch even though we"ve been targeting him for hours . "
Killing intent, the supernatural phenomenon that all elite generals in this world were using it as their alternative weapon as a mental attack . Only those who had bathed in the blood of his enemies for years could exhibit this power . Huang Zhong, Lu Bu, Yan Liang, and Wen Chou were parts of those people who had mastered it .
The victims of this mental attack, who were the targets of their killing intents, would suffer from a panic attack from their own instinct . Their inner sense would cry in fear, telling the master of the body that they had to escape as the image of death was forcefully injected into their brain wave .
Any weak-willed person would urinate their pants on the spot . However, all elites, who had been through a similar bloodbath, would have an immunity to the sudden hostile aura . Their psyche got used to the image of ma.s.sacres as they had been through the real life-and-death situations so they would not be scared by the false image of death .
Listening to the warning of Yan Liang, Gao Lan was shocked . He knew well that Wen Chou and Yan Liang were the elites of the elites, which they could turn their killing intent into a mental attack .
Usually, both of them never displayed this ability in a spar or training . However, in real battles, they would not hold back their sharp killing intent, which could terrify all soldiers in their sight . Even Gao Lan could not last 30 minutes if he were to become their target of the mental attack .
Yet, Yan Liang just said there was another monster that could withstand their attack for hours .
A chill ran down Gao Lan"s spine as he stared at the direction of Lu Bu Army in fear .
Yan Liang patted Gao Lan"s back, "Don"t worry about it . This thing is just a child play that we use to probe the opponent generals . Now, we know that other than Lu Bu, there is another threat in their army so we can be careful . "
Gao Lan nodded . This battle would not be a simple fight between strategists or tactics they used .
The quality of the generals was another factor that could decide the outcome of this war!
…
Li Feihong sneezed twice in a row .
"Who the f.o.o.k cussed this father!? Oh wait, I"m popular in many counties . It should have been those girls again …"