Chapter 573: Chapter 343: The Defeat in War, It's All That Woman's Fault!_1
Seeing that the soldiers of the North Country still stood in place, Ying Feiyu sensed something was amiss.
In battle between two armies, had the opponent really not arranged their formations?
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Mu Changtian was an old hand at this; how could he possibly be unaware of the importance of military formations?
Soldiers without formation were nothing but loose sand, could it be that Mu Changtian intended to lead this mass of loose sand against their Great Wu's army of three hundred thousand?
The scene already showed the North Country's soldiers in fewer numbers, roughly estimated at only tens of thousands. Tens of thousands against three hundred thousand had no chance of winning to begin with, let alone the fact that these soldiers of the North Country weren't defending a city, but had come out to face Great Wu in a head-on clash.
In open field battles, the most crucial aspect when two armies squared off was the changing of the military formations; the side without a formation was basically doomed to collapse.
Feeling that something was off, Ying Feiyu considered that Mu Changtian wasn't a fool. How could he possibly not arrange his troops into formation? What was North Country doing?
Although he couldn't figure out what Mu Changtian had up his sleeve, since North Country had exposed such a huge flaw, Ying Feiyu had no plans to be polite.
Under the beat of drums, Ying Feiyu's army quickly formed their battle array, yet at that moment, the drumbeats from the side of North Country also began.
Hearing the drumbeats starting from the North Country, Ying Feiyu initially thought that Mu Changtian's forces were just now organizing their formations. A slight smile curled the corners of his mouth, and he muttered to himself, "It's already too late!"
The next moment, Ying Feiyu prepared to lead a charge, but just then, a deafening sound came from the distance, so loud it drowned out the drums of both sides.
Before Ying Feiyu could react to what had happened, a huge iron ball fell among Great Wu's troops.
Normally, soldiers within a formation would be tightly packed, and it was not hard to imagine the consequences of a cannonball falling directly into such a crowd.
Just as people thought the iron ball was nothing more than a stone hurled by a catapult from North Country, the ball exploded in an instant, and the next moment, soldiers around it were blasted to the ground.
The violent explosion brought Great Wu's soldiers to their senses, including Ying Feiyu. However, Great Wu's three hundred thousand soldiers, seasoned as they were, did not immediately fall into chaos.
Just as Ying Feiyu was about to issue new orders, another continuous rumble echoed from afar.
At the North Country artillery positions, the soldiers had entered into battle status, ceaselessly firing their cannons at Ying Feiyu's army.
With each cannonball exploding in Ying Feiyu's ranks, Great Wu's soldiers' limbs began to fly through the air.
Ying Feiyu finally understood why North Country had so easily conquered the North Land and defeated the Tianqi King's army that had a Grandmaster.
He immediately gave the command, shouting loudly, "Disperse!"
Although he did not know what the exploding iron balls were, he was very clear that if they maintained their dense formation, his army of three hundred thousand would soon be annihilated.
Upon hearing Ying Feiyu's command, the Messenger Soldiers frantically waved the flags. However, just then, a piercing sound passed by Ying Feiyu, and in the next moment, he sensed a threat to his life and quickly dodged.
He might have dodged, but the Messenger Soldier behind him fell down instantly. Ying Feiyu looked back to see a small hole in the Messenger Soldier's forehead as if struck by a hidden weapon.
Shortly after, numerous heads emerged from the trenches dug by the North Country, followed by a torrent of bullets pouring out.
North Country's musket bullets weren't very accurate for now, but Ying Feiyu's ranks had yet to disperse and the soldiers were so densely packed, it was as good as facing a firing squad.
Facing the barrage of incoming bullets, Ying Feiyu immediately said, "The entire army, retreat!!!"
As his words fell, the drumbeats sounded once more—the Messenger Soldiers in the ranks desperately waved their flags, and Great Wu's three hundred thousand soldiers just like that began to retreat, not even enduring a quarter of an hour.
It wasn't due to the loss of many men, but because they had never seen the weapons used by North Country. The shock brought by the cannons and muskets instilled immense fear in their hearts.
Humans always fear the unknown, and Ying Feiyu was afraid that if they continued, the three hundred thousand he led would be decimated here. They must retreat now.
The weapons used by North Country were too terrifying; they had to figure out exactly what those weapons were. Until he understood what weapons North Country used and how they were acquired, Ying Feiyu did not plan to engage again with North Country's troops.
However, that was just his personal thought; Mu Changtian and his forces wouldn't give Ying Feiyu's forces any time as they saw Great Wu's three hundred thousand army retreat in disarray.
At Mu Changtian's command, the North Country's army launched a full counterattack, and Wenren Lie's Heavy Cavalry units also began to move.
Seeing the North Country army counterattacking, Ying Feiyu who was retreating immediately ordered a deputy general to stay behind with fifty thousand troops to hold back the North Country army.
Though reluctant, it was, after all, a battlefield where orders were absolute. The deputy general stayed, ready to have his soldiers loose arrows to stop the North Country army, only to be greeted by relentless bombing.
Before Great Wu's fifty thousand troops could organize an effective defense, their soldiers were blasted into the air by the cannons.