Chapter 885: The Decisive Battle Part 10

"Wen He, although our army is more elite, in the current encirclement, it is extremely difficult to break the situation. The more we struggle, the stronger Yuan Shao’s army becomes, making it even harder for us to change the situation. If Wen He is concerned about the safety of the central army, I will protect you myself," Liu Bei said with a serious expression.

"This is not the case. It's just that our army has not yet reached the point where we need to move the last two reserve armies from the central army," Jia Xu shook his head and said, "Although Gao Lan's actions are the most ferocious and have indeed caused great casualties to our army, we are not yet at the point where we need to encircle and annihilate them. Moreover, we need to keep a reserve army for a specific task; it is not possible now!"

Liu Bei glanced deeply at Jia Xu and said, "Alright, I trust you. Pass my orders: the central army forms a square formation!"

At this moment, Guo Jia, who had recovered his breath, said with a smile, "Zi Jing, don’t rush. We are only in the middle of the chess game, and the end is still far off. Yuan Shao's generals and civil officials have not all arrived yet. We still have at least three major armies that have not arrived!"

On the other side, Zhao Yun and a small group of personal troops were locked in a stalemate with Zhang He and Gao Lan. It was indeed strange; previously, when only Zhang He was present, Zhao Yun, leading thousands of cavalry, was evenly matched with Zhang He. However, even with the addition of Gao Lan's six thousand elite troops, the two sides were still evenly matched!

"Did you previously fight this monster?" Another clash occurred, and Zhang He and Gao Lan simultaneously turned their horses. Seeing Zhao Yun, who was still unscathed, Zhang He felt an immense chill. After their strength had increased, it seemed their combat effectiveness had no impact on the enemy—how could this be?

"Save your breath. I've seen him several times. Although he is strong, as long as we don't seek death ourselves, it won't be easy for the opponent to kill us," Zhang He took a deep breath and said, "And haven’t you noticed that after you appeared as my reinforcements, the enemy’s morale did not decline?"

"You're right!" Gao Lan said with a serious expression, "Is this a military group talent?"

"Probably. From the first time I encountered him on the battlefield, I noticed this issue. His army seems to maintain a bizarre state, with no fluctuations in morale and no panic. No matter what kind of attack they suffer, the entire army maintains normal combat effectiveness."

"You mean I should deal with Liu Bei, and you’ll hold him off?" Gao Lan looked at Zhang He and said.

"Yes, that's what I mean. The enemy’s army doesn’t seem to break down. Their morale doesn’t decrease. Apart from total annihilation, dragging out time is meaningless!" Zhang He said seriously.

In ancient battlefields, the significance of quantity and quality is self-evident, but one thing is always a problem: morale. With high morale, hundreds can defeat thousands, and as Zhao Yun's combat talent seems immune to negative effects, including morale collapse, Zhang He clearly noticed that Zhao Yun’s army was immune to morale breakdown!

To deal with an army that doesn’t collapse under low morale, Zhang He could think of no method other than complete annihilation. However, on this battlefield, annihilating a cavalry force of over four thousand was akin to dreaming. As long as the enemy did not collapse, the outcome was still uncertain!

Therefore, on this battlefield, the number of troops essentially has little meaning. The enemy clearly has locked morale. Unless Zhao Yun is eliminated, his army won’t collapse. But Zhang He thought it better not to dream about eliminating Zhao Yun.

"Alright, I’ll deal with Liu Bei, and you hold him off!" Another clash occurred. Gao Lan immediately stopped hesitating and said to Zhang He.

"General Zhao, General Zhang asked us to assist you!" Just as Gao Lan was preparing to lead his troops to turn around, a distant roar came. A large group of Yellow Turban soldiers, dressed in leather armor and holding long spears, charged forward under the leadership of Bai Rao and Yu Du, while Zhang Yan went to assist Sun Guan and others.

"Bang, bang, bang~" The explosive sounds of crossbows erupted. The deputy commander of the Black Mountain army, Yu Du, raised his large knife and roared angrily as he charged towards the enemy.

Although the Yellow Turbans were forced into battle, each of them had a desperate courage after ten years of fighting. Of course, as fellow Yellow Turbans, the Black Mountain army did not want the Yellow Turbans from Qingzhou, who had lost their leader, to look down on them!

After all, the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans had not paid any price, or rather, the deaths of the two previous Yellow Turban leaders had already made the world accept the Yellow Turbans. But the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou were Qingzhou Yellow Turbans, and the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans were Black Mountain Yellow Turbans. Enjoying the benefits left by others was not the habit of real men.

This is also why many small leaders among the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou disbanded and returned to farming when they surrendered, while the Black Mountain Yellow Turbans did not return home to farm. The more humble they were, the more they needed dignity!

Bai Rao, Yu Du, Yang Da Xian, and others led the infantry from all directions. The regular troops of Liu Bei’s army were all armed with long spears and wore leather armor. More were citizens holding farming tools, numbering in the tens of thousands, following them.

Zhang Yan’s prestige in the Black Mountain army was indeed formidable. Although he was ordered by Lu Su to support the rear, upon learning of the decisive battle between Yuan and Liu, he mobilized the Yellow Turbans who had moved from Black Mountain and assembled a force of tens of thousands.

Zhang Yan knew that his actions would definitely be considered taboo, but when he saw that the Yellow Turbans who had followed him now had clothes to wear and food to eat, nothing else mattered. His vows from back then had been fulfilled, and there was no fear in death. He felt he finally understood the reason why the two leaders of the Qingzhou Yellow Turbans had calmly faced their deaths!

The tens of thousands of Yellow Turbans entering the battlefield did not change the situation but firmly held onto Yuan Shao’s army, preventing the battlefield situation from worsening.

In the front-line formation, Guan Yu led his own troops and Xu Chu’s Tiger Guards to firmly resist Ju Yi’s advance. With the rear blocked, Liu Bei’s front-line morale declined sharply. If not for Gan Ning activating his military group talent to stabilize his elite troops, Ju Yi might have broken through the central army.

At this time, Yuan Shao, leading the remaining elite of the central army and a legion from the rear under Han Ju, attacked. This is why Yuan Shao’s army became more proficient in battle as their morale rebounded!

[Using the military group talent to restore our combat effectiveness consumes my power. If this continues, I might lose my combat power! Damn it! How come Jia Wenhe and that bastard haven’t sent reinforcements yet!]

Gan Ning cursed furiously in his heart, feeling the loss of his power. The Iron Rope of the River was no longer as effective as before.

As Gan Ning cursed, both sides suddenly felt the ground shaking, and the tremors grew stronger. Everyone unconsciously looked towards the rear of Yuan Shao’s army.

"Adjust the defense direction, defend!" Tian Feng roared fiercely. The sudden appearance of a fully assembled cavalry unit made Tian Feng finally understand what the ominous premonition was about!

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