Mythical Three Kingdoms

In the cold weapon era, morale was a magical thing. Once morale was lost, even a once elite army could be defeated by a group of new recruits. Therefore, Ganasis decisively withdrew his troops upon realizing there was nothing to gain.

”Retreated? Why is this group of Great Qin’s bastards so disappointing? Let Laozi cut them down once more and leave with these things without burning my hands!” Li Jue immediately cursed.

The main reason was Vologases V was too generous, giving too many things. Although Li Jue and others were not honest people, they believed in taking money from people to help them eliminate disasters. So, in the face of so many gold coins, armor, and horses, Li Jue felt it necessary to fight.

However, Li Jue clearly knew that it was currently difficult to replenish his Xiliang Iron Cavalry, so they couldn’t be wasted in a war of attrition. Thus, he was thinking hard of ways, and Guo Si and Fan Chou were doing the same. The three of them, combining ideas, devised a strategy that would surpass Zhuge Liang’s wisdom.

The greatest advantage of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry is its strong defense, completely ignoring the arrow rain from Roman short bow archers. However, Roman spear infantry could assassinate the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, making long-range combat a better choice than melee combat.

Despite the Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s long-range archery being generally poor, their role had always been close combat infiltration, melee to break formation. Therefore, Xiliang Iron Cavalry never equipped with bows and arrows, even the leaders like Li Jue had poor archery skills.

Because of this, back in the day, for simplicity and effectiveness, Li Ru equipped Li Jue and his main force with single bolt crossbows, which were already considered obsolete items.

However, how to say, trash can only be considered a misplaced treasure. Li Ru was not brainless; these single-shot crossbows were difficult to reload and string, but had great power, enough to shoot through an armored person.

It is definitely a ruthless weapon. However, because it is single-shot and stringing takes too long, by the time you reload once, Romans with their rate of fire could easily empty a quiver and ready a new one to continue shooting...

Therefore, Greater Central Plains had long abandoned this low rate of fire equipment, but Li Ru gave Xiliang Iron Cavalry such weapons not intended for reloading. It was a tool meant to pit against spear formations.

Concentrating firepower with just one shot could create a breach in the spear formation. Furthermore, even though Iron Cavalry archery skills are poor, the spear formation is so dense it’s hard to miss. It only requires a simultaneous lift-and-shoot by the main force to instantaneously break a gap in the spear formation.

If a spear formation gets a breach, it loses all combat power. Cavalry can easily twist and press through; therefore, spear formations set to stop Tugi cavalrymen were completely useless against Xiliang Iron Cavalry, especially the main force.

However, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry would not use this method to concentrate fire on the spear and shield soldiers’ formation unless absolutely necessary. They generally maintain a flat shot, keeping a trump card in hand is still necessary.

Thus, after confirming Rome did not have heavy crossbows, Li Jue impulsively suggested why not do as Li Ru taught them before by concentrating fire to create a breach?

After all, they did not need to pursue rate of fire and range or even accuracy.

Charge to thirty steps from the opponent, withstand the opponent’s arrow rain and counter in kind, focusing everyone’s shot towards one direction. This way, surely taking down dozens at least, then shoot and retreat.

Grinding away bit by bit, the opponent would certainly lose morale. After all, their defense is high. As long as the opponent has those few short bows, there’s no need to worry!

”We set out to block Great Qin. With so much stuff, don’t you think it feels hot to the touch? Even if we use our trump card, we can at worst go back to hang onto the strategist’s leg for safety.” Li Jue gritted his teeth for a long time before finally slapping his hand on the stone platform.

”Ten thousand good horses are of no use to us, and I think the Parthian king is not bad, generous, if we deal with Great Qin, the other side would surely be willing to give even more benefits!” Guo Si stroked his chin and said, the benefit of hanging onto the strategist’s leg is safety.

”Great Qin’s understanding of us came from the battle a few days ago. They know archers are useless against us, so those covering the retreat must be spear and shield soldiers.” Fan Chou tapped the stone platform and said, ”Similarly, because there are spear and shield soldiers in the back, the central army must be light cavalry and archers.”

”The biggest issue is whether we can break through the opponent’s spear and shield soldiers. We clearly saw a long spear flanked by two short spears, and if they form a formation, we have no advantage.” Guo Si weighed the matter, saying their biggest issue was force strength.

If back in the day, the combined forces of Guo, Li, Fan, Zhang, and Hua totaling 30,000 troops, along with 100,000 retinues, were still here, there would be no need to think about these trivial matters. They could just charge in, resolving all problems.

”Troop strength is certainly a problem, but we have also seen Parthia’s situation. Except for their Royal Court Guard, everything else is completely countered by Great Qin. The extent of this countering is almost on par with how we counter Great Qin’s archers.” Li Jue said with a bit of helplessness.

Guo Si and Fan Chou chuckled directly, such things could actually happen, it was like seeing ghosts. Given this, why not quickly change their military system!

”In my opinion, even if we bring Parthians along, they would only provide moral support. If we can penetrate the Roman spear and shield defense line, we can do so without Parthians; if we cannot, having Parthians would only mean more casualties.” Fan Chou spread his hands helplessly.

”Thinking about it, it really is.” Recalling the situation of the Parthian light cavalry, Guo Si chuckled.

”So, I ask, are we going to fight or not?” Li Jue looked at his two friends.

”If Boyuan were here, I definitely support fighting.” Fan Chou shook his head, rejecting Li Jue’s risky proposal. He couldn’t let his brothers risk their lives for so little money.

Zhiran, tell us your true thoughts, as you are the smartest amongst us.” Guo Si hesitated for a moment but decided to support Li Jue’s idea. He genuinely wanted to fight; he was, after all, a bandit used to licking the blood off the blade’s edge who climbed the ranks thanks to Dong Zhuo.

”I want to fight, not for money but because I’m pondering why the strategist had us come to the Western Regions. Although the strategist said we don’t need to do anything, as long as we don’t meddle in the Yongliang, we can secure a peaceful life for our later years. But can we really do nothing?” Li Jue looked at the two and asked.

In the eyes of this group, Li Ru had always been a spiritual flag. In their view, it was impossible for Li Ru to waste such excellent labor, and he had given them command of troops, rather than sending them to the Western Regions alone.

This led the smartest Li Jue to ponder whether Li Ru had any tasks for them. However, since reaching the Western Regions, Li Ru did not give any new orders until after Parthia requested aid, then suddenly, Li Jue had the idea, was the strategist intending to have them be pioneers?

They held a commander’s baton and rank, had soldiers, and extremely excellent troop command combat abilities. Being pioneers wouldn’t stand out at all, and they possessed the ability to test another empire’s combat strength! (To be continued. If you like this work, welcome to visit Qidian (qidian.com) to vote for recommendation votes, monthly votes, your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please go to m.qidian.com to read.)