Chapter 260: Battle Formation – Ten Thousand Sword Formation

When Li Lisong led ten thousand Foundation Establishment experts to arrive, the scene he saw was this: shells were falling continuously on the northern shore, with no pattern to their landing. The soldiers on the southern shore were panicked, and the camp was constantly retreating.

The Heavenly Locking Formation set up by Anyang had long since dissipated due to the depletion of spirit stones, yet the southern shore still had no army daring to cross the river and engage in battle.

Li Lisong watched for a while, then coldly sneered and gave an order: “Prepare yourselves. In one minute, cross the river! A surprise attack!”

The night provided the best cover. On the southern bank of the Xian Dai River, Shen Jianfei led over 4,700 elite Foundation Establishment experts from Anyang, lying in ambush in the rear.

After his contest with Nangong Zhi, Shen Jianfei’s side had suffered 300 casualties; it wasn’t a huge loss, but it made him realize one important thing—those who could become leaders were never simple characters.

So, after the last ambush, Shen Jianfei decided to completely hide once more, taking no further action. He didn’t overthink strategy, just choosing to “endure.” He lay low for a few days, waiting for an opportunity.

Before long, it was deep into the night, and Shen Jianfei made an unexpected discovery—over ten thousand soldiers were rushing from the south; not only were these soldiers all at the Foundation Establishment stage, but the style of their armor and weapons was slightly different from that of the Great Xia Kingdom.

“Suddenly, a team of over ten thousand Foundation Establishment experts appears, with a different armor and weapon style… This is… the army of the Jin Kingdom! As expected, they are desperate and have formed an alliance with Jin—this is like colluding with a tiger. I wonder if it’s the Dongyuan County or Nanyang County that made the contact?

What should I do now? Should I ambush them? Send word? Or continue hiding and wait for a chance?”

At this moment, Shen Jianfei’s mind began to work overtime. “With the intelligence of Bei Chen Yuqing and Yan Zhengqing, they must have anticipated that the Jin Kingdom would send troops, so there’s no need to send word. As for an ambush, there’s no need for that either. They’ve only just arrived, and they are at their most vigilant right now.

Therefore, I’ll quietly observe and wait for an opportunity!”

With a decision made, Shen Jianfei ordered his 4,700 elite troops to continue lying in ambush, waiting for the right moment. When his plans couldn’t match others’, what Shen Jianfei could do was endure, be patient, and wait—like a venomous snake lying in wait.

Meanwhile, Yan Zhengqing had already noticed the hidden flying vessels in the sky when the Jin Kingdom’s army had just arrived at the border of Nanyang and Anyang. Shen Ren and the others had long anticipated that Nanyang County might betray them, so preparations had already been made.

When Li Lisong led the Jin Kingdom’s ten thousand elite soldiers to arrive, the northern shore of the Xian Dai River had already made preparations. Nearly 50 cannons, both 105mm and 150mm caliber, had quietly gathered and were already aimed at the direction of the Jin Kingdom’s elite troops.

Ten thousand Foundation Establishment experts—if it were in the past, Anyang would have been afraid; but now, there was no need to fear, because Anyang had already learned to mass-produce Foundation Establishment experts. Right now, Anyang had over 30,000 Foundation Establishment experts, with hundreds or even thousands more being added daily.

In this era, there were countless cultivation methods, and young people who reached the 7th layer of Qi Refining were considered promising. With the cultivation of liquid spiritual energy, most of these individuals entered the Foundation Establishment stage within a month.

However, Kong Donglai didn’t tell Li Lisong about the specifics of Anyang’s situation. Instead, he watched coldly, waiting to enjoy the show. “Heh, it would be best if you both destroy each other!”

What was laughable was that Li Lisong also looked at Kong Donglai with cold eyes, mocking him in his heart—If we hadn’t been prepared, would we dare to come, dare to advance alone? I’ve already seen the impact of military supplies when you bombarded the imperial capital, Wuyang City. If it weren’t for seeing the power of military supplies, would the Jin Kingdom have attacked Anyang now? Similarly, since we dared to come and attack, we naturally came fully prepared.

Li Lisong led ten thousand elite soldiers to the southern shore of the Xian Dai River and met briefly with Nangong Zhi and Yuan Jinjiang to discuss matters. Li Lisong promised that after the victory, Lüliang County would still belong to Dongyuan County and the Yuan family.

With Li Lisong’s guarantee, Yuan Jinjiang mobilized 100,000 soldiers, ready to take revenge and prepare for the conquest of cities and lands.

Moreover, Yuan Jinjiang also promised Kong Donglai that he would do everything in his power to assist the Jin Kingdom’s army in acquiring what they wanted and help Nanyang County capture Anyang.

In other words, before the war even began, the three factions had already made plans to divide Anyang: the Jin Kingdom wanted technology, talent, and wealth; Dongyuan County and the Yuan family would take Lüliang County; and Nanyang County and the Kong family would take Anyang County.

Speed was crucial in war. After their discussion, Yuan Jinjiang mobilized his 100,000-strong army to attack from the right (east), while Kong Donglai ordered Nanyang County’s 100,000-strong army to attack from the left. In the center was the Jin Kingdom’s elite force of 10,000.

The entire battlefront stretched for hundreds of miles, with the sound of battle cries so loud they could stir the river’s waters.

North bank, Yan Zhengqing flew in mid-air, calmly commanding the battle, “Fifty large cannons, all aim at the elite army in the center.

All three hundred planes, divide two hundred to focus on attacking the enemy’s central army, mainly bombing their rear section, not allowing any of the enemy soldiers to rest. The remaining one hundred planes, bomb the left and right flanks of the enemy’s main forces, focusing on interference, free bombing.

Issue orders to all generals, we must not let the enemy cross the river, with shells, bullets, talismans, liquid spiritual energy, etc., always ready. As long as we hold the river, we can use our weapons to eliminate the enemy’s living forces!”

Orders were issued, Yan Zhengqing’s clothes fluttered as he remained calm, floating mid-air, calmly commanding. Although the orders given by Li Xian, Xu Ren, and others were “focus on defense, using space to gain time,” this was the overall military strategy; the specific implementation required flexibility.

For example, now, Yan Zhengqing’s strategy is “attack in place of defense,” making full use of the natural barrier provided by the Xian Dai River. Eliminating the enemy’s living forces is also a form of defense.

From the start of the war, it became intense, with no probing, no feigned attacks. All artillery and planes on the Anyang side were roaring.

Only the machine guns, due to the long distance, were temporarily unusable. This section of the Xian Dai River was about a hundred zhang wide, and after bullets crossed this distance, they were no longer able to effectively harm foundation-building experts.

On the south bank, General Li Lisong of Jin Kingdom squinted as he watched the incoming shells and the planes crazily advancing in the distance, sneering, “Order, activate the Ten Thousand Sword Formation!”

Over ten thousand elite soldiers from Jin Kingdom immediately began to move. They no longer maintained a neat formation—some retreated, some advanced, some circled… everything moved quickly. Within a few breaths, over ten thousand Jin soldiers formed a massive battle formation, a military array.

Using humans as a formation, their energy clashing with the stars and rivers. The formation covered a thousand-meter radius, with ten thousand people united as one, ten thousand swords united as one, sword energy reaching into the sky.

Ten people in each group, ten groups forming a formation, a hundred formations combined to form the grand array; finally, the grand array spun, forming the “Ten Thousand Sword Formation.” Each person was a sharp sword, with every foundation-building soldier controlling their flying sword and soaring into the air.

Ten flying swords spiraling together could form an attacking array, with over a thousand defensive arrays forming a dragon—a dragon completely made of flying swords. It stretched for several dozen zhang, its entire body glowing with a chilling light, moving like lightning, as if thunder itself was resonating, spiraling in the air.

“Voom… Aang…” The flying swords trembled, the buzzing sound merging into a dragon’s roar. The dragon, formed by over ten thousand flying swords, spiraled, carrying endless sharp sword energy and cold killing intent, rushing toward the incoming shells and planes.

Whoosh… It sounded like water churning as hundreds of shells were shredded before they even had a chance to explode. After shredding all the shells, the sword dragon continued to rise, suddenly charging up to a thousand meters in the sky. More than thirty planes had no time to react before being shredded by the Ten Thousand Sword Formation, and the sky was filled with shards the size of fingernails.

Several Golden Elixir experts, who were escorting the planes, didn’t even have time to scream before being turned into blood mist.

“Aang…” The Ten Thousand Sword Divine Dragon roared in fury, passing through the scattered debris in the sky, suddenly charging down, swiftly crossing the Xian Dai River, heading straight for Yan Zhengqing!

In the dark night, the gleaming Ten Thousand Sword Divine Dragon, its flashing light emanating from the sword energy and sword edges, its body covered in scales trembling, was the result of the long swords vibrating, with sword energy spiraling. Every time the dragon spiraled, ten thousand swords would ring, and the dragon’s roar would reach the heavens.

From a distance, seeing this sword dragon, one could feel their eyes sting, and their scalp would tingle!

This was Jin Kingdom’s trump card, Li Lisong’s ultimate weapon to look down on Anyang.

Li Lisong turned his head to look into the distance, as if he could see the wide-open mouth of the Governor of Nanyang, Kong Donglai. He snorted, “Country bumpkin. For Jin Kingdom to become the strongest country in the East, naturally, there are true skills behind it! The Ten Thousand Sword Formation can slaughter Yuan Ying!”

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