...

While Zhang River was celebrating, the atmosphere at Song Family Slope in Huai State was incredibly tense.

The day of the agreed battle had finally arrived.

In the early morning, a rare heavy fog enveloped Song Family Slope.

This dense fog greatly shortened the visible distance.

On Chen Army's side, the three armies slowly approached Song Family Slope. Xia Zhining observed the rising dense fog over Song Family Slope and said, "In this September heat with such a flat and open view, how come there's fog?"

Fog isn't impossible in summer, but certain conditions are needed, like in deep mountains.

But Song Family Slope obviously didn't meet these conditions, contradicting Xia Zhining's common sense.

Just then, Sun Meng hurriedly approached and said, "Marquis, the scouts report that the enemy army is charging."

"What?"

The faces of Zhao Liang, Liu Ji, and others behind Chen Mo changed.

Xiao Jing perked up his ears, "Listen quickly, there's a sound."

"It's the sound of a horn," exclaimed Wu Yanqing.

"And the sound of hoofbeats. This is bad, the enemy is attacking while we're unprepared." Chen Mo quickly ordered, "Convey my command, stop and form a defense quickly."

"Yes." Sun Meng hastily went to deliver the order.

"Xia Zhining," said Chen Mo.

"At your command," Xia Zhining, clad in light armor, briskly stepped forward and responded.

"Have the Vermilion Bird Guard ready and await my orders."

"Yes."

...

On the other side, the Alliance Army led by King Chong and Lu Sheng, including Gongsun Yan, Liang Xuan, Luo Qingyang, Hui Cheng, and others, sat atop their majestic horses in full battle armor. Beside them, several Middle-Grade Martial Artists were releasing their Innate Spiritual Qi.

Upon closer inspection, the dense fog over Song Family Slope was being artificially created by them.

These Middle-Grade Martial Artists were all from the Liang Family, who absorbed Earth Mist Qi when advancing to Middle-Grade Martial Artists.

They did this to guard against Chen Army's "Strange Thunder" and Chen Mo's Divine Shooter.

They weren't sure exactly how "Strange Thunder" worked, only knowing it was powerful and loud, thinking it required aiming. Therefore, they hoped the dense fog would mislead Chen Army's Strange Thunder.

Of course, Gongsun Yan and others knew this hope was slim, as "Strange Thunder" was powerful enough to fire blindly.

They were more hopeful that the dense fog would allow the Alliance Army to quickly approach Chen Army; as long as the two armies closed in, Chen Army's "Strange Thunder" would lose its might.

Finally, they knew Chen Mo's archery skills; many Jin Xia Barbarian Race generals had died under Chen Mo's arrows, so they hoped the dense fog would offer some disruption.

...

"Woo woo..."

The desolate sound of the war drums grew closer.

Chen Mo sat atop his Snow Dragon Steed, and even in the thick fog, he could see the galloping dark shadows.

Just then, a strong north wind blew through, dispersing some of the fog before Chen Army, like a giant white curtain being lifted.

Suddenly, swarms of Alliance cavalry appeared before Chen Army. Wielding their swords and spears, they charged at Chen Army like wild beasts.

Zhao Liang cursed them for being dishonorable.

Since it was an agreed battle, the other side agreed to fight too.

According to tradition, both armies would fully set up their formations at Song Family Slope, exchange a few ceremonial words before the battle began.

But they charged as soon as they arrived; wasn't this dishonorable?

Luckily, Chen Army wasn't a disorganized mob; scouts had been ahead to pave the way, and they were prepared in advance.

At that moment, Chen Army had set their battle formations, with sword and shield soldiers in front, long spearmen behind, resting their spears on the shields, spear tips facing forward.

Behind the long spearmen were the archers and crossbowmen.

And further back, ten Red Coat Cannons lined up.

While they had only nine traveling north, during this time, the Vermilion Bird Guard forged six more.

The barrels of ten Red Coat Cannons were angled sixty degrees upward.

The cannoneers watched the fog ahead with intense focus. Although the fog had dispersed somewhat, it quickly gathered again, with their position further back, they couldn't see the charging cavalry, only hear the sound.

Suddenly, a commotion came from the front.

Chen Mo's command swiftly reached the Vermilion Bird Guard through runner after runner.

In front of the Vermilion Bird Guard, Xia Zhining swung down his fiery red command flag forcefully and shouted, "Fire!"

At the moment the order was heard, the cannoneers operated without a hint of hesitation, as if they had practiced thousands of times.

The nearby soldiers covered their ears and opened their mouths wide at that moment.

"Boom Boom Boom..."

Ten earth-shattering explosions sounded almost simultaneously, ten tongues of fire accompanied by trails of black smoke pierced the sky, rushing towards the charging Alliance cavalry.

The Xianzhen Guard from Huai State wasn't like the northern Xianzhen Guard; it was their first time hearing such thunderous sounds.

In their shocked gazes, the dark shadows emerging from the fog suddenly toppled over, men and horses flipped, flesh and blood flew, and moans echoed continuously.

Several pits were blown into the ground.

This group of Alliance cavalry hadn't seen something like this before either, being without the Prince Huai's forces, many were scared stiff, the surviving ones showed horror, their eyes filled with unknown fear.

The war horses panicked, running in all directions.

But most still charged forward.

"Boom Boom Boom..."

At that moment, the second round of shells arrived.

Flower Bullets exploded amidst the crowd on impact, smoke billowing; whether cavalrymen clad in armor or war horses, those hit by Flower Bullets were immediately rendered into bloody chaos.

Those not instantly killed suffered the most agony, writhing and wailing in pain on the ground, feeling life gradually slipping away.

This strategy from the Alliance Army had some effect.

With cavalry speed, by the time the Vermilion Bird Guard reloaded for a third bombardment.

The remaining Alliance cavalry had already reached Chen Army's front.

Faced with Chen Army solemnly prepared, with spears flashing cold light on the shields, cavalry on horseback instinctively tightened their legs around their horses, raised the reins, intending to leap over Chen Army's shield formation.

However, Chen Army's long spearmen hadn't moved yet.

"Swoosh swoosh swoosh!"

The archers immediately let go of their bowstrings.

As the horses leaped, turned into porcupines.

They weren't armored cavalry; only the riders wore armor, not the horses.

Once the horses fell, the Alliance riders too tumbled to the ground one by one.

Just as they prepared to rise.

Chen Army's long spearmen acted.

Countless spears thrust from behind the shields, piercing through armor, plunging into their flesh, blood flowed out.

Alliance riders grasped the spear blades, blood trickling from their mouths, eyes wide open, staring at the spears embedded in their bodies.

As life faded, their grip on the spear blades weakened and fell away.

Then the spears withdrew from their bodies, leaving behind streams of blood.

Yet their mission was also accomplished.

"Kill, charge."

"Boom Boom Boom..."

Massive groups of Alliance infantry stormed towards Chen Army, braving the cannonfire.

"Beat the drums," shouted Chen Mo.

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

"Boom!"

In the center, dozens of war drums were beaten by personal soldiers in Bright Armor, with the resounding drumbeats echoing throughout Chen Army's entire large formation.

The sound of the drum signified to confront the enemy.

Chen Army's sword and shield soldiers cleared the middle formation, while the archers shot a barrage before quickly retreating to reload arrows and crossbow bolts. The long spearmen replaced them, holding the line.

If a long spear was accidentally knocked down by the enemy, the long spearman's first action wasn't to retrieve it; instead, they immediately grabbed the crossbow hanging from their waist, raised it and fired without aiming.

After handling the nearest enemy, the long spearman didn't reload the crossbow with bolts but instead swiftly retrieved the fallen long spear.

If there were enemies attempting surprise attacks.

The sword and shield soldiers quickly filled the gap, shield raised, and slashed with blades chaotically.

At that time, the long spearman picked up the spear from the ground, initiating a new wave of fighting.