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A flash of insight crossed Liu Ye’s mind, "Seems like Hua Xiong isn’t much for brain capacity, so my persuasions are basically useless. The simplest way is to tell him how to directly topple Juo Yi’s Vanguard, whether he can do it is not my concern now..."
"Ahem, ahem, ahem, Zijian, actually you don’t need to overthink, you’re just troubled over why the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was defeated, right?" Liu Ye’s face revealed a sly smile; simple-minded people are easy to deal with.
"Does Military Advisor Liu have a method?" a glint of surprise flashed in Hua Xiong’s eyes.
"It’s simple, what is the Xiliang Iron Cavalry best at?" Liu Ye pulled at his mouth, not knowing how to crush the Vanguard but he did know how to bamboozle Hua Xiong. If he could bamboozle Hua Xiong, then the previous failure wouldn’t be a problem. As long as he wasn’t afraid to lose and had the determination to fight again, his troops wouldn’t collapse.
"They’re best at charging, breaking through the enemy’s formation. It’s best when a large group charges over, crushing the opposition to dust." Hua Xiong recalled the times he led tens of thousands of Iron Cavalry with Li Jue and others, steamrolling everything in their path.
"There you go, so, did you break through the Vanguard at that time?" Liu Ye continued his ruse with the goal of bamboozling Hua Xiong.
"No, the Vanguard’s resistance was incredibly strong. It was very difficult for me to break through them head-on, especially when they activated their Military Spirit and I activated the Killing Formation. It still wasn’t possible to penetrate. Although the Eight Gates Heavenly Lock is exceptionally clever, the Vanguard practically resisted the Killing Formation with their sheer strength and then sent me flying," Hua Xiong said with a bitter shake of his head, his best tactic having been defeated. 𝒏𝙤𝙫𝒑𝙪𝙗.𝙘𝒐𝙢
Liu Ye was astonished after listening. It was the first time he knew that Hua Xiong actually knew such a top-tier military formation. Wasn’t this guy supposed to be short on brain capacity? How did he learn it?
"Military Advisor Liu, Military Advisor Liu?" Hua Xiong turned to call out to a somewhat distracted Liu Ye.
"General Hua, you need not worry. I was just thinking, the Iron Cavalry is best at breaking through and charging formations, but you couldn’t bring it into play, at least not in front of the Vanguard," Liu Ye put on an expression of profound depth, actually saying nothing of substance. His intention was to bamboozle Hua Xiong and keep him from dwelling on past failures.
"Right, I couldn’t put it into play at all. If it weren’t for the Killing Formation, I would have lost even more miserably," Hua Xiong said somewhat disheartened.
"Then why not increase the impact force, make the horses run faster, make the soldiers more powerful, make the charge unstoppable?" Liu Ye continued to spout drivel, "As long as the attack power is great enough and the charge is fiercer, even if the other side holds up Great Shields, they’ll shatter them and roll right over, won’t they?"
Liu Ye’s drivel conveyed a principle to Hua Xiong: if you can’t beat the opponent, it’s just because your attack power isn’t enough and your charge isn’t strong enough. To beat the opponent, you just need to attack fiercely and charge hard. If you still can’t beat them, then it’s still down to this reason; as long as you can crush the opposition, your attack and charge are probably sufficient.
Hua Xiong was taken aback; his brain wasn’t quite nimble, and he vaguely felt that what Liu Ye said made sense. Liu Ye’s words were very suited for a straightforward middle-aged man with not many brain cells like him.
"Right, why didn’t I think of that? Military formations, killer moves, in the end, isn’t it all about who can cut down the opposition? As long as I cut more fiercely than them, if my charge is unstoppable for the other side, won’t that be it? Isn’t failing to beat the Vanguard just because I couldn’t break through them?" Hua Xiong slapped his forehead and suddenly saw the light.
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"That’s the logic, I heard that the Xiliang Iron Cavalry has reinforced their defense, so they can fight even without armor, but defense alone isn’t reliable, right? Although the Iron Cavalry can withstand an initial attack, it doesn’t mean they can withstand all attacks, you agree?" Liu Ye excitedly explained to Hua Xiong.
Liu Ye was now passionately trying to brainwash Hua Xiong. As for whether this theory was correct, who knew? Anyway, if the validation failed, then surely it was because your attack was weak, and the impact insufficient. If it had been enough, then you definitely wouldn’t have lost, so a defeat would be your fault, while a victory would mean my theory was correct.
Hua Xiong listened with eyes that grew brighter and brighter. Compared to previously, when he felt like a tiger struggling to find a place to pounce, Liu Ye’s approach was much more practical, and this was exactly the kind of pure pragmatism Hua Xiong needed. Moreover, years of combat had taught him that Liu Ye’s theory was very reliable. What remained was to strengthen their attack power and charge intensity.
"Thank you, Military Advisor Liu," Hua Xiong said with utmost seriousness, "if one day I annihilate the Vanguard Death Squad, I must hold a feast to honor you."
"Good, I’ll wait for the day you wipe out the Vanguard, and also for the day you invite me to celebrate," Liu Ye replied with barely concealed delight. Straightforward people were indeed easy to deal with.
"Du Yuan, notify the brothers for me, tell them we have a way to deal with the Vanguard!" Hua Xiong yelled at Du Yuan, his only remaining aide, who had also been assigned to him after the suppression of the Yellow Turbans of Qingzhou. Du Yuan was very much to his liking.
"Yes, boss. I’ll immediately spread the word to the brothers," Du Yuan replied loudly, then kicked his horse and turned the animal to head towards the flank, eager to share the news with his comrades.
In the previous battle, Hua Xiong suffered defeat, and the Xiliang Iron Cavalry sustained heavy losses. Every member of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was wounded and their morale was low. However, this did not mean they had no desire for revenge. Quite the contrary, their grudge with Juo Yi was now deep-seated; one side had to fall, for there would be no peace until then.
"Zijian, I didn’t expect you to know the advanced Formation of the Eight Gates Golden Lock, that’s not easy," Liu Ye probed.
Liu Ye himself knew some formations, but such top-level formations were extremely hard to figure out by oneself if you weren’t taught by someone. Even Liu Ye would find it life-threatening to deduce it on his own. And even if they were smart enough, without piercing that layer of paper, Jia Xu couldn’t master it. However, once someone punctured through that layer, Jia Xu could quickly reverse-engineer the original Eight Gates Golden Lock Formation.
"Master Li taught me," Hua Xiong said, recalling Li Youu with a smile on his face, "Unfortunately, I’m a bit dull and only know three variations."
"Hehehe," Liu Ye smirked, the first time learning that Li Youu was skilled in military formations, and those he did know were nearly perfected. Thinking back on Li Youu’s past deeds, it seemed there wasn’t much he didn’t know.
[Li Wenru and Chen Zichuan are martial brothers, aren’t they? These two guys seem to know everything. Li Wenru keeps such a low profile he almost goes unnoticed, but occasionally, when no one else is available, they’d drag him to work. This guy has done business, land planning, urban construction, laws, popular sentiment, strategic planning…]
Liu Ye felt the pressure mounting, the first time realizing there was an overlooked fierce character beside him—one who could do anything and do it well. How could such a person lack presence?
Liu Ye couldn’t help but inject his own thinking into that of Hua Xiong and Li Youu. After all, top-level military formations were extremely rare secrets, not typically shared with others. Li Youu teaching Hua Xiong seemed odd no matter how you looked at it. Thinking back on Hua Xiong’s actions, it seemed he held Li Youu in especially high esteem!(To be continued. If you like this work, you are welcome to vote, monthly tickets on Qidian.com. Your support is my greatest motivation. Mobile users please read on m.qidian.com.)
