No commander would willingly stake the outco of a battle on a single combat.
Though possessing a superior force, he was forced to resort to single combat, a sign of a commander’s incompetence...
Yet he had truly never encountered such tactics before and, for the mont, could not co up with an effective thod to counter it. He saw only two paths before him.
Either he had to personally intervene to intercept Sparrow Bee. His opponent, a master of the sa caliber, was extrely fast. Trying to encircle him would simply waste ti and effort with no effect, leaving only self-restrain as an option.
The risks of this approach were clear. If he were to die at his opponent’s hands, losing their commander would, at the very least, severely sap the Vital Energy of this Four Holy Army. Even if they managed to break out, they’d lose at least half their forces. The Four Holy Guard was not easily established, each mber a future capital for conquering the world. A significant loss would be extrely detrintal in the future.
The second path was to continue this attrition!
The opponent’s extre support on sixteen fronts was physically taxing and could not be sustained for long. Once the enemy’s stamina was depleted, their system would imdiately collapse, and their loss of a top Military General would enable him to fully exert his strength.
However, the consequences of this approach were also clear because it was uncertain which side would exhaust their strength first. Logically it should be the opponent; but since they dared to employ this tactic, surely they were prepared sohow?
Upon this thought, the Priest was imnsely conflicted.
With countless war experiences coursing through his veins and nurous lessons on decisive action in critical monts, he had thought his vast ancestral experience would ensure resolute command in such crucial battles. However, it seed not to be the case, as he found himself indecisive when facing truly significant choices.
Those famously resolute generals he had once regarded as nothing special, thinking he would perform similarly, only felt different when literally at the brink.
When the critical winning or losing mont was in his hands, and one wrong decision could doom the entire army, it was not so easy to make a decision!
"Priest, sir?"
The Deputy General beside him looked anxious, the Priest’s back sweating profusely.
"Just wait..." Ultimately, the Priest dared not act hastily. "That kid can’t maintain his pace indefinitely."
"This..." The Deputy General frowned. Though that was true, the soldiers on their side were also heavily drained.
Charging forward was different from holding the line. Facing forces ten tis their size, constantly moving to avoid encirclent in a sea of enemies, maintaining mobility, clearing obstructing soldiers, and keeping morale at its peak also drained their energy considerably. Continuing like this, within a quarter of an hour at most, the soldiers’ stamina would plumt to an extrely low level, and then they would only be able to break through.
"There’s no need to worry..." The Priest took a deep breath, "Even if we can’t break through, we can still successfully pull back. This kind of Big Formation strategy by the opponent makes it difficult to retain people..."
This had always been a drawback of the Big Formations of the Central Plains. Unless there was a very formidable general with elite troops ambushing at specific locations, as the striking side, it was actually difficult to be captured, at most losing so rearguard soldiers. This was also why the Northern Wasteland had managed to continuously harass the Central Plains, as those able to completely annihilate the opponent’s elite strikers were indeed few.
The Deputy General kept silent, opting not to continue talking, clearly knowing that the Priest’s way was the safest.
Regathering his spirit, the Priest knew that outstanding commanders each had their own style: so loved taking risks, others were cautious and conservative. He should belong to the latter, able to maintain composure in the face of great temptation, taking a steady approach, proving himself as one of the distinguished generals.
Mainly because, although the Ancient Demon Clan had a profound heritage, being suppressed for so long, just one cycle of Reincarnation was not enough preparation compared to that of the Reincarnators’ Guild. These Four Holy Guard were almost all the assets they had; if they were to be lost here, the consequences would be extrely grave.
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"It seems the commander of the Ancient Demon Clan is a composed person."
"Hmm..." Deputy General Tian Yu nodded. To be honest, if he were in the opponent’s position, he would find it equally challenging to decide. An entire army’s fate hung on a single thought, a single decision. It truly wasn’t easy to choose. So decisions might seem bold, but failure could lead to utter ruin. The older generals tended to avoid such risky moves.
Of course, this was probably the difference between a fad general and himself; he would probably only ever be fit to be a Deputy General.
"This strategy of elite strikes has no issue; it’s essentially a hit-and-run approach. If the opponent can’t break through, they should just retreat. The Imperial Court doesn’t have enough skilled Guard Commanders to hold anyone back, and that’s the critical point. With this advantage, there is no need to take risks."
"That makes sense..." Chen Baifeng nodded. As the leader of his family, unless forced into a corner, he naturally wouldn’t gamble with his family’s fortunes.
Just as he was about to say sothing in response, Chen Baifeng turned around and was suddenly stunned.
Because he didn’t know when, that deadly figure had appeared behind the two of them.
Tian Yu also saw the person and beca extrely stiff.
The figure had arrived silently; Tian Yu didn’t even know when he had gotten so close, and the soldiers behind hadn’t alerted him at all. With such skills, he was likely a top-tier assassin. If he wanted to do sothing, Tian Yu feared he now had no capacity to fight back.
"Elder?" Despite so guesses in his heart, Chen Baifeng was not completely sure and carefully asked, "Is it... ti to act?"
The mysterious person, shrouded in the flow of Yin and Yang, nodded slightly.
The Deputy General’s heart skipped a beat. Tian Heng was thrown on the ground by the person, life or death unknown. What did this man want to do by suddenly appearing now?
He looked doubtfully at Chen Baifeng. He always felt that Mister Chen knew sothing, but it seed... he had sothing to hide. What should he do?
Should he take the chance to rescue his superior?
"What do you want us to do, Elder?" Chen Baifeng asked in a lowered voice.
"There isn’t much ti left..."
The deep voice erged for the first ti from the mouth of the mysterious person, montarily dazing both of them.
Ti... isn’t much left?
What... is this guy talking about?
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"My lord, it’s been half a quarter!"
In such an intense war, ti moved slowly, yet the Deputy General kept a precise record; since they charged the formation, half a quarter had already passed.
Although the Four Holy Guard of the sixteen paths still seed to rampage in all directions, causing significant casualties to the opponent, it was clear that their Vital Energy was much inferior to the beginning.
On the contrary, the Ghost Army, initially weaker, had gradually beco steadier, like an indestructible great mountain, increasingly giving a sense of solidity.
"Hmm..." The Priest nodded. He glanced at Sparrow Bee, who was still scurrying around; while his speed seed nearly the sa as before, it was noticeably apparent that so of his movents were becoming stiff.
This was clearly a sign of exhaustion.
Should they wait a bit longer?
Maybe... after a few more monts, that guy wouldn’t hold up?
Currently, to retreat without achievent was his initial thought, but now... with the opportunity right before his eyes, how could he not be tempted?
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