Chapter 2470: The Momentum of the Charge, Only Forward No Retreat

Thus Palmyro, not dragging his heels in the slightest, directly gave the order to retreat, yet the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, as if driven purely by instinct, clamped down on the main body of the Fifth Lark Legion and refused to let go no matter what!

By now the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was no longer far from Rome’s main formation; even under such heavy rain, both sides could still see each other’s military might.

“No time! Zhongda, clear the rain clouds; Ziming, lead the troops and hold the retreat route for the Xiliang Iron Cavalry!” Zhuge Liang bellowed toward Lyu Meng’s position.

Immediately after, Zhuge Liang directly rushed out following Wei Yan with the troops. The situation had exceeded their expectations, but it had not yet turned into the worst possible outcome.

“This rain!” Camillo caught a raindrop in his palm. “Looks like the Han Army has been driven into a corner by Palmyro and the others, to the point of even resorting to this kind of method.”

As Camillo spoke, the Council Guard’s blessings had already descended upon all the Roman Army, and at the same time the Vanguard Camp vaulted into a mounted charge. The Iron Cavalry who had long refused any blessings now also bore them on their backs. In this battle, no one dared to be careless.

“Palmyro, pull back. Leave the rest to me!” Camillo, carrying an air of wild arrogance, led the mixed infantry-and-cavalry Trajan Legion in a single acceleration to appear opposite the Iron Cavalry. Palmyro had not used any Light and Shadow Operation on them, so he could see very clearly.

“Much obliged. Be careful.” At those words Palmyro revealed himself at once, and the Soldiers under his command swiftly showed their figures as well, sheltered behind the Trajan Legion.

“Don’t worry. In frontal combat we fear no one.” The lazy look slipped from Camillo’s face as he spoke solemnly. “You withdraw first. I’ve thought from the beginning that this Han Legion called the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was not quite right, and now that feeling is only growing stronger.”

“Be careful. I wiped out more than five thousand of their Super Elite; this wave of Han Army will hold nothing back.” Palmyro turned to retreat. He no longer needed to take part in the coming battle, only to wait to enter again when it was time to wrap things up.

Li Jue’s scarlet eyes, carrying a certain cold indifference, stared at Camillo opposite him; Guo Si and Fan Chou were the same. Blood and pain driven deep into the bone spurred them to recall that once-lost power. The few familiar faces that remained had, in that instant, fallen by nearly one-third. That pain carved into the marrow made them once more ignite a craving for power.

“Camillo?” Li Jue’s voice came out hoarse as he raised his head to look at the Roman Generals opposite.

“This time I will not hold back.” Camillo gazed at Li Jue, his expression stern. From Li Jue, he felt a profound sense of peril.

“I’m going to butcher him.” Li Jue pointed at Palmyro, who had already dissolved into Light and Shadow yet still intended to squat here and pick up some scraps, watching the legion battle between Li Jue and Camillo.

In that instant Palmyro’s hair stood on end. He could guarantee he had absolutely not exposed his position, yet Li Jue seemed to see him as if he were standing there in the flesh.

“You’re overthinking it.” Camillo sneered as he looked at Li Jue.

“Mm. Only those who survive have the right to question!” Li Jue’s manic features, paired with those cruel eyes of his, sent a chill down Camillo’s spine.

Palmyro instantly understood that he absolutely could not linger here; something was terribly wrong. He immediately led his Fifth Lark Legion in retreat back to the main formation. By this time, the other Roman Legions had already rolled forward in a sweeping advance. At this moment, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry were like a lone boulder before a flood, on the verge of being submerged by that surging torrent.

“Ha, how about letting me deal with him?” Tacitus led the Ninth Spanish Legion over, and seeing Li Jue and Camillo locked in a standoff, he called out excitedly to Camillo.

In Tacitus’s view, a pure cavalry corps like the Xiliang Iron Cavalry ought to be handled by a cavalry legion like his own. More importantly, he now had stirrups and saddles, and after that previous clash he had clearly felt his Spanish Legion grow stronger. Thus he was eager to show Li Jue which legion was truly the strongest cavalry force.

Li Jue seemed not to hear Tacitus’s excited shout at all, merely staring coldly at Camillo opposite him. As the last strand of rain vanished, even the white clouds overhead were forcibly swept aside by Sima Yi, and the dim, pale moonlight of the waning moon spilled over the bodies of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry. Only then did the Romans finally see the Short Sword that had pierced clean through Li Jue’s chest.

Only at this moment did they also see clearly that the blazing Radiance gleaming on the Xiliang Iron Cavalry was no longer the faint Starlight once tinged with indigo-blue, but a baleful blood-red—a Radiance of Mars that symbolized war and death.

The Han Army, meanwhile, dragged forward a formation line like a serrated blade, advancing slowly. Compared to the Roman Army’s momentum, surging like a flood, the Han Army’s presence now was clearly much thinner. Yet in terms of sheer Qi and morale, the two sides were evenly matched.

[Looks like the Imperial Guard Officer Legion has been sent by the Romans to attack Armenia. In that case, it will be easier for us to accomplish our objective.] On the Han Army’s side, almost every Civil Official and military general with a brain understood this point.

The hooves arched and pawed at the rain‑soaked earth that had been wetted by the downpour of the previous dozens of seconds, splashing up flecks of mud with that motion.

With a silent tug on the reins, all Soldiers of the Xiliang Iron Cavalry moved almost in the same instant. The Roman Army and the Han Dynasty forces also made the same move; the Elite Troops on both sides fixed their sights on their respective opponents almost simultaneously.

In the next heartbeat, both the Han Army and the Roman Army loosed a full volley of arrows, and at the same time some Legions began to form up and launch a charge. The difference lay in this: at the very moment the Regular Soldiers charged, the Barbarian Army on the flanks and in the Rear Army came howling out, as though intending to use these Barbarian Soldiers to cut off the Han Army’s retreat.

The galloping Iron Cavalry were now greatly different from that old flood‑like torrent. One hand gripped the Long Spear, the other held their Single‑Shot Strong Crossbow. In the instant the Trajan Legion drew near, Crossbow Bolts whose power erupted upon release were nailed out by the Iron Cavalry, yet the next moment the Trajan Legion’s Long Spears swept them aside with a speed that normal people simply could not react to.

Aside from a very few Soldiers who were pinned through and instantly killed by a single hit, the vast majority of Soldiers were almost completely unscathed.

And in the very next instant, the Iron Cavalry collided with the knights of the Trajan Legion.

By now the Trajan Legion, having grown serious, had already as a whole entered a Super Speed Reaction state. The speed of the Iron Cavalry’s charge had dropped to one‑third in their eyes, and their own movements had likewise shifted into that same state. Under such Super Speed Reaction, the world itself felt slowed down to them.

This state gave them far too much time to execute precise actions. Unlike others, who can hardly control their own precise movements at extreme speed, for them entering this state was no more than the world playing in slow motion.

In this world where everything played at one‑third speed, every man of the Trajan Legion could still think, still adjust his movements. Their motions, tempered a thousand times over, did not distort at all under the slow‑motion, and could fully exert their intended effect.

Thus every knight thrust that spear under the most perfect conditions. At the same time, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, relying on instinct, also launched identical attacks. The knights of the Trajan Legion, aided by that slow‑motion, dodged the Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s strikes; of course, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry likewise thrust toward the most likely positions by feel.

In that instant, the number of Xiliang Iron Cavalry whose spears stabbed into empty air and the number of Trajan Legion knights who struck true at the Xiliang Iron Cavalry were almost the same. Yet in the moment the two sides passed each other, they understood that such thrusts had lost their meaning for both sides.

Leaving aside the fact that the Trajan Legion had practically all hit the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, and leaving aside that the Trajan Legion had practically all evaded the Xiliang Iron Cavalry’s thrusts, speaking only of the sensation transmitted when the Trajan Legion’s spears met resistance two feet away from the Xiliang Iron Cavalry—this alone made the knights of the Trajan Legion realize that the enemy simply did not fear such attacks.

“Repulsion Field Defense? Tough Defense? Eggshell Defense?” At the instant the Trajan Legion and the Xiliang Iron Cavalry passed each other, Camillo’s expression became incomparably grave. From that fleeting sensation, he clearly perceived three distinct modes of Defense.

As for the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, this time they did not even look back, charging straight toward Rome’s Central Army. Li Jue and the others could clearly sense that the Fifth Lark Legion was right there!

Gao Shun’s face remained expressionless as he felt the Xiliang Iron Cavalry grant their Vanguard Camp a boon. Though he had always found it strange why the Xiliang Iron Cavalry could bestow such a buff upon them, this was no longer important. There was only one objective this time—the Roman Parliament Guard!

Once more coordinating with Zhang Liao, with the Eight Hundred Heavy Infantry led by Gao Shun at the fore, the originally blue‑green Cloud Qi now carried a streak of silver‑gray. The Vanguard Camp’s Will, led by Gao Shun, directly merged into the Wolf Cavalry; the Vanguard that had originally come from the Wolf Cavalry once again fused back into the Wolf Cavalry.

“We are Cavalry; so‑called infantry is nothing but a shackle on our true prowess.” Gao Shun looked at Tacitus, who was brazenly charging straight toward him, and spoke slowly.

As he spoke, Gao Shun squeezed his legs against the horse’s belly and rode straight forward to meet him. At the same time, all the Vanguard Soldiers naturally drew out a conical Spearhead Formation. Even though they had long been parted from their warhorses, the method of fighting as Cavalry, of controlling mounts, was still etched deeply into their bones and blood.

Spurring their horses forward, they murmured, “With the Will of the Vanguard, there is death and no life!”

As that low chant spread, the Wolf Cavalry behind them erupted with boundless momentum.

“Spur the horses and raise the whip— it’s been so long since I’ve truly led the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry under the banner of the Wolf Cavalry’s spearhead.” A faint smile suddenly appeared at the corner of Gao Shun’s mouth. He slowly closed his eyes, lightly tapped his helmet with the tip of his spear, and when he opened his eyes again, they had become incomparably sharp.

As Gao Shun unleashed the power of the Vanguard Camp, the originally blue‑green Cloud Qi of the Wolf Cavalry turned completely silver, arming itself with the Ma Kai and armor once belonging to the Feathered Forest Guards. Under the waning moon of the Yee Kong, they began chanting the promise once inherited by the Wolf Cavalry: “In the momentum of the charge, there is advance and no retreat!”