Meanwhile, Xun You was observing the battle by Zhang He’s side . As he could not see Zhang He’s radar map or understand his secrets, the strategist was impressed by this general’s battlefield reading abilities .

  Wei Yan, Liu Xie, and Sima Yi were also there to experience a night battle . As newbies, they were confused and astonished that Zhang He could guess the night attack and accurately fired at the enemy’s position .

  Wei Yan was motivated, "So, this is a great general’s ability! Combat prowess alone isn’t everything . I still have a lot to learn!"

  Sima Yi also watched the cannon crews and colorful signal flags with interest . He did not say anything, but he managed to memorize a few relayed orders and learn the army coordination .

  Liu Xie, however, as the youngest boy in the group, he was too sleepy and could hardly understand anything . .

  After the failed night raid, Ji Ling and his army fortified the south shore . However, he ordered his men not to build warships to fight Zhang He in naval combat since they were underprepared .

  Both sides continued their staring contest .

  Zhang He, Xun You, and his subordinates did not mind a prolonged war since they had planned to weaken Cao Cao Army in this coalition against Yuan Shu anyway .

  As for Liu Xie and others, they stayed with Zhang He and other commanders, taking lectures from them directly . When he heard about the hidden motive behind this war, he could not hide his astonishment .

  Xun You taught them, "We know that Yuan Shu and Xiongnu have formed an alliance, and they will bring their forces from the west here . This is one of the reasons that we avoid a direct confrontation with their army, but we can let Cao Cao take the brunt and test the water for us . "

  Because all intelligence agencies could not obtain information from Khan’s territories, they did not know how cataphracts or Xiliang cavalry’s strength . Although Tong warned them that they were strong, but not the strongest, Xun You and Zhang He did not let their guard down .

  The move here would sabotage Cao Cao’s force by using Yuan Shu Army and Xiongnu Army while they were doing nothing but watching the battle from the sideline .

  Sima Yi snickered, "So, his majesty used a coward’s tactic by turning Cao Cao into a scapegoat while he reaps the profit later?"

  Wei Yan smacked Sima Yi’s back of the head, "Don’t bad-mouth his majesty! This is not Ye, you moron . "

  Sima Yi looked at his friend, wanting to retort . However, he also noticed that many generals here glared at himself, which did not bond well .

  "I’m sorry . I was being immature . "

  Everyone nodded and ignored Sima Yi’s remarks and continued teaching Wei Yan and Liu Xie .

  Because of the reaction from everyone, Sima Yi learned a lesson from his mistake .

  ’Zhang Tong is a tough nut to crack . His prowess in battle is unquestionable . His politic game is solid since he has brainwashed all of his subordinates and pretended to be a just emperor . Bohe won’t have a chance against his father in the next election . ’

  He glanced at his prince, pitied him .

  ’You’re fighting the impossible, Bohe . Once Zhang Tong’s consorts give birth to a son, your standing as a prince will be destroyed by their mothers . ’

  Currently, Du Shi and Cai Wenji each had a daughter, the second princess and the third princess .

  \r \r \r

  As Tong had ordered both mothers to recuperate from their health and spend time with the daughters, none of the concubines had obtained their second child yet .

  However, Sima Yi knew that it was a matter of time that Tong would give them a son .

  Once Tong had a real son, Liu Xie’s status as his adopted son would be on the way of his bloodline successor . Then, the concubines and their supporters would begin to suppressing this prince, whose force was still too weak in the court . Afterward, Liu Xie would be at risk of being assassinated by his foster mothers .

  He clenched his fist as he glanced at all generals in the meeting tent .

  ’I have to boost Bohe’s standing within the court as soon as possible! I have to score him a noteworthy achievement that can shock the land!’

  Sima Yi turned to Wei Yan, who met eyes with him . Both of them had a similar idea . .

  While Zhang He forced the battle at the Yellow River into a stalemate, Cao Cao’s 55,000 soldiers faced the allied forces of 80,000 men from Guan Yu and Li Ru on the field .

  Both sides did not launch an all-out strike .

  Cao Cao placed horse barricades around his troops as he had expected a resistance force from Yuan Shu . However, he thought that he would have encountered only Yuan Shu Army, but he ran into Li Ru’s horsemen .

  As cautious as he was, Cao Cao stopped his advance and concentrated on his defense . He arranged all cannons to the front as their field artillery weapons and used their newly developed "grapeshot" as their ammunition .

  The grapeshot was a bundle of small leads and iron balls, which packed into one bag . Once firing, the rounds inside the bag would spread, like how shotgun buckshot shells worked .

  The new ammo was designed and developed by Pu Jing’s men . After they had collected the details from Sun Jian’s deserted men, they learned about the usefulness of cannons . Accepted that Pu Jing’s weaponry was useful, Cao Cao funded more gold into his untrustworthy subordinate’s project .

  Now, they could test these prototype grapeshots against real foes . Fifty wheeled cannons and their crews were looking forward to using these today .

  As for Li Ru and Guan Yu’s forces, they arranged 30,000 infantry of Hongnong in the middle while the rest of 50,000 cavalries spread to the sides, getting ready to use their mobility to pincer Cao Cao Army .

  Cataphracts’ unique armors and horse armors attracted Cao Cao’s attention . He watched the formation of his enemy on a watchtower with interest .

  "That’s a good armor design . I need one of those to stand against Zhang Tong’s knight armors . "

  Cheng Yu revealed a wry smile, "We’ll need a lot of resources for that . Iron and bronze ores are limited . "

  "Most of those ore mines are close to mountains . We’ll get more if we can take Luoyang . " .

  *BWOO*

  A signal horn could be heard from the right flank of Li Ru Army . A Xiliang cavalry platoon, which numbered 5,000 men, rushed forward .

  *BWOOO*

  Another sound came from the left as 5,000 cataphracts made their move .

  Both unique heavy horsemen armies tried to test Cao Cao’s array of fifty cannons and spike barricades .

  Although Cao Cao had 50 field cannons, they concentrated on the center front, which limited their maneuverability and targeting . As such, cannon crews could not shoot .

  Cao Xiu and Li Dian went to the flanks . Cao Xiu led his 5,000 light horsemen against the Xiliang riders while Li Dian’s 5,000-rider platoon faced the cataphracts .

  The cataphracts charged at Li Dian’s unit head-on . The front 2,000 men lined their long spears, getting ready to impale their enemies . As for the other 3,000, which were on the back, they took out their bows and aimed forward .

  Meanwhile, Li Dian’s unit turned 90 degrees and avoided crashing with the heavy riders . Using their speed and lightweight, they baited the 5,000 heavy horsemen and avoided the cataphracts unit’s arrow rain .

  After they dodged the arrows, Li Dian and his men took out their repeating crossbows and counter-attacked .

  Endless arrow volleys rained upon the cataphracts .

  However, none of them were harmed!

  Similar to knight armors, this unit’s armors for riders and horses were designed to protect against light projectiles .

  Li Dian’s face paled as he did not know what he could do to take down these tankers .

  Cao Xiu was not as lucky as Li Dian . As Xiliang cavalry was a disguise heavy armor unit in the form of light cavalry, their charge attack was fast and fierce, which they out-maneuvered Cao Xiu’s light cavalry unit .

  Both 5,000 Xiliang and Cao Xiu’s 5,000 collided before this young general could relay his order or pilot the troops . Once both forces passed each other, the first round of combat revealed their strength .

  Cao Xiu lost half of his horsemen with a single charge from the Xiliang raiders . Some of the men were knocked off their horses, while the others died on their horseback .

  However, none of the Xiliang riders fell from their horses . All of their dead riders stuck glue to their partner, dying as they were still riding . The comrades of their fallen friends also controlled the living horses with them, so they could use as spare horses .

  As such, Cao Xiu could not see the corpses of the Xiliang and could not tell how many they had killed . The soldiers were also frightened and thought that they had not killed a single enemy with that charge .

  "What the hell!?"

  *BWOOO*

  The nightmare continued as Li Ru launched the second wave . Two units of 5,000 horsemen charged forward .

  The first Xiliang unit, which had 3,500 riders and over 4,500 horses, turned around, trying to flank Cao Xiu from behind .

  "Damn you!"

  With fewer troops, Cao Xiu’s unit was easier to maneuver . He avoided the chasing group from the front and the pincer troop from behind as Cao Xiu’s 2,500 turned 90 degrees and fled to the sides . .

  Cao Cao raised his eyebrows as the enemies were more formidable than he had expected .

  "One is a fierce charger, while the other is similar to Zhang Tong’s knights . "

  Cao Cao grinned, "I want them . "

  Cheng Yu shook his head, "This might be hard . Xiliang soldiers are from Liang Province, and those heavy riders are foreigners . "

  "Can we bribe them? Fake Zhang Tong’s edict if you have to . I need them as my soldiers . "

  "I’ll try . But for now, we have to survive this battle . "

  "That’s simple . Tell the cannon units to load long-range cannonballs . Shoot them at the center army!"