“Kill!” Lu Bu attacked the White Eared Soldiers after letting Zhang Xiu go. He and his men turned around to use the momentum from their horses to attack. The weight and power of the heavy cavalry were like hammers to the White Eared Soldiers.
“Stop them!” Chen Dao shouted out. The spear in his hand had already become slippery from the blood of the several hundred soldiers killed by him. Although Chen Dao was that powerful, he could not turn the situation around. This is because the White Eared Soldiers were facing a hopeless situation.
The White Eared Soldiers may be elites but even they could not handle fighting against the Formation Breaker and the Wolf Cavalry from two sides.
“Shit! Kill!” Liao Hua struggled bitterly. He knew that the White Eared Soldiers were Liu Bei’s main force. The White Eared Soldiers had to survive even if the Yuzhou Army gets completely routed. He wanted to go and help the White Eared Soldiers but he was unable to do so.
“Hahaha! Liao Hua! Stay and accompany me!” Zang Ba laughed evilly. Wiping out the White Eared Soldiers had been their plan all along which was why Zang Ba was very pleased that he was able to intercept Liao Hua. Originally, the Yuzhou Army which was formed by the Yellow Turbans were like bandits but the Taishan Army resembles a bandit army even more than the Yuzhou Army. The more skilful ones even plundered the wealth from those they killed.
The White Eared Soldiers had little space to move with Gao Shun and the Formation Breaker attacking them. This allowed the Wolf Cavalry to make round trips to attack them. At that rate, the White Eared Soldiers would not last. Chen Dao gritted his teeth. What he needed to do now was to regroup the White Eared Soldiers and break through the enemy lines. To do that, he needed to take out the leader, Gao Shun.
Gao Shun did not have outstanding martial art skills. He was someone who was skilled at training his troops. The only people that could compete against him in this aspect was Yu Jin, Zhou Yu and Zhang He. Unfortunately, Gao Shun was not able to become a top quality fighter. However, this was not a big issue as Gao Shun commanded his troops with himself as the center. He was not one to charge and break through enemy lines. As a result, the Formation Breaker do not hold an individual’s martial skill in high esteem. It was also why all the good generals come from the other groups like the Wolf Cavalry. Only people without reputation could be found in the Formation Breaker. Even if these people were strong, they had to work as a unit and supress their strength.
Chen Dao wanted to take advantage of his superior martial arts to kill Gao Shun. Once the commander of the Formation Breaker is dead, they would fall apart, allowing the White Eared Soldiers to escape.
“Kill! Cut through them!” Chen Dao’s troops were in an attack formation as they tried to pressure the Formation Breaker. However, Gao Shun was not nervous. This is because stalling the White Eared Soldiers was their objective. The moment the White Eared Soldiers were trapped, the Wolf Cavalry would finish them off.
The White Eared Soldiers were truly elites. They were able to create a hole in the Formation Breaker’s Tortoise Formation. It was only a small gap but it was enough. Before the Formation Breaker could patch up this hole, Chen Dao suddenly sped up and rush through the gap like an arrow. He fought his way towards the center of the formation.
“Another layer?” Chen Dao noticed that the Tortoise Formation had another layer. Gao Shun did this a it was all flesh under the shells. As Gao Shun was being cautious, he placed more people reinforcing the front. Most of his forces were placed at the outermost layer. Most enemies would have been crushed to death but not Chen Dao.
Chen Dao’s skills was not any inferior to Zhao Yun. The reason why Chen Dao was not famous is because he was Liu Bei’s shadow. He was like Xu Zhu who was always near Cao Cao. Xu Zhu was someone who would definitely not be famous if Dian Wei survived as Dian Wei could do everything else. On the other hand, Xu Zhu could not lead or train the troops.
Chen Dao could train, lead and also fight. He is not inferior to Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. Yet, he was not famous because of Zhao Yun. The both of them used spears and the both of them wore white. With such a substitute, it was easier to forget the quieter Chen Dao. It was to the extent that Chen Dao’s deeds was given to Zhao Yun. Chen Dao was also gradually forgotten. Yet, Chen Dao should never be underestimated. If Zhao Yun is said to be a natural in commanding cavalries, Chen Dao would be a natural in commanding infantries.
Chen Dao fought his way to the middle of the formation. The heavily armored soldiers there could be considered as the cream of the crop. Even then, they were not enough. Their lives were cut short with each swing of Chen Dao’s spear.
“Protect the general!” The soldiers further in front shouted but was unable to stop Chen Dao who moved swiftly towards Gao Shun. With Gao Shun at the center, the nearby soldiers met their enemy head on. They worked to prevent Chen Dao from reaching Gao Shun.
“Fight! Fight!” Gao Shun was indifferent to this, as though the problems happening within his formation was unrelated to him. He ignored the death cries of those trying to protect him. Although his heart ached, it was not his problem. The Formation Breaker was a single entity and he was the brain. What he needed was for this entity to crush the enemy. The responsibility of defending the brain had already been given to his subordinate. He trusted them just like how his soldiers trusted him. His soldiers had already given their lives to the ones behind them. That was why the Formation Breaker was dreadful.
Chen Dao struck at the soldiers with his spear but they refused to leave their posts despite being severely injured. The soldiers believed in each other. They believed that one of their comrades would finish off Chen Dao.
Gao Shun truly focused on the Tortoise Formation. To strengthen the formation, he had sent most of his men to the front. This was why Chen Dao could cut his way through so easily.
“Die! Gao Shun!” Chen Dao shouted as he made his way towards Gao Shun. Chen Dao admired Gao Shun and the Formation Breaker for what they do. He also guessed correctly that the Formation Breaker was a death army. It was just like their motto that there are no living people in the Formation Breaker, only dead people. The Formation Breaker initially had seven thousand men but now there were only five thousand men. The remaining two thousand men quitted because they could not handle this lifestyle or Gao Shun’s method of training. They left the Formation Breaker and joined the garrison. The Formation Breaker were the walls for the Wolf Cavalry. These two groups complimented each other. They were the shields of Bingzhou that fight against foreign cavalries with no regards for their own lives.
Chen Dao admired these soldiers. He had always wanted to have the White Eared Soldiers fight against the Formation Breaker. Now, he had this chance but he also knew that if they were to continue fighting like this, the White Eared Soldiers would disappear from the world.
For this reason, Chen Dao had no choice but to kill Gao Shun. Even if he would no longer be able to compete against Gao Shun in a truest sense, he needed to save the White Eared Soldiers.
“General Gao! Sorry but I will be sending you off!” Chen Dao shouted and he struck his spear towards Gao Shun.
“Don’t even think of harming the general!” Two Formation Breaker soldiers attacked in unison but Chen Dao was too fast. The two soldiers were cut down immediately. The spear once again flew towards Gao Shun but the man still did not care and continued to conduct the movements of the Formation Breaker. The spear struck Gao Shun’s face, causing blood to flow. If it had move any further, Gao Shun would be dead. Fortunately, someone had stopped Chen Dao.
“Chen Dao! You are indulging in fantasy! Your opponent is me!” A middle-aged man wearing the armor of a general rushed over and swung his sword at Chen Dao. If Chen Dao did not receive this attack, he would also die.
Chen Dao gritted his teeth and changed the direction of his attack. He received the attack and escaped death.
“Zhang Liao Zhang Wenyuan!” Chen Dao looked carefully and found that the man that attacked him was the strongest fighter amongst Lu Bu’s subordinates. Zhang Liao was someone who could command an army as he fights. If Gao Shun uses tactics, Zhang Liao uses strategy. Zhang Liao was also much better at martial arts. Although Zhang Liao was not at Lu Bu’s level, he was still a top quality general.
Chen Dao did not doubt that Zhang Liao was a talented individual but he was a little confused as Zhang Liao should be with the Wolf Cavalry instead of the Formation Breaker.
Unfortunately for Chen Dao, Zhang Liao had been placed with the Formation Breaker for this ambush because his brother, Zhang Fan who was also his only remaining family member had been amongst the casualties when the Wolf Cavalry was ambushed. As Zhang Xiu must not be killed, Lu Bu was afraid that Zhang Liao would kill Zhang Xiu out of impulse. Lu Bu initially wanted to leave Zhang Liao in Lujiang but Zhang Liao insisted on coming. As a result, Lu Bu gave Zhang Liao the order to stay with the Formation Breaker and is not allowed to join the Wolf Cavalry.
Although unwilling, Zhang Liao still received the order and stayed with the Formation Breaker. When they surrounded the Xiliang Cavalry, he killed hundreds of them. Lu Bu’s arrangement also ended up saving Gao Shun as both Gao Shun and Zhang Liao were close friends. After all, they risked their lives together in battle.
“That battle at Hefei. I heard you white White Eared Soldiers were there. Chen Dao, you are the commander of the White Eared Soldiers. There is no reason for you not to have participated in that battle!” Zhang Liao pointed his weapon at Chen Dao and stated.
“Yes. What about it?” Chen Dao’s hands trembled in the excitement of battle.
“Do you remember Zhang Fan?”
“Zhang Fan?” Chen Dao parroted as he furrowed his brows.
“Of course you can’t remember. He died there at Hefei!” Zhang Liao mocked. When Zhang Liao said those words, he was trembling in sorrowful anger. Everyone has an inverse scale. Everyone has things that they care about. Zhang Liao was usually a calm man that sees things by their nature. However, the Zhang Liao then could not remain calm.
“That general?” Chen Dao gradually understood and reacted when Zhang Liao said Hefei. He remembered that amongst the Wolf Cavalry that stayed behind in that battle was a general with the family name of Zhang. He refused to surrender even after Lu Bu had retreated and died standing.
“That man is my elder brother. He is my only elder brother. My only relative!” Zhang Liao roared with a crazed expression. He who was usually calm now had a tyrannical expression. “No matter what I will have to ask you to die!”
“Then come!” Chen Dao braced himself. He was much stronger than Gao Shun but he was not much stronger than Zhang Liao. He did not have the certainty that he would be able to kill Zhang Liao. Besides that, if he was stalled by Zhang Liao here, not only would his life be in even more danger but his White Eared Soldiers would not be able to escape. Without him, the casualties amongst the White Eared Soldiers would be even worse. Just as he was feeling impatient, another voice made him feel excited.
“Hey, enemy generals! Zhang Yide is here! Do not worry, Shuzhi! Zhang Fei has come!” Zhang Fei rode over quickly with his spear in his hand. He rushed towards the Formation Breaker, clearing them away. The pressure on the White Eared Soldiers soften. With Zhang Fei’s commands, they were once again able to show off their abilities as Liu Bei’s trump card. Zhang Fei then tried to fight through the Formation Breaker to join up with Chen Dao and defeat both Gao Shun and Zhang Liao.
“Circle Eye Thief! You chose not to walk the path to paradise but enter the gates of hell! The heavens truly did not turn its back on me! Today, I will wipe out Big Eared Liu’s White Eared Soldiers and also you, Zhang Fei!” Lu Bu also rushed in. He had let Zhang Fei go earlier because he wanted them to rescue Zhang Xiu. Lu Bu would not let Zhang Fei go again. On the contrary, he was very excited especially when he thinks of how Liu Bei would react when his third brother and his White Eared Soldiers were wiped out.
Lu Bu have already exercised a lot of restrain. Ever since he almost died at Xiapi, he wanted to kill Liu Bei. He had thought that he would not see Liu Bei again after coming to Yangzhou but Liu Bei took Liu Pi’s foundation at Yuzhou and came looking for trouble. Since Liu Bei took the initiative to attack Yangzhou, the hatred he had for Liu Bei grew even deeper.
“Destroy the White Eared Soldiers! Kill Zhang Fei! I will cut off Liu Bei’s arms in this battle!” Lu Bu sneered. He showed off his tyrannical strength. The power and arrogance of the God of War was present. This caused the others to become shocked. Even Gao Shun could not help but look at Lu Bu. He saw the figure of the man that led the Wolf Cavalry during its prime days.