Chapter 402
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Chapter 402: Reversal of Stance
The two groups below immediately started fighting.
If they had brought archers on this trip, it would definitely be inconvenient to provide support, as the risk of friendly fire would be too great.
However, crossbowmen were different.
The accuracy of hand crossbows was much easier to control.
Moreover, a very important point was that crossbow bolts flew out extremely fast, further reducing the possibility of targets avoiding the attack.
After a volley, they immediately took a wave of Hyenamen lives, but at the same time, it exposed their position.
Zhou Yi’s action carried enormous risk, because at this moment, he and his 50 crossbowmen were only guarded by a mere 30 sword-shield soldiers!
Meanwhile, there were 200 to 300 Hyenamen below.
In this situation, who wouldn’t panic?
After all, the Hyenamen had a numerical advantage.
Zhou Yi was worried about Li Ke’s situation.
If he were to first lead his men to send the population of the third barbarian tribe to meet with the approaching reinforcements, and then come back to support Li Ke, looking at the current situation, it would certainly be too late.
Therefore, as a last resort, they could only split into two groups, rushing over with this small force.
Their only reliance at this moment was probably the high ground that Jie Zichuan had temporarily found for them; in other words, a terrain advantage.
Originally, for ranged units, the essence of high ground advantage should be that “I can hit them, but they can’t hit me.”
But to be honest, this high ground, found temporarily based on Jie Zichuan’s memory, clearly didn’t meet the standard and didn’t provide them with much sense of security, mainly because it wasn’t high enough.
And the large group below were beastmen.
Zhou Yi felt that the Hyenamen could even jump up in one go if they charged and jumped with force.
If it weren’t for Li Ke being in a difficult situation here, he would really have to ponder whether to intervene or not.
Regardless, their exposure was a foregone conclusion.
The Hyena Queen hated them to the core.
Looking at Zhou Yi and the others standing on the high ground, old and new grudges combined, the hatred in the Hyena Queen’s heart undoubtedly erupted completely at this moment!
“Kill them all! Kill those damned humans!!”
A howl filled with hatred roared out.
The Hyena Queen, which had been relentlessly pursuing Li Ke and wanting to kill him quickly, now completely lost interest in tangling with him.
It directly led its Hyenamen to charge towards Zhou Yi and the others!
“Stay here!”
However, at this very moment, the positions had completely reversed.
Before, Li Ke wanted to leave, and the Hyena Queen wouldn’t let him.
Now, the Hyena Queen wanted to leave, but Li Ke wouldn’t let it.
The situation on the battlefield changes in an instant; this saying is not just idle talk.
Li Ke’s deadly twin blades directly slashed towards the Hyena Queen’s back of the neck, forcing the opponent to turn around and respond.
While forcibly holding back the Hyena Queen, Li Ke also shouted loudly to his wolf warriors.
“Block all these Hyenamen!”
Following Li Ke’s roar, the wolf warriors charged forward again, and the two sides of beastmen once again became entangled in a fierce battle.
However, the Hyenamen still held a numerical advantage, making it impossible to block them all.
A group of unhindered Hyenamen charged quickly and fiercely.
In just a few breaths, they were almost at Zhou Yi and the others’ doorstep.
Then, watching the Hyenamen’s movements, they indeed intended to use their momentum from the charge to jump up in one go.
Zhou Yi’s heart tightened as he realized this, and he immediately commanded his soldiers to meet the enemy.
“Form a shield wall! Block them all!”
On the high ground, the 30 sword-shield soldiers still cooperated tacitly.
Moreover, each of them was an experienced veteran.
At this moment, they very cleverly chose to utilize the advantage of terrain and space.
With their bronze shields, they quickly formed a shield wall, forcibly blocking the charging Hyenamen.
At the same time, while they blocked the Hyenamen’s first wave of impact, the crossbowmen, protected behind them, also used their crossbow stirrups to reload their hand crossbows.
According to the penetration power of a hand crossbow, as long as it hit a vital point, even against thick-skinned Hyenamen, it could achieve a one-hit kill.
However, these Hyenamen were clearly not foolish either.
After being ambushed by the crossbowmen, they also realized the threat and quickly protected their vital points.
With the enemy intentionally defending themselves, it became exceedingly difficult for the crossbowmen to land effective hits again.
The current situation made Zhou Yi’s brow furrow deeper.
Although the overall situation had slightly reversed after that wave of attack, Li Ke’s group had lost the initiative earlier.
This level of reversal was not enough for them to seize back the initiative in one go; it merely brought the situation to a near stalemate.
This battle was destined to be very tough.
At this critical moment, even Jie Zichuan, who was originally only responsible for leading the way, was now fighting with a shield in one hand and a blade in the other.
His surprisingly good combat skills took Zhou Yi by surprise.
However, in the current situation, no matter how good Jie Zichuan was at fighting alone, could he defeat a group of opponents? Especially when that group consisted of beastmen.
Thoughts raced through Zhou Yi’s mind.
His gaze swept over the wolf warriors in the distance.
With a flash of inspiration, he quickly shouted.
“General Li Ke, quickly gather your wolf warriors! Form a shield formation!”
Zhou Yi and his group’s presence had unwittingly drawn a huge wave of aggro for Li Ke, and there was even a tendency for the unexpected scapegoat role to shift to Zhou Yi.
This couldn’t help but make Li Ke feel a sudden reduction in pressure during the battle.
Upon hearing Zhou Yi’s words, he quickly commanded his wolf warriors to rush towards the high ground.
Among the various beastmen, the wolf tribe was relatively disciplined.
When Li Yuanjie was the Great Chieftain, the wolf tribe, as his “flesh and blood,” Li Yuanjie naturally had the idea of training them into elite troops.
Although Li Yuanjie’s training plan ultimately ended in failure, they had practiced a bit.
The wolf warriors could still form some simple formations.
After a charge, the wolf warriors’ sparse but clearly crude shield formation had already taken shape.
If this formation were placed among human armies, it would be a typical negative example.
A so-called shield formation wasn’t just about holding a bronze shield and standing with others.
Its essence lay in each shield-wielding soldier maintaining tacit cooperation with comrades on both sides when facing enemy attacks, mutually covering and supporting each other, without disrupting the overall defensive formation.
That was a true shield formation!
As for the wolf warriors, it could only be said that they imitated the outer form but failed to learn the essence.
