Chapter 172: Decisive Battle (Part 3)

If previously Song Jiang and his men held a completely hostile attitude toward the entire military and civilian population of the Liao Dynasty, now, as they penetrated deeper into Liao territory, he discovered that many Han people within Liao were eagerly anticipating the Song army's advance to rescue them from fire and water. Even some people of mixed ethnic heritage felt that Song rule would be far better than Liao rule, alongside a small minority of Liao people who were also dissatisfied with the current state of governance under the Liao.

After Song Jiang and his men executed all the city-defending generals and officials, not only did the soldiers cease their resistance, but low-ranking officials and minor functionaries even stepped forward to help Song Jiang's forces maintain order and security within the city. The common people were even more obedient to Song Jiang's commands, showing no intention whatsoever of causing trouble.

Song Jiang thought that if the Great Song were to fully occupy all the cities they had previously captured, it would take less than a year to unite the hearts of the military and civilians within those walls, causing them to swear to resist Liao attacks to the death. Even so, why had the Song's northern expedition originally resulted in such a dismal defeat?

Song Jiang sighed, feeling that he truly did not understand the emperor's mind, nor the minds of those ministers.

"Forget it, if I don't understand, I won't dwell on it. If the imperial court truly refuses to order peace talks, then let's risk our lives to deal a crippling blow to the Liao!" Song Jiang looked up at the moon in the sky, thinking with firm determination. As for whether they could break through the Liao capital and annihilate the Liao Dynasty, that was something he did not even dare to imagine.

Three days later, the Liangshan forces set out once again. However, after conquering a few nearby small towns, they did not advance any further. This was because the Liao side had sent someone to deliver a challenge letter.

Song Jiang summoned all the chieftains and informed them of the challenge.

"My brothers, the Liao people say they admire our valor. Yet they are unwilling to admit defeat just yet. They have deployed a grand formation with an army of two hundred thousand, waiting for us to breach it. If we break through, the Liao will surrender to our Great Song and submit as vassals! I wonder if my brothers have the confidence to follow me in shattering this formation, achieving this great merit for the Great Song, and leaving our names in history!"

"Rest assured, Brother! As we fought our way all the way here, that Liao army has proven to be nothing special. Perhaps when the time comes, we'll smash their fancy formation and directly frighten the Liao emperor into surrendering to us!"

Li Kui, who feared neither heaven nor earth, naturally responded to Song Jiang without the slightest hesitation. Following closely behind were Lu Junyi and other prominent Liangshan chieftains. Then came the lower-ranking Heavenly Spirits, followed by the upper-ranking Earthly Fiends, and finally the lesser chieftains at the very back, who could only follow the general trend and make up the numbers.

Song Jiang declared, "Since my brothers are willing, I shall accept this challenge. Five days from now, we keep the appointment to shatter the formation!"

That same night, Song Jiang summoned Lu Junyi, Wu Yong, Huyan Zhuo, Guan Sheng, Lin Chong, Zhu Wu, and other generals skilled in warfare and tactical deployments.

"Take a look at this. This is some information regarding the Liao army's formation gathered by Brother Sun yesterday. However, after the Liao formation reached full maturity, the cloud vapor obscured it, making exploration unclear. This is merely a basic framework."

The fully deduced tactical diagram was unfurled before everyone. Each person stared intently at the simple map, but furrowed brows soon appeared on all their faces.

Although the diagram marked some directions of tactical transformation, based on these clues, they could only determine that it was a massive formation divided into four directional arrays, each containing highly intricate variations. However, the current information was far too scarce. Not to mention finding a way to break the formation, even simple counter-measures would be exceedingly difficult to execute.

"Brother Gongming, this formation should correspond to the celestial constellations above, featuring the transformations of the twenty-eight mansions of the four directions, but... alas!" Wu Yong shook his head. Such stellar formations were profoundly mysterious; even someone of his caliber dared not claim he could fully deduce the transformations of this tactical map based solely on these meager details.

Lu Junyi said, "Brother, the Liao army has come prepared. Knowing that we are reincarnated stellar spirits, they intend to use this stellar power against us. Still, I believe that as long as we proceed with utmost caution and test the waters a few times, we will certainly discover its flaws." Although the enemy was well-prepared, Lu Junyi retained full confidence in their martial prowess and the strength of the Liangshan army.

"Indeed, Brother! No matter how numerous the Liao army may be, judging by the opponents we've faced along the way in various cities, they won't cause us too much trouble," Guan Sheng said with narrowed eyes.

Huyan Zhuo added, "Moreover, right here, the transformations of the Azure Dragon constellation array in the east are relatively numerous. We can prepare countermeasures now and shatter this specific section of the formation with the utmost speed. Even if the Liao army shows no signs of chaos, we will still be able to probe their primary direction of change and thereby find a method to break the entire formation. After all, they have only been practicing it for a short time."

Wu Yong stated, "Leave this matter to me. I will come up with a method to break the formation as soon as possible." Five days was neither too long nor too short; he was somewhat confident in dismantling one side of the formation independently.

While the Liangshan forces were preparing countermeasures against the Liao army, the Liao side was also racing against time to practice the various transformations of the formation. Just as Huyan Zhuo had surmised, even with the enhancement of the imperial dragon soul, they could only rapidly master the most basic transformations. Mastering more complex coordinated formations still required time.

Wuyan Guang stood on the command platform, watching the spirited Liao soldiers drilling below, and could not help but sigh in his heart at the potency of the imperial dragon soul. Although this batch of Liao troops constituted the elite of the nation, even the most elite Liao soldiers could not continuously drill military formations for sixteen hours a day while growing increasingly proficient.

"By mixing the celestial phenomena, the light of the stars can be obscured. And the stellar banners tempered by the dragon soul can release sufficient starlight within the grand array to facilitate its transformations. Even if the Liangshan troops are truly stellar spirits descended to earth, once trapped within the array, they will ultimately be suppressed by the four directional constellations and defeated and captured!" At this thought, Wuyan Guang recalled the circumstances under which he had originally acquired the tactical diagram.

Once, while out hunting, he had unexpectedly discovered this animal-skin tactical map inside the belly of a wolf. Though the nature of the hide was unknown, it was exceptionally durable, impervious to both water and fire. That was how he realized he had stumbled upon a priceless treasure; subsequently, the entire contents of the diagram had revealed themselves to him in a dream.

Every night, he watched the drills of the formation in his dreams, committing every single variation and lethal maneuver to memory bit by bit. He had once believed he would never have the opportunity to employ such a complete grand formation, given that the conditions required to execute all its tactical shifts were far too demanding.

Previously, when he requested battle from the Liao Empress Dowager and stated his conditions, terror had gripped his heart because those demands were simply too harsh. Under normal circumstances, no emperor whose mind was intact would ever agree to them.

"Liangshan, your victories end here!"

Over here, Sun Meng descended from the sky once more. By this time, they had pinpointed the location of the Liao army, though the enemy had no intention of hiding either.

"Tell me, will the Liangshan forces be able to defeat this grand formation of the Liao army?" Sun Meng suddenly asked.

"Judging by the current effects, probably not. Because troops value quality over quantity, especially given that the Liangshan army has already formed a legion will. It is impossible for this army of two hundred thousand to directly divide and encircle the Liangshan forces. Therefore, even if they manage to suppress the Liangshan troops, they cannot annihilate them in a single stroke," Mu Xingye replied. "However, it seems I've found a slight clue. Once I finish analyzing this pattern of energy flow, there will be results."

"Very well. Even if we went to help, we wouldn't have any good solutions. The best thing to do right now is to trust them and seize the opportunity to conquer the Liao capital when the Liao army is defeated!" Sun Meng suddenly felt a sense of boredom. This war between Liangshan and Liao had already lasted for nearly half a year from its inception. If it were truly dragged out until the civilization wars on Earth began, it would hardly be worth it.

In the blink of an eye, the appointed time for the confrontation between Liangshan and Liao arrived. The two armies faced off—one side numbering two hundred thousand, the other fewer than one hundred thousand. On the Liangshan side, those truly capable of fighting the Liao army head-on numbered only fifty thousand, yet in terms of morale, there was not the slightest disparity between the two sides.

The Liao battle formation parted, and Wuyan Guang rode out.

"I am Wuyan Guang, Grand General of the Liao Dynasty. Let Song Jiang come out and speak!"

Song Jiang urged his steed forward. "Since Liangshan accepted the challenge, we are not afraid. I only wonder if the General's formation truly possesses such miraculous power, or if it is just like the previous Liao army—utterly vulnerable to a single blow!"

Wuyan Guang sneered. "I have long heard that Liangshan is reputed to be composed of stellar spirits descended to earth. Coincidentally, my formation also harnesses the power of the stars! The Taiyi Mixed Celestial Phenomenon Formation—please offer your instruction!"