Those aboriginals were fighting only a short distance away. Seeing the situation here, they absolutely avoid it, directing their attacks at other places.

"Sir, there are at least 2,000 men from Dayao, and our rations have mostly been burned," reported the commander who was on night patrol. He had immediately responded when the first mortar sh.e.l.l landed and gathered the soldiers who had been roused from their sleep.

However, the tent was too big. This tent was meant for tens of thousands of people and the commander only managed to gather a small portion of them.

In addition to the attacks by the aboriginals that had caused panic in a few places, there were also attacks from an unknown force which created very loud noise. The combination of these two forces made the barracks even more chaotic and hard to control.

"Organize the battle formation to press the other side and gather the rest of the soldiers together. Don't give the barbarians any chance at all," Wu Shenghou said in a deep voice. As long as this group of soldiers stopped the barbarians, the rest of the soldiers would be like a small stream entering the sea, integrating themselves into the team. Naturally, the chaos would subside too.

"Dou Licheng, bring people along with you to gather more people. Then, look after the rations and douse the fire," Wu Shenghou continued speaking in a steady voice without even a hint of panic.

The chief commander was very calm, and the rest of the people felt more secure.

"Yes!" Another commander immediately pa.s.sed down the order.

Before the time it took to pour a cup of tea had elapsed, there was another explosion near the place where the rations were stored. Three sh.e.l.ls were fired from the mortar in a row, killing some of the soldiers guarding the rations.

Like a sharp arrow, one of the commanders gazed penetratingly at the chaos in the barracks before he threw himself into the darkness.

He had heard some faraway sounds coming from that direction earlier on.

It wasn't loud, but he managed to catch the faint sounds.

He leaped up atop a flagpole, and from the top, he was able to see the corner of the barracks to the east of Liao City.

"Great General, that attack comes from the sky! Another place that stores rations has been destroyed. The soldiers in the vicinity have also lost their military strength." A lower ranking commander who was covered in blood rushed over to report to the general.

After hearing this, Wu Shenghou furrowed his brows even more.

"From the sky? Did you see anybody in the surrounding area?"

"Sir, there are no aboriginals around. That thing dropped down from the sky and then exploded, causing the death and injury of a few hundred of our brothers!" that commander said miserably.

"Great General, I suspect the weapon that generated the loud noise is similar to the catapult and cannon in propelling its ammunition." The commander with the arrow-like penetrating gaze jumped down to speak.

At the same time, he pointed his finger in the south east direction of the barracks, which was where the aboriginals launched their attack.

"From listening to the sound, General Jia from the east barracks is also under attack. I suspect his situation is similar to what we are experiencing.

"The other side is attacking us and General Jia simultaneously. Their launching position should be between the central barracks and the east barracks. From what I heard earlier, the sounds are quite similar to the firing of the Thunder Cannon."

On hearing this, Wu Shenghou jerked and asked in a deep voice, "How is the situation at Wu Ying's barracks?"

"Sir, Wu Ying's barracks hasn't been affected yet," someone immediately replied.

"Dispatch Wu Ying out. The other party will definitely attack, and it is crucial to find out their location and what methods they are using. If we can grab some weapons from them, that would be ideal. Chen s.h.i.+, follow them and you will earn merit if successful."

Although the confusion in their central barracks continued, there was a more important issue in Wu Shenghou's mind.

He must obtain the these weapons used by the aboriginals.

Even if he couldn't, he should at least know what weapon the other side was using as well as its weak points.

Just after arranging the troops into orderly formations and gathering the soldiers into position, quite a few loud noises were suddenly heard.

A few winged cavalry warriors saw the explosions amid the soldiers on the other side, started laughing loudly, and turned to run.

...

"Sir, a great number of soldiers from the Great Xia central barracks are coming over."

Without lifting his head, Ren Baqian adjusted the angle of the mortar to launch three shots with the empress before he reached out for the night vision device and peered in the direction the guards were pointing at.

"So many soldiers?" Ren Baqian was slightly surprised. He could see from the infrared night vision goggles that a large wave of alternating red and yellow figures were running in their direction.

"These are not ordinary soldiers!" Ren Baqian added this statement, which he based on the movements and speed of these soldiers.

The other side seemed to have confirmed the direction of the attacks and were advancing toward this side. Although they tried their best to maintain a uniform speed in between them, it could be seen that there was some confusion.

Ren Baqian felt that these weren't ordinary Great Xia soldiers, and he ascertained this from their fast speed and great agility when moving at night.

They were either military elites or pract.i.tioners from Great Xia's sects.

"Sir, don't worry, we are here and will definitely not let them come too close." The guard beside him was smiling and eager for a fight. He had been biding his time, and his wait was finally over.

One had to know that besides the guards of Ren Baqian and the empress, there were also over 100 winged cavalry warriors.

There were about less than 1,000 people from the other side, and 200 Earth Wheel guards should be enough to let the enemies run over and then make them crawl back.

"In that case, all of you advance and leave two personnel to carry the mortar sh.e.l.ls for me!" Seeing that they were in high spirits, Ren Baqian simply ignored them and continued to fire shots.

He only fired five more rounds, and the total number of mortar rounds launched was 30.

The other side only stored food in seven locations, and after bombing another two places, he could begin another round of bombing with the remaining dozen mortar sh.e.l.ls.

If people from the other side were fighting the fire, then it was just their bad luck.

For those who managed to escape from the bombs earlier, this would make it up for them now.

Ren Baqian and the empress continued launching the mortar bombs in high spirits. With the exception of a few guards, the rest advanced to meet the oncoming soldiers.

The pract.i.tioners of Great Xia reached a place not far from their destination and saw a dark ma.s.s of human heads under the moonlight.

"Be careful, there is an ambus.h.!.+" someone shouted.

"Ambush, to h.e.l.l with you!" a winged cavalry warrior scolded.

Was there a need to ambush rascals like you guys?

He then took out a sword to greet them.

When both sides collided, the Great Xia pract.i.tioners were confounded.

Although they expected to meet some guards, they never expected to see a whole squad of guards who were at the Earth Wheel level.

There were more than 200 guards, and all of them were Earth Wheel level experts.

One sixth of the winged cavalry was also present.

Fortunately, the Great Xia side had more people and quite a few pract.i.tioners. With regard to meeting the winged cavalry, they were already well prepared.

The pract.i.tioners from Great Xia formed into different groups with many sect members forming their own arrays to marginally resist these winged cavalry warriors and guards.

Some of the remaining pract.i.tioners joined with their own sect members to tackle the winged cavalry, and a small number of them attempted to force their way through to reach the rear side of the crowd.

A man was seen jumping about a dozen meters in the air with a six meter long spear that was as thick as the mouth of a bowl. His sudden appearance generated an overbearing force on everyone present.

"Broken Hill Spear's Xiao Shan has arisen!" The pract.i.tioners from Great Xia were invigorated by this presence. This person was one of the two Spirit Wheel level experts in Wu Ying's barracks.

The Spirit Wheel level wasn't just simply a matter of being one level higher. If the expert was extremely powerful, tens of Earth Wheel experts weren't even a match for a Spirit Wheel expert that could form a Heaven-grade weapon.

With him around, they wouldn't lose even when going against the winged cavalry.

Furthermore, with one Spirit Wheel level expert, victory was a.s.sured.

"Spirit Wheel level?" Many winged cavalry raised their head to take a look and continued to do what they were supposed to do.

Her Majesty was behind them. What was the big deal about the presence of a Spirit Wheel level expert?

Xiao Shan, as the man in the air was called, looked harsh. Although the long spear in his hand was not as powerful as imagined, it was powerful enough for him to be proud of.

Like a missile and with all his might, a spear was thrusted at the position where Ren Baqian was. Ren Baqian's hair stood on end, and his whole body went rigid as he felt an imminent disaster coming.

"Great spear technique! Very impressive !" The pract.i.tioners from Great Xia praised loudly and claimed that they wouldn't even have a chance to escape if they were the one confronted.

Although they were in the middle of a battle, many of Great Xia pract.i.tioners couldn't refrain themselves from taking a look at Xiao Shan in action, hoping to learn from it. After all, it was rare to see a Spirit Wheel expert in action.

"Hmph!" The empress's cold voice reverberated through the whole field. She appeared in front of Xiao Shan in a flash, stepped hard on his long spear, and made Xiao Shan lose control of it, causing him to fall downward.

Xiao Shan heard the shouting, which made him feel heroic initially, but the appearance of this human shadow stamping on the spear tip made him lose control of his spear, causing him to falter. He peered out from the corner of his eyes to verify the image of this person and was terrified. Xiao Shan pushed the spear downward, used the rebounding force to move backward, and turned to run away without saying a word.

Then, the spear that had gouged out a hole which was tens of meter deep disappeared from sight.

Although he knew Qi Zixiao was in Liao City, he didn't expect her to appear in person, especially here.

At first, he expected Qi Zixiao to come out specifically to counter Wu Shenghou. The barracks was in chaos when he left, and he was thinking that Qi Zixiao would face off against Wu Shenghou, so he would be able to avoid her. He never expected to meet her here and fall into her hands.

"Where are you running to?" the empress coldly asked. She was behind Xiao Shan in a flash and smashed a fist at him.

Xiao Shan promptly turned to block with his two hands, instantly spitting out fresh blood. He was then pushed back tens of meters and ran away at an even faster speed.

By spitting out blood, he was using the simplest method of triggering his energy, and although he would need to recuperate for eight to 10 days, he considered himself lucky for being able to escape.

Under the eyes of many Great Xia pract.i.tioners, Xiao Shan was seen forming the Heaven-grade weapon, seen showing his prowess, seen spitting fresh blood, and then seen desperately running away after a red shadow appeared in front him.

This scene instantly caused the recently inspired Great Xia pract.i.tioners to despair.

"Qi Zixiao!"

If they still didn't know who she was, they would be fools.

As for the other Spirit Wheel expert, he slipped away without showing his face upon perceiving the presence of the empress.

The empress landed on the ground with her hands behind her back and head held high as she returned to Ren Baqian's side.

"Your Majesty's martial prowess is matchless and even the experts who have formed a Heaven-grade weapon will flee at the mere sight of you." Ren Baqian placed a bar of chocolate in the empress's hand.

"Hmmm!"