In a situation like this, victory or defeat no longer depended on the commander’s skill. It came down to the army’s overall strength, luck, and other such factors.

“Come on, my enemy. Show me what else you’ve got!”

Old Four’s central army moved as well. The four thousand cavalry didn’t choose to regroup with their comrades, who’d suffered heavy casualties in the anti-cavalry barricades. Instead, they made a wide detour behind the formation, preparing to throw their full strength against the beastkin army’s left flank.

Old Four couldn’t believe the enemy had any way left to counter his assault.

As he’d said before, no matter how skilled the opponent, they weren’t commanding an elite force. Against his army’s all-out advance, a chaotic melee was inevitable.

He was somewhat afraid, but anticipation filled his heart even more.

He wanted to see the enemy commander lose all composure, unable to withstand his ferocious assault, and finally break down.

He believed it was bound to happen. Nothing could change that outcome.

This gamble wasn’t exactly in Old Four’s favor, either. There was too much uncertainty. Otherwise, he would’ve used this tactic from the start.

Now it was the turn of that cunning opponent to worry.

There were plenty of worried people at that moment, but Baishui certainly wasn’t one of them.

If Old Four had been close enough to see, he might even have spotted the smile on this loli’s old-lady face.

It was a bright, sunny smile, relaxed from the inside out—as if the battle were already over and they’d reached the moment of pursuing and routing the fleeing enemy.

Before long, a deafening cheer rang out from the fighting in the center of the formation:

“The enemy general is dead! The general is mighty!”

From a distance, Old Four saw that his vanguard, which had been surrounded by the enemy, was now beginning to fall apart.

At the center of the battlefield, one great banner toppled limply while another snapped and waved in the wind.

The vanguard soldiers under Dala Da had fought bitterly for a long time. Their commander’s death dealt his men the final blow, and the clan troops collapsed in an instant.

Like sheep waiting for slaughter, the remnants fled in every direction inside the pen, unable to find a way out.

The main force of the clan army was also taken aback. Its tide-like advance faltered noticeably.

But the next moment, hatred and killing intent flooded their minds. The army surged forward with even greater ferocity than before.

Just then, the beastkin army’s central force finally made a move.

Clang, clang, clang, clang, clang!

A rapid clash of metal rang out without warning, catching everyone on the battlefield completely by surprise.

Military music was made up of little more than drums, gongs, and horns. The drums and horns had more variations—especially the drums.

Every army had its own distinctive drum and horn signals. Even within the same army, they varied slightly depending on the commander’s habits.

But the gong was an exception.

Across every army, the golden gong was struck in only one way, and it carried only one meaning:

Advance at the sound of the drums; retreat at the sound of the gong. Ever since the ancients devised the art of war, this had remained an unchanging truth.

With the gong ringing, there could be no doubt about the central army’s order.

Baishui had ordered a retreat! They were to turn and flee in the face of the charging enemy!

“How could this…”

At that moment, the beastkin generals were stunned.

Retreat?

Retreating at a time like this could only mean one thing: the entire army would collapse.

Once a rout began, not even Lestier returned from the dead or Gwendolyn reborn could salvage the defeat.

After all, there was no river behind them. Even an elite force couldn’t use the terrain to turn the tide with its back to the water.

“Generals, don’t forget Her Majesty’s instructions!”

Baishui had even anticipated this situation, and had specially stationed a group of messengers beside her generals.

On the surface, their job was to interpret the central army’s flags. In truth, Baishui had sent them out for this crucial moment.

The generals looked back toward the central army and saw that its command banner had vanished.

Baishui had retreated decisively. The moment the gong sounded, the banners were lowered, and she was gone.

With the commander already gone, there could be no doubt about what to do.

Whatever deeper meaning her actions might have, the generals knew there was only one path before them:

—Run with her!

Staying put and hesitating would’ve been the real disaster.

At that moment, not only were the people caught up in the battle baffled; even the spectators were staring in disbelief.

Some of the enemy soldiers were stunned, and couldn’t help muttering among themselves:

“What kind of bizarre tactic is this—answering an all-out advance with a full-scale retreat?”

“I knew it!”

Old Four froze for a moment, then quickly burst into wild delight. He flailed his arms on horseback and shouted:

“I knew the enemy could only scheme and plot! The moment it comes down to a real fight, they’re useless! Chase them! Every last one! Don’t leave a single one alive!”

He didn’t need to give the order. The army would pursue them anyway. In war, both sides were used to striking when the enemy was down.

The clan army’s pursuit looked impressive, but at first it didn’t accomplish much.

The beastkin army had run too quickly and too decisively. The clan army’s advance had also paused briefly when Dala Da was killed, giving the former time to retreat.

There was another, even more important factor: the beastkin army’s formation.

The center of a hook formation was already some distance from the front line where the armies had clashed.

The clan vanguard within that gap had just fought a bitter battle, and the death of its commander had completely stripped it of its fighting strength. It couldn’t help hold the beastkin army back while the main force pursued.

As a result, while the beastkin army fought as it retreated, it would be very difficult for the clan army to claim any gains.

This state of affairs didn’t last long. Soon, Baishui moved her plan on to the next step.

Woooooo…

The horns blared long and loud.

Baishui had put every horn player to use. Hundreds of horns sounded at once, their notes long and piercing.

“At a time like this?”

The beastkin generals were running so hard they could barely catch their breath. When they heard the horns, their eyes flew wide, their faces filled with utter disbelief.

This was a signal they’d agreed on beforehand. When they heard it, their army was supposed to reveal its final trump card.

But the problem was, that backup plan was completely useless in the current situation.

Everyone in the beastkin army who knew the plan was dumbfounded. They thought:

How could Her Majesty, with all her cunning, make such an absurd decision?

Only a few battle-crazed generals, still eager for more, laughed out loud:

“Good! Come on, all of you! Let’s kill to our hearts’ content today!”

No matter how confused the soldiers and generals were, once a military order was given, it was as immovable as a mountain. There was no taking it back.

At first, there was only the sound of horns.

Soon, the roars of thousands of beastkin surged toward the battlefield without end, like a furious tide crashing from the heavens or thunder exploding overhead. In an instant, they “flooded” the place.

“An ambush? How is that possible?”

Old Four thought it was impossible.

The beastkin army couldn’t have reinforcements—let alone an ambush force this huge!

Unless…

A possibility immediately came to mind:

Unless these weren’t reinforcements at all, but the beastkin army’s old, weak, sick, and wounded. The enemy commander was bluffing!

“They think this trick will turn the tide? They’re wrong. I’m not that stupid.”

Old Four thought:

If he hadn’t stayed cautious the whole time, the enemy might really have pulled off the miracle of a feigned defeat followed by a counterattack.

“Your Majesty, what should we do?”

The guards were completely panicked. They had no idea what Baishui was planning, but they knew the situation was dire.

The so-called ambushers’ cries might be deafening, but they weren’t capable of fighting in a real battle.

Having them make a show of force at the right moment might have worked as a surprise tactic.

But now, it seemed Her Majesty had only made things worse. She hadn’t shaken the enemy at all—instead, she’d let them see through their own weakness.

That was hardly a pleasant outcome for the weaker side.

At this rate, their entire army might be wiped out in this battle.

Just look at the enemy soldiers, so full of energy and looking ready to eat people alive. Who could stop them? These defeated troops they’d barely managed to rally?

“The greater the crisis, the calmer a commander must be. Only then can they plan from the center and win on the battlefield. You’re amateurs with little experience leading troops, so you’d do well to keep calm for now.”

After saying this to her guards, Baishui smiled as if nothing were wrong and waved a hand:

“Don’t worry. Reinforcements will be here in a moment. The harder our enemies attack, the sooner they’ll die.”

“Reinforcements? Where could we possibly get reinforcements?”

The guards stared at her, bewildered.

“There. Aren’t they here?”

This time, Baishui didn’t joke around. She simply raised a hand and pointed northeast.

The guards followed her gesture and looked up. Then they saw it:

Beneath the blazing midday sun, a massive force burst over the horizon, thundering toward them like a surging tide.

“Are those our reinforcements?”

Even seeing it with their own eyes, the guards could hardly believe this unbelievable sight.

It wasn’t that they didn’t want to be saved. The problem was that, with their territory to defend, their homeland couldn’t possibly send a second army.

But even if they couldn’t understand it, the reality was plain:

The reinforcements Baishui had spoken of were approaching—and charging straight toward them!

The force of their charge spoke of their resolve.

The dust they raised carried a killing intent that seemed to reach the sky.

The thunderous rumble, loud enough to feel as if it would tear their eardrums, spoke of the army’s strength.

At that moment, it was as if heaven and earth themselves trembled.

The clan army pursuing the beastkin came to a halt, and the soldiers looked back in alarm.

Just moments ago, they’d already been startled once.

Being frightened again and again was an immense strain on their nerves.

“We’ve been tricked!?”

Old Four’s eyes flew wide, his face showing a level of shock he’d never felt before.

For a moment, the surge of emotion was so intense that he could barely breathe.

Even after he’d steadied himself a little, his chest still felt tight, and he struggled to breathe.

He’d been so careful, and he’d still fallen for the trick?

But where had this swift-moving army of reinforcements come from?

It wasn’t as if the enemy could really sow beans and summon soldiers… right?