And the generals of the Fire Cloud Empire also understood the principle of building a position and then withdrawing. They heard the sound of a retreat horn from above the city walls, and the entire infantry formation of the Fire Cloud Empire slowly withdrew in an orderly manner toward the rear, returning to Jite City in a short while. Meanwhile, atop the walls of the Fire Cloud Empire.

Wells smiled at the young general beside him and said, "Excellent, Hualake. Your prediction was spot on. The general of that Proud Moon Empire truly didn't immediately deploy their heavy cavalry. Although this time we didn't inflict substantial damage on the enemy, the effect on boosting our army's morale is immeasurable. This City Lord will certainly report your merits accurately to the Imperial Capital."

Hearing Wells's words, the other generals showed expressions of envy, while Hualake's face lit up with joy. He quickly spoke up, "City Lord, you praise me too highly. This success is all due to the City Lord's astute leadership and the coordination of the other generals. Your subordinate only did his best and dares not claim credit."

At Hualake's words, the expressions of those generals showed satisfaction, and a flash of appreciation crossed Wells's eyes. This Hualake was resourceful and humble in victory, and his speech was appropriate, showing awareness of the bigger picture—truly a rare talent. It was strange that he had kept such talent buried in Jite City for so long.

If the Proud Moon Empire hadn't attacked this time, he might never have noticed such a low-ranking general. It seemed that in some respects, the people of the Proud Moon Empire had done him a small favor.

In the camp of the Proud Moon Empire, Gamayke still stood on the temporarily constructed high platform, watching the infantry formations of the Fire Cloud Empire slowly retreat back into Fire Cloud City. Gamayke's expression grew even more solemn. The superior command ability demonstrated by the enemy's general indeed made him feel troubled.

It seemed this war would be much more difficult than he had initially anticipated. Gamayke reluctantly reached this conclusion in his heart. Perhaps tomorrow would be even more exciting; these Fire Cloud Empire forces wouldn't give up such a rare opportunity so easily. As he thought of this, a slight smile slowly curved Gamayke's lips.

The next morning, just as Gamayke had foreseen, the infantry formations of the Fire Cloud Empire appeared punctually on the battlefield outside the city, the same as yesterday.

These infantry troops stopped about two thousand meters from the Proud Moon Empire's main camp, constantly making various provocative gestures, deliberately trying to enrage the soldiers of the Proud Moon Empire.

Watching all this, Gamayke couldn't help but smile. He was just about to issue the command, following the plan he conceived the previous night, to teach these Fire Cloud Empire infantry a lesson.

Just then, a ground-shaking thunder of hoofbeats suddenly erupted from within the camp.

Hearing this sound, the face of Gamayke, who had been smiling, drastically changed.

He knew clearly that the only force capable of causing such a massive commotion within his own camp, besides the thousand Black Guard Heavy Cavalry led by Mengli, was the light cavalry, which definitely couldn't create this effect.

Indeed, the main gate of the Proud Moon Empire's camp slowly opened.

And emerging swiftly from the camp was a contingent clad entirely in black armor, their warhorses also heavily protected by armor.

Seeing this equipment, who else could it be but the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry?

"This Mengli, daring to act without my orders."

Gamayke spoke, his face extremely cold, "Simply capable of ruining things, not completing them. Danka, find this Mengli for me immediately."

Gamayke knew clearly that the enemy's constant provocation by infantry was aimed at the thousand ace Black Guard Heavy Cavalry in his camp.

Although Gamayke wasn't entirely sure what the enemy possessed to counter these Black Guard Heavy Cavalry—even he couldn't devise a surefire method to defeat such astonishingly powerful heavy cavalry—Gamayke knew that based on the enemy general's performance yesterday, they would never send these few thousand elite infantry to their deaths needlessly.

Furthermore, since the enemy was clearly aware that heavy cavalry would be the nightmare of these elite infantry, yet proceeded anyway, their objective was self-evident.

Gamayke had several other methods to deal with the enemy's heavy cavalry; there was no need to deploy his own. Yesterday's mistake was merely a momentary failure to adapt to the enemy's tactics. He hadn't expected this damned Mengli to be so impatient, acting without authorization, which was why Gamayke was so furious.

As soon as Gamayke finished speaking, Danka knew the situation was bad and hastily turned to search for Mengli. However, within moments, Danka ran back, sweating profusely, "General, General Mengli's personal guards say that General Mengli personally led the contingent to eliminate these Fire Cloud Empire infantry; he is not in the camp right now."

"Insolent cur!"

Gamayke could no longer restrain himself and cursed. Gamayke knew exactly how capable Mengli was. Now, in his eagerness to earn merit, he had rushed out of the camp with his troops—it was simply courting death. The Black Guard Heavy Cavalry under his command would face even greater peril.

Thinking of this, Gamayke quickly spoke to the messenger beside him, "Relay my order: sound the gong immediately to retreat and call back this group under Mengli."

Although Gamayke knew Mengli might not obey his command, he still felt compelled to make every effort to salvage the situation.

The messenger beside Gamayke immediately executed the order faithfully. The sound of the gong signaling retreat instantly echoed throughout the Proud Moon Empire's main camp. But just as Gamayke had feared, the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry seemed not to have heard the command at all. They maintained their neat formation and charged toward the Fire Cloud infantry formations opposite them without slowing down.

Upon seeing these Black Guard Heavy Cavalry of the Proud Moon Empire, the opposing Fire Cloud Empire infantry formations immediately began to fall back.

The entire unit instantly became disorganized, losing all semblance of elite composure. Compared to their composure yesterday, the difference was like heaven and earth.

Seeing this outcome, Gamayke's unease deepened. Judging by the performance of the Fire Cloud Empire's infantry opposite them, this unit was definitely not the same elite force from yesterday, even though their equipment and armor were identical.

But a veteran like Gamayke could spot the difference with a single glance. The Fire Cloud Empire's arrangement must have a reason; Gamayke thought worriedly.

Mengli, who was leading the charge, couldn't help but wear a smug smile upon seeing the enemy collapse into disarray. He never considered why this army differed so much from the one yesterday. Mengli naturally assumed that these Fire Cloud Empire infantry had been terrified into submission by his Black Guard Heavy Cavalry, which was why they behaved this way.

Victory's goddess seemed to be waving at Mengli already.

After annihilating these elite infantry of the Fire Cloud Empire this time, when he returned to the Imperial Capital, no one would dare mock his incompetence anymore, and His Majesty the Emperor would surely look upon him with new respect.

At the same time, Gamayke on the viewing stand realized the situation was beyond retrieval. It was too late to say anything now. He could only hope that these Fire Cloud Empire infantry would indeed be wiped out by Mengli. All he could do now was cooperate with Mengli as much as possible to minimize the losses of the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry.

With that thought, Gamayke hurriedly spoke to the messenger beside him, "Relay my order immediately: the Third and Fourth Cavalry Regiments are to engage now, flanking the frontal charge of the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry from both wings. The Fourth and Fifth Infantry Regiments are to advance frontally, ready to cover the retreat of the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry at any time."

As Gamayke's orders were issued one by one, the entire main camp of the Proud Moon Empire immediately became busy.

In a short while, two light cavalry units swiftly rode out of the Proud Moon Empire's main camp and quickly pursued along the flanks of the Black Guard Iron Cavalry.

The two infantry formations in the camp also rapidly assembled and slowly advanced toward the battlefield opposite, ready to cover the cavalry's retreat.

And atop the walls of the Proud Moon Empire, Wells coldly watched everything unfolding, a cruel smile playing on his lips. "Want to save them? Too late. It's time to notify the infantry formations to execute the second plan. Today, I will ensure this enemy heavy cavalry force never returns, to commemorate the souls of my twenty thousand brave Imperial soldiers."

Judging by Wells's tone, it seemed his prediction had come true: he had found an effective way to eliminate this ace enemy unit.

Beside Wells were gathered the leading generals of Jite City. Upon hearing Wells's command, instead of the expected joy, every face displayed a look of heavy gravity, devoid of any cheer for imminent victory, which was quite perplexing.

Seeing the expressions of his subordinates, Wells knew exactly what they were thinking. He spoke solemnly, "I understand how you feel; I feel the same. But apart from this method, do you have any better way to eliminate this enemy heavy cavalry force before us? As soldiers, we must be prepared to sacrifice ourselves for the Empire at any moment. After today, the names of these brave infantry soldiers below the city will also be eternally recorded in the Empire's annals. Therefore, we should be proud of them. Pull yourselves together."

Hearing Wells's words, all the generals were shaken, and expressions of excitement rose on their faces. The prior heavy atmosphere instantly vanished under Wells's speech.

Simultaneously, at the location of the Fire Cloud infantry formation, following the command of their leading general, all the soldiers of the Fire Cloud Infantry Regiment displayed expressions of fanaticism. They unfurled the leather bags strapped to their backs, and immediately, streams of liquid gushed rapidly onto the ground from these bags. As several thousand bags emptied simultaneously, the ground beneath the infantrymen's feet quickly became saturated with this liquid.

Seeing this scene, Gamayke, far in the rear, couldn't help but show a puzzled expression, unable to grasp the intent behind the actions of the Fire Cloud Empire's soldiers. Just then, a slight breeze blew past, and subtly mixed within the wind was the distinct odor of lamp oil, carried by the draft straight into Gamayke's nostrils.

Gamayke, who had been puzzled by the behavior of the Fire Cloud Empire's soldiers, suddenly recalled something upon smelling the lamp oil. His face instantly turned pale. Even though Gamayke himself couldn't believe the Fire Cloud Empire would resort to such a measure.

"Quickly, relay my order to retreat! Notify the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry and all the light cavalry to return immediately."

Gamayke spoke with an ugly expression, issuing the command. Although he knew it would likely be useless—if Mengli had listened to his orders, he would have returned earlier—this was all he could do at this critical juncture.

As expected, upon hearing the horns sounding from the direction of the Proud Moon Empire's main camp, the light cavalry and the infantry formations slowed their pace. However, the thousand Black Guard Heavy Cavalry showed no intention of stopping. The thousand heavy cavalry, arranged in a wedge formation, suddenly slammed into the Fire Cloud Empire's infantry formation.

To the surprise of the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry, the infantry corps of the Fire Cloud Empire showed no intention of resisting at all. The spearmen, specifically deployed to counter light cavalry, had long since thrown down their spears. While these spears were not highly effective against heavy cavalry, they could still cause some hindrance.

But the Black Guard Heavy Cavalry clearly didn't have time to consider this. The Black Guard Heavy Cavalry, like a triangular black sword, instantly tore open a gap in the Fire Cloud Empire's infantry formation. Wherever they passed, the Fire Cloud Empire infantry suffered heavy casualties. The knightly lances carried by the heavy cavalry leading the charge each impaled at least one dead infantryman of the Fire Cloud Empire.