Chapter 43: The Art of War

Many veterans in military strategy believe that cavalry naturally counters infantry.

However, this isn't always the case.

The interaction between different troop types isn't absolute.

For instance, if you place cavalry and infantry in a forest, which would dominate? Most people can easily answer this.

War, after all, is the way of deception.

-- Musings on Military Strategy by the Modern Military Scholar, Chi Yizi

Yi Su the Third stroked his long beard and, with a cheerful demeanor, glanced at Amy and Da Qingshan. "As descendants of esteemed families, what do you think of the performance of these dragon knights?"

Da Qingshan frowned slightly, while Amy took over, "Your Highness, they're flashy but useless in real combat."

Whether intentionally or not, Amy's voice was loud enough for the surrounding senior officers to hear, and several officers in their thirties immediately glared at her in anger.

Amy smiled slightly, nodding towards those angry eyes, and continued, "Your Highness, do you know the weakness of your dragon knights?"

"Oh, a weakness?" Yi Su the Third raised his eyebrows with interest.

"Although Da Qingshan has never ridden a mount, he is quite the expert. You should ask him," Amy said with a playful smile, passing the question to Da Qingshan.

Though not very articulate, Da Qingshan was confident in his area of expertise, "Your Highness, your knights lack any real combat experience. Among all cavalry units, aside from a few special spirit beasts like snow wolves, frenzied eagles, and crocodiles, most rely on lances or spears for attacks. During a charge, the spacing between two lines must be over 100 meters. However, the spacing in the dragon knights' charge formation was only 30 meters."

"Why?" Yi Su the Third, not yet an emperor, wasn't very familiar with military matters.

"For any mount, 100 meters can be covered in about 5 to 8 seconds at full speed. In actual warfare, when two armies clash, during the first charge, whether facing any troop type, the first line cannot defeat the enemy or be defeated within 5 seconds. To ensure impact, the second line must still wield lances. If the spacing is only 50 meters, they would collide with their comrades, wasting the momentum and the entire line's impact. A more reasonable use of ground dragon knights is for the first line to naturally split into two smaller lines, with a 5-meter gap. Once the first wave hits, the second wave should have enough space to strike, followed closely by the second line about 100 meters behind, charging in the second wave."

"After 5 to 10 rounds of such lance charges, any formation, no matter how solid, would break. Following this, the rest of the dragon knights or other cavalry switch to close combat weapons like swords to crush the enemy."

Amy continued, "Your Highness, as Da Qingshan mentioned, the kingdom has relied on the snow plains' advantage of wolf cavalry for centuries, breaking all combat records and securing victories. Therefore, I say these dragon knights are mostly for show. If we ever go to war with the Amy Empire again, it's better to deploy the wolf cavalry. These dragon knights wouldn't even fill the gaps in the imperial border army's teeth."

"That makes sense. So what's the best solution?" Yi Su the Third ignored the dissatisfied expressions of the kingdom's officers.

"Bring in some experienced generals from other continents. At least we could gain some practical experience," Amy suggested sincerely.

At this moment, all the black-armored ground dragon knights charged past in a wedge formation, then returned in formation at a trot from the west, neatly lining up in front of the review stand.

Amy exchanged a questioning glance with Da Qingshan and, receiving a nod of affirmation, stood up and respectfully saluted Yi Su the Third, "Your Highness, we are ready. Please announce the start of the trial battle."

Yi Su the Third gestured with his hand, and a red-faced noble officer stepped forward to the review stand, loudly announcing to the entire field, "By order of His Majesty the King, the dragon contest officially begins. Victory will be decided, not life or death. Let the kingdom's two dragon knights take the stage."

"Let the kingdom's dragon knights take the stage—"

The sound of a seal horn echoed again, gradually speeding up, filled with the clamor of clashing iron and horses. This sound, like a catalyst, caused all the ground dragons present to show excitement and unease. Could this be the seal horn that urges commanders to march?

Dragons, roaring in the sky.

A resounding dragon roar echoed from the distant sky.

All the ground dragons present clearly heard the celestial dragon's roar. Some young ground dragons couldn't suppress their fear and reverence for the high-level dragons, starting to tremble. The young dragon knights clamped down hard on the ground dragons, trying to keep them in line.

Dragons cannot be domesticated. When the royal family raises them, they set aside thousands of kilometers as their independent territory, prohibiting hunting or farming in these areas.

The Hami Kingdom is no exception.

So, ordinarily, few people see dragons, let alone dragon knights riding them.

Everyone craned their necks, squinting into the blue sky, searching for the silhouette of the dragons and their riders.

With astonishing speed, the flying dragon covered the sky. The first dragon roar came from the kingdom's designated dragon territory—the northern mountains of Snow Plains City, but the second was from the east.

In the distance, a blue figure shot like lightning through the sunlight, slicing through flowing clouds with ease, and beneath it, the cold wind howled. This sight of piercing the clouds felt like a blue arrow. Suddenly, the arrow's sides unfolded massive wings, giving a slight flap. The arrow's speed—or rather, the dragon's speed—suddenly accelerated. A wind-element blue dragon soared joyfully through the wind, its enormous shadow sweeping over the crowd below.

The crowd was stunned, then erupted in thunderous cheers:

"Dragon knights are invincible—"

"Long live His Majesty the King—"

"Defeat the despicable Da Qingshan—"

The blue dragon did not immediately land but stretched its azure wings in the air, seemingly hovering as the air buoyed it.

Then, another dragon roar came from the east.

In the bright sun, a massive green dragon flew over, its large wings flapping steadily, though it wasn't as fast as the blue dragon.

The two dragons joined in the sky.

The crowd cheered, and 500 ground dragons stirred restlessly.

The dragons slowly descended onto the parade ground in front of the review stand. On the 12-meter-long blue dragon was Marquis Han Meng, and on the 15-meter-long green ice dragon was Minister of Military Affairs, Earl Mo Qiu.

"Let Dragon Knight Da Qingshan take the stage—"

"Boos—"

The enthusiastic crowd immediately erupted in boos.

Da Qingshan scratched his head, stood up, and walked through the passageway between the review stand and the military platform.

Sharo instinctively grasped Lin Yushang's hand, both realizing their palms were sweaty.

Da Qingshan approached the two dragon knights, looked up at the towering dragon riders, nodded at them, and offered a slight, friendly smile.

For a moment, the entire parade ground fell silent. Whether out of goodwill or hostility, everyone wanted to see how this young boy would defeat, or even dare to challenge, the dragon knights.

Da Qingshan turned, clasped his hands, and, using the method he'd later developed to communicate with Lü'er, called out sincerely, "Lü'er, come quickly. I need help."

Almost instantly, a large green hexagonal magic circle appeared before Da Qingshan. Green beams of light moved swiftly across its form, and as the magic circle formed, Da Qingshan received a positive response from Lü'er.

Magic circle?

Everyone with even a basic understanding of magical beasts frowned. Was Da Qingshan summoning a dragon through a magic circle? What dragon could be summoned this way? Only magical beasts with a contract with humans could be summoned. Any dragon capable of being ridden is over 400 years old. In fact, true dragons don't form contracts with anyone. During their lives, they might admire certain humans, and if those humans exert enough effort and possess ancient divine blood, they may be allowed to ride them. Magical beasts differ; they are bound to their riders. The rider's death inevitably leads to the magical beast's demise, whereas dragons and riders are equals. Even if a rider dies, a dragon is unaffected, though it may feel some sorrow. After 100 years, other riders may attempt to bond with the dragon.

Was Da Qingshan's dragon not a true dragon but a type of summoned magical beast? Perhaps a variant of the lesser ground dragon?

Da Qingshan felt a bit overwhelmed. Lü'er disliked being summoned through a magic circle, especially after gaining the ability to fly.

Suddenly, the distant sky's white clouds rolled, and cold winds blew in, carrying snowflakes—unusual for this season.

The sun shone brightly in the east, so why was it snowing?

The blue wind dragon and the green ice dragon simultaneously raised their heads, their bright eyes filled with puzzlement. The 500 ground dragons seemed to sense something as well, their large heads turning towards the source of the cold wind.

Swirling cold winds and rolling white clouds surged like waves, rapidly approaching from afar.

The blue wind dragon grew extremely restless, its massive talons impatiently stomping on the review stand. The green ice dragon, however, was already in a state of excitement, its head held high, emitting short cries while its wings flapped continuously. The ground dragons were completely unruly, the ones in front leaping excitedly while those behind pressed their forelimbs against those in front, their eyes fixed on the rolling clouds. The ground dragon knights were bewildered—this had never happened before.

Amid the rolling clouds, a small green dragon head appeared, followed by a small dragon body and then vibrant green wings—a complete little dragon emerged from the clouds.

A strange scene unfolded, leaving everyone stunned.

The green dragon nodded to the descending small dragon, lowering its head until it touched the ground, its massive wings spreading flat on the earth.

The ground dragons' sturdy hind legs seemed to lose strength suddenly, their massive bodies bowing forward, eyes shut, heads pressed against the ground.

The blue dragon tilted slightly, suddenly taking flight, its rider, Marquis Han Meng, thrown off its back.

The wind dragon's large body swiftly reached the small green dragon, briefly circling beneath it before catching Lü'er on its broad back and then gently descending toward the review stand.

At that moment, only one word flashed through everyone's mind: Sovereign.

Da Qingshan was equally astounded by what unfolded: What had Lü'er done?

Amy cheerfully approached Da Qingshan from behind, patted him, then walked to the front of the blue dragon, patting the little green dragon that had just dismounted. Grasping its left forelimb with her right hand, she raised it high, "Who else dares to duel with the sacred dragon warrior Da Qingshan—"