As a mercenary lord, after destroying the enemy's territory for an employer, one could not only receive many rewards from the employer but also gain a lot of resources from the destroyed territory.
Mercenary lords were, in essence, a type of war lord. However, they were more cunning than war lords, only targeting objectives found through their employers.
It was precisely through this method that they were able to possess such formidable strength.
After all, as long as the enemy's territory crystal was destroyed, everything within the territory became ownerless. This was undoubtedly a massive fortune.
"Prepare!" Diana immediately ordered her shamans to prepare their attacks upon seeing Meng Ao and his group approaching.
However, Meng Ao and his companions suddenly halted. They then dismounted their steeds in perfect unison and took out a series of special crossbow bolts, the likes of which Tony and the others had never seen before.
"What are they doing? At this distance, do they think they can hit us?" Jason scoffed. The distance between them was too great; even a top-tier archer barracks wouldn't be able to achieve such a range.
"My shamans are top-tier units. Even they cannot attack from such a distance. These people must be doing this intentionally to trick me. I, Diana, am not foolish."
Diana sneered and made no move. She even suspected that Meng Ao was doing this intentionally to make her break formation, but Diana wouldn't fall for it and waited for Meng Ao to get closer.
Tony had also thought the same initially, as the distance was indeed too great. He had never seen any soldiers capable of attacking from such a range.
However, Tony was, after all, a cunning old fox. He said, "Diana, have your shamans prepare for defense."
"What? Prepare for defense?" Diana thought she had misheard.
"Boss, are you joking? I just need to wait for them to get closer to deliver a fatal blow. Now you want to switch to defensive preparations? You can't be serious!" Diana was utterly perplexed.
Even the other team members were confused by Tony's order and thought he had misspoke.
"Whoosh whoosh whoosh!!!!!"
At this moment, the [Great Qin Black Armored Army] led by Meng Ao began their attack.
Seeing the sky filled with arrows, Tony's expression finally changed. He quickly shouted, "Quick, quick, quick! Form a defense! Damn it, what kind of unit is this? How can the range be so far!"
"Quick, quick, quick! Form a defensive barrier!" Diana, seeing the sky full of arrows, also felt a sense of crisis and quickly commanded her shaman soldiers.
However, these shamans had already prepared attack incantations. To suddenly switch to defensive incantations caught many of them off guard.
Still, a portion of the shamans reacted and formed a barrier according to the orders.
But!
At this moment, the arrows descended from the sky, landing among these shamans. The barrier they formed was still too slow, and it was too weak to withstand the attack of the Qin crossbows.
More importantly, the crossbow bolts Meng Ao fired this time were not ordinary. They were incendiary bolts, which would quickly turn into a sheet of flames upon impact.
Thus, the bolts that landed among the shaman corps instantly erupted with terrifying flames, igniting a large area of shamans.
"Boom boom boom!!!"
"Ah! Help!"
"It's so hot, so hot!"
Tony and the others watched as this shaman corps was set ablaze like pigs, their expressions turning extremely grim.
"Quick, quick, quick! Retreat quickly! Have these shamans withdraw from the enemy's attack range and form a defensive barrier!" Tony shouted urgently.
"Retreat quickly, you fools!" Diana's heart bled as she saw so many of her shaman corps burning to death.
These were top-tier units, and each soldier had cost her an immense fortune. She had thought this shaman corps would achieve great merit, but no one had expected such an outcome.
None of them could have imagined that the soldiers riding steeds would be such powerful archers.
This was just too extravagant, equipping archers with mounts!
The most crucial point was that the enemy's attack range was too monstrous, exceeding that of top-tier archer barracks by double!
Double the range!
How could they possibly fight this!
Bai Qi and Zhang Liang smiled upon seeing Meng Ao's move. The enemy's shaman corps had been successfully attacked, and things would be easier from here on.
Bai Qi immediately gave the order: "Attack!"
Qin Qiong immediately led the [Heavenly Strategy Black Armored Army] and began a frontal assault on the enemy.
This unit was also a heavy cavalry force, not only clad in heavy armor themselves but also with their steeds. They were in no way inferior to Jason's heavy cavalry; in fact, their equipment was superior.
On Qin Qiong's flanks, Huo Qubing and Wei Qing were also ready, poised to attack the enemy at any moment.
"Boss, the enemy is attacking from the front!" Jason looked ahead and then turned to Tony.
"I didn't expect the enemy's archers to be so formidable. We've suffered a significant loss this time. Jason, lead your cavalry to engage their cavalry briefly, assess their strength, and then retreat. We cannot stay here any longer; we need to make new arrangements."
Tony knew that the shaman corps could no longer play a role on the main battlefield, effectively removing one of his trump cards. However, Tony still needed to understand the opponent's cavalry strength before leaving.
"Yes, Boss. I also want to see if their cavalry is as formidable!" Jason nodded and then said to his soldiers, "Demons, your prey is before you! Follow me and crush them!"
"Crush, crush!"
Jason also led his demon heavy cavalry charging towards Qin Qiong.
This was a clash of two heavy cavalry units, and it was the first time the soldiers of Zhou Yan's territory faced the enemy in a direct confrontation.
"Boom boom boom!!!"
The steeds of the two cavalry units let out thunderous roars and charged towards the enemy together.
The distance between them closed rapidly: five hundred meters, three hundred meters, one hundred meters, ten meters.
Finally, at this moment, the soldiers under Qin Qiong's command collectively transformed their longswords into very long mo daggers, weapons that were extremely long and possessed immense destructive power.
Before Jason's soldiers could react, they were already being cut down in swathes by the [Heavenly Strategy Black Armored Army] wielding their mo daggers.
Qin Qiong himself, wielding his weapon, charged towards Jason.