In the Imperial Cabinet of the Heavenly Dome Palace, Brandon and Eckhart de Salion sat facing each other, their bright red eyes either nervous or indifferently looking at the chessboard in the center of them.

Thirty-two sons, sixty-four squares, each in black and white.

The expression of the "disgraced prince" with round pupils was completely lost from the casual nature of the past, and the tension was almost trance; the fiery red hair was wet and sticking to his forehead, and the beads of sweat on his sideburns were still sliding down the sides of his cheeks.

The air, as if it were substantial, oppressive, heavy.

From the joke at the beginning, to the fact that he took it more seriously, Brandon knew very well that his father was absolutely serious - if he lost, he would definitely torture himself as if he were on a chessboard, without the slightest emotion.

Today is the hundredth round for two people... And the last game.

And as of yesterday, his "brilliant record" was zero wins, ninety-nine defeats... It's all a complete failure.

It's impossible to win!

Eckhart II, his great father, His Majesty the Emperor, his chess skills are not... It's not chess, but he has already seen through himself, and he can know his ideas, tactics, and layout as soon as he raises his hand.

With a 64-grid chessboard and a complete defeat in 99 games, I can't see the dawn of victory.

"Are you ready?" said Eckhart II's urging voice, "I'll only give you half a day... If the time limit is exceeded, it will be considered a waiver. ”

"Metternich is just outside the door, and he will open it at noon, and I will tell him to strip you of all your rights, and at the same time conquer the great green sea!"

Raising his head with difficulty, Brandon gasped heavily, but he still raised the corners of his mouth unconvinced, and fell out word by word from between his teeth:

"Let's get started!"

"Good!"

Eckhart's sudden decisiveness made Brandon tremble, and in a trance, he only saw the vigorous right hand raise and fall.

In the next second, the white knight slammed down on the board.

"Smack——!

..................................................................

"Kill ————————!!!!"

The roar that resounded through the heavens and the earth was accompanied by the beating of countless iron horses echoed on the empty prairie, and the rushing torrent rolled up bursts of black waves, and the momentum was like a rainbow.

Just as the traditional hoplites of the plains and hills fought each other with shield walls and spear phalanxes, the fighting on the steppes followed some ancient "law of war" derived from steppe hunting.

The first to engage the enemy is always the lightly armed light cavalry to maneuver to the enemy's flanks, constantly harassing and encircling the enemy's maneuver space, and testing the enemy's virtual and real lengths;

Or use bows and arrows to shoot the enemy's living forces continuously, forcing the opponent to launch a general attack first, and then "seducing" the enemy's elite main force to be forced to meet the enemy, and then encircle, suppress and annihilate.

The side that has mastered the right to maneuver on both flanks will be able to have the largest maneuver space in the entire war -- for the grassland battlefield, it is no different from the high ground when the infantry is facing each other, and the upper hand when the warships are fighting, and it can grasp the initiative and absolute superiority almost as soon as the battle starts.

This complex and simple tactic was almost engraved in the bones of the Poi horsebackers, and it was naturally the first choice of Archduke Laszló Varna.

So at the sound of an order, 5,000 elite hussars on each flank went out at the same time and charged towards the left and right formations of the centaur army.

However, as a natural cavalryman and a natural cavalryman, it was certainly impossible for the Centaur Grand Khan Chakar not to understand the intentions of the Grand Duke of Varna.

Hidden in the billowing smoke and dust of the centaur army, two "torrents" also rushed out, rushing with unstoppable momentum and terrifying howls.

Without warning, or even less orders, the Boi hussars and centaur warriors sped up and lunged at each other.

"Kill them all, and pay ——————!!!! with blood"

"Slaughter the abominable two-legged ————!!!!"

In the roar of iron horses, the cavalry on both sides almost unanimously took out their war bows and throwing spears, and drew their bows and arrows one after another, and then hundreds of "black shadows", and the mournful whistling sound instantly disappeared into each other's queues.

"Puff - Puff ——!"

Screams rang out one after another, and the screaming centaurs and the hussars who fell to the ground disappeared from their ranks, and then they were trampled by countless iron horsemen, silently turning into shredded meat.

In contrast, the centaur warriors fell significantly more to the ground - in addition to throwing spears, almost all of the centaur arrows landed on the shields of the hussars, and even the missing arrows, as long as they did not hit the point or hit the vital point, were mostly stuck in the armor of the cavalry.

Behind Boi is the Duchy of Byrne, who can support her at any cost, while the centaurs are supplied with only a dwarven fortress, plus Serol, the "Black Cross", who treats them as consumables.

In Selior's eyes, whether it is the dwarves of Silverhelm Mountain or the centaurs, they are just tools that can be used, and providing supplies is already considered "too much", how can they still bother to think about their armament?

The horse's hooves were staggered one after another, and the arrows and spears of both sides suddenly rained down, constantly splashing at each other, and the endless billowing smoke and dust kept leaving large expanses of blood red.

And after the bow and arrow were thrown, both sides did not choose to wander and fight, but threw away the war bow in their hands at the same time, roared and pulled out their sabers and spears, and directly began to charge!

Eighty paces away, the two torrents were already approaching in front of them almost instantly, roaring and colliding head-on with each other.

"Kill the two-legged ——!"

At the moment of hand-to-hand combat, the first axe-wielding centaur rushed directly into the formation of the Boi hussars, the blade of the axe smashed directly into the shields of the hussars, and the shields shattered with the wails of the hussars' broken arms, and the most terrible roar:

"Blood Debt and Blood Payment——!"

The snowy saber swept out of thin air, and a streak of blood splashed when the knife fell, and the hideous face of the centaur flew into the air along with the head, and fell to the ground at the same time as the exhausted hussars.

The roaring hooves of the horses trodden by, and there was no longer a sign of them, and the torrent of iron horses had become one and no longer separated from each other.

Interspersed, safaris, encirclements, raids...... Thousands of centaurs and Boi hussars strangled each other on both flanks of the battlefield, constantly rushing back and forth between the enemy and their own ranks.

In the fierce impact, the formations of both sides have completely collapsed, but they are still trying to bypass the front and surprise the two flanks of the opponent, and countless hussars and centaurs break through from the center again and again and then detour to the left and right, and then collide with the enemy attacking on the opposite side, so they fight with the new enemy......

The continuous strangulation has completely reduced the two wings of the entire battlefield to a slaughterhouse, and the turquoise grass has become a "pond" of flesh and blood!

If this kind of battle continues, it will not lead to anything, let alone decide the ownership of the right to maneuver, but it will completely lock the edge of the battlefield, and it will be impossible for either side to bypass the flanks and attack the enemy's back until the bloody battle is over.

However, the red-eyed sides have no energy to think about this... Whether it's a centaur or a Poi's horseback, all they want to do is keep killing, killing more, killing them all!

Archduke László Varna, who was firmly in front of the formation, watched almost as the 10,000 Boi hussars continued to turn into corpses, and six times in a row he defeated the generals who wanted to support the two wings, and remained unmoved from beginning to end.

The two flanks of the two sides are in battle, the battlefield has been formed, and he and the centaur Great Khan can only fight between the two wings, and no amount of troops can pave a wider front than this.

In this way, the powerful mobility of the centaur all-cavalry configuration and the superiority of 20,000 more troops were completely wiped out!

As for the 10,000 hussars, in the eyes of Laszló Varna, they were already 10,000 dead men... Unless the wings collapse, it is a pure waste to throw in any army.

I've landed the first slash of this battle, and it's up to you, centaur brute!

Come on, show me your skills so that I can take a good look, how do you want to fight, and why do you want to win me?!

................................................................................................

"Chariots?"

Looking at the chessboard on the table indifferently, Eckhart II gently pinched the chess pieces in his hand: "It's just started, can't you wait to put in the trump card?"

"It's because we're just starting out that it's time to do this... My dear father, His Majesty. Wiping the cold sweat from his forehead, Brandon put that sunny smile on his face again:

"When it comes to the middle game, a mere chariot can't bluff people. ”

Facing the youngest son who was smiling brightly, His Majesty the Emperor was still indifferent without smiling.

"What's more, which of the sixteen chess pieces is the trump card... It's up to the player to decide. Showing a mouthful of white teeth and the corners of his mouth hooked, Brandon played with the black chess chariot in his hand:

"And my point of view is that there is no trump card difference between the chess pieces - losing fourteen chess pieces, so that a war game has a chance to be a general, is also absolutely worth it. ”

"So there is only one trump card, and that is victory, which is the general's chess!"

The words fell, and with a "pop!", the black chariot knocked out the white soldiers who were in the way.

Eckhart raised his eyebrows, his red eyes looking at the unruly blood pupils, quite playful: "What do you mean... Even if it's Wang Qi, you can give up?"

"No, no, no, no... Dear father, please don't set such a language trap for your poor son, okay?" Brandon shrugged his shoulders as he let out a long breath:

"It's supposed to be something you can give up 'even the chess player' - I'm a bad boy who doesn't grow up, bad kids like to play games, and we hate games that don't have a sense of involvement!"

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"Duke!"

Haringvan Ashamai's exclamation sounded in his ears, but Laszló Varna remained unfazed: "Don't be nervous, Master Ashami, I see it." ”

As he spoke, the old man stared at the other end of the battlefield with burning eyes - at some point, the soldiers at the front of the centaur army had all changed into heavily armored "knights" in leather armor, and with a heavy roar, they came towards the Boi army.

Even across the battlefield, the Grand Duke of Varna could see the appearance of these heavily armed centaurs, all of whose armor came from the hands of the dwarves, even better than the Byrne knights equipped with the silver-armored knights;

Heavy dwarven tower shields, steel-forged cavalry-style halberds, and heavily armed armor... Tens of thousands of heavily armed centaurs shimmered silver in the sun, and the sound was overwhelming.

A full 10,000 heavily armed knights, more than Boe!

Don't look at the "only" 10,000 people, if this heavily armed centaur is allowed to charge completely, the entire Boi army formation will instantly collapse and be torn apart.

The Grand Duke of Varna has experienced the era of the "Black Duke", and he has witnessed the legend of Byrne countless times, how can he not know the power of the heavy cavalry charge?

"It looks like our opponents are impatient... I want to go all out and completely crush our resistance with a single charge. "Obviously it is extremely critical, but the Grand Duke of Varna is still calm:

"In that case, then let's not let down the kindness of this centaur barbarian, let his gamble be ruined, and break his backbone!"

"Duke, please let me go!" Count Seth Bukhara, the commander of the silver-armored cavalry of the Grand Duke of Varna, stood up, his eyes flashing with endless killing intent on his solemn face:

"For you, for Boi... And for the sake of my dead family, your silver-armored horsemen will live up to expectations, and use these 10,000 corpses to shock the centaur barbarians. ”

"After all, only another stronger, more elite cavalry can completely defeat a cavalry!"

Looking at Count Braha, whose face was expressionless, but his words were filled with raging anger, Master Haringvan Ashamai's face showed a little worry.

Was it really a fitting decision to put Count Braha, who had just experienced the loss of his wife and child, against the enemy's elite?

"No, no. After hesitating for more than ten seconds, Grand Duke Varna chose to refuse.

"I didn't let you go because I didn't believe you, Braha, you should know that I treat you like a grandchild. Laszló Varna sighed: "But the Silver Armor Rider is our hole card, and you are too important to use it at the most critical moment, and the final word." ”

Count Braha bowed his head respectfully, but couldn't help but grit his teeth.

"What's more, once you suffer heavy casualties, who should I rely on to deter the hundred thousand hussars and make them obey?" Grand Duke Varna shook his head: "Let the infantry go up, rub off the enemy's edge, and press these barbarians to the ground and beat them hard." ”

"Master Ashamai, I'm going to trouble you to give the order again - all the infantry will turn from defense to attack, advance according to the phalanx, push the line to the center of the battlefield for me, and give them a little color!"

"Yes!" Nodding vigorously, Master Ashamai temporarily assumed the duties of a herald, and his voice was as thick as a military horn and shouted:

"Phalanx - Forward ——!!!!"

The rapid and loud sound of the horn was continuous, and instantly spread throughout the entire military formation.