Genius Archer’s Streaming - Chapter 821
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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The Genius Archer’s Streaming Season 3 Episode 291
95. Tanpang Strategy (1)
“Aaaaaaaargh!”
Thud!
King Gul slammed the table and leaped to his feet, letting out a primal scream.
Yet even King Gul’s outburst struggled to capture the audience’s attention.
What had just transpired consumed their entire focus.
-Insane
-What
-Did they just pass through!?
-No way
-!?
“They just went right through!? Like a ghost passing through a wall!”
“H-how is this even possible!?”
“Hanging from the side of the horse! Evading every single attack from the enemy cavalry! And while doing so, firing arrows for direct hits! Did I see that correctly!?”
“Yes! And it wasn’t just Almond! Right now! This wasn’t Almond alone!?”
“Yes! Nearly the entire Mounted Archer Unit! Nearly all of them survived! Guan Yu’s Iron Armored Cavalry couldn’t land a single blow!!”
Guan Yu’s Iron Armored Cavalry pursuing them had been a fatal matchup for the Mounted Archers.
“The Mounted Archers are escaping through the path that opened behind them!”
“No, are they finally breaking free from this hellish formation!?”
“They’re escaping aaaaaa!!”
Yet the Mounted Archers evaded all attacks and even escaped from China’s labyrinthine formation.
The entire Mounted Archer column galloped down the wide-open road, racing toward the formation’s exit.
Youbi hastily tried to reposition his soldiers, but the speed difference was already far too great.
“Finally! The archer unit took damage! But the Mounted Archers survived! This is working!!”
“This is actually possible!? This!! I thought they wouldn’t make it back alive!!”
Crash—
As the last horse broke free from the formation, a thunderous roar engulfed the battlefield.
“Waaaaaaaaaaaa!!”
A shout of the magnitude that could only erupt moments before victory.
It resonated across the field at this very instant.
-This is insane
-Absolutely crazy
-Wow…
-What even is this???
-Lol no way
“N-now! We got caught up in this! So we haven’t mentioned it yet!!”
King Gul pointed somewhere, redirecting the conversation.
The Observer zoomed out accordingly.
Centered on the galloping Mounted Archers, the screen gradually expanded wider.
“!”
Only then did the audience truly understand.
“Cookie has already scattered Joseon’s forces across an incredibly wide area!?”
Joseon had completely surrounded China’s forces.
* * *
Youbi stared blankly for two or three seconds as the Cavalry Archer Unit escaped.
Even he hadn’t anticipated that everyone would manage to break through in such a manner.
‘Even the Mongolian forces I scrimmed against weren’t capable of that.’
The Mongolians—said to be the finest horsemen in the world.
Just as Joseon had conducted scrimmages with Rome in preparation for this semifinal, China frequently held scrimmages with Mongolia. Yet even Mongolia hadn’t demonstrated such movements.
In truth, it was because the scrimmages had been half-hearted, but Youbi found it difficult to think that way. He believed that Mongolia, facing the prospect of having to contend with Rome, couldn’t afford to take scrimmages lightly.
However, the reality was different.
Over 90% of expert predictions had favored China.
From Mongolia’s perspective, China was a strong contender they’d likely face in the finals. Thus, they couldn’t commit fully to practice matches.
Rome, on the other hand, was different.
They believed that even if they conducted genuine scrimmages with Joseon, there would be no significant downside.
Rather, if they wanted any chance of defeating Mongolia, practice matches against Joseon were invaluable to them.
In this game, Joseon was the civilization most similar to Mongolia, aside from China’s Yuan.
Therefore, Joseon could conduct genuine practice matches with Rome, while China could not.
The universal prediction of China’s victory had become their poison instead.
The weight of the crown worn prematurely by China came with interest attached.
Perhaps that interest was this very attack unfolding now.
“Joseon is advancing!”
“They’re wrapping around in a wide, sweeping motion—tightening the noose! Joseon!”
The massive formation Joseon had created began to constrict.
Gulp.
Youbi swallowed dryly.
Even for someone as versed in formations as Youbi, this pressure was palpable.
‘I don’t understand it.’
He couldn’t fathom what formation Cookie was deploying.
‘What’s the point of surrounding us so thinly and widely? What’s their strategy?’
Currently, Joseon was drawing an enormous circle while slowly tightening it.
Yet only two or three soldiers guarded the space a single horse could pass through.
Like pizza dough stretched infinitely, growing thinner and thinner until it finally tears.
This Joseon formation was the same.
If they simply charged through with cavalry, this line would rupture instantly.
Every encirclement must have countermeasures prepared for those attempting to break through.
But this formation showed no such preparations.
It appeared it would be easily broken if they called forth cavalry to pierce through.
Especially now, with the encirclement spread across such a vast area, if I break through quickly, the enemy will have no countermeasures.
So Youbi was about to summon the Cavalry and issue orders when his eyes widened.
“!”
It was because of his Cavalry’s position.
Just moments ago, when crossing paths with Joseon’s Cavalry Archer Unit, China’s armored cavalry had been completely repositioned.
‘Inside my own formation!?’
That meant my allied Cavalry was now trapped within my own formation.
If this were a person, it would be like having all their limbs completely tangled.
To extricate them, ultimately the Soldiers would have to move.
‘Then it’ll be too late.’
That formation grows tighter and more solid as it closes in.
Even now, in real time, the encirclement is thickening.
The golden window to break through is rapidly closing.
“Joseon is encircling us almost perfectly!?”
“This is insane! Normally, such a wide encirclement wouldn’t even work!? But right now, China’s formation is completely twisted because they’re being toyed with by the Cavalry Archer Unit!? Could Cookie have actually planned this from the start!?”
Though Youbi couldn’t hear the Analyst’s words.
He couldn’t help but entertain the same thought.
‘Did he… plan this?’
Had Cookie believed from the beginning that the Cavalry Archer Unit would rampage through in this manner?
I knew he believed in them, but had he believed enough to prepare such a bold gambit?
Wasn’t he essentially betting the fate of the second match on the Cavalry Archer Unit?
Their escape had been a miracle.
Cookie had wagered everything on that miracle.
So who was the truly insane one?
The one who created the miracle, or the one who bet everything on it?
Or perhaps, to someone, was it not a miracle at all?
Just as lightning appears to primitives as divine judgment but not to modern people.
“Ahhhhhhh! They’re colliding!!”
The encirclement tightens.
“China can’t respond!? It seems like they can’t respond!?”
China still hasn’t untangled their twisted formation.
“And outside this circular encirclement, there’s a Cavalry Charge unit! Circling around like slave hunters, just waiting!? Even if they try to break out now, they’ll just get scraped against them!?”
“China probably can’t even see that Cavalry unit right now!?”
“That’s right! So this is….”
Joseon’s encirclement became increasingly solid and flexible, even acquiring a kind of pursuit system.
All China could do was somehow restructure their formation tactically.
And revive fallen Soldiers as quickly as possible, pouring resources back into production.
In other words, all they could do was prepare for what comes next.
* * *
When the encirclement had completely tightened.
Shing!
Bread drew his sword and shouted.
“Kill them all! Every last one!”
“Waaaaahhhhh!!”
The Inspection Unit surged forward like a pod of killer whales, their blades flashing.
Crash!
Crash!
The spearmen, who had only just reformed their ranks, couldn’t withstand them. The difference in momentum was overwhelming.
In a 200-versus-200 engagement, morale is as decisive as tactics themselves.
Humans are creatures who falter when just three voices speak in unison.
Here, two hundred voices proclaim the same thing.
That you will all die here.
“Ugh!”
“S-stop them! Hold this line! Here!”
The Chinese spearmen, overwhelmed by that momentum, even collided with each other and couldn’t properly rally their spirits.
The Joseon swordsmen methodically culled them one by one, striking at their necks.
I thought it would crumble smoothly.
But then─
“Make way!!”
──Boom!
Suddenly, China’s cavalry burst through, trampling even their own soldiers as they charged forward.
What is a hero? Those who speak truth even when all others remain silent, and who possess the power to enforce that conviction. This is why all heroes emerge in times of chaos.
[Guan Yu]
[Zhang Fei]
The two assistant commanders rode out on horseback and drove into the Joseon formation.
As they wielded their massive weapons and charged like wildfire, even the momentum-strong Joseon forces were shaken violently.
“What, what is this!?”
“Ahhhhh!”
“Push forward!”
“We advance too!”
It wasn’t just the assistant commanders. With the arrival of China’s true front-line forces following them, the tide of battle suddenly reversed.
‘So when it comes down to it… it really is different.’
‘Damn.’
‘The difference in skill…’
The Joseon soldiers couldn’t help but feel the stark difference in ability.
A mere detachment had completely turned around a battlefield that had seemed nearly finished.
The skill of China’s front-line forces was nearly unreachable.
No matter how fiercely the swordsmen pressed forward and swung their blades, the spearmen deftly parried and drove their weapons home.
‘As expected.’
Cookie gazed down at the spectacle, stroking his chin thoughtfully.
He had considered sending more soldiers to reinforce the position, but ultimately decided against it.
In fact, he deliberately left a gap in the formation.
“The breakthrough is open!”
Zhang Fei, leading the vanguard, cried out.
“I’ve broken through the formation! Me!”
He charged his horse toward that opening, creating a passage for his comrades to escape through.
“Wait, hold on!”
Guan Yu, still engaged with the Joseon forces from behind.
He sensed something was amiss.
“These bastards just let us through!”
But his voice didn’t reach them.
Zhang Fei’s unit had already slipped out of the formation.
“So once they exit—”
──CRASH!!!
The moment they broke free from the formation, they collided with something as violently as a car crash, and vanished.
“!”
Guan Yu’s eyes widened in shock.
One of the heroes of China’s national team had disappeared right before his eyes.
Reflected in his dilated pupils was the Joseon cavalry charge unit.
They were grinding down those who fled outside the circle like a blender.
At the forefront of that charge stood a face Guan Yu recognized.
[Maratang]
The vanguard of Joseon’s inspection unit.
Maratang.
Shink…!
As he raised Waldo high.
“Kyaaaaaaaaaa!!”
The soldiers’ roar thundered across the battlefield.
* * *
Zhang Fei wasn’t dead.
Kuguguung…!
He’d simply been sent flying far across the battlefield.
“…Ugh!”
Barely regaining consciousness, Zhang Fei hauled himself up from the dirt without even mounting a horse.
“Cough… Hack! What… the hell?”
Thud-thud-thud-thud-thud-thud…!
The thunderous sound of massive hooves echoed toward his battered form.
It was the cavalry that had sent him flying here.
They were coming to finish him off.
“….”
Zhang Fei furrowed his brow and gripped his spear.
“Damn bastards.”
The vanguard of the cavalry charging toward him.
“Hahahahahaha!”
He was laughing as he raised Waldo high.
“An Assistant Commander! Capture him!”
At this, Zhang Fei clenched his teeth and gripped his spear tightly.
Like a charging bull, he scraped the ground with his feet.
“Who’s capturing who, you damn—”
He was confident even against this cavalry.
“A worthy opponent!”
──Thunk!
Until an arrow flew from behind and pierced the back of his head.
“!?”
The arrow belonged to Pangeo.
Behind him, the Cavalry Archer Unit that had retreated was now rejoining the battlefield.
For Zhang Fei, already depleted of stamina, Pangeo’s single arrow was fatal.
“!”
Zhang Fei’s eyes widened in disbelief as his expression grew hollow, then crumbled….
He collapsed with a thud.
Countless cavalry trampled over his corpse as they passed, crossing paths with the rejoining Cavalry Archer Unit.
Pangeo and Maratang’s hands met in a high-five.
“That was no joke, Tang.”
“Same to you, Pang.”
Clap!
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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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