At this moment, the Kushan army actually had no other options: either the rear army followed the vanguard, providing more support until the Han army’s defenses were shattered, or the rear army abandoned the vanguard and no longer followed up.

The problem was that earlier, the Kushan thought they could seize the opportunity to break the Han army’s central and rear armies, fragmenting the entire Han army into small pieces, but in reality, this plan backfired. They overestimated their abilities; the central army used as bait was mostly fake troops. The Kushan easily pierced through the central army, but when they charged into the rear, they were stopped.

Such a completely unscientific situation left the Kushan vanguard, which originally thought it could ride the momentum of crushing the central army to break through the Han rear in one go, directly receiving a head-on blow, stunning the previously unstoppable vanguard.

It’s like the more difficult the road is to walk, the more stability you seek; when the road seems easy and smooth, problems are more likely to arise.

As a major victory seemed imminent, just when they could overthrow the Han Dynasty, all Kushan officers who had charged into the rear suffered a heavy blow that Yan Yan had long prepared. This head-on strike hit the previously arrogant Kushan officers so hard that they couldn’t regain their focus.

However, this wasn’t the worst of it. The more terrible situation was that after the Han army stabilized the charging Kushan officers, any backward movement was effectively dragging the Kushan army forcefully.

Just like all cavalry failing to break through would definitely be killed by infantry, although the four Kushan assault legions were not cavalry, they too followed this battlefield rule, albeit not weakened as miserably as the cavalry.

No matter how you see it, failing to break through and being trapped within the Han army left the Kushan officers with not many choices, and the Han army’s retreat further led the Kushan officers to sense the Han’s decline, as if with one more effort, they could pierce through the entire defensive line.

Therefore, the Kushan officers who couldn’t see the entire battlefield situation at the moment could only rely on their battlefield intuition to directly follow up and brutally attack the Han army’s rear when the Han retreated.

As for Brack, he could see the overall situation clearly, but the problem was the four vanguard units had already deeply penetrated into the main formation of the Han army. If a retreat order was given, the Kushan rear army, which hadn’t yet charged into the Han rear, might be able to withdraw, but the four assault legions at the front would be trapped due to lack of backup and utterly destroyed.

If these four main assault units were wiped out, Brack could easily imagine, even without deep thought, what the three Inner Qi Manifestations gathered on the Han’s left wing would do. The Kushan had already made some very clear mistakes.

The nine Inner Qi Manifestations that were originally supposed to meet at the Han vanguard were intercepted and besieged by the Han, and half of them were taken out. The remaining units positioned on both sides of the Kushan central army were technically able to meet, but they were not yet converged when they were besieged one by one after charging into the rear.

Thus, if the Kushan rear army were to retreat, then, without the rear’s support, the remaining four Inner Qi Manifestation officers would be captured, and then the entire Kushan army would be nothing more than meat on the chopping block. Even if Brack had a Legion Talent, it would hold no meaning then.

Even if the commanding officer is extremely capable, without Hann Xin’s mastery of controlling a large army as if it were his own arm, then, after the main second-level leaders are wiped out by the enemy, the entire army’s command system would collapse.

Coupled with the Kushan’s forced adherence to a strict caste system, they could never be like the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, which could instantly produce another leader after the head was cut off. The Kushan class system is exceedingly complete and strict.

Therefore, when Gao Pei and Yang Huai ordered a gradual retreat, fighting while retreating and dragging the Kushan eastward, Brack no longer had many choices. He could only order the Kushan rear army to follow up, provide stronger support to the vanguard, and unleash the vanguard’s strength completely in hopes of breaking through the Han army’s rear.

However, Brack didn’t notice that when the entire Kushan rear army was almost collectively moving eastward, Carano, who was battling Zhang Ren on the left wing, separated from the Kushan main forces with this movement.

Meanwhile, Meng Huo, E Huan, King Mulu, and the Cave Masters of the various Southern Barbarian tribes, who had just destroyed Shantanu Tribe on the Kushan right wing, advanced along with them. The two sides passed each other, forcefully sliding along the side of the Kushan army, extending to their rear flank.

At this moment, all the envoys from the small nations watching from afar were utterly terrified. They had witnessed what it meant to twist and turn, and they saw what happens when one speaks without understanding the same battlefield. It seemed the Han army and Kushan still had a fight on their hands.

It seemed that the concept of victory and defeat they understood held no meaning to the others. Arguably, the brutal Han army should have crushed the opponent with a single blow and claimed victory right away, yet...

Similarly, the Kushan, which had fragmented the Han central army, should have been all set for total annihilation of their opponent in such battles, and yet...

Now, as the Han army faced the Kushan’s infiltration and planned to encircle and capture all Kushan attackers, no envoy from a small nation dared to voice their opinion anymore. The back-and-forth face-slaps they witnessed left them at a loss for words.