Chapter 2: The Stormy Weather of Yan and Zhao Section 37

  A crescent moon hung high in the dark night sky, dim and without light. Thick black clouds hid all the stars behind them, and even the curved crescent moon was occasionally obscured by rapidly moving cloud masses. The entire earth was shrouded in darkness, making it impossible to distinguish between roads and mountains.

  The vanguard of the Xianbei people escorted hundreds of large carts, moving slowly. Behind the convoy was a white flock of sheep, which looked very eye-catching in the dark night. Hundreds of cavalrymen held torches high and walked on both sides of the long convoy. From a distance, it looked like a thin dragon of fire.

  The tall and majestic figure, illuminated by the torches held by the guards beside him, pointed at a range of small hills shrouded in darkness, vaguely visible, and asked loudly: "What place is this?"

  "Return to the lord, this is Pishi Mountain, thirty miles away from Changqingwei." A messenger soldier replied loudly.

  "We're almost at the main camp." The general said excitedly: "Pass on the order, speed up the troops and quickly get through this mountainous area. Try to arrive at Changqingwei by midnight."

  He didn't hear the orderly's response or the sound of him riding away. He turned back in surprise, his eyes widening immediately.

  The messenger clutched the long arrow piercing his chest with both hands, mouth agape, a face contorted in pain and terror. He didn't utter a sound before he died, his body slowly falling backward onto the horse's back.

  Suddenly felt that there was something in the air that was sharp and piercing, tearing through the air, and the wind in the dark night seemed to be dodging its edge.

  Straining his eyes wide open, he turned his head towards the darkness, hoping to find that thing.

  Suddenly he saw countless long arrows, like ghosts, appearing in his line of sight. He instinctively let out a desperate and powerless cry, wanting to dodge, but his body was stiff and unresponsive on the horseback.

  "Whoosh... whoosh... whoosh..." The sound of the arrow cluster piercing through the air was dull and ear-piercing, dense as if it were raining.

  The bodies of the guards and those around them shook violently as arrow after arrow flew in, accompanied by anguished cries, the thud of falling corpses, the screams of wounded horses, and the terrified shouts of soldiers, all blending together into a cacophony that shattered the stillness of the night into bloody fragments.

  In the dark night, the long fire dragon seemed to have been attacked by countless sharp weapons, and immediately twisted violently, trembling. Then the fire dragon began to break apart, its body began to separate, and suddenly burst into pieces, flames bursting out in all directions, chaotic and disorderly, filling the mountains and fields with a riot of sparks.

  Looking out at the dark and desolate wilderness, he felt it was like a bloodthirsty beast, brutally devouring countless innocent and weak lives. With his last bit of strength, he raised his hands high and let out a loud roar. He had a strong physique and powerful limbs, yet he mysteriously lost his life without even having the chance to fight back. He was not resigned to his fate; he felt that he had died too ignominiously.

  An arrow suddenly shot into his neck, with a burst of fresh blood piercing through. He fell off the horse.

  Long arrows continuously whizzed from different directions towards the enemies on both sides of the convoy.

  The cavalrymen were scattered on both sides of the convoy, and due to the continuous rush, the convoy was slow, and the soldiers were extremely tired. Many people were lazily resting on their horses. This sudden surprise attack gave them a severe blow, with heavy casualties. The lucky cavalrymen who escaped the disaster rolled down from their horses and hid under the carriage. Another group of soldiers were flustered and didn't know what to do, some rode their horses into the darkness, while others rode towards both ends of the convoy.

  A loud and clear bugle call suddenly sounded on the small hills on both sides of the convoy.

  Li Hong led the cavalry out from the left side of the mountain, and Zhao Wen led the cavalry out from the right side of the mountain. In a distance of fifty or sixty paces, they rushed down from the mountain to the foot of the hill, arriving in an instant.

  The sound of bugles, the shout of killing, the enemy's fearful cry, and the thunder of war horses galloping immediately echoed through Pishan Mountain.

  Li Hong's war knife flew out of the dark night and cut down an enemy soldier who was hastily approaching to fight.

  Lei Zifei picked up an abandoned torch from the ground, and under the cover of a group of soldiers, he galloped along the convoy, setting fire to the carts. The scattered enemy soldiers they encountered on the way were either trampled to death by the horses or killed by the Han army soldiers with knives and arrows.

  Other soldiers who had run to the surrounding area of the vehicle team took advantage of the opportunity to pick up the enemy's abandoned torches and randomly threw them onto the horse-drawn carriages, igniting everything that could be ignited on top. For a time, most of the horse-drawn carriages in the vehicle team were burning. Especially the horse-drawn carriages loaded with fodder. The flames soared into the sky, and the fierce flames rose into the air.

  The technique was crawling out from under the horse-drawn carriage in a sorry state, and with the help of several soldiers, he hastily mounted a warhorse and fled into the darkness. Hu Zi arrived just in time with a team of soldiers. The two sides clashed, engaging in a fierce battle. Hu Zi's large knife swung wildly, emitting a blood-curdling scream. The technique was suddenly attacked, seeing his troops suffer heavy losses, himself having no room to counterattack, and their food and grass on the verge of being lost, he was enraged and his martial arts skills were greatly discounted. He used all his strength to block Hu Zi's slashing knife with one blow, and then clamped his legs tightly around the horse's abdomen, trying to charge past Hu Zi's knife. Hu Zi took advantage of the momentum, swung his large knife in a circle, let out a loud roar, and with a slanted slash, cut off half of the technique's warhorse's buttocks. The technique's warhorse was in pain, let out a mournful whinny, and jumped up. In his panic, the technique failed to grasp the reins, and was immediately thrown off the horseback. The warhorse fell to the ground, continuously wailing as it tried to get up, but ultimately could not. The technique's body flew through the air. A cavalryman rode by on horseback, taking advantage of the momentum to slash at his body with a knife. The technique fell to the ground and was immediately trampled over by a group of galloping warhorses.

  Jade Stone gallops wildly, Yan Wuwei closely follows behind, a large group of warriors shouting loudly in pursuit of a batch of fleeing soldiers.

  Bi Qi turned back to look at the already burning fleet, hardly daring to believe his eyes. In less than a moment of tea time, the entire army was annihilated, all grain and grass were destroyed, and the unthinkable thing happened to him today.

  "Shoot the horse, shoot the horse..."

  Jade saw that the enemy was getting closer and closer to the darkness, and she couldn't help but shout loudly.

  A dozen long arrows flew out with the sound of jade stones. Bi Qi's war horse crashed to the ground, and he rolled on the ground for dozens of times due to the huge inertia generated by the high-speed gallop before stopping. Then he saw four sturdy horse legs. His heart sank.

  Bi Qi raised his head and saw a high-ranking general sitting on a tall war horse, wearing a helmet and armor, holding a long spear in his hand, and staring at him coldly.

  Bai Qi's subordinates saw their young general being pointed at by the enemy with long spears, in a precarious situation, and one after another they rushed up recklessly. Those who had already fallen off their horses disregarded their own lives and rushed towards where Bai Qi was lying. Those who hadn't fallen off their horses turned their horses around and killed their way back.

  Yan Wuyi let out a loud and eerie cry, shouting at the top of his lungs: "Kill... kill them all!" He was the first to raise his battle knife and charge towards an enemy soldier who was riding back on horseback.

  Seeing his subordinates being killed one by one, Bi Qi's anger reached the sky. Suddenly he jumped up, crazily shouting and bare-handedly grabbed the long spear of the Jade Stone.

  Jade Stone let out a cold hum, his hands exerting force as the long spear swiftly pierced into Bi Qi's chest.

  The cavalrymen were divided into dozens of teams, each with a hundred men, surrounding the long convoy and charging back and forth. The soldiers vied with each other to be the first to kill the enemy, shouting loudly as they fought, their cries shaking heaven and earth, never-ending. Each warhorse, although its hooves were wrapped in cowhide and its mouth was covered with a muzzle, showed no less ferocity on the battlefield, running wildly and trampling recklessly, as if it were more courageous than its master on its back.

  The Xianbei were initially shot down by the long arrows, and many soldiers were ruthlessly killed. Before they could wake up from the shadow of death and terror, the Han army cavalry suddenly descended from the sky, launching a ruthless massacre against them.

  The sudden attack by the cavalry was too swift, so swift that they had no time to organize any resistance or counterattack except for death, flight and cries of despair.

  Swords are dancing, war horses are galloping, long arrows are whistling in the firelight.

  The Xianbei soldiers were like headless flies on the battlefield, fleeing in all directions, crying and screaming. They kept wailing as they were either shot by long arrows, hacked to death by war knives, trampled by war horses, or thrown into burning carts to be burned alive.

  The Xianbei people who had no choice but to surrender also did not escape the fate of death. The Han soldiers were already bloodthirsty and completely disregarded whether or not their opponents had given up resistance, they would kill anyone they encountered with brutal slaughter.

  The battle ended quickly, with only 200-300 enemy soldiers escaping under the cover of darkness. The rest were annihilated. Li Hong ordered a headcount, and it was found that over 30 Han soldiers had been killed in the encirclement and annihilation of the enemy army, and more than 40 were injured. The fallen comrades were immediately buried, and the wounded were escorted by a company of 100 men, who rushed back to Yuyang City overnight, arriving at the river crossing this morning.

  The bugle call for troops to reassemble sounded in the dark of night.

  Tian Chong gazed at the thousands of dead sheep in the mountain valley, shaking his head in pain.

  "So many sheep, how many people can be saved. Burying them all would be a waste."

  Li Hong smiled helplessly, waving his hand to order the soldiers to fill up the earth quickly. He stood on the slope, looking at the battlefield where corpses were scattered all over, smelling the pungent smell of blood and burning objects in the night wind, and his heart suddenly throbbed violently.

  "War is like this, merciless and cruel, bloody and brutal. But there are people who like it."

  Lei Zi followed behind Li Hong and excitedly asked: "If we cut off the Xianbei people's food and fodder, will they withdraw their troops?"

  "For the time being, they won't. If we hit them again, Murong Ji and Xiong Ba will probably flee back to Guangping instead of withdrawing to Guangping."

  Li Hong and his soldiers took a last look at the huge fire dragon that was burning fiercely, then disappeared into the dark night.

  Lieutenant Colonel Feng led his troops to ambush at Changfeng Village, ten miles away from Baochuan River. There were originally several dozen households here, but they all moved away because of the war.

  The news brought by the scout made Lie Kuangfeng and Dao Hen extremely excited.

  The Han army began to cross the river at dusk, but only 200 people came over and then stopped. At midnight, the mountain pass was lit up with lanterns, and the Han army began to cross the river again. A dozen or so boats shuttled back and forth on the surface of the Baqiu River, sending boatloads of soldiers to the opposite bank.

  Li Kuang-wind received news that about a thousand Han troops had crossed the river, and immediately set out quietly with his men.

  At a place five li away from the Baochuan River, the troops of the Fierce Wind Division formed up in charging formation. The soldiers sat quietly on their horses, waiting for the ox-horn bugle call to sound the charge.

  The vanguard of the Stormwind Army arrived in a mad dash.

  "Sir, something's gone wrong! The Han army has discovered our tracks and all troops have already withdrawn."

  Lie Kuangfeng could hardly believe his ears.

  "Weren't you just reporting to me that over a thousand Han troops had crossed the river? How much time has passed, and the enemy has already withdrawn?"

  "It's true. Just now the Han army soldiers were lined up on the riverbank, and in the blink of an eye, they all ran to the other side of the river." The scout said with a puzzled expression.

  "Is your observation point close to them?" Scar asked.

  "Yes. The Han people are very careless and only arranged a few mobile sentry teams when crossing the river. We can observe them very conveniently."

  Li Kuangfeng and Dao Baichuan exchanged a glance.

  "It seems their scouts have found us. We were so close." Lian Kuangfeng sighed, saying disappointedly.

  But when they retreated back to Changfengtun, a scout rushed in on horseback.

  "Sir, the Han army has begun crossing the river again."

  The fierce wind laughed out loud.

  "Are you sure you've seen clearly?" Scar's tone was somewhat doubtful that they had really done their best.

  "Look closely. The enemy has crossed the river again." The scout said firmly.

  Fierce winds and scarred faces stared at each other in confusion.

  If the Han army had discovered them, it would not have been reasonable for them to risk crossing the river. Now that the enemy has acted again, is it because the enemy found that the previous intelligence was wrong and decided to continue crossing the river after a false alarm?

  "Let's let the scout explore again. We can still make a move after all the enemies have crossed the river, it won't be too late," said Dao Hen slowly.

  Lü Kuangfeng nodded, indicating that Shi Hou should retreat and investigate again.

  "I wonder if they've arrived at Changqingwei?" Lian Kuangfeng felt that something was off about tonight's events, and he couldn't shake the feeling of unease in his heart. He suddenly thought of the troops who had been sent to deliver supplies to Changqingwei. Since nightfall, there had been no news from them.

  "It's only over a hundred miles from here to Changqingwei, at their speed they should have arrived by now. Don't worry, sir, there will definitely be news before dawn." Dao Hen comforted Lie Kuangfeng.

  About half an hour later, a scout came flying on horseback to report.

  "The enemy has retreated again," the scout panted heavily and said with a gasp.

  Feng Kuangfeng and Dao Hen simultaneously changed color.

  "We've been had. This is a small detachment of the Han army holding us back. Their main force must have already infiltrated deep into our rear, and at any moment they can attack our supply troops." Dao Ba said in a panic.

  Lie Kuangfeng smiled wryly.

  "We haven't received any news from the vanguard for four watches, I'm afraid they've been completely annihilated. The enemy's scheme is ruthless and their audacity is boundless."

  "It's definitely that leopard again. This idiot's brain is really something, only he could think of such a thing." Scar said viciously.

  "What shall we do now?" Seeing Lie Kuangfeng sitting silently at the edge of the table, Dao Hen couldn't help but ask.

  The strong wind shook its head helplessly and said in a low voice: "Let's talk about it after we get the news from the other side."

  Half a time later, the news from Baoqiu River once again confirmed that Lie Kuangfeng and Dao Ba's idea was correct.

  The Han army began its crossing of the river.

  A horse came galloping up, its hooves clattering loudly from a distance.

  "Something big has gone wrong!" The scout shouted loudly from a distance.

  The hearts of Kaito and Akira began to beat violently, their breathing becoming somewhat labored. Their expressions were serious as they gazed at the scout together.

  "The enemy's main force has been discovered, five miles away from Changfeng Village."

  Feng Kuang and Dao Ba exchanged a stunned glance.