Chapter 33: The Final Battle!

  The rumbling war drums once again resounded across this vast land of Yeouiju.

  Charge, fall. War horses whinny, killing sounds shake the sky. The Qin army launches a desperate charge, forward, forward, only forward can they survive. The Zhao state iron cavalry counter-charges against the Qin army, crossbow arrows fly horizontally, both sides occasionally have people falling, trampled into meat pulp.

  The war horses and chariots finally collided violently, the unsteady cavalry and charioteers were thrown out, and they were met with countless long spears and lances. The collision of iron and blood was cruel and merciless. Neither side chose to retreat, the Qin army had its pride, and the Zhao army had its own arrogance.

  "Kill!" Hu Yang shouted, his long sword stabbing towards the chest of the incoming Zhao soldier. Ignoring the unwilling expression on the Zhao soldier's face, he kicked him out three steps away.

  "What a long time!" The three Zhao soldiers' eyes turned red at once, and the three long spears swept towards Hu Yang. Hu Yang's expression was calm, he didn't retreat but instead advanced forward. His long sword knocked open the first spear on his right side, with a sudden burst of strength, he jumped up and pounced on the Zhao soldier to his left.

  The next moment, a streak of blood appeared on Zhao Jun's neck, as if unbelievable. Zhao Jun's hands tightly grasped his own neck, but the gushing out of fresh blood announced his death.

  Hu didn't stop for a second, turned around and killed towards the middle of Zhao's army. Under Zhao's unexpected defense, he decisively dropped his long spear, picked up the sword shield at his waist, and rushed towards Hu Yang. The farthest right-hand side of Zhao's army also came back to their senses, picked up the bronze sword, and pounced on Hu Yang.

  "Kill!" Hu Yang used his shoulder to push against Zhao Jun, who was holding a sword and shield. Zhao Jun retreated seven or eight steps before stopping his backward momentum.

  "Go die!" Seeing Hu Yang appear in front of him, Zhao Jun, who was holding a sword, would not give up such an opportunity. With one swift step, his long sword pierced into Hu Yang's shoulder.

  "Ah!" Under the intense pain, Hu Yang let out a loud roar. He turned around and stabbed his long sword into Zhao Jun's neck. Zhao Jun had successfully launched a sneak attack just a second ago, but immediately saw a long sword rushing towards his neck. The next second, he felt all his strength being sucked out of him, and he fell to the ground unwillingly.

  Hú Yáng's sword flashed too quickly, and the shield-bearing Zhao soldier was caught off guard, stumbling forward to fall to the ground. How could Hú Yáng give up such an opportunity? He drew his sword and chopped down, with flowing movements, under which the third Zhao soldier died at Hú Yáng's hands.

  "General!" The Imperial Guard shouted urgently. Three Imperial Guards rushed forward, using the large shields in their hands to protect Hu Yang behind them.

  "What's all the shouting about! I'm not dead yet! Give me a sword to kill the enemy! Charge into battle, everyone! If we can break into Yeowang Castle, we'll survive!"

  The captain of the guard looked at Hu Yang's ferocious face, a surge of hot blood churning in his heart. He let out a loud roar: "You five stay behind to protect the general, the rest follow me in the charge!"

  Lian Fu gazed at the Qin army charging towards him, and once again summoned his strength to swing his long spear at the hideous Qin soldiers. It had been more than half a time period already, and the Qin army was launching wave after wave of desperate charges. His own legs were so tired that he could hardly lift them up. If it weren't for the pride of being Lian Po's son, Lian Fu really wanted to take a good rest, even if only for a moment.

  "General, let's retreat a few steps! The Qin army is killing our war horses!" A bodyguard cried out. He was not afraid of death, but his heart ached for the war horses. At this moment, the two armies were engaged in close combat, and the Zhao army was all cavalry, which made it difficult to turn around on horseback, unlike the Qin army's agility. Moreover, the Qin army was ruthless and cunning, and when their weapons couldn't reach the Zhao soldiers, they would attack the Zhao war horses instead, causing them to become startled and often throwing the Zhao soldiers off their backs.

  "No way." Jian Fu said loudly after killing another Qin soldier and turning around.

  "Today we cannot retreat a single step, even if it means death, I'd rather die in front of the Qin army than show them our backs, do you understand?!"

  "Ah!" The Imperial Guard, as if stimulated by Lian Yu's words, charged at the Qin army once again.

  Zhao Jun fought to the death and refused to retreat, causing the Qin army's advance to slow down. When the Zhao army reacted and surrounded Hu Yang from both wings, the Qin army suddenly fell into a desperate situation. One after another, the Qin soldiers fell under the crossbow arrows of the Zhao army, but the Qin soldiers were fierce and fearless, continuously charging at the front line of the Zhao army.

  Zhao Jun's bravery instead stirred up the killing intent of the Qin army, and they continuously charged forward, as if they couldn't kill enough! In the end, the Zhao army was exhausted, their footsteps no longer agile like before, and many of them were so tired that they could no longer lift the swords in their hands.

  Just as the Qin army thought that breaking the formation was in sight, the Zhao army had a new force. About 20,000 Zhao soldiers joined the formation to surround and wipe out Hu Yang's central army. The battle became intense again.

  Deputy General Wang Ju felt stifled, and when Hu Yang attracted most of the Zhao army, he led 20,000 Qin soldiers to break through. At first, everything went smoothly, with almost no resistance from the Zhao army, and they quickly broke through five miles. Just as they thought victory was in sight, countless Zhao soldiers swarmed up.

  The army had a hard fight and barely managed to break through the siege, taking advantage of the darkness to shake off the pursuit of the Zhao army. Having marched less than five miles, countless horses and carriages suddenly fell apart, shattered to pieces. Upon dismounting to investigate, it was suddenly discovered that the ground beneath their feet and in front of them was densely covered with pits of all sizes, small ones that could only hold a horse's hoof, and large ones that could trap wheels. Countless torches lit up, and tens of thousands of Zhao army iron cavalry stretched out before the army.

  Wang Xi knew that he no longer had the opportunity to break through. Racing with cavalry on the plains? Even if they could get through tonight, tomorrow would be the same outcome. Looking at the thousands of Qin soldiers beside him with despairing faces, Wang Xi knew that things were hopeless, but just giving up like this was really unbearable for him. Forget it, if he really had to die, then he would die together with the general in battle!

  Under Wang Xi's command, several thousand Qin troops turned around and rushed towards Rangcheng.

  "General!" The Imperial Guard shouted in a hoarse voice, panting in the bloody air: "The Zhao army is attacking too fiercely, we can't break through!"

  Hu Yang raised his head to look at the more than 3,000 remaining soldiers beside him, and with a wry smile, he roared: "Then let's die in battle here! We've killed so many Zhao troops, we've made back our losses!"

  At this time, a cry came from Zhao Jun's flank.

  "General, reinforcements! Those are our reinforcements!" the Imperial Guard shouted excitedly.

  Reinforcements? Has the Lord of Wuan arrived? Hu Yang looked at the flank with surprise and delight. Before long, under the intentional withdrawal of the Zhao army, the two branches of the Qin army finally merged. Hu Yang also finally saw the true face of the so-called "reinforcements".

  "Wang Ke, how did you end up here?"

  "General, ten miles outside the main camp are all pitfalls. Tens of thousands of Zhao troops are guarding there. We can't break out!"

  "Never mind, never mind, tonight is doomed. Since we've come, let's come! " Hu Yang sighed and ordered, "Everyone, follow me to launch a surprise attack!"

  "Winds, winds, great winds!" The remaining tens of thousands of Qin soldiers roared.

  The Qin army launched a desperate final charge. Lian Po and the Crown Prince stood not far away, watching as the Qin army charged forward one after another, their faces moved by this sight. Great Qin, iron-blooded Great Qin, with its people of unyielding iron-like bones, it's no wonder that they dominated the world.

  If it weren't for the Taiziranpa people digging so many trenches and pitfalls, perhaps some of the Qin army could have escaped under the cover of darkness tonight. But now, the Qin army can only fight desperately like a trapped beast.

  The long dark night had finally passed, and when the first ray of sunlight rose at dawn, the last Qin soldier died under the crossbow arrows of the Zhao army. That night, out of 40,000 Qin soldiers, less than 4,000 surrendered, and the rest were all killed in battle.

  As a result, the 100,000-strong Qin army led by Hu Yang and Wang He was completely defeated in the Battle of Handan. In this battle, more than 35,000 soldiers from the Han army were killed or wounded, with only 2,000 able to return to the battlefield. The Zhao army also suffered heavy casualties, with over 18,000 soldiers killed in just one day, and more than 1,000 wounded who would never be able to fight again.

  The series of battles that took place around Ye Wang Cheng formally opened the prelude to the confrontation between Qin and the three Jin states.