Chapter 53: The Crown Prince's Return Gift

  The Qin army's large array, the "Zhao army envoy" just now was reporting to Bai Qi with a solemn face.

  "Are you saying they will attack us soon?" asked Bai Qi calmly.

  "Yes, General. Han Yan personally promised me that he would launch a fierce attack on our eastern flank soon. Unfortunately, I didn't have the chance to assassinate Han Yan, Bao Ying and Jin Bi."

  "It doesn't matter. Being able to infiltrate the Allied Army and gain the trust of three people is already a great achievement. Later, go to the chief clerk's place with the token and take ten pieces of gold for yourself!"

  "Thank you, General! I bid farewell!"

  After "Zhao Jun's envoy" left, Bai Qi revealed a smile with a confident and self-assured expression.

  Han and Wei armies are so reckless and impetuous, it seems that the Battle of Ye Wang was just a fluke. A series of victories has long gone to their heads! With only 130,000 troops, they dare to pursue me, thinking themselves invincible!

  When Han and Wei armies are trapped in the sea of Qin army, they will know the power of Qin army. Bai Qi said secretly in his heart.

  At present, the Qin army is only about ten miles away from the armies of Han and Wei. If the Qin army takes the initiative to attack, it can naturally drag the enemy into the battlefield. However, the armies of Han and Wei may choose to flee, and there are too many variables in this situation.

  After receiving the order from the King of Qin, Bai Qi was always thinking about how to return to Xianyang with the smallest cost and the fastest speed. Therefore, for this battle, Bai Qi chose a conservative strategy.

  Therefore, they sent people to assassinate the Zhao army's envoy and then impersonated the Zhao army's envoy to deceive the Han and Wei armies into trusting them, inducing them to take the initiative to attack. In Bai Qi's view, as long as the opponent was deceived, he would quickly wrap them in a battle group with lightning-like power and win the war.

  "Pass down the order, when Han and Wei armies attack our eastern flank later, counterattack should not be too big. Once engaged, quickly surround them." Bai Qi issued the latest command.

  "Yes!" The orderly took his orders and left.

  "Crown Prince, is this really okay?" Just as they were about to charge forward, Bai Yao's heart was still somewhat uneasy.

  "Don't worry, General Ba! The reason why Bai Qi wants us to take the initiative to attack is that he's afraid we won't come out if we defend. So if we don't push forward right under the noses of the Qin army, they won't launch a full-scale attack."

  "Alright! Then I'll listen to the prince once more. The prince should hurry back to the rear army! He can also give some guidance on the upcoming encirclement battle." Bao Hu's unease was temporarily set aside, and he turned around to say: "Everyone, charge!"

  Fifteen thousand war horses and over six hundred chariots instantly raised a sky of dust, creating the momentum of sixty thousand troops charging forward.

  It was all thanks to the clever plan of Prince Zhen. The horse's tail dragged a long branch, and once the horse ran, no one could tell whether the dust was caused by the horse's hooves or the branch.

  In fact, only 20,000 Han and Wei coalition forces launched a charge, while the remaining 40,000 were digging trenches. The trenches were simple, but strangely, a two-car-wide passage was left in the middle of the trenches on both sides.

  The Han and Wei coalition army advanced extremely smoothly, the Qin army's previously impenetrable arrow rain seemed to be off its game today, with both density and accuracy dropping a notch, thus unable to effectively stop the coalition's charge. The coalition would not let go of such a great opportunity, advancing even more swiftly while returning an even denser arrow rain to the Qin army.

  The three consecutive volleys of crossbow fire to some extent covered up the weakness of the allied forces' firepower, making the Qin army opposite believe that there were indeed 60,000 Han and Wei soldiers charging at the main camp.

  Just as the Qin army thought that the two armies were about to collide and were preparing to show off their strength without reservation, the allied army suddenly turned around and fled without any dignity. Before leaving, they even sent a dense and impenetrable arrow rain to the Qin army.

  "Thanks for the great gift from Bai Qi!" The 20,000 Han and Wei coalition troops shouted in unison.

  The Qin army was somewhat bewildered, unable to understand the meaning of the allied forces' actions. Bai Qi was furious, as they had long seen through the "Zhao army envoy"'s problem, but had used their plan against them, resulting in the loss of thousands of soldiers.

  "Order! All cavalry units pursue Han and Wei armies. The rest of the camps are not allowed to move rashly, strictly prevent Zhao army from taking advantage of the situation to rush into the camp."

  Since Han and Wei are so ungrateful, let's use blood to wash away the mockery we suffered earlier!

  The enemy is really arrogant, daring to rush into the camp and escape after the whole army has been defeated. Don't they know the speed of the Great Qin Iron Cavalry?! At worst, sacrifice a little more and hold back the Zhao army's counterattack firmly. With 30,000 Qin iron cavalry pursuing the 60,000 "frantically fleeing" Han and Wei armies, Bai Qi thought the battle would end soon.

  Zhao Jun's camp, Lian Po was deep in thought with his head bowed. The envoy he had sent out had not returned for a long time, could it be that they were intercepted and killed by the Qin army? If only he had known, he should have sent more people.

  At this time, the troops of Han and Wei should have arrived. Lian Po hesitated, whether to divide his army with those of Han and Wei to check the Qin army or to unite them into one camp to prevent the garrison at Yi Yang from joining forces with Bai Qi's army for a counter-attack. In any case, he had to send someone immediately to inform the armies of Han and Wei of his decision.

  "General! Something has happened in the Qin army's main camp." The Imperial Guard rushed over to report.

  "What?" Lian Po sprang to his feet with a loud noise, and immediately followed the Imperial Guard to ascend to a high place to observe from afar. It was seen that the Qin army's banners were waving up and down, and then three cavalry regiments moved out in full force, charging out of the great array, rushing straight towards the east.

  "Could it be that the Han and Wei armies have arrived?!" Lian Po thought to himself in puzzlement. But this was a perfect opportunity! Without the Qin army's cavalry restraint, he could go all out now.

  This time, it is not necessary to rush into the big camp like before. Lian Po has a new tactic now. The new tactic was learned from the Xiongnu, who came and went like the wind, mainly using harassment against powerful enemies. That is, wave after wave of cavalry used bows and arrows for long-range attacks on the enemy army, and when the enemy showed signs of fatigue, they suddenly launched a strong attack and took it down in one fell swoop.

  "The order has been passed down, the Han and Wei coalition forces have arrived, everyone attack!" Lian Po said with a heroic spirit.

  "Ah!"

  East of Qin Ying, the 30,000-strong Qin army cavalry gradually approached the "60,000" Korean and Wei coalition forces who were fleeing in a hurry. The two armies of Korea and Wei had many chariots, and their speed was originally inferior to that of the cavalry. Moreover, the Qin army's iron cavalry waited for the enemy to become tired, so they quickly caught up with the tail of the coalition forces.

  The thick dust in the sky blocked the view of the Qin army, and the Qin army could only vaguely see the shadow of the allied army in front.

  "Release the arrows!" The deputy general of the Qin army revealed a ruthless smile. Underneath the smile, the lagging allied forces occasionally fell off their horses with arrows.

  "Release arrows!" Suddenly, a loud shout rose from both sides of the Qin army, no less than that of the old Qin people.

  The next second, Qin Jun felt the same. Just now he was still on the attacking side, but in an instant he became the one being attacked, with countless crossbow arrows shooting towards him from all directions.

  The Qin army was suddenly attacked, and the formation was in great disorder. Some people wanted to break through on both sides, but fell into a pit, and the war horses let out a mournful cry. Some people wanted to retreat backwards, but were knocked under their horses by the soldiers behind them.

  "Charge forward! Charge forward!" Qin army deputy general roared. Where did the enemy come from?! The armies of Han and Wei were clearly in front, how could they set up an ambush all of a sudden?!

  Without time to consider these issues, Qin Jun's deputy commander only knew that if he couldn't escape this hell in time, he would end up dying here.

  The Qin army no longer cared about the ambushes on both sides and charged forward with all their might. Before long, the smoke and dust raised by the 60,000 troops of Han and Wei dispersed, and the Qin army finally saw the situation around them clearly.

  But with just one glance, Deputy General Qin's face turned pale. Not far away, the allied army was blocking the road with heavy war chariots, and on both sides were long and narrow trenches, which were barely wide enough for one person to pass through, but deep enough to break a horse's leg, while his own large army was now on a flat area only two carts wide.

  Just now, I was single-mindedly chasing the enemy, and my line of sight was blocked by dust, so I fell into this dangerous situation. Relying on the intuition cultivated from many years of military life, Qin Jun's deputy general immediately determined that there were 20,000 enemies in front of him and on both sides.

  "Retreat! Retreat!" Qin army deputy general Quan Heng made a decisive decision after weighing his options.

  This army is the only cavalry under Wu Anjun, and cannot afford to lose any more. In front of him were heavy carts, and the place was extremely narrow, which made it difficult for the cavalry to charge. The ditches on both sides also cut off his idea of turning around, unless he abandoned his war horse and fought with the enemy for the ditch, otherwise there would be no way out on either side.

  But retreating isn't that easy.

  The crown prince worked hard to set up a heaven and earth net, but it's not easy to catch a few big fish. The Qin army has retreated with all its might, but the speed of withdrawal can't keep up with the speed of the allied forces shooting arrows!

  After sacrificing thousands of people to block the coalition forces, the Qin army finally withdrew from the coalition's ambush circle. The deputy general almost cried after checking the losses on his side. 14,000 people were killed in action, 3,000 were injured, and more than half were damaged.

  Thanks also to the encirclement of the two armies of Han and Wei which was not particularly large, otherwise, it would have been possible for him to be completely trapped inside.

  This enmity is now thoroughly settled. However, Qin Jun's deputy general was not reconciled and made a decision that would be regretted for the rest of his life: "Dismount all troops! Kill them!"