Chapter Fifteen: The Army Besieges the County Town

  "We surrender to the general!" The four hundred men of the chaotic army couldn't care about the pursuing troops behind them, and directly knelt down in front of Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan was stunned for a moment, but the tiger tally didn't hesitate. Gongsun Zan only felt that the tiger tally in his arms suddenly became hot, and the four hundred men in front of him began to change, transforming into four robust halberdiers in an instant!

  One hundred men who were transformed into halberd-wielding soldiers, all of whom were White Silver Third-Order, stood up and entered Gong Sun Ce's army after their transformation was complete. Gong Sun Ce secretly wondered if he possessed the aura of a king or overlord, his tiger-like body trembling with excitement, possibly even these Cool Breeze Army troops in front of him would surrender to him?

  The Liang army, under the command of several hundred-man generals, formed a battle array and launched a surprise attack on Gongsun Zan. Three rows of halberdiers clashed in a chaotic melee, instantly knocking down over a dozen Liang soldiers. The remaining Liang soldiers broke through the halberdiers' defense line and were about to engage in close combat. Gongsun Zan and Liu Wei each borrowed five or six men and commanded the halberdiers to fight while retreating.

  "Guo Liang! It's your turn!" Gong Sun Ce fiercely fought for a moment, only killing two of the Liang army, and was then hacked at by chaotic blades, unable to withstand it and retreated. He retreated into the rebuilt defensive line of the halberd soldiers and roared at Guo Liang. Guo Liang carried the flag and led three cavalrymen, charging forward on horseback, and the Liang army couldn't resist, being directly pierced through by Guo Liang.

  Liang Jun led a hundred men, with several dozen wounded soldiers in two rows, to guard against Guo Liang's cavalry. Unexpectedly, Guo Liang charged straight into the small river village, found the central point, and inserted the flag into the ground! One by one, the Great Qin army souls awakened, but before these souls could crawl out, Guo Liang led his cavalry back to kill again.

  Kuo Liang's swift cavalry came and went in one round, in less than three minutes, Gong Sun Ce's spearman formation was pushed back twenty meters! The remaining spearmen were only thirty or so! This group of Liang army launched a surprise attack, forcing Gong Sun Ce to retreat step by step. If his troops weren't the elite Fu soldiers, they would have dispersed long ago.

  Li Jun thought that Guo Liang had escaped, but the hundred-man commander who was specifically blocking Guo Liang's cavalry led his men to kill him again. Unexpectedly, Guo Liang and four riders fiercely charged from behind, and the galloping war horses directly knocked down more than a dozen Li Jun soldiers. The attacking formation of Li Jun's army fell into chaos, but Guo Liang didn't gain much advantage either.

  Three cavalrymen under his command were reduced to two, and the other was thrown off his horse. The long spear in his hand didn't know where it went. As soon as he got up, he was surrounded by the Liao army's chaotic knives and died unjustly. The Liao army couldn't care about Gongsun Ce, and surrounded Guo Liang's three cavalrymen in the middle, thinking of annihilating the cavalry first! The cavalry had a great deterrent effect on them, despite having only a few people.

  Gongsun Ce couldn't let them have their way, so he led the halberd-wielding soldiers in a charge. He himself wielded a pair of halberds and hacked away wildly. The Green Dragon Halberd was quite effective, and although it was a technique-based weapon, its cutting power was not much inferior to that of a large knife. Guo Liang wielded his horse spear, striking left and right, while two halberd-wielding soldiers fought desperately to protect him, and for the time being, they were safe.

  The Liang army's hundred generals joined forces to attack Guo Liang, who galloped his horse to avoid them, knocking open several Liang soldiers before being caught up by the hundred generals. The hundred generals swung their blades wildly, but missed Guo Liang and instead cut off one of the horse's legs. The warhorse collapsed with a thud, pinning Guo Liang's leg under its belly, which he couldn't pull out in his haste! The hundred generals took two steps forward, revealing a gaunt face with a bloodthirsty smile, raising their blades to strike.

  Kuo Liang raised his head to gaze at the hundred men holding up their battle knives, and beyond them, a vast expanse of azure sky. "When I was young, the sky seemed just as blue, so beautiful, how did I only notice now?" He felt he had missed many wonderful things, unfortunately only realizing it now, was it a bit too late?

  "Kid, if you're not scared stupid, follow me and kill our way out!" Gong Sun Ce's hoarse voice appeared in his ear, and Guo Liang came back to himself only to discover that the hundred-man commander who had been about to chop him down with a war knife now had a terrifying wound on his chest. The black blood clots flowing out of it fell to the ground, beginning to rot. As they rotted, the faint hissing sound in Guo Liang's ear was actually so beautiful that even the wound on the hundred-man commander's chest, with its rotten flesh mixed with black bloodstains, seemed incredibly lovely!

  He pulled out his leg and only then did Guo Liang realize that his ankle was sprained. He hobbled over on one leg to help Gong Sun Ce, who had been surrounded by three hundred men. The situation was extremely critical. Liu Wei also rushed in, using his spear to kill one of the enemy commanders from behind. The remaining two Western Regions' army commanders turned around and fled with their troops, but unexpectedly, about a hundred Qin soldiers rushed out of Xiao He Village!

  They were desperate and wanted to surrender. Just as one of the hundred men was about to kneel down, Gong Sun Ce followed up with a spear thrust and killed him. Another man who was half-kneeling was struck in the neck by Guo Liang's halberd. The remaining Liao soldiers seemed to have fallen into a state of panic and were soon slaughtered by Gong Sun Ce and others in conjunction with the Qin army.

  Liu Wei wiped the sweat, only to find that his palm was injured. The wound stimulated by the sweat made him turn the question he was about to ask into a dull hum. On the other side, Gong Sun Ce helped Guo Liang straighten his ankle, took off the tactical vest on his upper body, slammed it to the ground, and used alcohol to disinfect the knife wound on his waist.

  Liu Wei also disinfected himself with alcohol and bandaged his wound, asking: "They want to surrender, why do they still want to kill? Your troops have lost more than thirty men, and these Liang soldiers can make up for the loss, isn't that just right?"

  Gongsun Zan pointed at the Qin army that had just left and returned to Xiahe Village, saying: "With these guys around, it's likely that these surrendered Liang troops will directly become prisoners of war for Great Qin. What else can I get besides some military merit?" There was another reason he didn't mention, which was that the hundred-man officer he had killed with one spear thrust was the same hundred-man officer who had wounded him...

  Military achievements will be obtained as long as they are killed, and Gong Sun Ce directly indicated on the tiger symbol. Liu Wei and Guo Liang's military achievements have a consciousness in the dark that is calculated, and no one can erase it. Unless they committed a major crime under the Qin law, but how many people in Qin are in charge now? The only rule now is not to kill each other!

  Gongsun Zan and his men couldn't afford to provoke those Qin troops, because these Qin troops represented the great Qin. Unlike Gongsun Zan and others, who were just like mercenaries, they had family members under the control of the great Qin, which was the biggest constraint!

  The Hu Fu in his arms evolved again, Gong Sun Ce's title was promoted to the fourth level, becoming a Tuan Jiang who commands hundreds of people. In this battle, he probably gained about 700 military souls and consumed 500 military souls. The Hu Fu supplemented his symbol soldiers' vacancies and also passed on a message to him, that is, if there is no Bai Ren Jiang among the symbol soldiers, he can command at most one hundred people!

  One hundred Gejin soldiers, seventy second-class Red Copper, twenty-five second-class White Silver, and five third-class White Silver. He estimated that after breaking through the third-class White Silver, a symbol general would be produced. The symbol general already has some simple wisdom, and only with the symbol soldier in Gong Sun Ce's hand can some complex battle arrays be arranged.

  After lunch in Xiahe Village, Gongsun Zan rested for a while. It wasn't until 4 pm that he led his men towards the county seat, which was about four kilometers away and could be reached within an hour. This time, the Qin army in Xiahe Village somehow managed to get nine draft horses and, together with the remaining war horse, pulled five carts loaded with supplies. This made Gongsun Zan and others sigh in admiration - throughout history, the Qin army had launched massive armies of hundreds of thousands to attack cities and seize territories, and it was indeed very important to emphasize logistics and supply.

  The map of the county seat has been turned over by them, it is a county with a permanent population of around 100,000 and nearly 300,000 including affiliated towns. The number of Qin troops who came back to life after being beaten must not be a small number, and Gong Sun Ce's military merit must also not be a small number. Correspondingly, the county seat is not that easy to attack.

  Taking the old town as an example, although it is a bit special, he can revive 500 military souls in one breath. According to the population ratio of the old town and the county seat, the county seat should also revive 2,000 military souls. Moreover, although the old town is special, there are 1,450 people in Yushizhi, and if they were put in the county seat, the number of enemies here would have to double!

  "The county town is not something that can be taken down with just two or three blows, so I plan to use strategy!" Outside the county town, Gong Sun Ce and others reorganized a cavalry team, selecting only the elite silver second-class riders. Because these Yu Shi Ji's personal guards had high-level symbol soldiers, good physical quality, and all had riding experience, they could fully convert to cavalry, but the reason they couldn't was that Gong Sun Ce didn't have any symbol horses for them to ride.

  Liu Wei had already removed the bandages from his hands, and now his physical strength was completely twice that of a normal person, with recovery abilities several times better. The wound had scabbed over, and re-bandaging it would affect his combat ability. He stroked the shallow layer of short whiskers on either side of his face and thought for a moment before saying: "Let me guess, you wouldn't happen to be playing the 'borrowing a tiger's might' trick, would you?"

  Seeing him stroking his beard, Gong Sun Ce also felt a bit annoyed. His beard was originally growing vigorously, and it had only been a few days since he last shaved, so it was already a short but dense layer covering his chin. He couldn't help but stroke his own beard and nodded, saying: "It's roughly this idea - lure them out, lead them to a place where the terrain is advantageous to us, and then slowly torture them to death. If they can't hold on, have Guo Liang lead the cavalry into the county town to plant flags!"

  "What a wonderful era without city walls! Just raise the flag of Qin and revive a few thousand Qin soldiers, and we'll win this war!" Gong Sun Ce's voice was strange, making Liu Wei and Guo Liang seem to see a bright road ahead. The county towns that followed seemed to be easily conquered, as long as they used this method! Because in this era, there were no city walls, only the streets inside the city had to be taken one by one, before entering the heart of the city.

  "If all the soldiers were cavalry, it would be great! The marching speed is fast and there's a big advantage in attacking cities and occupying land!" Guo Liang also stroked his smooth chin and expressed his own thoughts. It's estimated that this idea is most important for full cavalry, he has already fallen in love with the thrill of charging across the battlefield on horseback, and even more so with the stimulation of knocking enemies flying off their horses.

  "Cavalry is a good thing, is there a horse farm nearby?" Gong Sun Ce suddenly gave up his previous idea. The plan to lure the tiger away from the mountain was clever, but he wouldn't gain much military prestige from it. He could only gain military merit, but not the symbol of a general, and even if he rose through the ranks, the number of soldiers under him would not increase.

  Kuang Liang's eyes shone brightly as he nodded repeatedly, "Yes! Ten kilometers from here, there is a small pasture with at least 500 to 600 horses! My family used to raise and sell horses there!" He had already seen the cavalry of one hundred riders charging through the infantry like cutting grass, harvesting lives!

  The villagers along the way are estimated to have escaped to the county seat or towns, so Gongsun Ce is very relieved that Guo Liang takes nine cavalrymen to drive the horses back. As long as there is a lead horse, it's a very simple matter to migrate!

  After Guo Liang left, Gong Sun Ce and Liu Wei led the men to push the carriage into the orchard by the side of the road and hid inside. The two ate a few apples and began to meditate with their eyes closed.