Chapter 24: The White Wave Army is numerous!

  Du Yuanzheng led two hundred people with nimble hands and feet, quickly sweeping the houses in the central area of the village clean. The speed was fast, but the harvest was not much. The shadow of gold was not seen, and silverware had a set of tableware, which added up to less than one kilogram in weight. However, they found more than a hundred chickens and ducks, which also solved the problem of lunch.

  Du Yuan and Liu Wei were disappointed with the outcome, but Gong Sun was nonchalant. He comforted them by saying: "It's nothing, we mainly collected these things to test our inference. I think these chickens and ducks are more important than gold and silver, being able to escape from the evil spirits' hands is quite an accomplishment."

  Gongsun Zhan said that chickens and ducks are also capable, the people around him were all sweating profusely, for this they looked at Gongsun Zhan with great confusion, hoping he could provide an explanation. Liu Wei followed Gongsun Zhan all the way from Xianyang, his greatest feeling was that not even a chicken or dog was left behind. He too found it surprising to see chickens and ducks in a small village.

  "Gongsun Ce pointed at the chickens and ducks, saying: 'You see, these are all in good spirits and should be free-range. Especially those few roosters, even when tied up with a rope, they still fight well, full of wild nature. Evil spirits can only devour those whose spirit is scattered and blood energy weak, it's the same for animals.'"

  "Originally, people with weak willpower are not even as good as chickens and ducks in front of evil spirits. I'm starting to like this world." Liu Wei listened to Gong Sun Ce's explanation and thought carefully, it seemed to be the same reason, others also nodded one after another. It was as if they had forgotten their earlier gloominess.

  Gongsun Ce was about to speak when his expression changed, and he pulled out the Tiger Token. The token slightly shook, and he discovered that the soul energy stored inside had increased, indicating that Cheng Shen had encountered an enemy. However, there were no vacancies in the token, which meant that none of the Symbol Riders had been lost, and he couldn't help but let out a sigh of relief.

  "Cheng Sheng encountered enemy situation over there, I'll lead people to take a look first, you guys get ready and wait for my command. Guo Liang follows me, Liu Wei is in charge of the logistics team. If anyone retreats or escapes during the battle, they will be dealt with according to military law!" Zhang Xiaozhi and others had already been punished by Guo Liang for retreating from the battlefield, each receiving five military rods as a light punishment.

  Liu Wei naturally understood Gong Sun Ce's meaning, he was not familiar with those people, and it wouldn't be soft to kill them. He handed over the Great Qin flag to Guo Liang, took up his gun and went to command the logistics team. After Gong Sun Ce signaled Guo Liang to insert the flag into the ground, ignoring the shaking earth, he also instructed Du Yuan Zheng a few words, then brought Guo Liang and 100 Yu riders rushing away.

  Gongsun Zan's horse had just started to gain speed when Cheng Yin led his cavalry back in a rush, immediately slowing down. Cheng Yin reined in his horse and said: "General Gongsun, the rebel army is coming over the hills and spreading all over the fields, numbering at least ten thousand men!"

  Gongsun Zan furrowed his brow upon hearing this. With tens of thousands of rebels, it seemed that he had no choice but to retreat to the county city and join forces with the three thousand Qin soldiers there to defend against them. He was not arrogant enough to think that he could defeat tens of thousands of rebels with just four hundred cavalrymen. Besides, he had only managed to accumulate this small force after great difficulty, and it would be a waste to lose them without achieving anything. This was clearly a losing proposition, and he would not do such a thing.

  "That group of rebels, although numerous, had extremely low combat effectiveness and morale. They collapsed before the battle even began. The commander-in-chief didn't lose a single soldier, beheading over 200 enemies!" Cheng Shen briefly described the course of the battle, dispelling Gong Sun Ce's worries and adding to his eagerness. He thought he'd take a gamble to see if it would succeed.

  The Qin state's military achievements are divided into two categories: one is the capture of cities, and the other is victories in battles. The merits will be classified according to the strength of the enemy and our own, as well as the outcome of the battle. For example, if you behead 2,000 armored soldiers, the general's title will be promoted three levels! Here, "armored soldier" refers to the general term for officers and elite soldiers. According to Cheng Shen's words, the number of enemy elite soldiers is not too many, but the number of officers is not small either.

  "Guo Liang, go and bring over one of Du Yanzheng's units. In the past, Gan Ning led a hundred cavalry to raid the Wei camp, now I, Sun Ce, want to try with four hundred horsemen trampling ten thousand people!" After finishing speaking, Sun Ce handed Guo Liang a cigar, who was very puzzled as to why Sun Ce suddenly lit up a cigar. He took the cigar and turned around to go to the small village to mobilize troops.

  Gongsun Zan immediately examined the surrounding terrain, and although the highway on both sides was still relatively open, his cavalry could deploy, but there was nowhere to ambush or hide. The road here was winding, with hills connected, but in this area, it was mostly empty, after all, village construction would choose open areas, otherwise, not even houses could be built, let alone fields and the like.

  Kuo Liang arrived at the village with a cigar in his mouth, rushing like thunder. Du Yuanzheng and 200 men were already on horseback, checking their equipment. Seeing Kuo Liang's cigar, Du Yuanzheng understood and waved his hand: "Depart!" As he passed by Kuo Liang, he smiled, leaving Kuo Liang bewildered.

  Kuang Liang and others finished riding, and from afar, waved hands with Li Jing who was standing on the carriage. When everyone saw Li Jing, they only smiled. No matter how they looked at Kuang Liang now, they thought he looked very comical - wearing a suit of iron-black armor, riding a tall horse, holding a four-meter-long lance in his hand, dressed like a general... yet with a cigar in his mouth, waving his hand like a child...

  Under the constant urging of Li Le, the so-called Han Zhengbei General, the White Wave Army panted and ran along the highway with all their might. The White Wave Army running in front turned a corner on the highway and saw a row of dark cavalry standing in front of them. The leading hundred-man general hastily shouted: "Steady! I'll go report to the general!"

  A hundred men would stop in their tracks and turn around, wanting to run back, but who would have thought that the White Wave Army was chasing after them like a torrent, knocking them off balance and unable to move forward. He saw General Li Le shouting loudly, but the surrounding noise was too great, no matter how loud he shouted it was all in vain, occasionally turning his head for a glance.

  Seeing the black cavalry in the middle, a silver armored general pointed his weapon at himself, and then saw the dense war horses move their hooves towards him. Looking around again, it was completely chaotic, those in front wanted to retreat but were blocked by those behind, and those behind didn't know what was happening in front. With all one's might, they rushed forward with their heads down, anyway, there were so many people, what was there to be afraid of? The hundred-man commander's morale was boosted, but he found that the military spirit under his command had long since scattered and ran around everywhere.

  "Victory! Victory!!" The cavalrymen shouted in unison, just as they unfolded into three rows, like a chaotic army sweeping forward. Gong Sun Zan saw the fleeing vanguard and began to suspect that this was an experience specially delivered to his doorstep.

  There were also some White Wave troops who began to form a formation under the organization of Bai Renjiang, but the fleeing soldiers who fled in disarray would disrupt this formation. Gong Sun Ce's Yuqi cavalry swept in, and the outer White Wave soldiers were directly knocked down by the front row Yuqi, trampled by the rear row Yuqi on horseback, and scattered in all directions. There were also those who did not die, sparsely and sporadically finished off by Du Yuanzheng's heavenly soldiers.

  The heavenly soldiers under Du Yuanzheng's command were all mounted on horseback, drawing their bows and aiming at the sky. Their bows, arrows, and even armor were all made by Du Village himself, mass-produced products. Ordinary people could only use them to consume the physical strength of the military soul, but they couldn't cause fatal damage. In the hands of the heavenly soldiers, however, they became deadly weapons without any discount.

  "Kill!" The two white-clothed soldiers, with swords and spears in hand, saw Gong Sun Zan leading the charge, and plunged into the midst of the White Wave Army, surrounded by a dense crowd. The two men shouted together, and killed their way forward.

  Gongsun Zan gripped the Blue Dragon Halberd with both hands, and as he turned his horse around, he stabbed one of the White Wave soldiers who was closely following him in the back, killing him instantly. Gongsun Zan let out a loud shout, trying to pull the halberd back, but it was stuck deep in the soldier's body. His horse, Symbol, suddenly darted to the left and then to the right, never allowing the White Wave soldiers to get close. With another loud shout, he lifted up the soldier's soul on his horse and flung him down violently, knocking over several other souls who were blocking his path.

  Gongsun Zan was about to take advantage of the gap to kill his way out, when he saw two hundred-man generals killing their way in from outside the gap. His horse and men merged into one, with control at his heart. The symbol-marked horse suddenly accelerated, Gongsun Zan raised his spear and thrust it out, sending a halberd-wielding hundred-man general flying, while another sword-wielding hundred-man general was directly knocked to the chest by the symbol-marked horse's head and flew backward.

  Bao Ma's horse trampled over the bodies of the hundred men who had fallen to the ground, its powerful hind legs brutally crushing their skulls. Just then, a halberd-wielding hundred man was knocked flying by Gong Sun Zan's spear and landed heavily nearby. Gong Sun Zan speared him dead, killing several more soldiers in the process.

  The Yuqi cavalry broke through the defeated soldiers of the White Wave Army and stood behind Gong Sun Zan. What appeared in front of them was a temporary battle array hastily formed by the White Wave Army. It would be more accurate to call it a pile of people rather than a battle array. Before Gong Sun Zan could give an order, the two hundred heavenly soldiers following the rear array simultaneously shot arrows. Although the arrowheads were not very sharp, they were strong and powerful, with sufficient killing power, like a dark rain falling on the White Wave Army's battle array.

  At that moment, the White Wave Army's formation collapsed in an instant, panicked and fell to the ground, with the dead and wounded scattered everywhere. The so-called General Li Le of the Northern Expedition saw that Gong Sun's cavalry was not afraid, but when he saw a hail of arrows, he became frightened. At this time, the soldiers were most afraid of bows and arrows, because they were just simple infantrymen, without even shields or wooden boards!

  No matter how powerful the cavalry is, they will be consumed by Li Le's human sea tactics. However, when encountering archer cavalry, Li Le, who lacks long-range combat power and defense against long-range attacks, was in a dilemma. Drawing his sword and pointing at Gong Sun Ce, Li Le shouted loudly: "Left and right, kill him for the general!"

  If his opponent was merely a cavalryman, he also had the guts to personally charge into battle. However, facing archers on horseback, he did not dare to make any rash moves.

  Dozens of armored cavalrymen were ordered to push through the crowd and kill Gongsun Zan. Gongsun Zan saw this, waited for Du Yanzhi's five-wheel arrow rain, then dispersed the White Wave Army in front of him, raised his Green Dragon Halberd, and commanded the Yuji Cavalry to slowly retreat. Du Yanzhi also ordered the Heavenly Army to retreat, went to find Gongsun Zan, and needed to know further orders.

  "These miscellaneous troops won't be a problem in this battle, the key is over there!" Gong Sun Ce held his spear and pointed towards Li Le's central army flag. Du Yuan Zheng followed his gaze and also saw the Iron Armor General breaking through the crowd to kill.

  "As long as we destroy his elite forces and behead that General Li, the miscellaneous troops will completely collapse. At that time, we can pursue and kill them all the way, and not many will be able to escape!" Gong Sun Ce let out a fierce breath, in the brief moment of charging earlier, he and the Yu cavalry had killed no less than 500 White Wave soldiers, and the Five Wheels Arrow Rain had killed no less than 500 enemy troops.

  Killing a thousand of them, their numbers didn't seem to decrease at all, and they were still pouring out from the bend in the road. At this moment, he wished more than anything that he had countless crossbow troops, the enemy was packed tightly together, it was truly a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. If only he had three thousand crossbowmen, shooting in three segments, firing five rounds, that place would be empty, and he could harvest a large amount of soul energy!

  "Gongsun, should we take out the Iron Armor first or...?" Looking at Li Le's dispatched Iron Armor elite troops about to squeeze out of the crowd, Du Yuanzheng was very anxious. Gongsun Ce knew what he was anxious about and said: "Later, shoot five wheel arrows to suppress those miscellaneous soldiers, those Iron Armor elites must be solved by our Symbol Riders! No matter how great the loss, I will do it this way! It's just a pity that our arrow reserves are too few, otherwise we would have wiped them out!"

  "Gongsun, take care of yourself. When you're dealing with those iron-armored soldiers, there won't be any miscellaneous troops coming to disturb you!" Du Yuanzheng had always thought that these symbol soldiers were just like his heavenly soldiers, all ordinary people merged with battle spirits. Afraid that when facing the iron-armored elite head-on, there would be unnecessary losses, so he came over to ask if they should take advantage of the remaining strength of the Du clan's heavenly soldiers and shoot down the iron-armored soldiers in a few rounds first.

  He didn't know that what Gong Sun Ce needed now was a powerful enemy, and as long as he killed such a powerful warrior, his soldiers would quickly level up and give birth to several of Gong Sun Ce's most scarce generals. Only Gong Sun Ce wouldn't know how high the gold content of this group of iron-clad warriors would be.

  "Where did these guys come from? Are there too many of them or what?" Guo Liang finally caught up to the battle, reining in his horse beside Gong Sun Ce and asking.

  "Just like Zhu Lang's fake clicks..." Gong Sun Ce said something inexplicable, and Guo Liang nodded as if he understood but didn't really understand.