Chapter 36: The Upper State Sends an Urgent Message (Three)

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  Night fell, and the once-thriving market fell silent prematurely. Standing on the city wall, I saw that the Shu army's camp was filled with starry fires everywhere. At this moment, a gate on the west side of the city was slowly opened to a two-person wide gap, and a white-robed general rushed out first, **the horse galloped quickly, but didn't make a sound, upon closer inspection, it turned out that the hooves were wrapped in cloth. When he ran to the edge of the suspension bridge, he suddenly reined in his horse and stopped. A team of infantrymen followed behind the white-robed general, running directly to the edge of the suspension bridge, where they collectively lowered the bridge quietly, trying not to make a sound.

  The suspension bridge was completely lowered, and the infantry captain saluted the white-robed general before retreating back into the city. Upon closer inspection, the white-robed general turned out to be Mu Zhong Liao. He rode his horse across the suspension bridge, seeing that all around him was quiet, and the distant Shu army camp showed no signs of change, indicating that they had not discovered any unusual activity on this side.

  Mu Zhong Liao turned his head and made a gesture towards the city. The general on the city wall saw the gesture and hurriedly ran down the city wall. Before long, the city gate opened wide, and a team of cavalry rushed out from the city. Similarly, the war horses were also wrapped in white cloth, making almost no sound.

  Mu Zhong Liao saw the cavalry had already departed, he pulled the reins of his horse and used the tip of his steel spear to poke the horse's buttocks. The warhorse felt pain and lifted its legs wanting to neigh, but it didn't make any sound, only the sound of its heavy breathing could be heard. Upon closer inspection, the horse's mouth was tightly wrapped with black cloth, only exposing two nostrils for breathing. The warhorse suddenly galloped northward, followed closely by a large troop of cavalry. The main camp of the Shu army was located in the north, which was also the front line of the upper bound.

  The Shu army's main camp was still unusually quiet, the sentry on the tower stood high, but it was already night, and the visual effect was not good. At this time, a thin layer of fog suddenly rose from all directions, which was indeed heaven helping the Chu army.

  Muzong Liao led the cavalry of over 10,000 men to a point less than 500 meters away from the Shu army's main camp and stopped, not daring to go further. After stopping, Muzong Liao called over his deputy general and instructed: "Order the soldiers to form a charging array, and once the infantry arrives, proceed according to plan."

  "Yes!" The deputy general ordered, and La Ma turned around and went to make arrangements.

  Before long, four flags with 40,000 elite infantrymen arrived, and the four flag bearers rode their war horses to Mu Zhong's side, one after another, to report for duty.

  Mu Zhong Liao saw that a fog had risen all around, and his heart gained several more points of confidence. He called the five flag bearers to his side, then began discussing countermeasures: "Now it's probably around midnight, the Shu army is definitely sleeping soundly. In a moment, I'll lead the cavalry in an attack on the enemy camp, making a surprise assault directly at the commander-in-chief's tent. The infantry will follow closely behind, lighting torches and setting fire to everything they see. The ratio of our forces is roughly four to one; perhaps this time we won't have the chance to retreat with honor. Are you all prepared?"

  Several flag bearers looked at each other, saw the firm belief in each other's eyes, and couldn't help but smile at each other, saying in unison: "Please give the order, General!"

  "Good! You are all good men of my Great Chu, each taking your own position, listen to my command!"

  "Ah!"

  After a whiff of incense, Mu Zhong Liao tightened the reins, slowly raised the steel gun in his hand, fixed his eyes on the front, made up his mind, and shouted loudly: "Cavalry formation! Follow me to charge!"

  "Roar!" The thunderous roar of ten thousand soldiers, like a fierce tiger, accompanied by an unstoppable offensive, whipped the war horses, and with long guns in hand, surged towards the front camp of the Shu army like a tidal wave.

  When they were less than a hundred meters away from the Shu army's camp, the soldiers on the tower finally discovered Mu Zhong Liao and his men. They hastily and anxiously beat the bronze gongs in their hands, shouting: "Enemy attack! Enemy attack!" Upon hearing the warning, the entire camp was thrown into chaos. Many soldiers didn't even have time to put on their clothes before grabbing their weapons and rushing out of their tents. By then, Mu Zhong Liao's cavalry had already charged into the camp, and in the flash of cold steel, several Shu soldiers clad in red were cut down.

  Taking advantage of the enemy's confusion, the Chu army came all the way to harvest a lot. Ten thousand people rushed into the camp and killed in all directions. In just one moment, the Shu army lost four or five thousand people. At this time, 40,000 infantrymen also followed closely behind and attacked the main camp. There were also a small number of archers among the infantrymen, whose main task was to eliminate the isolated and distant Shu soldiers.

  However, the Shu army soon stabilized its footing, and with the arrival of reinforcements, the Shu army gradually turned the tide. Tens of thousands of neatly dressed Shu soldiers began to surround Mu Zong's troops in a circle, while in the vast Shu military camp that stretched for tens of miles, the 50,000-strong force could only occupy a small part of it.

  The Shu army gathered from all sides, growing more numerous by the minute, while the Chu army began to suffer heavy casualties. Moreover, the Shu army deployed their archer flag and formed a battle array outside the circle. As soon as the opposing general gave the order: "Release arrows!"

  Tens of thousands of iron-headed arrows formed a rain of arrows that covered the sky and came face to face. The Chu army wielded their weapons with all their might, the infantry raised their shields to protect the cavalry behind them, but the density of the arrow rain far exceeded the range that the shields could defend against. Moreover, the cavalry rode war horses, which were much higher than the infantry, and they were all wearing soft armor, making them targets for the Shu army's bows and arrows.

  "Hoo-ah! Hoo-ah! Hoo-ah!" In the midst of the cavalry battle, over a thousand Chu army riders fell to their deaths in just one round of arrow fire. Mu Zhong Liao's heart was racing with anxiety as he spotted a large tent in the distance that stood out from the others. He thought to himself that it might be the enemy commander's headquarters. With his steel spear in hand, he shouted loudly to the soldiers beside him: "Follow me and charge!" and led the way towards the tent.

  A torrent of 50,000 men charging at a single point still had considerable force. After losing the lives of 200 soldiers, Mu Zhong Liao successfully led the remaining soldiers to break through the encirclement and saw his comrades falling one by one. Mu Zhong Liao's eyes were filled with tears, but this was not the time for hesitation. He wielded his steel spear in a flurry of motion, striking down two Shu soldiers who approached him on horseback, then galloped wildly towards his target.

  At this moment, the curtain of the tent suddenly opened, and a man in his thirties with a ferocious face and a scar from his forehead to his chin walked out. He was wearing a golden tiger armor and holding a square sky painting halberd, his eyes coldly staring at Mu Zhongliao who was rushing over.

  Mu Zhong Liao also spotted the opponent, thinking to himself that he was a fierce general. Without hesitation, he followed the momentum of his warhorse's charge, tightly gripping his steel spear with his arm pressed against his side, leaning forward and thrusting the spearhead, shining with silver light, straight at the golden armor of the opposing general.

  "Hmph! You think you can take on me, Zhang Heng, with your milk still wet on your lips? I'll send you to the afterlife right now!" As Mu Zhong Liao charged forward, Jin Jia Jiang didn't back down. With a fierce cry, he sank his legs and held the Fang Tian Hua Halberd horizontally across his chest. It seemed that he was going to use brute force to resist Mu Zhong Liao's charge, which was either extremely arrogant or fearless.

  "Right!"

  After the collision of the two weapons, Mu Zhongliao's war horse was struggling, its leg broken, and it had been shattered by the Golden Armor General. The war horse lost its balance and was about to fall over, but Mu Zhongliao took advantage of the momentum to leap off, landing steadily on the ground with his steel spear held in front of his chest, his eyes fiercely staring at his opponent.

  Zhang Heng also retreated a few steps, his tiger's mouth was also painful from the shock. At this moment, he stared at Mu Zhong Liao with a mixture of surprise and seriousness in his heart. The number one general of Shu Kingdom, born with boundless strength, could make him feel this way, there were not many people who could do so. He had put away his underestimation and started to carefully measure Mu Zhong Liao.