Chapter 8: Vanquishing the Defeated Army

  Lei Meng killed a group of disorganized soldiers at the city gate for a while, seeing that the Huangtian Army was completely unorganized, and then hid again.

  After more than ten minutes, Lei Meng saw Lin Chong leading the Jin Yuan army to pursue and kill the defeated Huan Tian soldiers. Lei Meng jumped out and fought for a while before joining forces with Lin Chong, entering the city of Huan Yue and continuing the pursuit, killing until the second half of the night. They captured over 2,000 Huan Tian soldiers before no longer finding any remnants of the Huan Tian rebel army. The Jin Yuan army suffered over 200 casualties but successfully took control of Huan Yue City!

  This is the effect of elite soldiers, this is also the effect of a strong surprise attack on the main general, and even more so the effect of a brave army against a defeated army, a one-sided slaughter!

  Dispatched personnel to guard the city walls and gates, the troops will rest and nurture their strength.

  The deputy commander who fled east of the bridge led 1,500 soldiers to surrender to Feng Feifan that night. After running 20 kilometers in the middle of the night, the troops slowed down and arrived at a dense forest hill, where they were ambushed by Yang Tian's 2,000 soldiers. More than 100 people escaped, more than 500 people died, and the deputy commander was also killed by Yang Tian with one knife in the chaos. The rest were captured.

  The next morning, Feng Feifan ordered the entire army to retreat 500 meters and set up camp, secretly mobilizing the 50,000-strong army to return to Huayue's city defense and clear the roads. The 50,000-strong army was led by Shangguan Wu'ai as the commander-in-chief, Lu Fei as the military strategist, and Qiu Sheng, who was injured, also followed along to recover from his wounds.

  The 50,000-strong army rushed to the White River in the afternoon and encountered a messenger soldier who came from the west bank to report. Knowing that Huáng Yuè was attacked, the generals led by Shàngguān Wúwèi were anxious and did not rest before ordering the entire army to advance to the west bank, arriving at midnight.

  That night, Feng Feifan was furious when he received the news of Huang Yue's attack and kicked two tables to pieces. After calming down, Feng Feifan had an idea to retreat: as long as they held on to Baihe, Baishan, and Hexi, it would be enough; they could slowly plot against Wujijun later. After all, Wujijun's supply line from Jin Yuan was too long, with great losses and easy to be attacked.

  In a certain city of Jin Yuan, Emperor Wang Ding and Wei Ming hid in a room. Wei Ming briefed him on the recent situation, saying that General Tong's 30,000 troops had been cut off by Huang Tian's general Feng Feifan and their whereabouts were unknown; however, it was known that Huanyue City had been raided, and it was estimated that they were responsible.

  Wang Ding looked out the window at the pitch-black night and sighed, "With Feng Feifan's army blocking the way, it will be difficult for them to return. If we try to rescue them, I'm afraid we'll only suffer more losses. Let them be worn down by Hao Tian instead, consuming some of Hao Tian's resources, and make their last contribution to Jin Yuan."

  "You're not afraid they'll defect?" Wei Ming asked with a slight frown.

  "Haha, don't worry about this. If Tongwen was going to concede, he would have done so long ago. Why wait until the last moment when it's clear he can't win and leave a bad name?" Wang Ding explained confidently.

  Wei Ming was silent and did not speak, as for judging a person's character or mind, he couldn't be sure.

  Another night passed, and Feng Feifan decided to retreat with his entire army to the three cities of Baihe, Hexi, and Baishan. Shangguan Wuwei also led a large army straight to Huanyue City, determined to seize it by force.

  Xu Guang's fearless army marched for over thirty kilometers, passing through a scattered field of crops and entering a continuous hilly area. At this time, the sun was shining brightly, the trees on the hills were lush, and birds could be heard chirping in the distance, carried by the gentle breeze, making people feel comfortable and relaxed.

  The mighty army stretched out like a long snake, winding through the mountain paths, frightening away flocks of birds. General Tong and Luoyang Tian's more than 20,000-strong army was hiding in the mountains, already bored to tears, and if it weren't for insufficient troops, they would have charged straight to the west bank long ago. Moreover, there were also rumors that Huan Yue had been captured, ordering the army to wait quietly for an opportunity to launch a surprise attack.

  The sentinel reported: "General Tong, a large number of heavenly soldiers are rushing this way."

  "Good!" Tong Dashuai was excited and ordered, "The whole army is waiting for orders, listen to the drumbeat and attack!"

  "Yes!" The surrounding generals also responded in a low and firm tone, - this was because they were afraid that the loud voice would be heard by the Haotian Army. - Their eyes were filled with bloodthirsty excitement.

  Yang Tian's two thousand soldiers were still lurking in the front of the Haotian Army, and upon receiving the information, everyone was excited beyond measure.

  Another half hour passed, and the army led by Shangguan Wuwei completely entered the mountain forest. The middle of the troops appeared in front of Tong Dashuai's ambush. Tong Dashuai shouted loudly: "Kill!"

  Following that, the mountains and fields were filled with cries of killing.

  "Kill him!"

  "Charge!"

  All around were the rustling sounds of tree branches and leaves, the shouts of "Charge!" from the Jin army, and the whizzing sound of arrows flying back and forth. The soldiers of the Huo Tian army were in a state of panic, using their swords and spears to defend themselves, while others fell to the ground with cries of pain after being hit by arrows. Amidst this chaos, Shangguan Wuwei, who was at the forefront of the battle, suddenly felt that the mountain path, which had been shaded by trees and slightly cool, had become gloomy and dark, and his head spun dizzily.

  How could this be? Jin Yuan's troops weren't fighting in Huanyue, how come there are so many here? Officer Wang Wuwei covered his head, only thinking helplessly.

  "Whoosh!" An arrow shot from the front towards Wuguan Wuwei's chest, Lu Fei saw that Wuguan Wuwei seemed to be dazed and wouldn't block it, so he quickly stepped forward and swept his sword to deflect it. Then two more arrows "whooshed" in, Lu Fei deflected them again, grabbed Wuguan Wuwei's right arm with his left hand and shook him vigorously, shouting: "General Wuguan! Order us to advance quickly, or we'll be surrounded and annihilated!"

  Shangguan Wuwei suddenly came to, looked around and saw the soldiers falling down and screaming, felt regretful in his heart, and hastily shouted: "The rear army should gather together to respond to the enemy! The front army should charge quickly!" He thought that if they could rush through the ambush area quickly, they would be able to regroup and face the enemy, because even if the Jin army was numerous, it would still be impossible to escape. Moreover, he had heard many birds chirping in the distance earlier...

  Lu Fei's eyebrows furrowed as he listened, charging forward like this would definitely result in countless deaths and injuries. And if there were any more ambushes ahead, they'd really be done for. But not charging meant they couldn't deploy properly on the spot, what a hassle...

  Although it seemed somewhat unwise, they still followed closely behind Shang Wuwei, with Jin Yuan soldiers almost all being knocked to the ground by Lu Fei's sword, and a bloody path was cleared, and many Huan Tian soldiers were also caught up from behind.

  They killed their way forward for more than 20 minutes, breaking through the ambush area. The soldiers of the Hengtian Army all let out a sigh of relief, thinking that they had finally escaped with their lives, and so ran even faster. ——The vanguard saw that there was an ambush early on and wisely ran forward.——Just after crossing a hillside, they came to a relatively flat mountain valley. Lu Fei keenly sensed that the surroundings were too quiet, with only the sound of the Hengtian Army's panting and talking, and hastily shouted: "Be careful! There is an ambush!" The soldiers were stunned by his shout, but suddenly heard the sound of "whooshing" coming from all directions. It turned out that they had indeed fallen into an ambush.

  Yang Tianyun exerted his strength and shouted loudly at the top of his lungs: "Charge! Wipe out the Huan Tian Army!" The sound shook the heavens, echoed through the mountains and valleys, causing the Jin Yuan soldiers' blood to boil with excitement, while the Huan Tian soldiers turned pale with fear!

  "Kill! Kill!......"

  The Jin army charged down from the mountain like a rainbow, heading straight for Shangguan Wuwei and the others.

  Shangguan Wuwei was stunned for a moment, then sighed secretly. This time, he feared that he would not be able to escape his fate. However, he refused to give up and ordered: "Counterattack! Counterattack! Kill the mother of one who is as elusive as a will-o'-the-wisp!" After finishing speaking, he drew his sword, stood upright, and charged forward. When encountering flying arrows, he deflected them; when encountering Jin soldiers, he stabbed them. For a time, no one could stop him, and together with Lu Fei and Qiusheng, who were closely following behind him, they cut through the enemy lines, advancing forward in a bloody path.

  Yang Tian stood at a high place, overlooking the entire situation. The Haotian army was being slaughtered and routed everywhere. Suddenly, he saw three people who were able to "go against the current", and he couldn't help but pay attention. Upon closer inspection, it turned out that they were several proud military officers. Hmm, if I kill these few people, I estimate that the Haotian army will also surrender. Yang Tian thought this way, then took two steps forward, drew his Tang knife, and charged towards the three people who were fighting fiercely.

  Shangguan Wuwei had just knocked down a Jin soldier when he suddenly felt a surge of murderous intent coming from his left upper corner, and his whole body broke out in goosebumps. He looked up to see a figure rushing towards him, swinging his sword at an angle upwards, but as soon as the sword was swung, it was pulled by an invisible force, followed by a roll, and swept away. The two men passed each other, and Shangguan Wuwei felt that his neck had been blown by a gust of wind, feeling a bit cool, and then something hot flowed out. He touched his right hand, and found it was fresh blood.

  "Ah~! Blood! My blood!" Shangguan Wuyi's mouth opened wide in a loud shout, but only his lips moved, his throat making "gurgling" sounds as no voice came out. Next, he felt his head start to spin and he rubbed his neck even harder, but no matter how hard he rubbed, he couldn't stop it, and soon fell to the ground.

  Lu Fei, standing behind Shangguan Wuwei, watched Yang Tian's series of movements descending from the sky and felt his scalp tingling. Could this be the kid who defeated Qiu Sheng? Even if it wasn't, with this one here, the other one must be nearby too. Retreat! Lu Fei made up his mind.

  Qiu Sheng felt numb in his arm when he saw Yang Tian, and the wound that was cut open last time had not healed yet.

  "Run!" Lu Fei and Qiu Sheng shouted in unison, then retreated several steps back, dodged a few soldiers, and rushed into the woods.

  Yang Tian saw the figure of Qiu Sheng and felt somewhat familiar, thinking back to the assassin, angrily wanting to show off his Xingxing swordsmanship, wanting to chase and kill him. However, by the time he turned around, those two had already been blocked by a figure and disappeared without knowing where they went.

  Yang Tian took a deep breath and thought, never mind, finishing off these soldiers is the priority. Right, some of these generals are dead, others have fled, hmm, it's time to gather our troops.

  He casually pulled over a Jin soldier who was fighting beside him, and with the same motion knocked down the Hua Tian soldier he was fighting. Pointing at the fallen Shangguan Wuwei, he shouted: "Cut off his head! Hold it up and follow me!"

  The soldier saw it was Yang Tian, and hastily ran to the front of the corpse of Shangguan Wu'ai, cut off his head, held it up and walked to Yang Tian's side.

  Yang Tian killed the surrounding Haotian soldiers, turned around to see his head raised, a smile at the corner of his mouth, and then shouted loudly towards the distance: "The leader of Haotian is dead! Those who surrender will not be killed!"

  All nearby soldiers were shaken by this sound, which was too loud and had too much penetration power, as if it could penetrate directly from the ears to the brain.

  Jin Yuan's soldiers came to their senses, and they shouted with wild joy: "Those who surrender will not be killed! Those who surrender will not be killed!" Although they said they wouldn't kill with their mouths, their hands didn't slow down. Whenever they saw a Huan Tian soldier who wasn't moving, they would swing their swords and stab them.

  Hao Tianbing came to his senses and was stunned, wondering if it was real. The nearby Hao Tianbing soldiers looked in the direction of the sound and indeed saw a person's head being held up, seemingly that of General Shang. Ah? Really dead? Run!

  The nearby Hawtian soldiers saw the head, and in a panic, they all ran out. The timid ones fell to the ground. Then, the words "General Shang is dead" spread like a plague among the Hawtian soldiers; and since these words were not refuted by General Shang's shout, it made the Hawtian soldiers even more convinced that General Shang was dead, and thus the Hawtian army faced collapse.

  Lin Chong saw that Yang Zhi's sentence was useful, and upon hearing the news of "Commander-in-Chief has died", he shouted loudly: "The Commander-in-Chief is dead, those who surrender will not be killed!"

  The Jin army around him also followed and shouted: "Those who surrender will not be killed! Those who surrender will not be killed! …… The distant Tong Da Shuai heard it and also shouted the same.

  The cries of the collapsing heavens rose and fell, frightening the already crumbling morale to thoroughly disperse. The soldiers of the Imperial Army dropped their weapons in hand, raised their hands and knelt on the ground, some even kneeling and crying out: "Don't kill me! Don't kill me! I have an elderly mother above, a wife and children below..."

  Tong Dashuai saw that the Huan Tian army had surrendered, so he ordered his men to tie up all the surrendered soldiers. In the process, some of the soldiers vented their anger and killed many more. After the battle, it was counted that over 5,100 Jin Yuan soldiers had died, while countless Huan Tian soldiers had been killed, with no time to count them. Those who fled could not be accounted for either. Indeed, killing a thousand enemies would result in injuring eight hundred of one's own troops. Even if they launched a surprise attack, there would still be many casualties. Fortunately, over 12,000 prisoners were captured.

  Hurry up and sweep the floor clean, the sun will set soon.

  Tong Dashuai, Luoyang Tian and Qin Hao were all covered in blood. They laughed as they gathered around Yang Tian, who was not stained with blood, and ate some food by the fire pit. Tong Dashuai asked Yang Tian, "Yang Tian, what should we do with these captives? We don't have much to eat anymore."

  "Kill them? I can't do it." Yang Tian shook his head and denied immediately.

  Everyone who heard this sensitive food issue furrowed their brows in contemplation. Letting them go was not an option, as they would pick up their swords and come back to kill us again; keeping them wasn't enough to feed them either, besides, why should we keep them?

  At this time, Mr. Wen suddenly appeared from somewhere and said: "It's impossible to go back to the west of the river, why not go to Huan Yue first? Lei Hong is there."

  Everyone's eyes lit up, and there was still another place to go.

  "Good! Then advance towards Huangyue tonight!" General Tong gave a decisive order for the whole army to move forward.

  In the middle of the night, they arrived at the broken bridge on the opposite side of Huáng Yuè City. Everyone was stunned and had forgotten that the bridge on this side had been burned down. How were they supposed to get across? Swim past? They would probably drown... Alas, it's better to wait until dawn to make a plan.

  Everyone was at a loss as to how to cross the White River and had to stop on the riverbank, after all it was almost dawn.

  Yang Tian and Tong Da Shuai said: "I'll go to the city to find Lei Meng to think of a solution, we'll cross the river tomorrow." After finishing speaking, Yang Tian ran several steps towards the riverbank, then jumped into the water with a splash, followed by a few loud splashing sounds, before disappearing without a sound, causing the people around him to worry for a while. However, thinking about Yang Tian's abilities, they didn't bother anymore and went to sleep one after another.

  Yang Tian crossed the White River and exercised to speed up the drying of his clothes. As he ran, he exercised, and by the time he had secretly climbed onto the city wall, his clothes were dry.

  He slipped into the city master's mansion, which had several lit lamps, and searched for several rooms, but couldn't find it. Just as he was about to sit down on the stone slab in the small courtyard in frustration, a "heh heh" laughter came from his left side. He was startled and quickly rolled out to the right, tumbling out four meters away. Suddenly, he remembered that this laughter sounded very familiar.

  "Ah! Leiming! How come you didn't sleep and ran to my side!" Yang Tian was furious, turning his body in the dim light to see a familiar figure, and couldn't help but stretch out his right hand to poke Leiming's nose and scold him.

  Lei Meng rubbed his own nose and said with a smile: "My nose doesn't have shit. What are you pointing at?"

  "Uh..." Yang Tian hastily withdrew his pointing hand, feeling embarrassed and at a loss.

  "Hehe ~, you all came to the other side of the river, if I didn't know that, I would have been finished long ago." Lei Meng said with a smile.

  "Let's get down to business. How are we going to cross the river and what should we do with these captives?" Yang Tian asked straightforwardly, as both matters were urgent.

  This is a headache, burning bridges was originally intended to prevent the army from crossing the river easily. Lei Meng scratched his head and said: "As for these captives, it's definitely not possible to release them, that would be releasing tigers back into the mountains. As for keeping them, we don't have the resources. Why don't we try to recruit them instead? If they can't be recruited, then get rid of them, and let them live but not fight." Lei Meng lightly decided on how to deal with these captives, leaving Yang Tian stunned, he didn't expect Lei Meng to so calmly decide their fate.

  "You don't think this is a game, do you?" Yang Tian asked in surprise, thinking of Game Boy.

  "Cut it, you think this is a game. I'm a scientist, being rational." Lei Meng glanced at Yang Tian and said calmly, "Besides, I also have some confidence in persuading those captives."

  "How can I convince you? Tell me and let me think about it carefully?" Yang Tianxing was full of confidence.

  "This secret can't be leaked, tomorrow when the time comes you'll know. Lei Meng grinned and said, "As for crossing the river, there's no good solution, just find a few more hemp ropes, grab them to cross, drag them to cross, or slide across, it's all possible. Although it's slower, at least we can still cross the river. If it were easy to cross rivers, wouldn't military books say that rivers are a good opportunity for ambushes?"

  Yang Tian suddenly petrified: I knew this method long ago, but I thought there would be a better way, and didn't think it was still such a stupid idea.

  "Whatever, I'm going to bed. I'm tired," he said with a sigh, yawning and entering an empty room.

  Lei Meng shrugged and walked into the room behind him.