Chapter 45 Chaos

  In fact:

  In fact, I was so scared that I couldn't move, my mind went blank, and the soldiers who were desperately trying to protect me in front of me were torn to pieces, flesh and blood flying everywhere, a brutal and merciless scene. Even the emperor's guards who arrived later were beaten back with blood spitting out. They had already broken through the encirclement and rushed to my side. The intimidation of being stared at by a large carnivorous beast once again solidified my remaining strength to escape.

  Then I said another unremarkable phrase "What a big hammer", and a huge black shadow shrouded my vision, is it going to end like this? My eyes went dark, and I almost fainted. Alas, how unwilling I am! Oh, the countless ancient beauties in this world who have not yet met me, the ideal of Xiangmou's family finding a group of old wives to mix and eat until death... The younger brother of Bái, Jiànníng Wáng, still owes me money that hasn't been returned. If I had known how unlucky I would be, I would have found an opportunity to "kill first and report later" and devour Xiè Wén. And the thing being kept by little girl, wouldn't it be swallowed? A big mess of unfinished thoughts surged through my mind like a tidal wave.

  It's said that when people are on the verge of life and death, they can tap into an unexpected reservoir of strength. It seems like I'm experiencing that right now, as the long-lost feeling of being struck by lightning is back. A hot current is coursing through my limbs, making me feel like screaming and jumping wildly, but my hands and feet are still heavy and immobile. Just as a massive hammer is about to come into close contact with my head in slow motion, something strange happens. I see his face contort for a moment, and then I feel a wave of relief wash over me, releasing the numbness and heaviness from my body. At the same time, he freezes in place, his expression twisted in pain, and lets out a low growl. His body begins to convulse and contort, foaming at the mouth, before collapsing to the ground. The hammer slips from his grasp, barely missing me by a hair's breadth, and I don't even notice as it whizzes past my nose, causing blood to flow freely. With a loud crash, the nearest guard is struck, losing half of his body along with his weapon.

  All this happened in an instant, and the crowd didn't understand what was happening, but the soldiers saw it as an opportunity and immediately rushed up to pin him down with knives and guns. As soon as I regained my strength, I hastily retreated a few steps. Looking at the soldiers who were pressing forward, they nailed his hands and feet to the ground with hatred, and a hint of triumph appeared on their faces. It seems that the great merit of capturing the enemy general cannot be escaped.

  The recent events left me dazed and confused, my whole body aching as if I'd been beaten all over. I wanted to call for help, but before I could, I heard a commotion behind me. Turning around, I saw the guy who had just been lying there like a dead dog suddenly spring up, his body covered in dozens of knives and guns. Ignoring his own injuries, he dragged out dozens of blood-soaked swords and began firing wildly at the soldiers on either side of him. Blood sprayed everywhere as he pounced on me, catching me off guard and pinning me down. In the midst of the chaotic shouting, I felt my body suspended in mid-air, seeing stars before my eyes. The strange sensation from earlier had vanished without a trace, leaving me gasping for breath, my head about to burst open, and my neck feeling like it was about to snap. As I struggled futilely in mid-air, my hand brushed against the icy hilt of a sword at my waist. With a surge of adrenaline, I yanked out the sword and began wildly slashing forward. My vision grew increasingly blurry, but just as suddenly, the dark sky seemed to clear up, and a warm, crimson liquid splattered all over my face, instantly turning my field of vision red. As I crashed to the ground, dazed and disoriented, only one thought echoed in my mind: "I killed him."

  I took a deep breath, and only then did I realize that my whole body was drenched in sweat, even the soles of my feet were warm. Never had I been so close to death, and in that instant, the warmth seemed to burst open a floodgate in my heart, unleashing a torrent of dark emotions - excitement, murderous intent, terror... For a long time, my mind was a jumble, the entire world bathed in a crimson hue, as I stared blankly at the people rushing over to ask after me, busily cleaning up the aftermath. No matter what they said, it all sounded like a cacophony, and I couldn't concentrate, nor move, nor hear clearly - only my own pounding heartbeat remained. All I remember is that the prince came bounding over, beaming with delight and admiration, saying something that sounded like praise, but even when I didn't have time to bow, he just smiled and left.

  Then, after a tug-of-war, I gradually came to my senses. But what I saw was Xiao Bai emotionally agitated, directing several old men who were still touching me all over, with tears welling up in his eyes. Suddenly, I felt a surge of anger and gave him a good scolding, sending him flying to the side. Dammit, two grown men meeting for the first time and you're already touching each other all over, and you even look like Xiao Bai's face, I don't want people to misunderstand that we have some kind of special relationship.

  I've just realized that all the generals under my command are injured, but they can't seem to care about treating their wounds. They're surrounding me with concern and urgency on their faces. Seeing that I'm fine, they finally look relieved.

  Wait for me to clean up the scene, re-raise the account and discuss matters, ask about what happened later, only then did I know that the enemy general had charged into the central army's big tent without any resistance, entangling and killing each other, almost all of our troops were shaken, abandoning their lines and leading their troops to rescue. If the enemy took advantage of the situation to break through at that time, or followed up with a counterattack, it would have been possible for our army to pay a heavy price. However, at that time, the enemy also had serious problems, lacking a mainstay, the remaining enemy forces were only fighting separately on the spot, lacking flexibility and adaptability. Seeing the changes in the central army, they also rushed towards my central army, the two armies entangled together in the same direction, but instead hindered each other's actions. As a result, it was still Gao Dafu's troops that arrived, giving the remaining enemy their final blow.

  This delay, waiting for the main force to return to the central army, saw a piece of corpses scattered all over the ground, the large account was gone, and the shadow of each person could not be seen. The urgent generals searched everywhere for me, but couldn't find me. Many of the corpses were unrecognizable, and they thought I would take the blame. However, after hearing a big commotion in the back mountain, they finally found where I was. It was also a scene of carnage, with many headless corpses around me. I sat still, covered in blood, unaware of life or death. They felt my pulse and were relieved to find it beating. The prince came to visit me, but found that I had lost consciousness. Xiao Bai called the imperial physician to examine me, but they couldn't find any cause for my condition. Xiao Bai was so anxious that he didn't care about his elegant image, and almost had people drag me out to be executed. It wasn't until I recovered that they stopped.

  After searching for the spoils of war, they realized that this battle was really a tragic defeat.

  The five armies in front and back, left and right, all suffered heavy losses. Among the battalions and regiments that were still intact, there were only two or three. The lower-level units, artillery, and other troops had lost entire formations. More than half of the newly promoted officers from the rank of lieutenant colonel down had died in battle. Especially among the old-timers, 17 senior officers above the rank of lieutenant colonel had been killed, and 25 wounded. The worst-hit were those from the original Northern Army system, who had thought they would be safe being stationed in the rear. But when the enemy general arrived, they found themselves at the forefront of the battle. Among the five "tigers" (top generals), two were dead and one was wounded. During military meetings, there were suddenly many young new faces under the command tent.

  While sweeping the battlefield, just counting the enemy's heads yielded over 7,000, and there were those trampled by the thousands of horses and soldiers that could no longer be identified. Such a unit is too terrifying, with almost all the main generals dead, surrounded by death, yet still refusing to retreat or surrender, fighting to the end, taking many lives from our army. In the end, Wei Tao ordered his troops to surround but not attack, calling up the remaining archers to shoot one by one, finally putting down these madmen.

  After a bitter fight, I barely won, but my troops were severely damaged. Everyone's physical and mental strength had reached the limit, exhausted soldiers lay scattered on the ground, their tired faces still savoring the feeling of being alive. If only a few hundred more cavalrymen came to reinforce us, they would be enough to wipe out this army that was filled with wounded and exhausted men who had lost all morale and energy.

  On the visible mountain slope, grayish-yellow dust still floated in mid-air, with corpses scattered all over the slope, a gruesome sight, with severed limbs entwined together, stretching far and wide, under the eerie and mournful glow of the blood-red sunset.

  Almost no captives were taken, and the surrounded enemy forces fought to the end. From a few intact living mouths knocked unconscious by Gao Da at the first time, we learned more details about our enemies. The ambushed troops were the Lu Long Army's You Yan Iron Cavalry, who were famous for their good fighting skills and made the Khitan, Shiwei and other foreign tribes gnash their teeth in anger and fear them like tigers. No wonder they gave our army a hard time.

  While deep in thought, I suddenly heard the unique voice of Gao Lishi outside, "Your Majesty has arrived." Hurriedly, I went out to welcome him and pay my respects. Surrounding that emperor, the people around us looked at him with a mixture of shock and even more reverence. Who would have thought that this normally careless and weak-looking man would show such extraordinary bravery in times of crisis? With thousands of soldiers and horses charging forward, he remained calm and composed, suddenly beheading the enemy general. (Of course, not many people saw this process, and those who knew about it are almost all dead now. I was so shocked that my face twitched and my expression froze.) Even an old man secretly told his son, "My child, it is in times of crisis that heroes reveal themselves. Charging forward fearlessly amidst thousands of soldiers and horses, this is the true spirit of a great general. You should get closer to him."

  And I saw another thing in the expression of the old emperor and the prince, excitement, absolutely irrepressible excitement, probably because it was the first time they had personally experienced the cruel slaughter on the battlefield.

  Now I'm covered in blood, let alone others, the old emperor seemed to be oblivious, stepped forward and personally helped him up, praising "Good Liang Rong, good brave generals who exhaust their minds and strive for the first place! If everyone were like you, how could the rebels not be destroyed? Come on, give rewards!" Although there is a bit of showmanship, it's also moving.

  Although I was furious at the Emperor for coming out and causing a commotion, which nearly got me killed, I still had to say some official words about not protecting him well enough and letting him get shocked. Then, with a heavy heart, I requested that he think of the country and the people and not take risks again. However, the old Emperor's reaction was unexpected - although he had experienced many things, it was clearly his first time seeing such an intense battle scene up close, and when he heard my words, he was visibly excited and thrilled. On the spot, he promoted all the generals and officials by one rank, and rewarded all the soldiers, making people sigh in amazement - indeed, being an official near the Emperor is a good way to get promoted!

  To be honest, I'd say this war was a complete mess, and there's really nothing worth praising. On the contrary, there were many obvious flaws and shortcomings, and luck played a big role in our victory. The fact that the enemy general managed to break through to our central army and start killing and burning, only to be defeated by me, is probably the best illustration of this. But still, we won, and it's clear that most people, including the old emperor, only saw this one point. That's enough. To be honest, they also needed a victory like this, no matter how it came about.

  Among the flattering voices of "Your Majesty's destiny is at hand" and "The day of your overthrow is imminent", the emperor took off another jade pendant and threw it to me, causing the people around him to look on with a mixture of shock, admiration, and envy. It seems that this treasure is also very valuable. Even the usually calm and composed Crown Prince couldn't help but change his expression slightly, and then smiled lightly as if nothing had happened. It seems that this thing is not just an ornament, perhaps it has some special meaning.

  In an atmosphere of deep emotional resonance between monarch and minister, I wisely adapted to the situation and spoke with great righteousness and grandeur, uttering a lot of noble but empty words. This left some insiders in awe, remarking that this dignitary not only knew how to lead troops into battle, but also grasped opportunities and knew how to interact with people - his future prospects were boundless!