Chapter Ten You Are Mine

  Dust rolled, blocking out the sun, everyone was drenched in sweat, but their footsteps were perfectly synchronized. Except for the occasional commands to adjust formation, not a single unnecessary sound could be heard. Although the training had only lasted a few days, the results were truly satisfactory. Feeling extremely pleased and content, he walked calmly at the front of the troops, his elegant demeanor earning the admiration and envy of the soldiers.

  He was glad to have avoided the main road and instead took some less-traveled paths, reducing his risk of exposure. At the same time, he constantly sent out scouts five miles ahead to reconnoiter the surroundings.

  This time, apart from the two battalions of combat troops and 500 horses, Gao was not equipped with logistics personnel or supplies. All the soldiers only carried five days' worth of rations and a small amount of water, traveling lightly for long-distance training and wilderness survival.

  On the twenty-fifth day, in the late afternoon, Gaoxing led his troops into a forest fifty miles outside Shiliang City to rest. Although the mosquitoes in the forest were unusually rampant, making people shiver with fear, everyone reluctantly obeyed Gaoxing's orders despite their unwillingness.

  After arranging for the soldiers to rest and be on guard, Gao Zhan happily led a row of men on horseback, riding straight to Shiliang City.

  Dark clouds press down on the city, the city is about to collapse, mountain rain is coming and the wind is full of buildings.

  April 26th, outside Shiliang City.

  Forty thousand Qi troops and thirty thousand Chen troops faced off, separated by a few li, their banners and flags fluttering in the wind, forming a vast expanse of color that filled the sky above Shiliang City. The air was heavy with tension, as if it might solidify at any moment, making it hard to breathe.

  "A child of Eastern Wu, how dare you repeatedly offend the borders of Great Qi? Those who know what's good for them will quickly retreat, lest they lose their heads!" A rough voice rang out.

  The vanguard of the Qi army formed a line, and a general wearing magnificent armor rode his horse to the front of the line, looking at the Chen army's neat formation with disdain.

  "Haha……" A general emerged from the Chen army, his hair and beard all white, but with a ruddy complexion, his presence was solemn and dignified. He sat upright on horseback, his face stern and awe-inspiring without being angry. He laughed loudly for a while before continuing to speak:

  "Wei Po Hu, Gao Wei's young and foolish, acting against the will of heaven and men! He deserves to be punished! Moreover, this Jianghuai region was originally part of our Chen State's territory. You are lowly and shameless, taking advantage of the emptiness to occupy it. Now I am about to take it back!" His voice was like a bronze bell, loud and clear, echoing far and wide, full of energy.

  "Ah! Wu Mingche, don't boast here, let's see how the Japanese general will defeat you and take your dog head!" The main general of the Qi army, Wei Po Hu, shouted loudly and rode back into the formation.

  "Fool! You'll soon be begging for mercy on the battlefield, and I'll use your head to offer sacrifices to our army's prestige!" Wu Mingche retorted back with a sentence, also walking into the formation.

  "General, the Eastern Wu army has been attacking and capturing our strongholds one by one, their morale is high. Our troops have come from afar and are exhausted, we should think of a long-term strategy to counter them. We could either defend the city and wait for an opportunity to strike back, but in any case, it's not advisable to engage in a head-on battle with the enemy on the sandy battlefield!" A middle-aged general with a handsome and majestic appearance, slightly furrowed his brow and spoke sincerely to General Hu who had returned to the formation.

  "Wang Lin, are you afraid to advance because of your previous defeat at the hands of Eastern Wu? Our great Qi army has 40,000 strong and elite troops, and we also have 'Great Strength' as our invincible vanguard. What is there to fear from the mere 30,000 undisciplined troops of Eastern Wu? You'd better not speak further, otherwise I will punish you for disturbing the morale of the army!" General Hu glared at Wang Lin with dissatisfaction, looking at Chen's army with disdain, as if victory was already in his grasp, his tone leaving no room for doubt.

  Wang Lin wanted to say something else, but was stopped by another general beside him.

  "Where is the herald?" Wei Ba Hu shouted loudly.

  "Agreed!"

  "Beat the drum, Bone Chart leads the mighty troops out of the array to welcome the enemy!"

  The deep and loud cowhide drum "boom, boom, boom" sounded, shaking the ground violently. At this moment, General Hu drew his sword from his waist and held it high above his head. All the Qi army soldiers shouted loudly, "We must win! We must win! Kill, kill, kill!"

  A nearly two-meter-tall man with a robust build and a thick beard emerged from the formation. He was wearing only one piece of clothing, revealing muscular arms with bulging veins like small snakes twisting and turning. He had a birch bark bow on his back, with bone tips at both ends, and a quiver full of fine iron arrows hung at his waist. With his head slightly raised and a stride that devoured distance, he arrived at the front of the formation, his face filled with arrogance and disdain.

  Behind him, dozens of eight-foot-tall warriors with extraordinary strength, wearing leather armor and grasping steel knives, emerged in a steady stream. Each of their faces revealed a ferocious expression, yet they showed no fear as they charged into the 30,000-strong Chen army.

  There were some Western Hu people in the powerful team, each of whom was good at archery, and Goutu was one of the best among them, with no arrows missing their mark. The powerful team was extremely sharp, and Chen Jun's vanguard who came to fight was quickly killed by the Qi army, dozens of people died in an instant, and for a time, the Qi army's momentum was unstoppable. The morale of Chen Jun's soldiers, which had been high before, suddenly fell sharply, and the soldiers' faces all showed a look of horror.

  Wu Ming's eyes narrowed, looking at a middle-aged general beside him: "Yuan Yin, your talent is no less than Guan Yu and Zhang Fei. If you can kill that skilled archer of the Hu people, the morale of the Qi army will surely plummet, and our army will take advantage of the situation to launch a surprise attack, and a great victory can be expected!"

  "Just tell me what that barbarian looks like, and I'll definitely be able to get his head for the general!" The general named Yuan Yin loudly replied.

  Wu Ming Che received a surrendered Qi soldier and inquired about the appearance of Bone Graph. After learning that the barbarian was among the powerful troops, Wu Ming Che took a cup of wine and drank with General Yuan Yin. After drinking, General Yuan Yin rode out of the formation, charging alone into the Qi army.

  The skeleton saw a general rushing over, his heart filled with joy, shouting loudly as he arrived at the front of the troops. He drew his bow and nocked an arrow, ready to fire, but before he could react, a flying dart whizzing through the air pierced his forehead with a mournful whistle. The skeleton's eyes widened in shock, his face disbelieving, as he fell to the ground, dead.

  The skeleton died, and the brave warriors of Dalish did not fear, but instead ferociously surrounded the commander, only to be killed one by one. The Northern Qi army was shocked for a moment, and morale plummeted.

  "Kill!"

  Wu Mingche issued a timely order for the whole army to charge, and the two armies soon clashed in close combat. The sound of killing was like thunder, shaking the sky and earth, and the fierce killing intent seemed to disperse some of the thick dark clouds. Fresh blood soaked the ground, and the stench of gore filled the air, which could be smelled even within the Stone Bridge City several miles away.

  The army engaged in a large-scale battle, and what they were competing with was morale. Chen's army morale was high, their fighting spirit was high, and they advanced with loud songs, while the low-spirited Qi army soon showed signs of decline and retreated continuously.

  Watching the soldiers around him fall and retreat, Wei Wuhou's face grew increasingly ugly. The air of superiority he had shown earlier was nowhere to be seen. He kept shouting orders for the soldiers to charge forward, but he himself slowly retreated backward.

  As the army was about to collapse, Wei broke through and gave a "decisive and brilliant" order to retreat, then he ran first.

  Most of the Qi army was entangled with Chen's army, and the chaotic scene made it impossible to hear orders. Only a small part of the rear army followed Wei Ba Hu in fleeing. Wang Lin and another general shouted hoarsely, but to no avail.

  "Wei Pao Hu has fled, and the Qi army is defeated!" Seeing the Qi army's commander flag fleeing, Wu Ming Che led the Chen army to shout loudly.

  The army was defeated like a mountain collapse, the Qi army collapsed instantly, and it was impossible to stop Chen's army again. Chen's army followed up with an attack, crushing the Qi army like a slaughter.

  Zi* Jun's army fled in disarray, abandoning their armor and helmets, rushing down the road without a care. Wei Po Hu led the remaining defeated generals and soldiers, running for 40 miles until they crossed a floating bridge, only then did they breathe a sigh of relief. Just as he was about to reorganize his troops, he heard the sound of Chen* Jun's battle cry from behind, "Don't try to escape, Wei Po Hu! Capture Wei Po Hu alive and receive a reward of 10,000 taels of gold! Attack!"

  Wei Po Hu's heart was even more shocked and fearful, he loudly shouted: "Wang Lin, Changsun Honglie, originally I would have joined forces with your 10,000 soldiers, but you insist on swearing to die resisting the enemy!" After finishing speaking, Wei Po Hu didn't stay any longer, whipped his horse and fled, his urgent and hurried appearance was as if he wished his parents had given birth to two more legs.

  "General, our troops have all crossed the bridge, Chen's army is pursuing closely."

  A few hundred meters away from the floating bridge, Gao Xing sat on his horse, gently narrowing his eyes to look at the dense crowd running on the floating bridge in the distance, and excitedly licked his lips.

  "Report back to Commander Shang, proceed with the plan!" He said in a low and excited tone.

  The orderly messenger received the order and swiftly rode his horse towards the rear flank.

  When the whole army of Zhi had crossed the pontoon bridge, Gaoxing suddenly leaned forward, shook the reins in his hand and kicked the horse's belly with both feet. The horse let out a loud neigh and galloped away like an arrow leaving the bowstring, carrying Gaoxing with it.

  "Halt!" With a loud whoop, he galloped his horse to within over a hundred meters of the pontoon bridge, letting out a thunderous roar that was like a sudden clap of thunder on a clear day, almost deafening. The Chen army, which had just crossed the pontoon bridge in their thousands, were shocked into stopping in their tracks.

  "Who are you?" A tall and majestic general emerged from the crowd, his voice deep and powerful as he asked.

  "I am delighted, and who are you?" Delight asked loudly.

  "This General Xiao is Xiao Mochou, also known as Xiao Yuanyin. Little girl, quickly get out of the way, this general will spare your life!"

  Gaoxing was not angry at all, but instead smiled and said: "Are you Xiao Moye? I've heard that you're brave and powerful, the best among the three armies. Now it seems that seeing is not as good as hearing! Today, your head on your neck belongs to me!"

  Xiao Mohai flew into a rage, shouting: "You dare to look down on me? You're courting death!" As he spoke, he urged his horse forward, the flying dart in his hand at the ready.

  "Giddy up!" - With a joyful tug on the reins, the horse let out a pained whinny, reared up on its hind legs, and with eyes blazing with fury, let out a deafening roar that shook the air like thunder on a clear day.

  Several nearby soldiers were shocked to death on the spot. The fine horse under Xiao Mohai was even more unbearable, and it was frightened by this shock. Its hooves softened and fell to the ground, foaming at the mouth and dying suddenly. Xiao Mohai, who was unprepared, was thrown off his horse and fell face down in the dirt.

  Xiao Moye was about to get up from the ground, but felt a chill on his neck and stiffened. Xiao Moye looked up to see Gaoxing standing in front of him with a playful face, his long sword gleaming brightly as it rested on Xiao Moye's neck. The icy blade emitted a chilling killing intent that made Xiao Moye, still dizzy from Gaoxing's roar, sober up and dare not move carelessly.

  "Kill!" Just then, a loud shout came from the sky, Xiao Mohe followed the sound and looked over, his face changed drastically.

  Three miles away, dust and sand are flying, blocking the sky and sun. Faintly visible are countless cavalrymen wearing red military uniforms rushing towards this place at high speed.

  "The general will be captured, you and the others at this time do not surrender, what are you waiting for?" Gao Xing grabbed the acupuncture point on Xiao Mohe's waist, took a deep breath, and with a loud shout, directly lifted him up over his head, shaking him back and forth.

  The thousand or so people who had been crossing the bridge were already dizzy and disoriented from the thunderous cheers, their blood boiling with excitement. Now, seeing that reinforcements led by General Qi* were approaching and their commander was being taken alive, they couldn't help but feel a chill run down their spines. Those in front immediately dropped their weapons and knelt on the ground, trembling with fear.

  Chen Jun, who had not yet crossed the bridge, was shocked and stopped in his tracks. After a fierce battle, relying on their last bit of hot blood, they chased out for dozens of miles, their bodies and minds already exhausted. At this time, seeing the Qi army's reinforcements approaching, they couldn't help but feel some terror.

  "Kill!" - Wang Lin and Changsun Honglie led the Qi army to counterattack, and the Chen army did not dare to stay any longer. They turned around and ran away, with people shouting and horses neighing, causing great chaos. In an instant, the pursuing Chen army of 20,000 left behind nearly a thousand captives and nearly a thousand corpses trampled to death before escaping without a trace.