Chapter 23: The Unlucky Huang Fa

  However, the official in charge of grain supplies, Huang Fa, sent out three batches of troops, but five days passed and there was no news of grain supplies arriving, nor even any word from the soldiers he had dispatched.

  As the general of the desert camp, with no grain and grass arriving from the rear, and his second batch of soldiers not returning with any news, Huang Fu understood that the enemy had broken through their **, penetrated deep into the rear, destroyed the grain road, and captured and killed the people he had sent.

  What Huang Fa was worried and puzzled about was that the last 1,500 people he sent out were divided into two groups, going to Guangling in the south and Shiliang City in the southwest for help. However, after two days passed, there was still no news coming back.

  Huang Faqu was very confident that under his eyelids, it was absolutely impossible for more than 2,000 enemy troops to sneak into the rear without being discovered. Only highly mobile cavalry could achieve such a swift massacre of the soldiers he had sent out. In the information he received, Wang Lin did not have cavalry at his disposal, and the most elite cavalry of Qi, who had followed Emperor Xiaowen of Northern Wei in battle, were all guarding the imperial capital of Ye.

  The 1,500 men sent out by Huang Faqian for the third time were his most elite warriors, all of whom had been seasoned in battle and were skilled at fighting one against three. These thousand men moved in two directions, clearly aware that an enemy was lurking in ambush, yet they were all killed without exception, with not a single survivor. Huang Faqian sent troops to search the area within a radius of 40 miles, but no signs of combat were found.

  According to the yellow law, the enemy's number is not many, about a thousand people. Whether the enemy is killing himself one by one or ambushing and killing separately, the enemy's combat effectiveness and military quality are quite frightening.

  Huang Fa's heart couldn't help but feel some regret, if from the start he had launched a fierce attack on Yangping without regard for cost, perhaps after only one month he would have already stepped onto the city walls of Yangping. However, because he was afraid that his own army's advance was too fast, too deep, and the newly occupied territories lacked powerful forces to intimidate, leading to rebellions, so for three months his attacks were not strong, mostly just putting immense psychological pressure on Northern Qi. Yet unexpectedly, now he had fallen into such a predicament.

  If Huang Fahu had 50,000 soldiers under his command, he would not be so worried, but now he is short-handed. Three months of consumption, although the loss was relatively small due to the slow offensive, nearly 10,000 generals fell under Yangping City.

  Excluding the nearly two thousand people who went to seek supplies and disappeared, Huang Fa now has less than twenty thousand soldiers in his hands. If there were abundant food and grass in the army, he could have broken through Yangping City in at most two days. As for the small number of enemies behind him, they are just a minor illness. With Yangping City, it would be easy to capture them, like taking a turtle from a jar.

  However, this can only be Huang Fa's expectation and intention. At present, there are only two roads in front of him: either to fight with all his might and capture Yangping City before the grain and grass are exhausted, or to retreat and then make another plan.

  Considering the current morale of the soldiers and civilians in Yangping City, the intensity of resistance is extremely high. With less than 20,000 soldiers, it would be extremely difficult to capture the city within three days. If they fail, this army of 20,000 will instantly disintegrate.

  If they retreat, it will greatly dampen the morale of Chen's Northern Expedition Army and may also affect the development of other battles.

  In the grand and majestic hall, Huang Fa was pacing back and forth non-stop. His eyebrows were tightly furrowed, and the dim yellow light cast an eerie glow on his somewhat aged face. In his left hand were 200,000 lives, in his right hand was the nation's grand ambitions. Which one was lighter, which one was heavier? His heart was constantly struggling, his facial expression changing incessantly.

  "If we fail, we'll die with honor! Wang Lin, I, the General, will offer your head on a platter to the spirits of our fallen soldiers!" Suddenly, Huang Fa stopped in his tracks, his face turned stern, and he muttered to himself with an aura of killing intent. His eyes emitted an exceptionally fierce glow, his fists clenched tightly, and his gritted teeth crackled with a faint noise. Clearly, he had chosen to go all out, staking everything on a desperate assault on Yangping City.

  Huang Fa decided to no longer be troubled, just as he lay down on the couch preparing to rest, a shrill cry for help rang out: "Enemy attack! Enemy attack——"

  Huang Fa's face changed colour in shock, and he jumped down from the bed, rushing hastily towards the outside of the tent. The camp was in an uproar, with the sound of officers shouting and reprimanding the troops to get into formation, their voices blending together in a cacophony. Although the scene was somewhat chaotic, these soldiers were well-trained on a daily basis, so they didn't seem particularly panicked at this time.

  "General, someone has raided our camp." Huang Fahu had just stepped out of his tent when the deputy general rushed up to report.

  "Who is it? How many?" Huang Fa asked in a low voice.

  "It's cavalry! The sky is too dark, can't see how many people there are!" Deputy General shouted.

  "Don't panic, follow me and kill the enemy!" Huang Fa shouted loudly, issuing orders as he quickly rushed towards the chaotic scene.

  When Huang Fu arrived at the scene, he could only hear the sound of horseshoes and see the enemy disappear into the darkness, leaving behind more than 30 corpses, but not a single one was that of an enemy.

  These soldiers all died under the arrows, Huang Fahu gazed quietly at the corpses on the ground, looking at the feathered arrows deeply embedded in the bodies of Chen's army officers, his face gloomy as if he was about to lower his head into the water.

  After a long time, Huang Fa raised his head, and a smile actually appeared on his face. He said in a loud voice: "Everyone doesn't have to worry, but should be happy instead. Wang Lin is so desperate that he only sent 100 people to raid the camp, isn't this a joke? This just shows that Yangping City is now extremely empty, and the day of breaking the city is not far away. General Wang, add more manpower to keep watch, and let everyone else go back to rest well. Tomorrow, launch a general attack, and we must take down Yangping City in one fell swoop!"

  Deputy general received the order, Huang Faqiang took another look at the arrows stuck in the ground and on Chen Jun's dead body, nearly a hundred arrows, then turned around and left, but his mood was somewhat heavy.

  More than twenty miles away from Chen Jun's large camp, about a hundred black-clad knights stood quietly in the night, like a statue, without any movement. The leader had a green-faced and fang-toothed mask on his face, which was particularly frightening under the faint starlight, and it seemed that no one would be happy to see him come.

  The sound of "da-da" came, with some urgent and muffled hoofbeats, at the same time a joyful scene appeared, nearly a hundred swift cavalrymen rushed over.

  "General." The hundred riders came to a stop five meters in front of him, their horses' hooves making no sound on the ground. Upon closer inspection, it could be seen that all the riders had bits made of bamboo in their mouths, and all the horses' four hooves were tightly wrapped with cotton cloth.

  "How is it? Is anyone hurt?" Gao Xing asked.

  "We followed General's orders and did not get too close to Chen's army camp, we just shot a round of arrows and then retreated in a hurry. Unfortunately, only thirty or forty enemies were killed!" Shang Bu still had a hint of regret in his tone.

  "Hey, you're quite greedy!" He exclaimed with a laugh before continuing, "As long as no one was hurt, our goal of disrupting the enemy is achieved, and that's what matters. It doesn't matter how many enemies we killed. Unless you didn't vomit enough that day?" The last sentence had a hint of teasing in his tone.

  The rest of the soldiers all smiled kindly, making Shang Budu feel his face burning with shame, and he couldn't help but cast angry warning glances at the laughing soldiers. Unfortunately, perhaps due to the darkness, no one saw Shang Budu's expression, and the laughter didn't stop.

  Seven days ago, they were all first-time killers. After the hot blood in their hearts cooled down, the cruel and bloody battlefield made them feel sick to their stomachs, and the fear of killing surged up, making everyone extremely uncomfortable, vomiting wildly.

  But strangely, after a lively tune of "Lullaby" the next day, everyone miraculously recovered, and the shadows in their hearts also faded a lot, and they no longer had much aversion to killing.

  All this is due not only to the gentle and soothing melody of "Lullaby", but mainly because of the joyful performance of the singer.

  In his past life, due to the Buddhist pendant made of unknown material hanging in front of his chest, he had studied a lot of Buddhist scriptures with great enthusiasm. He was also very familiar with some Buddhist scriptures and mantras. On that night when he sang, he used his true energy to imitate some Buddhist aura, which did have a significant help in cleansing the evil spirits and obstacles from people's minds.

  Recently, there was accurate news about Zhang Shun's victory. With great joy, he led a thousand cavalrymen in a frantic rush east and west, completely annihilating the people sent by Huang Fa. Except for over a hundred men who were severely injured and unable to fight for a short period of time, not a single person died. This was all thanks to Gao Xing's improved crossbow arrows and bow arrows, as well as his strict training.

  "Alright, stop laughing, be careful or I'll give you an extra serving when we get back and make you all work harder!" he said with a happy smile.

  The laughter of all the soldiers suddenly stopped, and they looked at Shang Buqi with some suspicion. Shang Buqi was both amused and annoyed, didn't know what to say, just hummed a sound, then rode his horse to stand behind Gao Xing.

  Not long after, a hundred riders returned, just like Shang Buqi, they were also loyal to the exciting order, only releasing a round of arrow rain, killing a few people and then rushing back.

  The soldiers of Yangping City's Chen* army were all feeling extremely frustrated, with an urge to curse their mothers. It was already late at night, but the enemy came in waves to launch a surprise attack, only to retreat hastily without even firing a shot.

  They really wanted to beg those black armored cavalrymen to slow down their footsteps, not to walk so swiftly and elegantly, taking away a cloud of arrows but leaving behind a hundred feathered arrows.

  As the sky was getting brighter, it was about to dawn, but Chen's military officers and men were still nervous and dared not relax in the slightest. Those despicable raiders had not stopped for a whole night, and had come to launch a surprise attack on the camp with their cavalry. If it were daytime, these hundred cavalrymen would pose no threat to them, but at night it was different.

  Chen Jun did not dare send troops to pursue, fearing that they would fall into the enemy's trap. However, passive defense was also extremely difficult.

  The first three batches of cavalry raided the camp, with only half an hour in between. For Chen's army, which had been on high alert for many times, it did not cause much damage. Just as they thought they had grasped the enemy's rhythm, an hour passed, but there was no sign of the enemy. Half an hour later, just when Chen's army was overjoyed that the enemy was not coming and relaxed their vigilance, the enemy came again.

  This time, however, the enemy attacked from all sides, causing Chen Jun's nerves to tense up again. Similarly, the enemy left them with that beautiful back view. The interval between the enemy's attacks seemed to have a regular pattern, when you defended according to it, the enemy didn't come, and when you relaxed, he appeared just in time. Throughout the night, Chen Jun's soldiers' nerves remained in a state of high tension.

  The darkest moment before dawn, the most dangerous moment, is also when people are most tired. The enemy has indeed come again.

  During the daytime siege, these Chen* troops were already extremely exhausted. This night, they were nervous and couldn't sleep, and now they were even more physically and mentally exhausted. When they heard the sound of horseshoes ringing out in unison, everyone suddenly became alert and excitedly rushed towards the attackers, wanting to teach those annoying guys a good lesson.

  However, when Chen's troops excitedly shot arrows at the invaders, they suddenly discovered that the enemy was actually outside their own bow and arrow range, while their side was suppressed by the dense feathered arrows of the enemy and couldn't even lift their heads.

  Of course, with the presence of a professional crossbowman, the composite bow used by the Mongolian cavalry across Eurasia is superior to Chen's army in terms of range and lethality. This is also the reason why Chen's army cannot harm any cavalry.

  When Chen Jun dodged the arrows in a flurry, a heart-trembling buzzing sound arose, followed by the dense and piercing whistling sounds like fine rain, then the cries of agony erupted from their own camp, while the enemy retreated once again without any hesitation.