Chapter 98: Competition
Chapter 98
At the entrance of 'Bu Luo Jian', the Dawei Army was caught off guard by the sudden arrival of the Daye Army behind them. At this point, their roles had changed - from 'butchers' to lambs on the chopping block.
After slaying all the soldiers of the Dawei Army who were still inside the entrance one by one, some surviving soldiers of the Daye Army who were still alive by chance in the valley started rushing out of the exit one by one.
The next focus was to deal with the enemy troops on the cliff.
Gong Xiaohua's squad still had 10,000 men. Among them, there was only one surviving infantry commander. He and Gong Xiaohua each led a team and split their troops in two to charge towards the top of the cliff.
On the thousands of miles long cliff, there were thousands of trebuchets lined up in a long line on the edge of the cliff.
On each side of the cliff, the Dawei Army worked systematically - the ones in front kept throwing rocks down incessantly, while those behind kept carrying rocks up the mountain peak unceasingly.
Next to the trebuchets, large amounts of Greek fire were also stored. Apparently when there were no rocks to throw, they would instead throw Greek fire down the cliff and shoot arrows with fire at them. Meeting the large amount of Greek fire resulted in a huge explosion with flames shooting to the sky. Any soldiers not killed by the rocks would be burned alive by the big fire.
Especially from above the cliff, the shrill wails from below accompanied by the echoes in the valley were endless. It was extremely miserable.
The eyes of every soldier of Daye had turned red. At this moment, Gong Xiaohua was standing at the very front with blood all over her face, showing no expression. One could only feel a murderous aura permeating from her entire body. She picked up her twin blades and rushed towards the front to lead the charge.
Seeing this, the soldiers behind her followed closely and charged desperately forward one by one, once again engaging in a life and death battle with the enemy.
Below the valley:
"The rocks and Greek fire have stopped!" The soldiers of the Daye Army suddenly cheered happily.
"Retreat! Retreat!" Gao Hu scrambled up from under several warriors wielding knives and shields, no longer having the will to fight. He retreated while shouting loudly.
Seeing the general retreat like this, everyone followed and retreated with him.
"Second brother, watch me go slay the gutless and unworthy General Wuwei of Daye!" Seeing Gao Hu retreat, the Third Prince quickly rode on a horse with his men to chase after the enemy commander.
Seeing his younger brother gallop off to chase the enemy commander, the Second Prince pondered and ordered: "Come, send someone to see what is the situation on top of the cliff!"
"Yes!"
Not long after:
"Reporting to the Second Prince, the Daye Army has attacked and reached the mountaintop. Also, the entrance of 'Bu Luo Jian' has been breached by Daye. General Wan is dead."
"How can this be? There were over 30,000 men there, while Daye had at most 20,000 men who hadn't entered the valley.
He had set an ambush with the most men at the entrance, precisely to annihilate all the soldiers of Daye who hadn't entered the valley. He wanted the entire Daye Army to be wiped out.
"I heard, I heard there was someone from the enemy troops who shot and killed General Wan from a hundred meters away with a small knife, leading to the soldiers losing morale and fleeing chaotically one by one."
"That can't be. Which enemy commander was it?"
"Reporting to the Second Prince, it was not a commander, only...only an ordinary soldier." The scout said more and more softly, afraid the prince would be furious and behead him on the spot.
"Ha, an insignificant little soldier was actually able to break a main force of my army and cause such heavy losses. What a pity this Daye's system is rotten to the core that someone so capable is only a common soldier."
"How many men do they have left on the mountaintop?"
"5,000 each at two places, 10,000 total."
Just as he finished speaking, miserable screams sounded again from the valley.
"Second brother, it must be our men defeating the enemies on top of mountain."
But not long after, thousands of arrows tipped with Greek fire shot towards them one after another.
"Shieldbearers!" The general by the Second Prince's side shouted anxiously.
But before the shields were raised, a large amount of rocks came crashing down towards them.
"Second Prince, it is clear the left mountaintop has been breached by the enemy. This place is dangerous. I will send men to escort you to retreat first."
"You fool, first send men to rescue the Third Prince!" The Second Prince's expression drastically changed as he ordered the subordinate beside him.
"Yes!"
Soon, the Third Prince scrambled out of 'Bu Luo Jian' in sorry shape, with only a few soldiers left behind him.
"Damn their grandmothers! Which talented bastard is using our own weapons against us!" As soon as the Third Prince exited the valley, he started swearing furiously.
The Second Prince was so angry smoke was almost coming out of his nostrils. He ground his teeth and issued orders: "Everyone follow me to surround the left mountain and charge the mountaintop with full force. I want to see which deity it is that not only ruined my great plan, but caused such heavy losses to my army!" Clearly he was angered to near madness.
"Yes!"
Seeing the dense enemy troops start swarming up the mountain below, Gong Xiaohua quickly ordered:
"Retreat! Withdraw down the mountain to regroup with main force."
"Yes!"
But unfortunately, Gong Xiaohua's squad had gone through two major battles and were extremely exhausted. When they were about to reach the base of the mountain, they were caught up by the Dawei Army.
"Mistress, there are too many enemies, later Qin Er and I will protect you to break out." Qin Er softly said.
"No rush, let's observe the changes first."
"Yes."
Not long later, the troops suddenly parted in front to make way and a tall youth with stiff presence strode out. He wore black armor, with a jewel-encrusted red ruby sword on his left waist, emitting an extraordinary imposing aura from head to toe.
He slowly walked to the front of the formation, followed by a man sporting thick sideburns and couldn't see his face clearly. One could only see his forehead seemed to be smashed by rocks - the left side red and right side green and bruised.
"Who among you killed General Wan of my army?" asked the Second Prince coldly.
Just as Gong Xiaohua was about to step out, she was stopped by Qin Er. "Mistress, too dangerous. Let me go."
"No need. He looks like someone of high status. We must seize any chances later. Capturing their chief first. Otherwise none of us will escape death."
"But..."
"That is an order."
"Yes, your subordinate obeys orders!"
The Second Prince waited a while but saw no one stepping forward, so he said: "Since you're all so afraid to die, then don't blame me for being merciless! All troops, attention!"
"Wait!"
A clear cry came from the front of the formation, and a young soldier stepped out. He had fair skin, refined features, and a build slightly more slender than the men.
Seeing Gong Xiaohua walk out, the Third Prince frowned and said to the Second Prince: "Second brother, why does he look like a sissy? And isn't he too young? They can't be sending out a random person to bluff us right."
The Second Prince was also doubtful. He asked Gong Xiaohua, "Was it you who led the team to break through 30,000 of my men and even kill one of my generals?"
"It was me."
"Sissy, looking so weak and frail as you are, who are you fooling? If you have guts, fight me and I'll believe you."
"Fine. If I win let my men leave, if not we will surrender without resistance for you to deal with as you wish."
"Ha, sissy got guts. Throughout countless battles since I started learning martial arts, I have never lost before."
Then he turned to say to his Second Brother: "Second brother, allow me to fight him for a bit."
"Go ahead, but don't let your guard down."
"Alright!"
He walked out from the formation to the front and said, "Come on sissy!"