The Young Sha Star

People were always filled with awe toward things they couldn't understand.

They couldn't fathom Zhao Cheng's godlike bravery, but that didn't stop them from revering him and wanting to follow him.

After killing so many enemies, the first thing the young man did wasn't count his own battle achievements. Instead, he recorded the names of his fallen comrades, made a promise, and personally arranged for their families to be protected.

That struck the softest place in these men's hearts. If another bloody battle came, they would still willingly follow Zhao Cheng through fire and water.

Though they said nothing, they had already made up their minds.

After all, not every general could stand his ground in a bloody battle while surrounded, bear the greatest pressure alone, and still fight desperately to rescue his men.

With deeds like these and such a sense of responsibility, how could they not believe Zhao Cheng's promise?

In the distance, the Han defenders were beaten back step by step. They soon suffered heavy losses and fled like a receding tide, abandoning the Southern Foothills of Fang City entirely. Meng Tian ordered more than a thousand Light Cavalry to continue the pursuit, then hurried back at once. Seeing Zhao Cheng drenched in blood from head to toe, he felt his heart give a sudden jolt.

The kid could still stand straight. Could this be the last flicker of life before death?

"Ah Cheng, can you... still hold on?"

Zhao Cheng waved a hand and grinned at Meng Tian. "I'm fine, big brother. I've fulfilled my duty! I've taken the honor of being first to scale the walls!"

Meng Tian felt deeply ashamed. "It was my fault. I let you walk into an ambush."

"An ambush?" Zhao Cheng froze. "Weren't there that many defenders in the Southern Foothills of Fang City?"

Meng Tian shook his head. "The Han defenders saw it coming, so they sent even more troops here in advance to lie in wait."

Zhao Cheng understood. "So that's why I couldn't kill them all."

Meng Tian laughed helplessly. "And because of that, your achievement in being first to scale the walls is far greater than usual!"

"That move completely disrupted the Han defenders' plan. We even crippled one of their legs. This is the key battle for taking the Mountain Pass. By seizing the South Foothill, we've reduced our losses in the assault to the bare minimum!"

"Once our forces regroup, we'll attack the Mountain Pass. As soon as we take it, you'll have earned the greatest merit in this battle!"

Zhao Cheng shook his head with a smile. "I don't deserve that. It was all thanks to your brilliant strategy, big brother."

"Don't bring that up. I walked into an ambush too. Luckily, Father had made backup arrangements in advance, or we would have suffered heavy losses." Meng Tian looked ashamed, then changed the subject. "How many did you kill?"

Zhao Cheng looked at the corpses piled all around and scratched his head. "I didn't count."

Meng Tian was speechless.

The Assault Cavalry Elites were speechless too. This fiend had killed so many that there was no way to count them all.

Feng Quan stepped forward. "That's all right, sir. You may not remember, but we do. Apart from our own men and our fallen comrades, the rest were all killed by you."

"You don't need to worry about the fallen either. The Squad Leaders and Wuzhang will remember them all. Military merit is no small matter; there won't be any mistakes."

"Understood." Zhao Cheng nodded, then looked at Meng Tian. "Big brother, what do we do next?"

Meng Tian surveyed the area. "We've completely taken this stretch. The defenses at Fang City Pass have been broken. I'll lead the troops up to the pass shortly and join forces with the main army from within. Then we'll have them trapped like turtles in a jar."

He looked at the blood covering Zhao Cheng and the dense patches of wounds of every size across his body. His heart gave another uneasy lurch.

"You've already earned more merit than anyone else in the army. Get back to camp and find someone to treat you as soon as possible. Don't push yourself!"

Zhao Cheng knew his own body. His wounds were indeed numerous, but they were all superficial.

His skin was like iron. In the fierce charge that had smashed through the enemy lines, countless blades and swords had cut hundreds of gashes into him, even slightly tearing the fascia beneath.

There was no helping it. A battle like this, charging through enemy lines, was simply too brutal.

The Han troops were packed together, and spurred on by rich rewards, they had thrown themselves at Zhao Cheng without regard for their lives.

They were all grown men stationed on the front line, swinging their blades and swords with all their might. Even an iron ingot would have been smashed to pieces if each of so many men had struck it once.

And Zhao Cheng hadn't taken just one strike from each man. Some might have hit him two or three times—or even more!

A trickle of water could wear through stone. When countless soldiers hacked at something in a frenzy, the combined force was terrifying.

Zhao Cheng looked down at himself and shook his head. "It's nothing. A minor wound won't keep me off the battlefield. I can still fight."

Meng Tian didn't know what to say. You call that a minor wound?

He put on a stern face and ordered, "Do as I say. Return to camp for treatment at once!"

Zhao Cheng had no choice. He raised the spear in his hand and drove it hard into the large stone brick beneath his feet!

Crack!

The spearhead pierced straight into the stone wall, sinking halfway in. The stone brick split open, and countless cracks spread out from the spear.

"Big brother, do I look like a seriously wounded man?"

"These little injuries are nothing. I can still lead the vanguard, break the enemy, and capture their generals!"

The few Light Cavalry Centurions behind Meng Tian nearly popped their eyes out.

After such a savage battle, he still had that much strength. Was he a god?

This was their first time witnessing Zhao Cheng's terrifying might. It was hard not to think him a heavenly being.

Meng Tian was both shocked and helpless. The kid barely seemed human; he was more like a tiger in human form!

"Fine, then. But if you're going, stay by my side. If anything happens, I'll be able to act immediately."

"Yes, sir!"

Meng Tian turned to the long-faced Centurion, whose injuries weren't too serious. "Centurion Chang Wan, take the wounded brothers back for treatment!"

"Yes, sir!"

The wounded Assault Cavalry Elites looked at Zhao Cheng with complicated expressions. They wanted to follow him, but they really couldn't fight anymore. Every one of them was badly injured, and they had exhausted themselves. If they joined the battle now, they would be able to contribute very little.

Only those who had fought in this battle knew what it meant for Zhao Cheng to still be standing there, still able to fight.

He was a god of war forged from iron!

"The rest of you, follow me! We're taking Fang City Pass!"

By now, more than a thousand fine horses had reached the city wall. They galloped along the rampart's path toward the pass. Meng Tian still led the charge, with the blood-soaked, murderous Zhao Cheng riding at his side as Flying Cavalry!

"Report!"

A Cavalry Scout galloped into the camp and came before Meng Wu to deliver the news.

"The scout vanguard was ambushed while scaling the South Foothill. The Han defenders had nearly two thousand men lying in wait there..."

Meng Wu's expression didn't change, but he sighed inwardly. What a waste of that exceptionally gifted young man.

With no combat experience, one reckless move could cost him his life. That was the battlefield.

One couldn't command an army with a soft heart. The thought flickered through his mind and vanished. Meng Wu was already calculating the troop numbers and tactics needed for the next move, preparing to deploy his forces and help the Light Cavalry on the north route break through the pass.

But the scout continued at a furious pace. "Scout vanguard Zhao Cheng held off more than a thousand Han troops alone. He led over a hundred Assault Cavalry Elites in forcing their way into one corner of the South Foothill and held on until the Five-Hundred Commander Meng Tian arrived. Our army routed the defenders there; only a small group of Han soldiers escaped into the woods..."

"Hm?"

The battle formation taking shape in Meng Wu's mind was instantly thrown into disarray. He stared at the scout, his imposing aura spreading like a mountain.

"There are no false reports in the army! Say that again. Zhao Cheng led over a hundred Assault Cavalry and seized one corner of the South Foothill?"

The scout answered with firm conviction. "Absolutely true. When we arrived, the fighting was exceptionally fierce. Scout vanguard Zhao Cheng was soaked in blood, leading over a hundred men in a head-on clash with the Han army. They fought to the death and refused to retreat, seizing a stretch of the South Foothill. By the time I came to report, the Han army had already been routed."

Meng Wu stared for a moment, then clapped his hands and roared with laughter. "Splendid!"

"A heaven-born general, unstoppable!"

"Han Ming could rack his brains and still never imagine that the masterstroke he'd laid at the South Foothill as a breach point would be undone by a boy!"

"Otherwise, I'd have had to put in a little more work. This is perfect—Han Ming is already a turtle in a jar, and the pass is ours for the taking!"

He raised and waved the command flag. Orders rang out, and the siege army, already standing at the ready, charged straight toward the pass!

"Report, General! The enemy is launching a surprise attack on Fang City's North Foothill. We don't have enough troops stationed there. We can hold for two hours at most!"

Han Ming looked at the soldier before him without panic. "It's fine. I've already made arrangements. Two hours will be enough."

The Han Army was weak in numbers. There were only a little over ten thousand troops stationed here, but they were all Han elites.

From the start, he hadn't planned to hold the pass forever with so few troops. But he could make use of Fang City Pass's easy-to-defend, hard-to-attack terrain to inflict enormous losses on the Qin Army.

If the Qin Army attacked, he would tear a huge chunk of flesh from them.

If they didn't, Fang City Pass would remain like a thorn in their side. Whether they marched on Ye County or pushed toward Nanyang, Fang City would be a knife hanging over their backs, keeping them on edge!

The situation had become clear by now, and a faint smile appeared on Han Ming's face.

"Since they're attacking fiercely at the North Foothill, their assault at the South Foothill must be a feint. I planted two thousand elite defenders there in advance. Add the Light Infantry sent around behind them to encircle and kill them, and we can swallow their feinting force whole. Then we'll regroup and reinforce the North Foothill. How could the Qin troops possibly gain the upper hand?"

Han Ming was in high spirits.

In his mind, the two thousand troops sent into the River Valley should already have joined with the South Foothill defenders to encircle and kill the entire force led by Meng Tian, which was only mounting a feint.

With a great victory at the South Foothill, their morale would soar. They could reinforce the North Foothill and easily drive off the Qin Army's attack by taking advantage of the terrain.

To have won such a brilliant battle with so few troops was a textbook example of defeating many with few.

Even Han Ming couldn't help feeling pleased with himself.

Just then, a Han commander came galloping along the southern section of the rampart, drenched in blood and with an arrow in his back. He looked utterly wretched, his body swaying as if about to fall.

Han Ming's expression changed at once. "Wang Yong?"

"Why aren't you guarding the South Foothill? How did you end up like this?!"

The horse soon reached him. Wang Yong, his face deathly pale, dismounted and dropped to his knees with a thud. His eyes were bloodshot, his expression grief-stricken.

"General! The South Foothill... has fallen! Our army has been routed!"

Han Ming's vision went black. He swayed and nearly fell.

Grinding his teeth, he asked, "I laid an ambush in advance, and reinforcements were sent to surround them. How could this happen?!"

Wang Yong clenched his teeth, overwhelmed with shame.

His lips trembled as he struggled to speak. "Among the Qin troops attacking the city... there was a young Sha Star. He... he led more than two hundred men onto the wall and charged in every direction!"

"I sent over a thousand defenders to drive him back. Who could have known that this Sha Star had the strength of a giant, ran like a tiger or leopard, and seemed impervious to blades and spears, with endless stamina?"

"With the strength of one man, he stood against a fierce assault by a thousand troops. He killed more than a hundred of our men without showing the slightest fatigue, then charged forward, unstoppable. No matter what we did, we couldn't kill him!"

"After half a day of such brutal fighting, we not only failed to drive him down from Fang City, but he even seized an area by sheer force..."