The Final Stroke, Night Raid on Chou City

As the two armies charged at one another, both commanders led the vanguard; yet, upon the initial collision, Xiang Tuo—known as the Tiger of the Xiang Clan—was shattered at the very first touch!

This sight, falling upon the Chu State army, struck like a bolt of lightning from a clear sky!

Xiang Tuo had always been one to lead from the front, advancing with an unstoppable, razor-sharp momentum.

Yet now, under a single strike of that Great Halberd, he was sent fleeing in such pathetic disarray, looking for all the world like a stray dog.

The morale of the Chu State army plummeted, while the Qin Army's spirit soared like a rainbow!

In the wake of that collision, the front lines of the Chu State army were instantly turned upside down, men and horses alike.

The Assault Cavalry Battalion of the Qin Army followed closely behind Zhao Cheng, piercing into the Chu State formation like a blade, carving a path of slaughter as they drove inward.

"Stop him!"

Xiang Tuo fled toward the rear, even hoping to slip into the mountain forests and escape alone while his men held Zhao Cheng back.

Had he possessed even a shred of strength left to fight, he would not have been reduced to this.

But that last strike had made him realize in an instant that the two of them were simply not on the same level; for him to charge against such an opponent was nothing short of utter stupidity!

The personal martial prowess he had always taken such pride in was, before that young general, worth absolutely nothing.

He even felt that if he were to take one more strike, he would surely die.

The scent of death was so thick it prickled his back, causing him to glance behind him repeatedly as he scrambled away.

He saw Zhao Cheng killing anyone who blocked his path and cutting down any horse that stood in his way.

The tall, sturdy steeds ridden by the death squads were like small rabbits before his Great Halberd; a single swing was enough to cleave them in two!

What kind of Divine Weapon was this? His own Great Spear had been forged through a hundred-refined process by famous smiths at great expense, yet it had nearly been snapped in half by that single blow!

This battle could no longer be fought; both the tactical situation and his own combat strength had withered to the absolute limit.

But for the Qin Army to possess such a ferocious general was a grave threat to the six states!

He was still so young, yet already so valiant; given time, who would be able to stand against him?

Even if he were to die, he had to pass this information back to the Chu State so that all the nations could join forces to assassinate this rising terror of the Qin State!

Otherwise, in time, he would become another Lord Wu'an of the Qin State!

He fled desperately, and though the surrounding Chu State soldiers were demoralized, they remained blood-brave, shouting for their comrades to protect the general as they surged forward to intercept Zhao Cheng.

But who was Zhao Cheng? They were nowhere near capable of stopping him.

With a single sweep of his Great Halberd, men and horses alike were wiped away.

The only thing that could limit his speed were the corpses of the fallen blocking his path, which were a minor nuisance.

However, with his god-like horsemanship, even if his speed was slightly reduced, it was negligible.

He remained like a butterfly dancing through flowers, moving as swiftly as the wind, cutting through the military formation like a knife to close in on Xiang Tuo.

"Are you not the Tiger of the Xiang Clan? How can you act like a stray dog, fleeing in such a panic?"

As he charged and pursued Xiang Tuo, he roared like a tiger, laughing wildly.

"Come and take another strike from me!"

"Don't run!"

His voice carried across both armies; the Tiger of the Xiang Clan had become a stray dog, and the Chu State soldiers, who had once taken pride in him, found it harder and harder to hold their heads up, feeling deeply humiliated.

The Qin Army, meanwhile, roared with laughter; in their pride, they continuously shouted to further shatter the enemy's morale.

"Is this the Tiger of the Xiang Clan? Does the Xiang Clan have no one left? Does the Chu State have no one left?"

"He cannot even withstand one strike from our general, yet he dares to call himself a general!"

"He just bumped into us and fled in a panic like a little bride; are all people of the Chu State this weak?"

"A defeated wretch, nothing more! Why did the Chu State send you here to support? You're just here to deliver military merit!"

"Don't run, lend me your head!"

"Our general is here; this road is closed, so go back and die!"

"..."

The morale of the Chu State army grew weaker and weaker.

Xiang Tuo, meanwhile, gritted his teeth, his face flushed red as blood.

He had always been brave and fierce; that was how he trained his troops, and that was how he fought his wars.

Because his style was such, his soldiers were also brave and fierce, and their military tradition had always been to press forward—when had they ever fought such a stifling, humiliating battle?

After much thought, Xiang Tuo let out a long sigh and suddenly turned his horse around.

With his usual roar, he shouted, "This general is no stray dog, and you are not the soldiers of a defeated man."

"All troops, hear my command: follow me and charge!"

He summoned his blood-bravery, embraced the resolve of the dead, and charged toward the oncoming Zhao Cheng.

Zhao Cheng had been in hot pursuit, and the distance between them was not great; now that his opponent had stopped retreating and was instead charging toward him, The distance closed to the absolute limit in an instant.

The Great Spear thrust toward Zhao Cheng's brow like a dragon.

Zhao Cheng neither dodged nor retreated; his left hand gripped the Great Spear, while his right hand swung his Great Halberd toward the neck of Xiang Tuo!

Before Xiang Tuo's Great Spear could reach Zhao Cheng, it was clamped firmly in his hand. The transition from extreme motion to absolute stillness happened in a heartbeat; the strike, which had condensed the full force of his body, vanished like a stone into the sea, unable to move an inch.

With Zhao Cheng's Great Halberd already upon him, Xiang Tuo had no choice but to abandon his weapon and lean back to dodge.

Yet, despite its immense weight, the Great Halberd was wielded with extreme agility in Zhao Cheng's hands; at the moment of peak force, he abruptly shifted his technique, rotating the weapon to sweep across.

Sshhh!

Xiang Tuo's head went flying.

Zhao Cheng flicked his Great Halberd, catching Xiang Tuo's head in his hand.

"General!!"

"Avenge the General!"

"Kill!"

After a momentary silence, the surrounding Chu Army suddenly went mad, erupting with power several times greater than before as they charged toward the Qin Army and Zhao Cheng.

They had completely disregarded their own lives.

Zhao Cheng swung his halberd in counterattack, cutting down waves of enemy soldiers, yet more continued to charge from behind. No one retreated, and no one showed a hint of fear; instead, they grew increasingly frenzied.

He looked at the head of Xiang Tuo in his hand.

"Is this the final formation you laid out?"

Using his final ounce of blood-courage and resolve to die, combined with a desperate situation, to incite his soldiers to fight for life through death.

It could be considered a fulfillment of his reputation as the Tiger of the Xiang Clan, maintaining his style of military governance until the very end.

However, it was nothing more than that.

Zhao Cheng raised an eyebrow, his killing intent instantly sharpening by three degrees.

"Kill! Annihilate the entire Chu Army here!"

"Kill!" The Qin Army's fervor was no less than that of the Chu, and with Zhao Cheng leading the Assault Cavalry Battalion in an unstoppable charge, they quickly split the leaderless, blood-crazed Chu Army, surrounding and slaughtering them.

The Chu vanguard was deep within the enemy formation, the center was caught in a pincer movement, and the path for the rear guard to break out was severed; it was a complete dead end.

The Qin Army's encirclement was perfected, but Meng Wu remained increasingly steady, his command flags waving with growing frequency and density as the military formation shifted rapidly.

The Chu Army's range of movement grew smaller and smaller, eventually becoming so cramped that tens of thousands of men could only exert the strength of a few thousand.

Coupled with the lack of leadership, the blood-courage ignited by Xiang Tuo's death had already faded after the first surge and was exhausted by the third.

Large numbers of enemy soldiers continued to die, leaving only a remnant force.

Throughout this process, the Qin Army's casualties remained remarkably low.

By dusk, the Chu Army lay dead across the fields, with only a few scattered remnants fleeing into the mountains during the chaos. Meng Wu dispatched troops to surround and kill them; it would likely not take long before they were completely wiped out.

With this, the Chu Army suffered sixty thousand casualties and lost a brave general; it was a great victory for the Qin Army.

On the battlefield outside the city, the Qin Army cleared the field, severed heads, collected weapons and armor as spoils, and verified their military merits.

Zhao Cheng rode his horse back to camp, and upon seeing a thumb-sized notch on the blade of his Great Halberd, he couldn't help but feel a pang of heartache.

Xiang Tuo's Great Spear, even if not a Precision Cast weapon, had at least been tempered a hundred times.

His own Great Halberd could slice through the weapons of ordinary soldiers like cutting melons and vegetables.

Yet, in splitting that Great Spear, it hadn't broken the enemy weapon, but had instead notched his own blade.

It seemed he would need to forge a Treasure Halberd, or save up his lifespan to forge the Divine Weapon, the Painted Halberd.

A Treasure Halberd would suffice, but the Painted Halberd was superior. Since a Divine Weapon would have to be forged sooner or later, why waste ten thousand years of lifespan to exchange for a Treasure Halberd?

Nearby.

Meng Tian looked at the head hanging from Zhao Cheng's horse and sighed, "This army was truly brave and fierce. In a normal battle, once casualties reach half, deserters begin to appear; once casualties exceed half, the entire army usually collapses and surrenders in droves."

"But this unit, even as they were nearing total annihilation, did not surrender. Even those who slipped into the mountains are fighting back with all their might."

"The Han Army, by contrast, saw the situation clearly; of their thirty thousand troops, twenty thousand surrendered."

"It is evident that the reinforcements from Wan City were not elite troops, but mostly the old, the weak, the sick, and the disabled."

"They likely intended to preserve their strength to deal with the upcoming Qin siege."

Zhao Cheng asked, "When shall we capture Wan City?"

Meng Tian shook his head, "Not yet. Wan City is difficult to take. We must isolate it first, so we must capture Chou City to cut off the connection between Wan City, Luyang, and Wuyang."

"However, Chou City is easy to take. It lies southwest of Ye County, less than thirty or forty miles away, with nothing but plains in between."

"If the Assault Cavalry Battalion charges at full speed, they will arrive in half a day; even the Light Cavalry would arrive in less than a day."

"Furthermore, the defenses of Chou City are inferior to those of Ye County. If we send our cavalry to raid Chou City at night, we might achieve a swift victory."

"It is only a matter of what Father thinks."

Zhao Cheng said, "You previously mentioned that this battle was a classic and contained much to be learned. When shall we review it? I would like to learn from you."

Meng Tian smiled, "Right now is fine. Let us go to the tent to review this battle."

"Father, in this battle, you seized upon the enemy's weakness and deployed the Triple-Layer Formation specifically to counter Xiang Tuo's ferocious military style. Combined with the information asymmetry from your surprise attack to breach the city, it was all the more effective."

"I suspect that the moment you learned the opposing general was Xiang Tuo, Father, you had already deduced everything. Afterward, you proceeded step by step, forcing Xiang Tuo into a dead end."

"Finally, using you as the killing blow, that key move cut off his path to survival and sealed the outcome!"

"This battle was both steady and decisive. There were many crucial details that I would not have been able to execute, but that does not stop us from learning from them."

Inside the large tent, Meng Wu sat before a desk. A silk scroll was spread out on the table, and his brush hovered above it, remaining still for a long time.

He scratched his head, feeling a bit of a headache.

The total strength of both sides in this battle was nearly two hundred thousand, which already counted as a large-scale engagement.

With such a great victory, the military merits of the entire army were outstanding.

Aside from his own deployment of troops and formations, the most critical contribution was, of course, Zhao Cheng blocking the retreat and slaying the enemy's brave general.

If Zhao Cheng had not led ten thousand cavalry to seal off the rear, and someone else had been in his place, Xiang Tuo would certainly have been able to rely on the morale of a desperate fight and his own personal valor to lead the remaining thirty thousand Chu troops in a forced breakout.

Even if they had won, it would only have been a minor victory, incomparable to this total annihilation.

Furthermore, that Xiang Tuo was a notable general of the Chu State, known specifically for his ferocity and unyielding nature.

Zhao Cheng slaying him before the battle lines carried immense weight, enough to make his name famous throughout both Qin and Chu.

It would also prove Zhao Cheng's valor within the Qin State, confirming that his previous claims were not empty words.

However, writing the military reports was tricky. Qin law stipulated that reports must be sent for every battle, regardless of size.

But with letter after letter arriving, each one mentioning Zhao Cheng, would His Majesty the King not find it annoying?

After much deliberation, Meng Wu looked at Chou City on the map.

He suddenly made a decision.

"Since that is the case, why not have Zhao Cheng lead the troops tonight to launch a surprise attack on Chou City? We shall settle it quickly, and tomorrow, I will send the report of the great victory at Chou City to His Majesty all at once."

After Meng Wu made his decision, he thought it over carefully, and the more he thought, the more he felt it was an excellent plan.

He immediately shouted, "Someone come! Summon Zhao Cheng and Meng Tian to see this General!"