"Rally them, hurry! Rally them!"
Prince Qi roared as the waist-deep water gradually receded. Jiang Qifeng, Commanding Officer of the Lin'an Guard, bellowed even louder, "Anyone who retreats will be executed on the spot!"
Xie Zhenqing looked over and saw many men taking advantage of the water farther away to rush off. Some even stripped off their armor and fled.
"The Divine Strategy Army's morale is still decent."
"The household troops of Prince Qi's Residence have little room to retreat, either. They can still be brought to heel."
"In the Lin'an Guard, only the officers followed willingly. The hundred-household officers, ten-household officers, and soldiers below them were all swept along against their will. While things were going well, they could still fight. Once the tide turned against them, they would flee at once."
"We must rally them quickly. Otherwise, never mind breaking through the gates-the guard troops coming here will wipe us out!"
Xie Zhenqing's face was cold as water. He waved his hand, and the Divine Strategy Army immediately responded, spreading out. Almost revealing their true half-demon forms, they hacked at the fleeing men of the Lin'an Guard.
"Anyone who dares flee will be killed without mercy!"
"Prince Qi, why go this far?" Nearly five hundred Changle Palace Guards had arrived. Their commandant, Cen Li, surveyed the scene and listened to the sounds in the distance, inwardly shaking his head.
With five hundred fresh Changle Palace Guards facing exhausted enemies, holding the gates would present no difficulty at all. Working with the approaching guard troops, they could even confidently encircle and annihilate them. Yet the commandant still held back, for reasons he could scarcely voice.
This was Prince Qi. If they killed him, who knew how deeply the seeds of disaster would take root when the emperor remembered it