As more and more fleeing Cult Disciples returned, executing them all was no longer feasible. Gouyao Tianhuang had no choice but to order them detained together and send officers to reorganize them into units to serve as the rear guard.
When the retreat signal he had long awaited finally came from his younger brother, Goushi Tianhuang, his heart eased a little.
From Goushi Tianhuang's signal, he knew the breakout ahead was going relatively smoothly. He also knew that if hundreds of thousands of men rushed forward in a swarm, they would all crowd into the narrow escape passage. The enemy would not even need to attack; they could kill their own men until the army collapsed.
Now that it was finally his turn to withdraw, he immediately gave the order and prepared to charge toward the city gate with ten thousand of his own loyal troops.
Suddenly, sky-shaking shouts came from the western wall, along with violent explosions and the screams of men on the verge of death. The sounds were rapidly drawing toward the city center.
There was no need to think: the enemy must have breached the western wall.
Although he desperately wanted to leave at once and lead his men away at greater speed, he knew that unless he held back the enemy advancing into the city from the west, they would attack him from behind and join the enemy outside the southern wall in a three-sided assault. Whether he could escape then was uncertain.
He had to hold the enemy back. He absolutely could not give them a chance to attack from three sides.
Now he needed to shed his tail to survive. He immediately ordered Assistant Envoy Inuyou Tingtao, "Inuyou, take your men at once, along with those retreating idiots, and advance one thousand meters