Guo Youshan's Crushing Defeat

Qixia City

Commander Fang La led 50,000 Qian troops, drawn up in battle formation. This sortie was a baiting attack, meant only to lure part of the 150,000 Wu troops into the city, disrupt their formation, and divide and annihilate them.

"Are the troops ready?" Commander Fang wore heavy armor, with rainwater streaming down it. Amid thunder and lightning, he held a sharp sword that gleamed with a chilling light.

"Reporting to Commander, all 50,000 of our soldiers have resolved to die in order to wipe out the bandits." An attendant beside him drew his sword and pointed it toward the heavens. Thunder answered, lending force to his display.

"Open the gates!!!" Fang La spurred his warhorse forward.

"Open the gates!!!" The soldiers followed close behind, their voices ringing like great bells, their battle intent surging to the heavens.

"Creak..." With several men working together, the heavy city gates slowly opened! Lightning raged, and cold light flickered.

"Kill..."

"Kill..."

Like fierce tigers breaking free of their cages, the army charged forth with roars that shook the heavens. Hooves kicked up sprays of rainwater, and an invisible momentum bore straight down on the Wu camp.

"Enemy attack, enemy attack! The Qian army has come out of the pass!" A Wu scout saw them from afar: Qian troops advancing in a vast, mighty charge, like flood dragons emerging from the sea and fierce tigers breaking out of their cages. He could not stop trembling, but still raised the alarm at once.

"Boom..." The Wu camp descended into chaos in an instant. Candlelight flickered inside the tents, and panicked shadows hurried out one after another. Cold weapons clashed, ringing in shuddering peals.

"The enemy is launching a sneak attack! Form ranks!" Yuan Shiji hurried out of the command tent, his armor not yet properly fastened, while an attendant helped adjust it.

"Officers, officers, the enemy is upon us! Meet them at once!" In the confusion, the armor's cords snapped and scattered across the ground. Yuan Shiji held his sword in one hand and adjusted his helmet with the other, a sorry sight.

Thunder lent the army its might. The Qian troops swept forward like lightning, warhorses neighing and shouts shaking the heavens. The 50,000 Qian soldiers arrived in the blink of an eye.

"Kill..." Steel sabers and sharp swords swung again and again, spraying blood in all directions. Warhorses galloped past, raising clouds of bloody mist. One side had planned meticulously, while the other fought on the back foot. The difference was clear at once.

"Don't panic, don't panic! Form ranks and meet the enemy!" Yuan Shiji tore off the armor he could not fasten and roared at the frightened, panicking Wu soldiers around him.

The Wu soldiers gradually found their backbone, and their formation was no longer in utter disarray.

"Officer, how many troops does the enemy have?"

"Deputy General Yuan, the rain is too heavy, and the enemy attacked under cover of night. I... I truly don't know."

"Go find out!!!" Yuan Shiji roared in anger.

The officer immediately got up and charged into the curtain of rain.

"Bring me my saber!" Yuan Shiji shouted at his attendant. He was furious. The enemy had attacked, yet he knew nothing at all.

"Commander Zha, midnight has arrived!" Qin Shan said to Chahar, one hand resting on his saber.

Chahar casually wiped the rain from his face and slowly rose. Like a beast in the night, he roared, "Kill!!!"

The 50,000 troops roared and charged toward Guo Youshan's camp like wild horses freed from their reins. The pouring rain blurred their vision, but it did nothing to dampen their battle intent to kill the enemy.

The army crossed the 500 meters in an instant. Guo Youshan's camp had not even reacted.

Chahar's army crashed into the Wu soldiers, who had no idea what was happening, like a great wave pounding the shore.

A large tent was overturned. The soldiers inside had been sitting around a campfire, and the sudden upheaval left them all stunned. Cold light flashed, and several Wu soldiers fell at once. The scene descended into chaos.

"Someone! Someone!" Guo Youshan was jolted awake by the commotion outside his tent. Could the Qian army be attacking?

"General Guo, the enemy suddenly attacked from the rear. They've already broken into the camp!" A soldier covered in mud ran over to report, his face full of fear and tension.

"The enemy? Where did they come from? What the hell is Yuan Shiji doing? The enemy has reached the general's command tent, so what is he doing?" When he heard that the enemy had broken into the camp, Guo Youshan's angry face turned ashen.

Roars continued outside the tent, mingled with wails, turning the rain-lashed night into something like hell.

"Quick, quick, quick... Order the guards to counterattack. We must not let the enemy reach this place."

"General Guo, the soldiers have all been scattered. We can't organize an effective counterattack." An officer accompanying the army knelt before Guo Youshan and cried out his report, wounds covering his body and blood flowing ceaselessly.

"Great General, withdraw quickly! If the enemy surrounds this place, the army will collapse in an instant. So long as the green mountains remain, we'll still have a chance to counterattack, Great General!!!"

"Yes, yes, yes, retreat! Quickly, retreat! Head for Yuan Shiji. They have 150,000 troops; they can surely keep me safe. Quick... quick... quick!"

"Deputy General Yuan, the enemy's city gates are wide open, and there's not a single guard on the walls. Their main force must have come out to attack. This is the perfect chance to take Qixia City. I request permission to lead 50,000 troops and seize it." The officer had already ridden back and forth through the enemy ranks several times and had seen the open gates and the empty walls.

"Hahaha, the commander of Qixia City really is a brainless fool. He only cares about charging and has left me an entire city. Officer, lead the troops and tie down the enemy. I'll take the city." Seeing the gates wide open, Yuan Shiji felt as though glorious military merit lay right before his eyes. Without further thought, he raised his saber and spurred his horse into the attack!

"Battle Formation Breaching Battalion, follow me into the city! Kill!!!"

A large force stopped fighting the enemy, broke away, and charged toward the city gates. The Wu soldiers behind them immediately filled the gap and engaged the enemy.

"Hold them back! We must not let the enemy take one step past the city gates." Fang La looked anxious, but did not spur his horse after them.

"Hahaha, so you're the general defending the city? Nothing special. You dared to fight a decisive battle with our army with so few troops. I really did overestimate you." Yuan Shiji made no attempt to hide his mockery.

"Once I've taken Qixia City, I'll come back for your head. Kill..."

Yuan Shiji's army broke through the blockade after all and fought its way to the city gates with irresistible force.

"There really is no one in the city. Qixia City is about to change its name and surname."

Yuan Shiji entered the city, and his army swarmed in after him. Commander Fang La did not stop them. Ling Tianhan would deal with the enemy troops who entered; someone as conceited as Yuan Shiji was certainly no match for him, and his defeat was only a matter of time. Fang La's task was to tie down the enemy outside the city. Once Ling Tianhan had finished everything inside and the two armies joined forces, the true decisive battle would begin.

"Deputy General Yuan, something isn't right." Looking at the deserted city, the officer accompanying the army felt a powerful sense of unease rise within him.

"Go investigate!" Yuan Shiji put aside his arrogance. How could there be no one here? Could it be a trap?

Two soldiers rushed into a house to investigate, but there was no response from them for a long time.

"This is bad! Retreat, quickly!" Yuan Shiji was terrified, his face pale. It really was a trap.

"Creak... boom..." The heavy city gates made a muffled sound.

"Kill..." The shouts shook the heavens!

As though divine troops had descended from the skies, countless Qian soldiers charged out of houses, haystacks, rooftops, and even wells. Spears in hand, they struck at the Wu soldiers like arrows loosed from bows.

The rain fell even harder. Between heaven and earth, there was nothing left but the rumble of thunder and those beastlike roars.

Blood flowed in rivers, and corpses piled into mountains. Blinding crimson ran out through the gaps in the city gates, staining the land of the Qian Kingdom red.

Guo Youshan and his few remaining attendants hurried all the way to Yuan Shiji's command tent, intending to mobilize the 150,000-strong army for a counterattack!

But all that met his eyes were endless corpses, grieving warhorses, and tents overturned on the ground. In the distance, fighting still raged, and wails filled the land, mingling with the thunder in utter desolation.

"It's over..." Guo Youshan's eyes seemed ready to split, and boundless terror swept over him.

"Great General, flee! Let's go to Cloud Mountain Fortress and request reinforcements! Chen Haoran still has 150,000 troops. We can join forces and come back to avenge the fallen soldiers!" The accompanying officer looked at the corpses strewn across the ground, his eyes bloodshot!

"Yes, yes, request reinforcements. Chen Haoran still has 150,000 troops, and Yan Fengxiao is there too. I can't die. I still have a chance," Guo Youshan said incoherently.

The army was still fighting, but its commander, Guo Youshan, had taken his attendants and fled along a side path.

"Avoid the enemy and return to Eastward-Looking Mountain. As long as we reach Eastward-Looking Mountain, we'll be safe. Quick, quick, quick, move!"