Chapter 1324 – Attacking Huang Song, Unified Dongqing (Sixty-five)
“General — the enemy has long been prepared. What do we do now?”
With the enemies increasing in number, our forces faced a formidable barrier, struggling to advance even an inch, and were instead being pushed back by the enemy.
Observing this situation, the officer in charge of the ambush was furious, his eyes red as he wielded his weapon, blood soaking the ground.
“Fight and retreat —”
He was one of the few military generals under Huang Song who wasn’t from the Yuan clan, known for his decisive temperament. Seeing that the enemy had already set an ambush, he quickly chose to withdraw. However, he didn’t order his soldiers to turn and run blindly; instead, they retreated in an orderly fashion. As long as they could withdraw before the enemy reinforced, preserving most of their forces would still be possible. Jiang Pengji had the advantage in numbers, but she couldn’t swarm them all at once—
Of course, if time dragged on, the soldiers under Jiang Pengji would exhaust them to death.
Time was pressing, with the enemy advancing step by step, and the ambushing soldiers, facing the relentless tide of enemies, couldn’t help but feel despair.
Jiang Pengji quickly noticed the battlefield situation and raised an eyebrow when she saw the officer’s decisive retreat.
While Huang Song had many talents under his command, some were overlooked for various reasons, and thus not many were well-known.
Not to mention the fact that, in terms of situational judgment alone, this man surpassed Yuan Xin by a wide margin.
However—
“This isn’t an inn; you can’t just come and go as you please!”
Jiang Pengji chuckled and gave instructions to Xiao Bai, who instantly changed from a docile demeanor to racing northeast.
The ambush was extremely sudden; even with Jiang Pengji’s prior warning, warfare inevitably resulted in casualties.
By the time Jiang Pengji rode Xiao Bai to the northeast camp, a desolate scene unfolded about twenty zhang away — scattered weapons and arrows littered the ground, with the bodies of both enemy and ally lying there, blood soaking the earth, the oppressive air filled with a thick scent of blood.
Jiang Pengji’s eyes were cold as she unsheathed her God-Slaying Blade and plunged into the chaos. The blade glittered ominously, claiming head after head. After years of cooperation, she and Xiao Bai fought in perfect sync; she dealt the kills while Xiao Bai charged and trampled.
“Lord —”
Xie Ze was in charge of the northeast camp. Seeing his lord present, his heart nearly stopped from fright.
Jiang Pengji flicked the blood from her blade, leaving a long streak on the ground, the blade returning to its clean, shiny state after shedding the blood.
“Yuan Gui, gather some troops and follow me!”
Xie Ze was brimming with countless complaints yet could only blurt out, “I shall obey your command!”
He turned to assemble a thousand elite soldiers as quickly as possible.
Although Xie Ze didn’t suffer from night blindness, his night vision was only on par with an average person. He wasn’t blind by any means, but he couldn’t make out anything beyond a couple of zhang. He understood how dangerous it was to fight at night! A single misstep could lead to being ambushed and killed by the enemy; didn’t the lord understand?
“Everyone, follow closely!!!”
“Lord, let me handle pursuing the enemy; why take such personal risks?”
Xie Ze could never have imagined that one day he would worry about his lord stealing his thunder.
The lord was brave and skilled in battle, leaving him feeling quite ashamed as a general!
“They’re trying to save themselves by shedding some troops, while the vanguard takes the chance to create distance. If they can pull ahead thirty-four zhang in this darkness, it’ll be even harder to catch them after that,” Jiang Pengji explained, “Keep up, don’t fall behind!”
Daytime was different from nighttime; people’s vision was limited.
The enemy only had to focus on fleeing, while the pursuing troops needed to consider many factors.
Jiang Pengji understood clearly; even if Xie Ze led troops to chase, he would at most bring back one or two hundred corpses while the real weight of the battle remained elsewhere.
Xie Ze said, “Lord, the wilderness is fraught with dangers; you should—”
Jiang Pengji replied, “You can’t see well; if I send you to chase, the enemy has already run away!”
Xie Ze: “…”
Jiang Pengji had superb night vision. Even in Liu Xi’s body, her range of vision at night surpassed that of ordinary people. Besides, could the enemies run faster than her mental acuity? As long as they were within her sensing range, she could locate them at any moment.
Before long, Xie Ze realized why his lord remarked that they had poor eyesight.
While the troops chasing the enemy lost track, Jiang Pengji correctly identified the direction of the enemy and headed straight towards it!
Not long after, Xie Ze heard the commotion made by the enemy.
While riding, Jiang Pengji pulled out her bow and arrow, nocking an arrow and drawing it to full extension.
Several arrows flew forth, seemingly guided by fate, accurately hitting the backs of several enemies.
Caught off guard by the ambush, the enemies struck by the arrows stumbled forward, their faces hitting the ground, dragging along for a distance. Nearby comrades, alerted by the noise, immediately understood the pursuers were close behind and felt immense dread.
“General, the enemy is closing in—”
The sound of hooves from the rear sent chills down their spines. After barely shaking off the pursuers, why had they come back again?
The general said, “From their sounds, it seems the pursuers are few. We can take them on!”
Jiang Pengji, racing a few zhang ahead on Xiao Bai, keenly noticed the enemy up ahead had halted their flight and were preparing to form ranks. A bloodthirsty smile crept across her lips as she struck down an arrow aimed at her, raising her blade high.
“Kill—”
A fierce clash erupted between the two armies, just a thousand zhang from the northeast camp, beginning a rapid charge.
Jiang Pengji delightfully harvested lives, while poor Xie Ze was on edge, worried his lord might get hurt from just a missed glance.
“She’s absolutely insane!!!”
The enemy general’s face was ashen; he never expected Jiang Pengji would dare to charge out of the camp with just a couple thousand men to pursue and intercept them.
If it were daytime, it would have been fine, but in the dark night, vision was limited, making it easy to lose track of the enemy and encounter unexpected dangers.
Yet Jiang Pengji charged like a bull, precisely catching up to them.
Of course, at that moment, he still did not know that the “insane” and “foolish” girl he spoke of was his sworn enemy in this battle!
The two armies soon clashed together in a chaotic melee, like waves of different colors crashing and merging into one another.
Amidst the chaos, friendly fire was a risk, but Jiang Pengji had no such concerns, taking down foe after foe, sometimes even multiple at once.
Xie Ze could only laugh bitterly as he closely followed his lord, going wherever she charged to help clear out the small fry.
He did this to protect Jiang Pengji but also inadvertently revealed her position.
The enemy didn’t recognize Jiang Pengji’s identity, but one who could gather such a large troop for protection must be a significant player!
Unbeknownst to them, Jiang Pengji had firmly drawn their ire, and despite waves of enemies crashing forward, none could harm her.
This butchery lasted for more than half an hour, with Jiang Pengji securing the best performance of the battle while Xie Ze panted heavily, his hands shaking.
He looked at Jiang Pengji with a mix of awe and fear.
