Chapter 1333 – Attacking Huang Song, Unity of Dongqing (Seventy-Four)
The battle up ahead was raging hot, while Xie Ze and his troops were stuck in the back like moldy bread.
It couldn’t be helped; military orders were as heavy as mountains. Even without any movement from the enemy, Xie Ze had to keep his spirits high and stay alert.
“Have the scouts we sent out returned?”
As he kept an eye on the battle ahead, he commanded his soldiers to be ready to face an attack at any moment.
“Reporting to General, no news yet.” The vice general, hand resting on his sword at his waist, looked grave as he gazed toward the front lines, quietly asking Xie Ze, “General, why did our Lord send General Huang Song… His forces are weaker than ours, and all available troops are right in front. Where would they find the strength for a sneak attack?”
For military generals, without war achievements, there was no future. How else could they rack up achievements but by stacking enemy heads?
Stuck in a relatively safe position at the back, they hadn’t even seen a shadow of the enemy—wasn’t this just wasting their time?
Seeing their Lord growing more promising, if Huang Song were defeated, she would be the ruler of all Dongqing, a small peak in her life.
They didn’t know what would come next—would the Lord strive for a stable nation or expand territory further?
If it was the latter, that would be fantastic.
If it was the former, each battle not fought meant one less chance at promotion. Once peace reigned, it would be harder for generals to rise.
Being assigned to the back was like sitting on the cold bench, and the vice general, assisting Xie Ze, was naturally worried.
“This is our Lord’s order; we just need to follow it. She must have her reasons for making such arrangements. Let everyone remain alert to avoid giving the enemy an opportunity.” Compared to the vice general’s excessive worry, Xie Ze remained calm. He pulled out a napkin from his armor to wipe off the gleaming gun barrel and said with downcast eyes, “If anything goes wrong at the back and our Lord demands accountability, neither of us can afford that.”
The vice general, recalling their Lord’s temperament, began to sweat profusely. Who in their right mind questioned the Lord’s orders?
“I’ll take care of it right now!”
The vice general immediately spurred his horse away. Xie Ze pondered over the vice general’s words, slightly furrowing his brow. Although he wasn’t a mindless fan of the Lord, she was wise and seldom made mistakes. If she said the enemy might launch a surprise attack from the back, then this information was likely accurate.
The only question was, when would the enemy show up?
The rear was too comfortable; the soldiers began to show signs of relaxation, which was not a good omen.
Xie Ze could only continuously remind the soldiers to stay vigilant.
“Report—”
Just as the vice general was about to report back to Xie Ze, a sudden cry rang out by his ear.
“What’s happening?”
A person approached, saying, “A bloodied war horse was just found—”
The vice general was startled and hurriedly replied, “Let’s go take a look!”
It was a chestnut-red war horse, not as large and strong as a heavy cavalry horse. The horse was tubular in shape, with a narrow chest, long back, shallow ribcage, and though its hind area was small, it was strong and muscled. Those familiar with horse breeds could see it was from the Northern Frontier, with some lineage of the Xuelan country’s bloodline, known for its speed and stamina—swift as the wind.
Of course, such horses were allocated to scouts, ensuring their mobility and ability to flee upon discovering enemy activity.
The vice general looked gravely at the war horse, reached out to touch the bloodstains, and with a slight sniff determined it was human blood, not horse blood.
A soldier said, “Vice General, this horse has a wound on its belly—”
Following the soldier’s finger, the vice general indeed saw a hand-length wound on the horse’s side, with some blood already coagulated.
With years of experience, he could immediately tell the wound was inflicted by a sharp weapon.
“The horse is back, but where are the people?” the vice general asked.
The soldier replied, “None were spotted. The horse returned without any sign of its rider.”
The vice general felt a chill in his heart, vaguely guessing that the scouts had met with misfortune. He continued, “Were there any other horses that returned?”
The soldier shook his head.
The vice general hurriedly conveyed this news to Xie Ze.
This group of scouts was tasked not with exploring the front lines but with securing the rear, and now they had suffered an ambush. If not for the horse finding its way back while injured, they would probably have found nothing. It clearly indicated that the Lord’s suspicion was correct; indeed, there was an enemy force lurking in the dark.
Upon hearing the vice general’s report, Xie Ze’s brows furrowed tightly, leaving a faint crease on his forehead.
“Order the entire army to be on guard—”
He knew exactly what sort of horses his scouts were equipped with, all of them fast with good stamina.
In this situation, if the enemy had been able to take them out, it showed the enemy was no easy opponent.
Had the war horse not returned on its own, Xie Ze would still be oblivious to the enemy’s arrival.
Not long after issuing his command, a series of rumbling sounds rose from the rear, and the ground began to shake even more violently.
“Kill—”
Accompanied by a thunderous battle cry, a dense crowd of enemies quickly appeared within sight, startling the vice general’s war horse. Shocked by the sheer number of enemies, he called out to Xie Ze, “General, the enemy is here—”
Xie Ze took a swift glance, his expression growing grim.
The enemy was less than three miles away—how had they approached so close?
If the Lord hadn’t warned of a possible ambush, the sudden attack would have certainly dealt significant losses to the army.
“What’s with the panic? Form ranks!”
Xie Ze scolded, assuming an air of confidence.
Three miles wasn’t much of a distance for enemy cavalry.
These riders were no pushovers; they were skilled with their bows on horseback, and before they even got close, arrows were already raining down.
Xie Ze remained composed, directing his soldiers to form a shield wall against the arrows while ordering the archers behind the shields to strike back at the enemy, trying to eliminate those closest. Unfortunately, the short distance made it difficult for the archers to get off more than a few shots.
The enemy cavalry formed a path, and countless troops followed closely behind, roughly estimating their numbers to be well over ten thousand.
Seeing the enemy cavalry approaching, Xie Ze ordered his soldiers to raise their long spears and advance in unison, jabbing heavily at the chest, belly, and eyes of the enemy horses. But the mobility of cavalry was something that plagued all types of troops; the long spears could only offer momentary obstruction.
Jiang Pengji was the first to sense the unusual movement from behind, but she didn’t show it; instead, she remained focused on the battle ahead.
In preparation for the enemy’s ambush, she had allocated Xie Ze many additional troops. To not withstand the enemy’s assault in a well-prepared situation, to not stabilize the rear lines, cast doubt on not only Xie Ze’s military capabilities but also on the fighting strength and quality of the troops at her disposal.
When news of the ambush at the rear spread, everyone was stunned, except Jiang Pengji, who remained calm as ever.
“Trust Yuan Gui!”
With her warning, it was practically as if she had hacked the game—yet they still got overturned, Jiang Pengji was definitely going to take action against them.
In the unknown, Xie Ze’s small (desire for) universe exploded.
The ambushing enemy was no other than Feng Jue’s forces brought in from the Wanzhou front.
Feng Jue surveyed the battlefield, a serious expression etched on his face.
