Chapter 1147 – Attacking Xu Pei, First Kill of the Lords (Seventeen)
Dropping over three thousand corpses, Yang Si and the others finally retreated from Guxu Gorge with their injured soldiers.
However, Yang Si felt no relief from escaping; their supplies were insufficient, and they were merely surviving on scraps.
Putting himself in Han Yu’s shoes, he realized he would never miss such a golden opportunity to strike when his enemy was down.
Cheng Yuan supported Yang Si, who was already weakened by hunger. After this ordeal, he was barely able to stand.
Yang Si gritted his teeth and said, “Gong Liao, go tell Commander Qin to gather the uninjured soldiers and retreat immediately.”
Cheng Yuan sensed the hidden meaning and fought against the dizziness threatening to overwhelm him, crying out, “Military Adviser!”
“Delay with the remnants for a moment.” Yang Si remained remarkably calm, even though the pain made it hard for him to stand. For a strategist, weighing the consequences was an innate ability, and he wouldn’t hesitate to make sacrifices for greater gains—even if it meant risking his own life. “The reinforcements from our Lord will arrive in less than half a day—we cannot allow these ten thousand elite troops to be wiped out at the hands of the enemy!”
In this situation, leaving behind anyone to hold the line would only lead to certain death!
Cheng Yuan instinctively tightened his grip on Yang Si’s shoulder, helping him take a few steps back.
“If the Military Adviser dies, how will I report to our Lord?”
Cheng Yuan was frantic, his body and mind feeling alien to him.
It wasn’t that he was useless; as an inexperienced rookie, he’d simply seen too little combat, and his ability to accumulate experience was limited.
Yang Si couldn’t help but chuckle, enjoying the madness of the situation—Cheng Yuan was going insane, yet he still managed to find something to laugh about.
“If I live, I wouldn’t even dare show my face to our Lord.” Yang Si said with a wry smile.
The stakes were high; having failed against Han Yu, the elite troops given to him by their Lord were in shambles. How could he face Jiang Pengji?
Cheng Yuan’s breathing grew heavy and hurried as Yang Si gripped his wrist tightly.
He had never considered just how strong the seemingly frail Yang Si could be.
Yang Si pushed Cheng Yuan away, nearly making him stumble.
“This is a military command! Do you dare disobey? As a strategist, being indecisive and wavering on the battlefield will only lead to the deaths of more troops!”
It struck Cheng Yuan thunderously, jolting him to his core, “Our Lord may not even come; it’s better to fight to the death!”
Leaving behind Yang Si and over two thousand wounded soldiers was obviously a death sentence.
Yang Si replied firmly, “Our Lord will come!”
Cheng Yuan bit down hard on his teeth, managing to relay the message to Qin Gong.
After a moment of thought, Qin Gong ordered the division of troops.
“Since Gong is seriously injured and might become a burden, he won’t withdraw.” Qin Gong indeed bore heavy injuries; an arrow had carved a long gash across his face, he had two arrow wounds on his right arm, a sword wound on his left shoulder, and his leg bore injury as well. Fortunately, the leg injury was minor, allowing him to ride and continue fighting.
The forward troops narrowly escaped from the mountain pass, though most were wounded and needed covering.
The rear troops fared comparatively well; though there were casualties, they were not severe, and their fighting power remained relatively intact.
However, Han Yu and his men would not grant Yang Si much time; the pursuers were hot on their tail.
Yang Si took a deep breath, his bloodied hand gripping his beloved sword.
“If there’s a next life, I will serve our Lord again—in this life, forgive me for going ahead, unable to fully fulfill my duty—”
He murmured, already prepared for death.
Yang Si understood his situation and choice far more clearly than Han Yu.
If he were captured, he would only face death.
Xu Pei and Changshou Wang were merely cut from the same cloth; they held their noble lineage in high regard, looking down on those from humble origins—but the former managed to put on a better facade, knowing how to paint over unrest. Hadn’t he turned his back on Changshou Wang for this very reason?
It would be a great disgrace for Yang Si to submit to Xu Pei for self-preservation, far worse than being ridiculed and spat upon.
“Form up, resist the enemy!” Yang Si swung his sword, his brow furrowing in readiness to embrace death.
“Report—there’s an enemy ambush from the rear—”
Han Yu was taken aback!
An enemy?
So soon?
In that instant, he confirmed the identity of the ambushers, glancing toward the rear troops and faintly spotting signs of their disarray.
Xie Ze was about to lead his men to massacre the remnants under Yang Si’s command when he suddenly heard the messenger’s words, his eyes narrowing menacingly.
“Enemy troops?”
Han Yu replied, “Reinforcements for Yang Si.”
They arrived three hours earlier than anticipated; initially, he thought they could wipe out Yang Si’s remnants and then retreat, leaving Liu Xi in the lurch.
Xie Ze was momentarily stunned—where did Yang Si’s reinforcements come from?
Han Yu explained, “Yang Si has been avoiding a fight, wandering around Qichuan Plain with his troops to preserve strength until they meet with reinforcements. Their own breakout means heavy casualties. If reinforcements arrive, they can at least preserve combat strength while threatening our troops.”
Unfortunately, Yang Si’s plans had been thoroughly disrupted by his intervention.
Xie Ze was puzzled, “We haven’t intercepted their messages; how could reinforcements come so conveniently?”
Han Yu replied, “Signal fires.”
Because of the signal fires lit on Qichuan Plain, Liu Xi guessed that Yang Si was in trouble and sent troops for support, which should come as no surprise.
In an instant, Xie Ze understood the implication and asked, “Military Adviser, what should we do now?”
Han Yu declared, “It’s not wise to linger in battle.”
In a frontal confrontation, there wouldn’t be too much to worry about, but an ambush from behind had thrown them into turmoil.
Without the ability to organize an effective defense, the longer they delayed, the greater their casualties would become.
If Yang Si reacted quickly, coordinating with the reinforcements to attack from both sides, the situation would become even more dire.
Decisiveness was essential. Han Yu made his decision in an instant.
Han Yu and Yang Si had some similarities in temperament; both were decisive and ruthless, and once a decision was made, they would not hesitate.
If it had been someone else, they might have hesitated a bit longer, risking everything just to kill Yang Si, believing that there would never be another chance like this again.
Had Han Yu actually done this, the troops under him would surely be devoured by Jiang Pengji, leaving not even a single survivor.
As Yang Si mustered all his strength, planning to take a few enemies down with him before he died, he suddenly found that the enemy had vanished—
“Military Adviser—the enemy’s rear has fallen into disarray—”
Riding his horse, Qin Gong had a vantage point much higher than Yang Si’s, and he could faintly see the enemy’s rear formation being disrupted by an unfamiliar force.
Yang Si froze, almost unable to process what was happening.
“Lord—Lord’s reinforcements are here!”
Yang Si, filled with excitement, dropped his sword, the sudden movement pulling at his wounds and causing him to yelp in pain.
Upon hearing this, Qin Gong felt a surge of hope.
Reinforcements?
There really were reinforcements?
Little did they know, the reinforcements they spoke of were currently being felt by Jiang Pengji, whose mood was far from pleasant. The audience in the live stream could sense the killing intent radiating from her, filling the once bustling screen with tension; the crowd was too frightened to speak.
“Trying to escape?”
With a neigh from Xiao Bai beneath her, Jiang Pengji suddenly drew her blade, the brilliance of the snow-white weapon gleaming ominously.
A flash of her blade, as easy as slicing tofu, effortlessly cleaved through several bodies, creating a bloody path strewn with corpses in no time.
