Tang Dynasty Swordsman

Page 171

Even if we assume that all three towns have collapsed, and the troops in southern Hebei are weak and the people are in disarray, then even if Weibo and Zhaoyi wanted to punish me, they wouldn't have the strength to do so.

Qin Rui said angrily, "If I find out who started the disturbance, I will dismember them!" Then he raised his whip and said, "Enough, let's go to Xindu first."

Exhausted and demoralized, it was impossible for them to run back to their town in one go. However, Xindu City was only forty li away, and they should be able to reach it before dark. Moreover, in their haste to escape, they had abandoned all their provisions and supplies, but Xindu City still had 600,000 hu of grain from Huainan, sent by the imperial court. Perhaps they could take advantage of Li Ji's absence and make a large profit to replenish their losses?

So they hurriedly rode towards Xindu City. He, his generals, and his staff were still on horseback, so they had four legs, while most of the soldiers who followed them had two legs. As they ran, the troops became more and more scattered. When they first crossed the Zhang River, they still had a thousand men by their side, but when they reached the city of Xindu, only two or three hundred soldiers remained. Most of them had abandoned their weapons and even took off their armor because they found it too cumbersome.

Before nightfall, the gates of Xindu were already tightly shut. Seeing this, Guo Mo reminded Qin Rui, "There may be trouble in the city, Commander, be careful." Qin Rui smiled and said, "Hu E is being held in the prefectural office. Even if he has received news of our defeat, how could he have time to cause trouble?" He ordered someone to go forward and announce his name at the gate.

Before long, the city gate opened a crack, and a junior officer stepped out, clasped his hands in salute: "We heard of the defeat in Zhangbei, and fearing that the Tianxiong bandits would pursue us relentlessly, we were forced to close the city gates and defend it. Now that Commander Qin has returned, may we ask if there are any pursuing troops behind us?"

Qin Rui shook his head: "The pursuers are still far away." He spurred his horse and charged straight in.

The junior officer hurriedly said, "We are afraid of making any mistakes. We are currently gathering wood and stones to block the city gate. The road is narrow, so it would be best if Commander Qin dismounted."

Qin Rui glanced into the gate and, sure enough, saw many carts and stones blocking more than half the passage. He frowned, dismounted, and asked as he walked in, "So cautious—who is the commander?"

The city gate was pitch black. He managed to get around two carts and jump over a pile of stones before passing through. Suddenly, his vision brightened, and he saw dozens of soldiers, each holding a long spear and with their bows drawn, forming a semicircle that blocked his way.

Qin Rui shouted, "I am the military governor of Wushun Army, not the bandit Tianxiong. Why don't you get out of the way at once? Who is the garrison commander? Summon him to me."

A voice came from behind the soldiers: "Since Commander Qin has come here, I wonder where Commander Li of Weibo is?"

Qin Rui casually replied, "I suppose it's still to come."

Suddenly, the man raised his voice and shouted, "Commander Qin abandoned his allies and fled, trapping my Weibo. Therefore, I, Nie, can no longer welcome Commander Qin. Please surrender and await Commander Li's return to decide your fate!"

Before he finished speaking, more than a dozen spears were thrust forward at once, their tips directly pressing against Qin Rui's breastplate.

Qin Rui was utterly shocked. In truth, with his skills, if he had a horse at his feet and a sword and spear in his hand, even a large number of soldiers would be no match for him. The problem was, he was completely unprepared. His horse was behind him, his sword was still sheathed, and dozens of spear tips were grazing his breastplate, the clattering noise deafening… Qin Rui thought to himself, “These must be elite soldiers. Don’t let your hand shake. If you shake your hand even slightly, I, a grown man, will be dead…”

"How dare you! I am a military governor appointed by the imperial court, a fourth-rank official and acting vice minister of the Ministry of Works. Who dares to touch me?!" His tone was fierce, but his voice wasn't loud enough, for fear of frightening the spear-wielding soldiers, in case his hand trembled...

"If you dare to frame my Weibo army, I'll capture the prime minister too!" At this command, several strong soldiers rushed over, pinned Qin Rui to the ground, stripped him of his armor, and bound him with ropes.

Since they were prepared in advance, they naturally captured all the advisors and soldiers who had followed Qin Rui, and none of them escaped.

Qin Rui couldn't help but curse angrily, while simultaneously straining his neck to see who had the audacity to come and capture him. He was confronted with an unfamiliar Wei Bo general, in his thirties, with a pale face and short beard, who seemed neither particularly shrewd nor fierce, but rather like a scholar—"Who are you?"

"Nie Feng is the Commander-in-Chief and Commander-in-Chief of the Wei Bo Army!"

Nie Feng led several battalions of soldiers to join the main army, and thus had never met Qin Rui before, so he did not recognize him.

Originally, Nie Feng's duty was to supervise and coordinate the transport of grain. When the two armies were facing off at Hengshui City, Li Ji judged that Tian Chengsi would send people to cross the Zhang River to try to seize the grain. To ensure a safe outcome, he summoned Nie Feng to take charge of Xindu. "As long as you hold Xindu City firmly for me, the bandits will have no chance to take advantage of the situation."

Every two days, Nie Feng would inspect the army's provisions for several days and order them to be transported to the north bank of the Zhang River. He was cautious and would always personally climb the north city wall to watch the grain carts depart before he felt at ease. However, one day, just as he was about to descend the city wall, he suddenly saw what appeared to be black smoke rising in the distance. He hurriedly asked his men, "Is that towards the Zhang River?"

Those around him said, "That's right." Then they exclaimed with joy, "It's highly likely that our army has already defeated the enemy!"

Nie Feng, however, remained cautious, thinking that perhaps our army had been defeated by the enemy... He quickly ordered the grain convoy to be recalled first, and at the same time sent scouts to the vicinity of the battlefield to investigate and confirm before transporting the grain.

Not long after the riders left, they returned one after another to report that they had encountered many defeated soldiers of Wushun on the way. They said that during the fierce battle, Wushun's army was in disarray and collapsed while crossing the Zhang River... As for the thick smoke, it was the enemy soldiers setting fire to the pontoon bridge!

Upon hearing this, Nie Feng was greatly alarmed. Two of his valiant generals urged him, "Wu Shun's army has abandoned their lines and collapsed. The enemy has burned the pontoon bridge, cutting off the commander's retreat! We implore you, General, to lead us north immediately to rescue the commander!"

Nie Feng glanced at them and thought to himself, "Are they crazy? How many soldiers do we have in this city? Are we just going to charge in and die?"

But they dared not directly rebuke them, because those were two battalion commanders...

Back then, Li Ji organized eight battalions of young soldiers who were not yet sixteen years old into the Xiaobing Army and handed them over to Nie Feng for command. However, although he was nominally in charge, Li Ji directly interfered with personnel and training, keeping those young men firmly in his own hands. In a sense, Li Ji's favor towards the Xiaobing Army was even greater than that towards his personal guards.

Because he sensed a strong sense of roguishness in many of the former soldiers of Weibo, he frankly had no confidence that he could transform them completely in a year or two. On the contrary, these young men were still almost blank slates in their minds, easy to shape, so he carefully nurtured them, even hiring a tutor to teach the ordinary soldiers to read and write.

His ideal was not merely to train these young men into usable soldiers, but to cultivate the majority of them into future officers.

Time flies, and three years have passed in the blink of an eye. Many of the young soldiers have grown up; not only have they crossed the threshold of sixteen, but quite a few have even reached the age of eighteen. During this northern expedition, Li Ji deeply felt that his troops were too few in number and might not be sufficient. However, he did not intend to send the weaker auxiliary troops to the front lines to their deaths. Therefore, Nie Feng requested that the adult soldiers in the auxiliary troops be organized into two battalions to jointly protect the grain transport. Li Ji agreed.

The two battalion commanders who volunteered to go out to rescue the main army were both young soldiers, burly lads of eighteen or nineteen. Because they were still young and lacked real achievements, they couldn't serve as deputy generals, so they were temporarily called "battalion commanders" but actually received the salary of a minor officer. These young men had all been brainwashed by Li Ji, regarding him as a teacher and father figure—because of their humble origins and limited experience, they were easy to win over; besides, if there were any overly ambitious ones, Nie Feng wouldn't dare entrust them with the position of battalion commander and easily bring them out—if they kept shouting that they were willing to die for the general, and if Nie Feng bluntly said that they shouldn't go to the rescue, they might disobey orders on the spot, or even draw their swords to threaten him!

Nie Feng wasn't afraid to fight these two young men, but the problem was that the city didn't have many soldiers to begin with, so could it withstand internal strife?

He then gently advised, “We are entrusted with the important task of protecting the army’s provisions. How can we leave lightly? Even if we suffer a defeat at the front, with your abilities, you can safely return to Zhangnan. At that time, we will have the fortified city of Xindu to rely on, and hundreds of thousands of grains in the city. We can then hope to regroup. But if we go forward without a plan and lose the city and the army’s provisions, the defeat will be irreparable.”

Although the two young men were anxious and hot-blooded, they weren't complete fools or idiots—to be the commander of the military camp, they must be among the best of the young soldiers—and they found Nie Feng's words quite reasonable. Although they stamped their feet repeatedly, they dared not urge him any further. However, one of them said, "That hateful Wu Shun army! They actually collapsed first and lost the pontoon bridge, putting our army in danger! If I see Commander Wu Shun, even if I'm punished by the military governor, I will definitely chop off his dog's head with one stroke!"

Nie Feng thought to himself, if you really killed a military governor without authorization, even if Li Ji cherishes you all, it probably won't be enough to just "punish" you... However, he also deeply hated Qin Rui. After thinking for a moment, he said, "If Commander Qin of Wushun Army does not return to Xindu, then so be it. But if he does, you should not harm him easily... It would be better to capture him and wait for the military governor to return before deciding on his fate."

They were all military commanders, and given the prevailing atmosphere of the time, even the imperial court was just a vague impression in the minds of these common soldiers. At most, they wouldn't dare to offend the emperor, and they would give way to the prime minister. As for other officials, who knew who you were? If you offended my military commander, you would be dragged off your horse and whipped!

As for the other garrison commanders and military governors, they were even less afraid of offending him. Nie Feng believed that if he killed Qin Rui, Li Ji would be furious; if he merely detained him, Commander Li would not punish him—and he could even argue that his subordinates were angry and wanted to harm Commander Qin, and that he was actually protecting him…

You damned tricked my Wei Bo army! Although I dare not kill you without humiliating you, how can I vent my anger if I don't humiliate you a little? I hope you don't come. Otherwise, if I greet you with my head bowed, not only will I feel terrible, but I won't be able to lead the troops. Look at those two bastards' faces, they'll definitely mutiny on the spot.

Who would have thought that Qin Rui would not only be unlucky, but also covet the grain stored in Xindu City? Before it was even dark, and before he had a clear understanding of the situation at the front, he actually ran down to the city...

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A fierce battle took place on the north bank of the Zhang River in the morning. Wu Shun's army was thrown into disarray first, and Zhao Yi's army fled. Tian Xiong's army pursued the fleeing enemy, and divided its forces to guard the riverbank and the north side, partially surrounding the Weibo camp. They were busy for most of the day. In contrast, the Weibo soldiers were the most relaxed. After returning to camp, they reorganized their troops, counted their losses, cooked a meal, and rested on the spot—naturally, leaving enough guards behind.

While they were physically more relaxed, they were mentally exhausted. This was not only because the battle in the morning had been fierce and the entire army had almost collapsed, but also because their allies had been defeated, leaving them isolated and without support, and their retreat had been cut off by the enemy. The soldiers inevitably gathered in small groups to discuss the situation, and a pervasive atmosphere of pessimism and despair filled the air.

Li Ji promptly inspected each camp, had heart-to-heart talks with the soldiers, and together they cursed the armies of Wu Shun and Zhao Yi. This aroused the soldiers' hatred and, to some extent, diluted their negative emotions such as dejection and helplessness.

He then returned to the main camp and summoned his generals and officers to discuss what to do next.

Tian Qianzhen sighed, "The morale is low and the supply lines are cut off. There is no chance of winning this battle. The only option now is to devise a plan to break through the encirclement and return to Weibo."

Lei Wanchun retorted, “The deputy commander is far too dejected. Although our army has been defeated, the losses are not heavy, and the morale is not necessarily too low. Although our supply lines are cut off, we still have five days' worth of rations in the camp. Now that we have killed the general of Youzhou on the battlefield, the Youzhou soldiers will surely lose their courage and are not worth worrying about. The Tianxiong army facing us is only forty or fifty thousand strong, while our Weibo army still has more than ten thousand. As long as our soldiers fight to the death, we still have hope of victory!”

Tian Qianzhen glanced at him, then shook his head with a wry smile.

Lei Wanchun continued, “When the late Lord Zhang was guarding Suiyang and Luoyang, the situation was a thousand times more dangerous. Lord Zhang never admitted defeat, and no one dared to retreat. How much more so today? Have you not heard the principle of ‘placing oneself in a desperate situation to survive’?”

Tian Qianzhen retorted, "In the past, when we defended Suiyang and Luoyang, we had strong fortified cities to rely on. Now, these are just temporary earthen ramparts piled up on the plain. How can we generalize like this? Moreover, our army has always relied on strong bows and crossbows to defend our fortifications, but in just over ten days, we have suffered heavy losses, and now we have less than five thousand arrows left... As the saying goes, a defeated general cannot be called brave, and an isolated soldier cannot be expected to win!"

Li Ji asked, "From the deputy commander's perspective, is our only option to break out and retreat? But which route should we take to retreat?"

Tian Qianzhen cupped his hands and replied, "Tianxiong Army is directly to our east, and they are chasing Wushun Army to block the pontoon bridge and chasing Zhaoyi Army to form a defensive line on the northern road. Neither of these are places we can go—we can only proceed on the western road now."

"Xue E will surely retreat to Tangyang and plan to find a place to cross the Zhang River from there, then return to our town via Nangong. If our army retreats westward in time, we may still have a chance to return together; if we do not leave tonight, I am afraid there will be no chance in the next day or the day after. I implore the commander to make a decision as soon as possible."

Chapter Twenty-Eight: Not Failing Seven Feet

Tian Qianzhen suggested that they mobilize elite troops overnight, break out of the camp, and head west to Tangyang to join Xue E's Zhaoyi Army. Before Li Ji could express his opinion, Gao Ying interrupted, saying, "I am but a scholar and do not understand military affairs, so there is something I do not understand. I humbly request the Vice Commander's guidance."

"Gong Chu, you may speak frankly without fear."

Gao Ying frowned and said, "Today, the mighty army is positioned to the east, south, and north of my fortress, but why has it not cut off the western route? I have heard of the saying 'surrounding three sides and leaving one open,' which means that they fear we will fight like a cornered beast, so they deliberately leave a passage open. If that is the case, how can we be sure that those barbarians will not have set up an ambush on the western route?"

Tian Qianzhen nodded: "Gongchu's concerns are valid. However, if we attack the southern formation, the enemy will surely attack from the east and north, leaving our army vulnerable from both sides. If we take the western route, the enemy is trying to lure us out. Their troops on three sides will not move, so even if there are ambushes, we can proceed cautiously and may not suffer a major defeat. After all, the plains are not protected by mountains or rivers, so the ambushes are simply placed in villages or among tall grass, making them easy to spot."

He then bowed to Li Ji and said, "I am willing to take the lead and clear the way for the commander. The commander can then bring the main force from behind. If we encounter an enemy ambush, we can bypass it. We must do this tonight so that the enemy cannot find out where our main force is."

Li Ji smiled and said, "The deputy commander was willing to risk his life so that I could lead the army to safety—this is an immense favor, how could I possibly accept it?"

Tian Qianzhen replied with a sincere expression: "Back then, between Xinfeng and Weinan, if I had not been captured by the military commander and forced to surrender to the Tang Dynasty, I might have already died in the wilderness. The fact that I have lived for more than ten years since then is all thanks to the military commander's kindness. Now, I am willing to die for the military commander, which is my long-cherished wish."

Li Ji thought to himself, "What? Did I do you a favor by capturing you alive? Does anyone believe that?" But putting aside the past, you are still surnamed Tian and related to Tian Chengsi. I can't possibly entrust my safety to you. Who knows what kind of face is hidden behind your honest expression?

In fact, he was not a suspicious person and was quite willing to trust his subordinates. The problem was that Tian Qianzhen had only recently been parachuted in, and they had not known each other for long. If he could still trust him without a doubt, then he was just being a pretentious intellectual.

Lei Wanchun said from the side, "The deputy commander is getting old after all—if we want to break through to the west and find the enemy's ambush, this humble general is willing to be the vanguard!"

Tian Qianzhen glanced at him: "I wonder how old the general is?"

"Two out of forty."

Tian Qianzhen couldn't help but chuckle and said, "I'm only six years older than the general, how can you call me old?"

Upon hearing this, Lei Wanchun was secretly taken aback—you're not even fifty yet? No way, I can't believe it…

Yin Shen interjected promptly—actually, he didn't want Lei Wanchun and Tian Qianzhen to compete for the lead. He felt that Tian Qianzhen's death was acceptable, but General Lei still had great potential and should not die here—and asked Li Ji, "Has the commander made a plan? If we are to head west tonight, we should start preparing now. Moreover, it is more than a hundred li to Tangyang, so we must travel light and destroy our baggage to prevent it from falling into the hands of the Tian family."

Li Ji stroked his increasingly thick beard, pondered for a moment, and suddenly asked, "How many soldiers does the enemy have guarding my old pontoon bridge?"

"There should be no fewer than five or six thousand."

"How many troops will be used to control the northern route?"

"It should be above five or six thousand."

Li Ji smiled wryly: "Then how many troops will Tian Chengsi's main camp have left? And can our Weizhou defense forces, fighting one against three, possibly defeat them?"

Upon hearing this, everyone was greatly shocked: "Does the commander intend to launch a direct attack on their eastern fortress?!"

Li Ji nodded slightly, then, before anyone could remind him—"You forgot about the Youzhou soldiers"—he hurriedly explained, "Given Xue E's character and the quality of the Zhaoyi Army, I fear they will not be able to retreat to Tangyang, but will instead flee all the way to Zhangnan, or even escape to Zhaozhou, which belongs to Chengde. If I go west, the entire two hundred li will be enemy territory, with no strongholds or natural defenses. Even if I manage to break through the Tianxiong Army's ambush, they will surely pursue me from behind. I'm afraid there will be little chance of finding a suitable place to cross Zhangnan."

"Are we also going to Zhao Prefecture? Cheng De has gathered troops in Anping, clearly intending to emulate Bian Zhuangzi's tiger-slaying. If he hears of our army's defeat, the cities of Zhao Prefecture will certainly refuse to surrender. Meanwhile, the Tianxiong Army can take the opportunity to recapture Xindu. If they seize the grain from Huainan bestowed by the court, their momentum will surely be restored. Not only will our army have no chance to make a comeback, but Tian Chengsi might even crush Bei and De in one fell swoop and advance on Weibo and Bo!"

"At that time, with my defeated and depleted troops and empty treasury, how will I resist? If I flee, I'm afraid I'll have to escape back to Guanzhong sooner or later..."

"If we march at night and are ambushed, our army will be unable to maintain order. In that case, I will ultimately escape this perilous place. Of the tens of thousands of soldiers from Weibo, how many will be left? I will become a laughingstock like Zhang Xiancheng!"

He paused for a moment, then continued, “Tian Chengsi has four prefectures and supports seventy to eighty thousand troops. There were reports that his food supplies were not very sufficient, so he must be eyeing the grain stored in Xindu. I estimate that he has already divided his troops to cross the Zhang River to take Xindu! So his troops capable of fighting are less than thirty thousand. After dividing them up again, how much strength do they have left? If we raid their camp at night, it may catch Tian Chengsi off guard. If we can break through their defenses and enter their camp, the Tianxiong army will be thrown into chaos, and the tide of battle will be completely turned!”

Tian Qianzhen advised, "The commander said that Tian Qianzhen might send troops to take Xindu, or launch a night attack on us without any defenses. These are all unfounded speculations and cannot be confirmed. Such military action would be far too dangerous."

Li Ji smirked, "Is it not dangerous to march west to ambush them tonight?" He leaned on the table, stood up, and said in a deep voice, "Retreating is a near-certain death, and it would ruin the affairs of the state. There is a glimmer of hope ahead, a chance to turn danger into safety. What will you choose?" He then asked Tian Qianzhen, "The deputy commander risked his life for me, and even after surrendering to the Tang for more than ten years, he is still left to die in the wilderness. Moreover, given your background, the court may not necessarily honor you. If you follow me to the front lines and defeat Tian Chengsi, you may be able to become the military governor of Tianxiong Army. What will the deputy commander choose then?"

Before Tian Qianzhen could answer, Lei Wanchun shouted, "What other choice is there? To the west is death, to the east is death. I would rather die facing the enemy than betray the body of a dignified seven-foot man!"

Li Ji laughed loudly, "Dong may not die—but Tian Chengsi must die first!" He then looked around at his officers and generals and said, "I have made up my mind. I will now go out and announce to the whole army that we will march east from the fortifications tonight to raid the enemy camp!"

Tian Qianzhen grabbed him and reminded him, "Since the commander has already made his plan, I have nothing to say but to obey your orders. However, if there is no movement in our camp, the enemy will assume that we are either defending or retreating. If there is a commotion in the camp, they will be able to find out our movements. Commander, please be careful."

Li Ji originally wanted to summon the entire army for an inspiring speech and shout slogans to boost morale for a night raid; but Tian Qianzhen was right. If the whole army moved out in a chaotic mess, would the enemy be stupid enough not to guess that he intended to launch a desperate counterattack? Helpless, he had no choice but to summon the commanders and deputy commanders of each battalion to the main tent and issue military orders.

Li Ji ordered his men to bring out the military governor's insignia granted by the imperial court and proclaimed it to the generals: "I may retreat while protecting the insignia, but you will all inevitably fall victim to the Tianxiong bandit's blade. This insignia is merely made of bamboo and wood; it can be lost and regained, broken and remade. It is not like human life, which cannot be restored after death. How can I value material possessions more than people? Moreover, Zhang Xiancheng lost his loyalty but still became the military governor of Dongchuan. If he can regain his position and take Cui Gan's head, how can he be laughed at by the world?"

As he spoke, he suddenly grasped the banner with both hands, raised his knee, and snapped it in two with a "crack." He then shouted, "Today we will raid their camp. It will be either the bandits or I who perish! The entire army will only wear armor and carry weapons; everything else will be discarded. I will take Tian Chengsi's banner and present it to the court. If you don't believe me, they will make a new one for me. You will follow me and crush the Tianxiong Army's fortifications. I believe everything in their camp will be yours!"

"I may break my principles, I may die, but the name of Weibo as a powerful army in the world must never be tarnished!"

This time, without any brothers holding him back, Yang Shigu took the initiative to cup his hands and said, "We are willing to follow the commander to raid the enemy camp, to seek survival in the face of death, and not to tarnish the name of Weibo!" The generals also echoed in unison.

Generally speaking, soldiers and generals are straightforward, quick-tempered, and quite concerned with their reputation—how can you lead troops if you have no shame? Therefore, frankly speaking, today's defeat has caused these generals more resentment than fear and disappointment. Because, theoretically speaking, we were dragged down by what the commander called "pig teammates"—they may be as stupid as pigs, which is one thing, but they're not even comrades-in-arms, so why call them "teammates"?—who says my Weibo army was defeated?

Didn't we retreat back to our camp peacefully and without incident? General Lei even killed a general from Youzhou on the battlefield. Then, because of our incompetent teammates abandoning the pontoon bridge, our retreat was cut off, our supplies ran out, and we ultimately failed. How regrettable!

If it were a fair and square, head-on battle, and we were to lose to the Tianxiong Army due to poor command, disorganized formations, or lack of skill, we might become fearful. But we've been fighting very well all along. The Tianxiong Army just has a slightly larger number of soldiers, what's there to be afraid of? So, with Li Ji's guidance and encouragement, all the generals were enraged and almost unanimously declared—Damn it! Even if we die in the end, I'll cut down a few more Tianxiong soldiers to take down with me!

So he ordered all the generals to return to camp, informed the soldiers, and secretly prepared for battle. They were to take nothing with them, not even extra weapons, let alone valuables, supplies, or provisions. The entire army was to charge out and raid Tianxiong's fortress.

Of course, even when the entire army launches a full-scale attack, there's a sequence; some can only follow behind and put on a show of force—like Gao Ying. Gao Ying intended to stay behind and defend his camp, but Li Ji said, "If I can't completely crush the enemy forces on the front lines in time, their enemies from the north and south might attack our camp. It's too unsafe for you to remain here—and I can't leave you with too many guards. It would be better to put on armor and march in formation with the main army; that way, we can still be safe."

Li Ji and Lei Wanchun led all the cavalry ahead, ordering Tian Qianzhen to lead the infantry to follow behind. Gao Ying and other civil officials, as well as Yin Shen and others who knew how to fight but were not familiar with battle formations, stayed by Tian Qianzhen's side. At the third watch of the night, they quietly opened the gate, and people with gags in their mouths and horses with straw wrapped around their hooves, they went out in an orderly fashion.

The Tianxiong army was not entirely unprepared, sending numerous cavalry and scouts to secretly patrol between the two camps to observe the movements of the Weibo army. However, the Weibo army was ultimately isolated, and with victory seemingly within their grasp, the Tianxiong soldiers generally became complacent—unless their commanders gave them specific instructions, there were very few good soldiers willing to work tirelessly all night.

Therefore, it wasn't until they were two arrow-lengths away from Tianxiong's camp that a scout suddenly noticed them and hurriedly sounded the alarm. Li Ji tightened his grip on his lance and shouted, "Sacrifice your life and you may live; cowardice and hiding your life will surely lead to your demise. On the battlefield, only the brave will prevail!" He spurred his horse and suddenly accelerated.

Actually, this distance was a bit far for a cavalry charge, but given the circumstances, could they afford to worry about the horses' strength? Human lives were more important than horses!

So thousands of cavalrymen set off almost simultaneously, with great momentum, and charged straight to the front of the Tianxiong Army's camp. To prevent cavalry charges, there were originally trenches and barricades in front of the camp, and archers were supposed to be on alert behind them; however, it was the middle of the night, and most people were fast asleep, so only a few guards were deployed, and even if everyone could draw their bows and shoot arrows in time, it would be difficult to aim accurately in the dark.

However, quite a few Weibo cavalrymen were still hit by arrows and fell, and more than a dozen riders accidentally fell into the trenches. Li Ji rode a fine steed from Guanzhong that he was very skilled at riding, and he was quite agile. Even in the dark of night and in the dim light, he still crossed two trenches in succession and reached the front of several barricades.

Unwilling to charge directly at the chevaux-de-frise, his mount let out a long neigh and reared up. Li Ji slid down, landing easily, and grabbed a wooden chevaux-de-frise weighing several dozen kilograms. With a powerful thrust of his shoulder and back, he hurled it diagonally several paces away. Then, with a few leaps, he reached the camp, drew his iron mace from his back, and smashed a section of the palisade to pieces with a few loud thuds.

Lei Wanchun did not dismount. Instead, he leaped through the gap created by Li Ji's attack and charged into the camp with his spear. Several Tianxiong soldiers tried to block him, but he killed them all with a single thrust of his spear.

Behind the camp, torches were placed at intervals, with iron supports and wooden handles, each topped with an iron cage filled with blazing firewood. Li Ji, knowing he wasn't empty-handed and was wearing thick gloves, held his iron mace upside down, grabbed the iron cage, and hurled it at the dozen or so soldiers charging towards him with spears.

Like a fireball being launched, the Tianxiong soldiers dodged in terror, but one man was still hit on the shoulder, instantly covered in burning firewood, and fell to the ground with a loud scream. Li Ji rode forward with his lance in his left hand, then picked up the iron cage and threw it, along with the remaining firewood, at a camp a dozen paces away.

The tent caught fire and immediately burst into flames.

He then discarded his spear and wielded a four-sided mace in each hand, striking with incredible speed and precision, leaving those who stood in his way with their heads shattered and chests split open.

Chaos erupted in the Tianxiong army camp.

Tian Chengsi awoke with a start from his dream, hurriedly got up and put on his armor. He heard his subordinates report that the enemy soldiers were getting closer and closer, gradually heading towards the main tent—there was no way around it, the large banner in front of the tent was too conspicuous—he couldn't help but feel anxious.

We hastily dispatched troops to block the enemy's advance. After all, we had a large army, tens of thousands of soldiers. There were always thousands of soldiers on night watch who did not sleep. With these thousands of soldiers slightly hindering the enemy's advance, more soldiers should have gotten up and taken up their weapons one after another.

He shouted, "Wei Bo's raid on our camp is nothing but a desperate struggle. If we can repel them for a while, they will surely surrender at dawn! Don't panic, come and protect the main tent!"

The Tianxiong Army, numbering 50,000, had nearly half of its elite and courageous soldiers. Although several units had been dispatched to other missions, nearly 10,000 remained in the main eastern camp, mostly veterans who had participated in the An Lushan Rebellion. Their reaction speed and adaptability were exceptionally fast. Had the Zhaoyi Army been present, the Weibo soldiers would likely have scattered after simply storming the camp and setting fire to a few tents. Yet, the Tianxiong Army managed to organize small teams, surrounding the camp from all sides and fighting desperately against the Weibo soldiers who were attacking.

However, the vanguard consisted of elite cavalry from Weibo—in those days, no one would be willing to give their precious warhorses to anyone who wasn't an elite soldier, no matter how skilled they were at horsemanship—they were extremely proficient in both mounted and foot combat. Coupled with their fighting spirit and desire for revenge, they shouted slogans like "Weibo's strong army, the heroes of the world," and followed their commander, charging forward desperately. The Tianxiong army that tried to block their path were scattered, and half of them were instantly killed, becoming mangled corpses.

Even so, by the time Lei Wanchun finally charged ahead of Tian Chengsi, thousands of elite soldiers had already gathered around his main tent, all armed, and more than half of them were fully armored...

Chapter Twenty-Nine: Feint to the East, Attack in the West