Chapter 98

Cannot escape... Escaping means certain death!

General Shen Kang of Chu reminded himself.

After all, they had rushed all the way from the banks of the Yan River to here. Could they possibly outrun the ambush troops of Wei in terms of physical strength?

Thinking of this, he raised his arm and shouted, "Form up! Form up to meet the enemy! No one is allowed to run! No one is allowed to run!"

However, his words were utterly useless at this moment.

It wasn't his fault, but the chariots' ability to mow down Chu soldiers was simply too powerful.

After all, crossbowmen were different from archers; they didn't expend energy by drawing their bows. They only needed to repeatedly load and fire their crossbows, and even the aiming step could be skipped. After all, with the dense crowd of Chu soldiers, they couldn't possibly miss even if they closed their eyes.

The position of these crossbowmen, with the chariot body being about ten feet high, meant that even the long spears in the Chu soldiers' hands couldn't reach them.

The only threat to them was the Chu army's bows and crossbows. Unfortunately, there were three shield bearers on each chariot: one protecting the driver and two protecting the crossbowmen in the upper compartment. This setup made it almost impossible for the Chu soldiers to pose any real threat to the Wei soldiers on the chariots.

If there was a single weakness of these chariots, it was their mobility. Due to the heavy weight of the chariots and their occupants, even if the four horses pulling the chariot exerted their full strength, the chariot's speed was still slower than that of a lightly armed infantryman running at full speed.

However, the impact of these chariots on breaking through enemy lines was unparalleled.

Indeed, in the face of these battlefield killers, the Chu soldiers had no fighting spirit and fled one after another.

The narrow mountain pass seemed to have become a burial ground for the Chu soldiers. Large numbers of Chu soldiers were unable to counterattack and were shot down or stabbed to death, leaving the ground covered with corpses and blood.

"Infantry, clear the way!"

Baili Ba gave the order in a deep voice.

The soldiers of the Junshui Camp quickly moved out on both sides of the chariots, dragging away the enemy soldiers who had been shot to prevent them from piling up and blocking the chariots' path.

As for one or two corpses, the Wei chariots simply rolled over them with their wheels, which were as tall as a man, without even pausing.

"Do not run! Counterattack! Counterattack! Do not run!"

General Shen Kang of Chu loudly commanded his soldiers, even going so far as to kill a few deserters with his sword. However, even this could not change the fact that the Chu soldiers were fleeing.

Since that was the case...

A determined look flashed in Shen Kang's eyes, and he led his personal guards in a charge.

He hoped to destroy one of these terrifying chariots to boost the morale of his soldiers.

However, his long spear, when it struck the front side of the chariot, only made it wobble slightly.

So... so solid!

Shen Kang was filled with shock.

At this moment, the crossbowmen on the chariot clearly noticed this Chu general and, without a word, fired a volley of crossbow bolts at him.

"Thud, thud, thud—"

Shen Kang tried his best to block with his spear, but he could not stop the powerful crossbow bolts at such close range.

With a few thuds, he was immediately hit by several arrows.

At close range, even the general's armor he wore could not stop the powerful crossbow bolts.

After Shen Kang fell from his horse, the Chu soldiers who had been following him and mustering the courage to counterattack were also shot down by the crossbowmen on the chariot.

The other Chu soldiers, seeing this, immediately turned and fled in terror.

It was a massacre...

Baili Ba glanced at the fallen Chu general and the ground covered with Chu soldiers' corpses, then looked at the chariots that seemed invincible, his expression complex.

He couldn't help but feel a sense of awe, knowing that the person who had designed these chariots was Prince Zhao Hongrun of Wei, the Duke of Su.

Otherwise, if such terrifying chariots fell into the hands of another country, the ones being massacred might have been their Wei infantry.

Shaking his head to dispel this unrealistic thought, Baili Ba gave the order in a deep voice, "Pursue! Do not let a single Chu soldier escape the Yan River!"

"Roar—!!"

The terrifying power of the chariots greatly boosted the already high morale of the Junshui Camp soldiers.

"Cavalry, charge!"

Following Baili Ba's order, the well-rested cavalry officially launched their attack.

The Junshui Camp had a cavalry unit, consisting of a full regiment of 5,000 cavalry, which accounted for almost one-third of the entire Wei cavalry.

Originally, cavalry was always responsible for breaking through enemy lines, but this time, with the more specialized chariots, the Junshui Camp's cavalry could only be used to chase down the fleeing Chu soldiers.

However, not all 5,000 cavalry pursued the Chu infantry. About 1,000 cavalry remained behind, taking iron hooks from their saddlebags, attaching them to their saddles, and using the hooks to catch the rings on the front sides of the chariots, pulling them to increase their speed.

The four horses of the chariot, plus the four cavalry, effectively made it an eight-horse chariot, significantly increasing its speed.

The fleeing Chu soldiers, who had already been exhausted from their rush from the Yan River to Yanling Hill, had no strength left to escape. They were continuously shot down or killed by the remaining 4,000 cavalry of the Junshui Camp.

"Let's follow them!"

A regimental general of the Junshui Camp shouted.

Thus, nearly 20,000 Junshui Camp infantry left one regiment of 5,000 to follow the chariots, while the remaining 15,000 Wei soldiers abandoned the slower chariots and followed the cavalry to pursue the fleeing Chu soldiers.

The front-line Chu army, fearing the chariots, had already fled, while the rear Chu army, unaware of what had happened, blindly followed the main force and turned to flee. When this became the mainstream, even the desperate commands of the Chu generals could not change the situation.

Defeat came like a collapsing mountain!

Near Yanling Hill, Zhao Hongrun, along with Wu Wei Wang Shu and Ma Zhang, followed the counterattack route of the Junshui Camp, slowly leaving the mountain pass and looking at the battle on the distant plain.

Or rather, the one-sided slaughter of the Chu soldiers by the Junshui Camp Wei soldiers.

Looking at the Chu soldiers' corpses scattered everywhere, Wu Wei Wang Shu scratched his head and said with a bitter smile, "This is... the most absurd battle I've ever seen..."

Indeed, it was absurd. Tens of thousands of Chu soldiers had chased them from the Yan River to Yanling Hill, one fleeing and one pursuing, both armies exhausted. At this moment, the Junshui Camp suddenly appeared, well-rested, and completely annihilated the Chu army.

Zhao Hongrun glanced at Wang Shu and said with a smile, "The Art of War says: 'An army that marches a hundred miles to seize an advantage will suffer the loss of its general, and an army that marches fifty miles to seize an advantage will have only half its troops arrive... The distance from the Yan River to Yanling Hill is only about fifteen to sixteen miles, but the Chu army's forced march made them vulnerable to ambush, leading to their complete defeat. How can this be absurd?"

"I'm talking about us..." Wang Shu scratched his head and said with a strange expression, "It feels like we did nothing but run from the Yan River to Yanling Hill..."

Wu Wei Ma Zhang glanced at the nearby Yanling Wei soldiers, who looked equally puzzled, and said with a bitter smile, "Lord Jiang Run, no, Your Highness, the Duke of Su... Did you plan to use us as bait from the beginning?"

"Hmm?" Zhao Hongrun looked at Ma Zhang with a half-smile.

"Your Highness, don't try to deny it," Ma Zhang said seriously. "I finally understand why Your Highness, upon arriving at Yanling, paid no attention to the morale of our Yanling army... You planned to use our army as bait to lure the 60,000 Chu vanguard here, allowing the Junshui Camp to attack them while well-rested... Thinking about it, you must have known that Chu Pingyu's challenge was a trick, and you turned it to your advantage, causing our Yanling army to feign defeat..."

"Is that so?"

"Are you still going to deny it?... Your bodyguards pretended to flee in your name, which must have boosted the Chu army's determination to capture the north bank of the Yan River at all costs. And the city of Yanling, I believe, was burned by you beforehand, as Lord Pei Zhan would never have had the courage to do so... You deliberately let the Chu army see our civilians retreating to Anling, luring them to pursue us and the 100,000 civilians, hoping to use us as leverage to take Anling... The Chu army's greed led them to fall into your trap and be ambushed by the Junshui Camp..."

Seeing Ma Zhang's "I've figured it out" expression, Zhao Hongrun found it amusing and teased, "Are you blaming me?"

"Never..." Ma Zhang quickly bowed and then said with a bitter smile, "I hope next time, Your Highness can give us a hint, so we don't feel like fools... It's embarrassing to realize that while Your Highness had a brilliant plan, we were jumping around like fools in front of you."

"Ha, would you have believed me if I told you?" Zhao Hongrun shook his head. "You didn't trust me from the beginning, so don't blame me for using you as bait... I have a long memory!"

"..." Wang Shu and Ma Zhang looked at each other and laughed bitterly, remembering all the harsh words they had said about the Duke of Su.

"Let's go back the way we came... and have the soldiers follow."

Hearing this, Wang Shu and Ma Zhang felt a surge of excitement and asked, "Your Highness, are you going to have us join the Junshui Camp in the fight?"

Zhao Hongrun looked back at Wang Shu and Ma Zhang and shook his head.

"No, I just want to see if General Baili can completely defeat the 60,000 Chu vanguard. As for you... when you return, pick up your weapons and equipment. And while you're at it, pick up the Chu soldiers' weapons and equipment too."

Cleaning up the battlefield...

Wang Shu and Ma Zhang looked at each other and shook their heads with a bitter smile.

Suddenly, Wang Shu seemed to think of something and said urgently, "Your Highness, are you planning to completely annihilate the 60,000 Chu vanguard?"

"Are you awake now?" Zhao Hongrun looked at Wang Shu with a hint of annoyance.

Wang Shu, blushing, waved his hands and explained, "Your Highness, I didn't mean that. I just suddenly thought, is it really a good idea for the Junshui Camp to slowly pursue the Chu army? If no army quickly secures the floating bridges near the Yan River, even if the Chu army is defeated, they can still escape across the river..."

"There is one," Zhao Hongrun interrupted. "We have another army upstream of the Yan River!"

Upstream... Chen Shi?!

Wang Shu and Ma Zhang took a deep breath.

What... what a brilliant strategy... With this, it might really be possible to completely annihilate the 60,000 Chu vanguard!