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Chapter 245
Chapter 245 - Coward Zou Jing
Zou Jing and his surviving men were 10 kilometers north of the previous camp where Tong had occupied.
A total of 8, 000 men were constructing traps, digging pitfalls, and gathering dry woods. Although it was already dusk, Zou Jing disallowed the men to rest.
His eyes glanced around while he kept pacing back and forth. His hands could not find the right place to stay as he scratched and touched his elbows all the time.
"Sir, the scouts have returned!" A soldier shouted.
Zou Jing's eyes brightened, "Come quickly! Where are they now!?"
The scouts knelt and cupped their fists, "My Lord, they have reached our abandoned camp and slain all of the cripples. T-They will reach this place tomorrow morning!"
Zou Jing teeth were clattering when he heard the report.
"G-Gather the men and hurry. We have to finish all traps before morning!"
"Yes, my lord!"
...
Tong watched his men piling the naked corpses of the crippled soldiers. These men that Tong killed were the soldiers that Zou Jing left behind as cannon fodders to buy times for their escape.
A few hundreds of men were captured. They, too, were the soldiers that Tong attacked with his homing arrows the first night.
From the interrogation, they confessed about their lord's plan and their view on Tong's troops.
"He told us that the Yellow Turban will kill all of our citizens."
"He wanted us to burn the camp when you charge the camp, but the Goddess of Death killed most of us before we could set the fire."
"Zou Jing said that you robbed the peasants! We're fighting to the death!"
A bitter feeling crept in Tong's mind as he did not want to harm these brainwashed soldiers. All he wanted was Zou Jing's head. The result of the information war and his bad reputation had shown its consequence. This was why politicians in this era acted like hypocrites so they would not face a backlash like this.
'Who is right, who is wrong... who can answer this?'
Wars took place because of the leaders, but followers were the ones who suffered. Information manipulating, misunderstanding, and selfishness of warlords were the cause of these tragedies.
'I'm also to be blamed. I killed the people of Liyang, and they are using this as their reasons to start a war with me. '
>
Tong mockingly laughed at the auto-system message.
'That's new. Well, I see. Ignorant is also a sin. Waging war recklessly without learning the truth is a sinful act, huh?'
The sarcastic smile on Tong's face turned cold. His eyes emitted the light of cruelty as he glared toward the north.
'I won't blame you, Zou Jing. But for the sake of less bloodshed and my family, I'll hunt you down ASAP!'
Tong turned to his men and ordered, "Have everybody rest for tonight! I'll guard the camp myself, all of you go to sleep. We'll forced-march again tomorrow."
Then, he looked at the prisoners, "Transport them to Zhongshan. Treat them as our disabled veterans and give them a pension of a captain tier."
The prisoners watched Tong in astonishment and disbelief.
"Won't you kill us?"
"Why won't you kill us?
"No way! Bandits have to kill all prisoners. Why are you letting us go?"
Sweat rolled down Tong's cheek as he was amazed by their reaction.
"You thought I'm a bandit, so you're here to fight me. Now, you want me to kill you because I let you live? Are you even listening to yourself? I don't know if I'm stupid or you're a bunch of morons. Do you really want me to kill you? Really?"
"..."
"Forget it. Talking to you fools degrades my IQ. Men, get them out of my sight. Let them see how we govern our people."
All Yellow Turban looked at the prisoners with an amused expression.
...
February 20th.
The chase continued.
Tong did not sleep last night as he guarded the camp for his men. Though he was tired, the forced-march resumed.
The number of troops reduced to 4, 000 as Tong sent 1, 000 men back as the escort troops of the prisoners. As their troop size lowered, the marching pace was faster.
Two hours later, they traveled 10 kilometers and reached the next campsite that Zou Jing had built. Unlike the previously abandoned camps, this camp was fortified by thousands of men.
Zou Jing Army had constructed palisade walls, moat, horse traps, and spike barricades, which blocked the path toward the north as if they were the check-point. At the sides in the dense forest, they packed dried hays and carts around, indicating that they had placed several traps inside the forest.
Several dubious circular discolored brown soil could also be seen on the ground in front of the wall. Even a rookie soldier could tell that these were pitfall traps.
'They made this with haste. I'm sure they're buying times, but what can he do with it?'
Tong recalled the tactic when Jia Xu dispatched Zhang He to Henei City when Tong had to get Huangfu Song Army's attention.
'Are they doing the same?'
Because of doubt, Tong texted in the clan chat.
"Second uncle, I want you to rush home ASAP! I think there's a detached force moving toward Zhongshan while I'm here."
"Third uncle, deploy scouts to the northern areas outside of the forest."
"Jia Xu, any intel from Liu Yan's mobilizing plan?"
The chat quieted for several minutes before Jia Xu texted back.
"You guessed correctly. There's an intel from last month that Liu Yan's subordinate from Chengdu was summoned to Ji. He's leading another army toward Zhongshan, but we don't have the information about his troop number and his location. I'm sorry for the late discovery."
A bad feeling crept in Tong's mind when he heard [Subordinate from Chengdu was summoned].
"Who is this person? Do you know the name?"
Jia Xu answered, "Yan Yan. Aside from his origin, we don't have any other info."
Blood was drained from Tong's face. He had a feeling that Yan Yan was a more formidable foe than Zou Jing a hundred times over.
Yan Yan was originally an old subordinate who served under Liu Yan's family.
In 212, Liu Bei betrayed Liu Zhang and attempted to seize Yi Province and sent Zhang Fei to capture Jiangzhou, a major county east of Chengdu. Yan Yan defended the district against Zhang Fei, but he was defeated.
Zhang Fei wanted to execute this old man, but he was impressed by Yan Yan's loyalty toward Liu Zhang. Thus, his life was spared.
In the historical records, Yan Yan did not have any other achievement after he joined Liu Bei, but the 14th-century novel said that he accompanied Huang Zhong in various campaigns. His true ability was unknown.
The unknown factor intimidated Tong. Even if Yan Yan had a similar leading ability as Zou Jing, he was still a veteran general in Liu Yan's ranks.
"I'm attacking Zou Jing's camp ATM. Second uncle, return ASAP, please!"
Tong shut down the system menu after sending the last message. He took out his bow and fired homing arrows.
As a barrage of arrows rained upon the defending soldiers, Tong commanded his army.
"There are traps everywhere so keep your eyes on the ground! I'm clearing the defenders. All of you, ready your crossbows!"
"Kill!"
Volleys of normal arrows and light arrows rained upon the defending troops.
Within the camp, all soldiers raised their tower shields on top of their head, protecting themselves from the arrows. They huddled together in fish-scale formation as they slowly stepped backward.
"Withdraw! Light the torch and start burning!"
Two thousand men inside the camp escorted their torch holders as they walked back using small steps. The torchbearers lighted their prepared firewood, haystacks, and logs. White and black smoke began rising from the camp.
Homing arrows pieced several wooden shields but failed to kill a garrison soldier. However, they scared the defending troops enough to weaken their legs.
On the other hand, Tong glanced at his system menu with an annoyed expression. His lifespans continued to decrease as he fired several volleys of homing arrows, but he had not regained lifespans back from the kill.
Seeing the black smoke from within the camp, Tong stopped shooting.
'Sixth sense and homing arrows aren't efficient. Arrows can fail if they're parried or blocked. '
'They're blocking my arrows from behind the wall. The smoke is rising because they are burning the camp to stop me... '
'This won't do. I don't want a prolonged war. '
Tong rushed toward the palisade barricade. He exerted his strength into his legs and jumped over the three-meter wall.
The Yellow Turban soldiers watched their young master flew in the sky in awe.
"He can fly!"
"Awesome!"
"That's our Child of Heaven!"
"Hahaha! That's right!"
"Let's sing again!"
"THE HAN IS DEAD!"
"PRAISE THE CHILD OF HEAVEN!"
"What are you fools singing for!? Our Lord has entered the camp. Follow him and protect him!"
"Oh shit! Everyone, charge!"
"KILLLLLL"
...
Zou Jing looked at the smoke from a distance. He and his 6, 000 men were five kilometers away from the burning camp.
His teeth still bit his fingernail, which had become green and blue from the constant chewing, tearing, and his saliva.
'Can we stop them? Can we delay them? Can we win?'
'Come on, Zhang Tong. Die already!'
Zou Jing prayed with all his might, hoping that they could kill Tong with his fire trap. Although he could see that his scheme was at work, he could not calm his heart.
"All units, we will retreat again!"
The soldiers looked at Zou Jing in horror.
"My lord, what about the troops in the camp?"
"Leave them!"
The bellow of Zou Jing and his command shocked the troops.
"If you don't want to get killed by Zhang Tong and his wife, follow my order! We're running back to Ji at full-speed. Anyone that cannot keep up will be abandoned!"
Everyone sucked in cold breathe while they glanced back at the direction where Tong and his army was. Imagining the rain of light arrows, the terror made several of them wet their pants.
Because of fear, they stopped retreating in an organized manner. A dozen squads of five men conspired and planned to desert while the honest ones simply packed their belongings and ran without bothering looking back.
Fortunately for Zou Jing, the forest had only one road that they had made, which led to Ji City. As a result, all deserters coincidentally ran in the same direction as the main army and ended up rejoining the troops again.
...
*BANG*
*BANG*
Tong switched his weapon to gun-and-blade style instead. He rushed toward the retreating soldiers, killing everyone he found and searching for Zou Jing.
As he looked around, the fire was getting stronger.
Tong hold his blade with his teeth and pointed his right palm toward the sky.
"[Create Food], clean water!"
A spray of water gushed out from his palm, jetting toward the sky like an exploding natural fountain. Water droplets were pulled by the gravity and rained down upon the camp, extinguishing the flame.
"H-He can even summon rain!?"
*BANG*
Not even waiting for Zou Jing's soldiers to run or surrender, Tong continued his massacre.
"ZOU JING!!" Tong roared.
"YOU COWARD! COME AND FIGHT ME LIKE A MAN!"
| ← Ch. 244 | Ch. 246 → |