Chapter 440
The ferocity of the Da Xia soldiers made the Da Liao soldiers' hearts tremble with fear.
Ershigu knew there was no escaping this battle. He too led his troops forward.
Fang Zichen engaged him. Both used spears. Ershigu, after all, was old—his arms and legs not what they used to be. After only a few exchanges, a layer of cold sweat broke out on his forehead. Fang Zichen grinned: "Your moves are too slow. What's the matter—haven't eaten?"
Their spears clashed. Fang Zichen's strength was tremendous—Ershigu's arms went numb from the impact, and a sense of dread surged in his heart. Fang Zichen was still smiling, his face relaxed: "One of the legendary Three Great Generals of Da Liao, ever-victorious—and now it seems, nothing special."
"Shut your mouth," Ershigu snapped. Beside him, his deputy general shouted urgently in the Da Liao tongue — they couldn't hold out; if they kept fighting, the casualties would be devastating. "General, what should we do?"
Ershigu listened to the rumbling explosions behind him while desperately fending off Fang Zichen: "Lead the troops and flee southwest. Leave four thousand men with me to cover the retreat."
The deputy general said urgently: "General, no! Da Liao cannot lose you. Let me stay to cover the retreat—you take the troops and withdraw first."
"You're no match for this boy. Go!"
"General..."
"Go..."
The two muttered back and forth. Fang Zichen half-understood. When he saw the deputy general lead most of the Da Liao army southwest, Fang Zichen didn't send troops in pursuit. His face was expressionless, but there was a hint of mockery in his eyes.
Seeing this, Ershigu's heart lurched. He turned to lead his troops after them, but the Northwest Army came from the side and cut him off.
Ershigu's eyes turned red: "...Fang Zichen."
Fang Zichen glanced at him: "I told you—not a single one of you will escape."
A hundred and ten thousand Da Liao soldiers weren't easy to hold back. Since it was an ambush, bringing too many troops would have made too much noise. The cake was too big to swallow whole — so it had to be cut into pieces.
Ershigu was trembling all over with rage: "Fang Zichen, how dare you?"
Fang Zichen looked at him and smiled. "I hold the tiger tally of military authority and act in the general's stead. What is there that I don't dare to do?"
Ershigu could not say another word.
---
Ershigu's deputy general led the bulk of the army fleeing southwest, but after traveling no more than nine li, they saw the Northwest Army waiting ahead of them once again.
When the deputy general saw the one at the very front — a child who looked like a starving ghost reborn, chirping and munching on a bun, his little cheeks puffing out one moment and sinking in the next — even he was stunned.
At the same time, countless soldiers burst out from the woods on both sides of the road, instantly surrounding the entire Da Liao army.
The deputy general's heart lurched, and his expression turned several degrees more solemn.
Damn it.
How was this Northwest Army so… impossible to shake off?
Guaizai rested an iron club on his shoulder. The moment he caught sight of the Da Liao army, his eyes lit up. He stuffed the remaining half of the bun straight into his pocket, then clamped his two short little legs against the horse's belly and led his troops charging over.
The Da Liao army had already run several li by now and was probably exhausted. Naturally, this was the time to strike while the enemy was down and take his life.
Although this big-headed child looked uncommonly cute, with a pair of big eyes that made him seem adorably sweet, the deputy general knew this little beast was a monster in human form at heart and extremely hard to deal with. He looked very deceptive, but one moment of carelessness meant certain death. Earlier, he had heard Ji Chengliang say that this was the very boy who, with a single strike of his club, had badly wounded a deputy general of Da Liang.
Later, Ji Chengliang had stopped him in time and had the deputy general carried away, but the deputy general died on the way back. When they returned to camp, the army physician examined him and said four of his ribs were broken, two of them piercing his lungs.
What kind of force was that?
It was simply horrifying.
If he had a choice, the deputy general did not want to face him, but now there were wolves ahead and tigers behind, and he had no choice but to meet him. When Guaizai swung his club at him, he blocked with his sword, but Guaizai had immense strength and moved quickly. The deputy general could not even counterattack and was forced to keep defending.
The artillery troops hurled grenade after grenade into the enemy ranks. And that was not all — countless archers emerged on the hills on both sides.
The deputy general heard the commotion and glanced over. Suddenly he felt disaster closing in. The Da Liao army had been wrapped up like dumplings.
Arrows rained down, dense and unrelenting, pouring toward them. The Da Liao troops hurriedly raised their shields to block, but they could block arrows, not explosives. In less than two hours, the Da Liao army could no longer hold out.
Guaizai was drenched in sweat from fighting. The two buns he had just eaten seemed to have already been digested.
He could not let the tiger return to the mountain.
"Want to run? Guaizai will hit you, hit you."
He gathered all his strength. His iron club left afterimages as he swung it, pounding at the deputy general like a violent storm. With a clang, the deputy general's sword snapped cleanly in two, and the iron club slammed straight into his helmet.
The deputy general felt a burst of severe pain, then the world spun, and he fell straight off his horse.
Zhang Quan seized the moment and drove his blade into his chest.
With the dragon headless, the Da Liao army—already shaken in morale—fell into chaos. On top of that, more than half had died, and the remaining Da Liao soldiers had no strength left to resist.
"Surrender or not?" Guaizai raised his voice. "Surrender and your lives will be spared. Those who resist will be killed without mercy."
A bad life is better than a good death—can backbone be eaten as food? People always shout that they fear neither hardship nor death, but when death truly faces them, fear still rises in their hearts.
Many Da Liao soldiers laid down their weapons one after another. Those with some backbone who refused to surrender were cut down on the spot by the Northwest Army.
Changing commanders on the eve of battle is a great taboo in war. Forced by circumstances, Lu Zhengren had no choice but to hand the Northwest Army over to Fang Zichen. Although Fang Zichen held a high position, he came from a civil official's background, and his face looked far too young. True, the moment he arrived he had led the army to retake two cities in succession, but the Northwest Army had followed Lu Zhengren for many years and was loyal to him.
Now that they followed Fang Zichen, they thought he had only "won by trickery." If their Northwest Army had explosives too, they too could be invincible and conquer everything they attacked. And with Fang Zichen's looks—handsome as a man who lived off a woman—sometimes they could not control themselves from blushing when they looked at him. So many in the Northwest Army were not quite convinced by him.
The Northwest Army soldiers transferred under Guaizai were even less convinced.
Guaizai was already over eight years old, but he was short and still had a strong babyish voice. Having them take orders entirely from a little child made everyone feel they had lost face. It felt like a father listening to his son, and they were quite uncomfortable about it.
Half a month earlier, Guaizai had led the army to occupy Yongping County and drive the Northern Qi army out. But the Northern Qi general Ji Chengliang was "unbending and proud," and after being driven out, he still wanted to take Yongping County back.
Outside Yongping County was a moat, and the river ran straight into the city. That day, everyone had just fallen asleep when Zhang Quan came over and said they were to go into battle. After forming up, Guaizai led them to the moat and ordered them to lie flat and wait. They stayed like that for a full three hours. At first no one understood what he meant and thought he was just too full to sleep. After all, this little kid really ate a lot. If Fang Zichen had not brought him, they would have suspected he was a spy planted by the enemy trying to eat them into poverty.
At that time the moat had not yet frozen, but the temperature had already dropped. Light snow drifted in the air, and the cold wind cut to the bone. The Northwest Army soldiers lay still and shivered violently. When the squad leader saw they could not endure it, he crawled up to Guaizai and asked what he was trying to do.
It was too cold. If this went on, the soldiers would not be able to hold out.
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