On the mountain path north of Anlu City, Lianpo ordered the troops to charge. In a short while, the huge army was like a colony of ants, clustering toward the two hills as they tried to regain their own destinies.
The truth proved that resistance was futile.
Just as the Qin army charged, Ma Chao's forces had already kept their bows and got onto their horses. With the coordination of the commander, they all charged forward.
"Charge!"
Just imagine, infantry climbing up a hill and cavalry charging down a hill, what would happen?
What followed was a real tragedy.
If one said that the Qin army climbing up the hill was ants fighting against their destiny, then the Jin army charging down was like a flood, unstoppable and unavoidable. They instantly destroyed and flooded this colony of ants.
In front of this giant wave, the Qin army soldiers could not do anything as the current forced them back. They could not control their fates, and they were stepped on by numerous horses into mud.
On the hill, fresh blood flowed like a river.
The moment he saw the cavalry, Lianpo felt his heart sink, and he nearly could not breathe.
The first to collapse were the 100 thousand natives. Under the orders of their officers, they braved the arrow rain and charged at the hill.
When the cavalry launched their charge, the frontline forces were crushed easily. At the same time, their last bit of courage vanished. Each one of them ran with their tails tucked between their legs.
The 250 thousand army walked on the mountain path, stretching tens of miles. When the order to attack was given, the frontlines had already gotten up half the hill while the ones at the back had not even gotten the order.
The defeat of the front caused the back to lose courage, so they all dispersed. No matter how strong the commander was, he could not prevent this from happening.
"Kill!"
How would the East Jin player forces give up such a great opportunity? They immediately chased. At the same time, Huan Chong's forces, who were lying in wait at one side, charged out and pincered the Qin army.
Everywhere along the hill, slaughter was taking place.
"Retreat!"
Lianpo frowned. He knew that it was over. The morale of the army was at freezing point, and they had no more ability to fight. All he could do was to try and salvage as many of them as he could.
Thinking back to when he said there was no chance of there being an ambush, Lianpo felt really regretful and ashamed.
100 thousand Qin natives were at the back lines, which blocked their way north. Helplessly, Lianpo could only lead his troops forward to get out of this path.
Luckily, the natives were at the back. If not, once they fell and tried to retreat, they would drag the entire army down with them.
"These fellows are totally useless."
Luckily, the 150 thousand player troops in the Qin camp had some ability. Although they faced a sudden situation, they did not panic. After their front troops fell, they immediately got into formation on the mountain path.
The East Jin cavalry charging down from the hill was an invincible presence, but they definitely did not dare come onto the mountain path because they would be trapped if they did so.
As an old general, Lianpo was really sharp and experienced. He used the army to block the enemy cavalry attacks while covering their main force to retreat.
As for the 100 thousand natives, Lianpo did not care about them anymore.
At a high ground someplace on the hill, Ma Chao looked down at the entire situation. Beside him was his brother, the Major General of the 3rd division, Ma Xiu.
Ma Xiu pointed at Lianpo's forces and said, "General, Lianpo is about to escape!"
In the Great Xia Dynasty, Ma Xiu and other Three Kingdom Generals had all changed their habits. Like in the army, Ma Xiu would not call Ma Chao brother, and their current relationship was that of superior and subordinate.
Ma Chao focused his eyes and said, "We cannot let that happen. Gather your forces, we will personally chase them!"
"Yes general!"
In a short while, the Tiger Leopard Cavalry that had not participated in the battle was thrown in.
Ma Chao decided to personally lead the charge, "Charge!"
The strong Tiger Leopard Cavalry were a level higher than that of the other territory's cavalry. The others were not good on mountain paths, but the Tiger Leopard Legion was different.
"Kill!"
Ma Chao and Ma Xiu personally led them to charge into Lianpo's army.
This time, victory was decided quickly.
The formation that seemed strong and indestructible was like paper. With a general like Ma Chao in charge, in addition to the elite Tiger Leopard Cavalry, who could stop them?
In a short while, the Tiger Leopard Cavalry opened up a bloody road on the mountain path.
The morale of the elite cavalry of the other territories rose when they saw this. They would not admit that they were weaker, and they charged too. All of a sudden, the flames of war spread from the hill to the mountain path, and the killing grew more and more intense.
Both sides had casualties, so it was time to see who was more vicious.
Ma Chao did not care about the situation and led his troops to chase Lianpo; he shouted, "Ma Chao is here, Lianpo old man, you're not going to leave."
When Lianpo heard that, he was so furious that he nearly vomited blood. Although he loved his face, he was really tolerant. He knew that now was not the time to argue back.
When Ma Chao saw that, he led his troops to chase.
With the speed of the Tiger Leopard Cavalry, there was no force that could outrun them. With that, the Tiger Leopard Cavalry were carrot harvesters, cutting off piece by piece.
However, the mountain path was narrow. Even if Lianpo wanted to form up a huge defensive formation, he could not.
He could only sacrifice some to save some.
Lianpo hated this mountain path for being so long; it was like there was no end to it. To the retreating Lianpo army, every second and minute was a huge torture.
The Tiger Leopard Cavalry were like a pack of hungry wolves that would not stop until they got what they wanted.
To chase Lianpo, Ma Chao even abandoned the main battlefield. It was not him losing his head. Rather, he had seen the key to this battle.
Lianpo was the key figure to this Qin army. If he took him down, the rest would not amount to much. As for the main battlefield, Huan Chong and the other territory generals could handle it.
The two armies, one chasing, one escaping; they ran for a full half an hour before they got out of the mountain path. Ma Chao shouted once more together with the cavalry soldiers, "Lianpo, old man, do not run!"
Seeing their main general being humiliated, the Handan City soldiers were really unhappy. They grumbled that they wanted to go all out against the Tiger Legion cavalry, but Lianpo stopped them.
Lianpo was an old fox and knew that the enemy was trying to anger him. They wanted to bait him into going all out in a fight. Obviously, he was not falling for that.
Regarding this trip to Jingzhou, Lianpo was given an important task by his Lord, and it concerned a huge plan.
Who knew that he would fail?
If the Handan City Army fell here, he would have no face to see his Lord ever again.
Walking out of the mountain path, the land suddenly became really open and vast.
Lianpo had no intentions of going all out in a fight. Instead, he split the forces into three and decided to meet up in Yuzhou.
When Ma Chao led his troops to chase out, he saw the three groups and was stunned.
"Big Brother, which one should we chase?" Ma Xiu asked.
Ma Chao gritted his teeth, "You and I chase one each." Ma Chao did not believe they would let Lianpo escape in a three choose two scenario.
It was not that Ma Chao did not want to split his forces into three. However, they had limited strength. If they spread themselves too thin, they might lose instead.
Ma Chao might look like a fierce general, but he actually had a brain.
However, Ma Chao had underestimated the craftiness of Lianpo.
Lianpo was not in any of the three groups. He brought his Personal Guards and remained in a small forest at the side of the mountain path.
When the Tiger Leopard Cavalry left, only then did he walk out and disappear into the wilderness.
Following which, he came to a village, where he 'borrowed' clothes and changed before heading back toward Yuzhou.
Close to nighttime, Ma Chao led his troops back. Not long later, Ma Xiu also led his troops and returned. The two of them exchanged glances and saw the disappointment in the others' eyes.
Ma Chao scolded out, "That old fox!"
"Ginger is hotter as it gets older."
Although he did not capture Lianpo, the East Jin camp had obtained a victory today.
In this battle, less than 100 thousand of Lianpo's army survived.
Only 50 thousand of the player troops had survived. After the Qin army natives fled, they disappeared into the Jingzhou wilderness.
Just one battle had made them afraid.
An easy, south-conquering mission became a huge defeat.
Of course, the East Jin camp had paid a price, and close to 50 thousand of them fell into eternal slumber. Huan Chong's forces lost the most, and a total of 30 thousand of them had died.
Even so, Huan Chong could hide his excitement and joy.
Without a question, this victory was enough for Huan Chong to ask for rewards from the king. Along with the credit for destroying the 30 thousand Qin troops from before, Huan Chong had shone brightly in this battle.
He was not much worse in comparison to Xie Xuan.
At night, Ma Chao met with Huan Chong to discuss the next military action.
Before this, the king had given him instructions. Naturally, Ma Chao followed the instructions and said, "General Huan, I'll lead my troops back to Yuzhou to crush the remaining enemy forces. As for those scattered in Jingzhou, I'll leave it up to you."
Huan Chong was delighted when he heard that, and the smile on his face grew wider. Huan Chong knew that those in Jingzhou were natives and did not have much combat strength, so it was easy to clear them out.
The player forces fleeing to Yuzhou were the real tough nuts to crack. Now that Ma Chao took the initiative to take the task, how could Huan Chong not be delighted?
Huan Chong cupped his fists, "We are all working for the Imperial Court; general is being too polite."
Ma Chao nodded. After a short while, he said goodbye and left. He was not working for the East Jin Imperial Court but the Great Xia Dynasty.
The next morning, Ma Chao gathered up the 80 thousand player forces that survived and headed back.