Chapter 270- Fire-Beacon Lights up Again
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
Baiqi was good at analyzing the battle as well as his and the enemy's forces, and also to think of a correct strategy and tactic to destroy them. Sieging and gaining land wasn't his only goal, but rather to destroy the enemy’s strength. He was good in wildlands battles and when he fought, he wanted to crush the enemy.
Ordering Wang He and Huan He's troops to give up on attacking Zhao Kuo, but instead pincer Zhao Zhuang, showed how Baiqi used his men.
The plan to box in the Zhao army had failed, but it didn't make him depressed. His next goal was to destroy as much of the Zhao army as possible to achieve victory in future battles.
After seeing the strength of the player force, Huan He stopped looking down on the players. When they charged down south, he didn't ask the player force to stay at the back. Instead, it was Wang He's 30-40 thousand cavalry.
A hundred thousand cavalry charged towards Zhao Zhuang's forces with a lightning quick pace. Zhao Kuo's 150 thousand men could only chase them as the dirt and dust sprayed into their eyes.
At this moment, Zhao Zhuang's 200 thousand men were fighting together with Meng Ao and the remainder of Wang He's troops. To destroy their army, Baiqi gave the order to hold them there and not let them escape.
Meng Ao gave the order for his troops to go around the Zhao Zhuang army and block their way north. The infantry troops were like a metal chain wound around the Zhao Zhuang army.
Zhao Zhuang was also experienced, and after receiving Zhao Kuo's orders, he immediately reorganized his troops. He placed his infantry to the south and also set up a defensive line to block Meng Ao and Wang He. He shifted the cavalry to the northern side to break down the defensive chain that Meng Ao had set up.
Four hundred to five hundred thousand troops started to engage in battle in the Dan River Valley.
Baiqi sat atop Lang Mountain and looked down. With the golden view, he accurately commanded his troops to attack together and retreat together, locking up Zhao Zhuang's forces.
Zhao Zhuang was locked up, unable to see the whole situation, and could only fight on the back foot.
After several rounds of trying, Zhao Zhuang had given up on trying to escape with his ability. He reorganized the troops once again to defend against the Qin army who were charging down south.
Zhao Zhuang was clear that his goal was to delay until Zhao Kuo sent reinforcements. That was the time he could retaliate, and whoever won or lost would then be decided.
After he organized his troops, 100 thousand were in the middle and 50 thousand were at each of the wings, a total of 200 thousand troops.
About the cavalry troops at the sides, each one had a knife and a bow, and their troops were neatly organized.
Based on the situation on the battlefield, the organization of the central troops were a little weirder, changing based on what happened to the north and south.
The 20 lines from the front and back were all soldiers with leather shields and crescent knives, the next 15 were spear tossers, and the next line were archers. Each line had 1000 men. At the two sides of the formation were towers, each of which hung a giant red flag with the word "Zhao".
One could imagine, to adapt to the pincer by the Qin army, how much effort Zhao Zhuang placed into it. The cleverness was shown in how he could make arrangements and reorganize in the chaos of battle.
Seeing Zhao Zhuang adapt so well, Baiqi felt emotional.
No wonder that they were regarded as they only army in the period that could rival the Qin army. Be in infantry strength or their leaders ability, they were equal with the Qin army. The only thing they lacked was national strength.
They had successfully boxed in Zhao Zhuang's army, so Baiqi gave the order for Meng Ao's infantry troops to back down and gather with the main force, leaving some space for the 100 thousand cavalry that were arriving.
At the same time, Baiqi ordered the remaining Wang He forces to go towards the western side of Zhao Zhuang's forces. Meng Ao's forces were organized to the eastern side and formed another pincer formation.
Baiqi's goal was to use the troops from the east and west to hold down the cavalry at the wings, and cause them to fight with the cavalry that were coming down south.
His arrangement made Zhao Zhuang feel really uncomfortable, like a locked up beast. The only weakness was the southern side, which looked like the way out, but in truth it was the most dangerous one.
What made him helpless was that he was prepared for the north and south pincer, but he didn't arrange any preparations on the east and west. This made all his plans useless, and it was too late to change his arrangements.
The gap between Baiqi and Zhao Zhuang showed in this battle.
The thundering sound of horses galloping resounded in the ears. The sound travelled from afar, what seemed like miles away was now really close by.
Zhao Zhuang knew that the enemy's cavalry had finally arrived.
As the smoke for the fire beacon rose up once again, a battle was about to be unveiled on the Changping Valley.
"Raise your shields!" The commander ordered.
Compared to the heavy armored Qin army, the Zhao army were light armored, their leather shields were round and big, and their crescent knives were sharp and light.
The war horses of the Qin army all had armor, and the cavalry all had long swords and carried long bows.
This was a battle of spear and shield. Huan He knew that his goal was to lead the cavalry straight to Zhao Zhuang. If they couldn't get totally through, they would run the risk of being surrounded.
The two wings of the Zhao Zhuang army tried to cut in and face the Qin Army Cavalry. However, the Qin troops at the eastern and western sides were like a metal chain, and dragged them back into a battle.
The black flood braced the arrows and spears, and relentlessly attacked. After heavy casualties, the vanguard forces led by Huan He finally broke in to the front of the Zhao army forces.
Their cavalry were like unstoppable beings, making use of the momentum, not bothering about the crescent knife soldiers and charging in. They quickly broke through the first line, then the second, then the third.
The crescent knife soldiers of the Zhao Army didn't back down. The crescent knives in their hands were like water and accurately cut the legs of the horses. In an instant, the cavalry were flung off the horses, and what awaited him were knives to the body.
The player cavalry troops led by Shi Wanshui were located in the center of the 100 thousand men.
Luckily for that, they were able to avoid most of the arrows and spears. If not, they definitely would have suffered heavy casualties before they would be able to enter the Zhao army region.
Under the circumstances that Huan He's Army had paid a heavy price, they finally broke through the crescent knives soldiers and spear tossers. What was next were the totally defenseless archers.
Once they broke through to such a position, the pressure on the player force in the middle as well as Wang He's forces at the back lessened a lot. They were like a flood as they crashed into Zhao Zhuang’s forces.
When Huan He's troops fought into the center, they had already used up all their energy. He made the decision to lead his troops to attack the left and right, and destroyed the 30 thousand archers.
Shi Wanshui led the player force and followed through the bloody road opened up by Huan He's troops. They effortlessly broke through the crescent knife soldiers and spear tossers and came to the archer formation.
Under the instructions of Huan He, the player force didn't stop and continued to charge forwards.
After the archers, it was the spear tossers and crescent knife soldiers once again.
About Huan He's orders, Ouyang Shuo was furious. He thought Huan He had started to learn his lesson and become a nicer person. Instead he was letting his troops kill the defenceless archers while the player force went forwards to fight the hard part.
Since it was an order, Ouyang Shuo was helpless and told Shi Wanshui to continue on.
Thinking about it carefully, Huan He's plan wasn't that bad. Out of the three forces, Wang He's forces lost a lot, and Huan He's forces, which acted as the vanguard, also lost many.
The only ones who were perfectly fine were the player forces in the center.
Hence, the charging mission would definitely be given to the player force.
Luckily the Shanhai City army was strong, and they had fought many battles.
The archers in the center were chased around by Huan He's forces, and they ran into the formation in the back, making it messy and not as neat as before.
Shi Wanshui grabbed the chance to order his troops to charge forward. They had to break through in one swoop.
Compared to the Qin army cavalry, the 2nd regiment and Guards regiment were much stronger. Their Qingfu horses were much stronger than the war horses from the Qin army, giving Shi Wanshui the confidence.
The player force effortlessly charged through the spear tosser formation, they charged towards the crescent knife formation like a tsunami, sweeping past the Zhao army.
Seeing the middle of the formation being destroyed, Baiqi made the order for the forces on the west and east to charge forward and swarm Zhao Zhuang's troops.
In a moment, the sky changed. The once blue and sunny sky suddenly became gloomy and cloudy.
Zhao Zhuang was in the middle of everything; the guards by his sides were split apart, and he had lost all ability to command.
Such a huge army had instantly lost their direction and became chaotic. The soldiers started to fight for themselves and couldn't differentiate between north, south, east, and west, resulting in heavy casualties in a short time.
On the other hand, the Qin army under Baiqi's commands were a whole machine. They surrounded and attacked, taking bite after bite out of the Zhao Zhuang army.
Baiqi's commanding skills were at the pinnacle of the art.
His brain was like a machine, accurately calculating each step. Each small detail on the battlefield couldn't escape his eagle eyes, and was used to his advantage.
Zhao Zhuang's army was instantly in danger, and was on the verge of collapsing.
At the crucial moment, Zhao Kuo finally led his troops and rushed forward to reinforce them.
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