Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
Leizhou, Tanmu County.
An originally unattractive, humble, and small city became the hotspot of the entire Battle of Leizhou.
Overnight, the small city that could be considered prosperous swiftly fell apart due to war. Death floated in the air, and the busy commercial streets became a wasteland.
The clean stone floors had become dirty and chipped, smudged with puddles of blood. In the drains at both sides, bodies had piled up. The faces of the deceased were simply covered up without a proper burial.
The fire had burned down the shop walls that had carvings and paintings. Parts of the buildings had collapse and smoke from the embers bellowed.
All this scenery described the cruelty of war.
Under the orange setting sun, Caogui stood on the city wall, his eyebrows tightly locked.
A full day and night of attacking.
The south side Shanhai Army, who were trapped in the streets, still stood strong. They were resolute like a mountain.
Caogui had tried all kind of methods, fires, sneak attacks, night attacks, and the like. All of these strategies were useless. The enemy troops were like the undead, their stubbornness alarming.
No matter what you did, I won't budge.
The north side of Leizhou had also formed an alliance. Consequently, this reduced the danger on that side, which also meant that his lord, Yanhuo Yaonie, failed to recruit any new members.
The north and south were separated and rendered apart. Each side fought for themselves.
To survive, one could not act noble.
Yanhuo Yaonie begged the north alliance army to assist Tanmu County and destroy one side of the enemy. The reply they receive was ‘Why don’t the south side troops teleport to Gantang County instead?’
Yanhuo Yaonie was left speechless.
Not everyone had the same courage and strategic foresight as him. Before being totally pushed to the wall, people would only care about their own interests.
After one full day, only two territories joined the south alliance, which brought them to ten thousand men.
Yanhuo Yaonie sent someone to pass the message—there would be no further reinforcements.
Caogui did not dare to wait anymore. He started to launch successive assaults against the enemy. He knew that the Shanhai City cavalry forces were rushing day and night over to Tanmu County.
The stubbornness of their army had exceeded Caogui's expectations.
Caogui could not imagine how a female general managed to train a bunch of hot-blooded men to become so strong and resolute. The balance of the war had started to tilt in the enemy's favor.
"Men!"
"Present!"
"Send my orders—retreat. The army will rest for a night. Tomorrow morning, we will launch our final assault."
Caogui was like a compulsive gambler; he had decided to bet it all.
"Yes, general!"
Following the rushed bell sounds, the alliance army backed off like a flood.
"Phew!"
Fan Lihua let out a sigh of relief.
"General, from the look of their formation, it seems like they won't sneak attack us tonight, "said the 2nd regiment colonel, Liaokai.
Fan Lihua nodded, "Even so, we cannot let our guards down."
"Understood!"
"Call Zhaoyan overl. It's his turn!"
"General?" Liaokai was astonished; excitement flashed across his eyes.
"General Luo has already sent a message. Before noon, the reinforcements will arrive."
The Military Intelligence Division used the intel network formed from Feng Birds to send crucial intel quickly and efficiently.
"That's fantastic!"
Liaokai felt very emotional. Finally, the tough days of the 1st division would come to an end.
"Go!"
Fan Lihua waved him off.
"Yes, general!"
Zhaoyan was also a general since the start of Shanhai territory. He was the colonel of the 1st regiment. His men were all sword-shield soldiers; they were the absolute main force during the day battle.
The reason why the 1st division could last until now was because of them.
Compared to Liaokai, who was flexible and smart, Zhaoyan was just a pure, courageous, and fierce general.
Zhaoyan rushed over. His armor and helmet were stained with blood, and even the Tang Blade in his hand was dripping.
If one did not know better, one would think that he was a ghoul that had crawled out from hell.
However, the soldiers around him did not show signs of fear. Instead, they respected and worshipped him.
Normal soldiers were the ones that respected such courageous and strong generals the most.
"General!"
Zhaoyan smiled and bowed.
Fan Lihua nodded, she did not mind Zhaoyan's appearance. Although she was a girl, she had been through all kinds of fights and wars as a general.
Such a small matter could not shake her.
One had to say that this calmness alone was enough to amaze all the men of the 1st division. Even Zhaoyan did not dare get out of hand in front of Fan Lihua.
"Go wash up and choose five hundred elite. Stick to the plan."
Zhaoyan's eyes brightened up, as he loudly said, "Understood, I'll definitely complete the mission!"
"Remember, the successful or failure of this entire battle depends on you."
Fan Lihua instructed solemnly.
"General, don't worry, there will be no mistakes. If there are, you can take my head."
Fan Lihua nodded and waved him off, "Go and prepare!"
"Yes, general!"
Zhaoyan bowed once more before he confidently walked out.
Under the cover of the night, Zhaoyan led five hundred of the most elite members of the 1st regiment to sneak out from the back of some shops. They disappeared into the night sky.
As the alliance army was preparing for the battle tomorrow, they failed to notice this.
6th month, 5th day, morning.
The most important day in the Battle of Leizhou had arrived.
Early in the morning, the alliance army gathered up once more.
Fifty thousand troops swarmed up from all fronts toward the enemy camp in a relentless assault.
The alliance army commander, Caogui, had given the orders—this attack must succeed!
All the soldiers would either die on the battlefield or step on the bodies of the enemy and proceed forward. There was no third option. They would kill those who tried to escape.
For this, Caogui had specially set up a supervision squad to follow behind the soldiers and kill anyone who tried to escape.
The bloody military order made the alliance army soldiers shiver in fear.
They had to give it their all this time; they had to succeed.
"Kill! Kill! Kill"
At a place that could not be seen, Luo Shixin led the 2nd division of the Dragon Legion to rush over.
Suddenly, due to just his instinct as a general, he raised his head and looked at Tanmu County in astonishment. He could feel a strong killing aura that encapsulated the city.
This definitely was not anything good.
Luo Shixin smacked his horse and hollered, "Speed up!"
"Yes, general!"
Caogui once again walked out into the city wall. This time, he did not walk to the commander seat. Instead, he stood besides the war drums. He took the sticks and helped to smack the war drums, raising the morale of the troops.
The thunderous war drums reverberated throughout the city.
"Kill! Kill! Kill!"
Using the tempo of the drums, the fifty thousand alliance army attacked from both sides of the streets. Many archers appeared on the roof; they aimed their arrows at the enemy base.
This battle of life and death had officially started!
South side army base.
Fan Lihua still looked confident, which reassured all the soldiers.
"General, they are attacking!" Liaokai walked over.
Fan Lihua was expressionless; this colonel always liked to spout meaningless words. She did not turn back and calmly said, "Is everything prepared with Zhaoyan?"
"At 3 AM, the Feng Bird sent a message. They told us that everything is done."
"Great." Fan Lihua was relieved, "Tell the soldiers that they have to defend until noon!"
"Yes, general!"
This was the Tiger Legion’s hardest battle so far.
As they were too deep inside enemy territory, their logistics and supplies were cut off. They did not have any food, so they could only use the rice that they had found to make pots of porridge.
Even the water was dug up from the drains.
The soldiers lacked medical supplies. They had used up all their supplies since too many of them were injured. Now, they could not even find a clean bandage.
Even so, the soldiers of the 1st division continued to fight valiantly.
They could continue because their general ate the same food as them, drank the same dirty water as them.
Following such a general, they did not mind dying for her.
Under the pressure of the alliance army, the 1st division was pushed back.
To achieve this, the alliance army had paid a heavy price. Every step forward, hundreds died. It was hard to imagine that the ratio of casualties was one to five.
When he thought about how the enemy did not have any supplies but could still hold on so well, even Caogui was filled with respect.
This was a bunch of men that deserved respect, a true elite force.
Although there were heavy casualties, Caogui felt more and more relaxed. The scales of the war now favored them. Any price was worth it as long as they could annihilate the enemy.
Caogui slammed the drums and continued to rile up his troops.
The longer the battle dragged on, the more intense it grew.
At 11 AM, outside the county, the clatter of thunderous horse hooves suddenly rang out.
Caogui, who was on the city wall, felt a shiver run down his spine.
Not good, how did the enemy reinforcements arrive so fast?
As they were pressed for time, Caogui could not think too much.
Luckily, he was a general with vast experience.
He knew that the most negative situation that you could predict was often the one that had the highest chance of happening. If you predicted the situation to turn very bad, it would be that bad.
Hence, Caogui had arranged a two thousand men army near the city.
With them defending, the cavalry reinforcements could not break the city gates.
As long as they destroyed the south side army before the reinforcements took down the gate, the situation would remain under their control.
Caogui had this confidence.
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