Chapter 421
Ling Cao laughed in satisfaction as the smoke covered the jungle. “Haha! We have extinguished the fire. How is Zhang Liao going to deal with us now?”
Ling Cao then heard the sound of the enemy charging and said, “They are even preparing to charge into the jungle. General. This Zhang Liao must have lost his head after his plan is foiled!” Ling Cao and his subordinates were already prepared to ensure that Zhang Liao doesn’t leave.
Lu Meng’s subordinates also began to start hiding. They would wait for the enemy to approach before ambushing them.
Lu Meng simply nodded. He would be suppressed by Zhang Liao outside the jungle but he was certain he could inflict heavy damage to Zhang Liao’s Army inside the jungle.
“Is Zhang Liao only this much?” Ling Cao commented proudly. He then took a deep breath before coughing because of the smoke. “This damn smoke is so thick!” Ling Cao cursed. However, he soon forgot about it when he thought of killing his enemies.
“This smoke is…” Lu Meng sniffed. He did not know when it started but the smoke was slowly getting thicker. It seemed to come from outside. There were also smoke being produced nearby when the fire was being put out.
“Wind?” Lu Meng felt the wind and became startled. He realized that they were about to be covered by smoke.
“Not good! Men! Stop extinguishing the fire!” Lu Meng shouted in to quickly stop the soldiers that were trying to extinguish the remaining burning areas.
“General?” The others were confused. The fires have not yet been completely extinguished. If they were to stop now, there is a possibility for the fire to spread again.
“We cannot put out any more fires!” Extinguishing the fire had been the source of the smoke. Lu Meng had yelled out for them to stop but even if they stopped now, the smoke was already there. It was already too late. Lu Meng breathed in the smoke and coughed. The other soldiers did not fare any better. Some of them even start to have tears forming in their eyes.
“Ling Cao! Quickly get us damp cloths!” Lu Meng shouted and Ling Cao quickly acted. The first damp cloth was brought to Lu Meng. When Lu Meng put on the damp cloth to cover his mouth and nose, he immediately felt a lot better.
“Ling Cao! Quickly bring the others damp cloths as well!” Lu Meng ordered again but Ling Cao simply gave a wry smile and did not move. This made Lu Meng angry. “Why are you still here?”
Ling Cao gave a bitter smile and replied that they have ran out of water. They only had enough water left for one thousand men. They were unable to prepare for the remaining four thousand.
“Out of water? Then why have you not gone to collect more water?” Lu Meng wanted Ling Cao to collect more water but it was already too late.
“There is no need to go anymore. Just stay here! Men! Attack with me!” Zhang Liao roared as his army charged into the smoky area.
“They really dared to charge in! Bring it on! You guys are only good on horses!” Ling Cao shouted in disdain. He believed that the Xiliang Cavalry would be terrible when fighting on foot. This is because riding horses for so long would make a person bow legged. As a result, they could not match up to real infantries.
“If only that is true.” Lu Meng thought to himself in a bad mood. He already had a bad feeling since the thick smoke appeared in the jungle.
“Kill! Kill!” The battle continued. Lu Meng’s Army struggled to fight. It was not even the problem of being ambushed as they could hardly breathe. They covered their nose with one hand and fought back their opponent with the other. Even then, they still had a lot of confidence. They were the Chu Army. They were courageous warriors that would fight to the death against impossible odds.
Having self-confidence was good but they quickly lost that confidence after fighting for a while. This is because they noticed that their opponents were not the Xiliang Cavalry but the Black Flag Army. They were heavy infantries
“It’s the Black Flag Army!” Lu Meng’s complexion turned worse. He finally realized his mistake. He had assumed that the Xiliang Cavalry were Zhang Liao’s main force. He just only realized that they still had heavy infantries.
Normally, there was no need for them to fear the heavy infantries. Unfortunately, most of their army had to fight while suffocating in the smoke. Fighting against elites with only one hand was just asking to die.
“Kill!!” The Black Flag Army charged in and started to fight against the Chu Army.