Chapter 370 - Chapter 370: War
Chapter 370: War
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
General Yun Can led his men toward the marching Qi soldiers. When the Qi soldiers in front saw a group of people coming at them, they were shot down by crossbow bolts before they could react. The Qi soldiers in front were so frightened that they turned around and fled in panic. They squeezed together with the infantry behind them. The Qi army shouted, “There’s a cavalry ambush. There’s a cavalry ambush.”
In just a dozen breaths, a large group of cavalry rushed out of the cavalry formation behind. Those cavalrymen carried crossbows and passed the fleeing infantrymen to rush toward the troops led by General Yun Can. General Yun Can turned his horse around and shouted, “Retreat, retreat!”
Everyone turned their horses around and fled quickly. The cavalry crossbow bolts chasing after them flew over like raindrops. The cavalry were all on their horses, and the arrows fell from their positions. General Yun Shen led 2,000 people and ran towards Yunzhou City like the wind. The Qi army raised their crossbows and chased after them. General Ouyang, who was standing on the city wall, saw that General Yun Can had returned. There were still Qi soldiers chasing after him. He raised his flag and waved it. General Yun Can led the cavalry toward the city gate.
One of the crossbowmen waiting on the city wall lay on the ground with his foot on the crossbow string and kicked it open. The other crossbowman quickly loaded the arrows. In an instant, ten thousand arrows were fired at the same time. The pursuing Qi soldiers instantly fell to the ground. The remaining Qi soldiers spurred their horses back and turned to escape. In this battle, Great Yong had not lost a single soldier. Great Qi had lost thousands of cavalry.
Ouyang Xiong and the crossbowmen stood on the city wall and watched as the soldiers cleaning up the battlefield loaded the horses and arrows onto the handcarts. Looking at the corpses of the soldiers under the city wall, the soldiers on the city wall did not seem so afraid.
Less than half of the Great Qi soldiers had fled back. Yang Huaiyi glanced at the carriage in front of him and was dissatisfied with the crown prince who had bypassed his order to let the soldiers give chase.
The deputy general behind him, Jiang Cheng, whispered, “Great General, the Crown Prince only knows how to talk on paper. We should have stopped him.” “You can’t be rude to the Crown Prince,” Yang Huaiyi said in a low voice.
Yun Yi and Yan Niang had no chance to come into contact with Crown Prince Qi at all. Yan Niang looked at the stagnant supplies in front of them and then at the grain cart the two of them were pushing. She whispered to Yun Yi, “We’ve been busy for so many days and haven’t even touched a single hair of Crown Prince Qi. How can we assassinate him? We should have brought some kerosene to burn the rations back then.”
She wanted to bring kerosene, but she had not even seen a spark. Yun Yi glanced at Yan Niang as if he was looking at a fool. Despite that, he felt that Yan Niang’s idea of burning rations was a feasible method. At this moment, the supply cart in front moved. Yun Yi bent down and lifted the cart to pull the grain cart forward.
Zhou Jia hurriedly returned to the back office to eat and said to Li Yu, “Before midnight, the Qi army’s cavalry attacked and were beaten back.”
Li Yu scooped a bowl of chicken soup for him. “Are the Qi soldiers here so quickly?”
Zhou Jia swallowed the food in his mouth. “General Ouyang sent General Yun
Can to attack the Qi army and killed more than a thousand Qi cavalry.”
“Oh! That’s good. A small victory can boost the morale of the army. Is the city stable?”
“A few local hooligans gathered more than ten people and robbed a provision store. I got someone to make them do hard labor. Yu’er, I’m on duty in the government office tonight. Rest early,” Zhou Jia said to Li Yu.
Li Yu looked at Zhou Jia. “Alright, I’ll send you supper later.”
Yangyang raised the spoon and said to the two of them, “Father, Mother, I want to be a general in the future.”
Li Yu wiped the rice off his face and asked him with a smile, “Why do you want to be a general? Do you know what a general is?”
Yangyang looked at the two of them with sparkling eyes. “Sir told us that a general is a great hero who protects the country. I want to be a great hero in the future. ”
Zhou Jia stood up and patted his head. “A great general is good at both literature and martial arts. Study hard in the future and work hard to cultivate with Little Loach and Brother Seven Pounds before you have a chance to be a
great general, understand?”
Yangyang nodded. “Got it, Father.”
The night passed peacefully. The next morning, the sky was gloomy. Zhou Jia stood on the city wall with Ruyi and Ji Xiang, who were wearing the clothes of the prefecture soldiers. They looked at the Qi Kingdom’s infantry in the distance, which was neatly arranged. They raised their shields and the tip of their spears slowly moved toward Yunzhou City.
In the distance, there was also the sound of iron hooves stepping on the ground. It was like a distant muffled thunder in the gloomy sky.
Ouyang Xiong was fully armored. Under his dark helmet, his expression was solemn. Behind him stood a group of generals from Yunzhou City. The new deputy general, Shen Liang, was wearing white armor and holding a strong bow.
Ji Xiang looked at the Qi army and whispered to Zhou Jia, “Master, I might as well go out of the city tonight and blow up the Qi army.”
Ruyi patted Ji Xiang and Ouyang Xiong walked towards Zhou Jia. He cupped his fists at Zhou Jia and said, “Lord Zhou, the Qi army doesn’t have the 300,000 troops they were rumored to have. The informant said that at most, 150,000 soldiers are counted along with the old, weak, and crippled soldiers.”
Zhou Jia thought to himself that there were only 50,000 of them. 50,000 against 150,000. The odds of winning were not high! Thinking this, he said heroically, “General Ouyang, as long as we’re civil and military, we’re not afraid of even 300,000 soldiers!”
Ouyang Xiong looked at this magistrate, who was even more handsome than a woman and patted Zhou Jia’s shoulder happily. Seeing that Zhou Jia was still standing motionless, he smiled and said, “That’s right. Lord Zhou, we are of the same mind. The outside of Yunzhou City is the burial ground of these Qi dogs.”
Zhou Jia’s shoulder hurt from his fan-like hand. He thought that when he returned, he would get his wife to help him slap Ouyang Xiong back. “Yes, it’s their burial ground.”
Deputy General Shen, General Yun Can, and the generals raised the weapons in their hands and shouted, “The place where the Qi perish.”
“The place where the Qi dogs perish!” Tens of thousands of soldiers raised the spears in their hands and shouted in unison. Their shouts rang through the clouds and reached the ears of the Qi army.
Zhou Jia and Ouyang Xiong went down the city wall together under the deafening shouts.
When the citizens and Li Yu in the city heard the shouts, they knew that the Qi army had arrived. The Qi soldiers quickly arrived at the foot of the city and set up a formation. The infantry raised their shields to protect the crossbowmen carrying the bed crossbows behind them.
Deputy General Shen, who was standing on the city wall, raised his flag. The crossbowmen and archers began to shoot at the Qi army. The Qi army raised their shields to block the incoming arrows. Some soldiers still fell from the arrows.
The Qi general waved the flag and the drums shook the sky. The infantry carried the ladder and rushed towards the city wall. The crossbowmen’s arrows flew toward the city wall like rain. The infantry on the city wall raised their shields to protect the crossbowmen. Some soldiers fell after being shot.
A deafening drumbeat sounded on the city wall. Under the cover of the shield, Deputy General Shen drew his bow and shot arrows. The arrows tore through the air and shot at the Qi crossbowmen, who fell one after another.
Under the cover of the infantry shields, the archers shot arrows at the Qi infantry like raindrops. The infantry fell one by one. The Qi soldiers who rushed to the foot of the city wall set up a ladder. After being overturned by the Great Yong soldiers, they fell. The rolling wooden stones on the other side also smashed into the Qi soldiers who had climbed up the cloud ladder. The Qi soldiers fell one by one..