Chapter 2943: Claiming the Commander’s Head From An Army of Ten Thousand
Chapter 2943: Claiming the Commander’s Head From An Army of Ten Thousand
Zu An spent a while observing the Yellow Turban Army before saying, “They're currently guarding against Ji County and haven’t noticed us yet. This is a chance for us to launch a night ambush. If we can destroy their base camp, it’ll turn into a one-sided slaughter.”
The constant threat of death kept everyone’s nerves on edge on the battlefield. If a pandemonium occurred at night, fear would swiftly spread, and everyone would be in a rush to escape. The result would be a one-sided massacre.
Murong Qinghe observed the enemy camp as well before slowly shaking her head. “It won’t work. The Yellow Turban Army’s commander, Gao Sheng, is a capable man. He has deployed a scouting formation. He would notice the attack right away and deploy his troops accordingly. We are no match for an entire army of 50,000.”
Zu An took note of those details. War was fought very differently in this world. He needed to familiarize himself with the details, or else he could make a fatal mistake in the future.He asked, “What if we circumvent the scouting formation and suddenly attack them from within?”
“That might work, but it’s nigh impossible for us to sneak in there,” Murong Qinghe replied with a frown.
“You mentioned that your commanding trait is ‘Lightning Movement’, which allows you to quicken the movement speed of an army?” Zu An asked.
“That’s right. I reckon that only Liaodong’s ‘White Horse Righteous Followers’ can keep up with my cavalry,” Murong Qinghe replied proudly.
“That’s our way out!” Zu An shared his plan with her.
Murong Qinghe’s eyes lit up. “As expected of brother-in-law. You were able to figure something out!”
Tingxue, who had been silent all this while, glanced at the duo. Is this some kind of perverted roleplay? They are already sleeping with each other, but one is still addressing the other as brother-in-law.
Murong Qinghe brought Zu An, Tingxue, and her cavalry on a detour first to circumvent the enemy’s main force. Tingxue had also trained some troops back at Ji County, and she had to concede that the mobility of Murong Qinghe’s cavalry was ridiculously fast. It far surpassed any army she knew about. Somehow, Murong Qinghe was always able to instantly slip through between the cracks of the Yellow Turban Army’s patrols. Eventually, they circled to the back of the Yellow Turban Army’s camp and intercepted their supply convoy.
Supply convoys trailed behind the main force for safety. No one in the Yellow Turban Army had expected the enemy to circle around their main force to attack the convoy. Some of the soldiers guarding the convoy tried to fire signal flares to request for help, but Zu An and Tingxue had prepared for that and intercepted those flares.
It was a one-sided battle. The Wuhuans had an army buff—Deadly Shot. Their arrows had a three times higher fatality rate than other armies. Under the relentless barrage of arrows, it didn’t take long before the Yellow Turban’s soldiers were frantically fleeing in all directions. But there was no way they could outrun the Wuhuans’ cavalry. In the end, the supply convoy was destroyed.
The Wuhuans cheered in delight when they saw the mountain of rations. There was no more valuable currency than rations in this chaotic era.
Murong Qinghe apologized, “Brother-in-law, I’ll have to bring back some of these rations as spoils of war.”
“Of course.” Zu An knew that she couldn’t act wilfully despite being the Wuhuans’ princess. There had to sufficient incentive for an army to be mobilized. As much as he wanted the rations as well, he needed to pay the Wuhuans to support him in the upcoming battle.
Murong Qinghe was overjoyed. “You’re the best, brother-in-law!”
She was happy to see that Zu An was thinking on her behalf. Her voice was so sweet that Tingxue got the goosebumps listening to it.
Hm, that seems to be another emotion that I didn’t have in the past.
Zu An was too busy to notice Tingxue’s reaction. He instructed half of Murong Qinghe’s cavalrymen to put on the clothes of the supply convoy’s soldiers, while Murong Qinghe and the remaining half of her cavalrymen held their positions to wait for a chance to strike.
Tingxue was about to disguise herself as a soldier of the supply convoy as well when Zu An stopped her. Infiltrating the enemy camp was an extremely dangerous move. He thought that it was enough for one of them to bear the risk.
That displeased Tingxue. “I have been through greater danger than this.”
Murong Qinghe laughed. “You’re too beautiful, senior. It won’t be easy for you to blend into the supply convoy.”
Tingxue’s eyebrows shot up when she heard the word ‘senior’, but she let it slip. “Fine. We’ll wait for your signal out here.”
Zu An nodded. He used his Myriad Transformations to turn into the supply convoy’s commander before leading the convoy toward the enemy camp. He paced the convoy's movement speed to ensure that they reached at night.
At the Yellow Turban Army’s camp entrace, the guard commander inspected his token before letting them pass. The check was lax as the guard commander recognized the supply convoy commander, whom Zu An was disguised as.
While they were passing through the entrance, the guard commander suddenly remarked in confusion, “Hm? Old Li, why are your men all new faces? I’ve never seen them before.”
Cold sweat rained down the Wuhuans. They instinctively placed their hands on their weapons.
Fortunately, Zu An reacted fast. “Don’t mention it. It’s because of that Zhongshan marshal. He has joined forces with the Wuhuans to deal with us. The Earth Duke General[1] had to reallocate many of my brothers to the west, so I could only take the newbies with me.”
“I see.” The guard commander nodded. “That Zhang Chun is arrogant! Wait till we’re done with Ji County. Zhongshan Commandery will be next! I heard that Zhongshan has always been wealthy, and that Zhang Chun has stockpiled quite a bit of rations and fortune over the years.”
Zu An took a mental note of that information while laughing in response. “You’re right! Let’s plunder everything there!”
Amid laughter, Zu An survived the crisis and successfully infiltrated the enemy camp. Along the way, he noticed many defensive formations that made him glad that he hadn’t attempted a frontal assault. Their army of several thousand was nowhere enough to breach a camp of this scale. He told the Wuhuans to stay put first while he scouted the area. Soon, he obtained the secret code for the patrols tonight.
By the Zi hour (2300 to 0100), most people in the camp were already asleep. Zu An shared the secret code with the Wuhuans and told them to scatter the flammable materials they had hidden beneath the supply convoy around the camp. In the meantime, he would neutralize the camp’s formations. It wasn’t too hard for him to do it given his expertise. Besides, the Yellow Turban Army was vigilant toward the outside but lax on the inside. The soldiers weren’t in formation, so they weren’t emanating a strong intimidation aura.
Once everything was in place, Zu An gave the signal, and the camp burst into flames. The Wuhuans created a loud ruckus to induce chaos. The Yellow Turban Army’s soldiers, who were jolted awake from their sleep, thought that the imperial court had sent an army to suppress them, prompting them to escape in utmost fear.
The general of the army, Gao Sheng, immediately rushed out of his tent while putting on his armor. He had been enjoying a mother-daughter duo plundered from a nearby county when disaster struck.
“Men!” Gao Sheng shouted while gathering his personal guards. He knew the most important thing to do right now was to calm down the troops.
His personal guards rushed up to him. He quickly issued an order, “Relay my orders. All soldiers are to remain in their tents. Anyone running around will be deemed a traitor!”
An incompetent person couldn’t have become a general of the Yellow Turban Army. He knew that the imperial court’s army couldn’t possibly be here, and from that, he decided that someone was trying to induce panic among them. As long as he could quell the pandemonium, the enemy force would be cornered.
While Gao Sheng was busy deploying his troops, he suddenly murmured, “Why do you look unfamiliar...”
One personal guard finally raised his head and looked at him with a sinister smile. There was a flash of cold light, and Gao Sheng’s head fell to the ground.
Zu An would have had to think twice before fighting Gao Sheng and his army, but if it was a one-on-one battle, there was no way Gao Sheng could have been a match for him.
1. Zhang Bao ☜