Chapter 1595: Chapter 1595: Reinforcements
"The rear camp is barely guarded by any Qin Army. Our fleet should not get too close, lest we get discovered." Ye Shikai commanded, and the troops disembarked from their ships three miles from the rear camp entrance. In essence, the Qin Army was too focused on what was happening within the camp that they failed to notice that tens of thousands of rebels had already landed at their rear.
"Zheng Lang’s intentions are truly malicious. This time, he has deployed at least thirty thousand troops and occupied all the surrounding high ground, just waiting for General Huo to lead his forces into the camp, to then completely blockade and annihilate them." Ye Shikai vaguely saw the densely packed Qin archers standing on the hill outside the front gate of the camp, "recklessly" shooting arrows into the camp, while the entrances were blocked by the Qin Army.
"Why doesn’t General Huo try to break out through the rear, where the Qin Army’s defenses are weak?" Man Cang asked curiously.
"Impossible, have you forgotten? The Zhao River is behind them. Huo Ziqing doesn’t know we’re coming to their support, so he naturally wouldn’t breakout towards the rear. Otherwise, without assistance, with their backs against a big river and nowhere to retreat, it would mean either death or surrender, which truly would be a desperate situation."
"Right, right, I was being too simplistic." Man Cang slapped his head and repeatedly said.
"But this also presents us with a good opportunity. The Qin Army did not expect someone to cross the river to support General Huo, so they didn’t station many defenders at the rear. This gives us an opportunity."
"All troops, heed my order, charge!"
Attack!
Kill!
Ye Shikai charged at the forefront. The Qin Army guarding the rear camp heard the "God of Slaughter" roaring from behind. Upon turning around, they discovered tens of thousands of rebels charging at them. Before they could react, arrows were already flying their way...
Whoosh, whoosh.
"Quickly, follow me!" Ye Shikai harnessed his Inner Strength, his movement technique incredibly fast. In the blink of an eye, he dashed into the midst of the army, wielding a spear in one hand and a sword in the other, like a God of Slaughter. Before long, blood flowed like rivers, and corpses littered the ground.
"Quick, run away!"
"Run!"
"Don’t chase them, quickly break through the gate!" Ye Shikai shouted loudly; the most crucial task now was to support Huo Ziqing. These remnants of soldiers were of no consequence.
"Yes."
Dozens of strong soldiers wielded the siege hammer, repeatedly smashing it against the gate, but it showed no signs of loosening.
"What’s going on, hurry up and break through the gate!" Ye Shikai shouted loudly.
"Report to the General, the gate has been reinforced and there’s a pile of heavy objects barricading it from the inside, making it difficult for our soldiers to break through quickly."
"Step aside, let me do it." Ye Shikai rushed to the gate, placed his hands on it, and harnessed his Inner Strength. It was as if a thousand pounds of force was injected into his arms. The originally steadfast gate began to show signs of loosening. The gate that not even dozens of strong men with a siege hammer could breach was surprisingly being pushed open by a single person.
"This... truly divine power from the General."
"Indeed, unless a deity descended, how could a mortal possibly manage such a feat."
"Damn it, break!" Ye Shikai roared, unleashing all his strength.
Boom.
"My heavens, it really opened."
"Yes, truly a rare sight in this world."
The heavy gate was forcibly pushed open, leaving the soldiers in shock, some even forgetting they were in the midst of a battle. Along with admiration for Ye Shikai, awe began to grow within their hearts...
"Come with me!"
.........................................
"General Huo, look quickly, it’s General Ye arriving with reinforcements." Meanwhile, Huo Ziqing, embroiled in fierce battle at the front gate, also noticed the commotion at the camp’s rear gate.
"What, how is that possible?" At the brink of despair, Huo Ziqing turned his head sharply, a face full of astonishment.
"It’s really General Ye, I saw his flag."
"It’s truly General Ye."
"That’s great."
The soldiers, seeing reinforcements arriving from the rear, initially thought it was an illusion, but quickly realized it was no hallucination; it was indeed reinforcements.
"General Huo, retreat through the rear gate, there’s a ferry ready to assist." Ye Shikai shouted, and to ensure everyone heard, he ordered his subordinates to shout along, quickly spreading the word throughout the entire camp.
"It’s really General Ye, they’ve come to save us." Huo Ziqing, overwhelmed with emotion, almost burst into tears. "Brothers, heaven indeed leaves a path open; everyone, follow me."
"Yes."
"Yes."
The remaining thousands of cavalry immediately turned their horses around and headed for the rear of the camp. To prevent the road from being blocked, Ye Shikai specially instructed his subordinates to leave a path in the middle, allowing Huo Ziqing’s cavalry to retreat first, followed by Man Cang’s Iron Armor Army bringing up the rear.
"Man Cang, cover the retreat."
"Rest assured, Sir." Man Cang nodded and took his troops forward. This unit, modeled after the Wei Wu Zuo, was one of Ye Shikai’s trump cards. Each soldier was a robust man, wearing over forty pounds of armor, wielding long halberds and spears, with swords hanging at their waists, and carrying strong bows and crossbows on their backs. Once they formed their ranks, they were nearly impregnable.
"Quickly, go!" Ye Shikai urged incessantly. Truth be told, Huo Ziqing was indeed a good general, and his trained cavalry were disciplined. Despite heavy losses, in the face of disaster, they did not lose order or fall into chaos. Even in retreat, they retreated in an orderly manner.
Outside the camp.
"Re...report to General Zheng, a troop has suddenly stormed out from the rear gate, numbering no less than ten thousand, fully armed. Our forces cannot withstand them; the rear gate has already been breached."
"What, how is this possible? The Zhao River is outside the rear gate of the camp. Where did these people come from—did they attack us from the northern city?" Upon hearing this news, Zheng Lang dismounted in shock, cursing loudly.
"No, it seems they came by ferry."
"What, by ferry?"
"General, the rebels must have launched a surprise attack on our Lu Lin Ferry. There are enough ferries there for tens of thousands of people. To execute your plan, we dispatched troops from various strongholds and camps, leaving less than two thousand defenders at the ferry, unable to fend off the assault of tens of thousands." The deputy general beside Zheng Lang explained.
"Damn it, could they have seen through our plan?"
"Unlikely. If they had seen through it earlier, why send Huo Ziqing to his doom? Moreover, we still hold the battlefield advantage. The reinforcements should have come just to assist Huo Ziqing." Not all Qin generals were incompetents, especially since Ye Shikai’s rescue intentions were quite apparent. With three thousand Qin troops outside the camp occupying the high ground, it was impossible to defeat them, so Zheng Lang quickly understood everything.
"You are right. In that case, we absolutely cannot let them escape." A ruthless gleam flashed in Zheng Lang’s eyes. "Pass my order, all troops enter the camp, spare no one."
