Chapter 286 Despair
As far as Cao Xijin could see, the Wolf-tooth Troop’s Formation was still neat and their momentum hadn’t lost a beat. In actual fact. there weren’t much strength left of the Militarism Formation, and they could no longer actuate the power of the “energy wave”. Their aggressivity would also decline, but even so, it was still fundamentally different from ordinary Military Formations.
Looking back at his own Military Formation, it was scattered and chaotic, and the blanks were not filled in time. The soldiers were all scared and panicking without any fighting spirit. Cao Xijin was very clear that he had already lost, just not completely annihilated yet. But if he continued to fight, even if some of them survive, it would still be like asking for death.
“Withdraw! Back to Bozhou!” Cao Xijin roared in a low voice and led the remnant troops to escape the river bank.
He was full of confidence when he came, and he thought that Weibo Army was the best in the world, it could be easy to defeat the Pinglu Army. However, unexpectedly, he just barely escaped like a stray dog after only one round of Charging Formation. At this moment, there was no confidence, only fear and anxiety.
“Catch them!” Commanded Shangguan Qingcheng. When she saw that the Weibo Army intended to run away, she was not going to let them escape. She immediately led the Wolf-tooth Troops to pursue. Any kind of army loved chasing after men because it was the perfect time to kill more opponent soldiers.
Li Ye did not stop Shangguan Qingcheng from chasing Cao Xijin.
In his view, Cao Xijin was still rational, knowing that things couldn’t be done, he had to escape and save some military power. However, Pinglu Army was going to attack Bozhou. He would not allow the opponent to save any strength. And chasing was the only opportunity to ensure victory. Moreover, he also trusted Shangguan Qingcheng, that she would not fall into a trap.
Three thousand Wolf-tooth Troop elites had breached ten thousand Weibo Army. When news traveled back to the Pinglu Army, all the soldiers were boiling with fighting spirit. And they moved through the pontoons much faster.
Zhao Polu’s troops did not stop, and obeying orders, they crossed the bridge and headed directly to Bozhou City as the pioneer force. His thirty thousand soldiers would attack straight away upon arrival.
After a few hours, the Wolf-tooth Troops returned. On the way, they also met Zhao Polu’s troops, and Shangguan Qingcheng reported to Li Ye, “Report military commander! I led the troops to chase after the enemy for 15 kilometers. We beheaded nearly four thousand of their men! Awaiting your command!”
“Well done.” Li Ye smiled and praised her. Chasing and killing were always the easiest ways to get more heads of the opponent army. “The Wolf-tooth Troops have earned first-class merit. And after taking Bozhou City, I will personally hold a feast for you to celebrate! ”
Shangguan Qingcheng flushed, her eyes full of radiance, as if there were peach blossoms falling in a spring lake. Shangguan Qingcheng only dared to look at Li Ye this way when she led the troops to a great triumph.
Bozhou was the northeast faction of Weizhou. After taking Bozhou, Pinglu Army could just march into Weizhou. Li Ye did not intend to give Bozhou a chance to breathe. The riverbank was not far from Bozhou City and they could get there in two days. An army of a hundred thousand people stretched for dozens of miles. When the former army arrived in Bozhou City, the rear army was still on the road. Besides, it also took a lot of time to gather and set up camp.
When Li Ye rushed to the outskirts of Bozhou City, Zhao Polu’s troops were already attacking the city. They were using the same strategy, ‘attacking the gaps’. Zhao Polu’s troops were the elites of the Pinglu Army. Thirty thousand people attacked in a round-robbin fashion. They breached the top of the city wall several times, and Bozhou City was almost in ruins.
After the follow-up troops of the Pinglu Army arrived, the morale of the Bozhou defending army hit rock bottom. After all, they were facing an iron-clad ocean of armor, and boundless battalions.
This day, the morning light was dim, and the Pinglu Army launched another round of attack at Bozhou City. The tide-like armored soldiers spread out towards three sides of the city and breached the city wall.
Cao Xijin assumed personal command atop the city wall. As he looked at cultivators and guards who were relentlessly attacking the city, his face was pale as paper. Even if he had a team of cultivators around him, over 20 Qi-refining cultivators, he still had no sense of security at all.
The Pinglu Army had a much larger ratio of cultivators, who were all brave and unafraid of death. Even the masters of mid-level Qi-refining realm, who could be enjoying the splendor comfortably, were leading the charge ferociously. The defending troops of Bozhou could not resist, and were utterly routed.
Every moment the soldiers defended the city, dozens died. They were defending the city with their lives.
Cao Xijin began trembling, which started from his hands, eventually spreading all over his body. He never thought that the Pinglu Army would be so strong. Not only did they have many cultivators, but even their ordinary guards were also brave enough, and they did not act rashly. The soldiers and the Military Formation were very familiar with each other, so they were all operating in concert.
It was a quality that could only be cultivated after almost dying and experiencing war. Cultivation and practice alone could not achieve such results. The Weibo Army had always boasted how strong they were as a force. They finally understood what was truly elite when they faced off against the Pinglu Army!
It was supposed to be that when an opponent was attacking, the Bozhou Army had a defensive advantage, but its casualties were bigger than the opponent! Often the opponent’s mini attacking Formation of five required two, three or even more Military Formations of the Bozhou Army to fend them off. And that was only to fend them off, not killing them!
Faced with such an army, Bozhou City had no way of defending it. Their morale had hit rock bottom, and might collapse any time.
Cao Xijin’s face muscles twitched and he suddenly grabbed the officer next to him. He yelled at his face, “Why have Weizhou’s reinforcements not arrived yet? When will they arrive?”
Cao Xijin had brought a lot of troops to Bozhou, plus the original defenders of Bozhou, there were fifty thousand people in total. However, thousands of them were killed by the Wolf-tooth Troops in the first battle. Now, facing the ferocious Pinglu Army, it was not enough to hold the city. Once the Pinglu Army breached the city wall and got into the city, the situation would be dire. And no matter how many soldiers Bozhou had, it would all be in vain.
The officer stuttered with fright. “It will take...” “It will take three more days! ”
“Three days? Three d*mn days! Bozhou cannot hold on for three days!” Cao Xijin pushed the young officer to the ground. He was now having a nervous breakdown.
The distance between Wei Zhou and Bo Zhou was triple to quadruple the distance between Bozhou and the Pinglu Army. Cao Zhongming and Cao Xijin could not have predicted that the battle situation would be so bad, so they weren’t prepared for the situation. When Cao Zhongming received Cao Xijin’s request for back up, he needed time to prepare food, so he couldn’t get there timely.
“General, look, the Pinglu Army has retreated!”
“The Pinglu Army has retreated!”
Cao Xijin was shocked and looked incredulously outside the city. He saw that the Pinglu Army had retreated like a tide.
“What is going on here? They were going to take the city, how could they suddenly retreat?” Cao Xijin was worried and uneasy. He was afraid of Li Ye’s schemes. Based on the Pinglu Army’s attacking momentum, they could have breached the city before sunset. Their sudden retreat made Cao Xijin feel quite puzzled.
“This is great! Bozhou has one more day then. The reinforcements might make it in time!” A general added excitedly and his eyes sparkled with hope.
Cao Xijin did not think so. If something is out of the norm, there must be something fishy. He was not stupid enough to think that Li Ye would do such foolish things.
Zhao Polu came to the big tent and got permission to enter. He couldn’t wait to ask Li Ye, “Military commander, the city can be taken today, why did we suddenly stop attacking?”
He had been attacking the city for a few days, and his men had suffered losses and injuries. Seeing that he was about to succeed and take the honor, Li Ye suddenly ordered him to retreat. Thus naturally, Zhao Polu was puzzled.
Li Ye was talking with Li Zhen. Having heard his words, Li Ye looked up and asked Zhao Polu to sit down. He ordered his people to give him a bowl of water, then he added deliberately, “Weizhou has sent for reinforcements, and it will take two or three days.”
Zhao Polu was in no mood to drink water, though he was really thirsty. He held the teacup and added loudly, “So what if Bozhou has reinforcements from Weizhou, we are not afraid of them, and we’ll just attack them...”
As he said those words, he was suddenly shocked. As a military sergeant, he quickly understood Li Ye’s intentions, and suddenly his eyes lit up. “Military commander, you want to wipe out his reinforcements?”
Li Ye smiled and added, “Weibo Army has twenty thousand men and ten thousand are in Weizhou. If they are adamant on defending the city, the casualties would be too great when our army attacks the city. This time Cao Zhongming had sent fifty thousand troops to aid Bozhou’s defense. If they could be wiped out in the woods, it would be much easier to take Weizhou in the future.”
“Wise decision military commander!” Zhao Polu immediately gasped in admiration. The reinforcements were coming to save Bozhou. If Bozhou were occupied by the enemy before they could arrive, naturally, they would not need to come. And they would definitely retreat in that instance. Li Ye could only lure the opponent, by letting Bozhou go for the time being. This was the same as fishing.
Li Ye looked at Liu Dazheng. “General Liu, you will personally explore the terrain on the southeastern side of Bozhou and find a favorable place to set up. When the reinforcements of Weizhou come over, don’t let them go. As long as you start to fight with them, General Zhao will launch the last battle against Bozhou.”
Liu Dazheng immediately got up. “??!”
Two days later.
Pinglu Army launched the final battle against Bozhou City.
Li Yu lifted up and looked at the whole picture of Bozhou City.
In the past two days, the troops had not given up attacking, but only maintain the extent of attacking without breaking. This was to put pressure on Bozhou City so that they would continue to urge the reinforcements to come. Only reinforcements were eager to save people, and Liu Dazheng would have a great chance of ambush success.
With Li Ye’s cultivation, he could directly come to Weizhou with the Son of God, and beheaded Cao Zhongming’s head, but that was meaningless, it would not directly determine the outcome of the war. If Cao Zhongming had died, Weibo Army was still in this way, there would be a new leader in Weibo Army, leading counties to resist Pinglu Army. The vassal state was the root of Vassal State Army, and their family, land and wealth were all there, which was different from the border army guarded the frontier.
Only Pinglu Army had captured the state and county, that was a real victory.
Having seen that Pinglu Army began to attack the city again, Cao Xijin’s face gradually became white again. Unlike the soft attack of the previous two days, this time Pinglu Army had resumed ferocious offensive—the first two days, it was Tianping troop attacking.
“Well, Bozhou City is over...” Cao Xijin’s face turned ashy.
One general added, “The general should not worry, for the reinforcements will arrive soon, and Bozhou City will hold it!”
Cao Xijin desperately added, “The reinforcements will not arrive.”
The generals were shocked and confused. “Why? They are coming soon.”
Cao Xijin ground his teeth and added, “Why did Pinglu Army suspend the offensive on these two days? They just had an ulterior motive, intended to ambush Bozhou reinforcements!”
The generals couldn’t help but step back two steps, “Isn’t the reinforcement... but in the past two days, the general has been urging the reinforcements to come? Isn’t it...” He couldn’t say the following words. That was to push the general into the fire pit.
Cao Xijin looked at the generals and said nothing.
He did not think of Li Ye’s intention until today. Moreover, even if he thought it earlier, he would be able to let the reinforcements not come, but save themselves and backtrack? Then wasn’t he dead?
Now Pinglu Army launched a fierce attack, which meant that the reinforcements had been defeated... If the reinforcements were won, Li Ye’s troops would definitely go to stop the reinforcements, at least, they would not dare to attack the city. Cao Xijin and the reinforcements would be combined to...
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