Chapter 207 - Battle of Muye (9)
Translator: Team TWO
Editor: Nora
The progress of the Battle of Muye did not turn out as the others had expected.
Contrary to the expectations of the others, Zhou dynasty’s three roads suffered heavy losses. More than half of their men died, and they were now facing a dire situation. Jiang Shang, who was commanding the army from behind, could only let out a sigh. He bitterly signaled for them to retreat when he saw the situation.
He clearly understood that after today’s battle, every single possibility and chance to overthrow the Shang dynasty had been completely cut off. After this battle, the Zhou dynasty was unlikely to survive the Shang dynasty’s retaliation. He did not forget that at the far, far east, the main force of the Shang dynasty was rushing back at full speed.
A desperate attempt with every single thing that they could muster, yet it only led them to such a result—it was indeed bitter.
As the prime minister of the Zhou dynasty and the commander-in-chief of the army, he could not escape the blame for everything that had happened today. He could only redeem himself with his very own life. However, before he redeemed his sins with his own life, there was still one last thing to do. He needed to protect and secure King Wu of Zhou’s life. Only by protecting the king could the royal bloodline of Zhou continue. As long as the blood continued to flow, there would always be a comeback; they shall rise again.
Jiang Shang ordered the war chariot division to turn back and prepare themselves for retreat. As soon as King Wu returned, they would fall back immediately. As for the remaining soldier and those from the alliance, Jiang Shang couldn’t care less about them anymore in this horrible situation.
After all, Jiang Shang was downright a man of utter utilitarianism. He was a man who was good in the art of trickery to the point of perfection. Jian Shang was the reason why the rebellion of all the ethnic groups in Dong Yi started in the first place. He was the mastermind of all these events; he had stirred up the situation and started the rebel so that once the tribes and Shang dynasty started a war, his country could benefit from it.
After receiving the order to fall back, King Wu showed his emperor’s responsibility at the most crucial moment. He took the initiative to leave his soldiers to cover their backs, allowing the alliance’s army to retreat first. In fact, the alliance had already lost their minds. They were slaughtered like pigs, and they only had less than 1,000 men left.
This war was a nightmare for the alliance. After returning to their own countries, their main priority would be how to deal with the retaliation of the Shang dynasty. According to Di Xin’s personality, the best ending for all the lords was being sacrificed for the worshipping of spirits.
As for the players who sided with them, they had already fallen back one step ahead. Seeing not even the slightest chance of winning, the players would naturally not stay back and die in vain with the Zhou army. Every soldier they brought with them was the best of the best in their own territory, so they must not suffer any unnecessary losses.
The remaining 20,000 men of the players abandoned their weapons, armor, and supplies. Then, they fled in every direction. They ran away like stray dogs that people chased away. Some of them hid in the forest, some tried to cross the river, and some even ran into the mountains. It formed quite a spectacular scene. These players had no intention of returning to Mengjin; they just simply hid themselves somewhere in the wilderness until the battle ended.
The king of Shang, Di Xin, knew the nature of these players’ forces. He knew that they would not stay here for long. Therefore, he did not order his army to pursue the fleeing enemies in order to avoid unnecessary losses.
Although they had successfully suppressed the players’ armies, the imperial guards and the royal guards had also suffered heavy losses. After all, the strengths of the players’ forces were there. There were even these small teams that were willing to die in order to earn themselves more contribution points. In this battle, the war elephants were all wiped out, half of the imperial guards were killed, and the royal guards had lost around 1,000 of their brothers.
Di Chen looked at the fleeing army and let out a sigh. He had completely lost to Qiyue Wuyi again in the Battle of Muye. Chun Shenjun and the others didn't even have a chance to participate in this final battle.
“What should we do now?” asked Juedai Fenghua.
Di Chen looked around. He could only mobilize a force of fewer than 500 men. It was certainly impossible to make a difference at all. Moreover, they had lost all their cavalries. It would be impossible even if they wanted to retreat with King Wu. The only option they had left was to run away and hide in the wilderness, just like the other players.
Di Chen smiled bitterly and said, “What can we do now? There’s nothing we could do. We can only flee and hide!”
The remaining 500 guards surrounded King Wu and quickly retreated. The remaining 20,000 soldiers stayed behind to secure the safe retreat of their king. They courageously took over the defense line of the guards and stood up against the shield-sword soldiers that Shi Wansu ledi.
These 20,000 men that stayed back had prepared to not return to their own countries and families. Their only mission now was to buy their king more time so that he could safely escape. They had already gone mad; if stabbed, they would hold onto the enemies and provide a chance for their brothers. It was a tragedy. Because of their madness, they managed to hold off the army that Shi Wansui led.
However, Shi Wansui was extraordinary too. Excited with the blood ocean on the battlefield, he killed one soldier with just a swing and shouted, “Leave no one alive. Kill them all and capture King Wu! Death to those who block my path!”
“Kill! Kill! Kill!” the heavy infantries let out a roar, one that could seemingly pierce the sky.
Even the maddest radish could not take on a kitchen knife. Once the soldiers interrupted their movements, the heavy infantries would just swing their swords and sever the enemies’ limbs. Then, they would kick them off or swing their shields to deliver a crushing blow to smash open the enemies’ head.
The 20,000 soldiers left behind to cover their king’s retreat died one by one. Their ranks decreased rapidly, being pared layer by layer. The scene was horrible and bloody. The sacrifices of their brothers did not scare them off but drove them even crazier instead.
As King Wu retreated, he could only burst into tears when he heard the dying roars of his soldiers. These were all his soldiers, his people, and his children. The enemy mercilessly slaughtered them, and their king could do nothing but watch them die.
King Wu turned his head back and looked at Di Xin, who was watching the battlefield on his golden war chariot. Then, King Wu said fiercely, “Di Xin, I swear to god that I will kill you for what you have done today!” He carried an even deeper hatred within him, as he joined back with the War Chariot Division.
Up until now, the crossbowmen at the rear had not stopped their barrage at all. Therefore, arrows and bolts still rained down on their path of retreat. Many of the soldiers died on the way because of this.
At this time, their companions could spare no more attention to those who got hurt in the war anymore. They could only leave them lying on the ground, helplessly crying for help. They had to pretend that they could not hear their cries.
Corpses had completely filled the trenches in the southern suburbs, and blood flowed everywhere on the ground. The cruelest part was that these bodies had become the best stepping stones for the retreat of the remaining soldiers. At least they did not have to waste extra energy just to go across these trenches. This moment, every second and minute was very crucial, as they could affect the life and death of every soldier.
Their only thought now was to quickly get out of the range of the enemy crossbowmen. The arrow barrage that the crossbowmen unleashed had become their nightmare.
Even when King Wu retreated, he could not help but lament, “These strong crossbows destroyed my dreams!” By the time they merged with the chariots at the rear, the 1,500 men had been reduced to only less than 1,000.
Ouyangshuo did not plan to stop at this point. Di Xin had appointed him as the commander in chief. While the rear gave out the order to capture King Wu and Jiang Shang, he ordered his own cavalries to aid the heavy infantries. They were to quickly exterminate every enemy that still resisted.
“Capture King Wu! Capture Jiang Shang!”
The army advanced and launched an attack, as they shouted this slogan.
The Cavalry Division was the first to act. The Cavalry Division had suffered little to no losses. They charged and suddenly turned left, piercing into the enemy's main camp under the lead of the three generals—Zhang Liao, Qin Qiong, and Lin Yi.
The truth was, if the cavalries managed to plunge into the rear of the enemies at this time, they would gain a very great chance to destroy the 300 chariots. They could even capture Jiang Shang.
However, destroying all the chariots would be the same as crushing their final glimmer of hope for retreat. With their last hopes crushed, they would know that they had no hopes of surviving. Destroying the chariots would cause the enemies to fight with everything they had left until they all die, which would cause unnecessary damages.
Not only that, Ouyang Shuo also wanted some benefits for himself. If he let King Wu escape now, only Shanhai City’s calvaries would chase after them. As a result, the rewards for killing King Wu would definitely fall into his hands and not some lucky players.
Other than that, Ouyang Shuo also hoped to lessen the losses among his infantries. These enemy infantries had lost their minds, so they could still deliver fatal blows to Ouyang Shuo’s infantries.
The reinforcements of the cavalries thoroughly forced the Zhou troops up a dead end. The cavalries and the infantries cooperated and struck the enemies from the front and back. Then, they began their slaughtering.
At this time, the crossbowmen finally stopped their arrow rain. The continuous and high intensity shooting resulted in the slaves with weak bodies almost collapsing. Even those 5,000 player crossbowmen were exhausted.
They had played a major role in today’s victory.
After they killed the remaining Zhou troops, King Wu, along with Jiang Shang and the other lords, had already escaped on the war chariots.
Now, the noises on the battlefield suddenly subsided, and only some injured soldiers let out occasional groans.
No one realized when the drizzle stopped. The dark clouds dispersed, and the sun shone on the earth again, bringing some warmth to all the survivors.
At the southern suburbs where the sun shone, there wasn’t even the slightest hint of greenery. Bodies covered the entire blood-soaked field. Packs and packs of vultures flew to the field, tracing the blood scent that the bodies emitted. They circled in the air for a long time and refused to leave.
Facing this hell in the human realm before them, many players who were still accustomed to the peaceful environment of reality couldn't stand it. They quickly withdrew themselves to the rear of the army and started puking.
It was the games fault. The realistic settings of the game were just way too gory. Internal organs, intestines, and brain pulp just scattered around the field, luring swarms and swarms of flies.
Perhaps, all of these were just an unexpected gluttonous feast for the animals in the wilderness.
King Shang, Di Xin, stood in his golden chariot. He did not care much about this bloody scene in front of him. In fact, he seemed to be very exuberant. His general, E Lai, stood beside him, and they smiled together.
Ouyang Shuo rode on his Qingfu warhorse and headed toward the golden chariot. He dismounted and saluted Di Xin. Then, he asked, “My King, the enemy leaders are still not dead yet. May I have your permission to chase after them and cut them down once and for all?”
Di Xin had the same intentions. He too understood that if one wanted to get rid of the wild grasses, they had to pluck out the roots of the grass as well. However, with only his armies made up of infantries, there would be no way that they could catch up with the fleeing enemies. He was happy that Ouyang Shuo had volunteered as well.
“Permission granted. Kill them all, and your king shall reward you greatly!” promised Di Xin.
“Your will is my command, my king.” after receiving the order, Ouyang Shuo mounted his horse and went to Lin Yi. Together, they set out with the cavalries and headed to Mengjin.
The other players could only watch Shanhai City’s cavalries mobilize far away. Envy was clearly written on their faces. They knew that there were just so many honor points awaiting Ouyang Shuo and his cavalries to harvest. Those that managed to escape not only included King Wu and Jiang Shang. There were also those lords that were worth an abundant amount of honor values. However, they could only blame the fact that their horses were not as good as Ouyang Shuo’s and his cavalries’ Qingfu warhorses.