Chapter 267- Life and Death Assault
Translator: TeamTWO
Editor: Jun
"Guys just go back first, we have a tough battle tomorrow waiting for us." Di Chen said.
The atmosphere in the camp was weird, and upon hearing Di Chen say that, they were all glad and left, returning to their own camps.
The next morning, the Zhao army that was boxed in suddenly started to act, making Ouyang Shuo uneasy.
It was the middle of the 8th month, and the sky around Shangdou Mountain was clear for miles.
At 8 AM, horns sounded out in Changping Valley; the large number of red flags moved toward the north and south, the galloping of horses resounded like endless thunder. The Zhao forces had started moving.
The 150 thousand troops in the north were led personally by Zhao Kuo and headed straight for Wang Ling's camp. The 250 thousand on the south were led by Zhao Zhuang, and were in charge of intercepting Wang He and as well as Meng Ao to prevent them from aiding Wang Ling.
The movement of the Zhao Army naturally couldn't hide from Baiqi.
The only thing that surprised him was how quickly the Zhao Army wanted to break through, much different from what they had predicted. Thinking about the report from Qiyue Wuyi yesterday, Baiqi felt uneasy. Yesterday, he had sent someone to order Wang Ling to investigate. Unfortunately, in a short half a day, they didn't get a reply.
Baiqi was a special person. He calmed himself down and climbed on the viewing platform on the Langshan Mountain and started to organize the troops.
Based on his arrangement, Meng Ao's troops were in charge of attacking the Zhao Army, Wang He's forces in the northwest only needed to hold their own; he needed to split off 60 thousand men to go and aid Wang Ling.
Baiqi made it very clear to Wang He; the Qin army's main goal wasn't to defeat the Zhao Army main force at Changping Valley, but break through the barricade to ensure that Wang Ling's camp wasn't lost. The reason why he wanted Wang He to split off troops was because Wang He's army was strong and ferocious.
The huge change naturally couldn't be hidden from Ouyang Shuo and the others. The 30 thousand player force was placed into the Meng Ao army, leaving the camp and getting ready to fight against Zhao Zhuang's army.
Ouyang Shuo knew that Shanhai Alliance's elite cavalry wasn't suited for this kind of defense-oriented head to head battle. He requested to be sent by general Meng Ao to be in charge of breaching, and to go north to help out Wang Ling.
Meng Ao was always careful with using troops, and although he knew that Ouyang Shuo made sense, he didn't dare to make the decision and reported his suggestion to Baiqi, asking him to make the final decision.
Open hearing the report, his eyes froze. He knew that with Meng Ao's personality, based on the 150 thousand army at the southern camp, it was enough to delay Zhao Zhuang's forces. On the other hand the 60 thousand Wang He troops made to breach through was lacking. He didn't expect Ouyang Shuo's vision and analysis to be so sharp.
"Order the player cavalry troops to meet up with Heng He and prepare to attack." Baiqi gave the order.
"Yes!"
When Ouyang Shuo received the order, he froze. Heng He's 50 thousand troops were all elite cavalry, gathering with them meant that they were going to fight to the death.
This battle, out of the lords, only Ouyang Shuo personally got out to battle while the rest stayed in Guanglang City.
"Wuyi, with all the generals commanding, wouldn't it be good for you to command in Guanglang City? Why must you personally act? What if something happens?" Bai Hua didn't agree with Ouyang Shuo.
Be it Ouyang Shuo himself or the 10 thousand elite cavalry from Shanhai City, they were the core troops of the player force. The moment he died, the Qin were bound to lose.
"Yes, I agree with Bai Hua. Brother Wuyi, didn't you not like to personally fight?" Mu Lanyue tried to persuade him.
Ouyang Shuo felt warm but he resolutely shook his head. "Don't worry, my strength can't be compared to last time. Anyways, I also have the Guards regiment protecting me, so nothing will happen. I won't do anything stupid, but I have a reason for going out."
"Tell it to us." Bai Hua didn't believe him.
"Firstly, the Battle of Changping is different. Meng Ao and the others are experienced generals, and there's no room for us to command, we can only act according to what they say. Hence, I won't have a say in all of that.”
He continued. “Secondly, the biggest factor in this battle would be Gu Pass. Whatever happens with that will decide the war. I have to personally see what happens at Wang Ling camp to take a look. If not, I will feel uneasy."
Hearing his explanation, Bai Hua and the others understood.
"Since that's the case, then be safe!"
Ouyang Shuo nodded, climbed up the Qingfu horse, and raised the Tianmo spear, getting ready to leave.
The 30 thousand player force split off at the gate of Guanglang City, then Chen Tang led 7000 infantry and followed the Meng Ao troops north to stop the Zhao Zhuang forces. Ouyang Shuo led the 24 thousand elite cavalry east and meeting with Huan He's troops who were hidden there.
Zhao Zhuang's army moved out in two directions towards the Qing army camps, who knew that a short kilometer away, they’d meet Qin Army's main force? On the west of Laoma Ridge were flags with "Wang" and on the north side of the Dan River were flags with the "Meng" word. The Qin Army coming out to fight was obviously so that they didn't want to be trapped fighting inside the camp.
Zhao Zhuang was also a war elite general, and upon seeing their forces, he knew that a deadly fight would occur. He immediately ordered, "The troops attacked the Qin troops from both directions, not allowing their troops to go passed the Changping Pass." As the war drums sounded out, a bloody war started out on four fronts.
The black Qin army and the red Zhao army were like two floods, charging at one another. The collision of the forces reverberated through the valley.
The sounds of spears and swords, the shooting of arrows, and the cries and shouts made the mountains and rivers tremble.
The loud killing shouts passed through the valley and echoed, making one's blood boil.
These were the two strongest armies in the Warring States Era, and both were unbeaten in battle. The troops clashed courageously and without fear, with their bloodied weapons and low grunts, the entire mountain region was covered by the aura of this primitive brutal slaughter.
Chen Tang led 7000 infantry and was like a wooden raft in the ocean, quickly swallowed and he could only bitterly struggle.
Bai Hua and the others stood on the city wall of Guanglang City, and watching the merciless slaughter outside, they were shocked. Such a huge army made the less than 10 thousand man army look too minuscule.
Among Huo Hua and the other lords in the Qin camp, some were happy while others were worried. They were happy about their contribution points that rose and worried about how many soldiers would be able to survive from all of this.
For the troops at the southern side, the key was whether or not Wang He could break through.
However as two hours passed, Wang He's cavalry was still unable to break through, and Baiqi frowned. The valley in which Wang Ling's camp was in was narrow, and although good for defense, they couldn't make use of their huge amounts of troops. The only way to defend it was to maintain reinforcements.
It seemed like it has reached the most important time, and as Zhao Kuo and his 150 thousand men army attacked, Wang Ling struggled to defend.
"Emergency report: Wang Ling camp is in danger!"
Baiqi's face sank. “I order Huan He's troops to immediately move out!"
"Yes my lord!" The man immediately turned to a red flag on the building, this was the signal which the Qin Army prepared for emergency circumstances.
Huan He who was looking up, upon seeing the red flag swing, immediately got up on his horse and shouted, "All units, move out!"
"Kill! Kill! Kill!" What relieved him was an earth shattering shout.
As for Ouyang Shuo's player force, Huan He didn't trust him and arranged them to be at the back.
Ouyang Shuo didn't mind that and allowed Huan He and his 50 thousand cavalry to be at the front. The other players' troops were in the middle, Shanhai City's 10 thousand in front and the 14 thousand cavalry led by Zhang Liao at the back.
With such an arrangement, Zhang Liao was nicely in the center of the army, and it was easy for him to command and make adjustments to the forces.
Although Ouyang Shuo participated, he didn't take over command of the army, leaving it to the various generals. He was at the front of his forces, with the Guards regiments at his side. Standing right next to him was Shi Wanshui and Wang Feng.
The 70 thousand cavalry rumbled outwards and rushed northward.
Zhao Zhuang's forces were busy fighting against the main force of the Qin army, upon seeing the dust and smoke rise up from the side, they feared something was wrong but they couldn't move their forces. The looked over as the black cavalry forces charged northward.
At the moment the Zhao army was distracted, Wang He hollered and the cavalry around him instantly charged, breaking out of the Zhao army and charging towards the wilderness.
Zhang Zhuang panicked and shouted, immediately leading his men to cut in and block the remaining forces of the Qin army. With such charging and blocking, around 30-40 thousand of Wang He's cavalry got past the Zhao army.
Zhao Zhuang wanted to split some forces at the tail to chase but was intercepted by a few 10 thousand troops led by Meng Ao, who made a detour and attacked from the back. Both sides didn't want to let either side get away, so the hundreds of thousands strong army forces was caught up in a heated battle with one another.
Huan He's troops rushed like lighting to the northern battlefield, and what he saw tore his heart. From afar, Wang Ling's troops were nearly destroyed and they were on the brink of being eaten up.
Knowing that things were bad, Huan He hollered, "Sound the cowhorn horn!" 30 odd cowhorn horns sounded out, and this army that hadn't participated in a fight and was full of energy charged towards the camp.