Chapter 710: A Wave of Chaos
In the following battles, XiMen Sa had truly lived up to his name of being a genius commander mentioned in the same breath as Ling Tian. After gathering all of the defeated troops, he was no longer the failure like before and while his attacks were ineffective, his defense was without the slightest gap.
While he wasn't able to turn his defeat around, his troops did not suffer too big of a loss.
He wasn't arrogant in victory and didn't become frantic in defeat. XiMen Sa was truly a talented military genius!
This was how Yu ManLou commended XiMen Sa after hearing the news about XiMen Sa.
Any accomplished general would understand how difficult it was to raise the morale of defeated troops and reorganize them to defend against the crazed attack of a few hundred thousand soldiers! Unless one was an experienced general who had spent his life on the battlefield, it was impossible to do so! However, XiMen Sa had actually achieved such a feat! He didn't only achieve such a feat but had even done so perfectly! He was truly a military genius!
This gave Yu ManLou a wrong impression that XiMen Sa's previous defeats may have been because of spies hidden within the army. These spies must have revealed critical military intel. If not, it would be impossible for XiMen Sa to suffer such a miserable defeat! Thinking about that, Yu ManLou felt that it was all the more urgent for him to cleanse his troops of any spies!
Just how many spies has Ling Tian arranged? Currently, only XiMen Sa's army is facing such a problem. Since XiMen Sa's army isn't big, the presence of these spies didn't affect the big picture. But if such a thing were to happen in the million-man army by Swallow County... Yu ManLou sucked in a deep breath of cold air.
While XiMen Sa's lost was heart-wrenching, his loss had also served the purpose of warning the entire Yu Family and wasn't without any benefits!
Yu ManLou immediately decided to send out the most concealed spies of the Yu Family to secretly investigate all the upper echelons of the Yu Family army. The moment they found any suspicious characters, all military authority would be revoked and they would be sent back to the capital for punishment. Anyone who dared to resist would be executed without mercy! He would rather kill a thousand by mistake than let a single spy get away!
The sudden appearance of the enforcement squad created a small commotion in the Yu Family camp. With a couple of individuals being taken away and disappearing, the entire camp fell into panic.
Just when Yu ManLou began the cleansing of his army, the Divine Prefecture Empire seemed to have noticed Yu ManLou's intentions and the battle at Swallow County had also intensified. Shen RuHu, Yu YanHai, and DongFang JingLei sent out a series of attacks and tested the bottom line of the Yu Family time after time. It was as though they wanted to force the Yu Family army out into a large-scale battle.
You are probably afraid that you will lose your opportunity after I weed out all the spies right? How would I be fooled so easily? Before cleansing the army, I will not fight you in an all-out battle! Yu ManLou felt as though he saw through the scheme of the Divine Prefecture Empire and sneered in his heart. In his eyes, the action of the Divine Prefecture Empire was no different from a jumping clown!
On the other side, XiMen Sa continued to fight conservatively. While his forces were still far from being a match for Xiao FengYang, after joining up with the 100,000 man army, XiMen Sa had a full 200,000 men on his side. He retreated as he battled and slowly inched towards the main forces of the Yu Family without the slightest bit of chaos.
Xiao FengYang's attack came wave after wave and he was no longer wary like before. He led his 400,000 men army proudly as they marched majestically through the continent like a swarm of locusts.
Despite being defeated along the way, XiMen Sa's army was never thrown into chaos. Along the way, he absorbed all the defeated soldiers and had truly become a large mixed army. At the same time, he was also getting closer and closer to the Yu Family's main camp. The moment his forces met up with the Yu Family's main camp, he would be able to escape from Xiao FengYang's threat and could even turn around to launch a counter-attack!
They were only one day away from the Yu Family army located at Swallow County! Everyone in the army let out a heave of relief. After being chased for such a long time, they had a belly full of anger to be vented! Xiao FengYang was like a parasite who refused to leave their side and despite every one of them being filled with anger, they were completely helpless. Hmph hmph, our million man army is right in front of us, do you still dare to chase us? We will definitely welcome you to continue chasing us. At that time, we will be able to wash away our humiliation and it will be time for us to chase you!
However, right at this moment when they were at ease and looking forward to taking their revenge, an unexpected fire broke out in XiMen Sa's camp. This fire came extremely suddenly and strangely. It was almost as though someone from within the camp had intentionally set the camp on fire. In just a short while, the fire spread rapidly throughout the camp and had even spread to the tents where the grain was kept!
In the immense heat, the surrounding snow began to melt rapidly.
The main tent was nearby and all the generals who were sleeping peacefully were jolted awake. After putting on their clothes anxiously, they ran over to the edge of the fire with their faces ashen and fear in their eyes. In front of the fire, a figure stood ramrod without moving an inch!
He was XiMen Sa!
The generals walked over with their faces flushed with embarrassment and their heads lowered as though they were waiting for death. Sneaking a glance, they saw XiMen Sa's pale expression with a slight trace of blood at the corner of his lips! His eyes were filled with hopelessness and it was obvious to tell just how heavy a blow this fire was to their marshal.
Just when they were about to get to safety, such a miserable affair had happened! The heavens truly wanted their demise!
The soldiers in the surroundings were covered in tears and they used the snow, mud, and anything they could find in the surroundings to put out the fire. However, all of them understood that no matter how hard they tried, it was impossible to salvage the situation.
The military grain and strategic resources of their 200,000 man army were completely destroyed! What a hateful spy!
In the silence, marshal XiMen Sa suddenly let out a roar and spat out a mouthful of blood before collapsing on the ground!
"Marshal!"
"Marshal!"
"Men... the marshal has fainted! Send the military doctor!" All the generals immediately became anxious and began shouting out orders. In the past few days, XiMen Sa had become the sole backbone of the entire 200,000 men army. XiMen Sa had single-handedly led them through the most dangerous times and almost brought them to safety! However, at this crucial moment, their marshal was angered to the point that he fainted!
All the generals were at a loss and fell into chaos. Just what should they do next?
All of a sudden, the sound of galloping horses sounded like thunder and the entire ground began to tremble from battle cries. Xiao FengYang's army had killed their way over.
The Xiao Family army had grasped the best timing! However, this timing was an extremely destructive one to the Yu Family's defeated army.
"Since we don't have a way out, let us fight them to the death!" a general roared with rage!
"Yes! Let us fight it out with them!" everyone roared in unison!
Right at this moment, XiMen Sa who had fainted twitched slightly and his eyes opened slowly.
"Marshal, are you alright?" All the generals crowded forward with joy.
"Retreat! Retreat... with the fastest possible speed... return to the main camp... don't be reckless... there is only a single day left... if..." XiMen Sa's gaze was hazy as he said with clenched teeth. Before he could even finish his words, he fainted again.
Everyone understood his intentions! This wasn't the time for them to be reckless!
"Marshal!" They let out a heart-wrenching cry. Tears welled up in their eyes. Even when their marshal was in such a state with his life as risk, he was still concerned about the life and death of their brothers! How would they be able to find another marshal like him?
The dozens of generals knelt down on the ground in unison and kowtowed to XiMen Sa's unconscious figure with tears in their eyes.
We must protect the lives of our brothers! We must send our marshal to safety! Everyone looked at each other with the same thought in their minds.
"Listen to my orders, retreat at full speed!"
The order spread throughout the army quickly.
Xiao FengYang's army was already nearing the Yu Family's camp! Under the glow of the fire, the countless glowing blades of the cavalry could be seen charging towards them...
In this emergency retreat, the 200,000 man army of the Yu Family escaped in light dressing. They no longer had the burden of their grain carriages and some had even thrown away all of their armor. They ran as quickly as they could towards the camp of the Yu Family. With just a single day of journeying, they would be able to survive...
Right at this moment, the war drums of the Swallow County suddenly exploded and the three armies of Divine Prefecture Empire launched their most violent attack! This attack of theirs disregarded their lives and disregarded the price they had to pay! Regardless of their losses! They disregarded everything!
The war drums of the final battle sounded?!
Yu YanHai, Shen RuHu, and DongFang JingLei all received a blood-red letter from Ling Tian with the words 'accomplish the task with a single stroke!' written on it.
A battle to determine the ruler of the world!
A total of 100,000 arrow towers shot out in unison and the entire sky was covered in arrows. Following that, 150,000 cavalry charged into the Yu Family's army without a care for their lives. Finally, the remaining infantry troops launched their attacks like a swarm of locusts.
They swarmed over from all directions using a human wave tactic!
However, the battle was not one a one-sided one.
In just a single exchange, the attack of the Divine Prefecture Empire was obstructed. After the cavalry at the forefront fell into the traps and pitfalls of the enemy, the infantry at the back continued to charge forward with a loud battle cry and both armies broke out in an intense battle.
Blades were dancing all around with the warhorses sprinting and human heads rolling.
With two million soldiers clashing together, their furious roars and battle cries could be heard from ten miles away!
A commotion also sounded from the north-west and countless of defeated Yu Family soldiers appeared from the darkness sprinting frantically towards the Yu Family camp.
Xiao FengYang gave an order and the calvary sped up, brutally massacring all the soldiers in their way. This destroyed the morale of the Yu Family even further and the front line fell into chaos.