stonecrandall Chapter 1185 A Bloody Battle, A Frenzied Revenge!
Chapter 1185 A Bloody Battle, A Frenzied Revenge!
With the reinforcements diverting attention, the pressure on the vanguard battalion was somewhat relieved. Li Wei seized the opportunity to reorganize the defensive line, replacing the exhausted soldiers with the last thousand reserves.
The battle raged from dawn until noon, and then from noon until dusk. The valley floor was soaked in blood, and the air was thick with the stench of blood and death. Crows circled overhead, awaiting the start of their feast.
Astride his warhorse, Yuwen Tuo surveyed the mountains of corpses on the battlefield, and for the first time, his resolve wavered. The resistance of the Southern Qing army had exceeded his expectations, and his own forces had already lost nearly ten thousand men. Worse still, judging from the battlefield situation, the Southern Qing army seemed genuinely unaware of the attack on the Northern Qi vanguard.
"General, our casualties have exceeded eight thousand. Should we..." The deputy general's voice was hesitant.
Yuwen Tuo glanced at the sky, then looked towards the still fiercely fighting front, and finally sighed: "Sound the retreat. We'll fight again tomorrow."
As the Northern Qi army sounded the retreat horn, the exhausted soldiers on the battlefield breathed a sigh of relief. The Southern Qing army was also unable to pursue, and a tacit ceasefire was reached between the two sides at dusk. The soldiers began clearing the battlefield, retrieving the wounded, and identifying the dead.
Li Wei leaned against the broken camp gate, a deep, bone-revealing wound on his right arm bleeding. His deputy, Zhao Ming, limped over, his left leg wounded by an arrow, his face pale.
"Have the casualty statistics been released yet?" Li Wei asked hoarsely.
Zhao Ming nodded heavily: "More than 2,300 people were killed in action, 800 were seriously wounded, and others were slightly wounded... almost everyone was injured."
Li Wei closed his eyes and took a deep breath: "What about Northern Qi?"
"At least three times ours."
But both sides understood that there were no winners in this battle. The 5,000-strong vanguard battalion was almost decimated, and the Northern Qi army also suffered heavy losses. More importantly, the cause of this battle—the attack on the Northern Qi vanguard battalion—remains shrouded in mystery.
As night fell, scattered torches lit up the battlefield. A no-man's-land formed between the two armies, littered with corpses and broken weapons. Occasionally, the groans of the wounded could be heard, only to be carried away by the night wind.
On a distant hilltop, a group of men in black silently watched the battlefield. The leader, a tall figure wearing a silver mask, was Gao Yao. Behind him stood over a hundred elite assassins, each with sharp eyes and a composed demeanor.
"My lord, everything is as you predicted," one of the assassins said in a low voice.
Gao Yao's lips curled slightly beneath his mask: "Yuwen Tuo has indeed fallen for the trap. However, the resistance of the Southern Qing army is stronger than expected. That's fine too; the seeds of hatred have already been sown."
"Shall we proceed according to plan?"
Gao Yao nodded, a cold glint in his eyes: "The Southern Qing army's granary is located behind the main camp, guarded by about three thousand soldiers. We will split into three groups: one will feign an attack on the front gate, another will infiltrate from the flank, and I will personally lead the men to take the central army. Remember, only burn the grain, do not linger in battle, and retreat immediately after you succeed, leaving behind the Northern Qi army's markings."
"As ordered!"
Gao Yao turned and looked towards the distant Nanqing camp, which was brightly lit, clearly indicating that they were busy preparing for tomorrow's battle. His plan was simple: burn down the Nanqing granary, leaving traces of the Northern Qi and further deepening the hatred between the two sides. Once the Nanqing army ran out of supplies, they would inevitably launch a more frenzied attack on the Northern Qi, and the Northern Qi would then believe that the Nanqing were the culprits behind the attack on the granary.
This was a meticulously planned conspiracy, designed to inflict continuous bloodshed between the two great powers on their border, weakening each other and creating opportunities for the forces behind him. Gao Yao, as a Grandmaster-level martial artist, would normally disdain such underhanded tactics, but those who achieve great things are not bound by trivialities; for a grander goal, these sacrifices were necessary.
At midnight, Gao Yao and his group moved like ghosts across the battlefield, avoiding sentries from both sides, and silently approached the Nanqing camp. The Nanqing army was exhausted from the bloody battle during the day. Although their vigilance was tight, their main attention was focused on the front line, and they were relatively lax in guarding the granaries in the rear.
The granary was located in an open area behind the main camp, surrounded by moats and watchtowers. The three thousand guards were on duty in three shifts, and it was midnight when the shift changed, a time when vigilance was at its lowest.
Gao Yao made a gesture, and the assassins quickly dispersed. The first group of twenty men stealthily approached the vicinity of the main gate of the granary and lay in ambush in the shadows. The second group of thirty men circled around to the flank, preparing to infiltrate from the relatively weaker western side. Gao Yao himself led fifty of his most elite assassins straight to the central command tent—where the most important military rations and command documents were stored.
"Action!" Gao Yao shouted, his figure shooting out like an arrow.
Almost simultaneously, an explosion erupted from the main gate of the granary, sending flames soaring into the sky. The defending troops were thrown into chaos, and alarm bells rang urgently. Taking advantage of the confusion, the suicide squad members on the flanks quickly scaled the fence and engaged the defenders in fierce combat.
Gao Yao moved like a black lightning bolt, weaving through the tents. Several patrolling soldiers, barely noticing the anomaly, were blasted away by his palm strikes, not even having time to scream. The power of a Grandmaster was on full display at this moment; ordinary soldiers were like weeds before him.
"Enemy attack! Protect the granary!" Wang Jian, the garrison commander of Nanqing, rushed out of the main tent, not even fully dressed in his armor.
Gao Yao seized the opportunity and appeared in front of Wang Jian in a flash. Wang Jian was shocked and swung his knife to strike, but Gao Yao gently pinched the blade between two fingers and with a slight force, the steel-forged military knife broke in two.
"You..." Before Wang Jian could finish speaking, Gao Yao struck him in the chest with a palm strike, sending him flying backward and crashing into a tent pillar. His fate was unknown.
"Ignite it!" Gao Yao ordered.
The suicide bombers poured the prepared kerosene onto the grain sacks, threw torches, and flames instantly erupted. The dry grain was the best fuel, and the fire spread rapidly, engulfing several granaries in flames in the blink of an eye.
"Fire! Fire!" The soldiers of Nanqing were in a panic. Some went to fetch water, while others tried to move the unburnt grain sacks. The scene was chaotic.
Gao Yao looked around and, seeing that his goal had been achieved, took out a Northern Qi army flag from his robes, deliberately tossed it in a conspicuous place, and then ordered: "Retreat!"
The elite assassins were well-trained and quickly disengaged from the battle, regrouping at the designated evacuation point. Gao Yao, covering the rear, repelled dozens of pursuers with a single palm strike, disappearing into the night in a few leaps.
The entire process took less than the time it takes for an incense stick to burn. By the time the Southern Qing reinforcements arrived, the granary had been reduced to a sea of fire. The firefighting efforts continued until dawn, but in the end, less than 30% of the grain was salvaged. More importantly, distinctive items belonging to the Northern Qi army were discovered at the scene—not only the military flag, but also several arrows engraved with the Northern Qi military emblem, and the body of a "Northern Qi soldier" that had not been taken away.
"Those traitors from Northern Qi!" Zhang Huaiyuan, who rushed over upon hearing the news, slammed his fist on a charred wooden pillar upon seeing the carnage before him. "A frontal assault during the day, a night raid on the granary—they're trying to kill our army!"