Mythical Qin: I, Gao Yao, will never be a eunuch!

Chapter 749 A sneak attack under the cover of night!

In just two hours, Wang Li's losses had reached more than 2,000 people. Such heavy casualties forced Wang Li to temporarily stop the attack and readjust his tactics. While retreating, he ordered the soldiers to clear out some of the bodies and prepare for the next attack in advance.

It was not that Wang Li did not want to capture Yangping Pass in one go, but given the current large attack range, even if they lost only a few hundred soldiers, the subsequent soldiers might still have the courage to continue charging. However, when the places where they landed were covered with their own corpses, even the well-trained elite troops would probably find it difficult to withstand such a huge psychological impact.

In this case, the soldiers behind would probably shrink back out of fear, thus hindering the entire offensive plan. After all, attacking Yangping Pass was not something that could be accomplished overnight. Even Zhang Liang, who had black gunpowder, had to make a feint attack for nearly ten days, followed by another full-day fierce attack, before he unexpectedly used black gunpowder to break through Wuding Pass.

It can be seen that it is not easy to attack Yangping Pass by simply piling up corpses. Moreover, Wang Li is definitely not willing to consume most of his soldiers in this attack. Otherwise, even if he succeeds in taking Yangping Pass, he will not be able to effectively garrison it due to the lack of troops, which is tantamount to taking Yangping Pass in vain.

In the following time, Wang Li was like a madman, launching round after round of fierce attacks on Yangping Pass, as if there was no end. This offensive lasted from morning to night for a whole day without a break.

In the most recent attack, Wang Li's army had actually successfully climbed up to the wall of Yangping Pass and was about to break through the pass! This really surprised Zhang Liang.

You know, although Zhang Liang's side was the defender and had an absolute advantage, it was impossible for him to have no losses at all. After all, in order to allow Wang Li to successfully go solo, the number of defenders at Yangping Pass was indeed reduced a lot, even to less than 5,000 people, only 4,300 to 4,400 people.

Although this reduced the pressure on defense, the disadvantage in numbers was an unchangeable fact. Facing Wang Li's endless attack, the fatigue of the more than 4,000 defenders was imaginable, and it was rising straight up.

This is why, even though Wang Li was at a disadvantage in terms of military strength, he still chose to launch continuous attacks. He had a full 20,000 troops under his command! He could have divided the attacks and let the soldiers take turns to rest and maintain their strength.

However, Zhang Liang's situation was much worse. The 4,000 soldiers under his command were almost working non-stop, with no time to rest and recover their strength. If this continued, the soldiers' combat effectiveness would definitely be greatly reduced, and the defense line of Yangping Pass would be breached sooner or later.

Everyone gets tired, even Gao Yao's well-trained regular army. Continuous fighting puts a lot of pressure on people's body and mind, and continuing to fight in a tired state will not only greatly reduce efficiency, but also increase the risk of casualties.

Therefore, as time went on, the casualty ratio continued to rise. At the beginning, the casualty ratio was even as high as 1:2.5, which means that for every soldier killed, the enemy lost 2.5 soldiers. However, as the battle continued, this ratio gradually increased, and finally reached almost 1:1.6.

Don’t underestimate the increase in the casualty ratio, in fact, it has a huge impact on both sides. Take Zhang Liang’s army as an example, after one day of fighting, their losses were close to 2,000 people; while Wang Li’s army suffered even more, with losses close to 5,000 people.

On the surface, it seems that Zhang Liang's losses were relatively small, but in fact, this was not the case. First of all, Zhang Liang's army was on the defensive, and they should have had certain advantages in fighting in a place like Yangping Pass that was easy to defend but difficult to attack. However, now their remaining force was less than 2,000 people. If Wang Li continued to attack for another two days, Yangping Pass would most likely be lost.

The sun gradually sank to the west, and the afterglow was like blood, dyeing half the sky red. Wang Li looked at the setting sun, feeling a little relieved, and decisively ordered the troops to retreat. Following his order, the soldiers moved back in an orderly manner like a tide, and the sound of their footsteps echoed in the empty battlefield, as if it was the final chapter of a long and exhausting symphony.

Zhang Liang, standing in the distance, witnessed all this, and a huge stone in his heart finally fell to the ground. He knew that the next battle would be handed over to Ying Bu. At this moment, Wang Li was convinced that the troops at Yangping Pass were already empty, and he would definitely let the soldiers recuperate tonight to prepare for a more fierce attack tomorrow.

Time was so tight for Wang Li. He had to quickly capture Yangping Pass before the reinforcements from the Southern Border Army arrived. Every passing minute and every second made him anxious. However, he was confident in his strategy and believed that as long as the soldiers got enough rest, they would be able to capture the city tomorrow.

As for Zhang Liang's desperate sneak attack, Wang Li was not worried at all. He put himself in Zhang Liang's shoes and thought that if he were in Zhang Liang's position, he would never dare to make such a rash decision. After a whole day of hard fighting, the soldiers were already exhausted and their fighting power was greatly reduced. If they defended the dangerous place, they could still wait for the arrival of reinforcements, and there might be a glimmer of hope; but if they attacked directly, they would lose everything if they were not careful, and Yangping Pass would inevitably fall.

However, relying on a force of no more than 2,000 men, he attempted to launch a surprise attack on the 15,000 men led by Wang Li. In Wang Li's eyes, this was simply a fantasy and a foolish dream! The probability of success of such an act was not even 10%. Wang Li knew this very well, so he was not worried at all that Zhang Liang would have the courage to take the risk of a surprise attack.

Based on this judgment, Wang Li only took conventional defensive measures when deploying defenses. He sent some scouts to observe the movements of Yangping Pass to be prepared for any eventuality. In this way, even if Zhang Liang really wanted to launch a desperate sneak attack, Wang Li could ensure that he would receive the news in advance and take precautions in advance, so that Zhang Liang would lose more than he gained.

However, what Wang Li didn't know was that as the sun was setting, Ying Bu's troops started to move almost at the same time. They moved silently to Wang Li's rear, like a group of ghosts hiding in the darkness, ready to strike Wang Li by surprise.

Time passed by minute by minute, and finally it was midnight. At this time, Ying Bu had led his army quietly to a place less than two miles away from Wang Li's camp. He knew that this distance was already the limit, and if he continued to get closer, the possibility of being discovered would greatly increase.