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The position of the Qin Army, which secretly entered the rear of the Zhao Army from Wild King City, is quite strategic, as it is only ten miles away from the target, Great King Village. According to timely feedback from scouts, there are thousands of Zhao Army troops stationed around Great King Village. As for whether there are still Zhao Army forces within the village itself, no reconnaissance reports have been received yet.
According to the operational orders of the Qin Army, regardless of whether there are Zhao Army troops in Great King Village or not, it must be captured. The long journey has been undertaken to save time, and since they are now close to the target area, they need to rest and recover on-site. Tomorrow, they can surround this Zhao Army unit in one go, provided that not a single person escapes.
After all, Wuan Jun has not yet begun to shrink the encirclement, and as the defenders of Great King Village who will be the first to face the brunt of the attack, they cannot afford to expose themselves prematurely. In warfare, it is not merely about numbers; however, having more people does translate into greater strength.
For this reason, Luzi decided that the troops would take a break and gather those scattered soldiers for discussions, hoping they would all participate in tomorrow's encirclement battle. The response was affirmative; the young soldiers expressed their willingness to join this fight.
Regarding whether to initiate the battle at Shangdang tomorrow, Luzi did not plan to report this decision to Qin Army Commander Bai Qi. Considering that a battle is imminent and needs strict confidentiality, all military communications were changed to personnel delivery. Carrier pigeons could not be used temporarily; anything involving military secrets was off-limits. This led to officers executing secret operations having some leeway in their actions.
Bai Qi personally went to Wild King City to discuss matters with Luzi, which included this issue of discretion. When he brought up this topic, he directly assured Luzi that he need not worry about communication; if they wanted to strike, they should just do it! The condition was that they could only act if victory was assured; he did not want to end up paying respects at anyone's grave afterward.
Returning Li Xin saw General Lu smiling foolishly by himself and raised his objections. Were those young men capable!? If they faced a surprise attack from the Zhao Army without even firing an arrow and ended up retreating in fear, wouldn’t that be a laughingstock!?
However, Luzi disagreed; while courage is necessary in battle, knowing shame and then fighting bravely is also important. The fact that they chose not to flee downriver but instead stayed behind already proved that they still considered themselves soldiers. Such individuals were still worthy of trust and could potentially sweep through tomorrow's battle.
Li Xin understood that General Lu had his unique perspective on matters and thus came to believe in him.
With battle imminent tomorrow, why weren't you returning to rest!? Luzi and Li Xin stood hesitantly and had no choice but to ask: "General Li, do you have any other business!?"
Li Xin seemed to be convincing himself; before he could make up his mind, he heard Luzi's question. Nodding slightly, he indicated that there was indeed a small issue. "General! The remaining troops here are likely just those from the Zhao Army; will there be... any problems with gathering so many Qin Soldiers?"
Hearing Li Xin's concerns, Luzi smiled slightly. "What problems could there be!? If there were no Qin Soldiers left on the East Bank of Dan Shui River, that would be unusual! Our Grand Commander almost got ambushed by his junior; the emergency retreat order must have been issued in haste. If it weren’t for this reason, why would Wuan Jun send Meng Wu and Wang Jian’s troops across the river to relay retreat messages?"
Li Xin pondered for a moment and realized that it was indeed a pressing matter. "That makes sense; I understand now! I hope both General Meng Wu and General Wang Jian are safe. But why haven't we received any news from them yet, considering we are almost at the frontline where our army was originally deployed?"
Luzi still couldn't figure out one thing: what exactly did Zhao Kuo want? However, it seemed that as long as he hadn't obtained the item carried by either Meng Wu or Wang Jian, the two of them were likely safe for the time being.
What could Zhao Kuo of Zhao State possibly intend!? Did Meng Wu and Wang Jian bring the Nine Tripod Cauldrons with them? Was Zhao Kuo trying to seize the throne for his sovereign and gain control over the world? That couldn't be right! Shouldn't those be kept in the Zhou Wang Palace?
Such treasonous thoughts flashed through Luzi's mind, but he quickly shook his head to dismiss them. Just as he was about to say something else to Li Xin, he looked up and realized that General Li had already left without him noticing. This kid! He is becoming more undisciplined by the day! How dare he run off without a word!?
...
The Qin Army inside Great King Village was unaware that powerful reinforcements had already appeared ten miles away, and they were still desperately resisting amidst smoke and fire. The surrounding Zhao Army had clearly lost patience; after failing to persuade them to surrender, they launched a large-scale assault. However, facing streets filled with obstacles rendered even the most effective cavalry immobile. The rain of arrows fell like cutting down crops, causing many to fall.
Wang Jian's defensive layout was extremely reasonable; while ensuring that enemy soldiers could not easily approach, he utilized the streets and buildings to ambush any Zhao Army cavalry that managed to break through. This was largely thanks to the excellent range and penetrating power of the Qin State's crossbows, which ignored the shields issued to Zhao Army soldiers from a hundred meters away. If it weren't for these long-range weapons playing a crucial role at this moment, it would have been troublesome once the enemy soldiers charged into the village!
Even so, the defending troops began to feel overwhelmed. Upon discovering that Zhao Army soldiers had already reached the village entrance, they hurriedly prepared to retreat to the second and third lines of defense set up within the village. The Qin State soldiers were clearly determined; some chose not to retreat any further.
With targets too close, their crossbows became ineffective, leading many to shatter their ranged weapons and leap out from cover into the enemy ranks. This suicidal charge could not stop the advancing forces; those who jumped out were quickly overwhelmed.
According to the original defensive plan, the center of the village would serve as the last line of defense. Here, there were only a little over a hundred wounded soldiers who could still fight—those who had been left behind as a reserve team.
The shouts coming from all directions sounded extremely clear in the deep night; each advance of the Zhao Army confirmed that brothers outside were falling in battle. The final moments were approaching! Unexpectedly, the outcome remained predictable!
To give their remaining brothers a chance to escape, some heavily wounded soldiers began urging their familiar comrades to take action early so they wouldn't be humiliated by being slaughtered by the incoming Zhao Army. As long as they could leave behind their burdens that couldn't move, they still wished to believe that someone would survive and leave this place.
"General! Brothers! We appreciate your loyalty! We may never repay it in this lifetime, so let's promise to do so in the next! Let's go!"
At this moment, the sounds of battle from outside grew closer. Meng Wu tightly gripped the sword at his waist. Turning around, he noticed a wounded comrade who, unwilling to fight, was attempting to take his own life with his weapon. He shouted a command to disarm him.
"I'm sorry, brothers! It's my incompetence that has left you unprotected! But don't forget, we are the finest soldiers, the Qin Army, who never admit defeat! Even if we die, we will die fighting!"
Before he could finish speaking, Wang Jian, covered in blood and wielding a long sword, rushed into the courtyard. Seeing the eager faces of his comrades, he gritted his teeth and said, "The outer defense line has completely collapsed! The Zhao Army is at our doorstep! Prepare for the final battle!"
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