The World Online

Another setting sun.

Under the dusk sky, birds flew, leaving a slight shadow.

The battlefield beneath the skies was a total mess. Smoke bellowed, and a bloody aura slowly gathered into blood red clouds in the air. The clouds were a perfect match for the orange red color of the setting sun, looking more and more eye-catching.

The moats in the camp fortress were already filled with corpses and blood; one could not see a single familiar sight. Across the narrow and long battlefield, only corpses and scattered weapons remained.

Barricades were crushed into pieces, the exquisite arcubalistas and trebuchets were taken apart, their parts left right there on the battlefield, no one bothering to salvage them.

The arrow towers were either chopped down or were still bellowing with smoke. Many arrows were stuck all over the ground, and one could not find a single section of empty land.

Occasionally, there would be one or two survivors, moaning out as they soaked in blood, waiting for the arrival of death.

The massacre in the afternoon exhausted both sides.

Another 40 to 50 thousand soldiers fell forever; their sacrifice was a goodbye to their youth and passion.

The entire battlefield was like a giant gladiator arena, the gladiators were none other than the soldiers of both sides. Whist they went all out to kill their enemies, they too were targeted by their enemy.

”Luckily, we finally took it down!”

The alliance commander looked at the messy battlefield and heaved a sigh of relief. After paying great sacrifices, the Alliance Army had finally crushed the enemy troops, taking down the second line of defense.

The strength of the 3rd legion had exceeded the expectations of the commander.

”What kind of enemy are they? Fearless and strong; they are an iron army!”

During the battle, 30% of the 2nd and 3rd divisions fell; close to eight thousand soldiers lost. If they did not rely on the moats for cover, the number of casualties would have at least increased by 20%.

At the finally moment, Fan Lihua had no choice but to order them to give up the formation and retreat to the second layer of wooden walls.

The 3rd legion had no way out.

They could only defend this wall, tiding through this horrid time.

As long as they manage to defend, it would be the greatest victory.

No matter how big the sacrifices were, it was worth it to achieve this strategic goal.

...

”Send my orders, continue the attack!”

The commander raised his head and looked at the sky; it was already scattered with the night clouds, but it was not fully dark yet.

The mission that the Lords gave him was not to take down the second line of defense but the entire camp fortress. Hence, they needed to make use of this last bit of time to break through the second wooden wall.

”Victory is right in front of our eyes!”

The commander muttered to himself like he was trying to build up confidence.

The war horn blew once more.

The exhausted soldiers all climbed up from the ground like zombies.

When the battle had come to a stop, the exhausted soldiers did not have any more worries and just laid on a pile of corpses to rest.

To the experienced old soldiers, using this time to regain some strength would mean a little more insurance to survive. Compared to their survival, what would a mountain of corpses mean?

They had no time and could not bother to debate about that.

Even the weakest soldiers were already used to the bloody and gory smell of the battlefield.

The soldiers were like zombies rising up from their graves, picking up their weapons. As the horn sounded out, they once again entered a battle-crazy state.

”Kill!”

The vast Alliance Army once again charged toward the frontlines.

The Alliance Army commander truly spent a lot of effort to take down this second city wall.

Outside the battlefield, there was a 30 thousand reserve force that had not been thrown in from the start and was well rested.

At the crucial moment, the commander threw this reserve force into the battlefield without hesitation to give the enemy camp stronghold a fatal blow.

From the reignition of the battle, the 30 thousand energized troops charged at the front, using their vigor to charge at the defenses of the third defense line.

Unfortunately, the Alliance Army was facing the famous General Fan Lihua, a commander many times better than the Alliance Army commander.

”In any battle, one must have a reserve force, be it a thousand or many squads. One must grasp the situation to use it and go on the offensive to obtain true victory in battle.”

Even the Alliance Army commander knew this simple theory, so how could Fan Lihua not?

In China, the first to raise the reserve army thinking was the commander of the Tiger Legion Corps, Sun Bin.

Sun Tzu stated, ”Ones formation must have three parts; each formation must have a front and each front must have a back; one to attack, two to defend. If the enemy is weak and chaotic, choose soldiers to counterattack. If they are strong, use the front soldiers as bait.”

This meant to logically split up the army and not charge into battle like a swarm of bees.

Even when the massacre in the afternoon had reached its most intense moment, Fan Lihua still did not send the 4th division located in the second wooden walls to help. The goal was to defend against this sudden attack.

Reality proved that her choice was truly wise.

The soldiers of the 4th division watched on as their brothers in the 1st division died in the morning, watched as their brothers in the 2nd and 3rd division bathed in blood during the afternoon.

They had a lot of pent up energy in their bodies. Now, it was finally their turn. They said to the soldiers of the other three divisions that backed down, ”Brothers, leave it to us!”

”It’s up to you!”

A simple exchange of words brought out the invincible army spirit of the Shanhai City Army.

...

The final battle before night fell slowly started.

This battle would not only decide the fate of both sides but also the entire Battle of Nanjiang.

On the White Stone City wall, a row of torches were lit, causing the area around the city to shine bright.

Yuan Ping and the other Lords had not left for the entire day, looking nervously at the battle proceedings.

”Can we still win?” Some Lords started to waver.

The Fan Lihua legion in front of them was like a monster with an infallible body.

Before the battle, no one could imagine that the enemy could block a 250 thousand soldier army with a camp fortress they built in such a short time.

If this spread, probably no one would believe it.

But the bloody truth was placed before their eyes; they had to believe it.

Hence, the Lords did not have much confidence that the Alliance Army could break through this last line of defense, at least not today. Since night was about to arrive, they had less than two hours left.

”Difficult!”

The Lord’s eyes started to flicker.

Some Lords who were originally determined had started to plan their way out.

Yuan Ping noticed that five to six Lords had unknowingly left them. Some of them were unwilling to stay any longer upon seeing their troops wiped out, so they left though the little mountain path from the back.

Other Lords were genuinely scared and did not hold any hopes for this war at all, so they took their Personal Guards and left. After all, the mountain path was just a small path. If they all swarmed out, who knows what kind of chaos would ensue. Rather than that, why not just leave early? At least they would not need to queue.

The earlier they left, the earlier they could settle matters back at their base.

The Lords in the city wall who stayed, apart from those who were bold, were people whose territories had already fallen to the Shanhai City Army.

These Lords were the most tragic bunch as they could not even claim their gold to live a life as a rich person in an imperial city. The only chip left in their hands was this army.

As for those who did not even have an army left, they had already committed suicide.

...

Just as the Lords were unsettled, on the horizon in the distance, they heard the rumbling sounds of horse hooves.

Looking out, one could see a giant army that seemed vast and endless. Under the shine of the setting sun, with a strict military formation and an unbeatable aura, they rapidly and resolutely charged at White Stone City.

The huge golden dragon flag was eye-catching to say the least.

”It’s the Shanhai City Army!” A Lord immediately recognized it.

The one who reached the vicinity first was the vanguard forces of Shi Wanshui; they arrived at their expected timing.

”We are finished!”

Some Lords closed their eyes; they were unwilling to witness the brutality that was about to occur.

Most of them did not say anything, directly leaving the city wall and disappearing.

One Fan Lihua legion already posed enough problems for the Alliance Army. With one more Shi Wanshui legion, the Alliance Army totally stood no chance.

One could foresee that following this there would be more legions coming toward White Stone City to gather.

There was no more meaning in waiting, and the Lords did not want to stay and be humiliated.

Leaving was the best choice.

If they did not leave now, they would not have the chance to.

All of a sudden, before Shi Wanshui’s troops even reached the frontlines, the city wall became empty. Not only did the Lords leave, even their Personal Guards left too.

In the end, only Yuan Ping remained. He stood there alone; his face ashen white.

He did not want to leave. During the Battle of Zhaoqing, he was already a deserter. He did not want to be a deserter once more in front of Shanhai City; this was his last shred of dignity.

Maybe a miracle would occur?

...

The arrival of Shi Wanshui’s legion shocked not only the Lords on the city wall.

To the Alliance Army, it was similarly a huge blow. They were facing a hard time attacking the second wooden walls, who knew that now the enemy even had reinforcements?

The Alliance Army commander’s face was pained; he looked up at the empty city wall and sighed. In the end, he could not bear to let his soldiers die in vain.

This was the first time the commander told the troops to retreat before he even received any orders.

When the low morale Alliance Army soldiers heard the war drums signaling retreat, they ran without hesitation.

As for the 4th division soldiers, they similarly stopped firing.

Fan Lihua knew that the Alliance Army had lost their ability to resist. Since that was the case, they should not kill the helpless and just leave some more people for the military reorganization.

No famous general was a person who killed people for fun.

Killing was only a method but not the goal.