flstandardbreds Chapter 398 Lu Xun's Doomsday (7)
Chapter 398 Lu Xun's Doomsday (7)
Zhou Shan was one of the four main generals appointed by Guan Xingda during the reorganization at the end of the war. However, he has always stayed in the rear since the start of the war and has not participated in a single decent battle. Seeing that Shen Yi, Wu Yue, and Wang Tao have repeatedly made meritorious contributions, while he himself has been stagnant and has not done anything, he felt extremely awkward.
Therefore, when Shen Yi asked him to stay behind at Da Mo, he refused no matter what, and almost got into a fight with Shen Yi in order to get the chance to go on the expedition.
Now that Shen Yi has appointed him as the vanguard, ordering him to break away from the main army and rush to the battlefield to support Guan Xing, Zhou Shan was so excited that he almost roared to the sky. After breaking away from the main army, he ran wildly, wishing he could sprout wings and fly to the battlefield to capture Lu Xun alive.
He only wanted to capture Lu Xun alive, not kill him, because before he left, Shen Yi had repeatedly told him that Lu Xun was General Guan's cousin-in-law, and that he must treat him with courtesy and not bump into him.
Zhou Shanren was still on the road, but his mind was already on the battlefield. The soldiers were already running around happily, but he still felt it was too slow. He kept urging them, "Brothers, hurry up, hurry up, hurry up! If we're too late, General Guan will have already wiped out Lu Xun. If we get there, we'll only be able to clean up the battlefield."
No one wanted to do the hard work of cleaning up the battlefield. Upon hearing this, the soldiers' expressions changed slightly, and they shouted to speed up their pace again.
The faster the movement, the more chaotic the formation became. If someone were looking down from above, they would see tens of thousands of troops galloping through the corridor like wild horses on the grassland. If an enemy force were to break out from the mountains under such circumstances, the galloping army would likely be half-dead or even killed.
Zhou Shan knew this was dangerous, but he wasn't worried at all, because Shen Yi's orders to him were to go all out, and even if he lost, Shen Yi would cover for him.
Since that's the case, what's there to be afraid of? Just charge!
With this in mind, Zhou Shan's army ran incredibly fast, their legs like wheels, making it seem like they were participating in a marathon.
Running fast is certainly good, but rigidity cannot last long and flexibility cannot be maintained. This extreme speed cannot be sustained for long, and after half an hour, the soldiers all slowed down.
Seeing this, Zhou Shan, who was also panting heavily, quickly ordered his men to walk and adjusted their formation, switching from running to brisk walking to relieve some of the pressure before continuing to run.
While Zhou Shan was frantically rushing on his way, Lu Xun was also putting on a desperate struggle.
The last blow a wild beast delivers before it dies is the most lethal, and the same is true for Lu Xun. Seeing that Li Yi had cleared the wall of fire, he immediately ordered all his troops to be thrown in, preparing to go all in and die if they didn't win.
At Lu Xun's command, more than 20,000 soldiers rushed to the battlefield, with only a few hundred personal guards remaining in front of the war drums to protect his safety.
Lu Xun had another purpose in doing this: he wanted to use himself as bait to lure out the Wu-Yue tribe that was lying in ambush in the mountains and annihilate them, so that they might be able to withdraw from the mountains.
Although his idea was good, he didn't know that Guan Xing's order to Wu Yue was to keep him firmly planted in the mountains and not move. Therefore, he could never wait for Wu Yue, but could only wait for Shen Yi.
On the front lines, after clearing a path a hundred meters wide, Li Yi ignored the flames beside him and led his men straight through.
To quickly cross the trench, Li Yi pushed all the large wooden crates left by the Han army at the first line of defense into the trench to use as a bridge. He also specifically instructed that a buffer zone be left between the crates and the firewall to prevent the firewall from burning the crates as well.
Using the wooden crates left behind by the Han army, Li Yi led his troops through the wall of fire and charged toward the Han army's third line of defense.
Guan Xing stared in astonishment at the approaching Wu army and said, "Lu Xun is going too far! Is he really courting death?"
Ding Feng said sarcastically, "If you're afraid of dying, hurry up and retreat. You're only a few dozen meters away from the front line. Any arrow could easily hit you. If you're hit by a stray arrow, General Guan will have to bury his son."
Upon hearing this, Guan Xing not only refrained from cursing, but instead readily accepted the advice, saying, "You are right. Thank you for reminding me, General Ding. I'll be leaving now; I'll leave this place to you."
After saying that, he quickly climbed down the ladder, leaving Ding Feng astonished. He asked in surprise, "Has he always been so afraid of death?"
In all honesty, he only wanted to humiliate Guan Xing and keep him on the arrow tower, giving the Wu army an opportunity to shoot and behead him.
How many young people can withstand this kind of stimulation?
But he never dreamed that Guan Xing would so readily accept his advice and back down, acting as if he were Guan Xing's boss who readily accepted advice and Guan Xing's subordinate who was devoted to his master.
Damn Guan Anguo, can't you tell the difference between good and bad words?
Liu Zan shrugged and said, "What's the problem? Why are you unhappy even though I listened to you?"
Ding Feng nearly choked on his own blood. After thinking for a long time, he couldn't come up with a retort, so he simply turned his head away, closed his eyes, and prayed in his heart that a stray arrow would come and kill him. It was too damn embarrassing.
Liu Zan stood in the spot where Guan Xing had been standing and shouted down, "Brothers of Wu army, Ding Feng has been captured. Surrender quickly, and the Han army will treat prisoners well."
The defenders below the arrow tower shouted in unison. When the shouts reached the ears of the Han army fighting ahead, the Han army spontaneously joined in the shouting. Thousands of people shouted in unison, clearly conveying Liu Zan's words to the Wu army on the opposite side.
Hearing the shouts, Li Yi looked up sharply and saw Ding Feng tied to the arrow tower as a mascot. His eyes darted around and he hurriedly shouted, "Brothers, follow me! Let's seize the arrow tower and rescue General Ding!"
The personal guards joined in the shouting and rallied the Wu troops behind them to shout together, quickly drowning out the shouts of the Han army.
Surprisingly, Wu Jun dropped the "D" after only a short while and changed the slogan to "Seize the Arrow Tower to Save the General," which actually sounded quite catchy.
Seeing that his attempts to persuade Ding Feng to surrender had failed, Liu Zan decisively dragged him downstairs to retreat. This place was too close to the front line, and staying on the arrow tower would make them sitting ducks. Liu Zan didn't want to be shot to death by stray arrows before he could even see the archers clearly, so he made the decision to retreat.
After Guan Xing went downstairs, he reappeared on the arrow tower behind the fifth line of defense, commanding his army to engage in a bloody battle with the Wu army. The two sides fought desperately on the third line of defense until nightfall before retreating to the fourth line of defense.
As darkness fell, Wu Jun's attack did not stop. Instead, they continued their assault with torches in hand. The poor Wu soldiers had fought all day without a drop of water and could not rest until nightfall.
That damned Lu Xun, he doesn't value the lives of ordinary soldiers at all.
Meanwhile, Zhou Shan's army, which had been running all day, finally passed through Yushan City. They were now very close to the battlefield, close enough to see the flames and hear the fighting.
Seeing the flickering flames ahead, Zhou Shan's spirits soared, and he roared excitedly, "Brothers, Lu Xun is just ahead! The time for us to make our mark has come! Charge with me!"
After saying this, he led the charge forward. The Han army, which had been running all day, was greatly encouraged by his words and accelerated again, charging towards Lu Xun with an indomitable spirit.
Lu Xun was still beating the drum, and Lu Yan, the commander of his personal guards, stood by his side to protect his safety.
Lu Yan, who was on high alert, suddenly heard a familiar voice. Startled, he jumped down from the platform and climbed to the ground. He listened carefully and then stood up after a moment. "Grand Commander, there are hurried footsteps coming from the east. Judging from the sound, there are no fewer than ten thousand people. It is probably Shen Yi who has come to attack."
No sooner had he finished speaking than two scouts rushed over from the east, shouting as they ran, "Great Commander, the Han army from Damu City is coming! They're less than twenty li away!"
Lu Xun tensed up and instinctively used his strength to swing the drumsticks and strike the drumhead again, then a sudden change occurred.
The moment the drumstick struck the drumhead, the large cowhide drum seemed to have reached its limit and shattered instantly with a bang. One piece of cowhide hit Lu Xun's face, causing him to stagger and be forced to retreat.
Just as he was about to leave the platform, Lu Yan rushed up and supported him from behind, saying, "Grand Commander, are you alright?"
Lu Xun threw down the drumsticks and said sadly, "In the end, I failed to break through Guan Xing's defenses before Shen Yi arrived. It seems that fate is against me."
After saying this, he painfully closed his eyes, then opened them again a moment later, his eyes revealing a fierce and determined madness. He said, "Then forget about what's behind us. Tell the brothers to follow me and charge! Let's make one last stand against Guan Xing!"