flstandardbreds Chapter 346 Internal Strife Within the Bandit Army, Peng Qi Slashed
Chapter 346 Internal Strife Within the Bandit Army, Peng Qi Slashed
Not only was Peng Qi stunned, but everyone around her was also stunned. They stood there dumbfounded, as if they had been frozen in place, staring at Xiao Dan's wielding knife.
Pan Zhang, who was charging towards them, was overjoyed. He shouted at the top of his lungs, "The one wielding the sword, from today onwards I will definitely report to Lord Wu and appoint you as a lieutenant general."
Wu Jun's biggest challenge in dealing with the Yue tribes was not that he couldn't defeat them, but that he couldn't find them.
Pan Zhang was the same; he had long been fed up with being treated like a dog by Peng Qi. That's why he still rushed out even though he knew Peng Qi had discovered him. He originally thought that Peng Qi was very likely to escape again, and that it would take a lot of effort to catch up with her. Who would have thought that he would encounter such a pleasant surprise? How could he not be overjoyed?
Pan Zhang shouted in surprise, but the shout startled Bi Kui, who was in a daze. Without thinking, Bi Kui acted almost instinctively, grabbing Peng Qi's belt and pulling hard, forcibly dragging Peng Qi into his arms.
When Xiao Dan's longsword struck, Peng Qi was being pulled backward by Bi Kui. As a result, the blade, which should have struck Peng Qi's crown and cleaved him in two, only grazed his cheek, cutting from his brow down his nose to his jaw, leaving a deep, bone-revealing gash. It mercilessly split Peng Qi's cheek in two. The downside was that he was disfigured, but the upside was that he was still alive.
"Ahhh..." Peng Qi, who had fallen on Bi Kui, let out a bloodcurdling scream that was comparable to that of a pig being slaughtered.
Bi Kui, however, had no time to comfort him or bandage his wounds. Instead, he roughly shoved him aside, brandished his knife, and charged at Xiao Dan, roaring, "You bastard Xiao, how dare you betray my brother! I'll kill you, you traitor!"
Xiao Dan was somewhat afraid of Bi Kui's strength. Upon hearing this, he quickly retreated and shouted, "Brothers, follow me and kill them! After we kill Peng Qi and Bi Kui, I'll take you to Jiangling to enjoy a life of luxury!"
As the second-in-command, he naturally had a group of trusted brothers, but his troops were also infiltrated by instructors sent by Ning Huan. Upon seeing this, the instructors immediately shouted, "Calm down, listen to my orders, retreat immediately to avoid the Wu army's advance."
Xiao Dan's troops were dumbfounded, not knowing who to listen to for a moment, their minds collectively going blank.
This state wouldn't last long. Normally it wouldn't be a problem, and people would quickly recover. But on the ever-changing battlefield, it could be fatal. Before his troops could decide who to listen to, Bi Kui had already attacked Xiao Dan, forcing Xiao Dan to raise his sword to block while praying that Pan Zhang would arrive quickly.
Xiao Dan must have some fighting skills to become the second-in-command. Although he couldn't beat Bi Kui, he could hold out for twenty or thirty rounds until Pan Zhang arrived. The problem is that Bi Kui wasn't the only one present.
Xiao Dan's troops were thrown into disarray, unsure whether to obey Xiao Dan or their instructors. However, the Han scouts who had mingled in the ranks as instructors were not. While reprimanding Xiao Dan's troops, they all drew their bows. After aiming for a long time, someone finally seized an opportunity. Taking advantage of the moment when Bi Kui was knocked back by the impact of his clash with Xiao Dan, someone released the bowstring. The arrow passed through the gaps in the crowd and accurately struck Xiao Dan's throat, who was still weak and unable to react due to the pain in his hand from Bi Kui's impact.
Xiao Dan collapsed to the ground, powerless. Bi Kui charged forward again, wielding his long sword and sweeping it across. Xiao Dan's head flew off instantly, and his body fell limply to the ground.
At the same time, Pan Zhang led his troops to close in, only an arrow's distance away from the bandits, ready to fire at any moment.
Without thinking, Bi Kui grabbed Peng Qi's belt, shoved her onto his back, and roared, "Retreat..."
The bandits dared not delay and immediately turned and ran away, with Bi Kui being the fastest.
He got excited while running, but Peng Qi on his back was in a terrible state. She was already seriously injured, and this ordeal almost killed her. At first, she could still scream a few times, but then she just fainted.
Pan Zhang had already raised his bow and arrow, ready to fire, but seeing the bandits fleeing, he was so angry that he jumped up and down and shouted without hesitation, "Chase them! Let's see how far they can run!"
He was confident he could catch up with the bandits in front of him because the bandit ranks were very long. Those in front had turned around and retreated, while those behind might still be moving forward because they hadn't received the message. In this two-way rush, it was easy for them to collide, causing chaos or even a stampede.
Pan Zhang believed that it wouldn't be long before chaos would break out within the bandit army, and once chaos erupted, he could charge in and slaughter indiscriminately.
The idea was good, but little did they know that the bandit army was also filled with hundreds of Han army instructors. These elite scouts were veterans carefully selected and trained by Guan Xing. They were experienced in combat and extremely sensitive to battlefield anomalies. They had also received orders from Ning Huan to retreat immediately if he noticed anything amiss. Seeing the chaos ahead, they decisively ordered the army to turn around and retreat.
Each of these instructors had around two hundred trainees under their command, which meant they encompassed Peng Qi's entire army of twenty thousand. This resulted in them being very scattered, and their shouts were sure to be heard by their own trainees.
Thanks to the instructors' efforts, the bandit army did not descend into chaos in the rear. Instead, they turned and retreated, while also sending people to report the situation to Ning Huan, who was several miles away.
As long as there is no stampede due to internal chaos, the bandit army can escape very quickly, after all, Wu's army is chasing behind them, and if they run too slowly, they may lose their lives.
Driven by their will to survive, the bandits quickly ran five miles past Ning Huan's ambush. Ning Huan had been waiting for a long time in the rice paddies by the roadside. Seeing that the bandits had all passed and the Wu army was about to arrive, he decisively ordered his troops to fire arrows.
Pan Zhang, who was still desperately pursuing the enemy and wondering why the bandits were not causing any trouble but instead running faster, instinctively looked up when he heard the whistling sound of arrows piercing the air. He was stunned to see a rain of arrows shooting towards him like a storm. He immediately stopped and shouted, "Enemy attack! Enemy attack! Raise your shield to block!"
The idea was good, but the army didn't carry many shields because they were too heavy and not conducive to pursuit. Pan Zhang was now so eager to chase Peng Qi that he couldn't possibly carry something that would affect his speed.
Caught completely off guard, the Wu army was shot down, with soldiers falling and screaming in agony. Even Pan Zhang was nearly hit by an arrow.
Meanwhile, Ning Huan in the rice paddies did not charge forward despite the chaos of the Wu army. Instead, he continued to fire arrows for ranged attacks. Although his forces were comparable to Pan Zhang's, their combat strength was far inferior. Charging into close combat would be suicide.
Therefore, he divided his soldiers into two teams to shoot arrows separately. While one team was shooting, the other team would take out arrows and prepare to fire, thereby ensuring the continuous impact of the arrow rain and not giving Pan Zhang a chance to react and charge.
After enduring three volleys of arrows, Pan Zhang chickened out and hurriedly ordered, "Retreat! Retreat!"
This damn rain of arrows is disgusting. Who knows how many people will die if we charge in without any preparation? More importantly, the bandits shooting arrows are buying time for the fleeing bandits to react. If the fleeing bandits use this time to regroup and attack him, he is very likely to be killed by the bandits while his formation is scattered due to the pursuit.
The possibility of him being killed by the bandits is unlikely, but even if he could defeat them in his current state, it would probably be a Pyrrhic victory. He still has to deal with the Han troops who are attacking the camp, so he can't afford to suffer too many losses at the hands of the bandits.
Therefore, Pan Zhang chose to retreat, intending to regroup after being out of range of the arrows, and then decide whether to retreat or attack.
Ning Huan wouldn't give him a chance to react. Seeing Pan Zhang retreat, he decisively rushed out of the rice paddy and onto the official road, then formed a battle formation and retreated in an orderly manner.
Pan Zhang stared at Ning Huan's retreating bandits for a long time, but had no choice but to give up. The enemy was clearly on guard, and continuing to pursue them would not bring any good results.
As Pan Zhang watched Ning Huan retreat, a question arose in his mind: Peng Qi's bandit army was very different from the ones that would collapse at the first contact in the past. Even when faced with a sudden major change such as the killing of their commander, they were able to react quickly and retreat in an orderly manner. Why?
This is definitely not the level that mountain and river bandits should have. Could it be that the bandit leader is not Peng Qi but someone else?
It is very likely that this person is not an ordinary person, but an outstanding general with rich combat experience from both the Wei and Han armies.
The Wei army and the Wu army are currently in a semi-cooperative relationship, so it's impossible for the Wei army to attack the Wu army. That leaves only the Han army, as there are Han soldiers among the bandits.
Thinking about it this way, everything made sense. Pan Zhang gritted his teeth and cursed, "Damn Guan Xing even has his eye on bandits. You really aren't picky at all."
While cursing loudly, Pan Zhang quickly thought of a countermeasure. Now that he knew that Peng Qi's bandit army might be incorporated into the Han army, he could no longer use the old methods to deal with Peng Qi. He had to think of another way.