Chapter 515- End of the Road
Translator: ryangohsf
Editor: Nora
If Han Xin was an assassin, Baiqi would be a great swordsman.
When Baiqi saw the Leopard Legion launch a sneak attack on the Taiping Country Army troops and throw the enemy into total chaos, he did not sit still and do nothing. He immediately ordered the 3rd, 4th, and 5th divisions of the Dragon Legion to leave the city and join the fight.
With that, the Taiping Army faced a pincer move.
Yang Xiuqing, Lin Fengxiang, and Chen Yucheng wanted to form up the defences of the army. Unfortunately, things had happened too quickly. Although the Taiping Country army had been through a lot of training and were not beginners, they still had not reached the level where they would not make mistakes.
In the face of such strong power, they could do nothing at all.
The timing that Han Xin had chosen was simply too lethal. He attacked when they were the most tired and also when they felt the most at ease. The soldiers were already thinking about backing off and having their meal.
Who would have known that they would suddenly face a life or death test? Fate was always so cruel, dealing you a lethal blow when you least expected it.
The large scale collapse of the Taiping Country Army occurred right before their eyes.
The sunset grew brighter and brighter; it had already spread past half the sky.
The merciless slaughter did not slow down despite the arrival of darkness. Each man on the battlefield faced a life or death test.
The tens of thousands of Taiping Country Army soldiers were performing their final struggles. Their deafening shouts reverberated through the wilderness, and their voices echoed off the city walls.
On the battlefield, soldiers would fall at every moment, collapsing into the bloody ground under the sunset.
The orange red sunset dyed this current moment in a beautiful light.
This was the color of life.
The last moment before the soldiers fell, their eyes would reflect this special sunset.
Beautiful, while holding a little warmth.
The red sun that hung in the sky finally had enough and hid below the horizon. The night sky finally arrived and a few rare stars appeared.
The killing shouts in the wilderness finally neared their end.
The shouts grew weaker and weaker. In the wilderness, a blood ocean flowed.
The war horses neighed and smoke spread.
The one hundred thousand odd Taiping Country south army soldiers were finally broken in one swoop.
Most of the soldiers either fought or tried to run.
Seeing that they had no chance of victory, some even chose to surrender. Many of the soldiers were commoners that Hong Xiuquan had brainwashed and tempted. They joined the military to live.
Hence, they cared about their lives more than anything else.
Line after line of soldiers and wave after wave of men surrendered.
They placed down their weapons and stood solitary on the blood red battlefield, filled with helplessness and fear.
Even the sounds of weapons falling to the ground appeared incredibly ear piercing.
These were the sounds of a lost country.
At its brightest moment, Taiping Country suffered this lost. Consequently, they would fall to the bottom of the valley. After this battle, less than ten percent of their two hundred thousand soldiers remained.
At this moment, Yang Xiuqing and the other generals gave up their final struggle. They led their elite troops to a final attempt of breaking out.
Unfortunately, be it Baiqi or Han Xin, they would not let that happen. The most elite forces of both legions were sent out to surround the escaping troops. When they saw such menacing enemy troops and their main generals escaping, many of the Taiping Country Army soldiers finally surrendered in despair.
Under the night sky, they would definitely fail to outrun them.
Which was why they would rather choose to live.
After all, everyone cared about their own lives.
This hunting operation finally ended in the dead of night.
Facing the chase, the three generals of Taiping Country all had different fates.
Lin Fengxiang led his troops to try and break out from the southwest, but Shao Bu's division cornered them. Their forces had suffered heavy casualties. In the end, Lin Fengxiang died in battle, and the soldiers could only surrender.
Chen Yucheng's forces tried to escape from the northwest, but Sun Chuan Lin’s chased them. The god archer shot and captured Chen Yucheng.
Seeing their general captured, the soldiers could only helplessly surrender.
The only one that escaped was Yang Xiuqing.
The one in charge of chasing him was Mu Guiying. Under Baiqi's instructions, she allowed Yang Xiuqing to luckily escape. To cover for him, his forces had suffered heavy casualties.
In the end, only three thousand people escaped along with him.
At the end of the battle, this life or death battle, apart from the three thousand that escaped with Yang Xiuqing and a few lucky ones that escaped into the forest, the rest either died or surrendered.
The Taiping Country south army had disappeared into dust.
Along with this collapse, an important pillar of the Taiping Country fell. How far could Taiping Country go with one leg broken?
Everything was still unknown.
The most crucial battle in the southwest region had come to an end.
In the night sky, Yang Xiuqing led the remaining three thousand men and escaped. They had run over twenty kilometres, and they only stopped to rest after they could not see any chasing troops.
The soldiers took out their drinks and dry rations in silence, and they started to start a fire to cook. Others either gathered some sticks and twigs for the fire or went to collect water with their water canteens and bottles.
Some dragged their exhausted bodies to act as sentries.
The entire group was terrifyingly silent.
Under the mighty glow, they all felt numb and terrified. The face of their main general, Yang Xiuqing, was so tight that it looked like it could tear at any moment.
After simply eating some things, all of them went to sleep, as it was late in the night.
They would set off once more the next morning.
After personally checking on the sentries, Yang Xiuqing dragged his exhausted body and walked into his temporary tent. Unfortunately, everything that happened in the day replayed in his mind, and he could not fall asleep.
"Hu!" Yang Xiuqing got up.
Outside the tent, it was still pitch dark; the only glow came from some stars.
Yang Xiuqing wore his coat and walked out of the tent. He raised his head and looked at the sky, deep in thought. The night sky seemed to give him an eureka moment, as his thoughts grew clearer and clearer.
A night breeze blew across, bringing along a slight chilliness. As a result, he unknowingly pulled the cape around his body.
At this moment, Yang Xiuqing was really thinking about too much.
About the king, Hong Xiuquan; about the fate of the entire Taiping Country.
This defeat made one thing clear to him. Although Taiping Country seemed strong, it was like a sandcastle. Just one wave would break it apart.
Thinking about this point, Yang Xiuqing felt more pained. It was him who sent them on this path. In the night sky, his body seemed lonely and helpless.
"What's the general thinking about?"
Suddenly, a low voice sounded out from behind him.
"Who?"
After all, Yang Xiuqing had spent a long time in the military, so he had a built-in sensitivity. With a Shua! he drew the sword by his waist; his weapon shone with a cold light.
When he turned his head, he saw a normal soldier. However, he did not look familiar.
"Whose man are you, and why are you not in your tent?"
In his words, there was anger and annoyance. He did not like it when his men did not follow the rules.
"General!"
At this very moment, the sound of him drawing his blade had alerted the soldiers on patrol, so they rushed over.
"General, you do know that your death date is coming, right?"
The face of this normal soldier looked totally unfazed, and his words caused Yang Xiuqing to shiver. A coldness appeared in his eyes.
"I'm fine; you guys can continue patrolling."
Yang Xiuqing frowned. First, he sent away the soldiers that were on patrol. Then, he turned to the weird soldier and said, "Follow me." As he spoke these words, he walked toward his tent.
The weird soldier followed quietly from behind.
Within the tent, Yang Xiuqing suddenly turned around. His eyes suddenly turned sharp, and his killing aura was suppressive. He stared right at the soldier and enunciated word by word, "Speak, you, who are you?"
"Who I am does not matter. What matters is that I can help you."
"Heh, big words!"
"Let’s put it this way. General, you know the situation you are about to face, right?"
"...."
Yang Xiuqing could not rebut these words. He was not a fool, so he knew the arduousness of his current situation. Thinking about the ice cold eyes of the king, he felt a shiver run down his spine.
"With his wariness toward you and your big loss of both men and generals, how could he allow you to leave?"
The soldier did not hold back his words, and he exposed the exact situation that Yang Xiuqing faced.
When Yang Xiuqing heard these words, his face turned darker and darker; he kept silent.
Just at this moment, the soldier suddenly changed his tone, "Don’t you have doubts about why the king would be so wary of you?"
"You know?"
When Yang Xiuqing heard these words, his eyes widened, and even his words started to shake.
This problem was the biggest knot in his heart. Ever since he entered the wilderness, he was completely loyal toward both the king and the country.
He did not expect the king to doubt him.
This kind of feeling was simply too uncomfortable. Ever time he spoke with the king, he could feel a pair of eyes judging him from behind.
That kind of feeling made one's hairs stand on their ends.
However, this very night, a weird soldier told Yang Xiuqing that he had the answer to the greatest riddle that plagued Yang Xiuqing’s heart, so how could he not feel shocked?
In the air, the smell of a brewing scheme wafted.
"I know a little." The soldier nodded, "If you can trust me; I'll tell it all to you."
"Speak!"
Yang Xiuqing was also an exceptional person. He calmed himself down and focused, waiting for what the soldier would say.