Chapter 1265: Today We Wash Away Our Former Shame!

The Qiyun Sect Elder cupped his hands, accepted the order, and went off to make the arrangements.

Under ordinary circumstances, why would a dignified Elder of Qiyun Sect have placed Gao Pin in his eyes? But on a battlefield like this, he had to obey the commander. War was no child's game. It concerned the lives and deaths of countless people and the fate of an entire state. There was no room for anyone to flaunt status or indulge his temper.

If some disaster arose because he refused to obey orders, even an Elder of Qiyun Sect would be unable to bear the consequences. At the very least, he would no longer be able to keep his seat as Elder.

At present, every cultivator from Jin participating in the war had to coordinate with the army and obey Gao Pin's command. Qiyun Sect had already granted Gao Pin authority over life and death, and elite cultivators were assigned to assist him in enforcing military law.

The arrows were dense, but there were always gaps between volleys. Faced with Wei soldiers who continued charging upward even if it meant death, some finally broke through and collided with Jin's forward troops.

The moment one breach appeared, the gap in the defensive line began to tear wider. In an instant, both sides were locked in close combat.

Once the armies had closed to hand-to-hand fighting, the arrow volleys had to stop. The Wei soldiers below, who had already treated themselves as dead men, howled and surged upward with murderous cries.

The Qiyun Sect Elder returned to Gao Pin's side. "My lord, everything is ready. We can act at any time. The troops may withdraw."

Gao Pin watched the battlefield closely. The enemy had already forced its way onto the slope, yet he said in a deep voice, "Wait a little longer."

He waited until the enemy troops between First Slope and Second Slope had begun restoring order. Then Gao Pin suddenly shouted, "Big Beard!"

A general with a face covered in thick beard stepped out and cupped his hands. "This general is here!"

"Take the ten thousand men under your command and hold the rear. If you survive, you will command the troops of an entire province!"

The generals around him immediately looked toward the bearded man, all of them solemn. For the Grand Marshal to say something like that meant only one thing: he was ordering Big Beard to fight to the death.

"This general accepts the order!" The bearded general answered without the slightest hesitation. But in the end, he still made one request. "Grand Marshal, if I don't make it back, I have a son and a daughter at home. I ask the Grand Marshal to help look after them."

Gao Pin clenched his jaw. "If you don't return, your son will be my son and your daughter my daughter. I will take them as my foster son and foster daughter. So long as I, Gao Pin, have a mouthful to eat, they will never go hungry!"

He had said it before all the generals. The bearded man knew the Grand Marshal would never go back on his word. He cupped his hands hard. "This general is going."

He lowered his head briefly, then turned and left.

All the generals cupped their hands toward his departing back. More than one already had tears in his eyes.

The Qiyun Sect Elder beside them sighed softly.

Gao Pin looked forward again and shouted, "Pass my military order! Everyone else abandons Second Slope. Withdraw!"

The order went out. Jin's defenders rapidly fell back from Second Slope, leaving only the bearded general and the troops under him to rush forward and fight desperately, blocking the enemy surging up like a tide.

A man leapt down from a flying mount onto First Slope and reported to Huyan Wuhen, "Grand Marshal, only a little over ten thousand defenders remain on Second Slope to hold the rear. Everyone else is withdrawing toward Third Slope!"

Huyan Wuhen immediately shouted, "Huyan Bao!"

"This general is here!" Huyan Bao stepped out once more.

"Remember this. Once you break through Second Slope, drive straight into the retreating enemy formation in one surge. You must hold up Jin's withdrawing troops!"

"This general accepts the order!"

Huyan Wuhen's voice sank. "Valiant Cavalry, attack!"

On First Slope, signalmen immediately began waving two command flags. Orders rang out from the troops ahead, and the massed soldiers squeezed toward both sides, opening a passage down the middle.

Even Huyan Wuhen and the men around him moved aside.

Only Huyan Bao remained in the cleared path. He hauled back on the reins. His warhorse reared and neighed. Huyan Bao leveled his spear toward Second Slope and roared, "Valiant Cavalry, attack!"

He was the first to plunge his horse downhill. A group of cultivators galloped after him as guards, while the Valiant Cavalry's battle standard snapped in the wind close behind.

Cavalry spread across the crest and then poured down the slope like a flood, following the banner.

At the sight of that vast charge, the Sect Leaders of Wei's three great sects finally breathed easier. Qi had at last committed its own troops—and not merely any troops, but its finest Valiant Cavalry.

The people from Wei grew excited, hoping to seize Three Slopes in one stroke.

A cultivator dropped among the retreating Jin troops and reported to Gao Pin, "Grand Marshal, Huyan Bao is personally leading a large force of the Valiant Cavalry toward us!"

Gao Pin's voice remained deep and steady. "Understood. Keep scouting!"

"Yes!" The cultivator flashed away and rose into the air.

The thunder of countless hooves rolled across the ground between the two slopes. The cavalry stormed up Second Slope, where the armies were still locked in chaotic combat.

Shing!

On First Slope, Huyan Wuhen drew the treasured sword at his waist and pointed forward. "The whole army follows! Full assault!"

The low wail of attack horns sounded. Qi's army immediately surged forward in full.

Huyan Bao, already fighting his way onto Second Slope, leveled his spear forward again and shouted, "Wind!"

"Wind! Wind! Wind...!"

The cavalry charging behind him took up the cry in a pounding rhythm.

Jin's rearguard was too small. A gap was torn open with ease, and the defenders were instantly swallowed beneath the tide of towering men and horses.

Huyan Bao led the charge over Second Slope and plunged down the other side. Countless cavalry followed, roaring "Wind!" as they poured downhill like a flood.

The withdrawing Jin troops heard that battle cry rolling toward them with the thunder of hooves and immediately knew the Valiant Cavalry had arrived. No one knew how many hearts tightened in fear.

Then Gao Pin abruptly reined in his mount.

He wheeled around to face Second Slope, veins bulging at his temples as he roared, "Form ranks! Face the enemy!"

War horns sounded.

The retreating Jin army stopped as one, turned around at speed, and began assembling into battle formation.

Once the line formed, Gao Pin thrust one hand forward.

Jin's army began advancing back toward the enemy.

Huyan Bao, charging at the head of the cavalry, sneered. Jin actually intended to use hastily assembled infantry to stop the momentum of his cavalry? It was laughable.

But the sneer had barely appeared when his balance vanished.

His horse suddenly screamed in agony and pitched forward, throwing Huyan Bao through the air.

The cultivators guarding him rushed to protect him—only to discover that their own mounts had lost balance just as suddenly. Caught completely unprepared, they too were flung by the momentum.

And it was not merely them.

Large sections of the charging Valiant Cavalry abruptly went down, men and horses tumbling like gourds across the ground while screams and the tortured neighing of wounded mounts rose without end.

There were holes in the ground.

Countless small holes.

Each was just large enough to catch a horse's hoof.

They had all been dug rapidly by Jin cultivators mixed among the withdrawing army.

The reason Gao Pin had arranged for them to be made only during the retreat was secrecy. An army was crowded with all kinds of men. It would have been nothing unusual for enemy spies to be among them.

Even the cultivators assigned to dig the traps had known nothing beforehand. Gao Pin had not given the order until the final moment before the clash.

This was an ambush.

Gao Pin had spent a lifetime on campaign. He knew perfectly well that the essence of a surprise attack lay in secrecy. The moment word leaked, the surprise disappeared.

The holes had been concealed beneath the trampled weeds. Qi's cavalry, arriving at full speed, had no chance of seeing them.

And because the arrangement had been made only at the last moment, even if a spy noticed something, there was no longer time to pass a warning.

A galloping hoof plunged into a hole. The leg bone snapped. Horse and rider crashed violently to the ground.

Such a trap would have been of little use in most places.

Here, Gao Pin had made full use of the terrain.

And he truly deserved his reputation as a famous general hardened through endless campaigns. Even the location of the traps had been chosen with meticulous care after he calculated how the battlefield might develop.

It was enough to kill.

The trap zone gave the Valiant Cavalry room to spread out in large numbers before plunging downhill.

Once the horses at the front collapsed, those behind slammed into them and went down as well. Vast numbers of cavalry were still charging wildly off the slope, carried by their downhill momentum and unable to stop.

Shing!

Gao Pin drew his sword within the Jin battle line and pointed it forward. His voice tore from his throat.

"Sons of Jin! Today is the day we defeat the Valiant Cavalry and wash away our former shame! Kill!"

The sight of the Valiant Cavalry collapsing into chaos sent Jin's morale soaring.

"Kill—!"

The roar shook the sky as the entire army launched a furious counterattack.

Arrows covered the direction of Second Slope like rain.

Gao Pin turned his head. "Pass the order to the defenders on Third Slope. All one hundred and fifty thousand are to abandon the position. Not a single man remains. Split into two columns and rush toward both flanks. At any cost, reach the middle and choke off the enemy's retreat!"

One general blurted in shock, "What? Not a single man left? Abandon Third Slope? Grand Marshal—"

Gao Pin roared, "Anyone who delays the battle opportunity will be executed!"

"Yes!"

The general immediately accepted the order and carried it out.

The troops on Third Slope received the military command and began climbing the mountain ranges on both sides at speed. Some lost their footing and fell down the mountains, but no one stopped. They were carrying out the order to reach the position at any cost.

Cultivators accompanying the Valiant Cavalry rushed forward and clashed with the large numbers of Jin cultivators coming against them.

Gao Pin shouted, "A heavy reward for whoever takes Huyan Bao's head!"

Second Slope immediately descended into total chaos.

Large numbers of cavalry could not break through ahead. Their own men blocked the slope behind them. The riders farther back had no way to turn around because the infantry of their own army was surging forward like a tide in obedience to the order for a full assault.

The more men pressed in, the worse the blockage became.

Chaos.

Complete chaos.

Watching from the rear, Huyan Wuhen saw the advance suddenly stall. Alarm flashed across his face. "What's happening?"

A man leapt from a flying mount and hurriedly reported, "Grand Marshal, the enemy laid a trap behind the Three Slopes position. Large numbers of the Valiant Cavalry's vanguard have gone down. Jin has begun counterattacking. Young General Huyan is surrounded and in danger!"

The instant those words fell, Zha Hu, standing beside Huyan Wuhen, snapped both sleeves outward.

He shot from the saddle and flew toward the front like a great roc, racing desperately for the battlefield.

Another messenger dropped from the sky. "Grand Marshal, the troops defending Third Slope are urgently rushing toward both flanks!"

Huyan Wuhen's fists clenched.

Then he suddenly shouted, "Withdraw! The whole army withdraws immediately!"

But an army already thrown into chaos was hardly easy to pull back.

The cavalry jammed on Second Slope were almost being slaughtered beneath the rain of arrows, horses crashing wildly into their own ranks.

Huyan Bao was barely breathing.

Blood covered his entire body.

Seven or eight arrows still protruded from him.

Everything had happened too suddenly. His horse went down, and before anyone could recover from the shock, the first wave of arrows had already fallen. The cultivator guards had been thrown clear and had failed to reach him in time.

Now one cultivator held Huyan Bao in his arms while several others fought desperately around them, trying to break free with the gravely wounded young general.

But Gao Pin had specifically issued an order for Huyan Bao's head.

A group of Jin cultivators, hungry for that merit, attacked them with all their strength.

Huyan Bao and his guards could not escape.

Gao Pin was fixated on Huyan Bao for a simple reason.

If Huyan Bao died, the blow to Qi's military morale would be enormous. Even the son of Huyan Wuhen, the man revered in Qi almost like a God of War, would have died in battle.

One could imagine what that would do to the hearts of Qi's people.

And that would benefit Jin in the full-scale war still to come.

[End of Chapter 1265]