Chapter 784: Catch the Turtle!

“Charge.”

With those three words... the Yan cavalry came alive like a resurrected beast of war.

A low whimper became a rising roar.

Although Marquis Zheng had always preferred keeping a low profile and remaining modest on the battlefield... he had, after all, spent years being trained by so many masters of war around him.

He had personally experienced more battles than he could count.

Looking at the situation before him... there was genuinely nothing else that needed to be said.

Charge.

Just charge.

In ordinary circumstances, cavalry would never simply smash head-on into an infantry formation like this.

Most of the time, it should first maneuver around the edges.

Harass.

Drive.

Disrupt the enemy’s rhythm.

Force openings.

Then either strike once and settle everything... or tear the formation apart bit by bit like pulling apart a roast chicken.

That was the art of cavalry.

The rhythm of cavalry.

But right now... there was no need.

First... their own army had ridden all the way here at full speed.

To say men and horses were exhausted would not be an exaggeration.

Rather than keep maneuvering and dragging things out... better to rely on the last surge of blood courage still holding both man and beast upright.

Make it one hammer blow.

Second... the Chu army had wrapped itself into a “doughnut” while surrounding Gou Moli and trying to persuade him to surrender.

From Gou Moli’s perspective on the hill... they had surrounded him so tightly that not even water could leak through.

But from the perspective of Marquis Zheng’s main army outside the circle... the Chu formation looked like a giant shrimp stretching its own body and exposing its belly.

It was not the best formation.

It appeared to support itself from head to tail... but in truth it covered the head while leaving the ass exposed.

Under circumstances like these... what was there to think about?

It was like walking down the street and seeing a wine jar shattered ahead of you.

If you did not immediately squat down and gulp a few mouthfuls... were you really going to wait for some damned drinking snacks?

“URAAAAAAA!”

Fan Li raised both axes and obediently charged at the very front.

He ran on foot.

Yet he kept pace perfectly with the horsemen around him.

Liang Cheng and Jin Shuke also urged their mounts faster.

Each led his formation forward.

The army poured continuously down from the slope.

To the Chu soldiers below... the ridgeline looked like the edge of Heaven.

And from that edge... an endless tide of Yan cavalry suddenly appeared.

At last... the Chu understood.

This was not another bluff.

This was real.

The Yan main force had genuinely arrived.

The more arrogant they had been before... the more wildly they had shouted... the more pleased they had been with themselves... the more violently reality struck them now.

The contrast was almost cruel.

And they were exhausted troops besides.

What they did not know... was that the Yan charging toward them were exhausted too.

Atop the commander’s carriage...

Dugu Mu immediately ordered his cavalry on both wings forward.

Even if his own horsemen had to be sacrificed... he needed them to buy enough time for the main force to reform.

But within the charging Yan army... cavalry on both wings detached themselves from the primary assault as well.

Like exchanging pieces on a board... they met the Chu cavalry head-on.

The momentum of the main charge did not slow.

Yan cavalry still crashed brutally into the Chu formation.

The entire Chu line immediately fell into disorder.

At that point... it had little to do with military quality.

If someone drove a fist straight into your ribs... no matter how well trained you were... you would still lose your breath.

The Yan cavalry began boring through without restraint.

The riders at the front did everything possible to create openings and space for the comrades behind them.

Those behind followed regardless of cost.

Like long blades... one after another... driven savagely into Chu flesh.

The Chu army had not yet collapsed.

Visible panic had appeared.

Coordination was breaking.

But no large-scale rout had begun.

The later Yan riders started peeling away from blocked assault lanes before reaching them.

Instead of continuing to queue behind comrades whose momentum had stalled... they shifted angle slightly without reducing speed... then slammed into another section of the Chu formation.

The riders behind them copied the same method.

This... was where the advantage of hundred-battle elites truly appeared.

More precisely... the middle and lower-ranking officers could read the battlefield for themselves.

Once commanders above granted enough freedom... their spontaneous judgment could be faster and more effective than waiting for Marquis Zheng to issue every order personally.

The Chu army stood there.

The Yan cavalry... kept driving blade after blade into it.

From the hill...

Gou Moli watched the entire scene with his own eyes.

Perhaps because he had once been the great villain himself... whenever he looked at this Yan army or at Marquis Pingxi Residence... he often felt a strange familiarity within the unfamiliar.

Back during the second Battle of Wangjiang... when he had been forced to fight Prince Jingnan head-on...

Prince Jingnan’s army had charged in exactly this fashion.

One great force divided into many penetrating columns.

They sliced the battlefield apart at high speed.

And the Savage main force beneath Gou Moli had been shattered directly.

Now... a similar scene was unfolding again.

That meant the direct-line army led by Marquis Pingxi... in terms of pure quality... was no longer inferior to the combined Zhenbei and Jingnan forces Prince Jingnan had once commanded.

“It’s our turn.”

Gou Moli raised his saber.

“Let the Stars go to hell. Let the Marquis see our sacrifice. Our effort. Our... blood courage! Charge!”

The isolated force that had originally been surrounded... now achieved a true center-blooming attack.

Atop the commander’s carriage...

Dugu Mu stopped giving commands.

At this point... with the battle in this state... he could no longer control his army.

Only now did he truly understand the helplessness Gou Moli had once felt.

“A’Nian. Take the rear army and withdraw first. Save as many men as you can. Move quickly. Once the whole army truly collapses... there will be no chance left.”

Dugu Mu understood.

The Chu formation... was already broken.

Most soldiers were fighting independently now, relying only on habits hammered into them through training.

Every man must already be terrified.

Once that fear accumulated past a certain point... the battlefield itself would become a place of unbearable insecurity.

Then one instinct would fill their minds: run away.

So while the army could still hold together for this final little while... save whoever could still be saved.

The Yan’s main objective should be rescuing Fan City.

They probably would not throw everything into a pursuit.

As for Dugu Mu himself... he could not leave.

So long as he and the commander’s carriage remained here... they were the final anchor holding together an army on the verge of collapse.

It was the same principle as when Marquis Zheng fought Pillar of State Shi and refused to move his commander’s carriage.

Withdraw... and the army broke.

“Leave a few more seeds for our Dugu Clan.”

Dugu Mu released one final sigh.

The contrast between Dugu Nian’s earlier laughter at the Yan and the current battlefield was indeed viciously ironic.

But once the situation reached this point...

Dugu Nian showed no hesitation.

He saluted his grandfather.

Then immediately climbed down from the commander’s carriage.

Taking the personal guards his grandfather had given him, he moved toward the rear to gather troops and withdraw.

Atop the carriage...

Dugu Mu personally lifted the commander’s banner.

He shouted to the guards around him:

“Commander’s carriage... forward!”

“Yes!”

...

From the distant slope, Marquis Zheng had not joined the charge.

So he could clearly see the broad movement of the Chu army below.

The Chu rear... had begun withdrawing.

But at the same time... the commander’s carriage moved forward.

That movement pulled a large number of nearby Chu soldiers with it.

They instinctively advanced with the head of their household.

A clear fracture appeared across the Chu formation.

Marquis Zheng pointed down at the scene.

“Ever since I started fighting the Chu, there’s one thing that has always left a deep impression on me.”

The Sword Saint beside him said nothing.

Siniang asked:

“What is it, Master?”

Saving him from awkward silence.

“These noble clans’ private armies... when their patriarch or another truly high-ranking member of the main house personally leads them... their resilience really is impressive.”

The Sword Saint finally spoke.

“Compared with whom?”

“The Qian army.”

The Sword Saint said:

“I know nothing about commanding troops, but if you compare most armies in the world with Qian troops, they’ll probably look resilient.”

“That’s true.”

Marquis Zheng graciously agreed with the Sword Saint.

“Are the Chu retreating now?” the Sword Saint asked.

“Yes. That Pillar of State from the Dugu Clan has turned what was about to become a rout into cutting off his own tail to survive. He’s personally covering the withdrawal. Winning battles is easy once the wind is at your back. When the favorable current comes, even a pig can fly into the sky. Real ability... is knowing how to stabilize whatever remains when the situation turns rotten, so you lose a little less.”

Siniang asked:

“Master, shall this servant lead troops around to block them?”

Several thousand cavalry beside Marquis Zheng had never entered the battle.

The battlefield could only hold so many men.

Adding or subtracting those thousands would not change much.

And under normal circumstances... keeping a reserve force beside the commander was perfectly reasonable.

Marquis Zheng shook his head.

“No time to chase routed troops here. That old bastard Dugu Mu hasn’t left now. In a little while... he probably won’t be leaving at all. We break this Chu army. My Pillar-of-State Pokémon collection advances another step. I’m already satisfied. Next...”

Marquis Zheng looked toward Fan City.

More precisely... toward the north of Fan City.

“Heh-heh. We can’t leave my family’s adorable little Nian Yao waiting too long. I’m genuinely afraid that once Nian Yao sees things turning bad, the bastard might crawl back over Mount Meng... cross Jin again... and circle all the way back to Zhennan Pass. Once was enough. I don’t have so much free time that I can spend every day playing ring-around-the-rosy with Grand General Nian.”

Siniang reminded him:

“Master, our main force has not yet disengaged from the battlefield.”

Meaning... the troops currently in hand were not enough.

The safer choice would be waiting until the battle below was fully decided before drawing the main force north.

Marquis Zheng did not care.

“Nian Yao used his Grand General banner to gather a whole crowd of mountain bandits and water thieves, didn’t he? Then this Marquis would also like to see... whether his turtle shell shines brighter... or this Marquis’s black armor does! The men opposite aren’t blind. The great momentum is ours. The rabble around him... is nothing worth fearing. Everyone remaining... raise this Marquis’s command banner. Come with this Marquis... to catch the turtle!”

...

Fan City.

Fan Residence.

The Chu assault had weakened.

Soon after... the Chu sent a messenger demanding that Qu Peiluo and Fan Zhengwen bind themselves and surrender.

Fan Zhengwen had no intention of surrendering.

Instead... he began urging the women of Fan Residence to prepare for the road ahead.

Qu Peiluo had no intention of surrendering either.

At this point... surrendering back and forth had lost all meaning.

After defending the city together for so many days... the two men had already come to terms with everything.

The Old Ancestress had killed people earlier as well.

At this moment... she seemed almost satisfied.

She wore red.

Sat cross-legged atop a table.

Every woman of Fan Residence held a stool in her hands, preparing to enter the front hall and hang herself.

The Old Ancestress laughed freely.

She shouted to the women around her:

“Don’t be afraid. This old woman will go down first and wait for all of you. When the time comes, come find me one by one. So you can recognize me, this old woman has thrown away shame today and deliberately put on this red outfit.”

Then... the Old Ancestress pointed at Fan Zhengwen.

“Grandson.”

“Your grandson is here.”

“Bring the poisoned wine. Grandmother is going. Good grandson, personally send Grandmother on her road.”

“Right away.”

Fan Zhengwen lifted a bowl of poisoned wine and walked to the table.

Around them... the Fan Residence women put down their stools.

All knelt.

“Farewell, Old Ancestress!”

“Farewell, Old Ancestress!”

The Old Ancestress accepted the poisoned wine from Fan Zhengwen.

She gave him a meaningful look.

Then whispered:

“Good grandson. Once we get down there, Grandmother will settle accounts with you properly.”

“Grandmother, why don’t you break out by yourself? You’re powerful. It’s not like you have no chance.”

“Bullshit. I haven’t had enough of living well. That doesn’t mean I haven’t lived enough.”

“Yes, yes.”

The Old Ancestress raised the poisoned wine.

Took a sip.

Swallowed.

Then commented:

“Tastes... pretty good.”

“If you like it, drink more,” Fan Zhengwen said.

The Old Ancestress nodded.

She was just about to drain the bowl... when a Fan soldier came sprinting in from outside.

He shouted into the compound:

“Patriarch! Patriarch! The Chu army is withdrawing! They’re withdrawing!”

“...” The Old Ancestress.

[End of Chapter 784]