Fu Baoguo was a veteran in the battlefield. Although he hoped to save the old marshal, he did not use all of his troops for the rescue. Instead, he left half of the Steel Cavalry behind. After all, his current responsibility was to build another Fortress of Resilience to block Dongxuan's invasion as much as possible!
However, the current situation had changed. With Yun Yang's forceful entry into the battle, his side's morale had skyrocketed, especially when the Serving Army and half of the Steel Cavalry had already joined the old marshal's remaining troops. They had to fight with everything they had now; otherwise, not only would the old marshal's remaining troops not be rescued, the Serving Army and half of the Steel Cavalry would also be buried with them!
By then, the loss would outweigh the gain and the combat power that was used to build the new defense line would be greatly damaged. How could they resist Dongxuan's army for long?
Judging from the current situation, Yutang's morale had skyrocketed. Not only could the old marshal's remaining troops be rescued, the first half of the Steel Cavalry, the Serving Army, would not suffer too much damage. In addition, the current situation was advantageous to Yutang. They could seize the opportunity to counterattack Dongxuan and dampen their morale, which would greatly benefit the continuation of the war!
In light of this, Fu Baoguo had decided to launch an all-out attack!
Yun Yang finally heaved a sigh of relief when he saw Fu Baoguo's actions. He discreetly retrieved a few bottles of medicinal pills from his ring, giving three pills to each of them and sending them to Bai Yixue and the rest. The group had already reached the stage of exhaustion, but they were barely holding on with their last breath. Seeing that the pills were right in front of them, they swallowed them all at once.
It was obviously not the time for small talk. After catching their breaths, they mustered their remaining energy and charged out, killing their way in a frenzy.
Dongxuan's army did not have a commander to issue orders at the moment, so there was no way to respond. It was a mess of chaos.
When Zhan Ge returned to another flagpole, intending to continue issuing orders and regroup, he saw that Yutang's army had already gathered into a raging dragon and was charging forward!
Yutang had successfully broken out of the encirclement and left in a cloud of dust!
Seeing that the outcome had been decided, Zhan Ge came down dejectedly and sprinted all the way to Han Sanhe, grumbling, "Teacher, why did you …"
Just as he said a few words, he felt that his tone was too heavy and disrespectful. This was definitely not the attitude one should have when speaking to a teacher, so he subconsciously shut his mouth.
Han Sanhe chuckled. "You want to ask me why I didn't take command just now?"
Zhan Ge nodded.
Han Sanhe had not interfered in the battle to kill Qiu Jianhan just now; he had handled the entire situation himself.
In fact, ever since they charged out of the western gate of the Fortress of Resilience, Han Sanhe had given up on commanding the army and passed all authority to Zhan Ge.
"Qiu Jianhan is a few years older than me …"
Looking at the fluttering flags in the air, Han Sanhe sighed in disappointment and said, "In terms of military career, he's my senior and a bosom friend who has fought with me for a lifetime …"
"Previously, I had no choice but to listen to your plan and injure Qiu Jianhan with a sneak attack. I was already feeling helpless then … Now, I really can't bear to see my lifelong enemy, my lifelong rival, die so tragically on the battlefield … Especially when he dies without a corpse or head separated from his body …"
Han Sanhe's voice was laced with too many emotions.
Zhan Ge was stunned when he heard the words.
Suddenly, he seemed to understand Han Sanhe's thoughts and felt a jolt in his heart.
Dying on the battlefield was the fate of every soldier; it was also a soldier's highest honor.
But … it definitely didn't include being beheaded when he didn't even have the strength to retaliate!
To a warrior, it was the greatest humiliation, a humiliation that could never be washed away!
The most fitting ending for a hero was to die in a fierce battle on the battlefield. However, after being ambushed, he should never lie on the ground with his last breath, only to have his head chopped off by someone else as a reward for his military exploits!
The Qiu Jianhan of today might be the Han Sanhe of tomorrow, or even Zhan Ge himself in the future!
His teacher must have seen himself in Qiu Jianhan, right?
Zhan Ge, who was in Qiu Jianhan's shoes, was deep in thought.
"Since ancient times, famed generals are like beauties!" Han Sanhe sighed, a little melancholy. "Qiu Jianhan's hair and beard are all white … Ah …"
The pause in the middle of the sentence made Zhan Ge's heart feel like it had been struck by a heavy hammer.
Indeed, be it the God of War or the legendary marshal, they would have to fall from the long river of history. The glorious time that belonged to them … would only last a few decades at most!
Qiu Jianhan, like his teacher, was already an extremely fortunate existence!
"Yutang has already lost this battle. There's no turning back." Han Sanhe said dejectedly, "I believe that even if Qiu Jianhan can keep his life for now, he won't be able to live for more than a few days. Zhan Ge, why must you behead a hero of a generation? No matter how despicable he was against the enemy and how much of a headache he gave you, it's undeniable that he was an opponent worthy of respect. He was a hero worthy of anyone, especially a militant! "
Zhan Ge felt ashamed as he bowed in agreement, no longer dwelling on the matter.
…
On the other side.
Amidst the chaos, Yun Yang and the rest had finally escorted Qiu Jianhan's carriage to Fu Baoguo's camp.
Fu Baoguo sprinted over at once, asking anxiously, "How is Old Marshal? Is he alright? "
Yun Yang sighed. His mood was equally heavy, no less than Fu Baoguo's, perhaps even more so.
In fact, he had wanted to ask the same question as well. He had wanted to do so when he had charged over just now.
However, he dared not ask. He was afraid, truly afraid. He was afraid that what he would hear would be news that he could not accept!
I've lost too much!
I don't want to lose anymore, I can't lose anymore, I can't lose anymore!
Oh my God!
The question that had been lingering in Yun Yang's heart for a long time was asked by Fu Baoguo. He clenched his fists tightly, his ears perked up as he listened nervously, listening for the inevitable answer!
"Old Marshal is heavily injured now. He was ambushed by the Phantom Archer Jin Wudang during the battle at the west gate and was shot …" Bai Yixue looked ashamed. After all, Qiu Jianhan had been ambushed under his protection but he had been ambushed.
No matter what, it was a humiliation that could not be washed away.
"I've killed Jin Wudang in the midst of the chaos as well …"
Bai Yixue uttered weakly but was met with a sharp glare from Yun Yang.
The Demonic Archer Jin Wudang had always had the title of Unrivaled Archer in the world.
Weapons like arrows had always been used exclusively by the military. There were rarely people in the martial world who would use bows and arrows as their weapons. Even if they did, it was just something that came along with it; there were hardly any who were adept at using it.
However, this Demonic Archer Jin Wudang was different.
Because his main weapon, and also his only weapon, was the bow and arrow!
This was also his only means of attack. His skills were all tied to the bow and arrow in his hands!
It was said that this person's archery skill had been cultivated to the acme of perfection. The strongest bow in the military was no more than six stones; even the Deicide Bow, which required a cultivator with a high mystical Qi cultivation base to use, was only a ten-stone bow.
Such a strong bow was almost at the limit of what a human body could bear, it was also the limit that a human could continuously wield.
However, this Demonic Archer's bow was made of Stellar Wood as the backbone and the flood dragon's tendon as the string.
Someone had tested it and found that at least thirty stones of strength was needed to draw this bow to its fullest potential.
When the arrow was shot from this bow, it was so fast that it was invisible. Even a mystical cultivator in Perfection of the peak realm might not be able to catch it with their naked eyes.
It was said that he had to pause for a moment after his arrow had hit its target before the whistling sound of the arrow flying in the air could be heard. The speed of the arrow was even faster than the speed of sound!
Other than being an archer, Jin Wudang was also an assassin.
This time, even Bai Yixue did not expect that Dongxuan would actually invite this Demonic Archer to specifically target Qiu Jianhan in order to crush Yutang's army as soon as possible and to succeed!
Even when Bai Yixue had displayed his prowess and killed the Demonic Archer, the old general had still been gravely injured by this man.
"How did things turn out like this?"
Yun Yang was relieved when he heard that he had only been ambushed. "I'll go check on Old Marshal. Bai Yi, come in and tell me what's going on."
To Yun Yang, who possessed the Endless Divine Art, there were few internal and external injuries that he could not handle. Even when Emmie was no longer around and the air of vitality was no longer there, Yun Yang was still confident that he could save the old marshal.
…
After the city had been set ablaze, Qiu Jianhan had led the remaining troops out of the city and built a high ground at the west gate. He had even set up a formation five hundred feet away from the west gate.
It was a chokehold formation, the second natural stronghold of the Fortress of Resilience.
If Dongxuan wanted to enter Yutang's hinterland, they had to pass through the Fortress of Resilience.
The Fortress of Resilience only had two gates, and it had been so since the beginning of its construction – the east gate and the west gate!
You may have breached the east gate, but as long as I guard the west gate, you will still not be able to do as you please. There is no way forward!
The truth was just as Old Marshal Qiu had predicted. Although Dongxuan's troops were stationed at the Fortress of Resilience, they had been ambushed by Qiu Jianhan when they charged out from the west gate, intending to invade Yutang.
Under Qiu Jianhan's forceful command, the entire west gate had become a barren land. Dongxuan's troops had wanted to ride on the momentum of their victory and had been focused on advancing forcefully. Who would have thought that the situation outside had already changed? A considerable number of Dongxuan soldiers who had initially come out had died!
The ring-shaped formation that Qiu Jianhan had led his men to set up could be described as a deadly formation; its lethality was astonishing. Anyone who came out from the west gate, no matter which direction they came from, could not avoid being bombarded by arrows.
After all, the west gate was only so big, and the number of people who came out at once was limited.
They could not form a formidable combat force within a short period of time, so they could only allow themselves to be slaughtered.
However, this situation only lasted for a day before Dongxuan's extremely passive situation was broken.
Han Sanhe had ordered the west gate of the Fortress of Resilience to be torn down; even the wall had been toppled.
With the western wall gone, Dongxuan's troops charged out like a tidal wave. The deadly formation that Qiu Jianhan had set up was no longer targeted, so it was difficult for it to be effective. However, Old Marshal Qiu would rather die than retreat, sacrificing himself to buy time for Fu Baoguo to build another line of defense for the Fortress of Resilience. Under the old marshal's relentless command, the battle lasted for three days and Dongxuan's army was actually contained!
In spite of this, the old marshal's fifty thousand men were left with less than ten thousand men after three days. It was difficult for him to do anything else.
In spite of this, Qiu Jianhan seemed to have made up his mind. Since the Fortress of Resilience was gone, he did not plan to go back alive.
He had been fighting on the frontline all this while. No matter how Shangguan Lingxiu, Bai Yixue, Marquis Yun, and the rest tried to persuade him, Qiu Jianhan refused to leave.
He was old and ruthless. Once he had made up his mind, not even a deity could change his mind.
Seeing that Old Marshal Qiu was about to be buried here with his subordinates, a turning point had arrived!
It was at this moment that Dongxuan sent out assassins, assassins that targeted the old marshal!
The most famous of them was the Phantom Archer, Jin Wudang. When the army was engaged in a new round of battle, Jin Wudang, who was dressed in a soldier's uniform and hiding among the troops, had approached Qiu Jianhan.
The lethal arrow came swiftly. Bai Yixue had finally sensed the danger and swung his sword to intervene at the critical moment, but he was still a little too late. He had only managed to deflect the arrow by a tiny bit.
It was fortunate that there was such a slight deviation. Otherwise, the arrow would have pierced through Qiu Jianhan's heart directly.
Ultimately, the arrow had left a hole in Qiu Jianhan's body, piercing through his chest and back.
Qiu Jianhan was severely injured and on the brink of death.
In his grief, Bai Yixue charged into Dongxuan's formation, sword in hand, and pursued the Ghoul Archer, Jin Wudang, amidst the tens of thousands of soldiers. Until the Ghoul Archer was chopped into minced meat, he had even wanted to kill Dongxuan's main general with an eye for an eye. It was also because of this that Dongxuan's mutual destruction tactic was triggered. Bai Yixue retreated in the end, resentful.
Bai Yixue's killing spree had allowed Yutang to survive the battle that day, but Yutang had lost Qiu Jianhan's command. Without Qiu Jianhan, Yutang's defeat was already set in stone. Even when Shangguan Lingxiu raised the flag of the family of generals and tried her best to reorganize the remaining troops, there was only a slight improvement. They could not deal with the Dongxuan troops that were surging out of Han Sanhe like a tidal wave!
Marquis Yun was decisive, ordering the entire army to break out of the encirclement and retreat under the cover of the night. Since it was impossible, it was better to preserve as much combat power as possible and return to Fu Baoguo's side to fight Dongxuan and shake Han Sanhe together!
Dongxuan's army would not let them go easily, of course. They gave chase from the back and swiftly surrounded Qiu Jianhan's remaining troops. At the critical moment, the two squads of Steel Cavalry that had been lurking in the surrounding forest could no longer hold themselves back. They would rather disobey Fu Baoguo's military order and charge out to provide support.
Both sides merged and retreated as they fought, finally persevering until Yun Yang came to help. Then, they met up with Fu Baoguo's army that was stationed under Tianxuan Cliff.
Because of this, Yutang and Dongxuan's war had begun anew.
…
Yun Yang entered the tent quickly and saw Qiu Jianhan lying straight on a simple military bed. His body was stained with blood and there were a few wounds on his face as well. His flesh and blood were curled up, making him look menacing.
Yun Yang did not even feel the old marshal's breathing. If it were not for the slow, weak rise and fall of his chest, Yun Yang would have suspected that the old marshal was already dead.
Under the dim yellow light, the old marshal's white beard was stained with blood as he lay there quietly. Yun Yang's eyes burned, almost tearing up.
This old marshal who had given his entire life for Yutang looked so desolate and helpless right now.
…
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