lcionline Chapter 118 Ambush on the Mountain Road
Chapter 118 Ambush on the Mountain Road
The army could march fifty to sixty miles a day, but the city of Nan'an County was more than seven hundred miles away from the capital, and it would take half a month to arrive.
They walked from Gyeonggi County to Nan'an County and continued to move forward.
Although Nan'an County was the fief of King Rui, the imperial court always had requirements for the military strength of the vassal kings. The number of troops in the inland area could not exceed 5,000, and the number of troops in the border areas could not exceed 20,000.
King Rui had to rack his brains to secretly raise more than 15,000 people. His power was simply not enough to control the entire ** County.
The army had been marching for twelve days, and at noon that day, it was marching as usual.
Shen Changgong rode a horse in the middle of the team, observing the terrain as he walked.
Suddenly, he saw two mountains in front of the official road. The official road passed right between the two mountains, and the front army was about to enter the official road between the two mountains.
After seeing this, Shen Changgong ordered,
"The whole army stops advancing!"
"As ordered!"
The messenger immediately took the gong and beat it while shouting,
"The commander has given the order! Stop advancing!"
Guan Shouchang, the commander of the front army, rode up from the front and came in front of Shen Changgong, clasping his hands and saying,
"Your Majesty, why did the army stop?"
Shen Changgong pointed to the front and said,
"Have you sent scouts to explore the road ahead?"
"Your Highness, there are scouts all over the ten-mile area ahead. We will advance only after confirming it is safe."
"So……"
Shen Changgong pointed to the two hills and said,
"So, have those two mountains been checked?"
Guan Shouchang looked at it and shook his head and said,
"Your Highness, we haven't explored that area. Those two mountains are steep and difficult to navigate. The area is narrow and the trees are sparse, making it difficult to hide ambushes. Moreover, the scouts who went there were not attacked, so I did not send anyone to explore."
"Investigate immediately. An army on the march is extremely vulnerable. If attacked, it will immediately fall into chaos and be difficult to respond. If the enemy sets an ambush on the two hills and rolls down boulders and logs when the central army reaches the middle, our army will be cut off from both sides."
"I will obey your orders!"
Guan Shouchang immediately sent two teams of scouts to explore the two mountains.
Shen Changgong ordered the army to rest and the firemen to cook.
It was already noon, so regardless of whether there was an enemy or not, we would eat first before leaving.
Shen Changgong sat on the roof of the carriage, looking at the two mountains in the distance and watching the twenty scouts climbing up the mountains quickly.
The mountain road is not too steep, but it is indeed not suitable for too many people to climb up together and push the baggage. It is still possible for a small number of people to go up.
Scout captain Wang Biao, with his nine men, quickly came to the top of the mountain, drew his sword, split up the formation, and began searching on the top of the mountain.
After a while, they came to the edge of the cliff and saw many huge rocks and wood placed on the cliff. Below the cliff was a steep slope and the official road.
Wang Biao immediately felt a chill down his spine and broke out in a cold sweat.
These huge rocks and rolling logs could not have appeared in this place by themselves. The enemy must have been hiding here. If these huge rocks rolled down when the army was passing by, who knows how many people would be killed, and it might even block the official road.
Wang Biao winked at his men, asking them to retreat quietly and inform the people below that there was an ambush on the mountain so that the army could come up to encircle and suppress them.
However, at this moment, a large group of enemies rushed out from behind the boulder, and behind them, the ground was lifted up directly, and many people jumped out of the hidden pits and killed them.
"Kill them all and don't let them leak information!"
The enemy leader shouted and rushed forward with hundreds of people.
Wang Biao was horrified and immediately shouted,
"Run, as many as you can escape!"
However, the reality is cruel.
Hundreds of people rushed up and immediately slashed at them with their swords.
Wang Biao seized the opportunity and rushed through the crowd in a panic. He was stabbed twice before he broke out of the encirclement.
Screams continued to be heard from behind him, and soon all his men were hacked to death.
He suddenly stopped and realized that he had run to the edge of the cliff in his panic.
The nearest army was at least two miles away.
And the enemy has surrounded us.
"Humph, little thief, still running? Try running again!"
An enemy sneered at him, his eyes full of contempt.
The man in armor beside him frowned and said,
"Stop talking nonsense. Shoot them to death with arrows. Send someone to put on their clothes, go down the mountain and shout from a distance that there is no ambush here."
"clear."
Several soldiers drew their bows and arrows and were about to shoot Wang Biao.
There was a cliff behind Wang Biao and hundreds of enemy soldiers in front of him. He was doomed to die, but his mission was not yet completed.
He had not yet told his army the news.
No, there is another way.
Wang Biao looked at the enemies and roared angrily,
"Long live Dayan!!!"
After saying this, he leaped backward, fell face up, and headed down the cliff.
In order to inform his own army, he resolutely chose to commit suicide in the most tragic way.
After seeing this scene, the enemy leader gnashed his teeth in anger, but could do nothing.
Wang Biao risked his life to report to his subordinates that he had discovered the enemy.
At this distance, it is difficult for sound to travel, and even if it does, you can't hear what is being said.
However, if he jumped from here, people far away would see that someone had fallen from the mountain.
He jumped on his back to preserve his appearance, so that his comrades would know who he was and that he was a scout and not an enemy.
"Centurion, what do we do now?"
The man who had just provoked asked in a panic.
The centurion gritted his teeth and said,
"We've been exposed. If we fail to complete the mission, we'll die. You know what the prince's character is like.
We'll just stay here and kill as many as we can. At least we'll do it.
If you fail the mission and return, you know the consequences!"
The army in the distance heard an angry roar that was unclear and saw a figure falling rapidly from the mountain, making a muffled sound that echoed in the valley.
Shen Changgong, who was sitting in the carriage, jumped off the carriage immediately after seeing this scene and shouted,
"Guan Shouchang, lead 5,000 men to attack the eastern hilltop. Zhang Fei, lead 5,000 men to attack the western hilltop. We must capture it!"
"As ordered!"
Scouts are all scouts, all elite and agile. It is impossible for them to run to the edge of the cliff alone and accidentally fall off the cliff and die.
Shen Changgong probably had guessed what had happened up there.
He jumped off the carriage, mounted his horse, and rushed forward.
Seeing this, Tu Queling immediately followed. Her duty was to protect Shen Changgong.
Guan Shouchang and Zhang Yide also rode their horses to the front army, each selected 5,000 front army soldiers, and began to go up the mountain.