Chapter 119: Battle (4)
Zhou State [Jiangcheng].
At nightfall, outside of Jiangcheng, there was only traces of gunpowder smoke, corpses everywhere, burning siege weapons, etc. It was obvious that they had been left here not long ago. There were no enemies ahead, and Jiangcheng seemed dead silent. Yes, a life-and-death battle had taken place here not long ago.
On the road to [Fucheng], by the light of torches, a group of people could be seen resting by the river. It was obvious that they were stopping for a while on their way, both people and horses...
"Are these the only ones?"
Sitting on a rock by the river, Zhou Cheng, wearing a golden armor, looked particularly majestic. He glanced at the soldiers around him and asked his subordinates in front of him.
"Yes." The subordinate soldier replied, his expression obviously a little gloomy.
"Very good. Tell them to leave after a quarter of an hour's rest."
"Yes, sir!"
After receiving the order, the soldiers immediately turned around to carry out the order.
Looking at the soldiers around him, Zhou Cheng could see that they were very tired. Not only them, Zhou Cheng himself also felt very tired. After days of fighting, they had not gotten enough rest. In addition, they had just finished a fierce battle and the soldiers had no time to catch their breath before they began to retreat. In this way, no matter how strong a person is, he will still feel tired.
"emperor."
A soldier standing next to Zhou Cheng spoke. Judging from the style of his armor, he was a general-level figure. Looking at Zhou Cheng's eyes under the firelight, he called out softly.
"Am I useless?"
Zhou Cheng looked gloomy, and whispered, his voice a little decadent, and it was not difficult to hear that he was feeling a little depressed.
"How could it be? If it weren't for the Emperor, how could I and my fellow soldiers be saved? In other words, our lives were saved by the Emperor. This is the best possible outcome."
The soldier knew very well that this was his lord's first time on the battlefield, so he spoke his words with half sincerity and half comfort. The so-called sincerity referred to the actual situation, and the comfort was to give appropriate praise to his lord who was on the battlefield for the first time.
"Twenty thousand elite soldiers, only a few hundred left, is this still good?"
Zhou Cheng laughed at himself, looking at the scattered and exhausted soldiers in front of him, feeling unspeakably depressed. He couldn't help but think, is it because I have never participated in a war that this is the case?
"But how could His Majesty not know that we are death warriors. In order to delay time, we have already put life and death aside. It is His Majesty's arrival that gives us hope of survival. It is His Majesty who allows us to buy more time than before. If it were not for His Majesty, I am afraid that we would have been wiped out before the final deadline."
The sad and excited voices of the soldiers sounded very depressing. For their dead comrades and for the surviving soldiers, both life and death were destined. The dead companions were irreversible, but the surviving soldiers would be able to gain hope. Men on the battlefield needed to put aside their lives and everything to participate in every battle. This was what every soldier had. However, this time, the battle of [Jiangcheng] was already a fight to the death in name only. Twenty thousand soldiers had already put their lives aside, just to delay time for the reinforcement of [Fucheng]. However, Zhou Cheng personally came to [Jiangcheng] to command. Under Zhou Cheng's command and leadership, [Jiangcheng] defended for two days longer than expected until receiving the news that the reinforcement of [Fucheng] had arrived. But just when the soldiers stationed in [Jiangcheng] were preparing to retreat, the Han army suddenly attacked, unprecedented, resulting in heavy casualties. Fortunately, due to Zhou Cheng's clever tactics, the Han army was repelled, but the price was that the soldiers of [Jiangcheng] were almost completely wiped out, and in the end only hundreds of wounded surviving soldiers remained.
"This battle was just the vanguard of the Han army, and we were defeated miserably. I thought that the soldiers of the Great Zhou were also warriors who were famous all over the world, but I didn't expect that we have not won a single victory since the war began. I am afraid that the wisdom of the Great Zhou for hundreds of years will be in my hands."
Zhou Cheng didn't want to admit it, losing was losing, and he didn't want to make any excuses for it.
"emperor--"
How could he not know that the soldiers around him were unbearable? Even if he wanted to comfort them, the fact was that it was a shame for a soldier to make excuses. Although they killed many enemies, they did not change the result. So he could not find any words to comfort Zhou Cheng, and could only lower his head and could not bear to point it out.
After a moment, the soldier suddenly knelt on one knee and said in a steady voice: "I request that after we reach Fucheng, I will be the vanguard to fight against the Han."
Zhou Cheng paused, he knew that the soldier was referring to a head-on confrontation, not a city defense battle. Moreover, in terms of a city defense battle, [Fucheng] had an absolute advantage, and with the reinforcements, it would definitely be unbreakable. However, defense alone would never lead to victory, so there would be a battle between the vanguard and the enemy soldiers. Not to mention how disadvantaged [Jiangcheng] was in the battle, and what a desperate situation it faced, what made Zhou Cheng feel a little relieved was that the general in front of him had clearly experienced all that, and was already considering the next battle before he was even out of danger. This really touched Zhou Cheng, and he couldn't help but feel relieved that the Great Zhou had such soldiers.
"Are you a soldier under General Pei's command?"
"Yes, I will obey your orders."
"As expected of a soldier under General Pei, he is as loyal and brave as he is, not afraid of life and death."
"It is a blessing from God that I can serve under General Pei during my lifetime."
"General Pei is dead, what are your plans for the future?"
"Of course, I will continue to fight on the battlefield until the moment of my death."
"This king admires you very much. In this battle of [Jiangcheng], General Pei was attacked by a villain, which was a great loss. At first, this king was a little worried, but fortunately, I have you."
I feel a little ashamed to say that I only thought of asking the name of this general who made great contributions after spending several days together. Zhou Cheng thinks that he is an .
