A cornered beast will fight on.

The prerequisite for Han Xin's "battle with his back to the river" was that the soldiers had high morale and were well-fed.

For Xian Zhen right now, this condition simply did not exist. The soldiers had missed two meals, and they were all weak and feeble; there was no chance for a decisive battle.

"Father, now that our provisions are exhausted and our retreat is cut off, what should we do?"

Xian Zhen also really wanted to find someone to ask what to do, but who was there for him to consult?

After agonizing for a long time, he gritted his teeth.

"Slaughter the horses. Kill all the pack horses and warhorses. Let the whole army have a full meal, then retreat south and strive to defeat Gao Yuan and take back the provisions."

"Father is wise!"

At this moment, Xian Bifa did not forget to flatter his Father before going down to make preparations.

Soon, over a hundred pack horses were slaughtered and turned into pots of horse meat. This caused the Menge army camp to be filled with the scent of meat, while simultaneously carrying a trace of tragic atmosphere.

In any dynasty, oxen and horses were the most important production tools and belonged to the category that required legal protection; unless it was an absolute last resort, one would never consider slaughtering horses.

Therefore, when the order to slaughter the horses was received, everyone knew that they had reached a desperate situation.

Such large-scale horse slaughtering naturally could not be hidden from the scouts sent by Gao Yuan.

"Heh, the old fogey is completely out of options. He wants to have a full meal and fight a decisive battle with us!"

After reading the intelligence, Gao Yuan revealed a triumphant smile.

"I just won't do as you wish. Pass the order down: the whole army is to retreat and choose a strategic, dangerous location to set up camp."

Most of the pack horses that Xian Zhen brought had already been captured by him. Now, at most, they had five or six hundred horses left.

Although he coveted these strategic resources, compared to these petty gains, Gao Yuan preferred to see Xian Zhen easily defeated and his last remaining vital forces annihilated.

Soon, Gao Yuan's troops began to turn around and retreat, finding a relatively dangerous location to start building a sturdy camp.

This place was a gentle slope adjacent to the main road, overlooking and controlling this essential route. Gao Yuan had already taken a liking to this location when he passed by earlier.

Gao Yuan, leading a group of officers, inspected the area while giving orders.

"Bang Jie, put more effort into this. This camp can also serve as a barrier for Dehong City in the future."

At this moment, a captain asked.

"General, since we want to intercept Xian Zhen, why don't we choose to set up camp directly on the road?"

Gao Yuan turned around, scanned the group, and seeing many people with the same inquiring looks, smiled and said.

"Today I will teach you a phrase: 'Do not press a desperate enemy too hard.' It means that one should not push an enemy who is in a desperate situation too far, to prevent them from fighting back to the death and causing losses."

"Subordinate understands. The General intends to wait for Xian Zhen to pass by and then attack from the flank. This way, the enemy army will only be thinking about escaping and won't put up too much resistance."

"That's right. This is actually the same principle as 'surround three sides, leave one open.' Alright, go and prepare."

"Yes!"

Everyone clasped their fists in salute and then went off to prepare.

In three days, having eaten nearly two hundred pack horses, Xian Zhen finally moved out of the range of Dehong City.

Counting the abandoned wounded and the soldiers who had deserted halfway, he now had only about 1,500 dispirited soldiers left by his side.

Although the journey was calm and peaceful, Xian Zhen felt very uneasy in his heart.

Gao Yuan had not appeared for a long time. This feeling made him very uncomfortable and worried.

If Gao Yuan did not return to Dehong with the captured provisions and supplies as he had expected, but instead hid in some forest, then his plan would be ruined.

But he also hoped that Gao Yuan would be cowardly, so that he could at least rely on slaughtering horses for meat and retreat back to Menge with these thousand-plus men.

Just like this, harboring contradictory feelings, Xian Zhen's troops marched for another day.

However, on this day, the army had walked less than five miles when it stopped. Xian Zhen's face showed displeasure.

"Bifa, take some men and go check the front."

"Yes!"

When Xian Bifa led men to the front of the formation, he immediately had a bad feeling. He saw a large amount of trees and stones thrown onto the main road.

Although it did not completely block the road, it forced the army to stop and clear it; otherwise, the army would not be able to pass easily.

Xian Bifa's first reaction was that someone had set an ambush here, so he immediately ordered.

"The whole army, be on alert. Guard against sneak attacks."

However, it seemed that Gao Yuan just wanted to annoy Xian Zhen. After the Menge people worked for the whole morning and finished clearing the road, no ambush appeared.

But a whole morning had been wasted in vain, which made Xian Zhen, whose food was already in short supply, even more anxious.

In the afternoon, it was the same recipe, the same taste. After struggling for another afternoon, the entire day, Xian Zhen's army only managed to cover less than ten miles.

The next morning, the same situation appeared again. This time, Xian Bifa broke down.

"Stop moving it! Everyone, just go around it. Watch your step."

When the soldiers were struggling to weave through the maze created by the rubble and wood, the ambush that Xian Zhen had been "expecting for a long time" finally appeared.

The bows and arrows that Xian Zhen had originally carried, intended for attacking the city, had now become the sharp weapons reaping his soldiers' lives.

A large number of arrows were shot from the forest, and simultaneously, a large number of stones and short logs appeared.

"Ah..."

"Help..."

"Don't leave me behind..."

On the mountain road, screams rang out one after another. Seeing this scene, Xian Zhen's eyes were filled with rage and agony. He roared desperately.

"Form up! Form up and kill your way up the mountain!"

Although there were obstacles on the road ahead, it was not completely cut off, which allowed the soldiers to see a glimmer of hope for survival.

A strong desire to survive made them completely disregard orders, and they didn't care if there would be pushing or trampling; they began to rush toward this path of survival at all costs.

Many people even drew their weapons and ruthlessly killed their comrades who were blocking their escape route.

Seeing such a scene, the last bit of spirit left in Xian Zhen finally drained away completely. He sat dejectedly on his horse, muttering continuously.

"It's over, it's all over, it's all over!"

The first wave of attacks ended. Watching the chaotic enemy army down the mountain, Gao Yuan raised his right hand and swung it down forcefully. Xia Luqi immediately took the order and drew his saber.

"Brothers, follow me down and capture Xian Zhen and his son alive! Kill!"

The shouts of killing shook the sky. Over a thousand soldiers who had been resting and sharpening their skills for many days pounced down the mountain like tigers released from cages. Xian Zhen's troops were quickly cut into several segments, with the head and tail unable to support each other.

And the soldiers who had stepped over their comrades' corpses to escape that maze road soon discovered in horror that there was an orderly army in front, holding cold, gleaming weapons, waiting for them on both sides of the road.

Some people completely lost heart, dropped their weapons, and sat paralyzed on the side of the road, becoming captives. A small number of people still wanted to resist, but unfortunately, exhausted as they were, they were quickly wiped out.

On the other side, the main battlefield, Xian Zhen and Xian Bifa had less than a hundred men left around them, surrounded by Xia Luqi and his men.

Gao Yuan stood outside the crowd, shouting at the top of his lungs.

"Local Chieftain Xian, the overall situation is settled. Surrender!"

"Gao Yuan, you brat, do you take me for a three-year-old child? Surrender? Is there any way to survive after surrendering?"

"So, that means Local Chieftain Xian is prepared to stubbornly resist to the end, is that right?"

"If you want to kill, then kill. Stop the nonsense!"

Xian Bifa considered himself highly skilled in martial arts, and thinking that he would take a few people with him before dying, he raised the broadsword in his hand and charged toward Gao Yuan.

"Clang..."

With the sound of weapons clashing, Xian Bifa's broadsword was blocked by Xia Luqi's horizontal dao, and the two began to wrestle.

Gao Yuan also took the opportunity to use the system to check Xian Bifa's attributes.

An A-rank martial general, still a small notch worse than Ye Fan, posing no threat to Xia Luqi at all. This made Gao Yuan feel at ease, and he just watched quietly.