Chapter 262 Ambush

The pursuit continued, and soon the chase reached Chaotian Pass, where the terrain became extremely treacherous, making troop movement exceptionally difficult.

However, for the Left Martial Guard and the Right Valiant Guard, who were mentally energized and eager for merit, such hardship and fatigue were nothing. All they could think was: Faster, faster, the glory is right before our eyes!

Seeing the steep terrain and the army stretched out in a long, winding formation, someone approached Zhou Kang.

"Great General, the terrain here is perilous and extremely suitable for setting an ambush. The army has been marching for days and is utterly exhausted. In This humble general's opinion, perhaps we should stop while we are ahead..."

Zhou Yi's face was filled with rage as he looked at the person trying to dissuade him.

"Merit is right before our eyes, and the entire army is striving forward bravely. Yet, you dare to speak nonsense again and dampen the morale. What is your intention?"

Zhou Yi's words were practically accusing the other person of harboring ill intentions and being a traitor. At this, everyone who wanted to speak immediately fell silent.

The army continued marching with their heads down, completely unaware of the birds lingering high up in the mountains, afraid to descend.

A soldier climbed up to Gao Hu and reported:

"Second Prince, the enemy has entered the ambush zone. Should we attack?"

"No rush. Wait until they are blocked by Chaotian Pass, then we will cut off their tail,"

Gao Hu sneered.

"This time, I will annihilate these forty thousand troops."

"Yes!"

Zhou Kang originally thought the Northern Liang Army would abandon Chaotian Pass. Unexpectedly, he was disappointed this time; there were actually defenders at Chaotian Pass, which caused the careless Right Valiant Guard to suffer a significant loss.

With great merit so close, how could Zhou Kang tolerate a small Chaotian Pass blocking his golden path?

"Pass the order down immediately: rush to build wooden ladders. I want to take Chaotian Pass today."

Although Chaotian Pass was situated in a dangerous location, because the pass itself was small, the number of defenders wouldn't be large. Thus, Zhou Kang was confident of taking it in one battle. As for how many people died, that was not his concern.

The front part of the army was cutting wood to make ladders, while the rear part continued to advance, soon passing entirely through Guangyuan City, without even leaving anyone to garrison it.

The time had come!

When Gao Hu heard the news, he immediately gave the order:

"The entire army attacks!"

Suddenly, a large number of rocks tumbled down the quiet hillside, immediately crushing the unprepared Qian Army, causing them to howl in agony.

Before they could even react, a massive volley of arrows rained down from the mountains like a storm, throwing the entire Qian Army formation into chaos.

Fleeing in panic, scrambling for cover, running like wild wolves and startled boars—no amount of descriptive words could capture the disarray of the Qian Army at that moment. Some were even squeezed off the cliff, falling into the surging river below.

Zhou Kang was completely stunned, not knowing what to do.

When he finally regained his senses and was about to issue an order, a rock smashed right onto his head, causing him to close his eyes and pass out instantly.

There were still clear-headed individuals in the army. Realizing they had fallen into a trap, someone immediately shouted for a retreat.

"Rear guard becomes the front guard! Retreat immediately toward Guangyuan City, quickly!"

As soon as they retreated, Gao Hu led his men charging down from the mountain, instantly cutting off the tail end of the Qian Army. Several thousand men were trapped on the mountain road.

With no path to retreat, these few thousand men could only accept the fate of surrender after a brief resistance.

When the defeated Qian soldiers finally fled to Guangyuan City, they were horrified to discover that no one had been left to garrison it; the city had already been reoccupied by the Northern Liang Army.

Their retreat route was cut off, powerful pursuers were behind them, and ambush parties kept popping up—this was truly a desperate situation!

Seeing that total annihilation was imminent, some began to complain.

"If the Great General were still here, how could we have suffered such a crushing defeat!"

"Zhou Kang is an idiot, arrogant and conceited. I advised him against pursuing rashly back then. Alas..."

"Gentlemen, we are now in a desperate situation. What should we do?"

"What else can we do? I refuse to become a prisoner. We fight them to the death!"

"Yes, fight to the death! We will not be taken captive!"

"Good, let's split into two groups. I will lead men to attack Guangyuan City, and you all hold off the pursuers for me."

"Agreed, that's what we'll do!"

Sometimes desperation can unlock human potential. These tens of thousands of men quickly worked together to build a batch of siege ladders.

Below Guangyuan City, the soldiers of the Left Martial Guard and the Right Valiant Guard carried the wooden ladders, roaring as they charged toward the city walls.

They completely ignored the rolling logs and stones being dropped from the battlements, as well as the continuous rain of arrows.

On the other side, on the narrow mountain road, the Northern Liang Army also began its attack on the Qian Army.

Ambush troops from all over the mountain road poured out, cutting the Qian Army formation into several sections, then defeating them piece by piece.

Gao Hu had not expected that under such circumstances, these desperate soldiers would erupt with such strong fighting power.

He had originally thought that with his perfect planning, he could easily devour these forty thousand elite Qian troops.

Who knew that this piece of fat meat contained a huge, hard bone that nearly knocked out one of his teeth.

This battle transformed from an initial exchange of offense and defense to a chase, then to an ambush, and finally devolved into a desperate, life-or-death struggle for both sides.

On the narrow mountain road, the forces of both sides could not fully deploy, turning it into a bloody melee where people constantly fell screaming, or were squeezed off the cliff into the river.

For three full days, this tragic battle finally concluded. The combined forces of the Left Martial Guard and the Right Valiant Guard—forty thousand men—plus several thousand civilians brought to transport spoils, were completely wiped out. Over ten thousand were killed, several thousand went missing, and the rest surrendered.

The Left Gate Guard Great General, the newly appointed Deputy Commissioner of the Jiannan Circuit, Zhou Kang, became a captive while unconscious.

The Northern Liang Army also suffered heavy losses, with casualties exceeding twenty thousand, which caused Gao Hu great heartache.

"Leave some men to clean up the battlefield. The rest, follow me immediately to Jiameng Pass."

Guo Tong, who was stationed at Jiameng Pass, was dreaming of becoming a favored official by the Emperor, revered by thousands, and bringing prosperity to his family. However, his dream was quickly shattered.

Looking at the Northern Liang Army outside the city, and Zhou Kang tied up like a zongzi, Guo Tong knew he was finished. Having lost troops and disgraced the nation, even ten heads wouldn't be enough for the Emperor to chop off.

But he quickly thought of a way to survive—surrender. As long as he surrendered and offered up Jiameng Pass, Gao Hu would probably be willing to spare his life.

However, he overlooked one point: his own status. Although he was the supervisor of the army, the soldiers in the ranks utterly despised him as a Eunuch.

They were already dissatisfied with him for inciting Zhou Kang to battle; now that he was trying to offer the pass and surrender, the moment he voiced his thought, his throat was slit with a single slash.

Wang Shan put away his broadsword and kicked Guo Tong off the city wall. He cupped his hands in greeting toward the crowd.

"The situation is critical now. I, though unworthy, volunteer to take over the defense here. I hope you all can cooperate with me."

The men seemed to have suddenly found their backbone and returned the salute to Wang Shan.

"We obey the command of the Zhonglang General."

"Good!"

Wang Shan pondered briefly, then immediately ordered:

"Gather everyone, including the strong youths and lightly wounded, to prepare for defense. Send men immediately to Bazhong County and Chengdu to request reinforcements."

"Yes!"

With a central figure, everything became orderly. However, the situation was still not optimistic, because in their haste to claim merit, Jiameng Pass only had a garrison of just over a thousand men, many of whom were wounded.

Knowing that these forces were insufficient to defend Jiameng Pass, Wang Shan's first reaction was to seek reinforcements.

He knew the provincial government behind him didn't have many troops, but every little bit helped; one more person meant one more chance to hold the city.

What he didn't know was that the situation behind him was also in shambles.

The spring of the sixth year of Shaoxing felt exceptionally cold.