The Final Battle (Part 1)

"Since that's the case, I ask that you, my lord, retreat quickly. This humble general will fly your banner here."

Gao Yuan shook his head.

"We've already used this trick on the other side; they won't fall for it again. So, not only must I fly the banner, but I must also personally go out and let them see me with their own eyes."

"My lord, it's too dangerous!"

"That's right, Gao Yuan, this is too risky!"

"You can't catch a wolf without sacrificing a cub. I want to completely annihilate Western Kang's last main force."

Gao Yuan waved his hand, calling the two over.

"You two will do this next!"

The next day, merchant caravans, stranded in nearby towns due to the war, saw an unexpected person.

Everyone hurriedly bowed to Gao Yuan and Mu Qing.

"Greetings, County Duke, greetings, Madam."

Gao Yuan specifically had Mu Qing change into women's clothing to accompany him on an inspection of the people's conditions, or more accurately, to put on a show for the Western Kang merchants.

Gao Yuan smiled kindly, waving his hand at everyone.

"Everyone, you may rise, you may rise. It is truly regrettable that the war has forced you all to stay here, but rest assured, after this battle, the spoils of war will be sold to you first."

In feudal dynasties, many armies would bring merchants with them on campaigns, especially for large-scale battles; they would definitely bring merchants to acquire war spoils.

Whether it was valuables, captives, or slaves, these merchants would buy them, and then send the money to the soldiers' hometowns or to the imperial treasury.

Hearing Gao Yuan say this, their previous sense of despondency vanished, and they knew that this trip had been worthwhile.

What is the easiest money to make? Of course, it's war profits. If they bought these slaves, they could flip them for two or three times the profit. If they sold them to further places like Cao Bang, the profit would be more than five times.

With these profits, they no longer clamored to leave. If their life was gone, they could come back in the next life, but if they didn't make money, they wouldn't be reconciled even in death!

Learning from what he had seen on television, after cordially comforting these merchants, Gao Yuan left with Mu Qing.

That night, Gao Yuan and Mu Qing sat in the commanders tent, chatting about the daily lives of the women in Dehong these past few days.

After a while, Huo Jun walked in with a complex expression.

Gao Yuan's face showed joy.

"They've made their move?"

Huo Jun nodded.

"Two merchant caravans sent people out through the gap, my lord. This humble general still thinks it's too dangerous..."

"Act according to the plan!"

"Alas... Understood!"

That night, two Western Kang merchant caravans were arrested on charges of being spies. Except for a few leaders, the rest of the people, along with their money and goods, were all sold to other merchant caravans. This is called making use of waste.

And in the Western Kang camp, in the middle of the night, everyone was called out of their warm beds.

Perhaps because of the unfavorable war, or perhaps because of their morning grumpiness, everyone's face showed displeasure.

"Commander Li, why have you called us up in the middle of the night?"

"That's right, can't fight a good battle, can't even get a good sleep."

Commander Li wasn't annoyed; his face was full of excitement at this moment.

"Everyone, I have good news to tell you!"

"Commander Li, whatever it is, say it quickly. I still want to go back to sleep. That Han woman is truly beautiful, *slurp*!"

Commander Li glanced disdainfully at the speaker and cleared his throat.

"According to intelligence reports, Gao Yuan is in the pass ahead. The fierce general who blocked us a few days ago was Gao Yuan. I heard he also brought a woman, perhaps..."

One sentence swept away everyone's drowsiness and morning grumpiness.

"Who did you say? Gao Yuan? The duke of anle county Gao Yuan?"

"Hahaha, truly, heaven never blocks all paths. As long as we capture Gao Yuan, we can use him as a hostage to take over the entire Nanzhou."

"I heard that the women around Gao Yuan are all stunning beauties, hahaha, after we catch them, I'll try them all."

"I heard that Gao Yuan has a feminine appearance, even more beautiful than ordinary women, *slurp*!"

Commander Li was speechless; why did these guys always think about things below the waist?

"So I've decided to transfer the three thousand troops from the north and attack this place with full force."

"I agree!"

"I also agree!"

"Me too!"

Liu Rengui would never have imagined that Gao Yuan would take such a risky action to completely annihilate the enemy.

But now that the die was cast, his opposition was useless. He immediately began to make arrangements.

"Based on my judgment, Commander Li will definitely transfer the northern troops south, so I have decided that the entire army will immediately change course to the west, first annihilating these three thousand men. We absolutely cannot let them combine forces."

Xia Luqi had long admired Liu Rengui's military tactics, and since he was a trusted person of their lord, he had no doubt about his orders.

The next morning, as Gao Yuan expected, the Western Kang people began their attack early, and they all seemed to have high morale.

On the pass side, after two days of rest, the gap had been filled, the soldiers had recovered their strength, and the lightly wounded could also help with auxiliary work.

Coupled with the stones and wood prepared over the past two days and the supplies that had arrived, the defensive capability was significantly stronger than two days ago.

Commander Li personally came to the front line for the first time, looking from a distance at the figures wearing Tongxiu Armor on the city wall.

"That should be Gao Yuan. Give the order: the first to climb will be rewarded with ten slaves; whoever captures Gao Yuan alive will be granted the title of Marquis of Ten Thousand Households and a hundred li of land."

This immediately invigorated them like a shot of adrenaline. The Western Kang soldiers roared and charged forward.

"Fire arrows!"

At an order, the archers released their bowstrings, sending arrows flying.

The thousand arrows that had just arrived became the first barrier to block the Western Kang attack, constantly reaping the lives of the fanatical Western Kang soldiers.

"Ah!"

A Western Kang soldier cried out in pain as an arrow struck his leg, causing him to fall. Before he could react, a large foot scraped against his body.

Before he could let out a second scream, another foot stepped on his face, and then a body, losing its footing, heavily fell on him.

In this way, the Western Kang people lost dozens of men just from trampling each other. Adding those shot dead, a thousand arrows harvested over two hundred lives.

Next came stones, rolling logs, boiling water, and 'golden juice' (excrement). Since there wasn't much, Huo Jun didn't bother to think about tomorrow and ordered everything to be poured down in the morning.

Relying solely on these defensive supplies, the Nanzhou Army harvested over a thousand lives in just one morning.

By the afternoon, the battle became even more brutal. Enemy soldiers constantly climbed onto the city wall, then screamed as they lost their lives, ultimately becoming defensive material thrown down, implicating their comrades.

Gao Yuan had his guards protect Little Chili Pepper in the center, leading his men to charge and fill gaps.

By the end of the day, Gao Yuan's cleanup squad had killed over a hundred people, including two officers personally slain by Gao Yuan.

Two hundred to three thousand, this was the casualty ratio for both sides after a day of fighting, nearly one to fifteen.

The Western Kang people's frenzy, coupled with the city wall of this pass being too short, caused the Nanzhou Army's casualties for the day to be much higher than expected.

On the other side, to Commander Li's surprise, Liu Rengui led his elite troops, marching day and night for over fifty li, arriving at the ambush location more than an hour faster than the Western Kang people moving south.

As the three thousand Western Kang troops entered the ambush circle, a series of bamboo whistles sounded, and the Nanzhou Army soldiers on both sides of the mountain path pounced down like fierce tigers descending from the mountain.

Although the Western Kang army was somewhat prepared, the disparity in combat power was too great. The entire force was quickly cut into several sections, unable to support each other from front to back.

Xia Luqi led an elite squad and began to slaughter the fragmented and surrounded Western Kang army.