Chapter 304: Sneak Attack

Fortunately, this time He Lingchuan displayed his sturdy characteristics, fighting steadily and surely, and finally caught the opponent's flaw, achieving success in one blow. He Lingchuan had just lifted the tent flap when he saw raindrops like curtains; he couldn't even see people or horses three zhang away.

This visibility was almost catching up to thick fog.

Reaching out for a few seconds was enough to scoop up a handful of rainwater to wash his face.

He splashed some cold water on his face, pondering what kind of technique he should exchange for next time he accumulated enough military merit. Every actual combat accumulated valuable experience, and now he felt again that he lacked a high-burst martial skill.

Next time, he should just exchange for the Mirror Image Art.

The Yuan army's main camp had withdrawn another hundred zhang or so, simply camping on hard rocky ground, which eliminated the risk of collapse and was even more than two zhang higher than the river surface.

But the price was that there were more snakes, rats, and other small animals, and people were bitten from time to time.

Neither Zhao Pan nor He Chunhua relaxed their vigilance, especially since both were wary of Hong Chenglue's retaliation, and their requirements for camp defense grew higher day by day.

The Yuan soldiers didn't understand why and secretly harbored grievances.

Stepping outside the tent for three or five breaths was enough to get soaked through; the ground was full of yellow mud and water, dirtying either shoes or crotches. At a time like this, the whole camp should be resting; why did General Zhao instead want everyone to guard strictly?

The enemy was on the opposite bank; could they take advantage of this ghostly weather to cross the river and launch a sneak attack? Encountering the continuous torrential rain, He Chunhua's team was also trapped in the camp and could not return south. The time he had lingered on the front line had already exceeded expectations.

This was also one of the sources of his inner unease.

Delay brings changes.

Dark clouds gathered, and the sky darkened quickly; there was no need to wait until sunset.

The last bit of light between heaven and earth disappeared impatiently, and the entire Yuan army camp was plunged into a web woven of torrential rain and darkness.

In such bad weather, the guards still had to continue patrolling.

The torches they held had been soaked in special oil, allowing them to burn and provide light even in the rain.

Although they wore rain capes, the armor inside and the shoes on their feet were still soaked through, sticky and damp; especially after water got into the shoes, they made a squelching sound when walking.

"Ghostly weather!" The newly changed sentry patrolled the riverbank holding a torch, reached out to wipe the rainwater flowing into his eyes, and cursed secretly.

The original camp location was now under the river water. The riverbank had also collapsed several times, and the current shoreline had shrunk nearly a hundred zhang to the south, but they still walked cautiously.

The day before yesterday, an unlucky companion's feet had collapsed, and he fell into the river, only to be washed away in the blink of an eye.

Therefore, this sentry only walked around the bank perfunctorily, keeping a distance of three zhang from the water.

In this weather, it was impossible for an enemy to be lying on the bank. If not for General Zhao's insistence, no one would want to walk near the river.

Nothing unusual; he walked back.

So many days had passed, and it was like this every night.

An hour later, the sentry patrolled over again.

This was the second round; as long as he finished three rounds tonight, someone would come to take over the shift.

He was still looking around carelessly, but before the return trip, he felt something was wrong.

He had originally been too lazy to move, but after some psychological struggle, he still managed to walk back to the bank and raised his torch.

The torrential rain was endless, and the Hanhe River had also become violent; every time he came here, he could hear the sound of waves hitting the shore, which was comparable to thunder.

But why wasn't there any tonight? He only heard the sound of the rain.

The sentry moved cautiously to the bank and shone the torch down—

Strange, where was the water? There was no water one zhang below the riverbank; he saw muddy sand underneath.

He extended the torch further, but within the range illuminated by the torchlight, he still didn't see any river water.

What was going on? When he came to patrol for the first time, the waves were still hitting the bank soil.

Did the river flow backward?

Come to think of it, was there something moving in the darkness at the edge of the torchlight?

Just as he was poking his head around, unexpectedly, four or five arrows shot up from below; most missed, but one pierced his eye.

The sentry fell backward toward the sky.

The archers below had no primordial power and could not aim precisely, so they fired multiple shots at once, hoping for a high probability.

This sentry had primordial power and originally wouldn't have been in too much trouble even if hit by an arrow, but he was unlucky and happened to take an arrow in the eye, which was a vital strike.

As soon as he fell, the torch also dropped; the flickering torchlight startled two companions not far away. The latter rushed over, and upon seeing the bright arrows on his body, they blew a sharp whistle.

Enemy attack!

Almost at the same time, earth-shattering shouts rang out from below the riverbank, momentarily suppressing even the torrential rain: "Charge—"

"General Nian will win!"

In the darkness, it seemed as if something was stirring, attacking toward the high ground.

Not long after, countless flickering small flames lit up below the riverbank, turning into flowing fire that tore through the sky in the blink of an eye—

And then fell onto the tents, carriages, and fences of the Yuan North camp!

Although several days of torrential rain had soaked the weapons and tent cloth, the arrowheads were coated with special oil, allowing them to burn even in the rain, and with the north wind helping the fire, the Yuan army camp was smoking everywhere.

Zhao Pan and He Chunhua both sat up in shock from their dreams, rushed out of the tent to take a look, and saw fire arrows flying in, shooting everywhere blindly.

"Be careful, Lord!"

The personal guards surrounded and protected them one after another.

Zhao Pan grabbed a large bow, pulled out a fire arrow stuck on the tent pillar, ignored the guards' obstruction, rushed forward a hundred paces, and then bent the bow to shoot high, aiming at the river surface below.

With his arm strength, plus the assistance of primordial power, he could shoot more than three hundred paces even in a north wind.

The Yuan people only saw the arrow fly high into the sky, fall with firelight, and thereby illuminate the riverbank...

A dense army! That troop had bright armor and had almost occupied the entire river beach; at this moment, the shouts of killing were earth-shattering, and they were charging toward here.

Xunzhou soldiers! Zhao Pan felt a chill down his spine, but cold sweat broke out on his forehead: How could Nian Zanli's troops cross the river safely and sneak to the south bank to launch an attack? "Set up the formation! Beat the drums and raise the flags!" No matter what he thought in his heart, years of combat experience still made him issue orders fluently, "Supervisory team, move up!"

When the army camped, they would bury defensive formations, but running the formation consumed a large amount of profound crystals, so they were usually not activated. Zhao Pan had a sorcerer specifically responsible for this, and upon hearing the sound, he went to open the formation.

As for beating the drums to advance, that was an impression deeply engraved in the soldiers' minds. When the drums sounded, it meant there was preparation above and the troop was to counterattack; the soldiers wouldn't be so panicked, and if they gathered their courage, they could turn back to fight.

After all, they had been caught off guard by the Xunzhou people; once the troop was routed, no matter how strong individual combat power was, it would end in a crushing defeat.

The supervisory team rode back and forth, killing more than a dozen routed soldiers who were fleeing backward, barely stopping the trend of further collapse.

However, at this moment, cannons sounded one after another below the riverbank, and seven or eight fire shells whistled over, blooming everywhere in the main camp.

The Xunzhou army had actually covered the cannons with oilcloth and transported them across the river, and there were a full twelve of them! This thing was delicate; if it got wet, it would easily misfire and hurt their own people. Nian Zanli, however, had pasted an expensive water-repelling talisman on each cannon, showing great care.

And he ordered the firing of mother-son cannons; after the shells landed, they would continue to explode, blasting out dozens of small lead balls inside.

With the addition of speed, these were all lethal weapons.

Every time it exploded, dozens of people and horses fell around it. The horses were frightened into madness, broke out of the stables, and ran around everywhere.

At this time, the Yuan army also discovered that the Xunzhou people hadn't fully landed yet; at least several thousand people were driving boats to land, while the main force's vanguard was already exerting force to charge forward.

What was eerie was that the river water had actually receded; the water level had dropped significantly, and the distance from the riverbank to the current Yuan camp was more than forty zhang, and the river surface was quite calm.

It couldn't be compared to the stillness of autumn, but anyone who knew how to swim could jump down and swim without any problem.

It could be said that the great river had suddenly lost its surging waves.

What on earth was going on?

The exposed riverbed became the landing point for the Xun people.

He Lingchuan wasn't idle either; he found his mount in the first instance. The Qingbo horse had demon blood and wasn't as easily frightened as ordinary horses; at this moment, it was still able to come over to find him.

The medicine ape shrank into He Lingchuan's arms, and the rock wolf climbed up, shook its fur, and followed by his side.

Shan Youjun and seven or eight others also came over, shouting: "Proprietor! What now?"

He Lingchuan faced two choices: either rush to He Chunhua's side, ostensibly to protect his father; or stay here and beat the enemy troops severely.

He only considered for a second before saying to Shan Youjun: "Archers, get into the trees, and send someone to find me a retreat route."

"Yes!" Shan Youjun understood that his group was to stay and defend; otherwise, they could retreat to the vicinity of the main camp now, so why bother finding a retreat route? But he still had to remind him, "Proprietor, your prediction of the lowest-lowest lot..."

He had once heard Mao Tao talk about the past when the Proprietor drew the lowest-lowest lot in County Magistrate Village.

He Lingchuan was startled.

The enemy crossed the river quietly, prepared, while the Yuan people were caught off guard in their sleep and couldn't respond in time. As it looked now, it was a situation where the enemy was strong and they were weak.

In the face of the general trend, the strength of their team of less than ten people was limited, and he himself had to be extremely cautious.

The old turtle demon's prophecy had never been fulfilled; could it be that it would fall at this time?

He Lingchuan suddenly remembered the word "Courage" that Wen Daolun had interpreted for him in the Panlong Dream, as well as the sentence he had made up for fun: "Meet water, then leave."

Directly in front, the Hanhe River flowed endlessly.

Perhaps this was a clear hint; after all, when the previous crises arrived, there was no "water" anywhere, and he had indeed passed through safely.

Should he avoid it now?

He Lingchuan looked back at the chaotic military camp, then at the enemy figures below the riverbank, who were getting closer and closer. His own side was facing disaster; was he to retreat out of fear of battle?

He said decisively: "Don't worry about it. We'll retreat to the hillside and set up tripwires."

The group retreated immediately, heading toward the side of the high ground.

The enemy below surged up like a tide; if these few of them dared to stand straight in front, the final result would be to fall straight down.

Small-team combat emphasizes tactics.

What was worse was that the original south bank of the Hanhe River had been specially heightened and steepened by the Yuan army, built into a so-called "bank wall," leaving only a few narrow passages for going up and down; this defensive work could resist enemies coming from the opposite bank.

But the river water that had risen for days had long since washed away the bank wall, and even the Yuan army had been forced to retreat, currently only stationed on ordinary high ground, where was there any danger to defend?

(End of Chapter) ===== CHAPTER 305 =====