Chapter 60: Wilderness, Finally Seeing the Royal Army

In the following days, Wang Ce led the group through the deep mountains and old forest with difficulty.

When they ran out of dry rations, they began digging wild vegetables and hunting game.

Everyone in the unit grew dark and skinny, their clothes in tatters, looking worse than beggars.

That day they finally emerged from the winding side trail onto an official road, where several corpses, long rotted, lay; judging by their clothing, they were ordinary civilians.

"It looks like this place has also suffered from the rebel army," Chen Xin said, frowning.

Wang Ce's face also looked grim. He dismounted and examined the corpses closely. "It happened just a few days ago. Everyone be careful; there are likely rebel scouts nearby."

They dared not linger on the official road, quickly crossing it and then slipping into another patch of forest.

Just then, the sound of horse hooves and a woman's cries came from afar.

"Situation!" Wang Ce immediately gave a hand signal, and everyone quickly took cover.

Soon, over ten rebel cavalry appeared in their view. These riders were escorting several young women bound with ropes, shouting vulgar obscenities as they went.

"Beasts!" Chen Xin seethed, gripping his knife tightly.

A flicker of killing intent also crossed Wang Ce's eyes, but he did not act impulsively; he carefully observed that rebel unit.

Over ten of them, all cavalry and unarmored, while we have over twenty, all wounded; a head‑on clash would surely cost us.

What should we do?

To rescue, or not to rescue?

Rescuing might plunge our hard‑won surviving unit back into danger.

If we don't rescue, we can only watch those women be defiled by those beasts.

Wang Ce's heart was in fierce turmoil.

He thought of Zhang Xun. Zhang Xun had sacrificed himself to save them.

He thought of his father. His father had taught him, as a son of the Wang family, he must bear responsibility.

"Prepare for battle!" Wang Ce lowered his voice and gave the order.

"Commander?" Chen Xin expressed some surprise.

"We are the Tang army." Wang Ce's voice was low but firm: "Seeing civilians bullied, if we stand by and do nothing, how are we any different from those rebels?"

"We are too few to clash head‑on. Follow my command."

Wang Ce quickly laid out tactics; these rebel cavalry were operating outside the main battlefield and did not appear to be elite forces. If we make them believe our numbers are several times theirs, they should flee outright.

He had Chen Xin lead over ten soldiers with homemade bows to ambush the slopes on both sides of the road, while he himself took the remaining ten to draw the rebels' attention head‑on.

"Remember, wait for my signal, and fire when they enter the ambush zone. Also, during the pursuit later, do not actually engage them in close combat; our goal is to rescue the people." Wang Ce instructed.

After the preparations, Wang Ce took a deep breath, led his men out of the forest, and stood directly in the middle of the official road.

Seeing Wang Ce and his men suddenly appear, the rebel cavalry first stared, then burst into jeering laughter.

"Hey, where did you beggars come from, daring to block our way?" the leader of the rebel band said with a sneer.

They saw Wang Ce's group in ragged clothes and broken weapons, and didn't take them seriously at all.

Wang Ce said nothing, merely stared coldly at them and slowly raised his sword.

"You're asking for death!" the leader's face darkened. "Brothers, kill these blind fools!"

Over ten cavalrymen immediately spurred their horses, raised their blades, and charged at Wang Ce and his men.

Wang Ce watched the approaching cavalry, silently calculating the distance.

Fifty paces… forty… thirty…

Now!

"Fire arrows!" Wang Ce bellowed.

At his command, arrows flew from the slopes on both sides of the road, instantly covering the leading rebels.

The rebels never expected an ambush; the few in the front were instantly shot off their horses and fell to the ground.

The rear cavalry panicked, hastily reining in their horses, and their formation fell into chaos at once.

"Kill!"

"Run!"

Someone shouted, and the remaining rebels scattered like birds and beasts, fleeing in all directions.

Wang Ce's men pretended to give chase, while those in ambush shouted loudly to encourage them.

The rebels thought a small detachment of the Tang main force had arrived; wishing their parents had given them extra legs, they vanished within half an hour.

A few stepped forward to finish off the fallen rebels, loudly cursing:

"These little bastards—if Grandpa had eaten his fill, he wouldn't have let them run."

"That's right—Grandpa is wounded right now......"

Wang Ce walked over to the rescued women and untied the ropes binding them.

"You're safe now."

The women, still shaken, stared at Wang Ce and his men, not knowing what to say, and just kept kowtowing.

"Thank you, commander, for saving our lives! Thank you, commander, for saving our lives!"

"No need for ceremony, get up quickly." Wang Ce helped them to their feet. "Where are you from? How did you fall into the rebels' hands?"

One of the somewhat older women, weeping, said: "We're from a nearby village; the village was slaughtered by the rebels, and we few…… were seized by them…… sob sob sob……"

Hearing that the village had been massacred, everyone's mood grew heavy.

"Do you know where General Guo Ziyi, Duke Guo's main force is now?" Wang Ce asked.

The woman shook her head: "We ordinary folk don't know such military affairs. But…… I heard that a few days ago, an official army fought the rebels in Chenliu County seat to the east and won! It's said the commanding general bears the surname Guo."

General Guo! Chenliu County!

Wang Ce and Chen Xin exchanged a glance, both seeing delight in the other's eyes.

This is very likely the troop of Guo Ziyi they were looking for!

"Many thanks for the information!" Wang Ce was overjoyed. He took out the broken silver pieces broken silver pieces from those corpses and gave them all to those women, "Take this money, hurry and find a safe place to hide. These times are not peaceful."

The women could not refuse, so they accepted it and left again, expressing their deepest gratitude.

Seeing them off, Wang Ce's mood was extremely excited.

"Brothers!" He turned to look at his troops, "We have a target now! Chenliu County! Duke Guo is waiting for us there!"

"As long as we find the main force, we'll have meat to eat, wine to drink, and medicine for wounds! We'll be able to follow Supreme Commander Guo and avenge our fallen comrades!"

"Depart!"

The troops' morale soared to unprecedented heights. They gathered their spoils, mounted the captured warhorses, and galloped swiftly toward Chenliu County.

Along the way, they encountered several scattered bands of rebel troops, but they easily dealt with them using ambush tactics.

After several days, a majestic city finally appeared in their sight.

On the city walls, a large banner embroidered with the character "Guo" fluttered in the wind.

It was the banner of the Tang army!

"We've arrived! We've arrived!" Chen Xin shouted excitedly.

Everyone cheered, having endured nearly an Era Name Deadline of displacement, nearly an Era Name Deadline of eating fur and drinking blood; at this moment, all their hardships were worth it.

They finally found the organization!

Wang Ce gazed at that great banner, his eye sockets also a little moist.