Chapter 415

Ying Su thought for a moment and deemed Zhuge Liang's words reasonable.

Although Wei Pao and his men numbered several ten thousand, those tens of thousands were already utterly exhausted.

At the slightest rustle of wind or movement, they would scatter like startled rabbits.

While the gap between one thousand men and several ten thousand seems vast, it disappears in the complex terrain of mountain forests.

For mountain forests differ from plains; large-scale encirclement battles cannot be conducted there.

Once a thousand elite soldiers locate the enemy, they charge and slaughter swiftly.

If they find the enemy resisting fiercely, they may retreat first.

Conversely, in the midst of panic, Wei Pao's side would find it difficult to organize an effective counterattack.

"Very well, I shall follow your lead!" Ying Su said. "You shall select these elite soldiers, and I entrust the entire responsibility of encircling and annihilating Wei Pao to you!"

"Your subject shall certainly not fail in this mission!" Zhuge Liang replied.

After the court session ended, Zhuge Liang immediately selected five thousand elite soldiers from the army.

These five thousand elite soldiers were all skilled in jungle warfare, and each was equipped with weapons specifically prepared for jungle combat.

They carried no long halberds nor heavy great shields; the armor on their bodies was light leather soft armor.

Every soldier carried a sharp longsword; some were also equipped with bows and arrows, while others were fitted with small round shields.

These weapons prioritized flexibility and lightness, making them suitable for fighting in the jungle.

The five thousand elite soldiers were divided into five groups, entering Huashan in five separate directions.

Among these groups were surrendered soldiers who served as guides.

At noon on the third day, the first group arrived first at Wei Pao and others' former encampment.

Upon carefully examining nearby traces, the scouts judged that Wei Pao's main force had departed to the left along a small path.

The commanding thousand-man leader immediately dispatched a hundred-man pursuit squad to chase ahead, while he followed closely behind with the main force.

By the next morning, the forward assault squad had spotted traces of the enemy.

In a low-lying and relatively flat area, some soldiers were resting.

Due to the dense woods, it was impossible to see how many people were there.

The assault squad dared not act on their own, so they immediately sent someone to report to the thousand-man leader.

By the time the thousand-man leader arrived with the main force, those enemies ahead were still there.

"I cannot judge their numbers. Should I take men to circle around that side and take a look?" the squad leader asked the thousand-man leader for instructions.

"No need." The thousand-man leader's eyes revealed killing intent: "We will charge straight through here and kill them all!"

"What if their main force is here?" the squad leader asked.

"Even if they have more people, it is useless! Look, there is a hilltop right beside us. If they had camped on the hilltop, they could have spotted enemies intending to attack them in advance. But they set up their camp in such a low-lying place, which shows they did not want to waste energy climbing that mountain. This indicates from one side that their ranks are already in disarray and they are completely disregarding military tactics."

The thousand-man leader analyzed.

201. At the End of the Road

Before departing, the five thousand-man leaders had received Zhuge Liang's face-to-face instructions, covering all possible situations they might encounter after entering the mountain forest.

This included how to handle encountering enemies of unknown numbers.

At that time, Zhuge Liang told them not to fear; upon meeting the enemy, fight first and ask questions later!

If the enemy resists firmly and in an orderly manner, then retreat.

If the enemy shows no fighting spirit and their command is chaotic, continue the attack.

"Archers, prepare! After firing one volley, charge immediately!" The thousand-man leader said, drawing his sword.

Several dozen archers immediately crept forward.

Upon reaching range, they immediately drew their bows and loosed arrows at those resting enemies.

The sudden strike caused Wei Pao's soldiers to panic instantly.

Some were shot dead before they could even rise, while those not shot had no intention of resisting at all, knowing only to flee desperately.

"Enemy attack!"

"Li Xin's army is attacking!"

"Li Yuanba... Li Yuanba!"

The soldiers shouted and screamed in chaos.

They had not even clearly seen who the enemy was or how many there were, yet in their hearts they were convinced that Li Xin and Li Yuanba had arrived.

Once the soldiers in the front panicked, the soldiers in other places followed suit and became chaotic.

"Everyone stop! Whoever dares to flee will be executed immediately!"

A deputy general under Wei Pao shouted loudly to stop the scattering soldiers.

Under the strenuous efforts of him and other generals, the chaotic situation finally improved somewhat.

But it only improved for a very short time.

For the elite soldiers dispatched by Zhuge Liang had already charged in.

One thousand elite soldiers are neither many nor few.

On open flat ground, one thousand men would mean nothing at all.

But in the mountain forests with narrow paths and complex terrain, these one thousand men appeared very numerous.

Because under the cover of terrain and vegetation, Wei Pao's side had no idea how many enemies had arrived.

They only knew that these charging enemies were fierce as tigers, possessing not only astonishing combat power but also high morale.

This caused even the generals on Wei Pao's side to panic.

They believed their camp had been discovered by the imperial troops, and that the force attacking them now must be a large contingent of imperial soldiers.

Seeing the formation already in disarray, Wei Pao's subordinates could only order a retreat.

This order was bad enough before it was issued; after it was issued, things became even more chaotic.

Everyone fled for their lives, and there was no unified direction for the escape.

The battle lasted for half a day, killing and wounding several thousand rebels in this engagement.

Here, being injured meant losing combat effectiveness; in a sense, it was much the same as dying in battle.

Because no one would treat your wounds, and there were no medicines available to use.

Even eating enough to satisfy hunger was impossible.

Under conditions of malnutrition, even normal people easily fall ill, let alone the wounded.

Therefore, after this single battle, the rebel side lost nearly five thousand combatants.

The elite troops pursuing from several other directions also achieved victories, both large and small.

And Wei Pao's rebel forces, after suffering repeated blows, constantly had soldiers deserting and fleeing.

Half a month later, only a few thousand remained by his side.

Even Young Master Jianglu and Young Master Gao were nowhere to be found.

Looking at the few thousand men under his command, Wei Pao knew he was finished.

Gathering his several close confidants together, Wei Pao sighed, "Now the great situation is lost; you need not follow me any longer. Each of you should flee to save your own lives."

"As long as my lord preserves your life, there will be a chance to rise again in the future!" one confidant said.

"Rise again? Now I have only a few thousand men left, and they are all broken soldiers and defeated troops; with what can I rise again?" Wei Pao said.

"Although our numbers are small and we cannot confront Ying Su head-on, we can act in secret. When the time is ripe, we will raise an army to rebel against Qin!" another person said.

"Ying Su has offended too many people; now that his power is at its peak, everyone dares not resist. After some time, when his momentum has waned, and combined with unrest on the border, that will be our opportunity!" someone said.

"The Xiongnu have been destroyed; what trouble could there possibly be on the border?" Wei Pao felt confused.

"The Xiongnu have been destroyed, but such vast lands to the north certainly will not remain empty like this. Nearby nomadic powers will occupy the grasslands left by the Xiongnu; they will sooner or later replace the Xiongnu and continue to pose a threat to the Great Qin."

"If Ying Su wishes to prevent this situation from occurring, he can only migrate people there to occupy the grasslands before other nomadic powers do, letting the migrants live there."

"But I have heard that Ying Su plans to exile criminals and some people he looks down upon there. In that case, once those people's power grows, Ying Su will suffer a backlash; that will be our opportunity!"

The confidant said.

"How long must we wait until that time?" Wei Pao said.

"My lord, today's Great Qin was not achieved in a day or two; it was a family enterprise accumulated over several generations of Qin Wang, and finally Shi Huang destroyed the six states! If my lord wishes to accomplish great things, please cast your gaze far into the future!" the confidant said.

Begging for flowers.

Wei Pao stroked his beard and said nothing.

He felt somewhat tempted.

Compared to his predecessors, what was his current plight?