Chapter 876: The Great Retreat

"Retreat!"

"Retreat!"

"..."

In the heavy rain, the Coalition soldiers who had launched the sneak attack were either dead or lying in the mud, wailing in agony.

Those fleeing were bunched together, pushing and cursing at one another, neither side willing to give way.

Those with bloodshot eyes simply raised their blades and hacked at the soldiers blocking their path.

Amidst this chaos, the Cavalry that had emerged from Miancheng arrived.

They galloped back and forth, shouting orders for the soldiers to retreat.

Some Cavalry also puffed out their cheeks to blow into ox-horn bugles.

The order to retreat was like a reprieve for the Coalition soldiers; they took to their heels and ran toward Miancheng.

An hour passed.

The heavy rain gradually ceased, turning into a fine drizzle, and the field of vision began to clear.

The sound of gunfire also stopped, leaving only the wailing of wounded soldiers across the entire battlefield.

Zhao Xu was inspecting the camp with Chang Wei at this time.

In his eyes, the corpses of the Coalition soldiers stretched from the War Chariots in front of the camp to six hundred meters away.

This was precisely the effective range of the Qin-series Rifle.

The sodden earth seemed to be covered in a carpet of corpses.

"In this sneak attack, they suffered at least eighty or ninety thousand casualties," Chang Wei estimated roughly.

Zhao Xu nodded and added, "And they were elites."

These dead soldiers were well-equipped and sturdy in build; not a single one was old, weak, sick, or disabled.

Whether in ancient warfare or modern warfare, elites are extremely important.

These elites are often experienced, young, and strong veterans.

Their individual combat effectiveness is also among the best in the army.

In cold-weapon warfare, these elites often serve as the vanguard.

As long as they defeat the opponent's vanguard,

the opponent is basically defeated as well.

In contemporary terms, it is the difference between front-line troops and second-line troops.

After completing the inspection, the two stopped at the Nanmen of the camp.

Looking toward Miancheng, Zhao Xu said with a cold gaze, "Opportunity knocks but once; we must pursue the victory and take Miancheng."

The poor visibility under the heavy rain was unfavorable for an offensive.

But after raining for half a day, the dark clouds in the sky seemed to thin, and the heavy rain turned into a light drizzle.

This light rain was like adding wings to a tiger for them.

Because in the rain, they could use the Qin-series Rifle, while the enemy could no longer use their firearms or Artillery.

They instantly became a cold-weapon force.

Furthermore, the Trenches were currently filled with rainwater.

If the rain stopped, the water would slowly seep away.

After all, it was currently summer, and the sun was scorching; it could bake the earth dry in a single day.

"Yes, Your Highness." Upon hearing this, Chang Wei's eyes lit up; he had been about to suggest this to Yan Wang.

He turned and left, ordering the war drums for the attack to be sounded.

The "Boom, boom, boom..." of the war drums was like muffled thunder, igniting the morale of the Wangfu Army.

At the same time, it struck terror into the hearts of the enemies inside Miancheng.

On the city wall.

As soon as the war drums in the camp sounded, Aersiji, Ashuer, Dou Wei, and Fan Xinglun all turned pale.

At this moment, they were looking at their own elites who had died miserably in front of the camp, feeling heartbroken.

The sound of these drums made them immediately forget the humiliation of the failed sneak attack.

"This is the sound of the war drums for the Yan King Army's all-out offensive—three slow beats and one fast; listen." Dou Wei felt a chill run down his spine.

"Boom, boom, boom, boom-boom-boom, boom, boom, boom, boom-boom-boom..."

Ashuer and the other two listened intently, and it was indeed so.

With a gloomy face, he looked at Aersiji, "Military Instructor Aersiji, you must come up with a plan."

Aersiji remained silent.

Right now, he was trapped in a deep sense of frustration.

When he was sent to Beidi to serve as a Military Instructor, he had looked down upon these Dongtu natives with the mindset of a civilized man.

He believed that teaching them even a little something would be a golden rule for them.

But as he had contact with the Yan King Army time and again,

his confidence collapsed.

The Yan King Army not only had more advanced firearms than them, but their tactics also made him look like a fool.

This sneak attack was his decision, and this failure would be a disgrace he could never wash away in his lifetime.

"Bang, bang, bang..."

While he was hesitating, a black mass of Yan King Army soldiers rushed out from the camp.

They were divided into three routes: one flanking from the east, one flanking from the west, and another charging straight at them from the front.

Aersiji instinctively looked toward the Trench, only to see the Trench filled with murky, muddy water.

This Trench was dug to the height of a man; if soldiers crawled inside, let alone fighting, they would likely drown.

Furthermore, the rain was still falling.

Although it was a light rain, it drizzled incessantly; a person in the rain would be soaked through in no time, and the ammunition could not be spared either, making it impossible to fight.

"Retreat!" Aersiji slowly closed his eyes, "If we continue to stay here, we are just waiting to be slaughtered!"

Ashuer nodded.

The muddy ground in front of the Trench had been trampled into a quagmire by the fleeing soldiers.

Even if he sent out the Cavalry, the Cavalry would not be able to run in the quagmire.

The muskets and Artillery could not be used, and the Cavalry could not be used either.

Yet, the muskets of Yan Wang were functioning as usual.

Even though he hated Yan Wang to death, he dared not stay to continue the battle.

"Then let's go quickly; if we are any later, we won't be able to leave," Fan Xinglun said at this moment.

Although the soldiers of Yan Wang were also struggling to trek through the quagmire, they were still approaching Miancheng bit by bit.

If they were surrounded, their fate would be the same as the Wu army in Jiangxia.

Ashuer and Aersiji nodded and immediately descended the city wall.

Then, the sound of horn blasts echoed throughout Miancheng, the Nanmen swung wide open, the Northern Di Cavalry led the way out of the city, and the Shizu Army followed closely behind, moving toward the south in a massive swarm.

Aersiji, under the protection of over three thousand Ross soldiers, followed closely behind.

In this surprise attack, his army had lost more than one thousand men.

Now, his soldiers were all dejected, their morale low.

Clearly, the Yan King Army had crushed their spirit.

"I really must treat this Yan Wang seriously," Aersiji frowned deeply.

Previously, he thought Yan Wang was a threat, but merely a threat.

It might have required bringing out fifty percent of the nation's strength to deal with him.

But now, he believed this Yan Wang was a life-and-death enemy of the Xitu Guo.

It was necessary to bring out all of their strength to deal with him.

Just as he was thinking this, Ashuer at his side suddenly sighed, "I originally wanted to exhaust their food supplies, but now, that is impossible."

Upon hearing this, Aersiji was stunned for a moment.

Turning his head, he looked toward Miancheng, where wisps of white smoke were rising into the air.

But the white smoke was intermittent, appearing and disappearing, as if it lacked strength.

Before retreating, they naturally intended to burn the Granary.

But now everything was soaking wet, and it was not easy to ignite anything anywhere.

More importantly, the enemy had arrived too quickly, and there was standing water everywhere in the city, making it easy to put out the fire.

It was likely that before the food supplies could even catch fire, the flames would be extinguished.

"We will burn what we can," Aersiji gave a bitter smile.

When he came to Miancheng, he was full of hot-blooded enthusiasm; now, he felt colder than this rain.

"Damn this heavy rain!" A drop of rainwater fell into his eye, and he could not help but curse.