Chapter 499: First Volume, Chapter 499: Not Even Seeing the Enemy

First Volume, Chapter 499: Not Even Seeing the Enemy's Face

Compared to how to assault the mountain and suppress bandits, Chen Ping cared more about the identity of the enemy general.

One thing Chen Ping could be certain of: the enemy general must be from Beixi County. According to the intelligence gathered by Night Owl, the talented officers of Beixi County, after all was said and done, numbered only four. The first was Qin Feng—obviously no further explanation needed. The second was Zhao Yulong, the Young Master of Liang's Longhu Army, whose literary and martial talents were both top-tier, but he was currently leading the Black Cavalry to flank Chen Si's army and could not possibly be inside Di territory.

The third was Li Xiaolan. Before the Northern Border was developed, she nominally operated under the Qin-Cheng Clan's authority, but in reality, she was the one doing the heavy lifting. Yet Li Xiaolan was assisting the Chariot and Cavalry General in defending the Chanshi region and was too stretched thin to come here.

The last one, naturally, was Prince Li Zhang, the son of the Ming King.

Could it be Li Zhang? Though he was not as capable as General Chen Si, the gap was not great—barely a tie. If Li Zhang were truly in command, this would be a serious problem. Chen Ping knew his own abilities well: compared to Chen Si, he was a speck of dust beside the bright moon. Facing Li Zhang, Chen Ping had no guarantee of victory.

The more so, the more cautious one must be—if the back courtyard catches fire, it will surely affect the front-line battle.

At this moment, the Search and Exterminate Army had already surged up Qingyu Mountain.

Soldiers hidden in the dense forest seized their chance and cut the ropes before them; one by one, the crossbeams suspended from branches slid down and swung straight toward the enemy troops.

Faced with the sudden crossbeams, the front-line soldiers had no time to react—anyone struck was killed instantly.

"Traps! Watch out!"

"Don't run! What's there to fear? The enemy has only two hundred men—we have three thousand!"

Under the Supervisor of the Army's shouts, the Scouring Soldiers barely held their formation, enduring the impact of the falling crossbeams and continuing to advance upward.

Meanwhile, Qin Feng's soldiers did not linger. After cutting the pre-set ropes to trigger the Heng Mu Traps, they turned and withdrew without a single hesitation.

After a day and night of preparation, there were thirty Heng Mu Traps just at the Mountain Foot. Facing either direct collisions or sweeping strikes, the Scouring Soldiers lost over a hundred men just crossing the trap zone.

Realizing the enemy had set traps, one should have halted the assault or advanced cautiously, clearing the traps to minimize losses. But the Supervisor sent by Xu Qian kept pushing the Scouring Soldiers to charge upward, completely ignoring the traps in the mountains.

"Hold your ground, damn it! Whoever runs, I'll cut him down without mercy!"

"Just two hundred enemy bandits—they've had only a day and night to prepare. These crossbeam traps are their limit. Charge forward boldly—there can't be any more traps behind."

The Supervisor was right: a day and night couldn't produce many traps.

But if complex traps were beyond them, that didn't mean simple ones were too.

Soldiers who reached the one-third mark of the MountainWaist picked up simple stone hammers and struck the pre-drilled "Zhaixie holes" in the cliff face. All the rocks with Zhaixie holes had been carefully selected by Qin Feng: they all protruded outward and were located on the southern-facing Shan Po.

As the soldiers hammered wooden wedges deeper into the Zhaixie holes, massive rocks weighing tens of thousands of jin fractured. Since both the rock shapes and hole positions had been specially chosen, when they broke, they formed irregular semicircles that rolled down the slope under their own weight.

Hearing the rumbling from above, the Scouring Soldiers panicked completely.

"What's that noise?"

"Another trap?"

"No good! It's falling rocks—everyone, get out of the way!"

The front-line soldiers reacted quickly and dodged to either side, but those behind were doomed: they had no idea what was happening, and since dawn had just broken, the light was blocked by the forest, leaving the mountain dim. The soldiers, exhausted from a sleepless night, moved sluggishly.

As the massive rocks rolled down, they left a trail of blood stretching all the way to the Mountain Foot.

Ten massive rocks killed over a hundred men. Though this was a small fraction of the army's total losses, the blow to morale was catastrophic.

Even if the Supervisor executed a man on the spot as an example, he could no longer push the army forward—no one knew what other horrifying traps lay above.

At this moment, the Jin Yi Wei reported the front-line situation to Qin Feng.

Qin Feng nodded: "Their morale is nearly broken. Send Ning Hu forward. Remember, no close combat. Tell Ning Hu—if you lose even one soldier, I'll kick your ass until it swells."

Though a major battle loomed, the Jin Yi Wei wore a broad grin, showing not a trace of tension.

Ning Hu, hidden at the two-thirds mark of the MountainWaist, received the message and burst into laughter: "Ha ha! Kick my ass? Dream on!"

With those words, Ning Hu led a hundred Tianji Camp Guards out of ambush and unleashed a furious barrage of arrows down onto the Scouring Soldiers. At this moment, accuracy didn't matter—just aim roughly and maintain a dense ArrowRain to maximize psychological impact.

The Tianji Camp Guards' archery had been specially trained; each one was a top-tier Bow Infantryman.

Faced with the torrent of arrows, the Scouring Soldiers finally broke. Ignoring the Supervisor's orders, they turned and fled down the mountain.

"Run! The enemy is attacking down the slope!"

"What the hell? Weren't we told there were only two hundred enemies? Why is the ArrowRain so dense? There must be five or six hundred! The Beidi War Intelligence is wrong—run, don't die for nothing!"

"I haven't even seen the enemy's face, and we've already lost so many men—send the Xiongying Brigade up!"

Retreat spread like a plague: once one man ran, two followed, then ten, then the entire force collapsed. Front-line soldiers fled downhill; rear-line soldiers, seeing this, didn't even bother climbing up—they turned and ran back. The Supervisor, seeing the tide had turned, abandoned his post and joined the fleeing crowd down the mountain.

Xu Qian, stationed at the Rear, wore a smug smile, already planning his future career.

After all, the disparity in troop numbers was so vast that victory was already a foregone conclusion.

Just as Xu Qian was gloating, he saw the Scouring Soldiers pouring down the mountain like frightened birds and beasts, fleeing while screaming and wailing.

"Attack the damn mountain? We haven't even seen the enemy's face, and we're already slaughtered!"

"The enemy set layer upon layer of traps in the mountains. Forcing an assault is no different from suicide—I didn't join the army because I'm tired of living!"

"Fight the Tianji Camp Guards? This miserable job should fall to the Xiongying Brigade. Why are we, the garrison troops, being sent? I wonder what the Main General was thinking."

"My first battle, and I face such a fierce enemy? I'd rather go back to defending the city—at least I won't die without a corpse. Those crushed by crossbeams and massive rocks? They're all meat paste."