#494 - dead end
“Boom!!!”
When the first bolt of purple lightning struck into the densely packed crowd, instantly taking hundreds of lives, most people didn't even have time to react to what had happened.
But as the wails and screams echoed shrilly through the valley, and the ground beneath their feet began to shake and then explode, some people immediately realized the problem.
“Enemy attack!!!”
“Fuck his mother! It's an ambush!!!”
In the chaos, it was impossible to know how many people fell and couldn't get up again, how many were blown into the air by explosives, or how many were turned into dust by the purple lightning.
The valley, which had gathered more than a hundred thousand people, was now like a living hell, with hellfire spewing from the ground and lightning falling from the dark sky.
Amidst the sounds of despair and fear, all that could be seen was crimson, whether it was the flames soaring into the sky or the blood falling like rain.
Severed limbs and wreckage were everywhere, some even unable to fall to the ground, hanging bloodily on the bodies of those still alive, but the latter wouldn't even look at them.
At this moment, it no longer mattered whose body these broken arms and legs came from, because everyone was already dominated by infinite fear and wouldn't care about anything other than escaping.
A well-trained army shouldn't have been thrown into such a panic when suddenly ambushed.
And this also precisely showed that the situation the imperial army was facing now had far exceeded their understanding of war.
They didn't even figure out who the enemy was until the Shu and Li armies suddenly charged out from both sides of the valley.
“Kill!”
“Kill them all!!!”
“Bang!!!”
“...”
Compared to the narrow funnel exit on the west side, the wide funnel entrance on the east side was naturally the main battlefield for the fierce fighting between the two sides.
Responsible for blocking this direction were the 50,000 reinforcements from Da Li.
With 50,000 against more than 100,000, although the disparity in strength was vast, most of the imperial army was blocked in the valley by their companions and unable to participate in the battle.
Moreover, the Da Li reinforcements only needed to hold for two quarters of an hour.
According to previous estimates, within two quarters of an hour at most, the imperial army in the valley would basically be killed or injured in the “heavenly thunder and earthly fire,” and even if some escaped, it wouldn't affect the overall situation.
Facing a front line of only a few hundred meters, holding for two quarters of an hour.
Wei Changtian and the Li army general named Zhao Dong both thought that this should be an easy task.
But they somewhat underestimated the fighting power of people in such a dangerous situation.
If they couldn't break through the encirclement, they would die.
Under these extreme circumstances, all the yellow-armored soldiers charged out of the valley like madmen, without any reservations.
As for running away...
Not to mention that they no longer had a way out, even if they did, they couldn't retreat or escape at this moment.
Because under the “push” of more than 100,000 people behind them, they couldn't even turn around.
All they could do was raise their knives and move forward!
“Kill!”
“Bang, bang, bang!”
“Ah! I don't want to die!!!”
“Wuwuwu! Mother! Forgive your unfilial son!”
“Father! Mother!!!”
“Ah!!!”
“...”
Amidst cries, shouts, and roars, countless soldiers in yellow armor raised their long knives and charged towards the Li army's defense line, only to fall like wheat.
The next moment, more men just like them would step on their corpses and continue forward.
Thousands of people fell, and thousands of people rushed up.
Wave after wave of flesh and blood piled up into mountains of corpses and seas of blood, moving forward inch by inch with tragic and desperate determination.
Under this near-“suicidal” charge, the well-prepared Li army defense line quickly began to loosen.
“Damn it! Hold it for me!!!”
“No retreat!!!”
Zhao Dong, who was fighting on the front line, slashed away dozens more yellow-armored soldiers with his knife, constantly shouting loudly, trying to stabilize the Li army's wavering morale.
Although the Li army had every advantage in all aspects except for numbers, everyone couldn't help but feel chills in their hearts when fighting against such a group of inexhaustible and unyielding soldiers.
Zhao Dong knew that if this continued, the defense line would be broken through before long, so he was naturally extremely anxious.
But at this moment, a series of muffled sounds, detached from the battlefield, suddenly surged in, and in a very short period of time, they became deafening.
“What, what is that...”
A soldier turned his head and glanced in the direction of the sound, and then froze in place at a very inappropriate time.
The next moment, like a plague, quickly spread to the entire battlefield, and for a time, countless people made the same move as him.
Everyone stared blankly at the countless fierce beasts surging from the distance, at the black-armored soldiers riding on the backs of the fierce beasts, at the black teeth flags embroidered with the patterns of celestial hounds, and in a trance, they felt as if they were really in purgatory.
“Clang!”
A yellow-armored soldier somewhere on the battlefield suddenly knelt trembling to the ground, his long knife falling.
His body shook like a sieve, and his eyes were filled with only indescribable fear.
“Evil, evil ghosts...”
“The evil ghosts are here...”
“...”
Inside the valley.
“Rumble!!!”
Purple lightning and gunpowder continued to reap lives, and Han Zhao's carriage had long been turned into countless fragments.
As a second-rank martial artist, it was easy for Han Zhao to avoid this heavenly thunder and earthly fire, and even if he was accidentally hit by purple lightning, it wouldn't be a big problem.
But You Wenzong naturally didn't have such abilities.
“...”
Staggering past one corpse after another, the personal soldiers around him had long since disappeared.
However, You Wenzong no longer cared about these things, and walked swaying like a walking corpse, repeatedly chanting a sentence in his mouth.
“How could this be...”
“How could this be...”
Obviously, this extremely thoughtful supervisor was temporarily unable to accept everything that was happening before him.
Because in his opinion, even if there was really an ambush in Ox Head Mountain, it shouldn't be like this.
Heavenly thunder?
Why would heavenly thunder fall on Ox Head Mountain, and why would it fall at this time?
Why?
You Wenzong really couldn't understand why such a “divine punishment” would fall on the heads of the army, and he couldn't understand why a full 200,000 people would be buried in Ox Head Mountain.
He just numbly watched everything that happened around him, watching a boulder slide down from one side of the mountain wall, rolling straight towards him, and watching a figure suddenly appear and shatter the boulder with one punch...
“General Han?”
Looking at Han Zhao in front of him, You Wenzong shook his head with a heart as dead as ashes: “No need to save me, you should quickly lead the soldiers to break through.”
“Escape with as many as possible, and it will be an explanation to the Holy One.”
“Explanation?”
Han Zhao chuckled: “Lord You, after tonight, less than one-tenth of the army will survive, what kind of explanation is this?”
“But, but...”
You Wenzong struggled to speak, but when he saw the smile on Han Zhao's face, his whole body froze in an instant.
At this moment, he seemed to suddenly understand many things.
However, Han Zhao didn't care what he was thinking now, and just said slowly:
“Lord You, it's not that I want to save you, but that Young Master Wei wants to keep you alive.”
“By the way, after returning to the capital, I will report to the emperor, saying that you, sir, are the young master's spy in the army.”
“So, Lord You, you only have one path left to take.”
“Of course, as for whether you are willing to take it, that depends on you.”
