Chapter 47 – Hit And Run
October 22nd, Afternoon .
Tong spent a year of his lifespans to test his self-regenerate skill for the first time . The graze wounds from last night was healed and the blood trace were disappear like magic . Meanwhile, Hua Shi was in tears because she failed to lick Tong’s wounds or tasted his flesh blood .
Tong and his men buried Sima Xin and left their hiding spot . All of their repeated crossbows was reloaded and ready for another action .
Tong checked his HUD map for the current location of Guo Dian Army . They still marched forward like nothing had happened last night .
Tong was gratified by the map . It took away the necessity of sending scouts, and it increased the speed of his army reaction toward the changes .
He led his troops to another ambush location . This time, they would attack Guo Dian Army on broad daylight . ……
Guo Dian’s remaining 7,700 men marched in a long dragon line formation . They formed up ten columns and walked forward, following their leaders .
Guo Dian 400 elite light cavalry escorted the troops from the side . They didn’t form a formation, but they spread out their men throughout the army lines to watch out for any deserter . And the other 100 light cavalry as a scout unit to survey the surrounding areas . ……
Two hundreds men hid themselves behind a small hill, waiting for a group of prey to get into the range of their crossbows .
A group of 100 cavalry scouts of Guo Dian was passing by without noticing anything .
Tong measured the distance and gave the signal and the direction . Two hundred repeated crossbows fired several volleys at once at the unknown targets . A few seconds later, death throes and screams of humans and horses were heard from the other side of the hill .
Tong remeasured the distance and the direction again, then he gave another order . The 200 horsemen archers aimed toward Tong’s pointing direction and adjusted their aim to the ordered distance . They fired another 5 volleys and immediately reloaded their crossbows .
However, Tong didn’t order them to fire another volley . He looked at Hua Shi who seemed to understand Tong’s intention . She locked on several targets using the shared radar map from Tong . Then she activated her homing arrows and fired several shots toward the other side of the hill .
The bright arrows made a beautiful arc of light and pieced the surviving scouts . Another death throes resounded .
Tong didn’t afraid that she would run out of her lifespans from spamming her skill because she would gain her lifespans back every time she killed someone anyway .
After a minute of beautiful arrow firework show, Tong signal the troops to charge into the injured scouts . The hundred scouts were wipe out without having a chance to fight back . ……
Later of the same day, 5PM .
Guo Dian was leading the march in peace . However, he heard a sudden scream and commotion from behind .
A kilometer away from the front troops where Guo Dian was at, another series of arrow volleys were poured at the unprepared militias, causing chaos and uproars .
Several light cavalry attempted to charge at the source of the arrows, but all of them were shot down from their horse by the mysterious glowing arrows .
\r \r \r
After five minutes of chaos, the troops and other cavalry arrived and formed up in formation, only to find out that the assailants had already escaped .
Guo Dian immediately ordered the chase . However, all remaining cavalry couldn’t trace back the ambushers and couldn’t estimate how many there were .
This caused Guo Dian to fume in anger . He ordered his troops to stop marching and made camp . He wanted to tally the casualties and the remaining troops in his hands . ……
Night of the same day .
The report of the casualty was finished . They had lost another 500 militias, 100 elite infantry, 100 cavalry and a few hundreds of injured . They also found the dead bodies of the scout team at the side of a hill, which totaled the number of dead cavalry to 200 .
From the start, they had 500 light cavalry, 1000 elite infantry and 7,500 conscripted militias . Now they were left with 300 light cavalry, 900 elite infantry and 5,700 militias .
Before they could even reach Tong’s camp, they were raid by the mysterious forces many times . They had lost two-fifth of their forces without any chance to fight back .
Guo Dian looked at the figures and held both his hands on his head . He was in despair .
At this point, he no longer doubted it . It was definitely the men from the Yuan family! ……
October 24th .
Tong, Hua Shi and his men came back to his fortress camp . Everyone resupplied themselves and got ready for another sortie at any moment .
Guo Dian Army was half a day away from the camp . Meanwhile, Han Fu would also arrive tomorrow from the south, so all soldiers who had never experienced a real skirmish was nervous while the bandits and the rowdy bunches were cheering and got pumped up for the battle .
After coming back to the camp, Tong received a disturbing report . The Yuan family withheld their reinforcement and Wen Chou and his troops withdrew back to Nan Pi!
This meant that Tong and his 5,000 men would have to face the three forces of Liu Yan, Han Fu and Guo Dian alone . Furthermore, the Yuan family forces had the potential to turn coat and betray the Zhang family .
Tong’s face turned ugly . He suspected that Feng Ji was somehow behind this move .
’Why did he suddenly change his mind? Was it his scheme from the very beginning?’
Tong was baffled . If the Zhang family was destroyed, what could Yuan family gain from this?
’My soap business? My beer secret? Pfft, in your dream!’
’Since all of you decided to cross me, then so be it . ’
’I’ll teach you lots what kind of consequences for messing with my family!’
Tong straddled toward his granaries and unloaded all the grain and the wine he had looted from Guo Dian camp without caring if there was any witness .
The provision managers and his subordinates saw the miracle scene, a mountain of grain appeared out of nowhere as if Tong conjured all of them from nothingness . Then several pots of wine appeared after .
Everyone’s jaw almost dropped on the ground and their eyes almost slipped out of their sockets .
"Provision manager!" Tong shouted .
"P-P-PRESENT SIR!!" The manager answered in panic .
"I want you to spread my words . Tomorrow, anyone that cut off an enemy head shall get one gold as a reward! Ten heads, ten gold . Or if you can take down a thousand men then I’ll give you a thousand gold!"
The crowd cheered and the stressful mood in the camp was lift . The words spread throughout the camp in a few minutes and their expression became lively again .
Then Tong had Bo Cai who was with him in the ambushes and the night raid narrated what happened a few days ago when they went out .
The stories and the achievements from the light cavalry team made their blood boiled . Attacking 9,000 men with only 200 horsemen sounded exaggerated, but all horsemen vouched that the story was true . It was an unbelievable feat .
Most importantly, they had departed with 200 men and came back in full number!
This cause the soldiers to become fanatics . Because Tong had demonstrated his cheats several times in front of them and combining with the recent achievements, now they worshiped Tong as their deity .
The antics action of the 2,000 elites made the 3,000 new recruits baffled . They hadn’t seen Tong performed any miracle in front of them yet, so they were curious what made Tong so special . ……
The long trip without a bath for days made Tong felt uncomfortable . He went back to his tent to arrange his bathing set he had the carpenters made it beforehand, only to find that Hua Shi had been there before him . She was already lying in the water-filled-bathtub naked .
Tong closed his tent in a hurry . He was afraid that those bandits could see what inside was and Hua Shi might get violated .
Seeing that Tong was protective of her, Hua Shi giggled . She wiggled her fingers to invite Tong into the bath too .
"Come here, darling . Let me see your sexy body again . "
The corner of his mouth twitched . If it wasn’t that tomorrow they might had to sortie or prepare to fight against a siege, he would have dual-cultivated with her till she dropped .
Hua Shi noticed Tong’s mood, yet she still smiled . She stopped teasing him and got out of the bathtub .
Instead of running away, she walked toward him and helped him unequipped his armors and removed his cloths . Then she helped him washing his back and cleaning him .
"Can I cuddle with you tonight?" Hua Shi asked .
"Are you thirsty again?"
"No, I just want to hug someone tonight . "
"……"
"I can get nervous too, you know? It’s my first time in a big war like this . "
"Err…… . Okay . "
"Hmm? Really?"
"But no kissing, OK? I need every bit of strength I can have tomorrow . "
"Hehe . Sure . "
That night, both of them recharged their mental strength for the big day tomorrow .
Hua Shi ended up licking Tong’s tongue in the middle of the night while he was in deep sleep . But she managed to hold herself back . She kissed his lips one more time and went to sleep obediently .