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Chapter 1106: Turning Back, Left Alone Once More
🕑 Added 2024-11-25 07:49:30 +0000 UTCZhang Xiu, now without his tiger-headed golden spear, grabbed a nearby long spear. He gave it a quick twirl, but before he could strike an enemy, it shattered into several pieces.
Nevertheless, Ma Chao managed to narrowly escape death. Otherwise, he would have become the first mighty general to be taken down by an army.
Zhang Xiu, now exhausted and barely holding on, fought on desperately. In ten moves, he managed to kill Kebineng and then cut down the command flag. Without taking a moment to rest, he led the Xiliang Iron Cavalry in a forceful push against the retreating Xianbei forces.
He even charged headlong into the central army. Fortunately, much of the Xianbei’s main force had been redirected to deal with Pang De, who was countering Ma Teng's multiple attacks. Otherwise, not even Zhang Xiu’s formidable abilities would have been enough to break through.
"Catch!" Zhang He shouted as he tossed another long spear, which had been hanging from his saddle, toward Zhang Xiu. Ever since his weapon had been cut in half by Guan Yu, Zhang He made it a habit to always carry extra spears.
"Thanks!" Zhang Xiu caught the spear. Although his body was wracked with pain, and he was deep in enemy territory where he couldn’t use his inner energy, his skill was more than sufficient to cut through the Xianbei soldiers. Killing elite generals might have been a struggle, but against ordinary troops, he had no problem.
Within moments, Zhang Xiu reached Ma Chao’s side, sweeping away the surrounding enemies. At this point, the command flag had been cut down, and the Xianbei forces were in disarray. All that remained was to cause total chaos and capture as many prisoners as possible.
"You’ve got guts, kid," Zhang Xiu muttered, wincing from his injuries as he hoisted Ma Chao up. Seeing the numerous wounds covering Ma Chao’s body, Zhang Xiu could tell just how fiercely he had fought.
"Hmph, I could take you down now," Ma Chao, regaining his senses, boasted when he saw Zhang Xiu, though his words were accompanied by a wince from the pain of his injuries.
"You’d better use some alcohol to disinfect and bandage yourself, or your men will all die soon," Zhang Xiu retorted, tossing Ma Chao back onto his horse, Li Feisha. While saving Ma Chao was an obligation as an ally, that didn’t mean he was going to get chummy with the brash young warrior.
Once Ma Teng and Han Sui broke through the central army’s defenses, the battle was decided. Except for Mo Hutu, who managed to escape, most of the Xianbei leaders, including Kebineng, were killed in the battle. The Western Xianbei would not invade again for at least another twenty years.
However, the priority now was to completely wipe out the retreating Xianbei forces, not to allow them a chance to escape. Therefore, after the victory, both Ma Teng and Cao Ren led their troops in pursuit, while the Xianbei who couldn’t flee northward were forced to escape eastward, where there were no pursuers.
"Ahh!" Ma Chao awoke after a full night’s rest, feeling almost fully recovered. He flipped his blanket aside and called out, "Someone, come here!"
"General, you’re awake!" A soldier rushed in excitedly.
"How are my personal guards?" Ma Chao didn’t remember much after meeting Ma Teng, but he clearly recalled the soldiers who had fought alongside him.
"Never mind, take me to see them," Ma Chao said, a pained expression crossing his face. If he hadn’t overestimated his own abilities, the situation wouldn’t have turned out so badly.
As Ma Chao approached the wounded soldiers’ camp, the strong scent of alcohol hit him. It was common knowledge now that alcohol was used for disinfecting wounds, but only someone like Liu Bei would be generous enough to provide it for his troops. This time, Cao Ren had agreed to do the same in light of the great victory and Ma Chao’s significant contribution.
To be fair, Cao Cao often overlooked such details. His focus on other matters meant he didn’t realize the vast difference in cost between saving a veteran soldier and training a new one.
"General!" As soon as Ma Chao appeared, several soldiers struggled to their feet, their faces alight with admiration. Many more tried but were too injured to rise fully.
"Stay down, all of you," Ma Chao said, looking at the wounded men in the camp. "I came to tell you that we won. Though, I’m sure you already knew that!"
A resounding cheer erupted from the camp, the soldiers’ voices hoarse but filled with pride and excitement.
"From now on, you are all my personal guards. As long as I, Ma Chao, have food, you won’t go hungry. I’ll lead you to victory after victory, just like yesterday!" Ma Chao declared loudly.
Another cheer rose from the soldiers, their spirits undaunted by the threat of death.
"Those of you who are uninjured, come with me to claim some merit and seize some slaves!" Ma Chao laughed. He loved this atmosphere, the camaraderie of victory.
Several wounded soldiers tried to rise from their beds, eager to follow him.
"Those who are injured, stay here and recover. There will be plenty of battles in the future, and my merits are shared by everyone!" Ma Chao said, pushing one soldier back down onto his bed.
With Ma Chao’s firm command, fewer than a hundred soldiers were able to stand. After the brutal battle, nearly everyone had been wounded.
Out of the seven thousand personal guards who had charged into battle, only about two thousand remained. Despite the heavy losses, the survivors’ resilience and refusal to break under pressure meant that they had become a force to be reckoned with.
Leading his group of over eighty soldiers, Ma Chao, his body still bandaged, set out. This time, he was chasing after fleeing enemies, and he had no fear. This was an opportunity to reap rewards.
"How do you feel now? Is there any enemy left in this world that you wouldn’t dare to face?" Ma Chao asked, laughing as Li Feisha galloped joyfully beneath him.
"As long as you lead us, General, what do we have to fear?" replied a soldier with a scarred face, his head wrapped in bandages. The group had no more fear left in them. If they could fight an enemy twenty times their size, what else could scare them?
"We will follow the King to the death!" another soldier with bandages on his shoulder responded solemnly.
"Good! One day, I will lead you to ride across the world. Whether it’s the White Horse Volunteers, the Xiliang Iron Cavalry, or the Bingzhou Wolf Cavalry, I, Ma Chao, will lead you to defeat them all!" Ma Chao roared confidently.
A chorus of cheers rose up as every soldier raised their weapons in response.
Ma Chao’s voice, along with the joyful banter of his soldiers, was carried away by the wind. As for the promise he made that day, it would be remembered forever, even when the day came that he looked back and found himself standing alone.
Meanwhile, Lü Bu killed another Xianbei soldier with cold precision. On his journey southward, he had encountered many Xianbei stragglers.
"It feels like the general’s killing intent is growing stronger," a junior soldier whispered.
"Well, Hu people deserve to die," another soldier responded indifferently.
"Spread out, and kill every Hu person you encounter. Leave no one alive!" Lü Bu commanded, having deduced that the Cao army had dealt a major blow to the Xianbei. Although he was curious how they had managed it, his focus was on exterminating the remaining enemy.
"Yes, sir!" Lü Bu’s soldiers, hearing the order, split into teams of five and spread out, while Lü Bu himself led a small group in pursuit of the fleeing Xianbei.
With a single swing of his halberd, Lü Bu cut down more than ten Hu people in front of him. Though a few didn’t seem to be Xianbei, he didn’t care—they were all Hu people to him.
Ma Chao, accompanied by four or five soldiers, had gathered a group of Xianbei captives and was preparing to lead them away when a sudden blade of energy shot toward him. Instinctively, Ma Chao leapt forward, narrowly avoiding the attack, but the soldiers who had been joking with him moments before were cut in half, just like the Xianbei captives.
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