puff!
A short spear pierced Zhongli Mei's chest first. At the critical moment, Zhongli Mei swayed his body to avoid his heart, but it was still a fatal wound.
Moreover, in this state, it's impossible to finish that sword strike, at least that's what Ainz thought.
puff!
A human head flew up; it was none other than Bone's head!
Liu Fei, who had been cheering loudly, suddenly stopped his ugly voice abruptly, like a male duck whose neck had been grabbed.
Maodun sneered, "Useless trash! You deserve to die!"
Zhongli Mei pulled the short spear from his chest, and the wound healed rapidly. He walked over, picked up Gu A's head, and murmured, "You deserve it. Let me take a divine medicine."
Then, Zhongli Mei roared at the cloaked Hun soldiers charging towards him, "You monsters, come on! Let's see who dies first!"
The cloaked Huns reined in their horses one by one. Damn it, who is the real monster? He even killed one of the Ten Great Ghost Generals. The key is that he was pierced through the heart by a short spear, yet he didn't die. He also has an immortal body!
"withdraw!"
It's unclear who shouted, but the remaining nine hundred-odd cloaked Xiongnu cavalrymen all turned their horses around and returned to their headquarters.
"Stop chasing! Take our brothers' bodies and go!" Zhongli Mei picked up his halberd and mounted his horse again. The casualties in this battle were too heavy, but they had killed one of the enemy's generals.
Moments later, in front of the Xiongnu army.
Maodun pointed at the nine hundred cloaked Hun soldiers who had escaped and waved his hand lightly, "Kill them!"
The remaining nine members of the Ten Great Ghost Generals rushed forward and quickly killed all the cloaked figures who possessed immortality, as easily as cutting melons and vegetables!
Maodun smiled and turned his head. "Liu Fei, do you want to be immortal? There's just one spot available among the Ten Ghost Generals."
"..." Liu Fei.
Chapter 315 Retreat
The morale that had been boosted by Zhongli Mei's killing of the enemy general plummeted to rock bottom. The Chu army lost thousands of men to kill less than a hundred cloaked Xiongnu cavalrymen.
But Modu ordered them executed without hesitation, as easily as killing chickens. Doesn't this mean that the Xiongnu had many more of these immortal cavalry? And many generals like Gua?
Zhongli Mei, carrying Gu A's head, led the remaining troops back to his main army and then briefly explained the problems he had discovered during the battle.
Zhang Liang frowned. "General Ji, order the entire army to retreat to Yanmen under alternating cover. Even if the enemy only has more than 10,000 of these immortal soldiers, we have no chance of winning. If we drag it out until night, the situation will probably be even worse."
"Alright, strategist and General Zhong, go first. There's no need for alternating cover. I will personally lead 50,000 cavalry to cover the rear!" Ji Bu said solemnly.
Zhongli Mei wiped his sweat. "General Ji, be careful. Although I killed the enemy general and discovered their weakness, I also exposed the effects of our divine medicine. If the enemy cuts off our heads..."
"It's alright, I'll be careful. When you retreat, send a fast horse back to Yanmen to inform them so they can prepare. What we're worried about now is the Xiongnu following us and taking advantage of the situation to attack Yanmen City. But even if we retreat into Yanmen City, we might not be able to hold it for long."
Therefore, after General Zhong returns to Yanmen and informs Han Xin of the specific situation, he should not linger in Yanmen, but immediately go to Jinyang to inform the Empress of the news that the Xiongnu army is immortal, and notify His Majesty as soon as possible.
"At the same time, I request that Prince Xiang Zhuang lead the Divine Martial Guard to Yanmen to provide support, and that you personally escort the Empress back to Jiangdong to temporarily take refuge in the Divided Dimension, and then ask Immortal An to take charge of Zhongshan." Ji Bu said urgently.
Upon hearing this, Zhang Liang's expression changed drastically. "How could the Empress be in Jinyang? It's too dangerous! Yanmen is only about 500 li from Jinyang. The Xiongnu could very well send their elite troops to bypass Yanmen and attack Jinyang directly!"
Zhongli Mei's eyes widened. "Old Ji! Are you out of your mind? How could you hide such an important matter from me?"
Ji Bu sighed, "It's not that I deliberately concealed it, but the Empress forbade me to say it. The desert is thousands of miles away from Jiangdong, making it inconvenient to transmit messages. The Xiongnu are coming with great force, and the Empress wants to share the burden for His Majesty and does not want to delay His Majesty's important affairs. Therefore, she secretly followed the army to Jinyang in preparation for any eventuality."
"There's no point in saying more now. General Zhong, I will lead the army to retreat. You should immediately take your men to Jinyang. When you pass through Yanmen, leave one person behind to explain the situation."
Zhang Liang made a quick decision. Although he knew that with the protection of the Divine Martial Guards, Yu Ji should be safe, there was always a chance of something going wrong. No matter how elite the Divine Martial Guards were, their numbers were still limited.
"Alright! I'll be off right away!" Zhongli Mei dared not delay and led a hundred elite soldiers, one man and two horses, to Yanmen immediately.
Ji Bu also regretted it. He should have fought to the death to stop Yu Ji from coming. But who could have imagined that the Xiongnu would be so fierce?
However, before the army set off, Yu Ji repeatedly reminded them not to underestimate the enemy, as the strength of the Xiongnu might be far beyond everyone's imagination. She also gave them a life-saving medicine. Could it be that Yu Ji already knew that this situation would occur at that time?
Zhang Liang thought for a moment and then said, "General Ji, many people have seen the immortality of the Xiongnu Cloaked Army, so it's best not to hide this matter. Anyway, everyone is used to extraordinary things."
The key is the strategy. Don't aim to kill the enemy; preserve your strength as much as possible. The entire army should fight and retreat. Those who can be beheaded should be beheaded; those who cannot be beheaded should have their cloaks destroyed. I suspect those cloaks aren't just for uniformity; they might have some special function.
"The strategist is right, I know what to do." Ji Bu said, and began to deploy his troops, explaining how to deal with the cloaked, immortal Xiongnu soldiers.
Zhang Liang followed the plan and quickly organized the army to retreat, discarding or destroying any unnecessary supplies.
It's not so easy for an army of 200,000 to retreat. Even if 50,000 are left behind, 150,000 will still have to retreat back to Yanmen. Fortunately, this place is not too far from Yanmen, so the army did not bring too much food.
Seeing the main force of the Chu army retreating from the high ground, Maodun sneered, "If you don't have the courage to fight a decisive battle, why bother leaving the city? The Central Plains are full of rats, that's absolutely true."
"Great Chanyu, now is the perfect opportunity to annihilate the main force of the Chu army! Once we wipe out these 200,000 Chu troops, the entire Central Plains will belong to you, Great Chanyu!" Liu Fei exclaimed excitedly.
"Do I need you to teach me how to fight? Send down the order: all units of the vanguard advance on Yanmen Pass!" This time, Maodun did not directly send out the Ghost Generals and the Cloaked Army, but instead first dispatched 100,000 ordinary Xiongnu cavalry.
Baideng Mountain is the mountain where Liu Ji was besieged by the Xiongnu for seven days and seven nights.
In fact, this mountain is only about 20 miles away from Yanmen City. If they hadn't been surrounded and had no other way out, it would have been much safer to retreat to Yanmen City.
"They're here! This time it's real! Quickly light the signal fire!" The Chu soldier on lookout pointed to the army below the mountain and said.
The remaining soldiers immediately lit a fire, and a plume of smoke rose into the sky...
At Yanmen City, Han Xin and Li Zuoche clenched their fists, feeling that every breath was so long.
If it were a complete rout of the entire 200,000-strong Chu army, a second wave of attacks would have been imminent. Fortunately, that didn't happen.
Then, a group of about a hundred riders arrived at the north gate of Yanmen City.
"Open the door immediately!" Han Xin spotted Zhongli Mei at a glance. If it was just a matter of rushing back to deliver a message, Zhongli Mei wouldn't have needed to come in person. There must be something else important going on.
Squeak squeak...
The city gates opened, and Zhongli Mei led his troops in single file.
Han Xin and Li Zuoche also arrived at the city walls to greet him. "General Zhong, how is the battle going?"
"Oh, don't even mention it. The Huns have a cloaked army that is very powerful. They are all monsters that are immortal. No matter how badly they are wounded or how much blood they bleed, they will not die. The only way to kill them is to cut off their heads. Come, let me show you my spoils of war."
After saying this, Zhongli Mei took a pale human head off his waist, with two conspicuous fangs.
"Hiss..." Han Xin and Li Zuoche gasped.
"I need to go and ask for reinforcements. I'll leave one person behind to explain in detail. Ji Bu will lead the cavalry to cover the rear, and Zhang Liang will lead the main force to retreat. The Xiongnu will definitely pursue us. You all prepare to provide support. Farewell!" After saying this, Zhongli Mei retied the head, mounted his horse, and was about to leave.
"General Zhong, please wait. I see that your warhorses are a bit tired. Why don't you change horses in the city before continuing? Warhorses are already prepared in the stables next to the south gate," Li Zuoche said, bowing.
"Good!" Zhongli Mei was overjoyed, then solemnly said, "Tonight will definitely be difficult. Those cloaked soldiers are extremely agile after dismounting, which is probably why the Xiongnu were able to easily break through the city."
"General Zhong, rest assured, we will do our utmost," Han Xin said, clasping his hands in a fist salute.
Li Zuoche was equally solemn, declaring, "We will live and die with Yanmen!"
"Take care!" Zhongli Mei clasped his hands in a bow, then spurred his horse and rode away.
Meanwhile, the main force of the Xiongnu army was advancing towards Yanmen at a leisurely pace.
As Liu Fei watched the Chu army getting closer and closer to Yanmen, he became increasingly anxious. With 200,000 Chu troops defending the city, even those cloaked soldiers would have a hard time breaking through, right?
"Great Chanyu, why haven't you sent out the ghost generals yet? With just ordinary cavalry, they can't even take down that Chu army covering the rear, can they?" Liu Fei asked, craning his neck.
"He hasn't arrived yet, what's your hurry?" Maodun suddenly felt a bit hungry, so he grabbed Liu Fei, aimed at his neck, and took a bite!
"!!!!!!!!!!" Liu Fei.
Chapter 316 Ominous Sign
At Baideng Mountain, the second and third smoke signals rose almost simultaneously.
"Hurry! Speed up! We must get into the city before dark!" Ji Bu glanced at the sky and, for some reason, felt that the day had passed by too quickly; the sun was almost setting.
"Here you go!"
The Chu soldiers following Ji Bu gritted their teeth and took turns covering each other as they retreated. The Xiongnu cavalry behind them pursued them relentlessly like a pack of bloodthirsty wolves, rushing over to take a bite from time to time.
After passing Baideng Mountain, there were only twenty li left to travel. For a normal cavalryman, it would not take long to reach the destination, but this cavalry army was exhausted and weary.
At this moment, Ji Bu's eyes widened suddenly. The cloaked Xiongnu army, which had been nowhere to be seen, finally appeared in the rear, numbering no less than ten thousand!
"Pass the order! Break through with all your might! No cover needed! Run straight into Yanmen City! If your horses can't run anymore, abandon them and run on foot! If you still can't run, throw away all your weapons and armor! No looking back! Anyone who disobeys will be executed!"
"Here you go!"
Military orders are absolute, especially when an order to run is given when you should be fleeing; there is no reason to disobey.
Ji Bu was also running, but he gradually slowed down. Some people understood his meaning and slowed down as well, while others, who were already injured and couldn't run fast, simply stopped to catch their breath and perhaps still be able to hold their own.
Without the heroic fervor of fighting to the death, Ji Bu and the Chu soldiers who stayed behind to cover the rear simply waited for the enemy to arrive, and then launched a counterattack at a suitable distance.
Whoosh whoosh whoosh...
The Hun arrows came; some rushed forward, some did not. This was their final lament.
But even more Huns were buried with them!
Puff! Puff! Puff! ...
Ji Bu was covered in blood, and there were no other Chu soldiers around him, but he still persisted. More and more Xiongnu soldiers surrounded him, but one by one they lost their lives.
If the halberd breaks, then get another one; if the warhorse dies, then dismount and fight on foot.
Ji Bu alone attracted the attention of tens of thousands of Xiongnu pursuers. These Xiongnu soldiers were all wondering how many more people he could kill.
No one doubted that they had caught a big fish, but they were the ones who ended up dying.
If the ghost generals and cloaked soldiers are terrifying because they can survive no matter how many wounds they suffer or how much blood they bleed, then the fact that a person can kill hundreds or even thousands of people without a scratch and has endless stamina demonstrates an invincible attitude.
Once the King Realm's Overbearing Aura is mastered, every move he makes has an explosive effect, meaning faster attacks and dodges. As long as his stamina keeps up, he can run rampant in the chaos of battle.
Ji Bu had a stamina pill in his mouth, chewing it every now and then to keep himself energized.
Finally, the Hunnic cloaked army arrived on the battlefield. The ordinary Hunnic soldiers stepped aside, for the strong should be defeated by monsters.
Ji Bu threw away the short spear he had picked up casually, drew his own sword, which was none other than a replica of the Emperor's Sword!
“For beheading, swords and similar weapons are more convenient,” Ji Bu beckoned to the enemy general.
"Kill him." A pale-faced ghost general lightly waved his ghostly claw, causing the surrounding cloaked soldiers to surround and kill Ji Bu.