Yun Chang POV

*Sou* *Sou*…

Luckily, the arrows were beginning to diminish in number. But even so, the troops were still continuing to fall to them. We cannot go on like this… The 3 of us can hold on indefinitely thanks to our martial prowess but the troops are nowhere near as skilled as we are nor are they as strong mentally.

I looked at the troops and saw that they had begun to panic. Even though the thousand-man generals were yelling over and over for them to calm down, it’s clearly difficult for them to do so I cannot blame them. Even I, as the commanding officer, am very shaken, puzzled and confused by what has happened, much less the rank and file.

Even though their main force was already headed for Xinye city, how and why is there such a large ambush here waiting for us? From the ceaseless torrent of arrows, I could guess that there were at least 2-3,000 archers in the ambush.

And this forest is rather dense too, so how were they able to let so many arrows loose into the air? The only way would be for them to chop down enough trees to provide enough s.p.a.ce for all of their archers.

On the other hand, are there really only archers in the ambush? Or are there other units as well? Leaving aside the ambush, how many troops are there really in Fan city? When these questions sprang to mind, I began to feel frantic.

What was supposed to be a smooth sailing expedition has now become an absolute nightmare from an unexpected ambush. Firstly, we have suffered losses; secondly, our raid has been exposed; thirdly, we have no idea what the enemy numbers are. If this means that reinforcements for the vanguard have arrived, then we might even have to deal with new generals.

Wu… Why did this have to happen…

“Lord Guan Yu! It’s coming again!”

Eh?! Again?! I looked up and saw that there was a black ma.s.s made of countless arrows covering the sky once more. No good, now is not the time to panic and think of needless things, I have to quickly think of a counter-strategy…

“Zhou Cang! Bring half of the troops with you into the forest using the same arrangement as before!” I yelled as I hacked down the fastest arrows and grabbed my reins before pointing at the 2 sides, “You take left and I’ll take right! After entering the forest, you’re on your own! Move!”

“Yes!” Zhou Cang replied and roared to the troops behind as she began leading them into the forest on the left side.

“Guan Ping! Follow me!” I yelled as I led my half of the troops into the right side.

The arrows fell upon us just as we began to move. Because we were too slow, we still suffered some casualties to the rearguard as we entered the forest. After we entered the forest, I looked around and saw that we still had a fair number of troops. However, there was no time to count or reorganise as we had no idea what was waiting for us here.

“Hu… Haa… Hu…”

“Guan Ping? Are you alright?” I rode over to her and asked when I saw that she seemed to behaving difficulties catching her breath.

“Mother…” She said as she heaved and looked at me. She then gulped and closed her eyes to calm her emotions down before continuing between deep breaths, “Let me… Rest for a bit.”

“Un, I understand.”

Looks like Guan Ping is panic-stricken after the enemy sprang the ambush. That cannot be helped as Guan Ping is not too experienced. Her experience is limited to skirmishes in battlefields with no more than a few hundred troops after all. Subjecting her to seeing the horror of thousands of black arrows cas

cading down was too much. The terror of near misses and fear of getting pierced all over by arrows is even more horrifying than actually being hit.

As I thought so, I cast my gaze to the side and saw that there was empty s.p.a.ce about several hundred meters away from the road. If we were to go deeper into the forest for several hundred meters, we would probably get to where the archers were. However, they would probably have finished retreating by the time we got there.

I have to say though, that the situation is not as bad as it could be. I thought that we would run into another ambush when we entered the forest but things seem to be fine for now.

“Guan Ping, stay here with the other troops.” I said to Guan Ping and looked at the 3,000-man general and said, “Bring your troops and come with me.”

“Ah, yes.” She replied tiredly. Looks like the ambush from before has taken its toll on everyone.

“Mother…” Guan Ping called out just as I was about to start riding. I turned back and saw her looking at me worriedly.

“Guan Ping, I’ll be fine.” I nodded to Guan Ping and did my best not to look too stern as I squeezed out a smile, “Take over the position of the injured 3,000-man general for now and follow behind us with the other 3,000-man general. Make sure that you keep some distance between us just in case.”

“… Un, alright.” Guan Ping nodded and raised her glaive. From my perspective, Guan Ping’s martial prowess and martial bravery are already up to par. All she lacks now is experience and she will definitely grow a lot after this battle.

“Well then, let’s get going.”

“Yes!”

As I rode on, I saw our troops snaking into the forest, making a fair bit of noise as they did so. As expected, it is difficult to hide one’s presence in the forest without proper preparations beforehand.

I had heard the sounds of the enemy archers escaping deeper into the forest about several hundred meters in but there were no other sounds besides this. This means that we will not be able to know where the next ambush will come from. But if we do not deal with them first, we would continue to be hara.s.sed and suffer grave losses.

If my guess is correct, then the enemy troops should now be in the depths of the forest as that is the direction in which the archers retreated in. And so, if we continue in this direction, we will clash head-on with the enemy.

As I thought so, the grip on my blade tightened. With our current troop strength, I am hopeful that we can prevail in a head-on clash. The enemy should only number about 3,000 or so, half of which are archer units and half of which are infantry units.

*Shashasha*

The rustling and cracking of leaves filled the air as we continued to advance. At this time, we should probably be nearing where the archers were originally positioned.

“Lord Guan Yu, look!” Just then, the 3,000-man general beside me exclaimed as she pointed ahead.

…Un? Up ahead is?

“Jia.” I commanded as I swung the reins and galloped up to take a look.

All of a sudden, the scenery changed drastically and yellowing, branches soon gave way to a barren landscape. All the trees in the area had their branches chopped down, leaving just the trunks. This was obviously not because of a natural phenomenon. But now everything makes sense. No wonder the enemy had enough s.p.a.ce to fire that many arrows. And looking at the area, it seems like there were about 1-2,000 archers here.

But this leads to another problem. For such preparations to be made, there must have been ample time which means that these actions were not because they detected us. Could it be that Lord Xu Shu’s strategy was seen through?

“Mother, this is…” Just then, Guan Ping rode up to me.

“This is where the enemy was just now.” I said as I looked about…

Un? There are footprints? I used my blade to sweep the leaves aside and saw deep footprints in the dirt that seemed like whoever made them were heading straight ahead.

“The enemy has probably advanced in that direction.” I said as I pointed with my blade.

“Then we’re…” Guan Ping asked and trailed off.

The question that she did not complete was also one that I was wondering about. If we want to get to Fan city as soon as possible, we should meet up with Zhou Cang and rush there as soon as possible. Doing so is fraught with peril however so the best course of action is to eliminate the ambush as soon as possible before returning to our original plan.

If the enemy’s troops were numerous, they would have charged out to begin with. Since they did not, then that would mean that their troop numbers are insufficient. In that case, we should–

“Lord Guan Yu! The sounds of combat!”

“Un?” Just then, the sounds of slaughter could be heard from behind. Looks like Zhou Cang has started fighting on her side. Alright, in that case, we will–

*Sou* *Sou* *Sou* *Sou* *Sou*!

Un?! All of a sudden, the sound of bowstrings being released filled the air and when I looked into the distance, I saw a row of arrows shooting for us.

“Kuh!” I was unable to turn around in time to dodge it and had to cut down the arrow.

*Neigh*~~~ The horse shuddered and raised its front legs all of a sudden.

d.a.m.n it! Did an arrow hit my horse?!

I hurriedly grabbed the reins, hoping to be able to gain control–

“Mother! They’re coming again!”

What!? The 2nd volley is coming already?! How many archers do they have?