Chapter 359 Battle

As soon as he finished speaking, the rest of the people grabbed their knives and scattered to both sides. Traps had already been set up around them, and anyone who entered would be in danger.

Li Mingde looked up at the spot where Lin Changning and his men were lying in ambush halfway up the mountain, narrowed his eyes, and then quietly led his men to retreat to the sides of the forest.

The camp was still brightly lit, but the people had all been evacuated and were lying in ambush on both sides. There were about seven or eight thousand people who came this time. Li Mingde himself brought half of the troops, but it took a lot of time for these five thousand people to evacuate.

Almost as soon as they arrived at the designated location, deafening battle cries erupted from the side of their rear camp.

Li Mingde's face lit up with joy, his intuition telling him that the man had taken the bait.

When Commander Zhang and his men arrived at the camp where Li Mingde and his men had been staying, they found the brightly lit camp eerily quiet and immediately realized they had fallen into a trap.

Just as Commander Zhang was about to order a retreat, a group of rebels suddenly appeared out of nowhere, charging out of the darkness and catching them completely off guard.

"There's an ambush! Retreat!"

Commander Zhang roared as he ordered his men to retreat out of the camp, but it was too late. Suddenly, groups of people appeared out of nowhere in the surrounding woods, lined up in rows.

This group even formed a formation, and quickly pounced on the attackers after emerging from the forest.

They divided his group into small sections, in groups of four or five, and then surrounded and killed them.

Commander Zhang realized he had fallen into a trap and, with a few of his personal guards, attempted to break out from one side.

They had only gone halfway when they saw another group of people gathering from the other direction.

Having arrived here, he could easily realize that he had fallen into the enemy's trap. After forcing himself to calm down, he looked around at the fighting crowd and then suddenly looked up at a road.

It's the road that leads to the middle of the mountain.

Thinking this, Commander Zhang waved his hand and shouted, "Everyone, break out from the mountainside!!!"

People were lying in ambush in several groves at the foot of the mountain, and in a short time, many of their men were killed or wounded.

It was still unknown how many traitors were hiding in the forest at the foot of the mountain, so Commander Zhang had no choice but to send his men to break out from the mountainside first.

After the imperial troops regrouped and gradually formed a resistance force, Li Mingde and his men were unable to subdue these people for the time being. They could only slowly force them to one place.

Commander Zhang led his men and quickly retreated towards the mountainside.

This was exactly what Lin Changning wanted.

Lin Changning, who was halfway up the mountain, waved his hand and ordered the arrows to be fired. A barrage of arrows rained down from the mountainside, heading straight for the people who were retreating to the mountainside.

Screams echoed around Commander Zhang, who was surrounded and protected in the center. As the number of soldiers and guards around him dwindled, he was filled with rage.

Lin Changning ordered two rounds of fire, which immediately reduced his men by nearly one-fifth.

As the remaining enemies used the rocks and trees in the forest as cover to avoid the final round of fire, Lin Changning fired a cloud-piercing arrow into the sky.

A sharp whistle reached Li Mingde's ears below. A hint of surprise flashed across Li Mingde's face. They had agreed that once Lin Changning released the Cloud Piercing Arrow, they would rush towards the exit of the valley.

Li Mingde relayed the order: "Have the people inside the exit withdraw, give them a chance."

After saying that, he waited quietly.

After receiving orders, the groups of men at the valley exit quickly retreated to the side.

Commander Zhang and his men in the valley saw that the people at the exit had retreated. Although they suspected it was a trap, they had no better option at the moment.

Commander Zhang gritted his teeth and led his troops headlong into Lin Changning's trap.

Li Mingde and his men closely followed behind Commander Zhang and his men, slowly forcing them towards the valley exit.

Once they arrived at the designated location, Li Mingde quickly led his men to retreat. This was the place where Lin Changning and his group had previously discussed setting a trap.

Thinking that pursuing too closely might accidentally injure their own people, Li Mingde waved his hand, signaling his main force to stop.

They watched helplessly as thousands of people rushed towards the exit.

Lin Changning stood on the mountainside, squinting at the firelight below. He watched as the firelight slowly moved towards the place in the valley where they had set a trap.

He narrowed his eyes, waved his hand, and said, "Release!"

No sooner had the words left his mouth than the ropes binding the neatly arranged boulders on the mountainside were instantly cut, accompanied by a rumbling, thunderous sound.

While those below were still somewhat unaware, the boulders had already rolled down the slope under the cover of night.

However, one round took away the lives of nearly half of them.

Commander Zhang was lucky; he managed to dodge a massive boulder. However, those around him were not so fortunate. Apart from the dozens of personal guards he had brought, only three or four remained alive, protecting him as they rushed out of the valley.

Lin Changning led his men to use all the traps they had set up, then drew his sword and charged downhill with them.

"Charge! Kill them!"

As soon as he finished speaking, Lin Changning took the lead and sped downhill. Behind him, Li Mingde heard deafening shouts and towering flames coming from the mountainside.

In an instant, it became clear that a full-scale attack was about to begin.

He brandished his sword, leaped onto his horse, and roared, "Soldiers, follow me, kill!!"

With that, he brandished his knife and charged forward, taking the lead.

Of the several commanders who served under Commander Zhang, only Commander Zhao remains. The others were killed by Lin Changning and Li Mingde.

Some were crushed to death by the boulders falling from the sky, others were riddled with arrows. If Commander Zhao hadn't been standing a little further back today, trying to protect Wei Shao, he would surely have been one of the commanders who died today if he had been at the front.

However, he was also feeling uneasy. Seeing that the valley exit was blocked by huge rocks and that a group of enemies were surrounding him from the mountainside and behind him, Commander Zhao sighed.

I felt that I was probably doomed today.

Wei Shao, his face pale, remained outside the valley, with four or five guards left behind by Commander Zhao.

Because he was injured, Wei Shao did not participate in the raid and was left outside the valley by Commander Zhao.

Hearing the deafening shouts of battle echoing through the valley, Wei Shao became restless. He tugged at the sleeve of one of his bodyguards and said with some unease.

"Let's go in and take a look."

The guard left by Wei Shao's side was stunned for a moment, seemingly not expecting Wei Shao to make such a request, but now he felt that something was indeed wrong.

Looking at the towering flames and shouts of battle in the valley, it didn't seem like a surprise attack, but rather like a sneak attack.

Thinking about it this way, the guards couldn't help but worry about their master's safety.