Chapter 97
Shulang left a detachment to guard Liangzhou, while the rest continued their march. Further west lay the Gobi Desert. Beyond this desert to the northwest lay endless sands, and to the southwest, beyond the alpine meadows, lay the vast grasslands where the Xili royal family resided.
The vast desert stretches endlessly, its harsh climate inspiring awe. The Xili people hold a fortified city within this desert, difficult to defend and equally difficult to conquer. Aside from the Zhan family army of ten years ago, no Anguo has ever ventured into desert warfare; a hasty march would face countless unknowns and risks. If they could penetrate deep into the grasslands and strike directly at the Xili royal family's stronghold, victory would be assured, and decades of peace could be secured for Anguo's western regions.
But the road to the grasslands was truly arduous. Besides the northwest route, traversing the boundless desert, another route required crossing high mountains. While this route avoided the desert, it still demanded enormous resources and physical exertion, and the Xili were highly likely to have laid ambushes along the mountain path. If they launched a concentrated attack while the An army was climbing the mountains, it would be like catching a turtle in a jar.
After much deliberation, Gu Shuan decided to take the route through the Northwest and face the boundless desert.
The sun had climbed to its zenith, and the temperature felt extremely uncomfortable. Beads of sweat trickled down their foreheads, noses, and necks, soaking into their tight combat uniforms or splattering onto the dry, sandy ground. They had ventured deep into this desolate Gobi Desert, where all they could see was nothingness, except for sparse thorny plants scattered across the ground and a uniform expanse of earthy soil.
The weight of the water bottle and dry rations, though negligible, was a burden, but no one would abandon them; they were crucial for survival.
Gu Shuan reined in his warhorse, his shadow swallowed by the huge rock: "Each team should find some shade and rest for half an hour."
In the distance, Lin Yi exhaled a breath of sand-laden air, leaned back against the gravel behind him, and gulped down a mouthful of water.
The Gobi Desert is rugged and difficult to traverse. She had only recently learned to ride a horse, and after being jostled along with the team to this point, her exhausted body was almost at its limit. The sand clinging to her breath made it even more uncomfortable. There was no strong wind today, but even so, all the soldiers looked travel-worn.
Lin Yi looked at his dusty clothes and hair, tore off a piece of gauze he always carried, and tied his high ponytail into a bun.
She put her hand down and saw a kettle being handed to her.
Lin shook his head and shook his water pouch. "I still have some left."
Xie Chengnan seemed not to hear her refusal and tied the water bottle to the baggage on her horse's back.
Lin Yi forced a tired smile at him: "The general gave me the water, what will he drink?"
“The quota for a general is naturally different from that of a physician.” He leaned back next to Lin Yi, looked at her for a while, and reached out to wipe the dust off her cheek.
The touch of his fingertips on his cheek was still soft, but now rougher. Xie Chengnan turned his gaze away and looked at the seemingly endless Gobi Desert in the distance.
Huge, wind-eroded rocks stand irregularly, like monsters of time, their shadows cast by the strong light engulfing every soldier of Anguo.
"Are you tired?" He didn't ask Lin Yi if he regretted it—it was pointless to ask now. Xie Chengnan pulled him to his shoulder and said, "Take a rest."
Lin Yi didn't struggle, obediently tilting her head to his neck, her breathing gradually becoming longer and more even.
After a rest, the march continued.
The scouts who had gone ahead to explore had not returned for a long time, but three or five people were walking by in the distance.
No scouts were needed; the soldiers at the front were visible to the naked eye, and several mounted archers aimed their bows as if facing a formidable enemy!
The distance was too far to hit, but Zhan Xian still managed to stop it. "They're not enemies... they're probably just passing vagrants. Don't make any rash moves. I'll go report to the commander."
Zhan Xian's eyesight was sharper than that of ordinary people, and she could see that those people were dressed differently from the soldiers and had no weapons in their hands.
"...This area has always been unclaimed land. Those people are neither from Anguo nor from Xili. They are just vagrants and pose no threat to us."
After listening intently, Gu Shuan made up his mind, stopped worrying about it, and ordered the march to continue as usual.
Xie Chengnan rode behind Gu Shuan on horseback, somewhat surprised by his indulgence. He had also heard what Zhan Xian had said earlier, but... "Even if they are not enemies, we can still grasp some information."
"At the very least, we can ask for directions."
This was the only living person they saw besides An Jun, and a native who knew the terrain well. How could they just let him go like that? Xie Chengnan couldn't agree with that.
He tried to say something more to change the mind of the lustful commander, but then he saw Gu Shuan raise his hand without warning.
"Halt!"
The group behind them stopped in response.
As they looked several hundred paces ahead, a narrow canyon formed by massive wind-eroded rock walls on either side sent a chill down their spines.
That is an almost instinctive alertness that people feel when facing danger.
If the Xili people were to ambush in the Gobi Desert, then this stone wall would be the best choice, without exception.
This place used to be a river valley. Countless years ago, the river split and turned here. Later, it experienced drying up, constant erosion by the wind, and desertification...
Those massive rocks, dozens of feet high and seemingly fallen from the sky, were enough to conceal an ambush of a thousand soldiers.
It's quiet there now, but who knows how many arrows have already been quietly aimed at them.
A few thousand men wouldn't be a devastating blow to their massive force, but there would certainly be casualties. Furthermore, they couldn't be certain whether the Xili army had any backup plans, or if enemies were lurking behind every rock face afterward…
Gu Shuan frowned, but made a decision in a moment. This was the only way to continue their journey, and there were only two hours left before nightfall. It needed to be resolved before darkness fell so that the soldiers could set up camp and rest.
Since there's no way to avoid it, let's face it head-on: "The road ahead is narrow, the entire army dismounts—"
Before he could finish giving his orders, Zhan Xian had already ridden up to his side, turned her horse around, and quickly scanned the leading cavalry battalion. Without the slightest hesitation, she spoke: "Six teams become four teams. Shield bearers go first, the third team of mounted archers switch to short crossbows and follow, the first and second teams of mounted archers provide support. The third team, dismount with me!"
Gu Shuan reached out to grab her wrist, but she dismounted too quickly and missed.
"Zhan Xian!"
"No one knows desert warfare better than me. You are the commander-in-chief, you cannot go."
"What do you take military orders for?!"
“She’s right,” Xie Chengnan stopped him on horseback. “The morale of the army cannot be shaken. I’ll go with her.” With that, he dismounted and chased after Zhan Xian, completely ignoring the commander-in-chief.
These two are both incredibly resourceful, openly defying military orders! Did they calculate that I wouldn't punish them?!
Gu Shuan'an's face turned ashen, clearly furious, but he knew they were right. The situation ahead was unclear, so sending a portion of the troops to probe while the commander-in-chief remained in the rear to stabilize morale was the most appropriate tactic.
As the commander-in-chief, he should not personally go to dangerous situations unless absolutely necessary. What he can do is to coordinate and dispatch troops, analyze the situation, and deploy every military order to minimize casualties for the entire army.
Gu Shuan gritted her teeth, but finally relented: "Do as the battalion commander says!"
Immediately following this, a swift deployment was made: "The infantry battalion, armed with shields, will advance first, followed by the long-handled sword battalion and the cavalry archer battalion. The rest of the troops will remain in place, ready to engage at any time!"
After saying this, their skillful commander seemed to have lost all his strength. He whispered something to his worried guards behind him, who then saluted, dismounted, and caught up with Zhan Xian.
The shield-bearer moved forward, his shield in hand, getting closer and closer to the canyon, but there was not a sound of human voices, only the rustling sound of his own footsteps on the sand.
The lead shield-bearer swallowed hard and continued to step forward, but this step was a little shorter than the previous one.
Take ten steps forward... then ten more.
They had reached the edge of the canyon and were about to brush past the rock face. The lead shieldbearer's heart was pounding faster and faster, and he almost forgot to breathe!
Nothing happened—just as he was feeling relieved and overjoyed at surviving the ordeal, a dense rain of arrows suddenly came crashing down on him!
The chilling arrows, gleaming with a cold white light, shot straight towards them, but due to their sheer number, they appeared as a dark, overwhelming mass, like falling stones. In an instant, dozens of shields moved swiftly, forming a massive circular wall that protected the Anguo soldiers within from three sides.
The sounds of "thud" and "thud" rang out one after another, as arrows slammed into the shields, the sounds dull and powerful!
Suddenly the dull thuds weakened, but then an even heavier force, like splitting a mountain, struck the point where the shields met!
The first row's defense is falling apart!
Without the protection of their shields, the outermost ring of soldiers were quickly struck by the following arrows, densely packed like hedgehogs!
If this continues, not only will we be unable to move an inch, but each row of shield soldiers will also be breached one by one. We must defeat the enemy as soon as possible!
"Damn it—!" Xie Chengnan's eyes were bloodshot with rage. Under the enemy's powerful offensive, he didn't know how far his voice could carry. He roared hoarsely, "Second rank, wedge formation! Spears ready—"
Several heavy crossbow bolts from the enemy shattered the shields of the first rank of soldiers with the force of a stone shattering, and also opened a crack in the hearts of the An army, who had not fought for a long time. Panic and fear rushed in through the crack.
The second rank of shield soldiers was defeated in the same way before they could fill in.
This won't do!
Xie Chengnan tossed Zhan Xian a "You cover me!" and charged to the front lines. Arrows rained down, leaving gashes on his silver armor, but he dodged many more using his goose-feather saber and nimble movements. He couldn't avoid the few arrows he managed on his own, as they were struck down by arrows from Zhan Xian close behind.
Xie Chengnan rushed to the front of the formation, took the giant shield, and stepped over the fallen corpses of the An army soldiers. Together with the shield soldiers of the third and fourth ranks, they managed to push the encirclement more than ten feet away.
A terrifying force slammed into the shield, numbing half his body. His knees buckled under the immense force, sinking into the sand, and his heels slipped backward. Xie Chengnan clenched his teeth, his shoulders burning from the chafing of his silver armor. "Hold on—don't retreat!" he cried, each word uttered with immense difficulty.
"Spears, follow! Mo Dao Battalion! Prepare to break out!" Zhan Xian shouted sharply when she saw that the retreat had stopped.
At the moment when the shield bearers were almost parallel to the canyon wall, Xie Chengnan, shield in hand, broke away from the formation first. As his giant shield slammed into the Li army's heavy crossbow cart, he retreated in an incredible manner, dodging three arrows that came flying at him, and retreated back into the shield formation.
At the same time, a spear thrust out from behind, piercing the mouth of a heavy crossbow. The spearman's momentum didn't wane; he repeatedly struck bodies before withdrawing, drawing blood, and thrusting out again!
Xie Chengnan leaned against a soldier beside him, breathing heavily. The movements he'd just endured were far too strenuous for his body. But he had no time to recover; the battle had only just begun after breaking through the heavy crossbow defenses!
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