The rain of arrows continued.
The Qinghe Army had not attacked the coalition forces beyond 150 steps, which meant that the two new leaders who had joined the battle group had misjudged the range of the Qinghe crossbows.
But people will not make the same mistake twice in such a short period of time. Compared with Cao Rui's able-bodied soldiers, the two leaders' men had already started running back when the second arrow was shot from the crossbow.
After all, even if it was a merit, one needed to be alive to enjoy it. Although the two big bosses had no experience in regular combat, it was always right to escape in time. Besides, even if they ran in the wrong direction, the worst that could happen was that they could just charge again. At most, it would be embarrassing. In the face of life, face is nothing.
Ding Lin was frustrated. After all, he had laid the groundwork for so long, yet achieved no significant results. Seeing the situation was bad, the two teams that had been lagging behind immediately fled, many of them running two or three hundred steps away. Although Qinghe's crossbows could reach this range, their accuracy was greatly reduced, and unless they were used for covering fire, they would be ineffective.
The crossbowmen of the First Regiment were truly unable to provide a covering fire. "Forget it. Halt the shooting. Heavy infantry, advance and prepare for hand-to-hand combat," Ding Lin ordered.
"Senior, do you think Cao Rui still has the courage to move forward?" Ma Wen asked, puzzled. In his opinion, Cao Rui's personal guards were indeed courageous, having not retreated until now, but he doubted they could continue forward despite the random fire from the crossbows.
"Just watch, these people are what remain after the test of time. Those who are easy to bully have been eaten up long ago. If these people didn't have some skills, they wouldn't have survived until today." Ding Lin replied.
"Soldiers of the Qingchuan Camp!" A loud shout came from behind the remaining shield formation. It sounded like the voice of Cao Dazhang.
"Here!" For some reason, after the word "here", Marvin discovered that the remaining shield formation on the battlefield had undergone some subtle changes.
"Where is Qingchuan?" the voice continued to ask.
"Qingchuan has fallen into the hands of the enemy." Someone among the soldiers answered.
"Where is this place?"
"This is Suijiu County, five hundred miles away from Qingchuan." Another voice answered.
"For all these years, we've been hiding here and there, we've committed murder and arson, we've committed all sorts of evil, and yet we've barely managed to survive until today! Do you still remember your responsibilities?"
Cao Rui hid behind a large shield and looked around. His own team had stopped fleeing, but there were only less than 500 people left. These were the last soldiers he brought out from Qingchuan that year. They were the capital for him to sit on the throne of Qitian Village and the confidence for him to lead the coalition forces. He always felt that since he brought these soldiers out, these soldiers were his.
But today he doesn't think so.
Looking at the Qinghe Army across from him, they were still flying the banner of the Liang Empire. Yes, it was because of the collusion between the Liang and Khmers that the Dachen army stationed in Xichuan and Xiangyun was unable to hold their own. In the end, they fought and retreated. Some died, some surrendered, some fled, and some, like him, took to the mountains to become bandits, waiting for the imperial court's counterattack.
This wait lasted for many years.
He waited so long that he almost forgot that he was still a lieutenant general of Dachen, and that he was a member of the government army. He enjoyed killing, burning, and looting with a group of bandits every day. But today, the flag of Liang State in the Qinghe Army seemed to awaken him. There was always an impulse beyond reason in his heart, and he couldn't suppress it no matter how hard he tried.
That's why he shouted out "Soldiers of Qingchuan Camp" for some unknown reason.
The Qingchuan Camp is gone, and Qingchuan was reduced to ruins in the continuous wars, but the soldiers of the Qingchuan Camp are still there.
Cao Rui has always believed that the loss of the southwest by Da Chen was not due to any fault of war. Being attacked by two countries in such a small area, although one of them was a country like Cambodia, was not something that the already extremely exhausted Da Chen Dynasty could withstand. So he understood why the court gave up the southwest.
But this doesn't mean he can accept it, otherwise he would have surrendered long ago.
"As long as the Great Chen Dynasty still has a soldier in the southwest, this place will not be considered lost." Cao Rui never recognized the treaty to cede the southwest. In his view, this was just a delaying tactic. As long as the court caught its breath, it would definitely fight back.
But I don't know why, but I have been able to relax for so many years.
"Soldiers of the Qingchuan Camp, when the Khmers came, we retreated. Later, when the Liang people came, we retreated again. Today, we are the closest we have been to Qingchuan in all these years. Do you still plan to retreat?" Cao Rui asked loudly. He didn't even consider the consequences of asking this, because no matter what, he didn't plan to retreat today.
The personal soldier looked at Cao Rui and found that his commander's eyes were bloodshot and he looked like a madman. He had seen this look when Qingchuan was burned down by the enemy army and he could not forget it for a long time.
The personal guard reached into his arms, where there was a bag of soil, soil brought from Qingchuan. He squeezed it hard and shouted, "I am willing to die for the general!"
From behind each of the great shields came a furious cry: "I will die for the general!"
For a moment, the momentum on the battlefield stagnated.
Ding Lin tightened his helmet, as if the roar made him uncomfortable. He sighed and ordered, "Tell the crossbowmen in the back row to prepare to fire at maximum speed. They won't wait for us to slowly fire with our crossbows."
Suddenly, Cao Rui kicked the big shield away, raised his long sword, and without saying anything, rushed straight towards the Qinghe army. Behind him were the last 500 soldiers of the Qingchuan Camp in the southwest of the Dachen Dynasty. Everything was just like the past. He led his troops and rushed into the Khmer army, killing all the invading Khmer troops.
Cao Rui died like a hero.
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