Chapter 54
It was clearly daytime, but the sky was getting darker and darker.
Eight hundred elite soldiers were lying in ambush in the dry grass at the foot of the cliff.
The wind, carrying the Gobi Desert sand, mercilessly whipped the warriors' armor, yet no one moved. Even the warhorses behind them were battle-hardened, their muzzles and mouths restrained by leather straps. They only pricked up their ears and looked around vigilantly.
Mu Yunqing was on his horse at the very front. The scout half-knelt beside him, lying on the ground and listening carefully for a moment. He then reported back, "No trace of enemy scouts! The vanguard of a hundred cavalrymen will arrive within a quarter of an hour!"
Mu Yun nodded slightly, put two fingers to his lips, and blew a lifelike partridge whistle. After waiting for a moment, two calls came back from above the cliff in response.
"One in the east and two in the west. We've spotted three scouts. Lead your men to intercept them!"
The scout immediately took the order and left. Mu Yunqing then said to the deputy commander, "Don't rush to attack the hundred or so people later. Let them all in... Once the follow-up troops have passed the cliff, you lead the vanguard battalion to intercept them, and I will lead the flying cavalry battalion to block their throat!"
"clear!"
Mu Yunqing glanced at the dark clouds rolling in the sky, suppressed the lingering irritation in his heart, and waited silently with everyone else.
Another short whistle.
The enemy scouts' whistling signal was delayed.
The deputy general said happily: "We succeeded! Now we just wait to catch the turtle in the jar!"
Mu Yunqing's eyebrows suddenly raised: "Don't underestimate the enemy... but don't let any of them escape! I want them to come and never come back!"
"Understood!" The deputy general's eyes lit up with fire, and he patted the long sword in his hand. "I've been frustrated for so long, and finally I have a weapon that suits me. Brothers can't wait any longer! Today, let these barbarians see the true strength of our Mu family army!"
As the military order was issued, countless tiny noises suddenly erupted from the dry grass behind them. These were the sounds of soldiers drawing their swords and drawing their longbows. At this moment, the eight hundred cavalrymen were like hungry wolves, waiting for the enemy's arrival fiercely and expectantly.
Finally, the sound of horse hooves like thunder was heard outside the cliff.
At the same time, snowflakes began to fall, marking the beginning of an early memorial for the grand death that was about to take place.
*
Zhao Congyun, holding the general's orders, sat upright in the tent, scanning the group of people below who were looking at him with hostile eyes. "I repeat, I have no intention of usurping power. General Mu is still ill, and Mu Yunqing has fallen into the enemy's trap... If you continue to nag at me, you will be wiped out. You will have to collect the bodies of your young commander and his comrades!"
Everyone was immediately shocked when they heard this: "Bullshit! Why should we believe you?"
"He's a traitor imprisoned by the Young Marshal himself... We must not fall for his tricks!"
"You're clearly trying to take advantage of this opportunity to join forces with the enemy!"
"Capture him! Wait for the young marshal to come back and deal with him!"
…
Amidst the noise, only Zhang Duo remained silent.
He cooperated with Mu Yunqing in the frame-up throughout the process, and naturally knew that Zhao Congyun was wronged, but for the sake of the young marshal's reputation, he could not tell the truth, but he could not ignore the current situation.
Because he believed that what Zhao Congyun said was true!
"Generals, what if... what if he didn't lie to us... what if the young marshal is really in danger?!"
Zhang Duo's voice was not loud, but it happened to catch the tone of everyone's conversation, making it sound very powerful.
A bearded man shouted, "Which battalion are you from? How dare you speak for a traitor here?"
Zhang Duo said anxiously, "I'm just a captain of the guard battalion. My words carry little weight. You may not believe me... but this man is the emperor's younger brother. If he were to collaborate with the enemy, he would be betraying his own people. What would he be trying to achieve?"
"Wait a minute!" He rushed out of the tent and quickly returned, clutching a handful of broken arrowheads. "This is the batch of bows and arrows with problems. You can check them yourself! As for General Mu, he's lying in the general's mansion right now. The military doctors have examined him. It's indeed a relapse of his old illness. He won't be able to get out of bed for a while. Are we just going to sit there and do nothing?"
Everyone was speechless for a moment. The bearded man took the arrows, his brows twisted into knots. "...What the hell is going on?"
Yue Mingming explained, "I guess these arrows have long been rusted and unusable. Someone coated them with molten iron to pass them off as inferior quality. Look at the broken parts – they're the result of years of rust. They'll break at the slightest touch and won't hurt anyone. On the battlefield, they'll be like toys!"
She hesitated, then added, "It's unclear...how many of these newly arrived weapons are defective."
Everyone was shocked!
The bearded man suddenly shouted, "Who in this tent has a new weapon?"
Three people immediately stood up and took off the weapons at their waists. They were two brand new ring-handled swords and an iron sword, which were greased to a shiny shine, showing how much they took care of them.
The bearded man turned to Yue Mingming and said, "Since you know about weapons, could you help me take a look?"
Yue Mingming didn't refuse. She picked up the iron sword and weighed it, her brows furrowing slightly. Her self-taught knowledge of weapon forging told her that the sword was not the right weight.
Everyone watched her with bated breath. Yue Mingming stretched out his hand and flicked the sword again, then put it to his ear and listened carefully. After a moment, he changed to the ring-handled sword, checked them one by one, and sighed softly.
"Are...are there any problems?" Zhang Duo said tremblingly.
Yue Mingming didn't say anything. He held a ring-handled sword in each hand and chopped down straight at them. There was a dull sound, and the two swords broke at the same time!
The broken parts were covered with rust, and a stream of dark red rusty water flowed out and dripped into the tent, like a pool of ominous blood.
Everyone looked at this scene in disbelief.
The bearded man clanged and drew the long sword from his waist. This sword was passed down from his ancestors. Although the blade was chipped, it was still usable, so he was not eligible for the new weapon this time. A few days ago, he was still sulking about this, but now it seemed like a blessing.
He swung his arm and slashed at the last iron sword.
The ending was not unexpected, but it made everyone feel like they were falling into an icy cave - the iron sword broke into three pieces and shattered into a pile of silver on the ground.
It seems that there is a problem not only with the bows and arrows, but with all the weapons!
"This...what should we do? What should the young marshal and the others do?" Everyone finally understood what Mu Yunqing and the Vanguard Battalion and the Flying Cavalry Battalion were about to face!
On the battlefield, if a soldier has no weapons, what is the difference between him and a lamb to be slaughtered?
The bearded man's eyes immediately turned red, and he fell to his knees with a thud: "I am Deng Fan from the supply camp. I obey the prince's orders and leave the city to rescue the young marshal!"
After him, everyone in the tent knelt down.
"Jiang Yu from the Imperial Guard is willing to obey the prince's orders!"
"Li Chengxiao from the Engineering Battalion is willing to obey the prince's orders!"
"Pei Yuan from the Divine Machine Camp, I am willing to obey the prince's orders!"
…
Zhang Duo also knelt down. "I am Zhang Duo from Patrol Battalion One. I am willing to obey Your Highness's orders... But is it too late for us to send troops to rescue them now?"
Zhao Congyun's brows were filled with determination. "No matter if we're in time or not, no matter what the enemy's trap is... I promise you all, I will definitely rescue your young commander!"
"At any cost!"
The last sentence was said to Yue Mingming and Dong Shu.
Uncle Dong's heart suddenly sank, but Yue Mingming asked before him: "...What do you mean?"
*
Mu Yunqing had never felt so desperate.
It was during their first raid that they discovered the fatal problem with their ordnance.
At that time, all the Red Armor Army entered the encirclement that had been ambushed in advance. Amid the sound of war horns, the soldiers of the Flying Cavalry Battalion rushed towards the enemy camp with the force of thunder.
Behind them, archers fired thousands of arrows, paving the way for the charge.
Mu Yunqing rushed to the front with a spear in hand, so he was the first to notice the abnormality -
The enemy, who should have been terrified, unexpectedly took their time to form their battle formation, seemingly intending to let them pass. And the hail of arrows, powerful enough to penetrate heavy armor, failed to even penetrate the enemy's thin leather armor!
Mu Yunqing reacted extremely quickly and ordered a retreat immediately. Unfortunately, the Flying Cavalry Battalion, which was always known for its speed, failed this time due to its speed!
Upon receiving the order, before their brains could react, inertia and experience had already driven them to the enemy at top speed. Furthermore, they had never retreated during a charge. The Red Armored Army offered no resistance, allowing these men to slip into their ranks with remarkable ease.
Mu Yunqing saw his best cavalryman disappear in a sea of red in an instant, and he shouted anxiously: "Come back! Don't go over there!" Unfortunately, by the time the people behind him reacted and reined in their horses, it was too late!
Most of the warriors had already penetrated deep into the enemy camp, and the Red Armor Army, which had been loose and chaotic, suddenly shrank in formation, like a giant beast that had swallowed its prey, contentedly tearing off its mask and revealing its murderous fangs.
The first round of strangulation begins!
At this time, Mu Yunqing thought that the enemy had been prepared and had seen through his plan. The strong psychological quality he had developed over many years of fighting allowed him to immediately reorganize the remaining troops and change the charge into a breakout and rescue.
He didn't expect that a more tragic situation was yet to come.
The vanguard battalion, which was supposed to be tailed off, suddenly sent out a flare.
Red. Life hangs by a thread. Rescue urgently.
Just when Mu Yunqing was thinking about how to arrange the rescue, problems finally arose on his side!
The weapons in the soldiers' hands were broken as if they were being played by their opponents during the battle. Many people couldn't believe it. Just one second of hesitation was enough to cost them their lives!
Screams were heard one after another. Those who were still fighting were all soldiers who had not changed their weapons. Mu Yunqing picked up a broken sword with his spear, took a quick glance at it, and his heart instantly turned cold.
He staggered and almost fell off his horse.
It was not a simple despair - not the relief of dying on the battlefield one day, not the regret of not being able to fulfill filial piety at his grandfather's knees, nor the unfulfilled ambition of not being able to defeat the enemy.
It was a fear that went deep into the bones.
It all happened because of the deal he made with Lord Fan... It was his arrogance and cleverness that killed everyone!
He once didn't believe in the underworld after death, but now he has been thrown into the eighteen levels of hell before he even died.
What should you do when a person is beyond redemption?
The young marshal with an undefeated record was at a loss on the battlefield for the first time.
"Young Marshal, be careful!" A cavalryman deflected an enemy spear for him, only to be pierced by an arrow himself. Warm blood splattered all over Mu Yunqing's body and face. He wanted to say something to those eyes that were gradually losing their luster, but suddenly realized his voice was hoarse and almost lost.
“I’m sorry… I’m sorry… I’m sorry…”
Mu Yunqing roared desperately, but the man had already fallen under the chaotic horses' hooves, and his explanation was forever rejected.
Mu Yunqing wanted to die for him, and for all the soldiers he had brought out, but he only had one life, and he needed to keep it in the most valuable place—
He would take them back.
Save as many as you can.
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