Chapter 342: Fight! (1/2)
Chapter 342: Fight!
The atmosphere suddenly grew grim. Killing intent suddenly burst from the Great Tang veterans, and in that instant, it seemed as though everyone was plunged in the middle of an intense battlefield.
Sensing the changes in her surroundings, Bai Siling was stunned for an instant. With a slightly dazed expression, she turned to look at Wang Chong's silhouette.
The same sixteen-year-old youth, but his figure suddenly towered before her.
At this moment, Wang Chong didn't notice the changes occurring around Bai Siling. Instead, feeling the strong killing intent exerted by the forty Great Tang military veterans, he nodded in satisfaction.
Even though Great Tang was treading down a path of decline, its military was still standing strong.
With such a team, putting aside facing bandits who outnumbered them tenfold, Wang Chong would dare to even engage an organized official army of the same number!
Wang Chong suddenly turned to Bai Siling and said, ”Siling, I'll have to trouble you to cooperate with me in the battle later on.”
”Ah!” Alarmed by Wang Chong's sudden words, Bai Siling panicked for an instant. However, she swiftly covered it up.
”Don't worry, leave it to me. I'll do my best to cooperate with you!” Bai Siling nodded earnestly. As expected of a lady of the Bai Clan, she was able to recover swiftly.
”Alright, let's set off!” With Wang Chong leading the way, the forty cavalrymen of Great Tang charged in the direction of the battle cries.
---
”Chief, another group of cavalry is heading our way.”
Just as Wang Chong was charging over, a pigeon suddenly descended from the sky, headed toward a boulder located in the forest beside the main road. On the boulder, the military advisor of the Iron Cloak Highwaymen, Zhou An, raised his right hand and grabbed the pigeon. He untied the note from the pigeon's leg before passing it over to the massive Iron Cloak Li beside him.
”Hahaha, since they are coming here, we should give them a welcome. Relay my orders, slow down the attack. It isn't easy for us to bait them here, I don't want to scare away our guests!”
”Yes, chief!”
Zhou An quickly issued the relevant instructions, and Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu finally gained an opportunity to catch a breather.
Di da da!
---
Around half an incense stick time later, Wang Chong, leading the group, finally caught sight of the battlefield.
Bandits and highwaymen with wildly different clothing densely filled the main road, forest, and slope.
Surrounded by this huge group, Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu's group seemed no different from skerries amidst an endless ocean, isolated on a steep slope thirty zhang away from the main road.
An overwhelming stench of blood drifted in the air. Innumerable corpses of bandits, highwaymen, soldiers, and steeds alike were littered on the way from the main road to the slope.
Upon seeing this sight, Wang Chong, Bai Siling, and the other forty Great Tang cavalrymen found their eyes reddening in fury.
This was the first time such huge casualties had occurred among the eighty of them. Even though Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu had managed to fend off the attacks of the Iron Cloak Highwayman through effective utilization of the complex geographical terrain, their initial force of forty was still reduced to just twenty-four.
The death of sixteen True Martial realm veteran cavalrymen was truly a huge loss.
What was even more unacceptable was that they had died at the hands of mere bandits and highwaymen.
Beside Wang Chong, Ma Song clenched his fists tightly and muttered furiously, ”Lord, I'm going to slaughter all of them!”
A soldier shouldn't die at the hands of mere bandits and highwaymen.
”Have you forgotten my words? Calm down! Trust me, we'll slaughter those Iron Cloak Highwaymen. However, charging in blindly won't do us any good. Look before you, how many men do they have?”
Wang Chong was burning with anger as well. As one who had lived his life on the battlefield, he felt those sentiments deeply than anyone else. However, he knew that this wasn't the moment to let his emotions get ahead of him.
”Besides, even though they have died in the hands of the bandits and the highwaymen, at the very least, they gave up their lives to protect Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu. On this aspect, at least they died in the midst of accomplishing their duties. Their deaths aren't meaningless!”
Wang Chong's words managed to bring some rationality back into the minds of his men. Indeed, at the very least, they managed to protect their commanders.
Xu Gan and Huang Yongtu might not be members from the military, but from the moment the change of command ceremony was conducted, they had become their commanders.
From that aspect, their deaths were indeed honorable.
Otherwise, considering their superior strength, there was indeed a high chance they could have survived.
Ma Song and the others turned to Wang Chong and said grimly, ”Lord, relay your commands. We'll obey them!”
Wang Chong fell silent for a short moment. A moment later, he suddenly slapped the side of his steed and sprang forward from the formation.