The Legend of Swing Sword and Execution of Demons

Chapter 768: Defeat and Escape

Two months later.

As the sun was shining brightly in the sky, a horseman galloped into Yangguan, carrying a trail of dust and dirt.

In the time it took to stick of incense, there was a clanging sound in the city gate, which seemed to be crumbling under the violent sandstorm from the northwest.

It seems to shake off the dust that has accumulated for months and revive the spirit of the thousand-year-old fort!

The Fifth Marquis, whose hair had turned white half a year ago, stood on the top of the city wall, drew his sword, and pointed to the northwest to launch a general attack.

One hundred thousand Zhongzhou troops, along with hundreds of Zhongzhou heroes, were divided into the front, middle and rear armies and advanced quietly towards Mulan Gorge.

When the Wala army discovered the unusual movement five miles away, they could only hastily send troops to fight against these 100,000 vicious tigers and wolves.

Mulan Pass was a bridgehead captured by the Wala Army.

But this bridgehead was not defended by strategic location like Yangguan Pass, it was entirely captured by military force, and to defend the pass, the battle line had to be pushed out of the city gate.

The Oirat side once increased its troops to 230,000, and now has 170,000 troops.

Therefore, the Zhongzhou Army, which was unable to match the enemy in terms of manpower, had to retreat to Yangguan.

But the maximum number of soldiers guarding Yangguan was no more than 160,000, but now it is 120,000.

Despite the strength of their army, the Wala army had not been able to conquer the tough nut of Yangguan for nearly half a year and suffered an unexpected backlash.

The Mulan Pass, which was stormed by 50,000 vanguard troops in three days, was recaptured by the Zhongzhou Army with 30,000 troops in two days.

After the stronghold was lost, the Wala army quickly showed signs of defeat and fled.

However, the Zhongzhou Army, which has been under pressure for a long time and is angry, will obviously not stop until they recapture Mulan Pass.

We are still thousands of miles away from the border, and these invaders cannot escape even with wings. We must kill them all and wipe them out!

……

……

For thousands of years, the grassland tribes who mainly lived on nomadic life were good at riding, which was the skill they relied on for survival.

When the Oirat Mongols came to rule the northern prairie, the most famous cavalry was the Locust Army.

According to the people of Zhongzhou who have suffered the most, locusts passed through their territory, covering the sky and the sun, eating the grass up to the roots, leaving no grass to grow!

As the saying goes, one should learn from the barbarians in order to defeat them. For nearly a thousand years, the people of Zhongzhou have never stopped learning from the grasslands, horses, riders, weapons, protective gear, and horse equipment to strengthen their cavalry to deal with the grassland cavalry.

When it came to the Zhu family's rule, they even attempted to replicate the locust army that numbered in the tens of thousands.

However, due to objective conditions such as geographical and ethnic factors, although the Zhongzhou cavalry has been strengthened, it is difficult to train a cavalry that can compete with the Locust Army with the same number of people.

Many capable officials and generals in Zhongzhou saw this clearly, and Shi Xin was no exception.

Since it is impossible to train tens of thousands of locust troops, we should change our thinking and train the elite among the elite.

The imperial court handed over eighteen children, who were selected like raising insects, to Shi Xin. From the very beginning, Shi Xin taught them as elite locust soldiers. Leaving aside other things for the moment, the priority was to train them to master riding, archery and spearmanship.

Twenty years ago, the eighteen shadow riders, who were around twenty years old, followed General Shi to guard the southwest.

The first achievement was to defeat the thousands of light cavalry from Yuelan and Feibin. However, the light cavalry from those small countries were only numerous in number. In terms of impact and lethality, they were far inferior to the two or three hundred cavalrymen casually pulled out by the Wala, or the half-hundred locust soldiers.

After General Shi's death, the Eighteen Shadow Riders completely sank into the shadows, never making any contributions in border battles again, and thus few people heard of them.

It was not until the solar eclipse disaster occurred in Xunfeng Valley that the Eighteen Shadow Riders, led by Luo Piaoling, stepped out of the shadows and appeared in Tianya Town.

This time, the Shadow Blade was unsheathed again, and there was finally a chance to point the tip of the gun towards the enemy again.

Perhaps no one on the battlefield has ever witnessed the bravery and arrogance of the Eighteen Shadow Riders when they were young, but after all the eighteen of them were over forty years old, many people, especially the Oirat people, have seen what calmness and experience are.

Just like the Xunfeng Valley Massacre which has remained at the speculation level until now, no one has been able to produce evidence, or even explain how the Eighteen Shadow Riders killed nearly a thousand martial arts masters in the dark.

The Oirat people only figured out that the enemy had a total of eighteen cavalrymen, but they could not figure out how three grain storage points scattered along three marching lines and at least three hundred miles apart could be burned down simultaneously by a mere eighteen people overnight?

You should know that the Eighteen Riders first entered the sight of the Wala Xiting Army a month and a half ago, and twenty days later, 70% of the Wala people’s material reserves were destroyed!

The mysterious Eighteen Riders have appeared countless times in the past month and a half. They either destroyed the baggage and supplies shipped from the rear, or killed the reinforcements coming from the rear. Each time, they caused immeasurable losses in manpower and material resources to the Oirat people.

In front of them, the Wala people felt like they were blind and deaf. Not to mention cleaning up the mess, they had no idea how everything happened and had to rely on luck to realize it later.

The unknown brings fear.

The more than 100,000 Wala troops, who had previously been numerous and powerful and full of arrogance, were psychologically traumatized by the Eighteen Riders.

It is inevitable that people will think of the assassination and intrusion incidents that occurred in the Wala Courtyard and the Batulu City.

Supplies were constantly being consumed, supplies were becoming difficult to sustain, and reinforcements were delayed. The Wala army in Mulan Pass was already in a panic, in a dilemma, and unable to reach a consensus.

At this critical point today, the string that had been stretched tight was completely broken under the strong pressure and counterattack of the Zhongzhou Army, and the whole army collapsed.

Fortunately, when the disaster was imminent, the commander of the Xiting Army summarized the suggestions of various generals and unified the idea of ​​withdrawal.

Of the 170,000 Wala troops, 5,000 died defending the city, tens of thousands died while cutting off the rear, and more than 150,000 quickly retreated.

The long retreating army, winding like a long snake, did not lose the ability to coordinate with each other. They covered each other and were able to gradually distance themselves from the pursuers from Zhongzhou at a relatively small cost.

But when the eighteen dark shadows approached like a nightmare, the Wala army was thrown into chaos again.

Eighteen black shadows, each in groups of three, rode their horses at full speed and attacked diagonally from the left and right sides of the Wala army.

It is as if pieces of black awls are embedded in rotten wood. The awls may not be big, but each awl can cause a gap and fracture in the wood if it penetrates a little bit.

Another example is a black civet cat that is very good at catching mice. Even if it is dealing with a long snake, it only needs to use its nimble claws to grab the snake scales and dig out the snake meat!

Each of the Eighteen Shadow Riders could penetrate into the long snake-like ranks of the Wala Xiting Army and intercept nearly a thousand Wala soldiers on their own, and fight with them for more than half an hour without getting hurt or losing the upper hand!

Cooperating with the Zhongzhou army that arrived later, they strangled the retreating army step by step.

And when the Wala army realized in time that they had to sacrifice ten or a hundred times the lives of others in exchange for these eighteen lives, clusters of arrows flew straight through a distance of hundreds of steps and penetrated directly into the vital points of the Wala army!

This is another opponent that is particularly troublesome for the Wala army, the Baili tribe!

The Baili tribe originated in the Pamir Mountains. Over the past hundred years, they have maintained certain trade relations with Zhongzhou and there has also been some intermarriage.

There are five elite archers in the current Zhongzhou army who have the blood of the Baili tribe flowing in their veins.

When the war broke out, Emperor Yan followed Lengshan's advice and promoted five archers, hoping that when the northwestern border was in crisis, he could use the power of the Baili tribe to solve some difficult problems.

Several months after the Wala army arrived at Yangguan, five archers won the support of eighty Baili people and surrounded the Xiting army from the flanks and backs, shooting arrows at them from behind.

A tribe of 100 miles and eighteen riders of shadow, some with long-range attacks and some with close charges. Over the past month or so, they occasionally met each other, and their cooperation gradually became tacit understanding from unfamiliarity.

This time back on the front battlefield, the joint offensive easily defeated the Wala army.

The Wala army, unwilling to be eaten away bit by bit, organized several struggles, but they were crushed and extinguished in time before the wave even rose.

The Wala army may have taken advantage of the fact that the Baili tribe was only good at archery and weak in close combat, so they charged and broke through from the weak side. However, they did not expect that as soon as they got close, a silver-haired swordsman stood up and drew his sword, killing one person with one blow.

There were also two male swordsmen and a female assassin who did not look like people from Zhongzhou, as well as a woman in black with a half-face mask. They were as swift as a falcon and as light as a peregrine falcon. They jumped onto the horses' backs, spun and leaped, and took their lives!

After dealing with them for more than half a year, the Wala people had no reason to feel unfamiliar with these four people.

Two of them were remnants of the Yuluo tribe whose individual combat capabilities were extraordinary, and the other two were a killer couple who brought shame to the Wala Zhongting.

The desperate Oirat Xiting army experienced the meaning of being surrounded by enemies on all sides as an old saying in Zhongzhou.

More than a month ago, it was the addition of these hundred people that tied up too many of their troops and attention, disrupted their original layout, and allowed the Yangguan defenders to recover and gather strength.

The game was over. In the following month, the desperate Wala army only suffered 30,000 casualties among the Zhongzhou people.

All 170,000 Xiting troops were killed in Zhongzhou!

This is the greatest victory achieved by Zhongzhou since the war began.

This may also be the first clarion call for Zhongzhou’s all-out counterattack!

…    …

"Listen, the Wala lost.

"The Xiting Army lost more than 200,000 men on this front, and their vitality has been severely damaged. They will not be able to continue to fight.

“If you ask me, General Shi’s death was not unjust. He had a group of subordinates who were no longer in office but were still loyal and dedicated to him. He also raised battlefield killers like the Eighteen Shadow Riders. The power he could manipulate in his hands was equivalent to half of Tu Wanfang.

"You're so close to the martial arts world, half of the martial arts world is happy to give you face.

"It would be fine if you have no other intentions, but if one day you want to rebel and become the emperor yourself, then the little emperor will have to give up the throne obediently, right?

“Haha, but whether Wala loses or Zhongzhou wins, it has nothing to do with me.

"You said no one cares about me, so why are you still holding on to me?

"Is it for the so-called righteousness of the country or brotherhood?

"Ok?"

On the edge of a shallow beach on the southeastern border of Wala Xiting.

Chu Hanxiong, with his dreadlocks, deep wrinkles on his face and a slightly purple complexion, was stepping lightly on a wild lion as big as a mountain.

The "Mad Lion"'s mountain-like shoulders shook for a while and then returned to silence. Its neck, which was stepped on, was rubbed red on the sand and stones, as if it had finally been able to breathe evenly.

After a while, a sound came out from Peng Fangge's mouth mixed with blood and cement.

"Come and see what you have become. If it is convenient, I will put an end to you, the troublemaker."

"A disaster? Haha, then you should have brought more people with you instead of being so arrogant as to think you could take me down by yourself. You said you came all the way here to collect Xiao Yincai's body, but who would come to collect your body?"

Peng Fangge took a deep breath, straightened his neck and spat, "Collect your ass corpse, it's all over now, so I don't have to see you and dirty my eyes!"

Chu Hanxiong snorted lightly, took his foot away from Peng Fangge's neck, squatted down and put his face close to him, prying open Peng Fangge's eyelids and letting him look at him.

"What do you mean by dirty? Look at me like this, does it suit me better?"

Peng Fangge saw clearly the face in front of him, which was once very familiar but now seemed strange, yet it fitted the costume very well.

He thought he had guessed the reason why Chu Hanxiong betrayed his country and his brothers. He gasped, his eyes red, and did not answer.

Chu Hanxiong raised his hand and patted Peng Fangge's cheek, sneering.

"After all, we are brothers, and I will leave you with an intact body when I send you away.

"Before I leave, I'll tell you something from the bottom of my heart, so that you can die with a clear mind.

"When you get there, don't be a reckless man or a fool anymore."

Chu Hanxiong stood up again, first looked to the northwest, then looked far to the southeast, sorted out the slightly complicated past, and tried to keep it as simple as possible.

"I'm not afraid of you knowing that I fell from my Wala mother's womb.

"Of course, I'm not of noble stock.

“He was just a shepherd boy who accidentally got lost in a shepherd’s home, whose life was worthless.

“I was lucky enough to be taken in by a shepherding tribe in the northern part of Zhongzhou, and became a shepherd boy in another place.

“There were frequent wars on the border between the two states, and in just three years, the tribe I was with was wiped out.

"The remaining ten or so people went south and became refugees.

“It’s true that I have no feelings for Zhongzhou.

“But I have no desire to return home.

"In this world, some people are too obsessed with fame, wealth and power, and take risks at every turn.

“Some people are too obsessed with grudges and hatred, and either their minds go insane or their bodies become filled with demons.

“Some people are so concerned about their country that they are willing to sacrifice their bodies to feed the gods.

"And I am a person who simply wants to survive.

"I dare say that I have not changed. I have always been the person you don't like.

“It’s just that at the beginning, there are many bright spots and many shortcomings that are covered up, so you can’t see them.

"Working hand in hand with the Zhongzhou court is to make a living.

"Selling out Zhongzhou and working hard for Wala is all about survival.

"We have all gone our separate ways, so it's fine if we just part ways amicably.

“So I don’t feel much anger about the separation of the Twelve Heavenly Demon Sects.

"Who would have thought that lunatic Xiao Yincai would also come over and give advice to the Wala people.

"This guy is really smart, and his eloquence makes the Oirat people obey his orders.

"With him around, it's hard for me to have any status or say in Wala.

“For me, it’s certainly not a good thing.

“But I didn’t have the killing intention at that time.

“This change occurred after the war broke out simultaneously in the east, middle and west.

“It’s related to the Eighteen Shadow Riders.

“These 18 dogs are very strong, but not that powerful. It’s just that someone is behind them directing them to be fully prepared.

"Before Xiao Yincai came west, I accidentally got left alone and was nearly caught by the Eighteen Riders.

“When they got away, they shouted at me, saying it was Luo Piaoling who brought the words.

"He said that as long as Xiao Yincai is around, he and I can't coexist in the same place.

"Of course this sentence is meant to sow discord, but there is already a rift between Xiao Yincai and me.

"Luo Piaoling woke me up. This is a matter of life and death, so I made preparations early and was always ready to give this madman a push at the right time.

“The Yuluo tribe is the sharpest knife. Whoever fights with them will lose his life.

“Only the Yuluo tribe can kill Xiao Yincai.

"Everything just went smoothly, and I got out in time."

After listening to Chu Hanxiong's self-narration, Peng Fangge was unable to climb out of the shallows, and was even unable to change his posture.

Maybe he no longer felt that there was any point.

His meridians had been severed by Chu Hanxiong, and he would be a cripple even if he didn't die.

"Where else can you go from now on?"

Chu Hanxiong laughed out loud when he heard this: "I said I am a person who is purely seeking survival. The world is big, but survival is the most important thing. It's nothing more than changing the way of living. Where can't I go?"

Peng Fangge raised his eyes slightly, as if he saw his brother's high spirits in the past.

"That makes sense. You can give me a ride now."

"Okay, goodbye brother!"